The Earliest Life of Gregory the GreatIn his role of apostle of the English and promoter of Augustine's mission, Gregory the Great became the subject of what is one of the earliest pieces of literature surviving from the Anglo Saxon period: a Life written by an unknown author at Whitby around 680 704. Although crude in its latinity and idiosyncratic in its presentation, this work is a fascinating source of early traditions about the conversion of the English including the famous story of