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Question: What was England like before Christianity!? When did Rome bring Christianity to England!?
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Before the Romans came, the British were pagans, worshipping many gods and goddesses!. They apparently had a cult of the human head, which was regarded as sacred, and they were known to practice human sacrifice!. They had a caste of wise men called the Druids, who were wiped out by the Romans when they invaded!. They appear to have been regarded as a threat to the Roman social order, inciting the natives to rebellion etc!.

Before the Romans became christianised, they worshipped many gods and goddesses!. They had the habit of identifying local gods wherever they went and combining them with their own deities!. so for instance, at Aqua Sulis (Bath), the local goddess of the hot springs, Sulis, was combined with the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, to make the goddess Sulis Minerva!. If you go to the Roman baths in Bath today, you can see the head of the great statue of Sulis Minerva!.

the roman empire became officially Christian in the 4th century AD, but there were many converts to Christianity before this date, and for instance Alban, a 3rd century British Christian, was put to death at Verulamium, and became Saint Alban (the modern town which grew up next to the site of Verulamium is named after him!. You can still see the ruins of Verulamium today!.

After the fall of the Roman empire Britain was invaded by Pagan Saxons, who were themselves eventually converted to Christianity by missionaries from Rome!.
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These are some of the gods that the British believed in before Christianity:
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Category:An!.!.!.

Try going to this webite too:
http://www!.ambaile!.org!.uk/en/sub_section!.!.!.

Before Christianity, the British Isles were inhabited by pagan Celtic tribes!. English tradition links the introduction of Christianity to Britain to the Glastonbury legend of Josef of Arimathea!. Then Christianity was introduced through the Romans (Roman invasion: 55/54 B!.C!. – 407 A!.D!.)!. The Romano-British population after the withdrawal of the Roman legions (407 A!.D!.) was mostly Christian!.

The first known saint of England was St!. Alban, a Christian martyr who died about the year 287 A!.D!. Alban was a Roman-Briton who lived in the south of England in the town of Verulanium, now the city of St!. Albans!. Alban was arrested and put to death for sheltering a Christian who was fleeing persecution!. Although the early beginnings of Christianity in England did not survive, for the Anglo-Saxon invasion (5th and 6th centuries A!.D!.) largely wiped out Christianity from the areas occupied by the Saxons and Angles, the tradition of St!. Alban’s heroic deed and conversion to faith did, and he is venerated as one of Britain’s most popular saints!. By the 7th century, Anglo-Saxon England was largely pagan, meanwhile, some Christians among the Roman-Britons and the Saxons, who had come from France, remained in the south, in England, though they were scattered!. It was already the end of the 6th century when Saint Augustine (+ 604 A!.D!.) set out from Rome to Canterbury (in the Kingdom of Kent) with the mission of bringing Christianity once again to the Angles!. His dream was to unite the Angles, Saxons and Britons into one Church!. Although he was not successful, his dream was fulfilled nearly seventy-five years later by St!. Theodore of Tarsus (602 – 690 A!.D!.), the seventh bishop of Canterbury!. He organized the Church into dioceses and was able to make peace with the Celtic bishops in the north and west of the country!.

So, I think Rome brought Christianity to England during the Roman invasion: 55/54 B!.C!. – 407 A!.D!.

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St Augustine - the brute!.!.!. if it wasn't for him we'd all still be pagan!.!.!.

However check this out - did make me laugh!.!.!.


Etymological clues exist of a forlorn pagan resistance to 'conversion' –

BIGOT, meaning an obstinate and intolerant holder of particular religious opinions, arrived in English via French!. It originated centuries before among Germanic/Frankish tribes of Gaul!. 'Bei Gott' ('By God') mocked the exclamation frequently used by the crusading Christian missionaries who were bludgeoning the tribes into conversion!.

CRETIN, a stunted or intellectually subnormal person, came into English in the 18th century from Franco-Proven?al 'creitin' or 'crestin', again both ancient in origin, derived from the Old French 'chretien' and the Lombard, 'cristanei' – meaning "Christian"


Interesting!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Before christianity, Britons, Picts, Celts etc!. Were pagans, who worshipped many gods, built stonehenge, and had no real cultureWww@QuestionHome@Com