Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England
Encyclopedia
The Christianization
of Anglo-Saxon England was a process spanning the 7th century.
It is essentially the result of the Gregorian mission
of 597, which was joined by the efforts of the Hiberno-Scottish mission
from the 630s. From the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxon mission
was in turn instrumental in the conversion of the population of the Frankish Empire
.
Æthelberht of Kent was the first king to accept baptism, circa 601. He was followed by Rædwald of East Anglia and Saebert of Essex
in 604. However when Æthelberht and Saebert of Essex
died in 616 they were both succeeded by pagan sons who were hostile to Christianity and drove the missionaries out, encouraging their subjects to return to their native paganism. Christianity only hung on with Rædwald, who was still worshiping the pagan gods alongside Christ
.
The first Archbishops of Canterbury during the first half of the 7th century were members of the original Gregorian mission. The first native Saxon to be consecrated archbishop was Deusdedit of Canterbury
, enthroned in 655. The first native Anglo-Saxon bishop was Ithamar
, enthroned as Bishop of Rochester
in 644.
The decisive shift to Christianity occurred in 655 when King Penda was slain in the Battle of the Winwaed
and Mercia
became officially Christian for the first time. The death of Penda also allowed Cenwalh of Wessex
to return from exile and return Wessex
, another powerful kingdom, to Christianity. After 655, only Sussex
and the Isle of Wight remained openly pagan, although Wessex and Essex
would later crown pagan kings. In 686 Arwald
, the last openly pagan king was slain in battle and from this point on all Anglo-Saxon kings were at least nominally Christian (although there is some confusion about the religion of Caedwalla who ruled Wessex until 688).
Lingering paganism among the common population gradually became English folklore
.
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
before 588, and perhaps 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 had brought a bishop named Liudhard
with her to Kent as her chaplain. They restored a church in Canterbury that dated to Roman times, possibly the present-day St Martin's Church
. Æthelberht was at that time a pagan, but he allowed his wife freedom of worship. Liudhard does not appear to have made many converts among the Anglo-Saxons, and if not for the discovery of a gold coin bearing the inscription Leudardus Eps (Eps is an abbreviation of Episcopus, the Latin word for bishop) his existence may have been doubted. One of Bertha's biographers states that, influenced by his wife, Æthelberht requested Pope Gregory to send missionaries. The historian Ian Wood feels that the initiative came from the Kentish court as well as the queen.
, where they used the church of St. Martin's for services, and this church became the seat of the bishopric. Neither Bede nor Gregory mentions the date of Æthelberht's conversion, but it probably took place in 597.
In the early medieval period, large-scale conversions required the ruler's conversion first, and large numbers of converts are recorded within a year of the mission's arrival in Kent. By 601, Gregory was writing to both Æthelberht and Bertha, calling the king his son and referring to his baptism. A late medieval tradition, recorded by the 15th-century chronicler Thomas Elmham
, gives the date of the king's conversion as Whit Sunday
, or 2 June 597; there is no reason to doubt this date, but there is no other evidence for it. A letter of Gregory's to Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria in June 598 mentions the number of converts made, but does not mention any baptism of the king in 597, although it is clear that by 601 he had been converted. The royal baptism probably took place at Canterbury, but Bede does not mention the location.
Why Æthelberht chose to convert to Christianity is uncertain. 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. The historian R. A. Markus feels that this was due to a strong pagan presence in the kingdom, which forced the king to rely on indirect means including royal patronage and friendship to secure conversions. For Markus, this is demonstrated by the way in which Bede describes the king's conversion efforts, which when a subject converted, were to "rejoice at their conversion" and to "hold believers in greater affection".
Bede records that Eadbald's repudiation of Christianity was a "severe setback" to the growth of the church. Sæberht, the king of Essex, had become a Christian under Æthelberht's influence, but on Sæberht's death, at about the same time, his sons expelled Mellitus
, the bishop of London. According to Bede, Eadbald was punished for his faithlessness by "frequent fits of insanity", and possession by an "evil spirit" (perhaps referring to epileptic fits), but was eventually persuaded to give up his wife and adopt Christianity. Eadbald's second wife, Ymme, was Frankish, and it may well be that Kent's strong connections with Francia were a factor in Eadbald's conversion. It is likely that the missionaries in Canterbury had Frankish support. In the 620s, Eadbald's sister Æthelburg came to Kent, but sent her children to the court of King Dagobert I
in Francia; in addition to the diplomatic connections, trade with the Franks was important to Kent. It is thought likely that Frankish pressure had been influential in persuading Æthelberht to become Christian, and Eadbald's conversion and marriage to Ymme are likely to have been closely connected diplomatic decisions.
Two graves from a well-preserved sixth and seventh-century Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Finglesham
have yielded a bronze pendant and a gilt buckle with designs that are related to each other and may be symbolic of religious activity involving the Germanic deity Woden
. These objects probably date from the period of the pagan reaction.
miraculous scourging by Peter can be disregarded as a later hagiographical invention of the monastery of St Augustine's, Canterbury
.
As mentioned above, it has been suggested that King "Aduluald" in the letter to Justus is a real king Æthelwald, perhaps a junior king of west Kent. In that case it would appear that Laurence converted Eadbald, and Justus converted Æthelwald. It has also been suggested that the pallium did not indicate Justus was archbishop, since Justus is told the limited circumstances in which he may wear it; however, the same phrasing occurs in the letter conveying the pallium to Archbishop Augustine, also quoted in Bede. Another possibility is that the letter was originally two letters. In this view, Bede has conflated the letter conveying the pallium with the letter congratulating Justus on the conversion, which according to Bede’s account was seven or so years earlier; but the grammatical details on which this suggestion is based are not unique to this letter, and as a result it is usually considered to be a single composition.
The letter to Æthelburg makes it clear that she was already married at the time the news of Eadbald’s conversion reached Rome. This is quite inconsistent with the earlier date Bede gives for Eadbald’s acceptance of Christianity, and it has been suggested in Bede's defence that Æthelburg married Edwin substantially earlier and stayed in Kent until 625 before travelling to Rome, and that the letter was written while she was in Kent. However, it would appear from Boniface’s letter that Boniface thought of Æthelburg as being at her husband’s side. It also appears that the letter to Justus was written after the letters to Edwin and Æthelburg, rather than before, as Bede has it; Boniface's letter to Edwin and Æthelburg indicates he had the news from messengers, but when he wrote to Justus he had heard from the king himself.
The story of Æthelburg’s marriage being dependent on Edwin allowing her to practice her faith has been questioned, since revising the chronology makes it likely, though not certain, that the marriage was arranged before Eadbald’s conversion. In this view, it would have been the church that objected to the marriage, and Æthelburg would have been Christian before Eadbald’s conversion. The story of Paulinus’s consecration is also problematic as he was not consecrated until at least 625 and possibly later, which is after the latest possible date for Æthelburg’s marriage. However, it may be that he traveled to Northumbria prior to his consecration and only later became bishop.
A revised chronology of some of these events follows, taking the above considerations into account.
This timeline extends the duration of the pagan reaction from less than a year, in Bede's narrative, to about eight years. This represents a more serious setback for the church.
" (cult image
s) be destroyed and that Lent
be observed. It has been suggested that these orders may have been officially committed to writing, in the tradition of Kentish law-codes initiated by Æthelberht, but no such text survives. This indicates that while King Eadbald
had converted at least 16 years previously, the general population were still openly pagan in 640.
Sæbert of Essex was baptised by Mellitus in 604, but following his death in 616 his sons Sexred and Sæward drove Melitus out and “encouraged their people to return to the old gods”. Mellitus returned to Essex when Eadbald of Kent converted, but pagans drove him out again. Essex remained officially pagan until 653 when Oswy of Northumbria persuaded Sigeberht the Good to convert and allow Cedd to preach there. In 660 Sigeberht was killed by his pagan brothers for being too accommodating to Christianity. Swithhelm took over, but Æthelwold of East Anglia persuaded him to convert in 662. Swithhelm died in 664 and his two cousins Sighere and Sæbbi ruled Essex jointly. While there is no mention of Sighere accepting Christianity in the first place, when a plague broke out in 665 he “abandoned the mysteries of the Christian faith and relapsed into paganism”. The people in Sighere’s half of Essex became openly pagan once again, but Sæbbi's ally Wulfhere of Merica sent the Jaruman to convert them and made Sighere marry his niece Osyth, who he later divorced. Sighere was the last pagan king of Essex.
in Kent, presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht who may have been his baptismal sponsor. The date of this initiation is not exactly known, but since it is claimed that Augustine (d. c 604) dedicated a church near Ely
, it may have followed Saebert's conversion fairly swiftly. In this way Rædwald became aligned with Æthelberht's system of authority. Bede states that even during Æthelbert's lifetime Rædwald was building up the leadership of the southern English for his own nation of East Angles.
In East Anglia Rædwald's conversion was not universally acceptable to his household, nor by his wife. She and her pagan teachers probably persuaded him to default in part from his commitment to it. In his temple, therefore, there were two altars, one dedicated to Christ, and one for dedications to the Anglo-Saxon gods. Raedwald is considered the most likely candidate for the Sutton Hoo
ship burial, which displays both pagan and Christian iconography.
In 616 the pagan backlash in Kent
and Essex
left Rædwald the only (partially) Christian king in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Rædwald died in 624 and was succeeded by his son Eorpwald
.
(Lincolnshire
) and East Anglia. This Christian patronage helped to affirm Edwin's position as senior ruler of the English, and until his final confrontation with Cadwallon ap Cadfan
of Gwynedd
in 632-3 he also held the British or Welsh
powers under his dominion.
It was at Edwin's prompting that Eorpwald
, together with his kingdom, received the Christian faith and sacraments. Eorpwald was therefore not yet a Christian during his father's lifetime nor at his own accession. It is not known whether his baptism took place in East Anglia, Northumbria or Kent, but it is very likely that Edwin, now a senior ruler, was his sponsor at baptism. The conversion had the political benefit of bringing the entire eastern seaboard from Northumbria to Kent under the dominion of Christian rulers in alliance with Edwin, with the single exception of the Essex.
Bede states that after the slaying of Eorpwald the kingdom reverted to heathen rule (in errore versata est) for three years. This does not necessarily mean an overt struggle between the worship of the Anglo-Saxon gods and the worship of Christ, but could equally express a conflict in the political allegiances which Edwin's rise to power had prompted. The attribution of these three years to a supposed rule of Ricberht is a banner of convenience, though the fact that his name was remembered at all (when East Anglian history of this period is dependent upon very fragmentary records) indicates that he was a person of some importance.
, Rædwald's brother. Whoever Ecgric was, Sigeberht had equal or senior power while he ruled, because the influence of his religious patronage was felt both in eastern and western parts of the kingdom.
Sigeberht's Christian conversion may have been a decisive factor in his achieving royal power, since at that time Edwin of Northumbria
(616-632/3) was the senior English king, and only he and Eadbald of Kent were Christian rulers. Eadbald certainly had contacts with the Frankish rulers. After Dagobert
succeeded Clothar II
in Francia in 628, Sigeberht's emergence helped to strengthen the English conversion upon which Edwin's power rested. Sigeberht is likely to have encouraged the conversion of Ecgric, if he was not already Christian. Edwin's encouragement took shape in the marriage of his grand-niece Hereswith, sister of Saint Hilda
, to Æthilric, Rædwald's nephew. Hereswith and Hild were under Edwin's protection and were baptised with him in 626. This marriage held the presumption that Æthilric was, or would become, Christian, and probably also that he should at some time become King of East Anglia.
Bede relates that the East Anglian apostle Saint Felix
came to England from Burgundy as a missionary bishop, and was sent by Honorius, the Archbishop of Canterbury
to assist Sigeberht. William of Malmesbury
has the later story that Felix accompanied Sigeberht to East Anglia. In either case, this dates Sigeberht's accession to c629-630, because Felix was Bishop for 17 years, his successor Thomas for five, and his successor Berhtgisl Boniface for 17 - and Berhtgisl died in around 669. Sigeberht established the bishop's seat of his kingdom for Felix at Dommoc
, claimed variously for Dunwich
or Walton
, Felixstowe
(both coastal sites in Suffolk). If at Walton (as Rochester claimed during the thirteenth century), the site of Dommoc may have been within the precinct of a Roman fort which formerly stood there.
Sigeberht also established a school in his kingdom for boys to be taught reading and writing in Latin, on the model that he had witnessed in Gaul. Felix assisted him by obtaining teachers of the kind who taught in Kent
. Paulinus of York
was from 633 to 644 bishop of Rochester
on the Medway
, then the nearest bishopric in Kent to East Anglia. Paulinus had (according to the Whitby
Life of Gregory the Great) been connected with the court of Rædwald during the exile of Edwin.
The allegiance of Felix to Canterbury
determined the Roman basis of the East Anglian Church, though his training in Burgundy may have been coloured by the teaching of the Irish missionary Columbanus
in Luxeuil. In around 633, perhaps shortly before Aidan
was sent to Lindisfarne
from Iona
, the Irish royal hermit and missionary Fursey came from the Athlone area with his priests and brethren to East Anglia. Sigeberht granted him a monastery site in an old Roman fort called Cnobheresburg, usually identified as Burgh Castle
near Yarmouth
. Felix and Fursey both effected many conversions and established churches in Sigeberht's kingdom. Bede records that Archbishop Honorius and Bishop Felix much admired the work of Aidan of Lindisfarne. Therefore it is likely that they also appreciated of Fursey, whose community also lived according to the ascetic principles of Irish Christianity.
Paulinus arrived in Bernicia
in 625 to convince Edwin
to accept baptism. Edwin allowed his daughter Eanfled to be baptised, and vowed to accept baptism himself if his campaign against Cwichelm of Wessex
was successful. Bede
recounts that Edwin was finally baptised on 12 April 627, but he does not appear to have made any effort to convert his subjects. He died in 633 and Osric and Eanfrith, his cousin and nephew respectively, took over Bernicia and Deira
. Osric and Eanfrith had both accepted baptism while in exile with the Picts
, but upon taking their thrones reverted their kingdoms to paganism. They were both killed by Cadwallon ap Cadfan
of Gwynedd
in 634, who was in turn killed by Eanfrith's brother Oswald
in the same year. Oswald had been baptised while in exile with the Scots
, and had persuaded his council to accept baptism if they were victorious against Cadwallon. Oswald requested missionaries to convert the pagan Bernicians and Deirans. The first bishop to try eventually gave up and returned to Iona
, reporting that the Northumbrians were ardently pagan and refusing to convert. Aidan arrived in 635 and spent the rest of his life converting the Northumbrians, dying in 651.
The pagan King Penda allowed Christian missionaries to begin preaching in Mercia in 653 when his son Peada was baptised. Peada had accepted baptism in order to marry Alhflæd, the daughter of Oswiu of Bernicia. Penda was killed in battle against Oswiu on 15 November 655, and Peada took the throne, becoming the first Christian king. Unusually Mercia had no official relapse into paganism.
Æthelwealh of Sussex was baptised in Mercia sometime during or just before 675, probably as a condition of marrying the Christian Queen Eafa of the Hwicce. In 681 Wilfrid arrived in Sussex to begin converting the general population. Bede says Wulfhere had had him converted “not long previously” , but it couldn’t have been later than 675 because that is when Wulfhere died. Æthelwealh gave Wilfrid land in Selsey where he founded Selsey Abbey
. While there Wilfrid met with Cædwalla of Wessex and guaranteed support for his invasion of Sussex (despite Æthelwealh granting him land and allowing him to preach in his kingdom). In 685 Cædwalla, who was now King of Wessex, invaded Sussex and killed Æthelwealh. Two ealdormen of Æthelwealh, Berthun
and Andhun
, drove him out and administered the kingdom from then on. Their religious affiliation is not recorded. In 686 Wilfrid was recalled to York, Berthun and Andhun attacked Kent, Berthun was killed somewhere along the line and Sussex was conquered by Cædwalla.
The monk Goscelin
recorded a short legend that after converting Æthelberht of Kent, Augustine traveled into Wessex to convert the population. In the village of Cernel the locals jeered at him and drove him out of town, pinning fish to him in mockery of his religion. According to this legend Augustine eventually returned and converted them by smashing their idol. Bede
, however, says that the West Saxons were “completely heathen” until 635 when Birinus began preaching there. The joint Kings Cynigils and Cwichelm were baptised in 635 or 636 with King Oswin of Northumbria as their godfather, and Bede claims the common population were converted also. When Cynegils died in 643 his son Cenwalh ascended to the throne; Bede said of Cenwalh, that he “refused to embrace the mysteries of the faith, and of the heavenly kingdom; and not long after also he lost the dominion of his earthly kingdom; for he put away the sister of Penda, king of the Mercians, whom he had married, and took another wife; whereupon a war ensuing, he was by him expelled his kingdom". The pagan King Penda took over Wessex and Cenwalh accepted baptism while under the protection of the Christian king Anna of East Anglia
. Penda was killed in 655 allowing the now-Christian Cenwalh to return to Wessex. He was succeeded by his widow Seaxburh and then Æscwine; their religion is unknown. In 676 Centwine took the throne. Centwine was a Heathen throughout his reign, but abdicated to become a Christian monk. Cædwalla became king of Wessex in 685 or 686, and his religion is difficult to determine. He remained unbaptised throughout his entire reign, but supported Christianity. Before attacking the pagan Isle of Wight, be vowed to give 1/4 of the land and booty to the Church if he was successful, a vow he fulfilled by granting estates to Wilfrid. He also “allowed” the heirs of Arwald, the last pagan King of Wight, to be baptised before he executed them. He is recorded elsewhere granting land to the church. Before conquering Sussex he worked with the Bishops Wilfrid
and Eorcenwald to establish an ecclesiastical structure there. He was seriously wounded while conquering the Isle of Wight in 686. In 688 he abdicated and went on a pilgrimage to Rome and was baptised by Pope Sergius I
on 10 April 689, dying 10 days later from his wounds.
His successor Ine issued a law code in 695 which reveal him to be a Christian. However, one of Ine’s laws proscribe a fine for failing to baptise one’s children, and another fine for failing to tithe, which indicates the common population were slow to adopt Christan habits voluntarily.
The Jutes
of the Isle of Wight were forcibly baptised when Wulfhere invaded in 661. When Wulfhere returned to Mercia he left the priest Eoppa
in Wight, but he could not stop the islanders quickly reverting to open paganism. Wight remained pagan until 686 when it was invaded by the Christian sympathiser Cædwalla of Wessex. Their pagan King Arwald
was killed in battle, and his heirs were baptised and executed. Most of the pagan population was purportedly exterminated and replaced with Christian West Saxons. Those who remained were forced to accept baptism and also the West Saxon dialect, and the Isle of Wight was incorporated into the Kingdom of Wessex. King Arwald was the last English King to die a pagan.
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
of Anglo-Saxon England was a process spanning the 7th century.
It is essentially the result of the Gregorian mission
Gregorian mission
The Gregorian mission, sometimes known as the Augustinian mission, was the missionary endeavour sent by Pope Gregory the Great to the Anglo-Saxons in 596 AD. Headed by Augustine of Canterbury, its goal was to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. By the death of the last missionary in 653, they...
of 597, which was joined by the efforts of the Hiberno-Scottish mission
Hiberno-Scottish mission
The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a mission led by Irish and Scottish monks which spread Christianity and established monasteries in Great Britain and continental Europe during the Middle Ages...
from the 630s. From the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxon mission
Anglo-Saxon mission
Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself...
was in turn instrumental in the conversion of the population of the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
.
Æthelberht of Kent was the first king to accept baptism, circa 601. He was followed by Rædwald of East Anglia and Saebert of Essex
Saebert of Essex
Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert was a King of Essex , in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity....
in 604. However when Æthelberht and Saebert of Essex
Saebert of Essex
Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert was a King of Essex , in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity....
died in 616 they were both succeeded by pagan sons who were hostile to Christianity and drove the missionaries out, encouraging their subjects to return to their native paganism. Christianity only hung on with Rædwald, who was still worshiping the pagan gods alongside Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
.
The first Archbishops of Canterbury during the first half of the 7th century were members of the original Gregorian mission. The first native Saxon to be consecrated archbishop was Deusdedit of Canterbury
Deusdedit of Canterbury
Deusdedit , perhaps originally named Frithona, Frithuwine or Frithonas, was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, the first native-born holder of the see of Canterbury. By birth an Anglo-Saxon, he became archbishop in 655 and held the office for more than nine years until his death, probably from...
, enthroned in 655. The first native Anglo-Saxon bishop was Ithamar
Ithamar (bishop)
Ithamar was the first bishop in England to be Saxon-born rather than consecrated from among Augustine's Roman missionaries...
, enthroned as Bishop of Rochester
Bishop of Rochester
The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the west of the county of Kent and is centred in the city of Rochester where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
in 644.
The decisive shift to Christianity occurred in 655 when King Penda was slain in the Battle of the Winwaed
Battle of the Winwaed
The Battle of the Winwaed was fought on 15 November 655 , between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and Penda's death.-History:Although the battle is said to be the most important between the early northern and southern divisions of...
and Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
became officially Christian for the first time. The death of Penda also allowed Cenwalh of Wessex
Cenwalh of Wessex
Cenwalh, also Cenwealh or Coenwalh, was King of Wessex from c. 643 to c. 645 and from c. 648 unto his death, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in c. 672.-Penda and Anna:...
to return from exile and return Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
, another powerful kingdom, to Christianity. After 655, only Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and the Isle of Wight remained openly pagan, although Wessex and Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
would later crown pagan kings. In 686 Arwald
Arwald
Arwald was the last Jutish King of the Isle of Wight and last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England until the Vikings in the 9th century. His name may have been "Arwald" or "Atwald" - Bede's script is often difficult to read...
, the last openly pagan king was slain in battle and from this point on all Anglo-Saxon kings were at least nominally Christian (although there is some confusion about the religion of Caedwalla who ruled Wessex until 688).
Lingering paganism among the common population gradually became English folklore
English folklore
English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
.
588: Æthelbert of Kent marries Bertha
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
to Christianity, the Kingdom of Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
was ruled by Æthelberht. He had married a Christian princess named Bertha
Bertha of Kent
Saint Bertha was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history.Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, Merovingian King of Paris...
before 588, and perhaps earlier than 560. Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I
Charibert I
Charibert I was the Merovingian King of Paris, the second-eldest son of Chlothar I and Ingund. His elder brother was Gunthar, who died sometime before their father's death....
, one of the Merovingian
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...
kings of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. As one of the conditions of her marriage she had brought a bishop named Liudhard
Liudhard
Liudhard was a Frankish bishop – of where is unclear – and the chaplain of Queen Bertha of Kent, whom she brought with her from the continent upon her marriage to King Æthelberht of Kent...
with her to Kent as her chaplain. They restored a church in Canterbury that dated to Roman times, possibly the present-day St Martin's Church
St Martin's Church, Canterbury
The Church of St Martin in Canterbury, England, situated slightly beyond the city centre, is England's oldest parish church in continuous use. Since 1668 St Martin's has been part of the benefice of St Martin & St Paul Canterbury. Both St Martin's and nearby St Paul's churches are used for weekly...
. Æthelberht was at that time a pagan, but he allowed his wife freedom of worship. Liudhard does not appear to have made many converts among the Anglo-Saxons, and if not for the discovery of a gold coin bearing the inscription Leudardus Eps (Eps is an abbreviation of Episcopus, the Latin word for bishop) his existence may have been doubted. One of Bertha's biographers states that, influenced by his wife, Æthelberht requested Pope Gregory to send missionaries. The historian Ian Wood feels that the initiative came from the Kentish court as well as the queen.
597: Gregorian mission arrives
In 597 the mission landed in Kent, and it quickly achieved some initial success: Æthelberht permitted the missionaries to settle and preach in his capital of CanterburyCanterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, where they used the church of St. Martin's for services, and this church became the seat of the bishopric. Neither Bede nor Gregory mentions the date of Æthelberht's conversion, but it probably took place in 597.
In the early medieval period, large-scale conversions required the ruler's conversion first, and large numbers of converts are recorded within a year of the mission's arrival in Kent. By 601, Gregory was writing to both Æthelberht and Bertha, calling the king his son and referring to his baptism. A late medieval tradition, recorded by the 15th-century chronicler Thomas Elmham
Thomas Elmham
-Life:He was probably born at North Elmham in Norfolk. He may have been the Thomas Elmham who was a scholar at King's Hall, Cambridge from 1389 to 1394...
, gives the date of the king's conversion as Whit Sunday
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, or 2 June 597; there is no reason to doubt this date, but there is no other evidence for it. A letter of Gregory's to Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria in June 598 mentions the number of converts made, but does not mention any baptism of the king in 597, although it is clear that by 601 he had been converted. The royal baptism probably took place at Canterbury, but Bede does not mention the location.
Why Æthelberht chose to convert to Christianity is uncertain. 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. The historian R. A. Markus feels that this was due to a strong pagan presence in the kingdom, which forced the king to rely on indirect means including royal patronage and friendship to secure conversions. For Markus, this is demonstrated by the way in which Bede describes the king's conversion efforts, which when a subject converted, were to "rejoice at their conversion" and to "hold believers in greater affection".
616: Eadbald's Pagan backlash
Eadbald came to the throne on the death of his father on 24 February 616, or possibly 618. Although Æthelberht had been Christian since about 600 and his wife Bertha was also Christian, Eadbald was a pagan. Bertha died some time before Eadbald's accession, and Æthelberht remarried. The name of Æthelberht's second wife is not recorded, but it seems likely that she was a pagan, since on his death she married Eadbald, her stepson: a marriage between a stepmother and stepson was forbidden by the church.Bede records that Eadbald's repudiation of Christianity was a "severe setback" to the growth of the church. Sæberht, the king of Essex, had become a Christian under Æthelberht's influence, but on Sæberht's death, at about the same time, his sons expelled Mellitus
Mellitus
Mellitus was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergymen sent to augment the mission,...
, the bishop of London. According to Bede, Eadbald was punished for his faithlessness by "frequent fits of insanity", and possession by an "evil spirit" (perhaps referring to epileptic fits), but was eventually persuaded to give up his wife and adopt Christianity. Eadbald's second wife, Ymme, was Frankish, and it may well be that Kent's strong connections with Francia were a factor in Eadbald's conversion. It is likely that the missionaries in Canterbury had Frankish support. In the 620s, Eadbald's sister Æthelburg came to Kent, but sent her children to the court of King Dagobert I
Dagobert I
Dagobert I was the king of Austrasia , king of all the Franks , and king of Neustria and Burgundy . He was the last Merovingian dynast to wield any real royal power...
in Francia; in addition to the diplomatic connections, trade with the Franks was important to Kent. It is thought likely that Frankish pressure had been influential in persuading Æthelberht to become Christian, and Eadbald's conversion and marriage to Ymme are likely to have been closely connected diplomatic decisions.
Two graves from a well-preserved sixth and seventh-century Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Finglesham
Finglesham
Finglesham is a village near Dover in Kent, England, which was the site of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon archaeology find known as "Finglesham man," as described in 1965 by Sonia Chadwick Hawkes and Hilda Ellis Davidson....
have yielded a bronze pendant and a gilt buckle with designs that are related to each other and may be symbolic of religious activity involving the Germanic deity Woden
Woden
Woden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....
. These objects probably date from the period of the pagan reaction.
Bede's account
Bede's account of Eadbald's rejection of the church and subsequent conversion is quite detailed, but not without some internal inconsistencies. Bede's version of events are laid out as follows:- 24 February 616: Æthelberht dies and Eadbald succeeds.
- 616: Eadbald leads a pagan reaction to Christianity. He marries his stepmother, contrary to church law, and he refuses baptism. At about this time Mellitus, bishop of London, is expelled by the sons of Sæberht in Essex, and goes to Kent.
- 616: Mellitus and Justus, bishop of Rochester, leave Kent for Francia.
- 616/617: Some time after Mellitus and Justus depart, Laurence, the archbishop of Canterbury, plans to leave for Francia, but has a vision in which St Peter scourges him. In the morning he shows the scars to Eadbald who is converted to Christianity as a result.
- 617: Justus and Mellitus both return from Francia, "the year after they left". Justus is restored to Rochester.
- c. 619: Laurence dies, and Mellitus becomes archbishop of Canterbury.
- 619–624: Eadbald builds a church which is consecrated by Archbishop Mellitus.
- 24 April 624: Mellitus dies and Justus succeeds him as archbishop of Canterbury.
- 624: after Justus’s succession, Pope BonifacePope Boniface VPope Boniface V was pope from 619 to 625.He was consecrated as pope on December 23, 619. He did much for the Christianising of England and enacted the decree by which churches became places of refuge for criminals....
writes to him to say that he has heard in letters from King Aduluald (possibly a scribal error for Eadbald) of the king’s conversion to Christianity. Boniface sends the palliumPalliumThe pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
with this letter, adding that it is only to be worn when celebrating "the Holy Mysteries". - By 625 Edwin of Deira, king of Northumbria, asks for the hand in marriage of Æthelburg, Eadbald’s sister. Edwin is told he must allow her to practice Christianity, and must consider baptism himself.
- 21 July 625: Justus consecrates PaulinusPaulinus of YorkPaulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group...
bishop of York. - July or later in 625: Edwin agrees to the terms and Æthelburg travels to Northumbria, accompanied by Paulinus.
- Easter 626: Æthelburg is delivered of a daughter, Eanflæd.
- 626: Edwin completes a military campaign against the West Saxons. At "about this time" Boniface writes to both Edwin and Æthelburg. The letter to Edwin urges him to accept Christianity and refers to the conversion of Eadbald. The letter to Æthelburg mentions that the pope has recently heard the news of Eadbald’s conversion, and encourages her to work for the conversion of her husband, Edwin.
Alternative chronology
Although Bede's narrative is widely accepted, an alternative chronology has been proposed by D.P. Kirby. Kirby points out that Boniface’s letter to Æthelburg makes it clear that the news of Eadbald’s conversion is recent, and that it is unthinkable that Boniface would not have been kept up to date on the status of Eadbald’s conversion. Hence Eadbald must have been converted by Justus, as is implied by Boniface’s letter to Justus. The pallium accompanying that letter indicates Justus was archbishop by that time, and the duration of Mellitus’s archiepiscopate means that even if Bede’s dates are somewhat wrong in other particulars, Eadbald was converted no earlier than 621, and no later than April 624, since Mellitus consecrated a church for Eadbald before his death in that month. The account of Laurence'sLaurence of Canterbury
Laurence was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from about 604 to 619. He was a member of the Gregorian mission sent from Italy to England to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, although the date of his arrival is disputed...
miraculous scourging by Peter can be disregarded as a later hagiographical invention of the monastery of St Augustine's, Canterbury
St Augustine's Abbey
St Augustine's Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Canterbury, Kent, England.-Early history:In 597 Saint Augustine arrived in England, having been sent by Pope Gregory I, on what might nowadays be called a revival mission. The King of Kent at this time was Æthelberht, who happened to be married to a...
.
As mentioned above, it has been suggested that King "Aduluald" in the letter to Justus is a real king Æthelwald, perhaps a junior king of west Kent. In that case it would appear that Laurence converted Eadbald, and Justus converted Æthelwald. It has also been suggested that the pallium did not indicate Justus was archbishop, since Justus is told the limited circumstances in which he may wear it; however, the same phrasing occurs in the letter conveying the pallium to Archbishop Augustine, also quoted in Bede. Another possibility is that the letter was originally two letters. In this view, Bede has conflated the letter conveying the pallium with the letter congratulating Justus on the conversion, which according to Bede’s account was seven or so years earlier; but the grammatical details on which this suggestion is based are not unique to this letter, and as a result it is usually considered to be a single composition.
The letter to Æthelburg makes it clear that she was already married at the time the news of Eadbald’s conversion reached Rome. This is quite inconsistent with the earlier date Bede gives for Eadbald’s acceptance of Christianity, and it has been suggested in Bede's defence that Æthelburg married Edwin substantially earlier and stayed in Kent until 625 before travelling to Rome, and that the letter was written while she was in Kent. However, it would appear from Boniface’s letter that Boniface thought of Æthelburg as being at her husband’s side. It also appears that the letter to Justus was written after the letters to Edwin and Æthelburg, rather than before, as Bede has it; Boniface's letter to Edwin and Æthelburg indicates he had the news from messengers, but when he wrote to Justus he had heard from the king himself.
The story of Æthelburg’s marriage being dependent on Edwin allowing her to practice her faith has been questioned, since revising the chronology makes it likely, though not certain, that the marriage was arranged before Eadbald’s conversion. In this view, it would have been the church that objected to the marriage, and Æthelburg would have been Christian before Eadbald’s conversion. The story of Paulinus’s consecration is also problematic as he was not consecrated until at least 625 and possibly later, which is after the latest possible date for Æthelburg’s marriage. However, it may be that he traveled to Northumbria prior to his consecration and only later became bishop.
A revised chronology of some of these events follows, taking the above considerations into account.
- 616: Eadbald leads a pagan reaction to Christianity.
- 616: Mellitus and Justus, bishop of Rochester, leave Kent for Francia.
- c. 619: Laurence dies, and Mellitus becomes archbishop of Canterbury.
- Early 624?: Justus converts Eadbald. Messengers go to Rome. Also at about this time Æthelburg’s marriage to Edwin is arranged, perhaps before the conversion. Eadbald builds a church, and Mellitus consecrates it.
- 24 April 624: Mellitus dies and Justus succeeds him as archbishop of Canterbury.
- Mid 624: Edwin agrees to the marriage terms and Æthelburg travels to Northumbria, accompanied by Paulinus.
- Later 624: the pope receives news of Eadbald’s conversion and writes to Æthelburg and Edwin.
- Still later 624: the pope hears from Eadbald of his conversion, and also hears of Mellitus’s death. He writes to Justus to send him the pallium.
- 21 July 625 or 626: Justus consecrates Paulinus bishop of York.
This timeline extends the duration of the pagan reaction from less than a year, in Bede's narrative, to about eight years. This represents a more serious setback for the church.
640: Eorcenberht orders idols destroyed
According to Bede (HE III.8), Eorcenberht was the first king in Britain to command that pagan "idolsIdolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
" (cult image
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
s) be destroyed and that Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
be observed. It has been suggested that these orders may have been officially committed to writing, in the tradition of Kentish law-codes initiated by Æthelberht, but no such text survives. This indicates that while King Eadbald
Eadbald of Kent
Eadbald was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert. Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from...
had converted at least 16 years previously, the general population were still openly pagan in 640.
Essex 604-665
- 604: Sæberht of Essex is baptised by Mellitus
- 616: Sexred and Sæward of Essex are crowned: pagan resurgence
- 653: Sigeberht the Good is baptized
- 660: Swithhelm of Essex is crowned: pagan resurgence
- 662: Swithhelm is baptized
- 665: Sighere of EssexSighere of EssexSighere was the joint king of the Kingdom of Essex along with his brother Sebbi from 664 to 683. He was outlived by Sebbi, who became the sole ruler of Essex after his death. Sighere and Sebbi were cousins of their predecessor Swithelm. While Sighere returned to paganism, Sebbi remained...
leads a pagan resurgence - 665: JarumanJarumanJaruman was the fourth Bishop of Mercia. He fought against apostasy outside his diocese. He served as bishop in the time of King Wulfhere of Mercia, on whose behalf he undertook several missions to Saxon tribes which had lapsed into paganism...
is sent by Wulfhere of MerciaWulfhere of MerciaWulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
to reconvert the East Saxons.
Sæbert of Essex was baptised by Mellitus in 604, but following his death in 616 his sons Sexred and Sæward drove Melitus out and “encouraged their people to return to the old gods”. Mellitus returned to Essex when Eadbald of Kent converted, but pagans drove him out again. Essex remained officially pagan until 653 when Oswy of Northumbria persuaded Sigeberht the Good to convert and allow Cedd to preach there. In 660 Sigeberht was killed by his pagan brothers for being too accommodating to Christianity. Swithhelm took over, but Æthelwold of East Anglia persuaded him to convert in 662. Swithhelm died in 664 and his two cousins Sighere and Sæbbi ruled Essex jointly. While there is no mention of Sighere accepting Christianity in the first place, when a plague broke out in 665 he “abandoned the mysteries of the Christian faith and relapsed into paganism”. The people in Sighere’s half of Essex became openly pagan once again, but Sæbbi's ally Wulfhere of Merica sent the Jaruman to convert them and made Sighere marry his niece Osyth, who he later divorced. Sighere was the last pagan king of Essex.
604: Rædwald is baptized
Rædwald of East Anglia received the Christian sacraments from MellitusMellitus
Mellitus was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergymen sent to augment the mission,...
in Kent, presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht who may have been his baptismal sponsor. The date of this initiation is not exactly known, but since it is claimed that Augustine (d. c 604) dedicated a church near Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
, it may have followed Saebert's conversion fairly swiftly. In this way Rædwald became aligned with Æthelberht's system of authority. Bede states that even during Æthelbert's lifetime Rædwald was building up the leadership of the southern English for his own nation of East Angles.
In East Anglia Rædwald's conversion was not universally acceptable to his household, nor by his wife. She and her pagan teachers probably persuaded him to default in part from his commitment to it. In his temple, therefore, there were two altars, one dedicated to Christ, and one for dedications to the Anglo-Saxon gods. Raedwald is considered the most likely candidate for the Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
ship burial, which displays both pagan and Christian iconography.
In 616 the pagan backlash in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
left Rædwald the only (partially) Christian king in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Rædwald died in 624 and was succeeded by his son Eorpwald
Eorpwald of East Anglia
Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, , succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles...
.
627: Eorpwald is baptized
Paulinus undertook the conversion of the Northumbrian people, and also those of LindseyLindsey
Lindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...
(Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
) and East Anglia. This Christian patronage helped to affirm Edwin's position as senior ruler of the English, and until his final confrontation with Cadwallon ap Cadfan
Cadwallon ap Cadfan
Cadwallon ap Cadfan was the King of Gwynedd from around 625 until his death in battle. The son and successor of Cadfan ap Iago, he is best remembered as the King of the Britons who invaded and conquered Northumbria, defeating and killing its king, Edwin, prior to his own death in battle against...
of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
in 632-3 he also held the British or Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
powers under his dominion.
It was at Edwin's prompting that Eorpwald
Eorpwald of East Anglia
Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, , succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles...
, together with his kingdom, received the Christian faith and sacraments. Eorpwald was therefore not yet a Christian during his father's lifetime nor at his own accession. It is not known whether his baptism took place in East Anglia, Northumbria or Kent, but it is very likely that Edwin, now a senior ruler, was his sponsor at baptism. The conversion had the political benefit of bringing the entire eastern seaboard from Northumbria to Kent under the dominion of Christian rulers in alliance with Edwin, with the single exception of the Essex.
627: Ricberht's Pagan backlash
Not long after his conversion Eorpwald was slain (occisus) by a pagan (viro gentili) named Ricberht. The circumstances are not recorded, so that it is not known whether Ricberht represented an internal East Anglian opposition to Christian rule, or if he was an emissary from an external power wishing to diminish Edwin's influence.Bede states that after the slaying of Eorpwald the kingdom reverted to heathen rule (in errore versata est) for three years. This does not necessarily mean an overt struggle between the worship of the Anglo-Saxon gods and the worship of Christ, but could equally express a conflict in the political allegiances which Edwin's rise to power had prompted. The attribution of these three years to a supposed rule of Ricberht is a banner of convenience, though the fact that his name was remembered at all (when East Anglian history of this period is dependent upon very fragmentary records) indicates that he was a person of some importance.
630: Sigeberht of East Anglia returns from exile
After the interregnum prompted by Eorpwald's assassination, Sigeberht was recalled from Gaul to become ruler of the East Angles. It is likely that he gained the kingdom by military means, because his prowess as a military commander was later remembered. During his reign part of the Kingdom was governed by his kinsman Ecgric, the relationship described by the Latin term cognatus. This may mean that Ecgric was a son of Rædwald. However some authorities consider Ecgric to be the same person as Æthilric, named in the East Anglian tally (in the Anglian Collection) as a son of EniEni of East Anglia
Eni or Ennius was a member of the Wuffing family, the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of East Anglia. He was the son of Tyttla and brother of Raedwald, both kings of East Anglia.There is no historical evidence that Eni ever ruled the East Angles himself...
, Rædwald's brother. Whoever Ecgric was, Sigeberht had equal or senior power while he ruled, because the influence of his religious patronage was felt both in eastern and western parts of the kingdom.
Sigeberht's Christian conversion may have been a decisive factor in his achieving royal power, since at that time Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
(616-632/3) was the senior English king, and only he and Eadbald of Kent were Christian rulers. Eadbald certainly had contacts with the Frankish rulers. After Dagobert
Dagobert I
Dagobert I was the king of Austrasia , king of all the Franks , and king of Neustria and Burgundy . He was the last Merovingian dynast to wield any real royal power...
succeeded Clothar II
Clotaire II
Chlothar II , called the Great or the Young , King of Neustria, and, from 613 to 629, King of all the Franks, was not yet born when his father, King Chilperic I died in 584...
in Francia in 628, Sigeberht's emergence helped to strengthen the English conversion upon which Edwin's power rested. Sigeberht is likely to have encouraged the conversion of Ecgric, if he was not already Christian. Edwin's encouragement took shape in the marriage of his grand-niece Hereswith, sister of Saint Hilda
Hilda of Whitby
Hilda of Whitby or Hild of Whitby was a Christian saint and the founding abbess of the monastery at Whitby, which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby...
, to Æthilric, Rædwald's nephew. Hereswith and Hild were under Edwin's protection and were baptised with him in 626. This marriage held the presumption that Æthilric was, or would become, Christian, and probably also that he should at some time become King of East Anglia.
Bede relates that the East Anglian apostle Saint Felix
Felix of Burgundy
Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich , was a saint and the first bishop of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia...
came to England from Burgundy as a missionary bishop, and was sent by Honorius, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
to assist Sigeberht. William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
has the later story that Felix accompanied Sigeberht to East Anglia. In either case, this dates Sigeberht's accession to c629-630, because Felix was Bishop for 17 years, his successor Thomas for five, and his successor Berhtgisl Boniface for 17 - and Berhtgisl died in around 669. Sigeberht established the bishop's seat of his kingdom for Felix at Dommoc
Dommoc
Dommoc, a place not certainly identified but probably within the modern county of Suffolk, was the original seat of the Anglo-Saxon bishops of the Kingdom of East Anglia. It was established by Sigeberht of East Anglia for Saint Felix in c. 629–31 It remained the bishopric of all East Anglia...
, claimed variously for Dunwich
Dunwich
Dunwich is a small town in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.Dunwich was the capital of East Anglia 1500 years ago but the harbour and most of the town have since disappeared due to coastal erosion. Its decline began in 1286 when a sea surge hit the East Anglian coast, and...
or Walton
Walton, Suffolk
Walton is a small village in Suffolk, between the rivers Orwell and Deben. It is often confused as being part of Felixstowe, although it is a separate village and is mentioned in the Domesday Book...
, Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
(both coastal sites in Suffolk). If at Walton (as Rochester claimed during the thirteenth century), the site of Dommoc may have been within the precinct of a Roman fort which formerly stood there.
Sigeberht also established a school in his kingdom for boys to be taught reading and writing in Latin, on the model that he had witnessed in Gaul. Felix assisted him by obtaining teachers of the kind who taught in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Paulinus of York
Paulinus of York
Paulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group...
was from 633 to 644 bishop of Rochester
Diocese of Rochester
The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in South-East England and forms part of the Province of Canterbury. It is an ancient diocese, having been established in 604; only the neighbouring Diocese of Canterbury is older in the Church of England....
on the Medway
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
, then the nearest bishopric in Kent to East Anglia. Paulinus had (according to the Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
Life of Gregory the Great) been connected with the court of Rædwald during the exile of Edwin.
The allegiance of Felix to Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
determined the Roman basis of the East Anglian Church, though his training in Burgundy may have been coloured by the teaching of the Irish missionary Columbanus
Columbanus
Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.He spread among the...
in Luxeuil. In around 633, perhaps shortly before Aidan
Aidan of Lindisfarne
Known as Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Aidan the Apostle of Northumbria , was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the Anglicised form of the original Old...
was sent to Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
from Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
, the Irish royal hermit and missionary Fursey came from the Athlone area with his priests and brethren to East Anglia. Sigeberht granted him a monastery site in an old Roman fort called Cnobheresburg, usually identified as Burgh Castle
Burgh Castle
Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, near Great Yarmouth, some 6 km west of Great Yarmouth and within the Broads National Park.-Roman Fort:...
near Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
. Felix and Fursey both effected many conversions and established churches in Sigeberht's kingdom. Bede records that Archbishop Honorius and Bishop Felix much admired the work of Aidan of Lindisfarne. Therefore it is likely that they also appreciated of Fursey, whose community also lived according to the ascetic principles of Irish Christianity.
Northumbria 625-634
- 625: PaulinusPaulinus of YorkPaulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group...
begins preaching - 627: EdwinEdwin of NorthumbriaEdwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
is baptised - 633: OsricOsric of DeiraOsric was a King of Deira in northern England. He was a cousin of king Edwin of Northumbria, being the son of Edwin's uncle Aelfric...
and Eanfrith of BerniciaEanfrith of BerniciaEanfrith was briefly King of Bernicia from 633 to 634. He was the son of Æthelfrith, a Bernician king who had also ruled Deira to the south before being killed in battle around 616 against Raedwald of East Anglia, who had given refuge to Edwin, an exiled prince of Deira.Edwin became king of...
are crowned: Heathen resurgence - 634: OswaldOswald of NorthumbriaOswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint.Oswald was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
is crowned
Paulinus arrived in Bernicia
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
in 625 to convince Edwin
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
to accept baptism. Edwin allowed his daughter Eanfled to be baptised, and vowed to accept baptism himself if his campaign against Cwichelm of Wessex
Cwichelm of Wessex
Cwichelm was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a people in the upper Thames area who later created the kingdom of Wessex. He is usually counted among the Kings of Wessex....
was successful. Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
recounts that Edwin was finally baptised on 12 April 627, but he does not appear to have made any effort to convert his subjects. He died in 633 and Osric and Eanfrith, his cousin and nephew respectively, took over Bernicia and Deira
Deira
Deira was a kingdom in Northern England during the 6th century AD. Itextended from the Humber to the Tees, and from the sea to the western edge of the Vale of York...
. Osric and Eanfrith had both accepted baptism while in exile with the Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
, but upon taking their thrones reverted their kingdoms to paganism. They were both killed by Cadwallon ap Cadfan
Cadwallon ap Cadfan
Cadwallon ap Cadfan was the King of Gwynedd from around 625 until his death in battle. The son and successor of Cadfan ap Iago, he is best remembered as the King of the Britons who invaded and conquered Northumbria, defeating and killing its king, Edwin, prior to his own death in battle against...
of Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
in 634, who was in turn killed by Eanfrith's brother Oswald
Oswald of Northumbria
Oswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint.Oswald was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
in the same year. Oswald had been baptised while in exile with the Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, and had persuaded his council to accept baptism if they were victorious against Cadwallon. Oswald requested missionaries to convert the pagan Bernicians and Deirans. The first bishop to try eventually gave up and returned to Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
, reporting that the Northumbrians were ardently pagan and refusing to convert. Aidan arrived in 635 and spent the rest of his life converting the Northumbrians, dying in 651.
Mercia 653-655
- 653: Preaching Begins
- 655: Peada is crowned
The pagan King Penda allowed Christian missionaries to begin preaching in Mercia in 653 when his son Peada was baptised. Peada had accepted baptism in order to marry Alhflæd, the daughter of Oswiu of Bernicia. Penda was killed in battle against Oswiu on 15 November 655, and Peada took the throne, becoming the first Christian king. Unusually Mercia had no official relapse into paganism.
Sussex 675-681
- 675: Æthelwealh is baptised
- 681: WilfridWilfridWilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
begins preaching
Æthelwealh of Sussex was baptised in Mercia sometime during or just before 675, probably as a condition of marrying the Christian Queen Eafa of the Hwicce. In 681 Wilfrid arrived in Sussex to begin converting the general population. Bede says Wulfhere had had him converted “not long previously” , but it couldn’t have been later than 675 because that is when Wulfhere died. Æthelwealh gave Wilfrid land in Selsey where he founded Selsey Abbey
Selsey Abbey
Selsey Abbey was almost certainly built at Church Norton, Selsey, Sussex, England. It was founded in 683AD, and became the seat of the Sussex bishopric, until it was moved in 1075AD to Chichester.-Historical Context :...
. While there Wilfrid met with Cædwalla of Wessex and guaranteed support for his invasion of Sussex (despite Æthelwealh granting him land and allowing him to preach in his kingdom). In 685 Cædwalla, who was now King of Wessex, invaded Sussex and killed Æthelwealh. Two ealdormen of Æthelwealh, Berthun
Berthun of Sussex
Beorhthun was a dux of the South Saxons.Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum records the invasion of the South Saxon kingdom by Caedwalla of the West Saxons and the killing of the South Saxon king Æthelwalh. Caedwalla was driven off by Beorhthun and Andhun who then jointly ruled the...
and Andhun
Andhun of Sussex
Andhun was an Ealdorman of Sussex under King Æðelwealh, who was slain by the Wessex prince Cædwalla, who invaded and ravaged Sussex. Berhthun and Andhun succeeded in driving Caedwalla from the Kingdom....
, drove him out and administered the kingdom from then on. Their religious affiliation is not recorded. In 686 Wilfrid was recalled to York, Berthun and Andhun attacked Kent, Berthun was killed somewhere along the line and Sussex was conquered by Cædwalla.
Wessex 603-685
- 603: Augustine of CanterburyAugustine of CanterburyAugustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
begins preaching (possibly apocryphal) - 635: Cynegils of WessexCynegils of WessexCynegils was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 643.Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his lifetime...
and Cwichelm of WessexCwichelm of WessexCwichelm was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a people in the upper Thames area who later created the kingdom of Wessex. He is usually counted among the Kings of Wessex....
are baptised - 643: Cenwalh is crowned: Heathen resurgence
- 655: Cenwalh returns from exile, now baptized
- 676: CentwineCentwine of WessexCentwine was King of Wessex from circa 676 to 685 or 686, although he was perhaps not the only king of the West Saxons at the time.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Centwine became king circa 676, succeeding Æscwine...
is crowned, Heathen resurgence - 685: Cædwalla is crowned, unbaptized but pro-Christian
The monk Goscelin
Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin was a Benedictine hagiographical writer, born between 1020–1035 and who died shortly after 1107...
recorded a short legend that after converting Æthelberht of Kent, Augustine traveled into Wessex to convert the population. In the village of Cernel the locals jeered at him and drove him out of town, pinning fish to him in mockery of his religion. According to this legend Augustine eventually returned and converted them by smashing their idol. Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, however, says that the West Saxons were “completely heathen” until 635 when Birinus began preaching there. The joint Kings Cynigils and Cwichelm were baptised in 635 or 636 with King Oswin of Northumbria as their godfather, and Bede claims the common population were converted also. When Cynegils died in 643 his son Cenwalh ascended to the throne; Bede said of Cenwalh, that he “refused to embrace the mysteries of the faith, and of the heavenly kingdom; and not long after also he lost the dominion of his earthly kingdom; for he put away the sister of Penda, king of the Mercians, whom he had married, and took another wife; whereupon a war ensuing, he was by him expelled his kingdom". The pagan King Penda took over Wessex and Cenwalh accepted baptism while under the protection of the Christian king Anna of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. Penda was killed in 655 allowing the now-Christian Cenwalh to return to Wessex. He was succeeded by his widow Seaxburh and then Æscwine; their religion is unknown. In 676 Centwine took the throne. Centwine was a Heathen throughout his reign, but abdicated to become a Christian monk. Cædwalla became king of Wessex in 685 or 686, and his religion is difficult to determine. He remained unbaptised throughout his entire reign, but supported Christianity. Before attacking the pagan Isle of Wight, be vowed to give 1/4 of the land and booty to the Church if he was successful, a vow he fulfilled by granting estates to Wilfrid. He also “allowed” the heirs of Arwald, the last pagan King of Wight, to be baptised before he executed them. He is recorded elsewhere granting land to the church. Before conquering Sussex he worked with the Bishops Wilfrid
Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
and Eorcenwald to establish an ecclesiastical structure there. He was seriously wounded while conquering the Isle of Wight in 686. In 688 he abdicated and went on a pilgrimage to Rome and was baptised by Pope Sergius I
Pope Sergius I
Pope Saint Sergius I was pope from 687 to 701. Selected to end a schism between Antipope Paschal and Antipope Theodore, Sergius I ended the last disputed sede vacante of the Byzantine Papacy....
on 10 April 689, dying 10 days later from his wounds.
His successor Ine issued a law code in 695 which reveal him to be a Christian. However, one of Ine’s laws proscribe a fine for failing to baptise one’s children, and another fine for failing to tithe, which indicates the common population were slow to adopt Christan habits voluntarily.
Isle of Wight 661-686
- 661: Wulfhere of MerciaWulfhere of MerciaWulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
invades, islanders forcibly baptized - 661: Wulfhere of Mercia leaves, islanders immediately return to Heathenism
- 686: Cædwalla of Wessex invades, islanders ethnically cleansed and Kingdom annexed
The Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
of the Isle of Wight were forcibly baptised when Wulfhere invaded in 661. When Wulfhere returned to Mercia he left the priest Eoppa
Eoppa
The name Eoppa is an Anglo-Saxon given name appearing in two traditional pedigrees:*Eoppa, father of Ida of Bernicia*Eoppa, nephew of king Ine of Wessex and great-grandfather of Egbert of Wessex...
in Wight, but he could not stop the islanders quickly reverting to open paganism. Wight remained pagan until 686 when it was invaded by the Christian sympathiser Cædwalla of Wessex. Their pagan King Arwald
Arwald
Arwald was the last Jutish King of the Isle of Wight and last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England until the Vikings in the 9th century. His name may have been "Arwald" or "Atwald" - Bede's script is often difficult to read...
was killed in battle, and his heirs were baptised and executed. Most of the pagan population was purportedly exterminated and replaced with Christian West Saxons. Those who remained were forced to accept baptism and also the West Saxon dialect, and the Isle of Wight was incorporated into the Kingdom of Wessex. King Arwald was the last English King to die a pagan.