Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England
The Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England was the process starting in the late 6th century by which population of England formerly adhering to the Anglo-Saxon, and later Nordic, forms of Germanic paganism converted to Christianity and adopted Christian worldviews.
The process of Christianisation and timing of the adoption of Christianity varied by region and was not necessarily a one-way process, with the traditional religion regaining dominance in most kingdoms at least once after their first Christian king. Kings likely often converted for political reasons such as the imposition by a more powerful king, to gain legitimacy, and to access book-writing traditions; however, there were also significant drawbacks to the conversion that may explain the reluctance of many kings to be baptised.
The first major step was the Gregorian mission that landed in the Kingdom of Kent in 597, and within the Heptarchy, Æthelberht of Kent became the first Anglo-Saxon king to be baptised, around 600. He in turn imposed Christianity on Saebert of Essex and Rædwald of East Anglia. Around 628, Eadwine of Deira was baptised and promoted the new religion in Northumbria, being the kingdom north of the Humber. The expansion of Christianity in Northern England was later aided by the Hiberno-Scottish mission, arriving from the Scottish island of Iona around 634. Mercia adopted Christianity after the death of heathen king Penda in 655. The last Anglo-Saxon king to adhere to the traditional religion was Arwald of Wihtwara, who was killed in battle in 686, at which point Sussex and Wessex had already adopted Christianity.
During the Viking Age, circa 800–1050, settlers from Scandinavia reintroduced paganism to eastern and northern England. Though evidence is limited, it seems that they broadly converted to Christianity within generations, with the last potentially heathen king being Eric Haraldsson Bloodaxe, who ruled in York until 954, when he was driven out by king Eadred of the English.
Practices perceived as heathen continued in England after the conversion of kings, with the first record of them being made illegal taking place under the rule of Eorcenberht of Kent around 640. Laws forbidding these practices continued into the 11th century, with punishments ranging from fines to fasting and execution.
Other practices and ideas blended with the incoming Christian culture to create mixed practices, for example the use of Christian saints to combat harmful beings such as dwarfs or elves, and the use of Germanic words to refer to Christian concepts such as "God", "Heaven" and "Hell". Beyond word usage, other Germanic elements also continued to be used and developed into the modern period in folklore, such as in British ballad traditions. Despite this continuity with the pre-Christian culture, Christianity was nonetheless adopted and many prominent missionaries involved in the conversion of Scandinavia and the Frankish Kingdom were English.
Background
Christianity in Roman Britain
Christianity was present in Roman Britain from at least the 3rd century. In 313, the Edict of Milan legalised Christianity, and it quickly became the major religion in the Roman Empire. The following year the Council of Arles was attended by three bishops from Eboracum, Londinium and either Lindum Colonia or Camulodunum. Their presence indicates that by the early 4th century, the British church was organised under an episcopal hierarchy.In the 4th century, Christianity was still a minority religion, though most common in Southern Britain, Eboracum, and within the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall. There is further evidence for hostility towards Christianity, with some baptismal fonts having been found intentionally damaged and destroyed, and a significant decline in Christianity is suggested to have taken place as a result of the Great Conspiracy of 367–369. Furthermore, there is evidence for the Romano-Celtic religion remaining strong in the late 4th century despite Christianity increasingly being adopted during this time in western Roman provinces such as Gaul, where Martin of Tours led violent destructions of pagan holy sites. Christianity nonetheless survived in Britain during the 5th century.
British missionaries, most famously Saint Patrick, converted Ireland to Christianity. The early British and Irish churches shared common characteristics often described as Celtic Christianity.
Anglo-Saxon migrations, c. 430–570
During the period from the end of Roman rule around 430 to 570, dramatic cultural changes occurred in southern and eastern Britain as a result of the Anglo-Saxon migrations. Old English replaced Latin and Brittonic languages, and Anglo-Saxon forms of Germanic paganism became dominant. This was a polytheistic religion, with gods worshipped including Woden, Thunor, and Tiw.Based on older sources such as Vita Germani and De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, the 8th-century historian Bede wrote that no organised church survived in the areas under Anglo-Saxon control, with no bishoprics or churches that were not in ruins. Despite this, Bede also believed that the cult of St Alban was continuously active from the Roman period until his time of writing. It has been suggested that writers may have downplayed the role of British communities in the origins of English church sites and that Christian communities may have remained relatively strong in the west and north of Britain, and possibly in small pockets in the east and south. This may be attested in the placename Eccles, derived from the word for church in Common Brittonic and Latin, and in archaeological finds in Lincoln.
Nature of conversion and Christianisation
Paganism and Christianity are often portrayed as distinct and in opposition by Church officials such as Bede, Ælfric and Wulfstan, with conversion corresponding in a dramatic shift from one to the other. In practice, while this may have been true in the sphere of formal religion, this is only a small part of the wider popular religion where they blended together. It has been proposed that in cases where there is continuity between traditional Germanic religion and practices attested after conversion, this should be seen as the retention of Germanic folklore in Christianity rather than the continuation of paganism as a religious system. It has also been argued that Anglo-Saxon and Nordic paganism are better conceived of as groupings of religious systems or paganisms with shared characteristics rather than individual religions and that they were inseparable from other aspects of life in the cultures of those that practised them.Furthermore, it has been argued that paganism and Christianity were not two alternative versions of the same social phenomenon and that heathens and Christians likely would have had different conceptions of what religion was. Because of this, the traditional religions could not be replaced by Christianity in a one-for-one swap. Converts could for this reason potentially not see actions for which they were criticised as conflicting with their new religion. Similarly, one person could worship both the traditional gods and the Christian god, or different gods be worshipped by different people within one household, possibly explaining the cases of unbaptised children of convert kings described by Bede.
The terms "conversion" and "Christianisation" are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to the adoption of Christianity; however, Lesley Abrams proposed that it is useful to use "conversion" to refer to the first transition, marked by a formal acceptance of Christianity such as baptism, and "Christianisation" to refer to the penetration of Christian beliefs and practices into the converted society, with the latter process being much more difficult to measure. She further suggests conversion possibly being about leaders and Christianisation being about those they lead.
Kent, c. 597–624
Late 6th century: Æthelbert of Kent marries Bertha
In 595, when Pope Gregory I decided to send a mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, the Kingdom of Kent was ruled by Æthelberht. He had married a Christian princess named Bertha. The exact year of marriage is unclear, with Bede suggesting around 590, while based on dates of her birth inferred from the writings of Gregory of Tours, scholars have suggested alternative dates of 579 or even earlier than 560. Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, one of the Merovingian kings of the Franks. As one of the conditions of her marriage she was allowed to freely practise Christianity and bring the bishop Liudhard with her to Kent as her chaplain. They restored a church in Canterbury that dated to the time of the Roman occupation, possibly the present-day St Martin's Church. Liudhard does not appear to have made many converts among the Anglo-Saxons, and his mention by Bede is only corroborated by a gold coin bearing an inscription that refers to a bishop by his name. It has been suggested that Bertha had a significant role in the later conversion of Æthelberht.The marriage fits into a wider context of close relations, such as trade, between Kent and the Frankish kingdom which was expanding and establishing overlordship over kingdoms in the North Sea region during the 6th century. It has been suggested this Frankish influence and support was an important factor that led to Kent becoming one of the dominant kingdoms in the late 6th and 7th centuries.
c. 597–616: The Gregorian mission and the conversion of Æthelberht
Around 150 years after the last recorded appeal from Britons to Roman authorities for help, in 597, the Gregorian mission was launched. It was led by Augustine and included Frankish interpreters and around 40 monks. They landed at Thanet in Kent where they were received by Æthelberht and achieved some initial success.That they were not met by a representative from the British Church has been used as evidence for the absence of Christian presence as a result of the Anglo-Saxon migrations. Æthelberht permitted the missionaries to settle and preach in his capital of Canterbury, where they used the Church of St Martin for services.
Æthelberht converted to Christianity during his life but the date is not recorded in any surviving source. It probably took place around 597, however, with 601 as likely the latest possible date. A letter of Gregory's to Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria in June 598 mentions the number of converts made but does not mention that the king's baptism specifically, suggesting it had not taken place by that time. The baptism location is also not recorded, although it likely took place in Canterbury. It is widely accepted that by 601 Æthelberht had converted as in this year, Gregory wrote to both Æthelberht and Bertha, calling the king his son and possibly referring to his baptism. In the letter, Gregory further asks the king to hasten the spread of Christianity through acts such as hunting down idol worship, and heathen temples, along with encouraging good morals by terrifying them and demonstrating good deeds. In contrast with this, a letter dated to July 601 from Gregory to Abbot Mellitus orders that whilst idols are still to be destroyed and for the traditional religion to be stamped out, temples are to be sprinkled with blessed water, for altars to be made and for relics to be placed in them. He further encourages reframing of traditional practices such as sacrifices and celebrations in a Christian context, in which festivals are dedicated to martyrs and the slaughtered animals are eaten in praise of God.
It is uncertain why Æthelberht chose to convert to Christianity. Bede suggests that the king converted strictly for religious reasons, but most modern historians see other motives behind Æthelberht's decision. Certainly, given Kent's close contacts with Gaul, it is possible that Æthelberht sought baptism in order to smooth his relations with the Merovingian kingdoms, or to align himself with one of the factions then contending in Gaul. Another consideration may have been that new methods of administration often followed conversion, whether directly from the newly introduced church or indirectly from other Christian kingdoms.
Evidence from Bede suggests that although Æthelberht encouraged conversion, he was unable to compel his subjects to become Christians during his reign. The historian R. A. Markus proposes that this was due to the strong heathen presence in Kent which forced the king to rely on indirect means to secure conversions, including royal patronage and friendship, rather than force. For Markus, this is demonstrated by the way in which Bede describes the king's conversion efforts, in which he could not compel them to adopt Christianity, instead being able to only "rejoice at their conversion" and to "hold believers in greater affection". Some time after Æthelberht's conversion, Bertha died and Æthelberht married again to a woman whose name is not recorded, but was likely to have been heathen.