Religion in medieval England includes all forms of religious organisation, practice and belief in England, between the end of Roman authority in the fifth century and the advent of the Tudor dynasty in the late fifteenth century. The collapse of Roman authority brought about the end of formal Christian religion in the east of what is now England as Germanic settlers established paganism in the large sections of the island that they controlled. The movement towards Christianity began again in the late sixth and seventh centuries. Pope Gregory I sent a team of missionaries who gradually converted most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, while Scots-Irish monks were active in the north of England. The process was largely complete by the end of the seventh century, but left a confusing and disparate array of local practices and religious ceremonies. The Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries reintroduced paganism to North-East England, leading in turn to another wave of conversions.
The process of conversions led to an explosion of local church buildings and monasteries formed the main basis for the church. Cathedrals were also constructed. These institutions were badly affected in the ninth century by Viking raids and predatory annexations by the nobility. Reforms followed under the kings of Wessex who promoted the Benedictine rule then popular on the Continent. The 1066 Norman Conquest brought a new set of Norman and French churchmen to power; some adopted and embraced aspects of the former Anglo-Saxon religious system, while others introduced practices from Normandy. The French Cluniac order became fashionable and the Augustinians spread quickly from the beginning of the twelfth century, while later in the century the Cistercians reached England. The Dominican and Franciscan friars arrived in England during the 1220s, as well as the religious military orders that became popular across Europe from the twelfth century.
The Church had a close relationship with the English state throughout the Middle Ages. The bishops and major monastic leaders played an important part in national government. After the Norman Conquest kings and archbishops clashed over rights of appointment and religious policy. By the early thirteenth century the church had largely won its argument for independence. Pilgrimages were a popular religious practice throughout the Middle Ages in England. Participation in the Crusades was also seen as a form of pilgrimage, and England played a prominent part in the Second, Third and Fifth Crusades. In the 1380s, several challenges emerged to the traditional theology of the Church, resulting from the teachings of John Wycliffe.
History
Anglo-Saxon period
Paganism and Christianisation
After 380, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. The church in Roman Britain was overseen by a hierarchy of bishops and priests. Many existing pagan shrines were converted to Christian use and few pagan sites still operated by the fifth century. After the fifth century, formal church organisation disappeared in Roman Britain with the collapse of the Roman system and invasions by Germanic pagans. These Anglo-Saxons arrived with their own polytheistic gods, including Woden, Thunor and Tiw, still reflected in various English place names. Despite the resurgence of paganism in England, Christian communities still survived in more western areas such as Gloucestershire and Somerset.
The movement towards Christianity began again in the late sixth and seventh centuries, helped by the conversion of the Franks in Northern France, who carried considerable influence in England. Pope Gregory I sent a team of missionaries—known as the Gregorian mission—to convert King Æthelberht of Kent and his household, starting the process of converting Kent. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and started to build new churches across the South-East, reusing existing pagan shrines. Oswald and Oswiu, kings of Northumbria, were converted in the 630s and 640s by Scottish missionaries, and the wave of change carried on through the middle of the seventh century across the kingdoms of Mercia, the South Saxons and the Isle of Wight. The process was largely complete by the end of the seventh century, but left a confusing and disparate array of local practices and religious ceremonies. This new Christianity reflected the existing military culture of the Anglo-Saxons: as kings began to convert in the sixth and seventh centuries, conversion began to be used as a justification for war against the remaining pagan kingdoms, for example, while Christian saints were imbued with martial properties.
Over the next few years, the organisation of the English Church was laid out. While ultimately under papal authority, the church was to be divided into two ecclesiastical provinces, each led by a metropolitan or archbishop. The northern province was based at York, and the southern province was based at Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury had final authority over the entire English Church. This division between the Province of Canterbury led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Province of York led by the Archbishop of York remained a permanent feature of the English Church. Controversially, Pope Gregory gave Augustine authority over the bishops of the indigenous Celtic Church. In response, the Celtic bishops refused to cooperate with the Roman missionaries. The Celtic and Latin churches disagreed on several issues. The most important was the date of Easter. There were other differences over baptismal customs and the style of tonsure worn by monks.
King Oswald of Northumbria promoted the Celtic Christian tradition as practiced at Iona, a center of Celtic monasticism. Saint Aidan established a monastery at Lindisfarne. Under King Oswiu of Northumbria, tensions between followers of the Latin and Celtic traditions continued. To settle matters, Osiwu summoned the Synod of Whitby in 664. Both sides made arguments, but the king decided that Northumbria would follow the Latin tradition. His decision was decided on the basis of authority: the successors of Saint Peter outweighed the successors of Saint Columba.
The Council of Hertford in 673 was the first meeting of bishops from across England. canons were adopted to promote greater uniformity, among these that the English bishops should hold an annual council at Clovesho. It also confirmed the observance of the traditions of the Latin Church over those of the Celtic Church, which had previously held influence in the north and west.Cross and Livingstone, p. 767 A major reorganisation of the English church occurred in the late 700s. King Offa of Mercia wanted his own kingdom to have an archbishop since the Archbishop of Canterbury was also a great Kentish magnate. In 787, a council of the English church attended by two papal legates elevated the Diocese of Lichfield into an archbishopric. There were now three provinces in England: York, Lichfield and Canterbury. However, this arrangement was abandoned in 803, and Lichfield was reabsorbed into the province of Canterbury.
Initially, the diocese was the only administrative unit in the Anglo-Saxon church. The bishop served the diocese from a cathedral town with the help of a group of priests known as the bishop's familia. These priests would baptise, teach and visit the remoter parts of the diocese. Familiae were placed in other important settlements, and these were called minsters. The parish system grew out of manorialism. The parish church was a private church built and endowed by the lord of the manor, who retained the right to nominate the parish priest. The priest supported himself by farming his glebe and was also entitled to other support from parishioners. The most important was the tithe, the right to collect one-tenth of all produce from land or animals. Originally, the tithe was a voluntary gift, but the church successfully made it a compulsory tax by the 10th century.
The Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries reintroduced paganism to North-East England, leading in turn to another wave of conversion. Indigenous Scandinavian beliefs were very similar to other Germanic groups, with a pantheon of gods including Odin, Thor and Ullr, combined with a belief in a final, apocalyptic battle called Ragnarok. The Norse settlers in England were converted relatively quickly, assimilating their beliefs into Christianity in the decades following the occupation of York, of which the Archbishop had survived. The process was largely complete by the early tenth century and enabled England's leading churchmen to negotiate with the warlords. As the Norse in mainland Scandinavia started to convert, many mainland rulers recruited missionaries from England to assist in the process.
Unified kingdom
Alfred the Great of Wessex and his successors led the Anglo-Saxon resistance and reconquest, culminating in the formation of a single Kingdom of England. The king was regarded not only as the head of the church but also "the vicar of Christ among a Christian folk".: Laws of Ethelred II, quoted in F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p. 538 Bishops were chosen by the king and tended to be recruited from among royal chaplains or monasteries. The bishop-elect was then presented at a synod where clerical approval was obtained and consecration followed. The appointment of an archbishop was more complicated and required approval from the pope. The Archbishop of Canterbury had to travel to Rome to receive the pallium, his symbol of office. These visits to Rome and the payments that accompanied them (such as Peter's Pence) was a point of contention.
With the conversion of much of England in the sixth and seventh centuries, there was an explosion of local church building. English monasteries formed the main basis for the church and were often sponsored by local rulers. They took various forms, including mixed communities headed by abbesses, bishop-led communities of monks, and others formed around married priests and their families. Cathedrals were constructed, staffed either with secular canons in the European tradition or, uniquely to England, chapters of monks. These institutions were badly affected in the ninth century by Viking raids and predatory annexations by the nobility. By the start of the 10th century, monastic lands, financial resources and the quality of monasteries' religious work had been much diminished.
Reforms followed under the English kings who promoted the Benedictine rule then popular on the Continent. When Edgar the Peaceful became king in 959, there was only one Benedictine monastery in England, Glastonbury Abbey led by Dunstan. The king and Dunstan, who he appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, worked together to promote Benedictine Reform throughout England. As national institutions owning land throughout England, royally controlled and funded monasteries diminished the power of local ealdormen. A reformed network of around 40 monastic institutions across the south and east of England, under the protection of the king, helped reestablish royal control over the reconquered Danelaw.
By the 10th century, the parish system was well established. The parish church was still the property of a local lord, but in towns and the Danelaw the people had acquired ownership. Parish priests were typically local men with a basic education. Many of them were married (especially in the North), but priestly celibacy was becoming more common. For the literate, there was an abundance of vernacular religious literature, such as the Blickling homilies and the writings of Ælfric.