Week 2

Question 1

The Anglo-Saxon invasion according to Bede (731)

Answer 1

Three ships, three tribes.

1. Jutes: Kent
2. Saxons: Essex, Wessex, Sussex
3. Angles: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria

Question 2

The process of invasion by the Anglo-Saxons

Answer 2

1. Gradual process that takes 250y.
2. Not a unified process or group of people, rather separate smaller kingdoms are taking over.
3. Smaller kingdoms start taking over each other’s areas, groups grow, establishing 7 kingdoms.

Question 3

The 7 Kingdoms

Answer 3

1. Northumbria
2. Mercia
3. East Anglia
4. Essex
5. Wessex
6. Kent
7. Sussex

Question 4

Evidence of Anglo-Saxon Paganism

Answer 4

1. Names for the days of the week (Pagan Gods, see notes)
2. Place names (Tuesley)
3. Festivals (Easter, Yule)
4. Tacitus’s Germania
5. Old English magical spells
6. Writings by Anglo-Saxon Christians
7. Archeology (buried with ship/cow is a non-Christian idea)

Question 5

Example of writings by the Anglo-Saxon Christians

Answer 5

Old English Martyrology (9th c.)

Question 6

With which two counts of Christianity do we deal with regarding the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons? (Tale of two missions).

Answer 6

The Irish and Roman mission

Question 7

Irish mission

Answer 7

1. The Irish (St. Columba) developed their own version of Christianity and converted people in Scotland and the north of England (565)
2. Oswald, king of Northumbria, was converted by Irish missionaries.

Question 8

Which king was converted by Irish missionaries?

Answer 8

King Oswald of Northumbria (636-642).

Question 9

Roman mission (Augustine in England)

Answer 9

1. In 597, Augustine came to England and converted king Aethelbert (King of Kent).
2. Builds church and abbey in Canterbury
3. Established bishoprics in London and Rochester

Question 10

Conflict

Answer 10

1. Relapses into paganism (couple of times)
2. Religious conflict (Irish vs. Roman Christianity; the Irish calculated Easter to be on a different date, haircut for monks).

Question 11

Religious conflict between the Irish and Romans in Britain, and who solved this conflict?

Answer 11

Irish vs. Roman Christianity; the Irish calculated Easter to be on a different date, haircut for monks. Resolved by Synod Whitby (664), King of Northumbria, who decided Roman Christianity should be attained.

Question 12

When was the conversion to Christianity complete?

Answer 12

650-700

Question 13

For the third-person pronouns, what is the difference between singular and plural forms?

Answer 13

Only the singular form is inflected by gender, and the plural doesn’t.

Question 14

How do the third-person forms of possessive adjectives differ from the first-person and second-person forms?

Answer 14

First- and second-person change their forms depending on case, gender and number of the noun they modify. The third-person possessives remain constant across all cases and genders (so no inflection).

Question 15

In ME, two negatives make one positive, how about OE?

Answer 15

Multiple negatives in OE do not cancel each other out, instead it emphasises.

Question 16

Were the people of Kent completely unaware of Christianity when the Roman missionaries arrived in 597 AD?

Answer 16

King Ethelbert of Kent already had knowledge of Christianity due to his Christian wife, who also had her own church and bishop (St. Martin).

Question 17

When did the Romans leave Britain and why?

Answer 17

The Romans left in the early 5th century due to the decline of the Roman Empire.

Question 18

What is the general tenor of the instructions that Pope Gregory gave to the missionaries for converting the Anglo-Saxons?

Answer 18

His instructors emphasised “slow conversion”. He advised against destroying temples and later they were changed into Christian churches.

Question 19

Who was Coifi, and what is his role in Bede’s account of the conversion of King Edwin?

Answer 19

Coifi was a pagan priest of King Edwin and partly convinced Edwin and his court to convert to Christianity, openly advocating for the acceptance of the new religion.

He suggested destroying the pagan temple and with permission did so.

Question 20

Edwin’s counselor compared the life of a pagan with the flight of a sparrow. How are these things comparable? How might Christian life be different?

Answer 20

The example acknowledges the uncertainty of life. He explains that the teachings of Christianity will promise the opposite.

Question 21

Where did the Irish missionaries start their journey? And where did the Roman missionaries start their journey?

Answer 21

In the north.
From the south up.

Question 22

When did St. Augustine arrive in Britain?

Answer 22

He came from Rome, arrived in 597.

Question 23

What happened in 664?

Answer 23

The Synod of Whitby, Roman and Irish missionaries come together and ‘battle’ about the Christian rules (dates of the feasts, haircuts of monks), and the Romans win.

Question 24

Who called for the Synod of Whitby? And how was life after the Synod of Whitby?

Answer 24

King Oswiu.

Christianity was established in all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, conversion complete. Proliferation in monasteries creates a golden age of Anglo-Saxon learning. Britain is a pleasant place, hence why many people come.