Londinium, Architecture and the CraftsLethaby, W. R. (William Richard)
History
Londinium, Architecture and the Crafts
Lethaby, W. R. (William Richard)
England -- Antiquities, Roman; London (England) -- Antiquities, Roman; Romans -- England -- London
_CHRISTIAN BRITAIN._—The whole subject of Christian antiquities in
Britain was for a long time clouded by mere doubt of testimony, until
the comparatively recent discovery of the foundations of an early
Christian basilican church at Silchester, in 1892, gradually changed the
temperature and atmosphere in which facts are seen. Thomas Wright had
swept the thing aside, Gildas and all. This difference of attitude is
well brought out in the earlier and more recent writings of Dr.
Haverfield. Compare, for instance, his over-cautious article in the
_English Historical Review_ about twenty years ago with another in
_Archæologia Æliana_, 1917, which is written in quite a different
temper. It is now clear that Britain marched with Gaul in the acceptance
of Christianity, although one step behind.
In Cabrol’s great _French Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_ we may
obtain a valuable unbiased account of British Christian antiquities. The
best general introduction known to me is a chapter in Sir C. Oman’s
excellent _England before the Norman Conquest_, from which I will
condense a paragraph.
“There is no doubt that individual Christians, perhaps even small
communities, were to be found in Britain as early as the second century.
There is no reason to doubt Tertullian writing in about A.D. 208, or
Origen writing about A.D. 230, that the Christian religion had converts
in the province of the extreme north-west.... In the long peace which
followed the persecution of Severus the new religion pushed northward
and westward with greater power. There seems no reason to doubt the
small number of British martyrs whose names appear in the earliest
martyrologies. The very early martyrology gives three names drawn from
Britain—the latest St. Patrick (_obiit c._ 461), the other two are
Augulus, bishop of Augusta (London), and Alban. We know nothing of
Augulus, but the fact that his See is called Augusta shows that the name
was taken down between 340 and 410, for London was only known as Augusta
in the second half of the fourth century. Of Alban’s existence our
knowledge is more certain, since Germanus visited his grave in 429; his
cult, therefore, was well established in the early fifth century.... As
early as 314, three bishops from Britain appeared at the Council of
Arles—Eborius of York, Restitutus of London and Adelphius of Lincoln.
There seems reason to think that the bulk of the population remained
pagan till a later date than was the case elsewhere. If the Christians
of Calleva found the diminutive church lately discovered sufficient for
their needs they must have been but a few hundreds. In that same town a
temple to Mars was found, which must have been used down to the end. If
Calleva had become completely Christian before its evacuation the image
of Mars would not have been left. The small number of Christian
sepulchral inscriptions is notable, though such have been found at
Carlisle, Lincoln and elsewhere. It is very strange that a religion
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account