In Early Christian Times
One great and important factor in the making of Saxon England
was Christianity. The first Saxons who came were heathen, and
they wiped out the British Christianity, where they settled, as
completely as they wiped out Roman civilization. Towards the end of
the sixth century Christian missionaries were at work in the north
and in the south of what we now call England, and from that time
onwards the Church played an important part in the making of the
nation.
So, side by side with the development and political growth of the
country came the spread of Christianity and the organization of the
Church. We find that the folk in the Saxon kingdoms, following the
lead of their kings, became Christian as a matter of course. Over
and over again we find the kings giving up Christianity and going
back to paganism, and their people following them, also as a matter
of course. The conversion of England took many years to accomplish,
and mixed up with the Christianity was much paganism, which was not
overcome for many centuries. The dioceses[7] of the early Saxon
bishops were, roughly speaking, of the same extent as the early
kingdoms, and the bishops and their clergy travelled about as
missionaries.
[7] A diocese is the district over which a bishop rules.
As the lords or thanes of the various vills, following the example
of their kings, accepted Christianity, their people followed
their example. In the open places of the tuns and vills, where
the folk-moots were held, Christianity was preached and the cross
set up. That, probably, was the origin of most of the village
and market crosses. Then, in the course of time, in some cases,
a church was built on a part of the old sacred open spaces. You
cannot help noticing to-day how in many towns the chief church is
by the market-place, and in the villages by the village green. In
other cases we find the church and manor-house are outside the
present village. That may be because the thane's or lord's land
was outside the vill or tun, and he built the church on his own
land, not on the common public land in the middle of the tun. It
may have happened, also, that at the time the church was first
built the houses were there also; but, owing to changes many years
afterwards, the people have removed to another spot some distance
away--possibly to the side of a busy main road. Then the original
village has dwindled away; the houses, having fallen into ruin,
have been pulled down, and no trace of them is now left.
A priest would be appointed by the bishop, to work in a tun, and a
portion of land would be set apart in the common fields to maintain
him and to aid in carrying on the services of the church. In course
of time there were certain dues and fees given to him, the paying
of which became a recognized custom. Somewhat in this way glebe
lands and tithes took their rise, and became a part of the land
system of the Saxon people.
Along with the growth of churches in the tuns and vills was the
founding of monasteries. Small bodies of men bound themselves by
simple rules to live and work and worship together. Frequently
they made their settlements in lonely, desolate places, which they
worked to bring under cultivation. So there sprang up settlements,
or convents, of these religious people, living under their own
rules. Work and worship went side by side. It was a new kind of
life, different from the life in the "tun" which the early Saxons
were used to; but in time it had a mighty influence in the land,
and played an important part in the making of England.
[Illustration: CROSS AND CHURCH, GEDDINGTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
[See page 36]]