1. British and Saxon Periods
tullian, who, early in the third century,
wrote
(Adv. Jud., vii.;
ANF, iii. 158)
that Christianity had penetrated into
regions of Britain inaccessible to
the
Romans. The history of the
British Church wag
thenceforth that of early Christianity everywhere. It
furnished victims to persecution, one of whom,
Alban
of Verulam (q.v.), was early canonized; it sent repre
sentatives to councils, for example, that of Arles
(314); and it produced the heretic
Pelagius (q.v.;
for this entire period see
Celtic Church). The
Saxon period dates from the arrival, in 597, of the
monk Augustine, who had been despatched by
Gregory I. (see
Anglo-Saxons, Conversion of the; and
AUGUSTINE, SAINT, OF CANTERBURY). As
archbishop of Canterbury Augustine came into
conflict with the bishops of the old British, or Celtic,
Church; but the Roman
type of Christianity pre-
vailed over the Celtic, and crowded it out. The
differences concerned the date of Easter, the mode
of the tonsure, and allegiance to Rome, the Britons
being determined to remain independent of the
Roman rule. Augustine called the British bishops
to a colloquy on the Severn, but they refused to
acknowledge his authority and Augustine invoked
and predicted judgment upon them. Christianity
spread rapidly in southern England, and was introduced into Northumbria by Paulinus, and made
the permanent religion by the labors of St. Aidan
of Ireland. Under Theodore of Tarsus (consecrated archbishop of Canterbury in 668) the
English episcopate was more fully organized, and
the dioceses were grouped around Canterbury as
the central and superior see. Theodore held synods
and treated the British Christians in a high-handed
way. During this period monasteries were founded;
and here and there a solitary form, like C>3edmon, the monk of Whitby; or Bede, " the father
of learning "; or Alcuin the scholar, called to the
Court of Charlemagne; or Alfred, the Christian
king and patron of letters, stands out prominently.
The Danish invaders of the eighth and ninth centuries interrupted the services, and devastated the
property of churches and monastic orders. But
the judicious wisdom and enlightened zeal of Dunstan (959-988), the first of many English ecclesiastical statesmen, repaired their ravages and
effected a severer discipline and a more compact
organization of the clergy. He guided the State
during the nine years' reign of the invalid Eldred.
During the Anglo-Saxon period papal rule won
acknowledgment in increasing measure. Members of the royal family went to Rome, and Peter's
pence was paid to the Roman treasury. Lender
the later Saxon kings the Church sank into ignorance and corruption. There were no synods; the
priests were married or lived in concubinage; and
simony was freely practised.
The Norman period dates from the conquest of
England by William the Conqueror in 1066 under
a banner blessed by Alexander II. It is distinguished by the complete vassalage
into which the
Church went to the papal see, the subjection of
the State to ecclesiastical domination, and the
growing corruption of the clergy. But the State
in turn struggled to emancipate itself
a. The from ecclesiastical fetters by legislation,
Norman and the people to rid themselves
Period. of clerical incompetency and scandal
by a reform in the life and doctrine of
the Church. William the Conqueror removed all
the Saxon bishops
except Wulfatan of Worcester
and replaced them with Norman prelates. He
practically chose all ecclesiastical dignitaries himself, and insisted upon the right of investiture as
his royal prerogative. He withstood the claims
of Gregory VIII. to rights over England as his fief.
Lanfranc (q.v.), archbishop of Canterbury (107010891, secured the institution of special ecclesiastical
courts, in which all ecclesiastical cases were tried.
After Lanfranc, archbishop
after archbishop contended with royalty, now for the superior rights of
the Church and papal investiture, now for the
liberties of the people. Lanfranc's successor
Anselm (q.v.; 1093-1109), appointed by William
Rufus, fought the battle of investiture and went
into exile rather than receive it from the king.
Under his primacy the canons against
clerical
marriage and concubinage (,1102, 1107, 1108) were
renewed by synodal action, but Eadmer reports
that " almost the greater and the better part of
the English clergy " were the sons of priests. The
next great archbishop-
Thomas Becket (q.v.; 1162-1170), contended with Henry II., who sought to
reform the abuses growing out of clerical exemption from civil jurisdiction. Becket's attitude
called forth the famous Constitutions of Clarendon
in 1164, which forbade papal briefs to be received
in England without the royal consent, or prelates
to go to Rome without the same consent. Though
Becket was murdered, victory did not rest with
the king. It remained for the State as a national
body to come into subjection to the ecclesiastical
power of Rome. This was accomplished during
the reign of John (see
Langton, Stephen; and
Innocent III.).
