Anglo-Saxons religion

In terms of religion, the Anglo-Saxons were mostly known for being their paganism during the
initial period of Early Medieval England. In fact, the pejorative
terms paganism and heathenism were first applied to this religion by Christian Anglo-Saxons, and
it does not appear that these pagans had a name for their religion themselves; Place-names
containing the names of gods or other heathen elements are plentiful enough to prove the vitality
of heathenism and to account for the slow progress of conversion in some areas.

We cannot know precisely how or when Christianity first reached Britain, but it was certainly well
before Christianity was accepted by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century
AD.

In Britain, Christianity was probably still a minority religion, restricted largely to the urban centres
and their hinterlands. While it did have some impact in the countryside, here it appears that
indigenous Late Iron Age polytheistic belief systems continued to be widely practised. Some areas,
such as the Welsh Marches, the majority of Wales (excepting Gwent), Lancashire, and the south-
western peninsula, are totally lacking evidence for Christianity in this period.

Britons who found themselves in the areas now dominated by Anglo-Saxon elites possibly
embraced the Anglo-Saxons' pagan religion in order to aid their own self-advancement, just as
they adopted other trappings of Anglo-Saxon culture. This would have been easier for those
Britons who, rather than being Christian, continued to practise indigenous polytheistic belief
systems.

In 601, Augustine, a monk sent by Pope Gregory the Great to re-establish Christianity in England
became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He was very successful with the ruling and aristocratic
families of England (these rulers may have felt themselves to be members of a pagan backwater in
contrast to the Christian kingdoms in continental Europe), but made little progress with the
ordinary people. This was partly because Augustine was interested in establishing Christian
authority, and that meant bringing rulers to the new faith.

It was the Celtic Church which brought Christianity to the ordinary people of Britain. The Celtic
bishops went out from their monasteries of Wales, Ireland and Scotland, walking from village to
village teaching Christianity. In spite of the differences between Anglo-Saxons and Celts, these
bishops seem to have been readily accepted in Anglo-Saxon areas.

England had become Christian very quickly. The pace of Christian conversion varied across Anglo-
Saxon England, with it taking almost 90 years for the official conversion to succeed. Most of the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms returned to paganism for a time after the death of their first converted
king. However, by the end of the 680s, all of the Anglo-Saxon peoples were at least nominally
Christian. Also, English teachers returned to the lands from which the Anglo-Saxons had come,
bringing Christianity to much of Germany.
It remains difficult to determine the extent to which pre-Christian beliefs retained their popularity
among the Anglo-Saxon populace from the seventh century onward. In some books and written
laws there are some imposed penalties for those that were still practicing paganism. However,
some decades later, Bede (one of the greatest teachers and writers of the Early Middle Ages)
wrote about paganism as if it had died out in Anglo-Saxon England. Condemnations of pagan cults
also do not appear in other canons from this later period, suggesting that ecclesiastical figures no
longer considered persisting paganism to be a problem.

Saxon kings helped the Church to grow, but the Church also increased the power of king. Bishops
gave kings their support, which made it harder for royal power to be questioned. Kings had “God’s
approval”.

There were other ways in which the Church increased the power of the English state. It established
monasteries, or ministers, for example, Westminster, which were places of learning and
education.

The king who made most use of the Church was Alfred, the great king who ruled Wessex from 871-
899. He used the literate men of the Church to help establish a system of law, to educate the
people and to write down important matters. He started the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the most
important source, together with Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, for
understanding the period.

The Anglo-Saxon kings also preferred the Roman Church to the Celtic Church for economic reasons
such as: an increasement of local trading in villages around monasteries, an encouragement of the
contact with other parts of Europe through bishops and monks that used to travel along Europe’s
vital trade routes; the increased use of Latin, that encouraged English trade with the continent,
etc.

Soon, England became well know for its exports (woolen goods, cheese, hunting dogs, metal
goods) and imports (wine, fish , pepper, jewellery).