Customer Reviews

The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England

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This is easily one of my favorite works of English Ecclesiastical History. Mayr-Harting's writing is clear, readable, and often witty, and the book becomes an enjoyable reading experience for it.

Despite the title, Mayr-Harting's main focus is not on the conversion of England as the development of Christianity and English Christian Society. He divides the work into two sections, the shorter covering the initial post-Roman conversion, and the importance of Bede and his Ecclesiastical History. The second part is longer, and covers development from the Synod of Whitby up through St. Boniface.

This is easily the best single overview of early English church history I've read. Mayr-Harting handles major subjects like liturgy and Celtic vs. Roman Christianity as easily as he does the characters of some of the period's major ecclesiastical players: Bede, Wilfrid, Boniface. The result is a brilliant piece of historical scholarship.

Primarily written for scholars, but an excellent all-around book, written with style and erudition. If you have an interest and some background in early England or early Christian history, you'll find the book worthwhile, even fun to read.

Reading the Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England is like going to a dim-sum restaurant. Mayr-Harting brings out cart after cart delectable goodies, almost all of them enjoyable. However, there is no menu to provide organization for the cuisine, and you're left wondering just what it was that you ate.

What I mean is this. The book lacks any overall narrative, and the lack leaves those with little familiarity with Anglo-Saxon England feeling a little lost. Even a timeline as an appendix would have been helpful, showing us when St. Augustine arrived, when the King of East Anglia was converted, etc.

In fact, the lack of chronological narrative means that the book is *not* the story of the coming of Christianity to England. Rather, it is simply about organized Christianity in early England and some of the major ecclesiastical figures involved. Nevertheless, we are given highly enlightening vignettes of Anglo-Saxon England and the early Church, with brief forays into Ireland, Gaul, Spain, and elsewhere. We learn of a time when Rome was not the all-powerful center of Catholicism, when the Irish were at the forefront, and British (Roman and Celtic) Christians were fading into the sunset. Every page, and nearly ever paragraph, provides an interesting tidbit about worship, monasticism, folklore, and almost any subject one would care to think of.

Perhaps most satisfying of all is to read about Church figures who truly were "Christian", genuinely concerned about spreading the Gospel as opposed to accumulating power or triumphing in doctrinal disputes. A refreshing perspective that those more used to following events in Rome, Constantinople, and Alexandria all too seldom see.

This is not a book for those who solely wish to have an overview of the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England. It is, however, full of delights for the discerning reader.

This work was originally published in 1972 and thus does not reflect the most recent archeological information available regarding the Christianizing of the Anglo-Saxon peoples.

It is still a very enjoyable read. The author has a lively style which flows well over the entire subject. Events and people both great and small are considered in this comprehensive story of the conversions of the Anglo-Saxon peoples to Christianity. Gregory the Great, Augustine, Theodore, Bede, and finally Boniface all loom large in the narrative. The author is more charitable to Wilfrid than most.

I am hard pressed to find fault with this work. However, while the Irish influence on Anglo-Saxon Christianity is thoroughly explored, the dealings of the Anglo-Saxon Church with the remaining British Christians in only lightly discussed. The author, perhaps due to the times in which he wrote, is less-than-critical of his sources and takes the workman-like "they're all we've got, so let's make the most of them" attitude. This makes for good narrative but for poor source analysis.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book and can recommend it.