Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: the history of Europe 500–700
- 1 The later Roman Empire
- 2 The Barbarian invasions
- 3 The sources and their interpretation
- PART I THE SIXTH CENTURY
- PART II THE SEVENTH CENTURY
- 11 The Byzantine empire in the seventh century
- 12 Muhammad and the rise of Islam
- 13 The Catholic Visigothic kingdom
- 14 Francia in the seventh century
- 15 Religion and society in Ireland
- 16 Christianity amongst the Britons, Dalriadan Irish and Picts
- 17 England in the seventh century
- 18 Scandinavia
- 19 The Slavs
- PART III THEMES AND PROBLEMS
- List of Primary sources
- Bibliography of secondary works arranged by chapter
- Index
- Frontispiece"
- Plate section"
- Map 3 Gaul/Francia in the sixth and seventh centuries"
- References
16 - Christianity amongst the Britons, Dalriadan Irish and Picts
from PART II - THE SEVENTH CENTURY
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
Edited by
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: the history of Europe 500–700
- 1 The later Roman Empire
- 2 The Barbarian invasions
- 3 The sources and their interpretation
- PART I THE SIXTH CENTURY
- PART II THE SEVENTH CENTURY
- 11 The Byzantine empire in the seventh century
- 12 Muhammad and the rise of Islam
- 13 The Catholic Visigothic kingdom
- 14 Francia in the seventh century
- 15 Religion and society in Ireland
- 16 Christianity amongst the Britons, Dalriadan Irish and Picts
- 17 England in the seventh century
- 18 Scandinavia
- 19 The Slavs
- PART III THEMES AND PROBLEMS
- List of Primary sources
- Bibliography of secondary works arranged by chapter
- Index
- Frontispiece"
- Plate section"
- Map 3 Gaul/Francia in the sixth and seventh centuries"
- References
Summary
BRITAIN SOUTH OF THE CLYDE/FORTH AND BRITONS ABROAD
The centuries following the end of Roman rule in Britain were critical for the development of the British church, just as they obviously were for the determination of the political, ethnic and social structure of Britain as a whole. However tricky it may be to piece together the picture from the inadequate and very disparate sources that are available, we must keep in view the major achievements of these centuries. They saw not merely the consolidation of Christianity in those areas that remained free from the control of the incoming pagan Anglo-Saxons, but its spread to areas further north and west. Moreover, this was achieved despite the demise of the Romano-British cities and villas, and the Anglo-Saxon settlement of a great swathe of eastern and southern Britain: precisely those places and areas where the Romano-British church had been most in evidence. Since interpretations of the post-Roman period often depend on those of Christianity’s fortunes in Roman Britain, we shall begin with a brief look at the latter.
the roman prelude
By the time of Constantine I’s conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century there were bishops at London, York and (probably) Lincoln. The extent of Christianity’s progress by 410 is controversial: we lack written evidence, and the archaeological evidence is open to different interpretations. We cannot reliably distinguish Christian burials from pagan ones unless there is supportive evidence of explicit Christian symbols or inscriptions, as at Poundbury in Dorset. Christians were generally buried in graves oriented west/east, with no grave goods, but so might pagans be; and occasionally there is evidence of a Christian burial with grave-goods, or oriented differently.
Keywords
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- Information
- The New Cambridge Medieval History , pp. 426 - 461Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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