(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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Early Christianity in Britain
(Note: The terms "England", "Scotland", and "Wales" are used purely to indicate geographic location relative to modern boundaries - at this time period, these individual countries did not exist).
Christianity
came at the pagan Anglo-Saxons from two directions. The Celtic Church,
pushed back into Wales, Cornwall, and particularly Ireland, made inroads
in the north from an early base on
Lindisfarne
Island. The Roman Catholic Church approached from the south, beginning
with the mission of St.Augustine to Aethelbert, King of Kent, in 597.
St. Augustine's Mission. Aethelbert was chosen because he was
married to Bertha, a Frankish Christian princess, whose support was
essential. The story goes that Aethelbert, unsure of the intent of
the Christian magicians, chose to greet them in the open air to ensure
that they couldn't cast a spell over him.
Augustine's original intent was to establish an archbishopric in London,
but this ignored the political fact that London was in the realm of
decidedly pagan tribes, so Canterbury, the capital of the Kentish
kingdom, became the seat of the pre-eminent archbishop in England.
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Saxon
church at Sompting, Sussex
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Saxon churches. The Celtic and Roman churches, though not incompatible, certainly enjoyed differences of opinion and practice. The Celtic church was ascetic, fervent, based on monastic life, and more loosely organized. The Roman church was more conscious of structure, discipline, and moderation. They also celebrated Easter on different days. To resolve their differences they met at the Synod of Whitby in 664, where the Roman cause triumphed.
The
church was a very important force in society; the only truly national
entity tying together the different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The early
monasteries of Northumberland were vital centres of learning and
the arts until they were scourged by the Viking raids of the 9th
century.
The Venerable Bede. Anglo-Saxon England's most famous writer,
the monk Bede, lived most of his life at the monastery of Jarrow,
in Northumbria. Nearby, the monastery of
Lindisfarne
is famous for its' glorious illustrated bible, an 8th century masterpiece
of Celtic- inspired art, which is now in the British Library.
Church education. Churches were almost the only forum for
education. Under the auspices of
Alfred
the Great church schools were encouraged, and many Latin works
were translated into English. The higher church officials also played
important secular roles; advising the king, witnessing charters,
and administering estates of the church, which could be exceedingly
large.
Traveling monks. Most of the early work of spreading the
Christian gospel was done from monasteries. The early monks were
unlike the medieval ideal with which readers of the popular Brother
Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are familiar. The monks of
the 7th and 8th centuries were not confined to a closed monastic
community, but carried the responsibility of traveling, usually
on foot, throughout the surrounding countryside to preach and convert
in the villages. This was especially true of monks from the Celtic
monasteries. Regional, or district monasteries were established
to better serve an area. These were designated "minsters",
and the term lives on in many place names, such as Warminster, and
Axminster.
Most church buildings were built of stone, but this was not true
of domestic buildings. Even in towns, very few buildings would have
had even a stone foundation. Most dwellings were wooden, with low,
thatched roofs, an open hearth in a floor of earth or gravel, and
walls of planks or wattle and daub. Especially in towns, where then,
as today, buildings were crowded together, fire was an ever present
danger.