The Gateway Chronicle 2020

40
This said, it took until AD597 for the seed
of Christianity to find new soils (within
Anglo-Saxon lands) that were fertile
enough to foster its growth a second time.
This it found within the Anglo-Saxon Aristocracy.
A group of monks lead by a man called
Augustine arrived in Britain from Rome
sent by Pope Gregory I. Their aim was to
convert the Kentish king AEthelbert to
Christianity. Kent was probably chosen as
AEthelbert had a Christian Queen with
European connections and, as a result,
was the most pliable to this concept of
Christianity, which had survived on
the continent after the fall of Rome. After
succeeding in converting AEthelbert
and having him baptised, Augustine
then became the first Archbishop
of Canterbury and begun the process
of dividing Britain up into Parishes,
building Minsters, and founding the
first monastery in Canterbury in
AD598. By AD1100, there would be
around 6000 local churches, and
around 600 monastic communities.
founded the first monastery in Canterbury,
then you would find Christian worshippers
and pilgrims mourning en masse
at the death of their Christian Monarch.
This man was King Alfred the Great. He
was instrumental in creating an English
identity, defeating a Viking invasion and,
most significantly, ensuring the survival
of Christianity in Britain. This huge body
of Christians in one town is testament not
only to the success of Augustines system
but also to Alfred success as a monarch.
It is almost definitely true to say that
the impact that Augustine had was
widespread across the Island. The system
of building Minsters as missionary
outposts across the island was widely
accepted by Aristocrats and was also a
massive success. This is partly down to
the charitable actions that the church
undertook, and partly because of the
sheer number of people it gave the
church access too. Whilst I cannot stipulate
as to the events that may have occurred
should Augustine have never
arrived in Kent, it is imaginable that it
may well have taken a great many
more years for Christianity to gain another
footing on the Island.
Adoptive father – Alfred the Great
If you were to be in Wessex, or more specifically
Winchester (Wintanceaster in old
English) 301 years after Augustine
To understand this, one must first
understand a little about the geo-political
situation at the time.
Alfred the Great