Research On The Relationship Between The Anglo-Saxon Kingship And The Church

Since about the 430s,Germanic tribes such as Jutes,Angles and Saxons emigrated to Britain in large numbers and established their kingdom around the end of the 6th century.After continuous campaigns and resistance to the invasion of the Vikings,on the eve of the Noman Conquest,England has achieved initial unification.In terms of religious beliefs,Anglo-Saxons were pagans at first,but during three or four generations starting in the 590s,they all converted to Christianity.After the synod of Whitby,Christianity developed rapidly in England,and monastic communities sprung up everywhere.Moreover,after constant reforms and adjustments,17 dioceses and thousands of rural churches had been established in England before the Norman Conquest.When the Roman mission arrived at the end of sixth Century,Anglo-Saxon kingship,which had just been transformed from a tribal military chief,was weak and unstable.Conversion to Christianity not only helped the Anglo-Saxons to enter the threshold of civilization,but also helped their rulers consolidate their position and realize their political ambitions to expand abroad.The Anglo-Saxon kings were also dependent on the Church for the local governance,because the clergy had rich experience in the administration of the Church,and only the Church had educated,literate members.Because of this,Anglo-Saxon kings actively promoted the spread and development of Christianity,such as leading people to be baptized from top to bottom,taking advantage of various favorable opportunities to export Christianity to other kingdoms,and supporting the rise of monasticism by taking the lead in devoting themselves to religion,donating and building monastic communities,etc.In addition,in the surviving early Anglo-Saxon law codes,pagan worship was severely prohibited,while Christianity and its clergy were protected.In addition to donating Church buildings directly serving religious purposes such as cathedrals,which provided the necessary economic and material basis for the existence of the Church,Anglo-Saxon kingship was also the largest patron of the Church's property.On the other hand.because bishops and abbots are key figures in royal court and local governance,in order to ensure their loyalty,the appointment and removal of these senior priests were controlled by Anglo-Saxon kings,most of whom were loyal subjects or members of the royal family.Anglo-Saxon kings also often convened religious conferences and played an important role in them.The internal affairs of the Church were increasingly interfered with by the secular kingship and cannot develop independently.Thanks to the protection and generous donation of Anglo-Saxon kings,Christianity quickly took root in Anglo Saxon England and soon accumulated a large amount of property.In return,the Church tried its best to help the Anglo-Saxon kings build a ruling order dominated by the "divine order" monarchy,for example,helped it find a new substitute to inspire its people's loyalty by revering kings and other members of the royal family as saints,proved the legitimacy of the king's rule and gave it the cloak of "divine right of kings" by the introduction of anointing into the king's accession ceremony.Meanwhile,the Church provided many useful talents for Anglo-Saxon kings,archbishops,bishops and abbots were active in the political arena of the kingdom.In addition to being invited to the witan meetings and discussed important domestic and foreign affairs with the king and other secular nobles,they also undertook the important task of maintaining local order with the ealdormen.In the late Anglo-Saxon period,the Church not only offered sincere prayer for the peace of the kingdom,but also some senior clergy even personally led the army to fight with the heathen invaders from Scandinavia.In addition,as a common belief,Christianity worked as an important spiritual bond in the process of England's unification.Although Anglo-Saxon kingship and the Church made use of each other and served the needs and interests of each other,some of the Christian teachings were antithetical to the old Germanic worldview.Since the late 7th century,there had been a"binary opposition" between the Church and the Anglo-Saxon kingship,such as the dispute between the bishop of York Wilfrid and several Northumbrian kings,the fierce conflict between the archbishops of Canterbury and the Mercian kings.On the whole,however,the harmonious cooperation was the main feature of the relationship between the Anglo-Saxon kingship and the Church before the Norman Conquest,as common goals and common needs were greater and more intense than actual or potential conflicts and confusion.Especially in the late Anglo-Saxon period,in the context of the increasing marauding of the Vikings,the alliance between the Church and the kingship became closer,although the Church gradually became a vassal of the secular kingship in the process.Anglo-Saxon Church is often known as the "daughter" of the Roman Church.Gregory the Great,Vitalian and other popes made important contributions to the early development of the Anglo-Saxon Church,and their heirs also tried to maintain contact with it by granting Anglo-Saxon archbishops palliums.Anglo-Saxons showed great loyalty to the Holy See of Rome,such as actively seeking advice and support from the Holy See on some important matters of the Church of England,and devoting themselves to the mission of the Pope,etc.However,since the Roman Church itself was very weak at this time,coupled with the distance,the Pope had little contact with Anglo-Saxon kings and their Church,the Church affairs in England were less interfered with by the Holy See of Rome.Not only that,Anglo-Saxon Church was proved to be quite independent from a very early age,it refused to enforce the judgment of the Holy See of Rome on the "Wilfried Event",and in the field of the appointmen of prelates and marriage,Anglo-Saxons often violated the relevant Canon laws and challenged the authority of the Pope.