IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES
1. 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.
2. 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 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[3] 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.
3. 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 traces of them left.
[Illustration: Photo. Valentine
CROSS AND CHURCH, GEDDINGTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
(page 45)]
4. A =priest= would be appointed 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.
5. 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.
=Summary.=--At the end of the sixth century Christian missionaries
were working in the north and in the south of England, but the
progress made was very slow. The early bishops and their clergy
travelled about as missionaries. In time churches were built in
the vills and tuns, and a priest left in charge, who had his share
in the strips of land, and in the course of time had other _dues_
paid to him. Monasteries, too, sprang up. These were bodies of
religious people living together to work and worship.