Various stories have been told about Bregowine's origins, including that he was a nobleman and a continental Saxon who converted to Christianity and came to Canterbury because of the saintly reputation of Theodore of Tarsus.
Others say that he owed his elevation to King Æthelbert II of Kent, but all these stories rest on works that were written after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
[4] He wrote letters to Archbishop Lul of Mainz which still exist, and which discuss an earlier meeting between the two men.
One records that he protested at the loss of a church at Cookham that was confiscated by King Cynewulf of Wessex sometime after 760.
Unfortunately, many of the early charters of the diocese of Canterbury are lost, which restricts knowledge of Bregowine's activities as archbishop.