Conversion of the Heptarchy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CONVERSION OF THE HEPTARCHY. SEV EN LECTURES ’ GI VEN AT ST PAUL S . BY TH E R B F B W E . D RI V . N T RE . GH . G O , , ’ BISH OP OF STEPNEY, CA NON. OF ST. PAUL S. P UB LIS HED UNDER THE D IRECT ION OF T HE TRACT CO MM IT TEE SOCIET Y FO R PRO M OTIN G C H RISTIAN K NOWLE D GE O RT H UM BERLA N D A V E NUE w EE T R IA T REET E c. N V IC O S c. N , . ; 43 , Q U , B R : 1 2 O RT H T R EET . IG HT O N 9 , N S N W E O RK : E . B Y 8: CO . Y J. OUNG 1 8 6 9 . P RE FA C E . TH E story of the con v ersion o f the several kingdoms of the Heptarchy has naturally some points common to the history of two or m ore of the k ingdoms . This has made it impossible to avoid repetition in some cases . In one respect the s ubject h as been more ' pleasant than that o f last year s lectures Com an n s w as (A u gu stin e an d his p io ). There scarcely any intervention o f Rome in the r pe iod dealt with this winter, and it has thus not been generally necessary to enter upon “ ” O o f controversial matters . ne the church o f newspapers , in the course an appreciative ’ of review last year s little volume, made a severe remark on the unnecessary raising of r . cont oversial points But , with one exception , the controversial remarks had a fair connec tion with the subj ect ; and , without any r n exception , they had eference to obj ectio s m di iculties of h and modern times , about whic PREFACE . and o f I the need meeting them , probably know as much as my kindly critic . h There is anot er side to the question , and , to n of . possibly, the meani g my critic The on Roman aggression , which began the death n in a of Cardi al Manning , is full pl y ; more full and systematic than persons ordinarily I informed know . am clear that the duty r of of n wh o of membe s the Church E gland , om t have the opportunity , is to p out quite frankly the relative weakness of the Roman n of position , and the relative stre gth ours , on the main subj ects of the Roman attack i n upon us . There is a suicidal policy vogue in some quarters , and perhaps my critic is one of its victims , which is guided by the mis taken idea that ii we hold our peace on these ” “ - re m to . points, union is ore likely come ’ Re- union on any terms which we can accept and which are not fatal to the structure o f the Roman claims never can come . The “ ” o nly hope for any sort of re-union is that we should frankly and firmly expose the f hollowness o the Roman claims . C ON T E NT S I N RT MBRI A . O H U I I WESS X . E II EA T A IA I . S NGL IV . ME RCIA V TH E EAST SAXONS . VI U EX AND ON LU ING EMA K 1 . S SS C C R R S , D . 59 VII TH E B EWCASTLE CROSS AND OTHER . , MONUMENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS V CROSS-SLAB OF OI DI LV A LD TOMB STO NE or GEDD) B EWCASTLE ososs SOUTH S I E , D E Frontis i c B EWCASTLE C ROSS WEST S I D p e e. , S UND I A L AT K I RK DALE RUNI C G RAVESTONE AT THORNHILL RUNI C G RAVESTONE IN WIRRA L CROS S -S LA B AT JARROVV V E I ATION- TONE JA RR V D D C S , O I O TH E CROSS OF TH E HOLY JAMES ‘ L E C T U R E I . NORTH UM B R I A — w in —Rei n S u bj ects o f p reviou s cou rses D eath of Ed . g — - — f i Ch u rch . A idan . D eath o of Oswald . Th e S co t c — — w D eath o f A idan . Co n Osw ald an d accession o f Os y. Wh itb —With d rawal o f th e S co tic Ch u rch fe ren ce at y . , — and estim ate o f its w ork D evelop m en t of bish oprics in North u m b ria. TWO - years ago we dealt with the history and condition o f Christianity in these islands 1 before the coming of Augustine . We saw that two hundred years at least before a 6 h ad Augustine c me in 59 , Christianity , a roughly spe king, spread over the whole of the territories which we now call England a and a and W les , the south of Scotl nd ; that f r be o e his time , Christianity had spread over large parts of the island which we call Ireland ; and that, at one time and another , still before the arrival of the Italian mission a aries in Kent , Christian mission ries , British t and Cel ic , had made their mark in large districts of the territory which we call Scot 1 Th e Ch urch in these I slands be ore A u ustin f g e, I F O CONVERSION O NORTHUMBRIA . r land north of the Fo th . We saw th at in the r 00 and 6 r had yea s between 4 59 , while the e been progress in m any of the parts of these a h ad far can isl nds , there been , so as we judge , a complete disappearance of Christianity from a th e a all p rts of country we c ll England , excepting the south - west and the north - west a r all w th t is , f om parts in hich the English invaders of the lands of th e Briton s h ad estab lish ed r n o r a themselves , whethe A gles , S xons , r r or Jutes . But I am myself mo e and mo e inclined to think that the Britons were not so nearly extirpated in the English p arts as we a o f suppose , and th t among the remnants the enslaved Britons there were remnants of the Christian faith . Last winter we dealt with the restoration o f Christianity in one of the seven kingdoms h ad which the English set up , the kingdom 1 of the Jutes in Kent We saw the little kingdom of Kent pass through the relapse a into or towards paganism , which m rks the ' story in so many of the English kingdoms ; and we considered its final establishment in r the faith . With the conve sion of the king dom of Kent we have nothing more to do . 1 and his Com anions Lectu res I I A ugustine p , , CONVERSION OF NORTHUMBRIA . I I Augustine and his companions made sure work there . a of We de lt, also , with the introduction a a Christi nity among the East S xons , our 1 i — so Essex and M ddlesex , with their capital — 2 far as they had one in ruined London ; and we saw it expelled by the sturdy p agans o u r 3 not its restora predecessors . We shall see tion till forty years o f darkness have passed ; and even then we shall see yet another relapse into inveterate paganism . We had to glance incidentally at the early existence o f Christianity among the East o u r N ff r Angles , orfolk and Su olk and pa ts o f r Camb idgeshire , and we shall take up the in story that kingdom . In the great midland kingdom of the Mercians and Middle Angles, in the slowly a of , increasing kingdom the ,West S xons i. e. all westward from the border of Sussex , and in the isolated kingdom of the South no of Saxons , our Sussex , we had seen signs o f any renewal Christianity, since the ex or o f pulsion of the Christian Britons , their i . Christianity , by the pagan Engl sh S o far as I n ow w e h a e i tl in fo rm atio n k , v very l t e abou t th e M iddle ax n 1 S s 1 . o . ee . S pp 4 7 , 55 3 A u u stine and his m i u V o an ons Lect re I . g C p , 1 2 F CONVERSION O NORTHUMBRIA . a o f N ou r In the gre t kingdom orthumbria , a N Yorkshire , Durh m , orthumberland , and to a Scotland up the Forth , with generally vague western boundary and great masses o f Britons on the other side of the boundary , we saw th e planting of Christianity from Canter ur and r . b y by Paulinus , his ve y rapid success And we saw th e whole sw ept clean away by a combination of pagan Middle Angles and Christian Britons ; agreement in political a n h tred uniti g, not for the first or the last o w ho r at time , th se in religion we e complete 1 ff ar a r o .