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Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon period (597–1065) (COFE History article)
The Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons began in 597 when Pope Gregory I dispatched the Gregorian Mission to convert the Kingdom of Kent. The mission's leader, Augustine, became the first archbishop of Canterbury. The conversion of northern England was aided by the Hiberno-Scottish mission, which promoted Celtic Christianity in contrast to the Latin Christianity of the Gregorian Mission.

The Celtic and Roman churches disagreed on several issues. The most important was the date of Easter. There were other differences over baptismal customs and the style of tonsure worn by monks. To settle the matter of which tradition Northumbria would follow, King Oswiu summoned the Synod of Whitby in 664. After hearing arguments from both sides, the king decided in favor of the Roman tradition, as this was followed by the successors of Saint Peter.

In the late 8th century, Viking raids had a devastating impact on the church in northern and eastern England. Monasteries and churches were raided for wealth in the form of golden crosses, altar plate, and jewels decorating relics and illuminated Bibles. Eventually, the raids turned into wars of conquest and the kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, and parts of Mercia became the Danelaw, whose rulers were Scandinavian pagans. Alfred the Great of Wessex ((r. 871 – 899)) and his successors led the Anglo-Saxon resistance and reconquest, culminating in the formation of a single Kingdom of England.

Early organization
In 668, Theodore of Tarsus became archbishop of Canterbury. He reformed many aspects of the church's administration. At the Synod of Hertford in 672, canons were adopted to promote greater uniformity, among these that the English bishops should hold an annual council at Clovesho.

A major reorganisation of the English church occurred the late 700s. King Offa of Mercia wanted his own kingdom to have an archbishop since the archbishop of Canterbury was also a great Kentish magnate. In 787, a council of the English church attended by two papal legates elevated the Diocese of Lichfield into an archbishopric. There were now three provinces in England: York, Lichfield and Canterbury. However, this arrangement was abandoned in 803, and Lichfield was reabsorbed into the Province of Canterbury.

Gregorian mission
At the end of the 6th century the most powerful ruler among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was Æthelberht of Kent, whose lands extended north to the River Humber. He married a Frankish princess, Bertha of Paris, daughter of Charibert I and his wife Ingoberga. There were strong trade connections between Kent and the Franks. The marriage was agreed to on the condition that she be allowed to practice her religion. She brought her chaplain, Liudhard, with her. A former Roman church was restored for Bertha just outside the City of Canterbury. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, it served as her private chapel.

In 595, Pope Gregory I dispatched Augustine, prior of Gregory's own monastery of St Andrew in Rome, to head the mission to Kent. Augustine arrived on the Isle of Thanet in 597 and established his base at the main town of Canterbury. Æthelberht converted to Christianity sometime before 601; other conversions then followed. The following year, he established the Monastery of SS. Peter and Paul. After Augustine's death in 604, the monastery was named after him and eventually became a missionary school.

Through the influence of Æthelberht, his nephew Sæberht of Essex also converted, as did Rædwald of East Anglia, although Rædwald also retained an altar to the old gods. In 601 Pope Gregory sent additional missioners to assist Augustine. Among them was the monk Mellitus. Gregory wrote the Epistola ad Mellitum advising him that local temples be Christianized and asked Augustine to Christianize pagan practices, so far as possible, into dedication ceremonies or feasts of martyrs in order to ease the transition to Christianity. In 604 Augustine consecrated Mellitus as Bishop of the East Saxons. He established his see at London at a church probably founded by Æthelberht, rather than Sæberht. Another of Augustine's associates was Justus for whom Æthelberht built a church near Rochester, Kent. Upon Augustine's death around 604, he was succeeded as archbishop by Laurence of Canterbury, a member of the original mission.

Church and state
Royal authority and ecclesiastical authority were mutually reinforcing. Through the coronation ritual, the church invested the monarch with sacred authority.

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