The Book at the Center of the Coronation

St. Augustine Gospels

Augustine Gospels

The Augustine Gospels contains 265 folios of the Latin version of the four Gospels.¹ It was owned by St Augustine of Canterbury and is the only surviving manuscript from the collection of books that was sent in 601 by Pope Gregory the Great to aid Augustine in his expedition to convert the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity. ²The Gospels are entered into the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register.³

Professor Christopher Kelly, Master of the Corpus

Professor Christopher Kelly, Master of the Corpus was nearby to protect the St. Augustine Gospels during the Coronation.⁴ The Augustine Gospels were carried in the Coronation Procession by the Master of Corpus Christi College, Professor Christopher Kelly. The Master wore full academic dress. Later in the service, prior to the Anointing, the Master stood holding the Gospels for the reading of the New Testament lesson.

Professor Christopher Kelly (Left) and Dr Christopher Brookes

Professor Christopher Kelly’s books include Ruling the Later Roman Empire (Harvard, 2004), The End of Empire: Attila the Hun and the Fall of Rome (Norton, New York, 2009) four edited volumes: Unclassical Traditions I: Alternatives to the Classical Past in late Antiquity; Unclassical Traditions II: Perspectives from East and West in late Antiquity; Theodosius II: Rethinking the Roman Empire in late Antiquity; and Keith Hopkins: Sociological Studies in Roman History.

1. St Augustine Gospels. British Museum. They are held at the Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

2. Dolan, Patrick (May, 2023). Augustine Gospels from Corpus to be used in the King’s Coronation. Cambridge Tab.

3. Precious manuscript housed in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College Cambridge is of ‘unparalleled significance’ in British history. UNESCO enters 6th-century Augustine Gospels into the 2022 UK Memory of the World Register

4. Professor Christopher Kelly’s Admission as Master of Corpus | Corpus Christi College University of Cambridge.