217-514: The English Benedictine Reform or Monastic Reform of the English church in the late tenth century was a religious and intellectual movement in the later Anglo-Saxon period . In the mid-tenth century almost all monasteries were staffed by secular clergy , who were often married. The reformers sought to replace them with celibate contemplative monks following the Rule of Saint Benedict . The movement
434-479: A Christian kingdom after Cenwalh ( r. 642–645, 648–672 ) was baptised and was expanded under his rule. Cædwalla later conquered Sussex , Kent and the Isle of Wight . His successor, Ine ( r. 689–726 ), issued one of the oldest surviving English law codes and established a second West Saxon bishopric . The throne subsequently passed to a series of kings with unknown genealogies. During
651-525: A walrus ivory figure from a Crucifixion . Susan Irvine describes five historical watersheds in the development of the Old English language, the fourth of which is the Benedictine reform, which "led indirectly to the establishment of an Old English 'literary language ' ". In the late ninth century King Alfred had carried through a programme of translating Latin texts into the vernacular, and almost
868-420: A Benedictine monastery, on the ground that as property had been donated to the saint, it should follow his or her body to its new home. The reformers had what Alan Thacker calls a "mania for saint-making and relic collecting". Thefts of relics from unreformed communities to increase a church's collection were common, such as Ely Abbey's "relic raid" on Dereham in 974 to obtain the remains of Saint Wihtburg . This
1085-556: A Christian, as did members of his court. When Edwin was killed in 633 at the Battle of Hatfield Chase , Æthelburh and her children returned to her brother's court in Kent, along with Paulinus. James the Deacon remained behind to serve as a missioner in the kingdom of Lindsey , but Bernicia and Deira reverted to heathenism. The introduction of Christianity to Ireland dates to sometime before
1302-592: A Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulf's son, Æthelbald , usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war. Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest being Alfred the Great . Wessex was invaded by the Danes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave. They returned in 876 , but were forced to withdraw. In 878 they forced Alfred to flee to
1519-495: A cap badge featuring the heraldic beast, until the regiments took back up individual regimental badges in the late 1960s. The Territorial Army Wessex Regiment continued to wear the Wessex Brigade badge until the late 1980s when its individual companies too readopted their parent regular regimental cap badges. The now disbanded West Somerset Yeomanry adopted a Wessex Wyvern rampant as the centre piece for its cap badge, and
1736-511: A center for pilgrimage. Around 630 Eanswith , daughter of Eadbald of Kent , founded Folkestone Priory . William of Malmesbury says Rædwald had a step-son, Sigeberht of East Anglia , who spent some time in exile in Gaul, where he became a Christian. After his step-brother Eorpwald was killed, Sigeberht returned and became ruler of the East Angles. Sigeberht's conversion may have been
1953-536: A century later the monastic reformers revived the project of producing texts in English for teaching. Æthelwold's school at Winchester aimed to establish a standard West Saxon literary language, a programme probably initiated by Æthelwold himself. His most illustrious pupil, Ælfric ( c. 950 – c. 1010 ), who became Abbot of Eynsham , aimed to write in accordance with a consistent grammatical system and vocabulary. Anglo-Saxon Christianity In
2170-456: A church by 1042, as the parish system developed as an outgrowth 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,
2387-509: A cleric well-versed in Roman customs and liturgy. Alhfrith gave Wilfrid a monastery he had recently founded at Ripon, with Eata , abbot of Melrose Abbey and former student of Aidan of Lindisfarne. Wilfrid ejected Abbot Eata, because he would not conform to Roman customs; and Eata returned to Melrose. Cuthbert , the guest-master was also expelled. Wilfrid introduced a form of the Rule of Saint Benedict into Ripon. In 664, King Oswiu convened
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#17327649393202604-526: A common bond right across Europe". The main centres were Lotharingia , western France and southern England, and the reforms were supported by rulers who saw model monasteries as promoting their power and prestige. However, relations between monasteries and their patrons varied. Where rulers were weak, as in Burgundy, Cluny looked to the papacy for protection, whereas in other areas such as Flanders , monasteries had close links with local rulers. In England there
2821-537: A factor in his achieving royal power, since at that time Edwin of Northumbria and Eadbald of Kent were Christian. Around 631, Felix of Burgundy arrived in Canterbury and Archbishop Honorius sent him to Sigeberht. Alban Butler says Sigeberht met Felix during his time in Gaul and was behind Felix's coming to Anglo-Saxon England. Felix established his episcopal see at Dommoc and a monastery at Soham Abbey . Although Felix's early training may have been influenced by
3038-480: A feature of English art for centuries, for example in the Eadwine Psalter (Canterbury, probably 1150s) and the work of Matthew Paris , monk of St Albans ( c. 1200 – 1259) and his followers. The very few remains of monastic architecture in the period are supplemented by brief documentary mentions. St Laurence's Church, Bradford-on-Avon appears to represent a unique near-complete monastic church of
3255-467: A few nunneries, which had royal connections, were established in Wiltshire and Hampshire . When Edgar became king, he immediately dismissed the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Byrhthelm , and appointed Dunstan in his place. In 963, Edgar appointed Æthelwold as Bishop of Winchester, and with the permission of the pope and the support of the king the new bishop expelled the secular clergy from
3472-453: A gold torc . Nobles' choice of recipient was determined by their relationship with individual monks and other aristocrats. An individual would patronise the same foundations that other family members and allies supported, but despoil the property of houses associated with his political adversaries. Æthelwine of East Anglia and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia were the leaders of the two rival factions. Ælfhere seized land of Æthelwine's Ramsey and
3689-417: A gradualist approach to Æthelwold's confrontational strategy. Oswald installed monks at Worcester Cathedral , but he built a new church for them and retained the clerics, who were educated with the monks in the same classroom. Canterbury did not become fully monastic until after Dunstan's death. Æthelwold was a historian who was reviving what he believed to be the practice of the past, particularly Pope Gregory
3906-468: A major role in the unification by his demands for adherence to the Benedictine Rule. Æthelwold probably tutored Edgar as a boy, and was very close to him; it is likely that Æthelwold was influential in persuading the king to carry through his reforms and support Benedictine monasticism. Monks became dominant in the episcopacy during his reign. Æthelwold was close to Queen Ælfthryth and supported
4123-523: A means of gaining control of the assets of secular communities, and Dunstan displayed no interest in relics. One of the innovations imported from Continental Europe by the Augustinian mission at the end of the sixth century was Roman grid planning, called centuriation , in which landscapes were planned respecting geometrically correct grids of squares. Between around 600 and 800 the location and orientation of roads, buildings and property boundaries on
4340-692: A meeting at Hild's monastery to discuss the matter. The Celtic party was led by Abbess Hilda, and bishops Colmán of Lindisfarne and Cedd of Læstingau . (In 653, upon the occasion of the marriage of Oswiu's daughter Alchflaed with Peada of Mercia , Oswiu had sent Cedd to evangelize the Middle Angles of Mercia.) The Roman party was led by Wilfrid and Agilbert . The meeting did not proceed entirely smoothly due to variety of languages spoken, which probably included Old Irish , Old English , Frankish and Old Welsh , as well as Latin . Bede recounted that Cedd interpreted for both sides. Cedd's facility with
4557-627: A mere ealdorman , Aethelred , who acknowledged Alfred's overlordship and married his daughter Ethelfleda . The process by which this transformation of the status of Mercia took place is unknown, but it left Alfred as the only remaining English king. After the invasions of the 890s, Wessex and English Mercia continued to be attacked by the Danish settlers in England, and by small Danish raiding forces from overseas, but these incursions were usually defeated, while there were no further major invasions from
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#17327649393204774-426: A monastery at Beodricesworth . Hilda of Whitby was the grand-niece of Edwin of Northumbria. In 627 Edwin and his household were baptized Christian. When Edwin was killed in the Battle of Hatfield Chase , the widowed Queen Æthelburh , her children, and Hilda returned to Kent, now ruled by Æthelburh's brother, Eadbald of Kent . Æthelburh established Lyminge Abbey , one of the first religious houses to be founded in
4991-563: A monk who had been a disciple of Saint Boisil , prior of Melrose . Ecgberht then recruited others. Around 677, Wilfrid, bishop of York quarreled with King Ecgfrith of Northumbria and was expelled from his see. Wilfrid went to Rome to appeal Ecgfrith's decision. On the way he stopped in Utrecht at the court of Aldgisl , the rulers of the Frisians, for most of 678. Wilfrid may have been blown off course on his trip from Anglo-Saxon lands to
5208-492: A more general wish to revive a sense of 'Englishness', through raising awareness of the traditions of the past. Antonia Gransden sees some continuity of the Anglo-Saxon monastic tradition from its origin in seventh-century Northumbria, and argues that historians have exaggerated both the importance of the tenth-century reform and its debt to Continental models. The Anglo-Saxons shared the general medieval tendency to revere
5425-559: A new law code and championed a revival of scholarship and education. He gathered scholars from around England and Europe to his court, and with their help translated a range of Latin texts into English, doing much of the work personally, and orchestrated the composition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . As a result of these literary efforts and the political dominance of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect of this period became
5642-500: A number of elite sites respected planning grids, including the early seventh century royal centre at Yeavering , where a Roman surveying instrument called a groma has been found. The method went out of use around 800 as a result of the decline in monastic culture. Grid planning survived in the Carolingian Empire, and it was revived in England after 940 by monastic reformers, who probably imported gromatic manuscripts from
5859-400: A payment for the right to be buried at a monastery. Some aristocrats founded new monasteries; for example, Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia , founded Ramsey Abbey in 969, gave it many gifts, and translated the relics of two martyred princes to it. Gifts were designed to increase the prestige of both the donor and recipient, as when Ealdorman Byrhtnoth of Essex, later to be the hero of
6076-442: A permanent staff, and this was supplied by secular royal priests, who would be rewarded by nomination to bishoprics. The influence of the centralising Regularis Concordia declined following the deaths of the founders of the movement, and there was increasing localism in the eleventh century, with few links between monasteries. The enthusiasm for relics continued, and foundations' prestige was greatly increased by success in obtaining
6293-579: A pilgrimage to Rome. The throne then passed to a series of other kings who claimed descent from Cerdic, but whose supposed genealogies and relationship to one another are unknown. During the 8th century Wessex was overshadowed by Mercia, whose power was then at its height, and the West Saxon kings may at times have acknowledged Mercian overlordship. They were, however, able to avoid the more substantial control which Mercia exerted over smaller kingdoms. During this period Wessex continued its gradual advance to
6510-755: A roof with the Roman missionaries or to eat with them. There is no indication that the British clergy made any attempts to convert the Anglo-Saxons. When Æthelfrith of Bernicia seized the neighboring kingdom of Deira , Edwin , son of Ælla of Deira fled into exile. Around 616, at the Battle of Chester , Æthelfrith ordered his forces to attack a body of monks from the Abbey of Bangor-on-Dee , "If then they cry to their God against us, in truth, though they do not bear arms, yet they fight against us, because they oppose us by their prayers." Shortly after, Æthelfrith
6727-519: A series of English offensives overwhelmed the Danes of Mercia and East Anglia, bringing all of England south of the Humber under Edward's power. In 918 Æthelflæd died and Edward took over direct control of Mercia, extinguishing what remained of its independence and ensuring that henceforth there would be only one Kingdom of the English . In 927 Edward's successor Æthelstan conquered Northumbria , bringing
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6944-560: A small parcel of land near the mouth of the river Ware, where under the direction of Aidan of Lindisfarne, she took up religious life. In 649, he appointed her abbess of the double monastery of Hartlepool Abbey , previously founded by the Irish recluse Hieu . In 655, in thanksgiving for his victory over Penda of Mercia at the Battle of the Winwæd , King Oswiu brought his year old daughter Ælfflæd to his kinswoman Hilda to be brought up at
7161-580: A time without any major disruptions. However, when finally faced with northern invaders, a certain unnamed ruler in Britain (called "a proud tyrant" by Gildas) requested assistance from the Saxons in exchange for land. There were no conflicts between the British and the Saxons for a time, but following "a dispute about the supply of provisions" the Saxons warred against the British and severely damaged parts of
7378-399: A time—that was previously unknown to historians", according to the report. A report by The Guardian adds that "The presence of both kings on the two emperor coins suggests some sort of pact between the pair. But the rarity of the coins also suggests that Alfred quickly dropped his ally, who was just about written out of history". Alfred also reformed the administration of justice, issued
7595-586: A unified kingdom for the first time. Cnut the Great , who conquered England in 1016, created the wealthy and powerful earldom of Wessex, but in 1066 Harold Godwinson reunited the earldom with the crown and Wessex ceased to exist. From the Neolithic onwards the chalk downland of the area that would become Wessex was traversed by the Harrow Way , which can still be traced from Marazion in Cornwall to
7812-524: A widespread influence both in England and on the Continent." As well as lavish illumination, the period saw the development of a distinct English tradition of line drawing in manuscripts, sometimes with the addition of light colour in ink or wash ( watercolour ), often to reinforce ink in highlighting outlines. This is often divided into two rather different sub-styles. These also developed from Continental styles – one of which, sometimes referred to as
8029-416: Is no indication that he was particularly noted for virtue. Royalty could use their affiliation to such cults in order to claim legitimacy against competitors to the throne. A dynasty may have had accrued prestige for having a saint in its family. Promoting a particular cult may have aided a royal family in claiming political dominance over an area, particularly if that area was recently conquered. In 644,
8246-532: Is not regarded by historians as reliable due to duplication of Chronicle entries and evidence that the area was first occupied by Jutes . Although the entry mentions Cynric as Cerdic's son, a different source lists him as the son of Cerdic's son, Creoda of Wessex . The Chronicle continues, stating that "Port, and his two sons Bieda and Mægla", landed at Portsmouth in 501 and killed a high-ranking British nobleman. In 508, Cerdic and Cynric slew British king Natanleod along with five thousand of his men (though
8463-508: Is often described as the "Winchester style" or "school" although this was only one of the centres involved. Although the foundation of new communities declined in the early eleventh century, art continued to flourish as the existing monasteries grew richer. The Benedictional of St Æthelwold (Winchester, probably 970s, now British Library ) is recognised as the most important of a group of surviving illuminated manuscripts , lavishly illustrated with extravagant acanthus leaf borders. According to
8680-437: Is still visible in nineteenth century Ordnance Survey maps. Grid planning declined in the early eleventh century, perhaps because the monastic reform was itself losing impetus. Land surveying of the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries was amateurish compared with pre-Conquest grid planning. After the death of King Edgar in 975, aristocrats who had lost land and family religious houses to the reformed monasteries took advantage of
8897-588: Is the only surviving prose translation of the Rule into a European vernacular in the early Middle Ages. In about 954 Æthelwold wished to go to the Continent to study reforms there at first hand, but King Eadred (946–955) refused him permission and appointed him Abbot of Abingdon , which became the second centre. Dunstan was exiled by King Eadwig (955–959) between 956 and 958, and he spent this time observing Benedictine practices at St Peter's Abbey in Ghent . Æthelwold on
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9114-400: Is variously given as Ceola, Ceolwulf, Ceol, Cuthwine, Cutha or Cuthwulf. The tradition embodied in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , and in the genealogies of the West Saxon dynasty, is open to considerable doubt. This is largely because the founder of the dynasty and a number of his alleged descendants had Brittonic Celtic, rather than Anglo-Saxon Germanic, names. The name Cerdic is derived from
9331-523: The Battle of Maldon , gave Ely Abbey "thirty mancuses of gold, twenty pounds of silver, two gold crosses, two lace palls containing precious works of gold and gems, and two finely made gloves". The twelfth-century local chronicle, the Liber Eliensis , records that he gave the abbey fourteen estates. Upon his death his widow added a large hanging worked with images of his victories, which had apparently previously been displayed at their house, and
9548-489: The Chronicle , the Saxons conquered the Isle of Wight in 530 at a battle near Carisbrooke . Cynric became the ruler of Wessex after Cerdic died in 534, and reigned for twenty-six years. The sources do agree that Ceawlin , who succeeded Cynric in about 581, is the son of Cynric; he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine. Ceawlin's reign is thought to be more reliably documented than those of his predecessors, though
9765-536: The Chronicle' s dates of 560 to 592 are different from the revised chronology. Ceawlin overcame pockets of resisting Britons to the northeast, in the Chilterns , Gloucestershire and Somerset . The capture of Cirencester , Gloucester and Bath in 577, after the pause caused by the battle of Mons Badonicus, opened the way to the southwest. Ceawlin is one of the seven kings named in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of
9982-598: The De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae . One of the "English" traditions about the Saxon arrival concerns Hengest and Horsa . When Bede wrote his Ecclesiastical History of the English People , he adapted Gildas' narrative and added details, such as the names of those involved. To the "proud tyrant" he gave the name Vortigern , and the Saxon commanders he named Hengest and Horsa. Further details were added to
10199-585: The Domesday Book . In this capacity, bishops and abbots had similar status and power to secular magnates, and it was vital to the king that trustworthy men occupied these positions. Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons , also known as the Kingdom of Wessex , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain , from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of
10416-626: The Great Summer Army arrived from Scandinavia , to reinforce the Great Heathen Army. The reinforced army invaded Wessex and, although Æthelred and Alfred won some victories and succeeded in preventing the conquest of their kingdom, a number of defeats and heavy losses of men compelled Alfred to pay the Danes to leave Wessex. The Danes spent the next few years subduing Mercia and some of them settled in Northumbria, but
10633-458: The Isle of Wight , although Kent regained its independence almost immediately and Sussex followed some years later. His reign ended in 688 when he abdicated and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he was baptised by Pope Sergius I but died soon afterwards. Bokerley Dyke appears to have been fortified around this period, and the former Roman Road at Ackling Dyke blocked by the Britons to prevent
10850-459: 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
11067-571: The Somerset Levels , but were eventually defeated at the Battle of Edington . During his reign Alfred issued a new law code, gathered scholars to his court and was able to devote funds to building ships, organising an army and establishing a system of burhs . Alfred's son, Edward , captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of his sister, Æthelflæd . Edward's son, Æthelstan , conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became
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#173276493932011284-590: The Thames and the (Bristol) Avon , encouraging the kingdom's reorientation southwards. Cenwealh married Penda 's daughter, and when he repudiated her, Penda again invaded and drove him into exile for some time, perhaps three years. The dates are uncertain but it was probably in the late 640s or early 650s. He spent his exile in East Anglia , and was converted to Christianity there. After his return, Cenwealh faced further attacks from Penda's successor Wulfhere , but
11501-569: The Thames and the Avon now probably formed the northern boundary of Wessex, while its heartland lay in Hampshire , Wiltshire , Berkshire , Dorset and Somerset . The system of shires which was later to form the basis of local administration throughout England (and eventually Ireland , Wales and Scotland as well) originated in Wessex, and had been established by the mid-8th century. In 802
11718-525: The Victorians . Nevertheless, the association with Wessex was only popularised in the 19th century, most notably through the writings of E. A. Freeman . By the time of the grant of armorial bearings by the College of Arms to Somerset County Council in 1911, a (red) dragon had become the accepted heraldic emblem of the former kingdom. This precedent was followed in 1937 when Wiltshire County Council
11935-496: The baptism of Cynegils by Birinus , at the end of the 630s, perhaps in 640. Birinus was then established as bishop of the West Saxons, with his seat at Dorchester-on-Thames . This was the first conversion to Christianity by a West Saxon king, but it was not accompanied by the immediate conversion of all the West Saxons: Cynegils' successor (and probably his son), Cenwealh , who came to the throne in about 642,
12152-593: The "Arms of Edward the Confessor", and the design is based on an emblem historically used by King Edward the Confessor on the reverse side of pennies minted by him. The heraldic design continued to represent both Wessex and Edward in classical heraldry and is found on a number of church windows in derived shields such as the Arms of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster ( Westminster Abbey , which
12369-510: The "Utrecht style", was influenced strongly by the presence in Canterbury from around 1000 of the Carolingian Utrecht Psalter , where each psalm is illustrated with a panoramic ink drawing full of tiny figures. The Harley Psalter from Canterbury (probably 1020s) is a copy, with differences in style such as the addition of coloured washes. Dunstan was himself an artist, as were many monks who rose to senior positions, and
12586-647: The 1970s William Crampton , the founder of the British Flag Institute , designed a flag for the Wessex region which depicts a gold wyvern on a red field. A white cross on a field of red, known as the Flag of Saint Aldhelm (whose feast day on 25 May is also celebrated as "Wessex Day") is sometimes flown by Wessex regionalists as an alternative to the Wyvern. The flag is effectively an inverted version of
12803-465: The 3rd century. It was introduced by tradesmen, immigrants, and legionaries . In 314, three bishops from Britain attended the Council of Arles . They were Eborius from the city of Eboracum (York), Restitutus from the city of Londinium (London), and Adelfius (the location of his see is uncertain). The presence of these three bishops indicates that by the early 4th century, the British church
13020-769: The 5th century, presumably in interactions with Roman Britain. In 431, Pope Celestine I consecrated Palladius a bishop and sent him to Ireland to minister to the "Scots believing in Christ". Monks from Ireland, such as Finnian of Clonard , studied in Britain at the monastery of Cadoc the Wise, at Llancarfan and other places. Later, as monastic institutions were founded in Ireland, monks from Britain, such as Ecgberht of Ripon and Chad of Mercia , went to Ireland. In 563 Columba arrived in Dál Riata from his homeland of Ireland and
13237-495: The 8th century, as the hegemony of Mercia grew, Wessex largely retained its independence. It was during this period that the system of shires was established. Under Egbert , Surrey , Sussex, Kent, Essex , and Mercia, along with parts of Dumnonia , were conquered. He also obtained the overlordship of the Northumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830. During the reign of his successor, Æthelwulf ,
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#173276493932013454-527: The 930s, where they met monks from the European reformed houses which provided the inspiration for the English movement. In the early 940s Dunstan was appointed Abbot of Glastonbury , where he was joined by Æthelwold, and they spent much of the next decade studying Benedictine texts at Glastonbury, which became the first centre for disseminating monastic reform. The Rule of Saint Benedict was translated into Old English at this time, probably by Æthelwold, and it
13671-495: 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 . In the late 10th century, the Benedictine Reform movement helped to restore monasticism in England after
13888-682: The Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric of the Gewisse , though this is considered by some to be a legend . The two main sources for the history of Wessex are the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (the latter of which drew on and adapted an early version of the List), which sometimes conflict. Wessex became
14105-440: The Benedictine reform as "the particular aspect of [Edgar's] reign which has come to dominate all others". Keynes says: The principal motivation or driving force behind the re-establishment of religious houses in the kingdom of the English, living in strict accordance with the Rule of Saint Benedict , was a desire to restore to their former glory some of the ancient houses known from the pages of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of
14322-418: The British name Caraticos. This may indicate that Cerdic was a native Briton, and that his dynasty became anglicised over time. Other members of the dynasty possessing Celtic names include Ceawlin and Cædwalla . Cædwalla, who died as late as 689, was the last West Saxon king to possess a Celtic name. Cynegils ' reign saw the first event in West Saxon history that can be dated with reasonable certainty:
14539-796: The Carolingian Holy Roman Emperor , Louis the Pious , at the Synods of Aachen in the 810s, and particularly their promulgation of uniform monastic rules under the authority of the Crown. Modest religious and diplomatic contacts between England and the Continent under Alfred and his son Edward the Elder (899–924) intensified during the reign of Æthelstan, which saw the start of the monastic revival. Four of Æthelstan's half-sisters married European rulers, resulting in closer contacts between
14756-541: The Continent started with the foundation of Cluny Abbey in Burgundy in 909–10, but the influence of Cluny, which was innovative in its customs, was largely confined to Burgundy. England's closest links were with the more conservative Fleury Abbey on the Loire , which had great prestige because it held Saint Benedict's body. The leaders of the English movement were also influenced by the reforms which had been promulgated by
14973-491: The Continent there were different interpretations of the Benedictine Rule, but in England uniform practice was a matter of political principle. The Concordia said that King Edgar "urged all to be of one mind as regards monastic usage ... and so, with their minds anchored firmly on the ordinances of the Rule, to avoid all dissension, lest differing ways of observing the customs of one Rule and one country should bring their holy conversation into disrepute." Fleury's customs were
15190-474: The Continent. In his monasteries, learning reached a high standard, producing competent prose and poetry in the elaborate hermeneutic style of Latin favoured in tenth-century England. His Winchester school played an important role in creating the standard vernacular West Saxon literary language, and his pupil Ælfric was its most eminent writer. All surviving medieval accounts of the movement are by supporters of reform, who strongly condemned what they saw as
15407-558: The Continent. The technology can rarely be demonstrated on reformed monastic sites as it is generally obscured by post-Conquest development, but it is apparent at Æthelwold's Peterborough Abbey and the early eleventh century Eynsham Abbey . Grid planning is also found at elite secular sites such as the royal hunting lodge at Cheddar in Somerset . The periods from 600 to 800 and 940 to 1020 were when monastic power and wealth were at their height, and it may have only been at these times that
15624-551: The Cross of Saint George, although it is also thought to have been derived from the arms of Sherborne Abbey , Dorset. A coat of arms was attributed by medieval heralds to the Kings of Wessex. These arms appear in a manuscript of the 13th century, and are blazoned as Azure , a cross patoncé (alternatively a cross fleury or cross moline ) between four martlets Or . The attributed arms of Wessex are also known as
15841-460: The English People as holding "imperium" over the southern English: the Chronicle later repeated this claim, referring to Ceawlin as a bretwalda , or "Britain-ruler". Ceawlin was deposed, perhaps by his nephew, Ceol , and died a year later. Six years later, in about 594, Ceol was succeeded by a brother, Ceolwulf , who was succeeded in his turn in about 617 by Cynegils of Wessex . The genealogies do not agree on Cynegils' pedigree: his father
16058-433: The English People , from other literary works, from historical traditions of the later eighth and ninth centuries, or indeed from the physical remains of buildings ... Modern historians will recognise how much was owed to the monastic reform movements on the continent, and will find extra dimensions, such as a wish to extend royal influence into areas where a king of the West Saxon line might not expect his writ to run, or
16275-637: The English and Continental courts than ever before. Many manuscripts were imported, influencing English art and scholarship, and English churchmen learnt about the Continental Benedictine reform movement. The leaders of the English Benedictine reform were Dunstan , Archbishop of Canterbury (959–988), Æthelwold , Bishop of Winchester (963–984), and Oswald , Archbishop of York (971–992). Dunstan and Æthelwold reached maturity in Æthelstan's cosmopolitan, intellectual court in
16492-504: The Frisians . Willibrord fled to the abbey he had founded in Echternach, while Boniface returned to the Benedictine monastery at Nhutscelle . The following year he traveled to Rome, where he was commissioned by Pope Gregory II as a traveling missionary bishop for Germania. The Benedictine reform was led by Saint Dunstan over the latter half of the 10th century. It sought to revive church piety by replacing secular canons- often under
16709-569: The Great 's injunction to Augustine in the Libellus Responsionum , as reported by Bede , that Augustine should continue as a bishop to live the life of a monk. Blair argues that large religious establishments could not function without priests carrying out parochial duties, and he comments that "Æthelwold's rejection of all forms of religious life but the monastic was decidedly odd. The lurid stigmatizations of clerics as foul, lazy, and lascivious come mainly from his circle." Although
16926-499: The Great . This occurred because the first two brothers died in wars with the Danes without issue, while Æthelred's sons were too young to rule when their father died. In 865, several of the Danish commanders combined their respective forces into one large army and landed in England. Over the following years, what became known as the Great Heathen Army overwhelmed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia. Then in 871,
17143-547: The Irish tradition of Luxeuil Abbey , his loyalty to Canterbury ensured that the church in East Anglia adhered to Roman norms. Around 633, Sigeberht welcomed from Ireland, Fursey and his brothers Foillan and Ultan and gave them land to establish an abbey at Cnobheresburg . Felix and Fursey effected a number of conversions and established many churches in Sigeberht's kingdom. Around the same time Sigeberht established
17360-669: The Neolithic and Early Bronze periods, including the Dorset Cursus , an earthwork 10 km (6 mi) long and 100 m (110 yd) wide, which was oriented to the midwinter sunset. Although agriculture and hunting were pursued during this long period, there is little archaeological evidence of human settlements. By the Iron Age , Celtic British tribes such as the Durotriges , Atrebates , Belgae and Dobunni occupied
17577-494: The Old Minster to a new shrine inside. After Æthelwold's own death in 984 his progress to becoming the subject of a cult followed the conventional path: his grave is said to have been neglected until he appeared in a vision to say that his body should be moved, and his successor Ælfheah then built a new choir to hold his body, where it became the focus of miracles. Saints were believed to have an active power after death, and
17794-507: The Roman tradition. The result was that one portion of the court would be celebrating Easter, while the other was still observing the Lenten fast. At that time, Kent, Essex, and East Anglia were following Roman practice. Oswiu's eldest son, Alhfrith , son of Rhiainfellt of Rheged , seems to have supported the Roman position. Cenwalh of Wessex recommended Wilfrid , a Northumbrian churchman who had recently returned from Rome, to Alhfrith as
18011-553: The Roman, which favored a diocesan administration, and differed on the style of tonsure, and dating of Easter. The southern and east coasts were the areas settled first and in greatest numbers by the settlers and so were the earliest to pass from Romano-British to Anglo-Saxon control. The British clergy continued to remain active in the north and west. After meeting with Augustine, around 603, the British bishops refused to recognize him as their archbishop. His successor, Laurence of Canterbury , said Bishop Dagán had refused to either share
18228-592: The Rule of Saint Benedict barred monks from engaging in external ministry, English Benedictines were actively engaged in pastoral work and teaching the secular clergy. The reformers agreed in condemning the usual practice of clerics taking wives, and a leading Benedictine of the next generation, Wulfstan, Archbishop of York , cited approvingly Dunstan's view that married clerics who were charged with crimes should be tried as laymen. Reformers also regarded individual prebends as corrupt, and wished to impose communal ownership of property. Dunstan's first biographer, called "B",
18445-539: The Saxons finally defeated the British by treacherously attacking them once the two parties had convened for a meeting. Some additional details of the Hengest and Horsa legend are found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . The Chronicle then records subsequent Saxon arrivals, including that of Cerdic, the founder of Wessex, in 495. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Cerdic of Wessex and his son Cynric of Wessex landed in southern Hampshire in 495, but this account
18662-531: The Thames estuary. Having defeated King Beorhtwulf of Mercia in battle, the Danes moved on to invade Wessex, but were decisively crushed by Egbert's son and successor King Æthelwulf in the exceptionally bloody Battle of Aclea . This victory postponed Danish conquests in England for fifteen years, but raids on Wessex continued. In 855–856 Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome and his eldest surviving son Æthelbald took advantage of his absence to seize his father's throne. On his return, Æthelwulf agreed to divide
18879-744: The Viking attacks of the 9th century. The most prominent reformers were Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury (959–988), Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester (963–984), and Archbishop Oswald of York (971–992). The reform movement was supported by King Edgar ( r. 959–975 ). One result of the reforms was the creation of monastic cathedrals at Canterbury , Worcester , Winchester , and Sherborne . These were staffed by cloistered monks , while other cathedrals were staffed by secular clergy called canons . By 1066, there were over 45 monasteries in England , and monks were chosen as bishops more often than in other parts of western Europe. Most villages would have had
19096-421: The West Saxons' advance into Dorset . Evidence suggests that Dorset, north Hampshire, eastern Devon and southern Wiltshire were substantially under West Saxon control by the beginning of the reign of Cædwalla of Wessex in 685, but details of their conquest are unclear. His successor was Ine , who also claimed to be a descendant of Cerdic through Ceawlin, but again through a long-separated line of descent. Ine
19313-407: The abbey. (Hild was the grand-niece of Edwin of Northumbria; Oswiu was the son of Edwin's sister Acha.) Two years later, Oswiu established a double monastery at Streoneshalh , (later known as Whitby), and appointed Hild abbess. Ælfflæd then grew up there. The abbey became the leading royal nunnery of the kingdom of Deira, a centre of learning, and burial-place of the royal family. Eormenred of Kent
19530-463: The accession of his brother Centwine of Wessex . Centwine is known to have fought and won battles against the Britons , but the details have not survived. Centwine was succeeded by another supposed distant relative, Cædwalla , who claimed descent from Ceawlin. Cædwalla reigned for just two years, but achieved a dramatic expansion of the kingdom's power, conquering the kingdoms of Sussex , Kent and
19747-404: The basic social structure in tenth-century England." The three leaders of the movement were all aristocrats, and they were able to get the support of their family and friends as well as the king. In Pope's view "this close link between the monks and the nobles is ultimately the most important factor in the success of the reform". Wormald agrees, stating that aristocratic support for monastic reform
19964-405: The battle and an apparent peace agreement with the Britons. The battle of Mons Badonicus is believed to have been fought around this time. Gildas states that the Saxons were completely defeated in the battle, in which King Arthur participated according to Nennius . This defeat is not recorded in the Chronicle . The thirty-year period of peace was temporarily interrupted when, according to
20181-417: The century. There were also a few more monasteries founded by lay nobility, the last being Coventry Abbey in 1045, founded by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Godgifu . Monks lost their near monopoly on bishoprics, partly because Edward the Confessor , who spent his early life abroad, preferred foreign clerics in his episcopal appointments, but mainly because the development of royal government required
20398-508: The church was transformed in Edgar's reign, but in Blair's view the religious culture "when we probe beneath the surface, starts to look less exclusive and more like that of Æthelstan's and Edmund's". Edgar was concerned about divergent interpretations of the Benedictine Rule in different monasteries in his kingdom, and wanted to impose uniform rules to be followed by all. The rules were set out in
20615-415: The church's resources. The scars of Viking raids had healed, but the secularization of minsters continued on its slow, consistent course. At the end of the ninth century Alfred the Great started to revive learning and monasticism, and this work was carried on by his grandson, King Æthelstan (924–939). Kings before Edgar (959–975) did not take the view, which was adopted by Æthelwold and his circle, that
20832-497: The city's Old and New Minsters and replaced them with monks. The secular clerks and their supporters were local people of consequence, and the king had to resort to force to confiscate their wealthy benefices . By 975 up to 30 male houses and 7 or 8 nunneries had been reformed, all in Wessex or places in the Midlands where Æthelwold and Oswald held property. However, the reformed houses were then probably only around 10 per cent of
21049-533: The claim of her son Æthelred (978–1016) to be king against his elder half-brother, Edward (975–978). Dunstan supported Edward, who succeeded on Edgar's death in 975. Æthelred became king on his half-brother's murder in 978, and Æthelwold became a powerful figure at court until his death in 984. Nobles made donations to reformed foundations for religious reasons, and many believed that they could save their souls by patronising holy men who would pray for them, and thus help to expiate their sins. In some cases gifts were
21266-619: The coast of the English Channel near Dover, and was probably connected with the ancient tin trade . In the Late Neolithic , the ceremonial sites of Avebury and Stonehenge were completed on Salisbury Plain , but the final phase of Stonehenge was erected by the so-called " Wessex culture " of the Middle Bronze Age ( c. 1600–1200 BC ). The area has many other earthworks and erected stone monuments from
21483-440: The connivance of King Ecgberht's advisor Thunor, the sons of Eormenred were murdered. The king was viewed as having either acquiesced or given the order. In order to quench the family feud which this kinslaying would have provoked, Ecgberht agreed to pay a weregild for the murdered princelings to their sister. (Weregild was an important legal mechanism in early Germanic society; the other common form of legal reparation at this time
21700-487: The continent encouraged Alfred to protect his Kingdom of Wessex. Over the following years Alfred carried out a dramatic reorganisation of the government and defences of Wessex, building warships, organising the army into two shifts which served alternately, and establishing a system of fortified burhs across the kingdom. This system is recorded in a 10th-century document known as the Burghal Hidage , which details
21917-552: The continent, and ended up in Frisia; or he may have intended to journey via Frisia to avoid Neustria , whose Mayor of the Palace , Ebroin , disliked Wilfrid. While Wilfrid was at Aldgisl's court, Ebroin offered a bushel of gold coins in return for Wilfrid, alive or dead. Aldgisl's hospitality to Wilfrid was in defiance of Frankish domination. The first missioner was Wihtberht who went to Frisia about 680 and labored for two years with
22134-413: The continent. The balance of power tipped steadily in favour of the English. In 911 Ealdorman Æthelred died, leaving his widow, Alfred's daughter Æthelflæd , in charge of Mercia. Alfred's son and successor Edward the Elder then annexed London, Oxford and the surrounding area, probably including Middlesex , Hertfordshire , Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire , from Mercia to Wessex. Between 913 and 918
22351-480: The corruption and religious inadequacy of the secular clergy, but historians in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have increasingly seen these accounts as unfairly biased against the secular clergy. The author of the Rule of Saint Benedict , which was the principal monastic code in Western Europe in the early Middle Ages, was Saint Benedict of Nursia ( c. 480 –550). Under this Rule
22568-412: The country. In time, however, some Saxon troops left Britain; under Ambrosius Aurelianus , the British subsequently defeated those who remained. A lengthy conflict ensued, in which neither side gained any decisive advantage until the Britons routed the Saxons at the Battle of Mons Badonicus . After this, there occurred a peaceful period for the Britons, under which Gildas was living at the time he wrote
22785-648: The creation of a 'Holy Society' in England." On the Continent, cathedral chapters were staffed by secular canons , and only monasteries had monks. Æthelwold rejected this distinction; his expulsion of clerics in favour of monks from Winchester Cathedral (the Old Minster) as well as the New Minster introduced a unique feature to the English reform. Dunstan and Oswald hesitated to follow his example, probably because unlike Æthelwold they had lived abroad and understood Continental practice, and also because they preferred
23002-518: The current Royal Wessex Yeomanry adopted a similar device in 2014 when the Regiment moved from wearing individual squadron county yeomanry cap badges to a unified single Regimental cap badge. When Sophie, Countess of Wessex was granted arms, the sinister supporter assigned was a blue wyvern, described by the College of Arms as "an heraldic beast which has long been associated with Wessex" . In
23219-478: The death of King Harold II , who was previously Earl of Wessex . Dragon standards were in fairly wide use in Europe at the time, being derived from the draco standard employed by the later Roman army , and there is no evidence that it explicitly identified Wessex. A panel of 18th century stained glass at Exeter Cathedral indicates that an association with an image of a dragon in south west Britain pre-dated
23436-529: The decrees of him who keeps the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven, lest he should refuse me admission". Some time after the conference Colman resigned the see of Lindisfarne and returned to Ireland. A number of Anglo-Saxon saints are connected to royalty. King Æthelberht of Kent and his wife Queen Bertha were later regarded as saints for their role in establishing Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. Their granddaughter Eanswith founded Folkestone Priory, in 630
23653-489: The dedicatory poem, Æthelwold "commanded ... many frames well adorned and filled with various figures decorated with numerous beautiful colours and with gold", and he got what he asked for. It is described by Andrew Prescott as the "outstanding work of art to have survived from this period". According to Barbara Yorke , "The artistic workshops established at Æthelwold's foundations during his lifetime were to continue as influential schools of craftsmen after his death, and had
23870-584: The direct influence of local landowners, and often their relatives- with celibate monks, answerable to the ecclesiastical hierarchy and ultimately to the Pope. This deeply split the newly formed kingdom of England, bringing it to the point of civil war, with the East Anglian nobility (such as Athelstan Half-King , Byrhtnoth ) supporting Dunstan and the Wessex aristocracy ( Ordgar , Æthelmær the Stout ) supporting
24087-517: The disputed succession between Edgar's sons to seize back their property. Ælfhere of Mercia took the lead in the "anti-monastic reaction", against defenders of the reformed houses such as Æthelwine of East Anglia, and Byrhtnoth, later to be the hero of The Battle of Maldon . According to Byrhtferth of Ramsey Abbey, "monks were smitten with fear, the people trembled; and clerics were filled with joy, for their time had come. Abbots were expelled with their monks, clerics were installed with their wives, and
24304-529: The drive to introduce Benedictine monasticism into the English Church was certainly a key facet of the first generation of the reform movement, the reformers also embraced effective pastoral care, a commitment to education, an expansion of the liturgy that blended continental innovation with English tradition, and an expansion of material production, particularly book production, to support this new liturgy. The reformers were also keen to recover and protect
24521-418: The earliest datable outline drawing is probably by him, and includes a portrait of him prostrating himself before Christ. This was added to a blank page in an older book, probably before his exile in 956. The other "Winchester" style of drawing can be characterised by detailed and agitated drapery, an effect sometimes taken to excess, but giving animation to figures. The skilled use of line drawing continued to be
24738-403: The educated and literate personnel required for grid planning could be found. In 600 to 800 most grid planned villages were on land owned by monasteries, but in the later period the technology is more commonly found on sites under secular ownership, perhaps because other landlords and even rural communities seized on the technology. In some cases, grid planning of tenth and eleventh century villages
24955-474: The elaborate and obscure hermeneutic style of Latin which was the house style of the Benedictine reform. He sent monks to Fleury and Corbie Abbeys to learn about liturgical chant, and surviving Winchester tropers (books of liturgical music) include works by Continental and English composers, many of the English ones written in hermeneutic Latin. Visual art combined new influences from Continental monastic styles with development of earlier English features, and
25172-500: The election of abbots. The reformers aimed to enhance the Christian character of kingship, and one aspect of this was to raise the status of the queen; Edgar's last wife, Ælfthryth , was the first king's consort to regularly witness charters as regina . The reformers' propaganda claimed that England had been unified as a result of the wide acceptance of Benedictinism, and that the movement's greatest benefactor, King Edgar, had played
25389-555: The end of 368. In 380–1, Magnus Maximus defeated further raids. However, there was increasing internal conflict across the Roman Empire. During 383–4, in the context of the overthrow of Emperor Gratian , Maximus took most of the garrison from Britain to Gaul, where he was made Augustus of the West , ruling Britain, Gaul, Spain and Roman Africa. Following the death of Maximus in 388, Roman authority in Britain again declined. During
25606-598: 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
25823-419: The error was worse than before." Ann Williams argues that a long-standing rivalry between Ælfhere and Æthelwine was an important factor in the disturbances which followed Edgar's death. She comments: There is no reason to regard [Ælfhere] as particularly 'anti-monastic'. The attitudes of all parties towards the reform movement were as much political as religious. Æthelwine was no 'friend of God' so far as Ely
26040-472: The final unification of the kingdom of England. When Eadred died in 955, he was succeeded by Edmund's elder son Eadred, whose incompetent rule may have led to the division of England between Wessex under Eadred and Mercia and Northumbria under his younger brother Edgar in 957, although some historians argue that it was intended from the start that the kingdom would be divided when Edgar came of age, which occurred in 957. Eadwig died in 959 and Edgar became king of
26257-477: The first king of the whole of England, was cosmopolitan, and future reformers such as Dunstan and Æthelwold learned from Continental exponents of Benedictine monasticism. The English movement became dominant under King Edgar (959–975), who supported the expulsion of secular clergy from monasteries and cathedral chapters, and their replacement by monks. The reformers had close relations with the Crown , furthering its interests and depending on its support. The movement
26474-506: The first monastery in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for women. Her aunt Æthelburh founded Lyminge Abbey about four miles northwest of Folkestone on the south coast of Kent around 634. In a number of instances, the individual retired from court to take up the religious life. The sisters Mildrith , Mildburh , and Mildgyth , great granddaughters of King Æthelberht and Queen Bertha, and all abbesses at various convents, were revered as saints. Ceolwulf of Northumbria abdicated his throne and entered
26691-436: The fortunes of Wessex were transformed by the accession of Egbert who came from a cadet branch of the ruling dynasty that claimed descent from Ine's brother Ingild . With his accession the throne became firmly established in the hands of a single lineage. Early in his reign he conducted two campaigns against the " West Welsh ", first in 813 and then again at Gafulford in 825. During the course of these campaigns he conquered
26908-617: The future Wessex. Following the Roman conquest of Britain , from the 1st century AD, numerous country Roman villa with attached farms were established across Wessex, along with the important towns of Dorchester and Winchester (the ending -chester comes from Latin castra , "a military camp"). The Romans, or rather the Romano-British , built another major road that integrated Wessex, running eastwards from Exeter through Dorchester to Winchester and Silchester and on to London . In
27125-455: The government of the church, provided that the monks of a cathedral monastery had the right to elect their bishop. This was approved by a synodical council in 973, but largely ignored. Bishops played a crucial role in government, advising the king, presiding over shire courts and taking parts in meetings of the king's council, the witan . Even more importantly, the church was a wealthy institution—owning 25 to 33 per cent of all land according to
27342-461: The great earldoms of the late Anglo-Saxon period, 1066 marks the extinction of Wessex as a political unit. Wessex is often symbolised by a wyvern or dragon . Both Henry of Huntingdon and Matthew of Westminster talk of a golden dragon being raised at the Battle of Burford in 752 by the West Saxons. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts a fallen golden dragon, as well as a red/golden/white dragon at
27559-474: The historicity of Natanleod has been disputed), and Cerdic became the first king of Wessex in 519. The Saxons attacked Cerdicesford in 519, intending to cross the River Avon and block a road which connected Old Sarum and Badbury Rings , a British stronghold. The battle appears to have ended as a draw, and the expansion of Wessex ended for about thirty years. This is likely due to losses suffered during
27776-459: The home of as many saints as possible. Undoubtedly too he was anxious to remove relics from the guardianship of secular communities to a reformed monastic environment. But ultimately even more vital was the link between cult and territorial possession, focused on the saint's role as protector and spiritual lord of his community. On the other hand, although Oswald was active in promoting cults, he does not generally seem to have used relic collecting as
27993-494: The ideas of St Benedict, and the late seventh-century English scholar Aldhelm assumed that monasteries would normally follow the Benedictine Rule. However, by 800, few foundations could claim high spiritual and intellectual standards, and the ninth century saw a sharp decline in learning and monasticism. Political and financial pressures, partly due to disruption caused by Viking attacks , led to an increasing preference for pastoral clergy, who provided essential religious services to
28210-596: The importation of items from the Roman Empire stopped. Theories about the settlement of Saxons, Jutes and Angles in Britain are divided into two categories by the historian Peter Hunter Blair (1956), namely "Welsh" and "English". The Welsh tradition is exemplified by Gildas , in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae . In brief, it states that after the Romans left, the Celtic Britons managed to continue for
28427-592: The key document of the English reform, the Regularis Concordia , which was adopted by the Council of Winchester in around 970. The Concordia was written by Æthelwold, who had sought advice from Ghent and Fleury Abbeys. A major aim of the Concordia was the regularisation of the form of church services, and Æthelwold tried to synthesise what he regarded as the best Continental and English practice. On
28644-523: The king of Northumbria . He thereby became the Bretwalda , or high king of Britain. This position of dominance was short-lived, as Wiglaf returned and restored Mercian independence in 830, but the expansion of Wessex across south-eastern England proved permanent. Egbert's later years saw the beginning of Danish Viking raids on Wessex, which occurred frequently from 835 onwards. In 851 a huge Danish army, said to have been carried on 350 ships, arrived in
28861-419: The kingdom with his son to avoid bloodshed, ruling the new territories in the east while Æthelbald held the old heartland in the west. Æthelwulf was succeeded by each of his four surviving sons ruling one after another: the rebellious Æthelbald, then Æthelbert , who had previously inherited the eastern territories from his father and who reunited the kingdom on Æthelbald's death, then Æthelred, and finally Alfred
29078-470: The laity, over contemplative monks. There was a progressive transfer of property from the minsters to the Crown, which accelerated after 850. According to John Blair : To a significant extent, the royal administration had achieved territorial stability by battening onto minsters. Well might late tenth-century polemicists blame kings of Wessex and their magnates, even more than the Vikings, for despoiling
29295-439: The lands of their communities, which involved not just legal wrangling and securing new donations, but also the fostering of new saints' cults which would strengthen their position. These developments were underpinned by the mutual attachment of the reformed church and the crown, the melding of continental influence with insular continuity and a stronger focus on individual piety and salvation. Helmut Gneuss observes that although
29512-591: The languages, together with his status as a trusted royal emissary, likely made him a key figure in the negotiations. His skills were seen as an eschatological sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit , in contrast to the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel . Colman appealed to the practice of St. John; Wilfrid to St. Peter. Oswiu decided to follow Roman rather than Celtic rite, saying ""I dare not longer contradict
29729-721: The late 390s, Stilicho attempted to restore control, with a campaign against the Picti, but this was undermined in 401 when Stilicho transferred troops to the Continent to fight the Goths . Two subsequent Roman rulers of Britain were murdered. In 407, a Roman officer in Britain, Constantine III declared himself Augustus of the West, and left for Gaul, taking with him Roman troops. Finally, in 410, when Romano-British officials requested military assistance from Emperor Honorius , he told them to manage their own defences. Economic decline occurred after these events: circulation of Roman coins ended and
29946-404: The latter date to around 879 CE. According to a news report, "experts believe it [the hoard] was buried by a Viking during a series of raids known to have taken place in the area at that time", while Wessex was ruled by Alfred the Great and Mercia by Ceolwulf II. Two imperial coins recovered from the treasure hunters depict the two kings, "indicating an alliance between the two kingdoms—at least, for
30163-408: The lives of the monks were mainly devoted to prayer, together with reading sacred texts and manual work. They lived a communal life and were required to give complete obedience to their abbot. Benedict's achievement was to produce a stable system characterised by moderation and prudence. The seventh century saw the development of a powerful monastic movement in England, which was strongly influenced by
30380-468: The location and garrisoning requirements of thirty-three forts, whose positioning ensured that no one in Wessex was more than a long day's ride from a place of safety. In the 890s these reforms helped him to repel the invasion of another huge Danish army – which was aided by the Danes settled in England – with minimal losses. In 2015, two individuals found a large hoard near Leominster consisting primarily of Saxon jewellery and silver ingots but also coins;
30597-446: The marshes of the Somerset Levels , but after a few months he was able to gather an army and defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington , bringing about their final withdrawal from Wessex to settle in East Anglia. There were simultaneous Danish raids on the north coast of France and Brittany in the 870s – prior to the establishment of Normandy in 911 – and recorded Danish alliances with both Bretons and Cornish may have resulted in
30814-475: The mid-4th century there were increasing raids on Roman Britain by peoples such as the Picts , Scottish people , Attacotti , and Franks , as well as the Saxons. In 367, these tribes simultaneously invaded Britain from the north, west and east. The invaders reportedly defeated or co-opted Roman forces in most parts of northern and western Britain. However, the Roman general Theodosius had recaptured most areas by
31031-563: The monastery at Lindisfarne. In some cases, where the death of a member of royalty appears to be largely politically motivated, it was viewed as martyrdom due to the circumstances. The murdered princes Æthelred and Æthelberht were later commemorated as saints and martyrs. Oswine of Deira was betrayed by a trusted friend to soldiers of his enemy and kinsman Oswiu of Bernicia. Bede described Oswine as "most generous to all men and above all things humble; tall of stature and of graceful bearing, with pleasant manner and engaging address". Likewise,
31248-503: The monastery shortly after Oswine's death, Oswiu and Eanflæd avoided the creation of a feud. By the early 660s, Insular Christianity received from the monks of Iona was standard in the north and west, while the Roman tradition brought by Augustine was the practice in the south. In the Northumbrian court King Oswiu followed the tradition of the missionary monks from Iona, while Queen Eanflæd , who had been brought up in Kent followed
31465-584: The most important influence on the Regularis Concordia , and Fleury itself may have been influenced by English liturgical practices. The conquest of the Danelaw by West Saxon kings had united England in a single kingdom for the first time, enabling kings from Æthelstan onwards to see themselves as heirs of the Carolingian emperors ; the regulation of monasteries by a uniform Benedictine Rule
31682-471: The movement, and wrote all the major works supporting it in England during Edgar's reign. Blair describes the basic aim of the movement, both in England and on the Continent, as being "to establish and disseminate high liturgical, spiritual and pastoral standards". Cooper comments: "Even though the English reform was inspired by Continental precedent, it was never a mere imitation; rather, it melded Continental reform monasticism with more thorough-going ideas for
31899-491: The new Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It was a double monastery, built on Roman ruins. Æthelburh was the first abbess. It is assumed that Hilda remained with the Queen-Abbess. Nothing further is known of Hild until around 647 when having decided not to join her older sister Hereswith at Chelles Abbey in Gaul, Hild returned north. (Chelles had been founded by Bathild , the Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Clovis II .) Hild settled on
32116-492: The north, the Province of York was led by the archbishop of York . Theoretically, neither archbishop had precedence over the other. In reality, the south was wealthier than the north, and the result was that Canterbury dominated. In 669, Theodore of Tarsus became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 672 he convened the Council of Hertford which was attended by a number of bishops from across the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. This Council
32333-650: The only worthwhile religious life was Benedictine monasticism. When Gérard of Brogne reformed the Abbey of Saint Bertin in Saint-Omer along Benedictine lines in 944, dissident monks found a refuge in England under King Edmund (939–946). Before the tenth-century reform, the lines between secular clergy and monastics were sometimes blurred. There are cases of communities of monks established to provide pastoral care, and clergy in some secular establishments lived according to monastic rules. The Benedictine reform movement on
32550-402: The other hand appears to have been on good terms with Eadwig, an early indication that the reformers were not united politically. Oswald was a nephew of Oda , Archbishop of Canterbury from 941 to 958. Oda, a supporter of reform, introduced Oswald to Fleury, where he was ordained and spent a large part of the 950s. Rosamond McKitterick observes that "the zeal for monastic reform undoubtedly was
32767-410: 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. 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
32984-490: The past, and monks in the later Anglo-Saxon period saw the age of Bede as laying the foundations of their own observance and organisation. Robertson says that: "the evidence for the existence of a unified reform movement is, in my opinion, very fragile". Martin Ryan is also sceptical, pointing out that there is very little evidence of reforming activity in northern England, even though Oswald was Archbishop of York. This may reflect
33201-439: The payment of weregild). However, Oswine's nearest kinsman was Oswiu's own wife, Eanflæd, also second cousin to Oswine. In compensation for her kinsman's murder, Eanflæd demanded a substantial weregild, which she then used to establish Gilling Abbey . The monastery was staffed in part by the relatives of both of their families, and given the task of offering prayers for both Oswiu's salvation and Oswine's departed soul. By founding
33418-413: The period, and the angels in relief were probably part of a large rood cross group. Generally the contemporary sources give much more detail on the valuable treasures in precious metal, rich embroidered cloth, and other materials which the monasteries were able to accumulate, largely from gifts by the elite. The few pieces to survive mostly did so outside England, and include the silver Brussels Cross and
33635-469: The permission of Aldgisl ; but being unsuccessful, Wihtberht returned to Briiain. Willibrord grew up under the influence of Wilfrid, studied under Ecgberht of Ripon, and spent twelve years at the Abbey of Rath Melsigi. Around 690, Ecgberht sent him and eleven companions to Christianise the Frisians. In 695 Willibrord was consecrated in Rome, Bishop of Utrecht. In 698 he established the Abbey of Echternach on
33852-422: The present time it would be unwise to give a definitive answer to the question whether Dunstan's role as the instigator of a monastic reform movement was a tenth-century fact or a twelfth-century fiction." Æthelwold reformed monasteries in his own diocese of Winchester, and he also helped to restore houses in eastern England, such as Peterborough , Ely , Thorney and St Neots . Almost all had been monasteries in
34069-409: The reformed monasteries went into a long-term decline, and they were hard hit by the renewal of Viking attacks and high taxation from the 980s. Blair comments: "For all their great and continuing achievements, the reformed houses after the 970s lived more on inherited capital than on dynamic growth." However, Cooper sees two later generations of reformers as important. The second in the years around 1000
34286-508: The reformed monasteries were confined to the south and midlands, "here a new golden age of monastic life in England dawned and brought in its train a renaissance of culture, literature and art". In the view of Mechthild Gretsch: "No school in Anglo-Saxon England has been praised more warmly by its pupils than the school established by Æthelwold at the Old Minster". He established high standards of learning, with skilled exponents of
34503-410: The reformers made great efforts to transfer saints' remains and relics from obscure minsters to their own new establishments. Characteristically, Æthelwold showed great energy in this. Gifts of land and other possessions to a church were often expressed as donations to its principal saint, so the seizure of such a saint's remains from an unreformed community could then justify the transfer of its wealth to
34720-416: The reformers' dependence on royal support; they needed Edgar's backing to expel secular clergy, and his power was too tenuous in the north to allow this. The most northerly Benedictine abbey was Burton upon Trent . Ryan comments: "Yet if the Benedictine reforms dominate the sources from this period, their wider impact should not be overstressed: large areas of England were affected only minimally, if at all. It
34937-508: The religious aristocracy; it made possible a revival of scholarly, religious, pastoral and cultural standards in late tenth-century England that gave a distinctively monastic character to the English church and hierarchy". But Brooks admits that it is very difficult to point to any specific contribution that Dunstan made to the reform, partly because none of his biographers were well informed about his career after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Nicola Robertson questions Dunstan's importance: "At
35154-445: The religious establishments. The wealthiest reformed monasteries were far richer than ordinary secular minsters, and the Domesday Book shows in the late eleventh century some possessed land worth as much as all but the greatest lay magnates, but rich and important unreformed houses such as Chester-le-Street and Bury St Edmunds flourished into the eleventh century. The reformers' propaganda, mainly from Æthelwold's circle, claimed that
35371-576: The remains of important saints. The period between the Benedictine reform and the Norman Conquest saw the most lavish donations of land to monasteries of any period in medieval England, and the leading reformed foundations became immensely wealthy, retaining their status after the Conquest. Monasteries founded in the Anglo-Saxon period enjoyed greater prosperity and prestige than post-Conquest establishments. The historian Simon Keynes describes
35588-457: The rest returned to Wessex in 876. Alfred responded effectively and was able with little fighting to bring about their withdrawal in 877. A portion of the Danish army settled in Mercia, but at the beginning of 878 the remaining Danes mounted a winter invasion of Wessex, taking Alfred by surprise and overrunning much of the kingdom. Alfred was reduced to taking refuge with a small band of followers in
35805-551: The same period. The Anglo-Saxons were a mix of invaders, migrants, and acculturated indigenous people. Before the withdrawal of the Romans, Germanic militia had been stationed in Britain as foederati . After the departure of the Roman army, the Britons recruited the Anglo-Saxons to defend Britain, but they rebelled against their British hosts in 442. The newcomers eventually conquered England, and their religion, Anglo-Saxon paganism , became dominant. The Britons of Wales and Cornwall, however, continued to practice Christianity. At
36022-406: The schoolmaster and colloquist Ælfric Bata . No spiritual leaders of the church emerged in the eleventh century comparable with the three main figures of the monastic reform, and the position of monks in English religious and political life declined. There were very few important new foundations, the main exception being Bury St Edmunds, where a Benedictine community replaced a clerical one early in
36239-488: The secularists. These factions mobilised around King Eadwig (anti-Dunstan) and his brother King Edgar (pro). On the death of Edgar, his son Edward the Martyr was assassinated by the anti-Dunstan faction and their candidate, the young king Æthelred was placed on the throne. However this "most terrible deed since the English came from over the sea" provoked such a revulsion that the secularists climbed down, although Dunstan
36456-486: The seculars' negative image. The diverse minsters and religious practices of Anglo-Saxon England were disguised by a small group which obtained a near monopoly of the religious record and presented an unreal picture of religious uniformity. Reformers attached great importance to the elevation and translation of saints, moving their bodies from their initial resting place to a higher and more prominent location to make them more accessible for veneration . An important precursor
36673-412: The separation of the lay and religious spheres, the distinction between monks and clergy, and enhanced the authority of bishops as both pastoral and political leaders. Ultimately, these ideas were to strike at deeply entrenched features of the early medieval church, such as hereditary control of churches and the right of the clergy to marry. Cooper emphasises the broad aims of the three leaders: Although
36890-598: The seventh century the pagan Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity ( Old English : Crīstendōm ) mainly by missionaries sent from Rome . Irish missionaries from Iona , who were proponents of Celtic Christianity , were influential in the conversion of Northumbria , but after the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Anglo-Saxon church gave its allegiance to the Pope . Christianity in Roman Britain dates to at least
37107-406: The seventh century, and had later become communities of secular clerks or transferred to secular ownership, so he could argue that he was just restoring their original status. He also restored nunneries, working with his ally, Queen Ælfthryth. He did not merely attempt to revive the historical church, but also to improve it by inventing dubious pedigrees for his houses. He was the main propagandist for
37324-516: The site of a Roman villa donated by the Austrasian noblewoman Irmina of Oeren . Aldgisl's successor Redbad was less supportive than his father, likely because the missionaries were favored by Pepin of Herstal , who sought to expand his territory into Frisia. In 716, Boniface joined Willibrord in Utrecht. Their efforts were frustrated by the war between Charles Martel and Redbad, King of
37541-400: The sons of Arwald of the Isle of Wight were betrayed to Cædwalla of Wessex , but because they were converted and baptized by Abbot Cynibert of Hreutford immediately before being executed, they were considered saints. Edward the Martyr was stabbed to death on a visit to his stepmother Queen Ælfthryth and his stepbrother, the boy Æthelred while dismounting from his horse, although there
37758-503: The standard written form of Old English for the rest of the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond. The Danish conquests had destroyed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia and divided Mercia in half, with the Danes settling in the north-east while the south-west was left to the English king Ceolwulf , allegedly a Danish puppet. When Ceolwulf's rule came to an end he was succeeded as ruler of "English Mercia" not by another king but by
37975-609: The story in the Historia Brittonum , which was partially written by Nennius . According to the Historia , Hengest and Horsa fought the invaders of Britain under the condition of gaining the Island of Thanet . The daughter of Hengest, Rowena, later arrived on a ship of reinforcements, and Vortigern married her. However, a war arose in Kent due to a dispute between Hengest and Vortigern's son. After losing several battles,
38192-461: The story of St. Brigid's miraculous cloak ). A similar situation arose in the North. Eanflæd was the daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria . Her maternal grandfather was King Æthelberht of Kent . She was married to Oswiu , King of Bernicia. In 651, after seven years of peaceful rule, Oswiu declared war on Oswine , King of neighboring Deira . Oswine, who belonged to the rival Deiran royal family,
38409-570: The suppression of Cornish autonomy with the death by drowning of King Donyarth in 875 as recorded by the Annales Cambriae . No subsequent 'Kings' of Cornwall are recorded after this time, but Asser records Cornwall as a separate kingdom from Wessex in the 890s. In 879 a Viking fleet that had assembled in the Thames estuary sailed across the English Channel to start a new campaign on the continent. The rampaging Viking army on
38626-524: The throne. He defeated the combined forces of Cadwallon and Penda of Mercia at the Battle of Heavenfield . In 634, Oswald, who had spent time in exile at Iona, asked abbot Ségéne mac Fiachnaí to send missioners to Northumbria. At first, a bishop named Cormán was sent, but he alienated many people by his harshness, and returned in failure to Iona reporting that the Northumbrians were too stubborn to be converted. Aidan criticised Cormán's methods and
38843-407: The time"; far more significant numerically was the growth in parish churches. In the view of Catherine Cubitt the reform "has rightly been regarded as one of the most significant episodes in Anglo-Saxon history", which "transformed English religious life, regenerated artistic and intellectual activities and forged a new relationship between church and king". The prosperity of later Anglo-Saxon England
39060-475: The tithe was a voluntary gift, but the church successfully made it a compulsory tax by the 10th century. By 1000, there were eighteen dioceses in England: Canterbury , Rochester , London , Winchester , Dorchester , Ramsbury , Sherborne , Selsey , Lichfield , Hereford , Worcester , Crediton , Cornwall , Elmham , Lindsey , Wells , York and Durham . To assist bishops in supervising
39277-462: The twenty-five year old Ecgberht of Ripon was a student at the monastery of Rath Melsigi when he and many others fell ill of the plague. He vowed that if he recovered, he would become a perpetual pilgrimage from his homeland of Britain and would lead a life of penitential prayer and fasting. He began to organize a mission to the Frisians , but was dissuaded from going by a vision related to him by
39494-452: The vastly wealthy holders of this earldom, first Godwin and then his son Harold Godwinson , were the most powerful men in English politics after the king. Finally, on the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066, Harold became king, reuniting the earldom of Wessex with the crown. No new earl was appointed before the ensuing Norman Conquest of England , and as the Norman kings soon did away with
39711-622: The west, overwhelming the British kingdom of Dumnonia ( Devon ). At this time Wessex took de facto control of much of Devon, although Britons retained a degree of independence in Devon until at least the 10th century. ( William of Malmesbury claimed that the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter "as equals" until 927.) As a result of the Mercian conquest of the northern portion of its early territories in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire ,
39928-626: The western Britons still in Devon and reduced those beyond the River Tamar , now Cornwall , to the status of a vassal . In 825 or 826 he overturned the political order of England by decisively defeating King Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellendun and seizing control of Surrey , Sussex, Kent and Essex from the Mercians, while with his help East Anglia broke away from Mercian control. In 829 he conquered Mercia, driving its King Wiglaf into exile, and secured acknowledgement of his overlordship from
40145-516: The whole of England under one ruler for the first time. The Kingdom of Wessex had thus been transformed into the Kingdom of England . Æthelstan never married, and when he died in 939 he was succeeded by his half-brother Edmund . Edmund's sons were young children when he died in 946, so he was succeeded by his full brother Eadred . Edmund and Eadred both lost control of Northumbria at the beginning of their reigns but had regained it by their deaths. Northumbria's acceptance of West Saxon rule in 954 meant
40362-416: The whole of England. After the conquest of England by the Danish king Cnut in 1016, he established earldoms based on the former kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia, but initially administered Wessex personally. Within a few years, however, he had created an earldom of Wessex, encompassing all of England south of the Thames, for his English henchman Godwin, Earl of Wessex . For almost fifty years
40579-465: 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. After the departure of the Romans, the church in Britain continued in isolation from that on the continent and developed some differences in approach. Their version of tradition is often called "Celtic Christianity". It tended to be more monastic-centered than
40796-421: Was Oswiu's maternal second cousin. Oswine refused to engage in battle, instead retreating to Gilling and the home of his friend, Earl Humwald. Humwald betrayed Oswine, delivering him to Oswiu's soldiers by whom Oswine was put to death. In Anglo-Saxon culture, it was assumed that the nearest kinsmen to a murdered person would seek to avenge the death or require some other kind of justice on account of it (such as
41013-487: Was a pagan at his accession. However, he too was baptised only a few years later and Wessex became firmly established as a Christian kingdom. Cynegils' godfather was King Oswald of Northumbria , and his conversion may have been connected with an alliance against King Penda of Mercia , who had previously attacked Wessex. These attacks marked the beginning of sustained pressure from the expanding kingdom of Mercia . In time this would deprive Wessex of its territories north of
41230-415: Was a close dependence on the royal family and very little papal influence. The accession in 959 of Edgar, the first king to strongly support reform, led to court support for the imposition of Benedictine rules on a number of old minsters with monks imported from houses such as Oswald's Westbury on Trym , Dunstan's Glastonbury and Æthelwold's Abingdon. Hardly any of the reformed houses were new foundations, but
41447-494: Was a milestone in the organization of the Anglo-Saxon Church, as the decrees passed by its delegates focused on issues of authority and structure within the church. Afterwards Theodore, visiting the whole of Anglo-Saxon held lands, consecrated new bishops and divided up the vast dioceses which in many cases were coextensive with the kingdoms of the heptarchy. Initially, the diocese was the only administrative unit in
41664-665: Was a secular cleric who was in Dunstan's retinue in Glastonbury, and left for Liège in around 960. After 980 he made several attempts to gain the patronage of leading English churchmen, but they were unsuccessful, probably because monastic reformers were unwilling to assist a secular canon living abroad. The secular priests lacked able scholars to defend themselves, and no defence against Æthelwold's charges has survived. The leading twelfth-century historians, John of Worcester and William of Malmesbury , were Benedictines who reinforced
41881-404: Was able to expand West Saxon territory in Somerset at the expense of the Britons . He established a second bishopric at Winchester , while the one at Dorchester was soon abandoned as Mercian power pushed southwards. After Cenwealh's death in 673, his widow, Seaxburh , held the throne for a year; she was followed by Æscwine , who was apparently descended from another brother of Ceawlin. This
42098-445: Was already organised on a regional basis and had a distinct episcopal hierarchy . It is unclear how widely the Romano-British people adopted Christianity. Archaeological evidence from Roman villas indicates that some aristocrats were Christians, but there is little evidence for the existence of urban churches. Roman rule ended in the 5th century, and Romano-British society collapsed. Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain began during
42315-416: Was an enemy of Archbishop Oswald and an ally of Bishop Æthelwold. Æthelwine, a friend of Oswald, sometimes seized land belonging to Æthelwold's Ely. Oswald himself used his position to assist his relatives, leasing Worcester lands to them in ways which had been forbidden by ninth-century synods. The historian Janet Pope comments: "It appears that religion, even monasticism, could not break the tight kin group as
42532-432: Was blood revenge. The payment was typically made to the family or to the clan.) The legend claims that Domne Eafe was offered (or requested) as much land as her pet hind could run around in a single lap. The result, whether miraculous or by the owner's guidance, was that she gained some eighty sulungs of land on Thanet as weregild , on which to establish the double monastery of St. Mildred's at Minster-in-Thanet . (cf.
42749-416: Was concerned, and it has been suggested that only his friendship with Oswald prevented him from being accused of 'anti-monastic' activities himself. All the lay noblemen of the time had cause for alarm at the great increase in wealth and power enjoyed by the reformed monasteries in the 960s and 970s and the sometimes dubious means they employed to acquire land. The "anti-monastic reaction" was short-lived, but
42966-489: Was confined to southern England and the Midlands , as the Crown was not strong enough in northern England to confiscate property from local elites there to establish Benedictine foundations. The movement declined after the deaths of its leading exponents at the end of the tenth century. The artistic workshops established by Æthelwold reached a high standard of craftsmanship in manuscript illustration , sculpture and gold and silver, and were influential both in England and on
43183-424: Was designed to unite the kingdom ideologically and enhance royal prestige. The monks depended on the king in a way that the local ealdormen did not, so their loyalty could be trusted and they could act as a counterbalance to powerful local families. The Regularis Concordia required that psalms be said for the king and the queen in monasteries several times a day, and specified that royal consent must be obtained for
43400-437: Was effectively retired. This split fatally weakened the country in the face of renewed Viking attacks. Under papal authority, the English church was divided into two ecclesiastical provinces , each led by a metropolitan or archbishop . In the south, the Province of Canterbury was led by the archbishop of Canterbury. It was originally to be based at London, but Augustine and his successors remained at Canterbury instead. In
43617-413: Was granted arms. Two gold Wessex dragons were later granted as supporters to the arms of Dorset County Council in 1950. In the British Army the wyvern has been used to represent Wessex: the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division , and postwar regional 43 (Wessex) Brigade adopted a formation sign consisting of a gold wyvern on a black or dark blue background. The regular Wessex Brigade of the 1960s adopted
43834-458: Was granted land on Iona. This became the centre of his evangelising mission to the Picts. When Æthelfrith of Northumbria was killed in battle against Edwin and Rædwald at the River Idle in 616, his sons fled into exile. Some of that time was spent in the kingdom of Dál Riata , where Oswald of Northumbria became Christian. At the death of Edwin's successors at the hand of Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, Oswald returned from exile and laid claim to
44051-456: Was important to its success, and it was underpinned by trade and diplomacy with Continental Europe as well as by religious needs. She acknowledges the reform's limited geographical impact: But reform brought with it new ways of thinking about the church and its personnel, derived not only from contemporary continental movements but also from the rich pastoral and canonical literature of the Carolingian renaissance. This disseminated ideas concerning
44268-447: Was inspired by Continental monastic reforms , and the leading figures were Dunstan , Archbishop of Canterbury , Æthelwold , Bishop of Winchester , and Oswald , Archbishop of York . In seventh- and eighth-century England, most monasteries were Benedictine, but in the ninth century learning and monasticism declined severely. Alfred the Great (871–899) deplored the decline and started to reverse it. The court of Æthelstan (924–939),
44485-440: Was killed in battle against Edwin, who with the support of Rædwald of East Anglia claimed the throne. Edwin married the Christian Æthelburh of Kent , daughter of Æthelberht, and sister of King Eadbald of Kent . A condition of their marriage was that she be allowed to continue the practice of her religion. When Æthelburh traveled north to Edwin's court, she was accompanied by the missioner Paulinus of York . Edwin eventually became
44702-419: Was led by Ælfric and Wulfstan, who tried to bring greater lay involvement in the creation of the 'Holy Society'. She observes that "Ælfric has traditionally been seen as the epitome of the second generation of the reform movement, and his work is certainly vital to our understanding of the period". The third generation was led by Æthelnoth , Archbishop of Canterbury from 1020 to 1038, the scribe Eadwig Basan and
44919-415: Was more important for its success than royal or papal sponsorship. The aristocracy did not confine their support to reformed foundations, but continued to donate to unreformed ones. Nicholas Brooks describes Dunstan as "the ablest and best loved figure that tenth-century England produced", and observes that his "example helped to inspire a massive transfer of landed resources from the secular aristocracy to
45136-402: Was one of several occasions when the kingship of Wessex is said to have passed to a remote branch of the royal family with an unbroken male line of descent from Cerdic; these claims may be genuine, or may reflect the spurious assertion of descent from Cerdic to legitimise a new dynasty. Æscwine's reign only lasted two years, and in 676 the throne passed back to the immediate family of Cenwealh with
45353-456: Was probably associated with the acquisition by Ely of Dereham church, and may have been a means of ensuring that the abbey kept possession of the church's estates. According to Thacker, Æthelwold's activities were "on an unrivalled scale": Not all, one suspects, were yielded willingly to Æthelwold's grasping representatives ... Æthelwold obviously wanted his monasteries to be centres of spiritual power, an aim he sought to fulfil by making them
45570-504: 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
45787-428: Was soon sent as his replacement. Oswald gave Aidan the island of Lindisfarne, near the royal court at Bamburgh Castle . Since Oswald was fluent in both one of the and Irish, he often served as interpreter for Aidan. Aidan built churches, monasteries and schools throughout Northumbria. Lindisfarne became an important centre of Insular Christianity under Aidan, Cuthbert , Eadfrith and Eadberht . Cuthbert's tomb became
46004-403: Was the emergence of small local churches and the development of new systems of pastoral care – processes only imperfectly documented – that would have the more enduring impact and more thoroughgoing effect on religious life in England." Julia Barrow agrees, arguing that the establishment of the Benedictine monasteries was "not necessarily the most important development within the English church of
46221-485: 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
46438-418: Was the most durable of the West Saxon kings, reigning for 38 years. He issued the oldest surviving English code of laws apart from those of the kingdom of Kent, and established a second West Saxon bishopric at Sherborne , covering the area west of Selwood Forest , which formed an important boundary between east and west Wessex. Near the end of his life he followed in Cædwalla's footsteps by abdicating and making
46655-445: Was the seventh-century translation of the remains of St Benedict himself from Monte Cassino to Fleury Abbey. By the tenth century, translation usually involved a grand procession, an elaborate new shrine and often reconstruction of the church. Almost nothing is known of the life of Swithun , who was an obscure ninth-century Bishop of Winchester until Æthelwold launched a major cult of him as a saint, and translated his grave from outside
46872-447: Was the son of King Eadbald and grandson of King Æthelberht of Kent . Upon the death of his father, his brother Eorcenberht became king. The description of Eormenred as king may indicate that he ruled jointly with his brother or, alternatively, that as sub-king in a particular area. Upon his death, his two young sons were entrusted to the care of their uncle King Eorcenberht, who was succeeded upon his death by his son Ecgberht . Through
47089-476: 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. Æthelwold of Winchester's Regularis Concordia which laid down rules for
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