Pope Gregory's (the Great) scheme in sending Augustine was to divide England into two Provinces, with Metropolitans of equal dignity at London and York, and twelve Suffragans to each. But all that his emissary could effect was to consecrate two bishops, one at Rochester (Kent) and one at Essex. As Christianity took a firmer hold in England, it was generally to Canterbury that the different portions of England applied for missionaries. In this foundation Augustine has been followed by a succession of prelates, who distinguished themselves equally in spiritual and temporal affairs of the State--men, each of whom made a great stir during his life, and whose names even now are enshrined, as it were, in a halo of romance. They represent the intellect of their times; their lives show us the difficulties they encountered in overcoming the crass ignorance of the people on whose behalf they worked, and the risks and dangers and petty tyranny they suffered at the hands of kings, whose chief amusements were disturbing the peace and licentious living. Those who have played the most prominent part in ecclesiastical as well as in lay history are: Dunstan, who governed with a tight hand the kingdom during the reigns of Edred and Edwy; Stigand, who, for his opposition to William the Conqueror, was deposed from the See to make room for Lanfranc; Lanfranc, whose memory is perpetuated not only through his abilities as scholar, statesman and administrator, but more especially as one who rebuilt the Cathedral and as founder of several religious establishments; the celebrated Thomas à Becket, who, until he became Archbishop, was the great friend of Henry II., and was Chancellor of England. On the acceptance of the Archbishopric, Becket constituted himself as a champion of the rights and claims of the Church, and would brook no interference from Henry in ecclesiastical matters. This naturally created a coolness between the two, which ended in Becket's retiring to France for six years. On Henry's promise to annul the Constitution of Clarendon, in 1170, Becket returned, only a few days after to be murdered in the Cathedral. Stephen Langton, who was raised to the See by Pope Innocent III., in defiance of King John, during a quarrel he had with the Church; Cranmer, who, for promoting the Reformation, was burnt at the stake in Mary's reign; and Laud, who was beheaded during the Commonwealth of Cromwell for supporting the measures of his sovereign, Charles I. Augustine did not live to see the completion of his Cathedral. It was dedicated to Our Saviour, and it is even now usually called Christ Church. During the ravages of the Danes the city suffered greatly, and the Archbishopric became vacant in 1011, through the violent death dealt out to Archbishop Alphage by the Danes. [Illustration: CANTERBURY INTERIOR OF THE NAVE]