User:Ltwin/Sandbox Religion in Medieval England

Tentative outline:

1. History (narrative)
   1. Anglo-Saxon Era (whenever the period begins - 1065) -main article Anglo-Saxon Christianity
      1. Christianization
      2. Unified kingdom
   2. Post-Conquest (1066-whenever the period ends)
2. Belief and practice
   1. Liturgy and worship
   2. Cult of the Saints/festivals/pilgrimage
   3. Monasticism
   4. Lollardy
3. Structure
   1. Clergy
   2. Church and state
4. Judaism

Religion in Medieval England

History

Anglo-Saxon period

Main article: Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England

Paganism and Christianisation

Anglo-Saxon reliquary cross, with English-carved walrus ivory Christ and German gold and cedar cross, c. 1000

Main articles: Anglo-Saxon paganism and Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England

After 380, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. The church in Roman Britain was overseen by a hierarchy of bishops and priests. Many existing pagan shrines were converted to Christian use and few pagan sites still operated by the fifth century. After the fifth century, formal church organisation disappeared in Roman Britain with the collapse of the Roman system and invasions by Germanic pagans. These Anglo-Saxons arrived with their own polytheistic gods, including Woden, Thunor and Tiw, still reflected in various English place names. Despite the resurgence of paganism in England, Christian communities still survived in more western areas such as Gloucestershire and Somerset.

The movement towards Christianity began again in the late sixth and seventh centuries, helped by the conversion of the Franks in Northern France, who carried considerable influence in England. Pope Gregory I sent a team of missionaries—known as the Gregorian mission—to convert King Æthelberht of Kent and his household, starting the process of converting the Kingdom of Kent. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and started to build new churches across the South-East, reusing existing pagan shrines. Oswald and Oswiu, kings of Northumbria, were converted in the 630s and 640s by Scottish missionaries, and the wave of change carried on through the middle of the seventh century across the kingdoms of Mercia, the South Saxons and the Isle of Wight. The process was largely complete by the end of the seventh century, but left a confusing and disparate array of local practices and religious ceremonies. This new Christianity reflected the existing military culture of the Anglo-Saxons: as kings began to convert in the sixth and seventh centuries, conversion began to be used as a justification for war against the remaining pagan kingdoms, for example, while Christian saints were imbued with martial properties.

There were tensions between the Roman missionaries and indigenous Celtic Christians. The Celtic and Latin 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. King Oswiu of Northumbria, summoned the Synod of Whitby in 664. Both sides made arguments, but the king decided that Northumbria would follow the Latin tradition. The Council of Hertford in 673 was the first meeting of bishops from across England, and it confirmed the observance of the traditions of the Latin Church over those of the Celtic Church, which had previously held influence in the north and west.

The Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries reintroduced paganism to North-East England, leading in turn to another wave of conversion. Indigenous Scandinavian beliefs were very similar to other Germanic groups, with a pantheon of gods including Odin, Thor and Ullr, combined with a belief in a final, apocalyptic battle called Ragnarok. The Norse settlers in England were converted relatively quickly, assimilating their beliefs into Christianity in the decades following the occupation of York, of which the Archbishop had survived. The process was largely complete by the early tenth century and enabled England's leading churchmen to negotiate with the warlords. As the Norse in mainland Scandinavia started to convert, many mainland rulers recruited missionaries from England to assist in the process.

Unified kingdom

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deerhurst_Church_and_Priory_Farm_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1397043.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EarlsBartonChurch.JPG

Moorman pp. 54-55 has interesting comments on several archbishops during Edward the Confessors reign

Alfred the Great of Wessex and his successors led the Anglo-Saxon resistance and reconquest, culminating in the formation of a single Kingdom of England. The king was regarded not only as the head of the church but also "the vicar of Christ among a Christian folk". Bishops were chosen by the king and tended to be recruited from among royal chaplains or monasteries. The bishop-elect was then presented at a synod where clerical approval was obtained and consecration followed. The appointment of an archbishop was more complicated and required approval from the pope. The Archbishop of Canterbury had to travel to Rome to receive the pallium, his symbol of office. These visits to Rome and the payments that accompanied them (such as Peter's Pence) was a point of contention.

With the conversion of much of England in the sixth and seventh centuries, there was an explosion of local church building. English monasteries formed the main basis for the church and were often sponsored by local rulers. They took various forms, including mixed communities headed by abbesses, bishop-led communities of monks, and others formed around married priests and their families. Cathedrals were constructed, staffed either with secular canons in the European tradition or, uniquely to England, chapters of monks. These institutions were badly affected in the ninth century by Viking raids and predatory annexations by the nobility. By the start of the 10th century, monastic lands, financial resources and the quality of monasteries' religious work had been much diminished.

Reforms followed under the English kings who promoted the Benedictine rule then popular on the Continent. When Edgar the Peaceful became king in 959, there was only one Benedictine monastery in England, Glastonbury Abbey led by Dunstan. The king and Dunstan, who he appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, worked together to promote Benedictine Reform throughout England. As national institutions owning land throughout England, royally controlled and funded monasteries diminished the power of local ealdormen. A reformed network of around 40 monastic institutions across the south and east of England, under the protection of the king, helped re-establish royal control over the reconquered Danelaw.

By the 10th century, the parish system was well established. The parish church was still the property of a local lord, but in towns and the Danelaw the people had acquired ownership. Parish priests were typically local men with a basic education. Many of them were married (especially in the North), but priestly celibacy was becoming more common. For the literate, there was an abundance of vernacular religious literature, such as the Blickling homilies and the writings of Ælfric.

Edward the Confessor's Westminster Abbey, depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

In 1000, there were eighteen dioceses in England. In the Province of Canterbury: Canterbury, Rochester, London, Winchester, Dorchester, Ramsbury, Sherborne, Selsey, Lichfield, Hereford, Worcester, Crediton, Cornwall, Elmham, Lindsey, and Wells. In the Province of York: York and Durham. To assist bishops in supervising the parishes and monasteries within their dioceses, the office of archdeacon was created. Once a year, the bishop would summon parish priests to the cathedral for a synod.

In the 1050s, Edward the Confessor rebuilt Westminster Abbey as his burial place. It was modeled on Jumièges Abbey and other Norman churches and was the largest, grandest church building in England. The king's decision to be buried at Westminster rather than at the traditional site of Winchester was part of the process whereby London became the center of English political life.

Post-Conquest (1066–1500)

Starkey discusses how Norman's built new churches and moved the seats of bishoprics. 
Starkey page 127 discusses William II and his unpopularity because he kept bishoprics vacant and took the income. 

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England with the blessing of Pope Alexander II. The pope also ordered English clergy to submit to William's authority. Control over the church was an important element in the Norman conquest of England. In 1070, two papal legates arrived in England to oversee the reform of the church. The legates purged the English episcopate of bishops deemed incompetent, sexually immoral, or who had been appointed by antipopes. This aligned with William's goal of removing unreliable church officials. Afterwards, only two English bishops remained. Lanfranc of Bec was made Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas of Bayeux was made Archbishop of York.

Some of these Norman and French churchmen adopted and embraced aspects of the former Anglo-Saxon religious system, while others introduced practices from Normandy. Extensive English lands were granted to monasteries in Normandy, allowing them to create daughter priories and monastic cells across the kingdom. The monasteries were brought firmly into the web of feudal relations, with their holding of land linked to the provision of military support to the crown. The Normans adopted the Anglo-Saxon model of monastic cathedral communities, and within seventy years the majority of English cathedrals were controlled by monks; every English cathedral, however, was rebuilt to some extent by the new rulers. England's bishops remained powerful temporal figures, and in the early twelfth-century raised armies against Scottish invaders and built up extensive holdings of castles across the country.

New religious orders began to be introduced into England. As ties to Normandy waned, the French Cluniac order became fashionable and their houses were introduced in England. The Augustinians spread quickly from the beginning of the twelfth century, while later in the century the Cistercians reached England, creating houses with a more austere interpretation of the monastic rules and building the great abbeys of Rievaulx and Fountains. By 1215, there were over 600 monastic communities in England, but new endowments slowed during the thirteenth century, creating long-term financial problems for many institutions. The Dominican and Franciscan friars arrived in England during the 1220s, establishing 150 friaries by the end of the thirteenth century; these mendicant orders rapidly became popular, particularly in towns, and heavily influenced local preaching. The religious military orders that became popular across Europe from the twelfth century acquired possessions in England, including the Templars, Teutonic Knights and Hospitallers.

Belief and practice

Liturgy and worship

This could be important 

Archbishop Chichele promoted the Sarum rite.

Church organisation

Development

English dioceses between 950 and 1035

While ultimately under papal authority, the English church was divided into two ecclesiastical provinces, each led by a metropolitan or archbishop. The northern province was based at York, and the southern province was based at Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury had final authority over the entire English Church. This division between the Province of Canterbury led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Province of York led by the Archbishop of York remained a permanent feature of the English Church.

A major reorganisation of the English church occurred in 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.

Initially, the diocese was the only administrative unit in the Anglo-Saxon church. The bishop served the diocese from a cathedral town with the help of a group of priests known as the bishop's familia. These priests would baptise, teach and visit the remoter parts of the diocese. Familiae were placed in other important settlements, and these were called minsters. The parish system grew out of manorialism. The parish church was a private church built and endowed by the lord of the manor, who retained the right to nominate the parish priest. The priest supported himself by farming his glebe and was also entitled to other support from parishioners. The most important was the tithe, the right to collect one-tenth of all produce from land or animals. Originally, the tithe was a voluntary gift, but the church successfully made it a compulsory tax by the 10th century.

In 1000, there were eighteen dioceses in England. In the Province of Canterbury: Canterbury, Rochester, London, Winchester, Dorchester, Ramsbury, Sherborne, Selsey, Lichfield, Hereford, Worcester, Crediton, Cornwall, Elmham, Lindsey, and Wells. In the Province of York: York and Durham. To assist bishops in supervising the parishes and monasteries within their dioceses, the office of archdeacon was created. Once a year, the bishop would summon parish priests to the cathedral for a synod.

Relation to the state

Main article: Church and state in medieval Europe

Mid-thirteenth-century depiction of the death of Archbishop Thomas Becket

The Church had a close relationship with the English state throughout the Middle Ages. The bishops and major monastic leaders played an important part in national government, having key roles on the king's council. Bishops often oversaw towns and cities, managing local taxation and government. This frequently became untenable with the Viking incursions of the ninth century, and in locations such as Worcester the local bishops came to new accommodations with the local ealdormen, exchanging some authority and revenue for assistance in defence. The early English church was racked with disagreement on doctrine, which was addressed by the Synod of Whitby in 664; some issues were resolved, but arguments between the archbishops of Canterbury and York as to which had primacy across Britain began shortly afterwards and continued throughout most of the medieval period.

Moved from the history section 

In the Anglo-Saxon period, the king was regarded not only as the head of the church but also "the vicar of Christ among a Christian folk". Bishops were chosen by the king and tended to be recruited from among royal chaplains or monasteries. The bishop-elect was then presented at a synod where clerical approval was obtained and consecration followed. The appointment of an archbishop was more complicated and required approval from the pope. The Archbishop of Canterbury had to travel to Rome to receive the pallium, his symbol of office. These visits to Rome and the payments that accompanied them (such as Peter's Pence) was a point of contention.

End

William the Conqueror acquired the support of the Church for the invasion of England by promising ecclesiastical reform. William promoted celibacy amongst the clergy and gave ecclesiastical courts more power, but also reduced the Church's direct links to Rome and made it more accountable to the king. Tensions arose between these practices and the reforming movement of Pope Gregory VII, which advocated greater autonomy from royal authority for the clergy, condemned the practice of simony and promoted greater influence for the papacy in church matters. Despite the bishops continuing to play a major part in royal government, tensions emerged between the kings of England and key leaders within the English Church. Kings and archbishops clashed over rights of appointment and religious policy, and successive archbishops including Anselm, Theobald of Bec, Thomas Becket and Stephen Langton were variously forced into exile, arrested by royal knights or even killed. By the early thirteenth century, however, the church had largely won its argument for independence, answering almost entirely to Rome.

Bishops held considerable secular responsibilities. As tenants-in-chief of the crown, they were responsible for providing a quota of armed knights for the king's army. Although they weren't expected to be involved in actual combat, several bishops became active military leaders; an example is Thurstan, Archbishop of York, who mustered the army that defeated the Scots at the Battle of the Standard in 1138. Bishops were also responsible for administering their huge estates and presiding in the courts that dealt with civil disputes within them. They were also required to attend royal councils, and with the development of the Parliament of England in the 13th century, the two archbishops and nineteen bishops were required to take their seats in the House of Lords, along with the abbots and priors of the largest religious houses; collectively, they were known as the Lords Spiritual.

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

• Alexander, James W. (1970). "The Becket Controversy in Recent Historiography". The Journal of British Studies. 9 (2): 1–26. doi:10.1086/385589. JSTOR 175153.
• Nilson, Ben (2001). Cathedral Shrines of Medieval England. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-808-2.