Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justin Welby, who was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. Welby is the 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", sent from Rome in the year 597. Welby succeeded Rowan Williams. From the time of Augustine until the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were
Gervase of Canterbury Gervase of Canterbury Gervase of Canterbury (; Latin: Gervasus Cantuariensis or Gervasius Dorobornensis) (c. 1141 – c. 1210) was an English chronicler. If Gervase's brother Thomas, who like himself was a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury, was Thomas of Maidstone, they came of a Kentish family. St. Thomas of Canterbury received his religious profession on February 16, 1163, and perhaps then ordained him. He was certainly one of the monks who buried the saint after his martyrdom, December 29, 1170. Historical records show that Gervase took a prominent part in the disputes between the monks and Archbishop Baldwin (1185-1191) and