_ORGANIZATION._
ARCHBISHOP THEODORE--HIS WORK IN ORGANIZATION--NEW
DIOCESES--WILFRITH'S APPEALS TO ROME--LITERARY GREATNESS OF
NORTHUMBRIA--PARISHES--TITHES--THE CHURCH IN WESSEX--A THIRD
ARCHBISHOPRIC--THE CHURCH IN RELATION TO THE STATE--TO ROME--TO
WESTERN CHRISTENDOM.
[Sidenote: Archbishop Theodore, 668-690.]
Among the victims of the plague of 664 was Archbishop Deusdedit, the first
English successor of Augustin. After the see of Canterbury had lain vacant
for three years, Oswiu, who held a kind of supremacy in England, and
Ecgberht of Kent joined in writing to Pope Vitalian, asking him to
consecrate a Kentish priest named Wighard as archbishop. Wighard died of
the plague at Rome before he was consecrated, and the Pope wrote to the
kings that, agreeably to their request, he was looking for a fit man to be
consecrated. As, however, the kings had made no such request, and had
simply asked him to consecrate the man whom they and the English Church
had chosen, his letter was more clever than honest. He made choice of a
Greek monk, a native of Tarsus, named Theodore, who had joined the Roman
Church; and as the Greeks held unorthodox opinions, he sent with him
Hadrian, an African, abbot of the Niridan monastery, near Naples, that he
might prevent him from teaching any wrong doctrines. Theodore was
consecrated by the Pope in 668, and set out for England with Hadrian and
Benedict Biscop, of whom much will be said in the volume of this series on
monasticism. Both Theodore and Hadrian were learned men, and the
archbishop gathered round him a number of students, whom they instructed
in arts and sciences as well as in Biblical knowledge. They also taught
Latin and Greek so thoroughly that some of their scholars spoke both
languages as readily as English, and for the first time England had a
learned native clergy. Many of their scholars became teachers of others,
and in the darkest period of ignorance in Gaul, England, and especially
Northumbria, entered on a period of literary splendour that lasted until
the Danish invasions.
[Sidenote: His ecclesiastical organization.]
As the Church was now rapidly passing from the missionary to the pastoral
stage of its existence, it needed organization as a permanent institution.
This organization was given to it by Theodore. He established his
authority over the whole Church, and, long before any one thought of a
national monarchy, planned a national archiepiscopate. He made a
visitation of every see, and for the first time every bishop owned
obedience to Canterbury; while, as far as the English were concerned, he
virtually brought the schism to an end by enforcing the decision of the
Synod of Whitby. When he came to York he told Ceadda that his consecration
was uncanonical. The saintly bishop declared his readiness to resign; he
had ever, he said, deemed himself unworthy of the episcopal office.
Theodore was touched by his humility, and reordained him; he received the
Mercian bishopric, and lived for a little while in great holiness at
Lichfield. Wilfrith was restored to York, and ruled his diocese with
magnificence. When Theodore had thus established his authority, he
proceeded to give the Church a diocesan system and a means of legislation
in ecclesiastical matters. He called a national council of the Church to
meet at Hertford; it was attended by the bishops and several "masters of
Church," men learned in ecclesiastical affairs, and in it the archbishop
produced a body of canons which were universally accepted. These canons
declared that the Roman Easter was to be observed everywhere; that no
bishop should intrude into another's diocese; that no priest should
minister out of his own diocese without producing letters of
recommendation; that a synod of the whole Church should be held every year
at Clevesho, probably near London; and that more bishops were needed, a
matter which it was decided to defer for the present.
[Sidenote: Creation of new dioceses.]
Instead of the symmetrical arrangement contemplated by Gregory, certain
bishoprics were of immense size, for the diocese in each case was simply
the kingdom looked at from an ecclesiastical point of view, and as the
boundaries of a kingdom were changed by the fortune of war the diocese was
enlarged or diminished. The whole of Central England was included in the
one Mercian diocese, and the whole of Northumbria--for Lindisfarne was now
without a separate bishop--lay in the diocese of Wilfrith. Theodore saw
that it was necessary to subdivide these and other dioceses, and his
intention was approved at Rome. His plan of procedure was first to gain
the approval of the king whose kingdom would be affected by the change he
wished to make, and then to obtain the consent of the witan. Hitherto the
dioceses had been based on political circumstances; the new dioceses were
generally formed on tribal lines. He divided East Anglia into two
dioceses. The North folk and the South folk each had a bishop of their
own, and the new see was placed at Elmham. Mercia was divided into five
dioceses; the Hwiccan, the Hecanan, the Mercians proper, the Middle
Angles, and the Lindsey folk each received a bishop, and the five sees
were respectively at Worcester, Hereford, Lichfield, Leicester, and
Sidnacester. The division of the West Saxon see was put off until the
death of the bishop. In dealing with the Northumbrian diocese King
Ecgfrith and the archbishop seem to have expected opposition from
Wilfrith, for they divided his diocese in a council at which he was not
present. According to the plan then adopted, Theodore consecrated bishops
for Deira, Bernicia, and Lindsey, which, though originally part of the
Mercian diocese, had lately been added to the Northumbrian kingdom and
bishopric by conquest.
[Sidenote: Wilfrith's first appeal to Rome, 678.]
[Sidenote: He is driven from York a second time, 691.]
[Sidenote: Dies bishop of Hexham, 709.]
Wilfrith appeared before the king and the archbishop, and demanded to be
told why he was thus deprived of his rights. No answer was given him, and
he appealed to the judgment of the Apostolic See. This appeal to Rome
against the decision of a king and his witan, and of an archbishop acting
in concert, the first that was ever made by an Englishman, is a notable
event. It was greeted with the jeers of the great men of the court.
Wilfrith went to Rome in person, and Theodore appeared by a proctor. Pope
Agatho and his council decreed that Wilfrith should be reinstated, that
his diocese should be divided, but that he should choose the new bishops,
and that Theodore's bishops should be turned out. Wilfrith returned in
triumph, bringing the papal decrees with their bulls (seals) attached. A
witenagemot was held to hear them, and the king and his nobles decided to
disregard them. Wilfrith was imprisoned, and Theodore made a further
division of his diocese by establishing a see at Abercorn, and appointed
bishops for Lindisfarne, Hexham, and perhaps Ripon without consulting him.
After Wilfrith was released he was forced by the hatred of Ecgfrith to
wander about seeking shelter, until at last he found it among the heathen
South Saxons. He converted them to Christianity, and lived as their bishop
at Selsey. Then he preached to the people of the Isle of Wight, and by
their conversion completed the work that Augustin came to do. The death of
Ecgfrith made it possible for Theodore to come to terms with him. The
archbishop and the injured bishop were reconciled in 686, and at
Theodore's request Ealdfrith, the new king of Northumbria, reinstated
Wilfrith as bishop of York. Nevertheless the division that Theodore had
made was not disturbed, and he only presided over the Deiran diocese.
After some years he and Ealdfrith had a dispute about the rights and
possessions of his see. He was again driven from York, and again appealed
to Rome. Pope Sergius took his part. But Ealdfrith, though a religious
man, was not more inclined to submit to papal interference than his
predecessor. He found an ally in Archbishop Brihtwald, for Theodore was
now dead, and in spite of the Pope's mandates, Wilfrith's claims were
rejected by a national synod of the Church. He again appealed to Rome, and
was excommunicated by the English bishops. Again he journeyed to Rome, and
John VI. pronounced a decree in his favour. Ealdfrith, however, declared
that he would never change his decision for papal writings, and it was not
until after his death that a compromise was effected in a Northumbrian
synod held on the Nidd in 705. The settlement was unfavourable to
Wilfrith, for he was not restored to York, but ended his days as bishop of
Hexham. He was a man of blameless life and indomitable courage. It was
mainly through his efforts that the Church of England was brought into
conformity with the Roman Church. Defeat never made him idle or
despondent, and his noblest triumphs, the conversion of the last heathen
people of English race, were won in exile. At the same time, he was hasty,
impolitic, and perhaps over-jealous for his own honour. In the part that
the two archbishops took against him it is hard not to see some fear lest
the magnificence of the northern prelate should endanger the authority of
Canterbury in Northumbria, though they certainly acted for the good of the
Church in insisting on the division of his vast diocese. He made the first
attempt to control English ecclesiastical affairs by invoking the
appellate jurisdiction of the Pope, and his defeat was the first of the
many checks that papal interference received from Englishmen.
[Sidenote: Literary greatness of Northumbria, 664-782.]
[Sidenote: Caedmon, d. 680.]
[Sidenote: AEddi [Eddius], fl. 710.]
[Sidenote: Baeda, 673-735.]
From the time of its conversion by Aidan to its devastation by the
Scandinavian pirates, Northumbria excelled the rest of England in arts and
literature. Another volume of this series will deal with the famous
monasteries of Lindisfarne, Jarrow, Wearmouth, Whitby, and York, with
their scholar-monks, and with the splendours of Roman and Gallic art with
which their churches were enriched. While Celtic culture was on the point
of yielding to Roman influence, Caedmon, the herdsman, the first of our
sacred poets, began to sing at Whitby. His story illustrates the love of
the English for music; and this national characteristic caused the
introduction of the Roman system of chanting to hold an important place in
the process of bringing the Church into conformity with Rome. This part of
the work of James the deacon was carried on by AEddi, a choirmaster of
Canterbury, whom Wilfrith invited into Northumbria. AEddi became the
bishop's companion, and wrote a "Life of Wilfrith," a work of considerable
value. Shortly afterwards Baeda composed his "Ecclesiastical History." Baeda
was absolutely free from narrowness of mind, and though he held that the
Roman tradition was authoritative, loved and venerated the memory of the
holy men of the Celtic Church. As a story-teller he is unrivalled: full of
piety and tenderness, he preserved through life a simplicity of heart that
invests his narratives with a peculiar grace. At the same time, he did all
in his power to find out the exact truth, and constantly tells his readers
where he derived his information. He was well read in the best Latin
authors, and in patristic divinity; he understood Greek, and had some
acquaintance with Hebrew. Besides his works on the Bible and his
historical and biographical books, he wrote treatises on chronology,
astronomy, mathematics, and music. From boyhood he spent all his life in
the monastery of Jarrow in religious exercises and in literary labours,
that he undertook not for his own sake, but for the sake of others. During
his last sickness he worked hard to finish his translation of the Gospel
of St. John, for he knew that it would be useful to his scholars. His last
day on earth was spent upon it; and when evening came, and the young
scribe said, "There is yet one more sentence, dear master, to be written
out," he answered, "Write quickly." After a while the lad said, "Now the
sentence is written;" and he answered, "Good; thou hast spoken truly. It
is finished." Then he bade him raise his head, for he wished to look on
the spot where he was wont to pray. And so, lying on the pavement of his
cell, he sang the _Gloria Patri_, and as he uttered the name of the Holy
Ghost he passed to the heavenly kingdom.
[Sidenote: Parishes.]
[Sidenote: Tithes.]
One of Baeda's friends was Ecgberht, who was made bishop of York in 734,
and obtained the restoration of the metropolitan dignity of his see. A
year after his election Baeda sent him a letter of advice which tells us a
good deal about the state of the Church. While the work of evangelization
was still going on, monasteries were useful as missionary centres, and a
single church served for a large district. Now, however, men no longer
needed missionary preachers so much as resident priests and regular
services. Accordingly, the parochial system came into existence about this
time, not by any formal enactment, but in the natural course of things.
For, when the lord of a township built a church, and had a priest ordained
to minister to his people, his township in most cases became an
ecclesiastical district or parish. Baeda urges the bishop to forward this
change. He points out that it was impossible for him to visit every place
in his diocese even once a year, and exhorts him to ordain priests to
preach, to consecrate the Holy Mysteries, and to baptize in each village.
The parish priest mainly subsisted on land assigned to him by the lord who
built the church and on the offerings of the people, such as church-scot,
which was paid at Martinmas, soul-scot or mortuary dues, and the like.
These payments were obligatory, and were enjoined first by the law of the
Church, and then by the civil power. It is evident from Baeda's letter
that, even before the parochial system was established, a compulsory
payment of some kind was made to the bishop by all the people of his
diocese. From the earliest times, also, the consecration of a tenth, or
tithe, to the service of God was held to be a Christian duty, and the
obligation is recognized in Theodore's Penitential, and was therefore part
of the law of the Church. It became part of the civil law in 787, for it
was then enjoined by a council presided over by two legates, and the
decree was accepted by the kings and the witan of the kingdoms they
visited. It is probable, however, that payment was not enforced till a
later period. Early in the tenth century the obligation was recognized as
an established law, and a penalty was provided for its non-fulfilment. The
appropriation of the payment long remained unsettled, and was generally
decided by the owner of the land, who in most cases naturally assigned the
tithe to the parish priest, though he sometimes gave it to the head church
of the district, or to the bishop's church, or to some monastery. And
although the right of the parochial clergy to the tithe of increase was
declared in 1200 by the Council of Westminster, the constitution was often
evaded.
[Sidenote: Restoration of the archbishopric of York, 734.]
Many monasteries had in Baeda's time fallen into an evil condition, and as
the Church needed an efficient diocesan organization, he advised Ecgberht
to strive for the fulfilment of Pope Gregory's scheme as regards the
Church in the north, which provided that the see of York should be
metropolitan, and that the province should be divided into twelve
bishoprics. The new bishops should, he proposed, be supported out of the
funds of monasteries, which were in some cases to be placed under
episcopal rule. In the same year that this letter was written, Ecgberht
received the pall from Gregory III., and this grant, which had not been
made to any of his predecessors since the time of Paulinus, restored the
see to metropolitan dignity. Thus one part of Theodore's work was
frustrated, and Northumbria was withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the see
of Canterbury. The kingdom itself was withdrawing from the contests
between the other English states, and the restoration of the archbishopric
may be regarded as a kind of declaration of its separate national life.
Under Ecgberht and his successor, AEthelberht (Albert), the Northumbrian
Church was famous for learning, and the archbishop's school at York became
the most notable place of education in Western Christendom. AEthelberht's
schoolmaster was Alcuin, who after the archbishop's death resided at the
court of Charles the Great, and helped him to carry out his plans for the
advancement of learning. Alcuin had himself been a scholar at York, and so
the school there became a source of light to other lands. In York itself,
however, the light was quenched before Alcuin's death. Civil disturbances
were followed by the Scandinavian invasions, and the Northumbrian Church
for a long period almost disappears amidst anarchy and ruin.
[Sidenote: Ealdhelm, bishop of Sherborne, died 709.]
In Wessex the work of Theodore was carried on by Ealdhelm, abbot of
Malmesbury, one of his most distinguished scholars. Ini, the West Saxon
king, had conquered the western part of Somerset, and ruled over a mixed
population. The bitter feelings engendered by the schism were an hindrance
to the Church in the west, and Ealdhelm wrote a treatise on the subject in
the form of a letter to Gerent, king of Dyfnaint, which brought a number
of the Welsh within the West Saxon border to conform to the customs of the
Roman Church. This put an end to the schism in the west. In our present
Wales the Roman Easter was universally accepted about a century later.
Ealdhelm, who was a kinsman of Ini, was much honoured by the king, and
used his influence to further the spread of the Gospel. Churches rose
rapidly in Wessex, and he journeyed to Rome to obtain privileges for the
monasteries he had founded, and was received with much kindness by Pope
Sergius. The division of the West Saxon diocese which had been
contemplated by Theodore took place in Ini's reign, and was settled by the
king and an ecclesiastical council. All to the west of Selwood Forest, the
western part of Wiltshire, Dorset, and Somerset formed the new diocese of
Sherborne, and over this Ealdhelm was chosen bishop. The rest of Wessex
remained in the diocese of Winchester, which had now taken the place of
Dorchester as an episcopal see. The labours of Ealdhelm, and the help he
received from his wise and powerful kinsman, brought about the extension
and organization of the Church in the west. After raising Wessex to the
foremost place among the kingdoms south of the Humber, Ini laid down his
crown, made a pilgrimage to Rome, and died there.
[Sidenote: The archbishopric of Lichfield, 786-802.]
In the latter half of the eighth century Offa, king of Mercia, was the
most powerful monarch in England, and, among other conquests, subdued Kent
and added it to his dominions. The course of political events tended to a
threefold division of England into the Northumbrian, Mercian, and West
Saxon kingdoms, and the twofold system of ecclesiastical administration by
the metropolitans of Canterbury and York thwarted the ambition of the
Mercian king. Northumbria had already sealed its policy of separation by
the restoration of the archbishopric of York, and Offa now adopted a
similar course, by persuading Pope Hadrian I. to grant the see of
Lichfield metropolitan dignity. He had a special reason for weakening the
power of Canterbury, for after the extinction of Kentish royalty the
archbishop gained increased political importance, and became the
representative of the national life of the kingdom, which Offa vainly
endeavoured to crush. Accordingly two legates of Hadrian held a synod at
Chelsea in 787, in which Higberht, bishop of Lichfield, was declared an
archbishop. Jaenberht, archbishop of Canterbury, was forced to submit to
the partition of his province, the obedience of the Mercian and East
Anglian bishops being apparently transferred to the new metropolitan.
This arrangement was subversive of a part of Theodore's work that was
specially valuable as regards the development both of the Church and the
nation. Theodore had made ecclesiastical jurisdictions independent of the
fluctuations of political boundaries, and had freed the Church from
provincial influences and from a merely local character. The national
character of the Church was to become a powerful factor in forming the
English nation. In spite of civil divisions, the oneness of the Church was
a strong element of union. Although no lay assembly, no witenagemot, of
the whole nation was as yet possible, the Church met in national councils;
its head, the archbishop of Canterbury, might be a native of any kingdom,
and every one of its clergy, of whatever race he might be, was equally at
home in whatever part of the land he was called to minister. This national
character of the Church and the influence it exercised on national unity
were endangered by creating metropolitan jurisdiction and dignity as mere
appendages to a political division. Happily there was no second archbishop
of Lichfield. Offa's successor, Cenwulf, found AEthelheard, the
archbishop of Canterbury, a useful ally in a revolt of the Kentish nobles,
and joined him in obtaining the restoration of the rights of his see from
Leo III. While the see of York was overwhelmed by political disasters, the
archbishop of Canterbury gained increased importance. Wessex entered on a
career of conquest under Ecgberht, who, in 827, defeated the Mercian king
at Ellandun. This victory led to the conquest of Kent, and in 838
Archbishop Ceolnoth, in a council held at Kingston, made a treaty of
perpetual alliance between his Church and Ecgberht and his son AEthelwulf,
the under-king of Kent. By this alliance the Church pledged itself to
support the line of kings under which the English at last became a united
nation.
[Sidenote: The Church in relation to the State.]
No distinct lines divide the area of the Church's work in legislation or
jurisdiction from that occupied by the State. Bishops, in virtue of their
spiritual dignity, formed part of the witan, first of the several
kingdoms, and then of the united nation. In the witenagemots laws were
enacted concerning religion, morality, and ecclesiastical discipline, as
well as secular matters; for the clergy had no reason to fear lay
interference, and gladly availed themselves of the authority that was
attached to the decrees of the national council. The evangelization of the
people caused some modification of their ancient laws and customs, and
AEthelberht of Kent and other kings published written codes "after the
Roman model," in accordance with the teaching of their bishops. It is
evident that bishops were usually appointed, and often elected, in the
witenagemot. Wilfrith was elected, "by common consent," in a meeting of
the Northumbrian witan, and the election of Ealdhelm by the West Saxon
assembly is said to have been made by the great men, the clergy, and a
multitude of people, though it must not be supposed that the popular voice
was ever heard except in assent. Nor does it seem certain that even the
form of election was always observed; for, to take a single instance,
Ceadda's appointment to Lichfield seems to have been made by Theodore at
the request of the Mercian king. The clergy of the bishop's church,
however, had a right of election, for Alcuin wrote to the clergy of York
reminding them that the election of the archbishop belonged to them.
Episcopal elections were, indeed, the results of amicable arrangement, and
exemplify the undefined condition of the relations between the Church and
the State, and the harmony that existed between them. The Church, however,
had its own councils. These were either national, such as that held by
Theodore at Hatfield, or, after the restoration of the northern
archiepiscopate, provincial, or assemblies of the Church of a single
kingdom, such as the Synod of Whitby. In spite of the canon directing that
national Church councils should meet annually, they were not often held,
owing to the constant strife between the kingdoms. An amendment to one of
Theodore's canons proves the freedom of discussion and voting at these
assemblies. Provincial councils were attended by a few of the principal
clergy of each diocese, who came up to them with their bishop. Kings and
nobles were often present at ecclesiastical councils, and joined in
attesting their proceedings, so that it is sometimes difficult to decide
whether a council was a clerical assembly or a meeting of the witan.
The harmony between Church and State is no less evident in matters of
jurisdiction than it is in legislation. Besides exercising jurisdiction in
his own franchise, the bishop sat with the ealdorman and sheriff in the
local courts, declaring the ecclesiastical law and taking cognizance of
the breach of it. Certain cases touching morality appear to have specially
belonged to his jurisdiction, which was also exercised in the local courts
over criminal clergy. Apart from his work in these courts, he enforced
ecclesiastical discipline, and the rules contained in the Penitentials, or
codes in which a special penance was provided for each sin. These
compilations derived their authority not from any decree, but from their
inherent excellence, or from the character of their authors. Some
Penitentials were drawn up by Scottish teachers, and Theodore, Baeda, and
Ecgberht of York wrote others for the English Church. The bishop had a
court of his own for the correction of clergy not accused of civil crime
and for the administration of penitential discipline. His chief officer,
the archdeacon, first appears under that title, though without territorial
jurisdiction, early in the ninth century. Before that time the bishop was
attended by his deacon, but this office was one of personal service rather
than of administration. No jealousy can be discerned between Church and
State, and though the area within which each worked was not clearly
defined, it is clear that they worked together without clashing.
[Sidenote: The Church and the Papacy.]
While, however, the Church had this strongly national character, it was in
obedience to the Roman see. Archbishops did not consecrate bishops until
they had received the pall from the Pope. At first the pall was sent to
them, but by the beginning of the eighth century they were expected to
fetch it, and this soon became an invariable rule, which strengthened the
idea of the dependence of the Church, and afforded opportunities for
extortion and aggression. No legates landed here from the time of Theodore
until two were sent over by Hadrian in 786. Hadrian's legates held synods
in both the two provinces, and published a body of canons, which the kings
and their thegns, the archbishops, bishops, and all who attended pledged
themselves to obey. By one of these the payment of tithes was, we have
seen, made part of the law of the land. Another illustrates the influence
of the Church on the conception of kingship. Although the crown invested
the king with personal pre-eminence, there was as yet no idea of the
sanctity conferred by the religious rite of anointing, which had taken the
place of the old Teutonic ceremonies. It was now ordained that no one of
illegitimate birth should be chosen king, for none such might enter the
priesthood, and that any one who plotted the king's death should be held
guilty of the sin of Judas, because the king was the Lord's Anointed. The
Church, however, was not to fall into the snare of adulation; bishops were
to speak the word of God to kings without fear, and kings were to obey
them as those who held the keys of Heaven.
For the next three hundred years the Church was almost wholly free from
the direct control of legatine visits. Appeals to the judgment of the
Roman see had for the first time been made by Wilfrith, and the Church, as
we have seen, cordially upheld the resistance offered by kings and nobles
to the Pope's attempts to set aside the decision of national councils.
The compromise that was at last effected was not a papal triumph.
Nevertheless the authority of the Pope was generally acknowledged, and the
most powerful kings thought it needful to obtain the sanction of Rome for
ecclesiastical changes, such as the erection and suppression of the
Mercian archbishopric. Moreover, Englishmen venerated Rome as the
Apostolic See and the mother of Catholic Christendom, and made frequent
pilgrimages thither. First, ecclesiastics journeyed to Rome either for
purposes of business or devotion. Then, towards the end of the seventh
century, Ceadwalla, a West Saxon king, went thither to receive baptism,
praying that he might die as soon as he was cleansed from his sins, and
his prayer was granted. His example was followed by other kings, and among
them by his successor, Ini. Crowds of persons of both sexes and every
condition now went on pilgrimage. In Offa's time there were special
buildings at Rome called the "Saxon School" for the accommodation of
English pilgrims, and the Mercian king obtained a promise from Charles the
Great that they should be free of toll in passing through his dominions.
[Sidenote: The Church and Western Christendom.]
The missionary labours of Willibrord, of Winfrith or Boniface, and other
Englishmen brought our Church into close relationship with other Churches
of Western Europe, for a constant correspondence was kept up between the
missionaries and their brethren at home. The connexion between the English
and Frankish Churches was strengthened by the residence of Alcuin at the
court of Charles the Great, and by the desire of Offa to establish
friendly relations with the Frankish monarch. Alcuin obtained a letter
from the kings and bishops of England, agreeing with the condemnation
which Charles pronounced against the decree of the Second Council of Nice,
re-establishing the worship of images in the Eastern Church, and English
bishops attended the council Charles held at Frankfort, where the action
of the Greeks and the opinions of certain Adoptionist heretics were
condemned. At the close of the eighth century our Church was highly
esteemed throughout Western Christendom, and this was due both to the
noble work accomplished by English missionaries and to the literary
greatness of Northumbria, the home of Alcuin.