England: Christinization (3rd-9th Centuries)


Figure 1.--.

The pagan Anglo-Saxons defeated the Christinized Britons and drove them into the remote west. This might have meant the end of Christianity, especially because the war , they eventually became Chritinized. The Church became the wars were ones of extinction, rather like the wars of conquest conducted on the Continent by other Germanic tribes. The Anglo-Saxons destroyed many churches as they drove the Britons west. Iro-Scottish missionaries like St. Aidan ( -651) began estanlishing churches in the new Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. One of the most renowned was on the island of Lidisfarne off the coast of northern England. Here a renowned monastary developed. Missionaries began preaching among the Anglo-Saxons. Here the missionaries had an advantage in that some of the Germanic tribes entering the Empire had begun to become Christinized. The Anglo-Saxons had contacts with these tribes which helped to open the kindoms to Christian influences. St. Augustine began preaching at the court of King Aethelbert of Kent. His wife was the Christian Frankish princess Bertha (597). This ws the first Anglo-Saxon kingdom to convert and the date is commonly used to date the beginning of the Christianization of England. The Jutes appear to have founded Kent and these were the first of the Anhlo-Saxon people to accept Christianity. Christianity also made inroads in Essex, a Saxon kingdom. The Church established bishoprics at Canterbury and Richester. King Eadwine of Northumbria married a Christian Kentish princess and accepted baptism by bishop Paulinus. There was some resistance to the spread of Christianity. Essex sled back to paganism (616). St. Cedd and St. Chad, monks from Lindisfarne, convertd Essex and Mercia (627). There was at this time two competing Christian confessions/rites. The Iro-Scottish rite dominated at Lindisfarne. The Roman Catholic rite dominated at Canterbury. The Synod of Whitby chose the Roman church (684). Thus the Church organization in the British Celtic west split from the Roman church that became dominant in the Anglo-Saxon areas which by the 8th century encompased much of modern England. The Roman Church looked on the Celtic church with hostility and branded them renegades. England was politically divided, but became a Roman Catholic church province, the united English institution. The Pope consecrated the first Archbishop of Canterbury who from that time was seen as the highest officer in the English church. The first Archbishop was Theodore of Tarsus who reached Canterbury (669). The Church completed the conversion of England when the Isle of Wight became Christian (681/687). The Pope elevated York to a second archbishopric (735). It was a Christian monk, the Venerable Bede (673-735) who compiled the primary contemprary history of nglo-Saxon England. The Church became the richest institution in Anglo-Saxon England and the only centralized institution. The Church also acquired prestige and political influence. Their wealth was in land and gold and silver jewellery, relics, and chalises held by the churches and manastaries. The Christianized Anglo-Saxon sttes fought among each other, but generally respected church property.

Christianity in Roman England

Pagan Rome viewed Christianity with considerable hostility. Roman emperors did not give it the status of an official religion. Christians refused to recognize emperors as gods which resulted in efforts to supress them. While persecuted, Christianity was a religion which spread within the Empire. There were few Chtistians outside the borders of the Empire. Thus Christinity spread to Roman Britain. The Romans from an early stage suppressed the Celtic priesthood the Druids. Accounts of early missionaries are not well document and are more legends, The first knowm Christian missionary, Joseph of Arimathea, reached Britain even while the Roman Legions had not yet completed the coquest. He was reportedly active in Glastonbury. King Lucius asked for information on Christianity. Pope Eleutherius reportedly dispatched the missionries Phagan and Deruvian to convert the Celtic Britons. After nearly three centuries of various degrees of persucution, offical persecution ended when the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity (313). Christianity spread rapidly within the Empire after Constantine's conversion, but Paganism did not immediately disappear. Specifc information on Britain is very limited. There is written evidence of Christianity in Britain dating from the 3rd century and archeological evidence from the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Church seems well established in Britain by the 4th century and a diiscean system organized. In addition to written and archeological evidence, Church records show representatives from Britain attended the Council of Arles in Gaul (314). The extent to which Christianity was accepted by urban Romans in Britain is unclear, but it is probable that it followed the same pattern as in Gaul. Less clear is the exent to which Christinity was accepted by the Celtic rural population.

Ireland

Celtic Christianity evolved differently than Roman Christianity. The Romans never invaded Ireland. Instead there was trade between Ireland and Roman Britain. Irish raides also periodically attacked coastal communities in Roman Britain. The christianization of Ireland began at about the time that the Church was becoming well established in Roman Britain (4th century). Very little information is available on the actual historical process. The work of St. Patrick is the best known account, but actual historical evidence does not exist. Some believe the story of the young Patrick being taken by Irish raiders as a slave back to Ireland is seen by some historians as a legend more than an actual event, but it is certain true that Irish raiders did bring captives back to Ireland as slaves and some of themmust have been Christains. Whiles vesiges of Celtic religioin survived, Christianity widely adopted in Ireland With the Germanic invasions, including the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain, Ireland emerged as a major center of Christianity (5th century). Irish Church leaders adapted the Roman diocean church organization based on urban settklement to the needs of the rurak and scattered tribalal nature of Celtic society by establishing monasteries (6th century). Ireland thus became a haven for religious orders. These monastic orders were the only institutions supporting literacy and any form of learning at the time. The rugged terraine and lack of any kinds of roads (like the Roman road system in Britain) contributed to monastic development. Many great Irish monasteries (St Enda's on the Aran Islands, Clonmacnois in County Offaly and Clonard in County Meath) appeared during this early period. The Celtic Ogham line-based writing system was soon largely replaced by the Church Latin of the monk scholars. One of the great treasures of Ireland, the Book of Kells, is the work of early Irish monks. This and other illustrated manuscripts are adirned with geometric patterns, Celtic images, and Oriental elements that were influenced by the original eastern monasteries. As Ireland had not been part of the Roman Empire, it ws more isolated from the continent and control of the Roman Church. And it was not affected by the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England which largely destroyed the Church in much of England. The Irish monastaries became trasure troves of manuscripts that might have otherwise be lost. The monastaries were also able to send out missionaries to begin the Christinization of Anglo-Saxon England.

Anglo Saxon Invasions

Many historic accounts focus on the Goths and other Germanuc tribes over running the Wesern Empire. A more limited, but historically important Germanic invasion took place in the north, the invasion of Roman Britain. The invasions took place after the last Roman garison withdrew from Britain (407 AD) abd was largely accomplished by the time St Augustine arrived (end of the 6th century). The Germaniv invasions significantly changed the democraphic and ethnic pattern of Britain, especially what we now call England. The make up of the population, language, political structure, and other institutions were fundamentally changed. The Germanic invaders replaced the Romanized Celts who might be called the British. Historians have differed over the interactions between Germanic invaders and British. The disappearance of Latin and Celtic suggested that the Germanic invaders did not absorbe the Celts, but rather conducted a war of extinction. Modern DNA studies tends to confirm this. Not only did Germanic dialects (which evolved into Old English) replace Latin and Celtic, but loose knit and often feuding hereditary kingships replaced the more centrally governed system of provinces left by the Romans. [Myres] Urban life desintegrated and the Roman cities were largely abandoned. The problem for historians is that the victors were the Germanic tribes or Anglo-Saxons who were not literate at the time and thus there are no surviving contemprary written accounts. The earliest accounts of the conquest come several centuries later. Available sources suggest that the British (Roman-Celtic) authorities after the departure of the Legions had increasing duifficulty resisting the depredations of the northern tribes. They apparently hired a Germanic warlord and his men as mercenaries (mid-5th century). Relations soon desintegrated and the Germans not only revolted, but invited kinsmen to join them. The Germanic tribes gradually gained controll over much of low-land Britain. The stuggle of the Romanized Celts and Germanic tribes appears to to be the genesis of the Arthurian legend. While the Britons apprarentlt held out for some time, they were eventually driven into the mountaneous western areas and survived as the Welsh people. At the time Saint Augustine arrived, the Anglo Saxons controlled most of southern Engkland and were expanding north and west (late 6th century). It is not all together clear who the Germanic invaders were. The Britons tended to call them Saxons. The name England of course comes from the Anglii, another Germanic tribe. The Anglii settlements evolved into the kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. The Saxons settlements appeared to have founded the kingdoms of Sussex, Wessex, and Essex. The Jutes apprear to have predominated in Kent and the Isle of Wight. One poorly understood question is the role of the Frisians in the conquest. The Frisians were a seafarring people abd the Anglii and Saxons had to pass through their territory to reach Briton, yet the Frisians are rarely mentione in the medieval chronicles. Frisian is the the modern language most closely related to the Old English of the Anglo-Saxons.

Destruction of the Roman Churches

The pagan Anglo-Saxons defeated the Christinized Britons and drove them into the remote west. This might have meant the end of Christianity, especially because the war , they eventually became Chritinized. The Church became the wars were ones of extinction, rather like the wars of conquest conducted on the Continent by other Germanic tribes. The Anglo-Saxons destroyed many churches as they drove the Britons west.

Ito-Scottish Missionaries

While the Pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders had largely destroyed the Church in England, Ireland had become Catholic. And mnastaries there supported the effort to Chritinize the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that were emerging. Iro-Scottish missionaries like St. Aidan ( -651) began establishing churches. One of the most renowned was on the island of Lidisfarne off the coast of northern England. Here a renowned monastary developed based on the Irish tradition. Missionaries began preaching among the Anglo-Saxons.

Germanic Tribes on the Continent

Here the missionaries had an advantage in that some of the Germanic tribes entering the Empire had begun to become Christinized. The Anglo-Saxons had contacts with these tribes which helped to open the kindoms to Christian influences.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine began preaching at the court of King Aethelbert of Kent. His wife was the Christian Frankish princess Bertha (597).

Kent

Kent was the first Anglo-Saxon kingdom to convert and the date is commonly used to date the beginning of the Christianization of England. The Jutes appear to have founded Kent and these were the first of the Anhlo-Saxon people to accept Christianity.

Essex

Christianity also made inroads in Essex, a Saxon kingdom. The Church established bishoprics at Canterbury and Richester. There was some resistance to the spread of Christianity. Essex sled back to paganism (616).

Northumbria

King Eadwine of Northumbria married a Christian Kentish princess and accepted baptism by bishop Paulinus.

Mercia

St. Cedd and St. Chad, monks from Lindisfarne, convertd Essex and Mercia (627).

Synod of Whitby (684)

There was at this time two competing Christian confessions/rites. The Iro-Scottish rite dominated at Lindisfarne. The Roman Catholic rite dominated at Canterbury. The Synod of Whitby chose the Roman church (684). Thus the Church organization in the British Celtic west split from the Roman church that became dominant in the Anglo-Saxon areas which by the 8th century encompased much of modern England. The Roman Church looked on the Celtic church with hostility and branded them renegades.

Church Structure

England was politically divided, but became a Roman Catholic church province, the united English institution. The Pope consecrated the first Archbishop of Canterbury who from that time was seen as the highest officer in the English church. The first Archbishop was Theodore of Tarsus who reached Canterbury (669). The Church completed the conversion of England when the Isle of Wight became Christian (681/687). The Pope elevated York to a second archbishopric (735).

Venerable Bede

It was a Christian monk, the Venerable Bede (673-735) who compiled the primary contemprary history of Anglo-Saxon England.

Church Wealth

The Church became the richest institution in Anglo-Saxon England and the only centralized institution. The Church also acquired prestige and political influence. Their wealth was in land and gold and silver jewellery, relics, and chalises held by the churches and manastaries. The Christianized Anglo-Saxon sttes fought among each other, but generally respected church property.

Viking Invasions (793- )

At the time Saint Augustine arrived, the Anglo Saxons controlled most of southern England and were expanding north and west (late 6th century). The Anglo Saxon invaders had no central organization as Roman Britain had or as the Normans would institute after Hastings. They gradually colonised England northwards and westwards, pushing the native Britons to the western fringes of island. Thus Roman Britain was replaced by Anglo Saxon Britain, The Anglo-Saxon invaders formed several new kingdoms. The Anglii settlements evolved into the kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. The Saxons settlements appeared to have founded the kingdoms of Sussex, Wessex, and Essex. The Jutes apprear to have predominated in Kent and the Isle of Wight. Wars between these kingdoms gradually resulted in the consolidation of three impotant kingdoms into Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex. War cointinued between these kingdoms as well as raids from the west and north, but they were stronger than the Romanized Britons and able to deal with these raiders. This was the England that the Vikings found when they began to raid. When the Viking insursions began, there was not coordinated Anglo-Saxon response. The Viking incursions culminated with a "Great Army" landing in East Anglia (865). It made wide territorial gains, and the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria had succumbed (by 875). Only Wessex survived the Viking onslaught. The Vikings while devestating large areas also played a role in the spread of commerce and the evolution of democracy in England.






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Created: 10:12 PM 6/16/2007
Last updated: 10:12 PM 6/16/2007