Though  Pelagius  was  born  c.  370,  yet  the
active  life  of  this  heretic  belongs  to  the  fifth
century.  Italy,  Africa,  and  Palestine  were
the  scenes  of  his  labours ;  but  Pelagianism
would  naturally  expect  to  establish  a  footing
in  Britain  because  Pelagius,  who  from
Jerome's  description  has  been  thought  to  be


an  Irishman,  was  most  probably  a  Briton  by
birth,  a  member  of  one  of  those  Gaelic
families  who  had  crossed  from  Ireland  and
settled  themselves  on  the  south-western
coast  of  Great  Britain  (Bury,  Life  of  St.
Patrick,  p.  15).  His  companion  Coelestius,
no  doubt,  was  an  Irishman  ;  and  an  Irish
or  British  origin  may  be  surmised  for  a
certain  Agrioola,  the  son  of  a  Pelagian
bishop  named  Severianus,  who  taught  and
spread  Pelagianism  in  Britain,  as  Prosper
tells  us,  sub  an.  429.  Both  names  here  have
a  Roman  rather  than  a  Celtic  sound,  but  that
fact,  as  has  been  already  pointed  out,  cannot
be  pressed  to  prove  a  Roman  nationality.
That  the  inroad  of  this  heresy  was  serious
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  the
year  429  two  Gallican  ecclesiastics,  Germanus,
Bishop  of  Auxerre,  and  Lupus,  Bishop  of
Troyes,  were  sent  by  a  Gallican  synod
according  to  Constantius,  but  by  Pope
Coelestine  according  to  Prosper,  to  Britain
to  stem  it ;  and  that  in  447  the  same  Ger-
manus and  Severus,  Bishop  of  Troyes,  came
to  Britain  for  the  same  purpose.  Their  efforts
were  completely  successful.
