England Folder (Roman Britain, Great Britain, British Empire).kmz

England Folder (Roman Britain, Great Britain, British Empire)

England
England; EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); CHARLES SIMEON, TEACHER, PROMOTOR OF MISSIONARY WORK (12 NOV 1836); Venerable Romanus the Martyr, Commemorated on January 5 ; THOMAS BRAY, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY (15 FEB 1730); Righteous Joseph of Arimathea; ALEXANDER CRUMMELL; RICHARD HOOKER; WILLIAM TEMPLE; Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia; THOMAS TALLIS; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ; ROBERT HUNT, PRIEST & FIRST CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, 1608, Commemorated April 26 ; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER; St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26 ; Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; ROLAND ALLEN, MISSION STRATEGIST, Commemorated June 8 ; ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, ECUMENIST and JOURNALIST, 1929, Commemorated June 26 ;

British Empire - England
England; EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); CHARLES SIMEON, TEACHER, PROMOTOR OF MISSIONARY WORK (12 NOV 1836); Venerable Romanus the Martyr, Commemorated on January 5 ; THOMAS BRAY, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY (15 FEB 1730); Righteous Joseph of Arimathea; ALEXANDER CRUMMELL; RICHARD HOOKER; WILLIAM TEMPLE; Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia; THOMAS TALLIS; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ; ROBERT HUNT, PRIEST & FIRST CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, 1608, Commemorated April 26 ; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER; St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26 ; Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; ROLAND ALLEN, MISSION STRATEGIST, Commemorated June 8 ; ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, ECUMENIST and JOURNALIST, 1929, Commemorated June 26 ;

England, 43-410, Roman Britain
England, 43-410, Roman Britain; England, 47, Roman Britain, Londinium, AD 47 ; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Commemorated on October 31 ;

England, 45-99, Apostle Aristobulus, Bishop of Britain, Barnabas' brother, from Cyprus, evangelized Scotland, Ireland also
England, 45-99, Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Bishop of Britain, Barnabas' brother, from Cyprus, evangelized Scotland, Ireland also; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain, Commemorated on March 16; Holy Apostle Aristóboulos of the Seventy was born on Cyprus. He and his brother, the Apostle Barnabas (June 11), accompanied Saint Paul on his missionary journeys. Saint Aristóboulos is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:10). are several conflicting narratives about the hierarch's life before he went to Britain. Some identify him with Zebedee, the father of the Apostles James and John. Others say that he was the father-in-law of the Apostle Peter. Most of these are unreliable, however. Paul made Aristóboulos a bishop and sent him to preach the Gospel in Britain, Scotland, and Hibernia (Ireland), where he converted many people to Christ. He also had to endure many torments and afflictions from hostile pagans, who beat him and mocked him. Eventually, he won them over and brought them to Christ as well. Aristóboulos reposed peacefully in Britain among the people he had evangelized. Some sources say he suffered a martyr's death in Wales at an advanced age. Aristóboulos is also commemorated on October 31 (with Saints Stachys, Apellēs, Amplias, Urban, and Narcissus), and also on the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles (January 4). In Greek usage he is commemorated on March 15.

England, 410-1066, Anglo-Saxons
England, 410-1066, Anglo-Saxons;

England, 410-1066, Kingdom of East Anglia, Broads
England, 410-1066, Kingdom of East Anglia; Sigeberht of East Anglia, 629-634 ; Rendlesham; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG);

England, 410-461, Saint Patrick of Ireland
England, Saint, 410-461, Patrick of Ireland; PATRICK OF IRELAND, (17 MAR c461) ; St Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17;

England, 420-634, Kingdom of Bernicia, Northumbria
Kingdom of Bernicia; St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated October 12 ;

England, 450-1045, Wales, Brycheiniog Kingdom
England, 450-1045, Wales, Brycheiniog Kingdom;

England, 455-871, Kingdom of Kent
England, 455-871, Kingdom of Kent ; AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (26 MAY 605);

England, 527-825, Kingdom of Essex (East Saxons)
England, 527-825, Kingdom of Essex (East Saxons); St Eanswythe the Abbess of Folkestone, Commemorated on August 31;

England, 559-“664, Kingdom of Deira, Yorkshire (from the Huber to the Tees, aka Vale of York)
Kingdom of Deira; Vale of York St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated October 12 ; CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672) ;

England, 593-1093, House of Wessex
England, 593-1093, House of Wessex; ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS (26 OCT 899); DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988) ;

England, 653-954, Kingdom of Northumbria (North Anglia)
Kingdom of Northumbria, north of the Humber Estuary from the River Tees to the River Tweed; St Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5 ; AIDAN, MISSIONARY, ABBOT, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE (31 AUGUST 651); CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG); St Adian, the bishop of Lindisfarne, Commemorated August 31; REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS, BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530); St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury; WILLIBRORD OF UTRECHT, ARCHBISHOP AND MISSIONARY (NOV 7, 739) ; EDMUND OF EAST ANGLIA, KING AND MARTYR (20 NOV 870); AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167); CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672) ; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16 ;

England, 793-1066, Viking Invasions of England
England, 793-1066, Viking Invasions of England; DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988) ;

England, 1066-1087, King of England, William the Conqueror, Norman King
England, King of England, 1066-1087, William the Conqueror, Norman King ; MARGARET, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND (16 NOV 1093); ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109); WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, BISHOP (19 JAN 1095);

England, 1093-1707, Heptarchy, Kingdom of England, the 7 Anglo Saxon Kingdoms
England, 1093-1707, Heptarchy, Kingdom of England; Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the seven kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century until the 8th century consolidation into the four kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, Wessex and East Anglia.

England, 1337-1453, 100 Years War, with France to control France
France, 1337-1453, 100 Years War, with England to control France;

England, 1517, Ninety Five Theses, Martin Luther, Protestant
Germany, 1517, Ninety Five Theses, Martin Luther, Protestant; Germany, 1503-1546, Martin Luther, Protestant ; Wittenberg, Germany ; Lutherhaus; MARTIN LUTHER, EDUCATOR, TRANSLATOR (18 FEB 1546); JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415;

England, 1642-1651, English Civil War
England, 1642-“1651, English Civil War; JOHN BUNYAN, WRITER, 30 August 1688;

England, 1707-1800, Kingdom of Great Britain
England, 1707-1800, Kingdom of Great Britain;

England, 1800-Present, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

England, 1894-1962, Uganda Protectorate
England, 1894-1962, Uganda Protectorate; THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, (3 JUNE 1886);

England, 45-99, Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Bishop of Britain
England, 45-99, Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Bishop of Britain; of Britannia is a Christian saint named by Hippolytus of Rome (170-235) and Dorotheus of Gaza (505-565) as one of the Seventy Disciples mentioned in Luke 10:1–24 and as the first bishop in Roman Britain.[2] title in various languages[edit] Saint Aristibule the Old, Apostle, Martyr, and First Bishop of Britain Greek: Ἅγιος Ἀριστόβουλος, ἐπίσκοπος Βρετανίας, ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ ᾿Αποστόλου Βαρνάβα,[3] translit. Hagios Aristoboulos episkopos Brettanias, adelphos tou apostolou Barnaba, transcr. (Byzantine/Modern) Aghios Apostolos Aristovoulos, episkopos Vrettanias, adelfos tou apostolou Varnava ("The Holy Apostle Aristobulus, Bishop of Britain, brother of the Apostle Barnabas") Latin: Sanctus Aristobulus Senex, Apostolus, Martyr, Episcopus Primus Britanniae Arwystli Hen Episcob Cyntaf Prydain ("Aristibule the Old, First Bishop of Britain") lists "Aristobulus, bishop of Britain" among the seventy disciples.[2] may be mentioned in the New Testament in the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:10: "...Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household") although this may mean members of the household of the late Aristobulus IV.[4] According to Lionel Smithett Lewis, the writings of St Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre AD 303, assert that he is the one saluted by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans.[5] : 118–121  tradition[edit] tradition says Aristobulus was the brother of the Apostle Barnabas, of Jewish Cypriot origin. Like Barnabas, he accompanied Saint Paul on his journeys.[6] He was one of the assistants of Saint Andrew,[7] along with Urban of Macedonia, Stachys, Ampliatus, Apelles of Heraklion and Narcissus of Athens (all of these names are mentioned together by St. Paul in Romans 16:8-11, which cannot be casual). On his missionary journey to Britain, he stopped to preach to the Celtiberians of northern Hispania.[7] Catholic tradition identifies Aristobulus with Zebedee, father of James and John.[8] preached and died in Roman Britain.[6] While some orthodox traditions say he "died in peace",[9] others say he was martyred in Wales.[7] Catholic tradition says he was martyred.[8] The Benedictine monk Serenus de Cressy (1605–1674) maintained that Aristobulus was ordained by St. Paul and died at Glastonbury Abbey in 99; but Michael Alford (author of Fides Regia Britannica Sive Annales Ecclesiae Britannicae) says that Aristobulus was the husband of "Mary" Salome, which makes this date appear too late.[5] Alford gives his death as "the second year of Nero" – 56.[10] Alford also asserts that "It is perfectly certain that, before St Paul had come to Rome, Aristobulus was away in Britain".[11][12] This is in accord with the date given by Gildas (c. 500–570 AD) that the "Light of Christ" shone in Britain in the last year of Emperor Tiberius.[13] However, George Smith points out that this a misinterpretation of Gildas, and asserts that the Gospel was not preached in Britain before the reign of Claudius,[14] whose full name was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. tradition[edit] these traditions, it seems that Aristobulus was the founder of British Christianity. There is no evidence for any connection with Glastonbury and John Scott shows in An Early History of Glastonbury that the legend purporting that Joseph of Arimathea founded the Abbey there is of 12th or 13th-century origin and has no basis in fact. Rather, the early writings frequently centre on Aristobulus.[5] There is no mention of Joseph prior to the Conquest. For this and other reasons, Smith also considers the account of Joseph of Arimathea a "superstitious fable of comparatively modern invention".[15] Williams identifies Aristobulus with Arwystli Hen, a "man of Italy", and one of four missionaries believed to have brought Christianity to the British Isles.[16] There is a tradition linking him to one of the medieval Welsh saints Arwstyl ap Cunedda.[17] The title "Arwystli Hen"[5]: 119  may have originated through a later British tradition. parallels[edit] of Chalcis was the son of Herod of Chalcis and Mariamme, the daughter of Olympias.[18] He married Salome, the daughter of Herod II and Herodias.[19] They had three sons: Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus.[20] Lionel Smithett Lewis maintains that this latter Aristobulus could have been the Aristobulus of Britannia,[21] and referred to by Cressy. However, it is this man's father who was the husband of Salome, as mentioned by Alford (see previous section). 55, Nero appointed Aristobulus of Chalcis as King of Armenia Minor. He participated with his forces in the Roman–Parthian War of 58–63, where he received a small portion of Armenia in exchange,[22] an area he continued to rule until 72 when Vespasian reduced the regional autonomy of some of the provinces.[23] is probable that the "Philip" (mentioned above) are those mentioned in the New Testament are Philip the Tetrarch. The matter is disputed by scholars. There is no contemporary evidence for Philip the Tetrarch's use of the name "Herod Philip" as a dynastic title, as did occur with his brothers Herod Antipas and Herod Archelaus, yet he was of the same family and the scriptural reference may be emphasising this fact, as do later scriptural commentators. Today, Herod II is sometimes called "Herod Philip I" (because the gospels call the husband of Herodias "Philip"), and then Philip the Tetrarch is called "Herod Philip II", but this is an anachronistic convention.[a][24] Kokkinos says, "The stubborn existence of many theologians in referring to Herod III as 'Herod Philip' is without any value...No illusory Herod Philip ever existed."[24][p 223-233]; [266] Philip the Tetrarch, "unlike his brothers, did not use Herod as a dynastic name."[25] Philip's half-brothers, Archelaus and Antipas, had adopted the name of Herod, "presumably" for a dynastic claim from Herod the Great.[26] the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, Aristobulus' personal feast day is 16 March.[6] He is also one of the saints commemorated on 4 January (feast of the Seventy Disciples)[27] and on 31 October (feast of the assistants of Saint Andrew).[9] In the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, his feast is 15 March.[8] Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain, Commemorated on March 16;

England, London History Folders (England and Great Britain)

England, 000-399, Folder, before the 5th Century, Roman Britain, Joseph of Arimathaea, Aristobulus of the Seventy

England, 000, 1st Century Folder, Joseph of Arimathaea, Aristibulus of the Seventy, Apostle Simon the Zealot

England, 1-33 Jesus' Time, Joseph of Arimathaea
England, 1-45 Jesus' Time, Joseph of Arimathaea; Righteous Joseph of Arimathea, Commemorated on July 31 ; JOSEPH OF ARIMATHAEA, (1 AUGUST NT);

England, 30-73 Jesus' Time, Apostle Simon the Zealot, the bridegroom at Cana, t from Britain to Black Sea
England, 30-50 Jesus' Time, Apostle Simon the Zealot; Apostle Simon the Zealot, Commemorated on May 10; traveled to many places from Britain to the Black Sea, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. Simon was from Cana in Galilee, and was known to the Lord and His Mother. Tradition says that he was the bridegroom at the wedding where the Savior performed His first miracle. After witnessing the miracle of the water which had been turned into wine, he became a zealous follower of Christ. For this reason, he is known as Saint Simon the Zealot. Simon was one of the twelve Apostles, and received the Holy Spirit with the others on Pentecost. He traveled to many places from Britain to the Black Sea, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. After winning many pagans to the Lord, Saint Simon suffered martyrdom by crucifixion. Demetrius of Rostov says that this Saint Simon is to be distinguished from the Apostle Simon Peter, and from the Lord’s relative Simon (Mt.13:55), who was the second Bishop of Jerusalem. Simon is also commemorated on June 30 with the other Apostles.

England, 47, Roman Britain, Londinium, AD 47
England, 47, Roman Britain, Londinium, AD 47 ; Roman Britain; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Commemorated on October 31 ;

England, 200, 3rd Century Folder, Britain, Gaul Caesar, Constantine's Father

England, 209, St Albans, protomartyr, impressed by P's constant prayer, changed clothes, sign of cross parts waters, more
England, 209, St Albans, Hertfordshire, British protomartyr, to avoid persecution priest to Albans home, A impressed by P's constant prayer, requests baptism, changed clothes, P moves on, A arrested, confessed, tortured, threatened, A rejoiced, to Holmhurst Hill, bridge crowded, sign of cross parts waters, executioner astonished, refuses to behead, both beheaded, Albans spring, miracles at A's tomb, protestant Henry VIII 1509-1547 destroys monasteries; St Albans; St Alban the Protomartyr of Britain, Commemorated on June 22; Alban (or Albanus), the protomartyr of Britain, a Roman citizen who lived at Verulamium (modern Saint Albans), a few miles northwest of London, during a time of persecution. Nothing is known about his family or his occupation. chief magistrate of the city had orders to arrest all Christian clergy. of them, a priest named Amphibalus, fled to Alban’s home in order to hide from the soldiers who wished to kill him. was impressed by the priest’s constant prayer and vigil, and so he questioned Amphibalus about his beliefs. As a result, Alban came to believe in Christ and asked to be baptized. Amphibalus was forced to move on, and Alban changed clothes with him so that he could get away. soldiers heard there was a priest hiding in Alban’s house, so they came to search it. Seeing Alban dressed in the priest’s clothes, they arrested him and brought him before the judge. magistrate was offering sacrifice to idols when Saint Alban appeared before him. questioning him, he discovered how Alban and the priest had switched clothes. because Alban had allowed a fugitive to escape, the magistrate threatened him with death unless he returned to paganism and revealed where Amphibalus had gone. Alban replied, “I am also a Christian, and I worship the true God.” having the saint beaten and tortured, the magistrate threatened him with execution. Saint Alban rejoiced and glorified God. magistrate ordered the soldiers to take Saint Alban to the Holmhurst Hill to be beheaded. they came to the river Ver, they saw that the bridge was crowded with people who had come to witness Alban’s martyrdom. they could not proceed because of the multitude of people, Saint Alban prayed and made the Sign of the Cross over the river. At once, the waters parted so that they were able to cross over to the other side. executioner was so astonished by the miracle that he threw down his sword and refused to behead the saint. He was arrested, and another man was found to behead them both. is a tradition that Saint Alban became thirsty while climbing the hill and asked for water. A small spring gushed forth near the top of the hill, and he was able to drink from it. Pilgrims used to come and drink from Saint Alban’s well, but it is now dry. date of Saint Alban’s martyrdom is uncertain, but it is believed that it took place during the reign of Decius (ca. 251) or Valerian (ca. 257). eighteenth century Turin manuscript (which may be based on a fifth century source) suggests that Saint Alban may have been executed as early as 209, when the emperor Septimus Severus and his two sons were in Britain. name of the executioner who was converted has not been preserved. priest Amphibalus was ultimately caught and put to death at a place called Redbourn, four miles from Verulamium. people began to cry out against the magistrate, he put an end to the persecution. later years a cathedral was built on the site of the martyrdom, and the relics of Saint Alban, the priest Amphibalus, and perhaps even the executioner were enshrined within. Bede (May 27) tells us that miracles frequently took place at Saint Alban’s tomb. the Danes invaded England in 860, the relics were removed for safekeeping, then later returned. new chapel and shrine were built for the relics in the early fourteenth century. hundred years later, during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the marble shrine was destroyed. later, the fragments of the shrine were reassembled on its former site. happened to the relics is uncertain, but it is probable that they were either destroyed or buried in an unmarked spot. Saint Alban is sometimes depicted in military garb, there is no evidence that he was a soldier. After all, he was living in a private home when he was arrested, and not in a barracks. is a medieval painting in the south aisle beside the Choir in the Abbey which depicts Saint Alban with red hair. medieval seal, now in the Durham Cathedral Chapter Library, shows him with a thick beard. He is stocky, with a high, round and balding forehead, and a cloak covers his left side and right shoulder. ALBAN, FIRST MARTYR OF BRITAIN (22 JUNE 304); were probably Christians in the British Isles already in the first century. However, Alban is the first recorded Christian martyr. traditional date of his death is 304, during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian; but many scholars now date it as around 209, during the persecution under the Emperor Septimius Severus. was a pagan, and a soldier in the Roman Army. He gave shelter to a Christian priest who was fleeing from arrest, and in the next few days the two talked at length, and Alban became a Christian. officers came in search of the priest, Alban met them, dressed in the priest's cloak, and they mistook him for the priest and arrested him. refused to renounce his new faith, and was beheaded. He thus became the first Christian martyr in Britain. second was the executioner who was to kill him, but who heard his testimony and was so impressed that he became a Christian on the spot, and refused to kill Alban. third was the priest, who when he learned that Alban had been arrested in his place, hurried to the court in the hope of saving Alban by turning himself in. place of their deaths is near the site of St. Alban's Cathedral today. by James Kiefer A short history of St. Alban may be found at St. Alban's Cathedral website. More information may also be found at Wikipedia.

England, 293-306, Roman Britain and Gaul Caesar, Constantius Chlorus, Father of Constantine the Great
England, 293-306, Roman Britain and Gaul Caesar, Constantius Chlorus, Father of Constantine the Great; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21;

England, 300, 4th Century Folder, Morgan or Pelagius (Islander)

England, 303, Aule, Martyr,London, England, Aule suffered martyrdom in London during Diocletian’s persecution of Christians
Aule suffered martyrdom in London during Diocletian’s persecution of Christians; London; Martyr Aule, Commemorated February 7; Aule suffered martyrdom in London during Diocletian’s persecution of Christians.

England, 304, ALBAN, FIRST MARTYR OF BRITAIN, Hertfordshire
England, 209, St Albans, Hertfordshire, British protomartyr, to avoid persecution priest to Albans home, A impressed by P's constant prayer, requests baptism, changed clothes, P moves on, A arrested, confessed, tortured, threatened, A rejoiced, to Holmhurst Hill, bridge crowded, sign of cross parts waters, executioner astonished, refuses to behead, both beheaded, Albans spring, miracles at A's tomb, protestant Henry VIII 1509-1547 destroys monasteries; St Albans; St Alban the Protomartyr of Britain, Commemorated on June 22; Alban (or Albanus), the protomartyr of Britain, a Roman citizen who lived at Verulamium (modern Saint Albans), a few miles northwest of London, during a time of persecution. Nothing is known about his family or his occupation. chief magistrate of the city had orders to arrest all Christian clergy. of them, a priest named Amphibalus, fled to Alban’s home in order to hide from the soldiers who wished to kill him. was impressed by the priest’s constant prayer and vigil, and so he questioned Amphibalus about his beliefs. As a result, Alban came to believe in Christ and asked to be baptized. Amphibalus was forced to move on, and Alban changed clothes with him so that he could get away. soldiers heard there was a priest hiding in Alban’s house, so they came to search it. Seeing Alban dressed in the priest’s clothes, they arrested him and brought him before the judge. magistrate was offering sacrifice to idols when Saint Alban appeared before him. questioning him, he discovered how Alban and the priest had switched clothes. because Alban had allowed a fugitive to escape, the magistrate threatened him with death unless he returned to paganism and revealed where Amphibalus had gone. Alban replied, “I am also a Christian, and I worship the true God.” having the saint beaten and tortured, the magistrate threatened him with execution. Saint Alban rejoiced and glorified God. magistrate ordered the soldiers to take Saint Alban to the Holmhurst Hill to be beheaded. they came to the river Ver, they saw that the bridge was crowded with people who had come to witness Alban’s martyrdom. they could not proceed because of the multitude of people, Saint Alban prayed and made the Sign of the Cross over the river. At once, the waters parted so that they were able to cross over to the other side. executioner was so astonished by the miracle that he threw down his sword and refused to behead the saint. He was arrested, and another man was found to behead them both. is a tradition that Saint Alban became thirsty while climbing the hill and asked for water. A small spring gushed forth near the top of the hill, and he was able to drink from it. Pilgrims used to come and drink from Saint Alban’s well, but it is now dry. date of Saint Alban’s martyrdom is uncertain, but it is believed that it took place during the reign of Decius (ca. 251) or Valerian (ca. 257). eighteenth century Turin manuscript (which may be based on a fifth century source) suggests that Saint Alban may have been executed as early as 209, when the emperor Septimus Severus and his two sons were in Britain. name of the executioner who was converted has not been preserved. priest Amphibalus was ultimately caught and put to death at a place called Redbourn, four miles from Verulamium. people began to cry out against the magistrate, he put an end to the persecution. later years a cathedral was built on the site of the martyrdom, and the relics of Saint Alban, the priest Amphibalus, and perhaps even the executioner were enshrined within. Bede (May 27) tells us that miracles frequently took place at Saint Alban’s tomb. the Danes invaded England in 860, the relics were removed for safekeeping, then later returned. new chapel and shrine were built for the relics in the early fourteenth century. hundred years later, during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the marble shrine was destroyed. later, the fragments of the shrine were reassembled on its former site. happened to the relics is uncertain, but it is probable that they were either destroyed or buried in an unmarked spot. Saint Alban is sometimes depicted in military garb, there is no evidence that he was a soldier. After all, he was living in a private home when he was arrested, and not in a barracks. is a medieval painting in the south aisle beside the Choir in the Abbey which depicts Saint Alban with red hair. medieval seal, now in the Durham Cathedral Chapter Library, shows him with a thick beard. He is stocky, with a high, round and balding forehead, and a cloak covers his left side and right shoulder. ALBAN, FIRST MARTYR OF BRITAIN (22 JUNE 304); were probably Christians in the British Isles already in the first century. However, Alban is the first recorded Christian martyr. traditional date of his death is 304, during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian; but many scholars now date it as around 209, during the persecution under the Emperor Septimius Severus. was a pagan, and a soldier in the Roman Army. He gave shelter to a Christian priest who was fleeing from arrest, and in the next few days the two talked at length, and Alban became a Christian. officers came in search of the priest, Alban met them, dressed in the priest's cloak, and they mistook him for the priest and arrested him. refused to renounce his new faith, and was beheaded. He thus became the first Christian martyr in Britain. second was the executioner who was to kill him, but who heard his testimony and was so impressed that he became a Christian on the spot, and refused to kill Alban. third was the priest, who when he learned that Alban had been arrested in his place, hurried to the court in the hope of saving Alban by turning himself in. place of their deaths is near the site of St. Alban's Cathedral today. by James Kiefer A short history of St. Alban may be found at St. Alban's Cathedral website. More information may also be found at Wikipedia.

England, 380-418, Morgan or Pelagius (Islander)
England, 360-418, Morgan or Pelagius (Islander); AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430);

England, 400-999, Folder 5th - 10th Century, Anglo Saxon Vikings

England, 401-499, 5th Century Folder, Anglo Saxons, St Patrick, King Arthur

England, 410-1066, Kingdom of East Anglia
England, 410-1066, Kingdom of East Anglia; Sigeberht of East Anglia, 629-634 ; Rendlesham; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG);

England, 410-461, Saint Patrick of Ireland, Enlightener of Ireland, from Wales, Irish slave, acquired I language, visions, dream
Ireland, 410-461, Saint Patrick of Ireland, Enlightener of Ireland, from Wales, slave in Ireland, acquired I language, 2 visions, return home, ship ready, studied in Auxerre, Gaul, mission to I, after Palladius, Angel dream, letters, Voice of the Irish, not the first I missionary, most successful, autobiogaphical confessions ; PATRICK OF IRELAND, (17 MAR c461) ; St Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17; Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland was born around 385, the son of Calpurnius, a Roman decurion (an official responsible for collecting taxes). lived in the village of Bannavem Taberniae, which may have been located at the mouth of the Severn River in Wales. district was raided by pirates when Patrick was sixteen, and he was one of those taken captive. He was brought to Ireland and sold as a slave, and was put to work as a herder of swine on a mountain identified with Slemish in Co. Antrim. his period of slavery, Patrick acquired a proficiency in the Irish language which was very useful to him in his later mission. prayed during his solitude on the mountain, and lived this way for six years. He had two visions. The first told him he would return to his home. The second told him his ship was ready. Setting off on foot, Patrick walked two hundred miles to the coast. There he succeeded in boarding a ship, and returned to his parents in Britain. time later, he went to Gaul and studied for the priesthood at Auxerre under Saint Germanus (July 31). Eventually, he was consecrated as a bishop, and was entrusted with the mission to Ireland, succeeding Saint Palladius (July 7). Saint Palladius did not achieve much success in Ireland. After about a year he went to Scotland, where he died in 432. had a dream in which an angel came to him bearing many letters. Selecting one inscribed “The Voice of the Irish,” he heard the Irish entreating him to come back to them. Saint Patrick achieved remarkable results in spreading the Gospel, he was not the first or only missionary in Ireland. He arrived around 432 (though this date is disputed), about a year after Saint Palladius began his mission to Ireland. There were also other missionaries who were active on the southeast coast, but it was Saint Patrick who had the greatest influence and success in preaching the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, he is known as “The Enlightener of Ireland.” autobiographical Confession tells of the many trials and disappointments he endured. Patrick had once confided to a friend that he was troubled by a certain sin he had committed before he was fifteen years old. The friend assured him of God’s mercy, and even supported Patrick’s nomination as bishop. Later, he turned against him and revealed what Patrick had told him in an attempt to prevent his consecration. Many years later, Patrick still grieved for his dear friend who had publicly shamed him. Patrick founded many churches and monasteries across Ireland, but the conversion of the Irish people was no easy task. There was much hostility, and he was assaulted several times. He faced danger, and insults, and he was reproached for being a foreigner and a former slave. There was also a very real possibility that the pagans would try to kill him. Despite many obstacles, he remained faithful to his calling, and he baptized many people into Christ. saint’s Epistle to Coroticus is also an authentic work. In it he denounces the attack of Coroticus’ men on one of his congregations. The Breastplate (Lorica) is also attributed to Saint Patrick. In his writings, we can see Saint Patrick’s awareness that he had been called by God, as well as his determination and modesty in undertaking his missionary work. He refers to himself as “a sinner,” “the most ignorant and of least account,” and as someone who was “despised by many.” He ascribes his success to God, rather than to his own talents: “I owe it to God’s grace that through me so many people should be born again to Him.” the time he established his episcopal See in Armargh in 444, Saint Patrick had other bishops to assist him, many native priests and deacons, and he encouraged the growth of monasticism. Patrick is often depicted holding a shamrock, or with snakes fleeing from him. He used the shamrock to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Its three leaves growing out of a single stem helped him to explain the concept of one God in three Persons. Many people now regard the story of Saint Patrick driving all the snakes out of Ireland as having no historical basis. Patrick died on March 17, 461 (some say 492). There are various accounts of his last days, but they are mostly legendary. Muirchu says that no one knows the place where Saint Patrick is buried. Saint Columba of Iona (June 9) says that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that Patrick was buried at Saul, the site of his first church. A granite slab was placed at his traditional grave site in Downpatrick in 1899.

England, 430-530, Saint, Ciaran of Saigir, Ciaran the Elder, 12 Apostles of Ireland, first irish born saint
Ireland, Saint, 430-530, Ciaran of Saigir, Ciaran the Elder; án of Saigir[needs IPA] (5th century – c. 530), also known as Ciarán mac Luaigne or Saint Kieran (Welsh: Cieran), one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland[2] and is considered the first saint to have been born in Ireland,[3] although the legend that he preceded Saint Patrick is questionable. Ciarán was bishop of Saighir (Seir-Kieran) and remains the patron saint of its successor, the diocese of Ossory. feast day is celebrated on 5 March. He is sometimes called Saint Ciarán the Elder to distinguish him from the other 6th-century Irish Saint Ciarán, who was abbot of Clonmacnoise. He shares the feast date of 5 March with his mother, St. Liadán, and his disciple and episcopal successor, St. Carthach the Elder. identity is sometimes equated with that of Saint Piran - St Ciaran of Clonmacnois, Commemorated on September 9 ;

England, 430's, Coroticus of Dumbarton, Briton Chieftan (River Clyde 6)
Coroticus of Dumbarton, Scotland (River Clyde 6); Alt Clut (Dumbarton), Scotland; Epistle to Coroticus; St. Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17;

England, 450, St Elian, Missionary to Cornwall, England, established several religious houses
England, 450, St Elian, Missionary to Cornwall, England, established several religious houses; Anglesey Island, Northwest Wales, Ynys Mon; St. Elian, Missionary to Cornwall, England, Commemorated on January 13; is known of Saint Elian. While some accounts hold that he came by sea from Rome and landed in Anglesey at Porth yr Yehen in Northern Wales, where he established a church around 450 AD, claim that he was of Cornish or Breton roots and lived during the sixth century. was said to have been related to Saint Ismael, the sixth century Welsh Bishop of Rhos. He is remembered for his missionary efforts in Cornwall, England and for establishing several religious houses.

England, 450-1216, Wales, Kingdom of Gwynedd, AKA Cwynedd
Wales, Kingdom of Gwynedd, 450-1216; Wales, 625-634, King Caedwalla of Cwynedd (North Wales), 625-634, AKA Cadwallon ap Cadfan; Saint Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5;

England, 450-1045, Wales, Brycheiniog Kingdom
England, Wales, Brycheiniog Kingdom, 450-1045;

England, 450-490, Brychan, from Ireland, inherited B from mother, holy patriarch of many, who evangelized Cornwall & North Devon
England, 450-490, Brychan, Wales, Brycheiniog King, Breconshire, Mid Wales, from Ireland, inherited B from mother, holy patriarch of many, who evangelized Cornwall & North Devon ; Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire)[1] in Mid Wales. See also: Uí Liatháin to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun (Brycheiniog), which the couple later inherited. his father's death, he returned to Garthmadrun and changed its name to Brycheiniog.[2] name may be a Welsh version of the Irish name Broccán and that of his grandfather Coronac may represent Cormac.[3] education was entrusted to one Drichan.[4] Life of St. Cadoc by Lifris (c. 1100) portrays Brychan fighting Arthur, Cai and Bedivere because of King Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg's abduction of his daughter St. Gwladys from his court in Talgarth. and veneration[edit] is occasionally described as an undocumented saint[5] but the traditional literature does not call him a saint, referring to him as a patriarch instead, and he has no churches named for him.[6] 15th-century stained glass window in the parish church at St Neot in Cornwall, supposedly depicts Brychan, seated and crowned, holding in his arms eleven children. This, however, has been described by a standard modern guide as "God with Souls in his lap".[7] of Brychan[edit] According to Christian tradition, Brychan was married three times – to Prawst ferch Tydwal, Banhadlwedd ferch Banadi, and Gwladys – and had a very large family. These wives are mentioned in several manuscripts, including those by William Worcester, John Leland, and Nicholas Roscarrock. number of children attributed to him varies from twelve to sixty-three, the number most frequently encountered being twenty-four. There are two main lists however, one of Welsh origin and one of Cornish origin. of his children appear to have travelled from Brecon to evangelise Cornwall and North Devon, where they are now venerated, but there is little agreement between the two lists. The number of Brychan's children may have grown over time, as more and more secular people as well as saints wished to claim descent from one of the "Holy Families of Britain". Listed below are children from Welsh, Cornish, Irish, and Breton sources: in Welsh sources[edit] The sons listed in the Cognacio Brychan, De Situ Brecheniauc and the genealogies of Jesus College MS 20 are Cynog, Rhain Dremrudd, Clydwyn, Arthen, Papai, Dingad, Berwyn and Rhydog. Also listed, but not in all three, are Cynon, Pasgen, Cylflifer, Marthaerun and Rhun. Other Welsh sources claim the following additional sons: Caian, Cynbryd, Cynfran, Cynin, Dogfan, Dyfnan, Dyfrig, Hychan, Llecheu, Neffei, Rhawin, Llofan, Llonio, Heilin, Afallach and Gwynnws.[8] in Welsh sources[edit] The De Situ Brecheniauc lists: Meleri, Hunydd, Gwladys, Ceingar, Tudglid, Nyfain, Gwawr, Marchell, Lluan, Gwrygon Goddeu, Arianwen, Bethan, Ceinwen (Keyne), Cerddych, Clydai, Cynheiddon (identified with Saint Endelienta), Dwynwen, Eiliwedd, Goleudydd, Gwen, Lludd, Tudful, Tudwystl and Tybie. Other Welsh sources claim the following additional daughters: Beiol (Bilo), Tydieu, Eufail, Hawystl, Edwen, Gwenrhiw, Tudwen, Callwen, Gwenfyl, Gwennan and Mwynwen.[8] in Cornish sources[edit] Listed in the Life of Saint Nectan are, by his wife, Gwladys: Adwen, Canauc (Cynog), Cleder (Clether), Dilic (Illick), Endelient (Endelienta), Helie, Johannes (Sion), Iona, Juliana (Ilud), Kenhender (Cynidr), Keri (Curig), Mabon (Mabyn), Menfre (Menefrewy), Merewenne (Marwenna), Morewenna (Morwenna), Nectanus (Nectan), Tamalanc, Tedda (Tetha), Wencu (Gwencuff, Gwengustle, name of Saint Nennocha), Wenheden (Enoder), Wenna (Gwen), Wensent, Wynup (Gwenabwy) and Yse (Issey).[8] to Robert Hunt,[citation needed] of the holy children that settled in Cornwall, we learn that the following gave their names to Cornish churches Johannes at St Ive Endelient at St Endellion Menfre at St Minver Tethe at St Teath Mabon at St Mabyn Merewenne at Marhamchurch Wenna at St Wenn Keyne at St Keyne Yse at St Issey Morwenna at Morwenstow Cleder at St Clether Keri at Egloskerry Helie at Egloshayle Adwen at Advent Lanent at Lelant Irish sources[edit] The Book of Leinster lists the following sons by Brychan's wife, Dína daughter of the King of the Saxons: Mo-Goróc, Mo-Chonóc (Cynog), Diraid, Dubán (Dyfnan), Cairinne (Caian), Cairpre, Iast, Ellóc (Dilic), Paan, Cáemán and Mo-Beóc.[8] sources[edit] Breton tradition says that Brychan married Menedoc daughter of Constantine, King of the Scots. Together they were the parents of Saint Nennocha.[8] England, Wales, Brycheiniog Kingdom, 450-1045; St Brannock of Braunton, Commemorated on January 7; Martyr Nectan of Hartland, Commemorated on June 17;

England, 473-524, Saint, Brigit of Kildare, began women's monasticism in Ireland, kings sword gift story
Ireland, 473-524, Saint, Brigit of Kildare, began women's monasticism in Ireland, kings sword gift story; ST BRIDGET OF KILDARE, ABBESS (1 FEB 523); Venerable Brigid (Bridget) of Ireland, Commemorated on February 1; Brigid, “the Mary of the Gael,” was born around 450 in Faughart, about two miles from Dundalk in County Louth. According to Tradition, her father was a pagan named Dubthach, and her mother was Brocessa (Broiseach), one of his slaves. as a child, she was known for her compassion for the poor. She would give away food, clothing, and even her father’s possessions to the poor. One day he took Brigid to the king’s court, leaving her outside to wait for him. He asked the king to buy his daughter from him, since her excessive generosity made her too expensive for him to keep. The king asked to see the girl, so Dubthach led him outside. They were just in time to see her give away her father’s sword to a beggar. This sword had been presented to Dubthach by the king, who said, “I cannot buy a girl who holds us so cheap.” Brigid received monastic tonsure at the hands of Saint Mael of Ardagh (February 6). Soon after this, she established a monastery on land given to her by the King of Leinster. The land was called Cill Dara (Kildare), or “the church of the oak.” This was the beginning of women’s cenobitic monasticism in Ireland. miracles performed by Saint Brigid are too numerous to relate here, but perhaps one story will suffice. One evening the holy abbess was sitting with the blind nun Dara. From sunset to sunrise they spoke of the joys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of the love of Christ, losing all track of time. Saint Brigid was struck by the beauty of the earth and sky in the morning light. Realizing that Sister Dara was unable to appreciate this beauty, she became very sad. Then she prayed and made the Sign of the Cross over Dara’s eyes. All at once, the blind nun’s eyes were opened and she saw the sun in the east, and the trees and flowers sparkling with dew. She looked for a while, then turned to Saint Brigid and said, “Close my eyes again, dear Mother, for when the world is visible to the eyes, then God is seen less clearly by the soul.” Saint Brigid prayed again, and Dara became blind once more. Brigid fell asleep in the Lord in the year 523 after receiving Holy Communion from Saint Ninnidh of Inismacsaint (January 18). She was buried at Kildare, but her relics were transferred to Downpatrick during the Viking invasions. It is believed that she was buried in the same grave with Saint Patrick (March 17) and Saint Columba of Iona (June 9). in the thirteenth century, her head was brought to Portugal by three Irish knights on their way to fight in the Holy Land. They left this holy relic in the parish church of Lumiar, about three miles from Lisbon. Portions of the relic were brought back to Ireland in 1929 and placed in a new church of Saint Brigid in Dublin. relics of Saint Brigid in Ireland were destroyed in the sixteenth century by Lord Grey during the reign of Henry VIII. tradition of making Saint Brigid’s crosses from rushes and hanging them in the home is still followed in Ireland, where devotion to her is still strong. She is also venerated in northern Italy, France, and Wales.

England, 488-510, Nectan of Hartland, Wales, Brycheiniog King
England, Wales, Brycheiniog King, 488-510, Nectan of Hartland; England, Wales, Brycheiniog King, 450-490, Brychan; England, Wales, Brycheiniog Kingdom, 450-1045; St Brannock of Braunton, Commemorated on January 7; Martyr Nectan of Hartland, Commemorated on June 17;

England, 488-589, David, Wales, Brycheiniog Saint, apostle of Wales
England, Wales, Brycheiniog Saint, 500-589, Saint David; DAVID (DEWI) OF WALES, (1 MAR 544); the pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, many British Christians sought refuge in the hill country of Wales. they developed a style of Christian life devoted to learning, asceticism, and missionary fervor. Since there were no cities, the centers of culture were the monasteries, and most abbots were bishops as well. (David in English) was the founder, abbot, and bishop of the monastery of Mynyw (Menevia in English) in Pembrokeshire. was responsible for much of the spread of Christianity in Wales, and his monastery was sought out by many scholars from Ireland and elsewhere. He is commonly accounted the apostle of Wales, as Patrick is of Ireland. His tomb is in St. David's cathedral, on the site of ancient Mynyw, now called Ty-Dewi (House of David). of St. David, at St. David's CathedralThe ancient custom in Wales, as throughout Celtic Christendom, was to have bishops who were abbots of monasteries, and who had no clear territorial jurisdiction, simply traveling about as they were needed. Eventually, however, the bishops of Bangor, Llandaff, St. Asaph, and St. Davids became the heads of four territorial dioceses, to which the diocese of Monmouth and the diocese of Swansea and Brecon have been added in this century. many centuries the Church in Wales had closer ties with the Celtic Churches in Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany than with the Church in Anglo-Saxon England. However, after the Norman conquest of Britain (1066 and after), the Anglo-Norman Kings began to contemplate the conquest of Wales. William the Conqueror began with the subjugation of South Wales as far as Carmathen, but the Welsh uplands remained independent far longer, and the conquest was not complete until about 1300, under Edward I. But eventually all of Wales came under English control, and the Church in Wales was placed under the jurisdiction of Canterbury, and thus became identified in the minds of many with the English supremacy. In 1920 the Church in Wales (Eglwys yng Nghymru) became independent of outside jurisdiction (though still in communion with other Anglican Churches, in England and elsewhere) and clear of all ties with the government. It is bilingual and active in the preservation of the Welsh language and culture. by James Kiefer

England, 490-520, Saint Abban of Kilabban, Co. Laois
Ireland, Saint, 490-520, Saint Abban of Kilabban, Co. Laois, Gobnata's Brother? Ireland, Saint, 500-550, St Gobnata of Ballyvourney; St Gobnata of Ballyvourney, Commemorated on February 11 ;

England, 475-525, King Arthur, Late 5th Early 6th Century, led Britain defense against Saxons, swallowed to neck by Padarn
England, 475-525, King Arthur, Late 5th Early 6th Century; Arthur was a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of Welsh and English folklore and literary invention, and modern historians generally agree that he is unhistorical.[2][3] The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.[4] is a central figure in the legends making up the Matter of Britain. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful and imaginative 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).[5] some Welsh and Breton tales and poems that date from before this work, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh otherworld Annwn.[6] How much of Geoffrey's Historia (completed in 1138) was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. the themes, events and characters of the Arthurian legend varied widely from text to text, and there is no one canonical version, Geoffrey's version of events often served as the starting point for later stories. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established a vast empire. Many elements and incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story appear in Geoffrey's Historia, including Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, the magician Merlin, Arthur's wife Guinevere, the sword Excalibur, Arthur's conception at Tintagel, his final battle against Mordred at Camlann, and final rest in Avalon. 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the story, began the genre of Arthurian romance that became a significant strand of medieval literature. In these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a major resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the legend continues to have prominence, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics and other media. England, 524-550, St Padarm of Llanbadarn Fawr, Commemorated April 15; ( ? – c. 550 AD)[1] was an early 6th century sanctified British Christian abbot-bishop who founded St Padarn's Church in[2] Ceredigion, Wales. first bishop of Braga and Saint Paternus of Avranches in Normandy appear to be the same person. Padarn built a monastery in Vannes and is considered one of the seven founding saints of Brittany. Padarn's early vita is one of five insular and two Breton saints' lives that mention King Arthur independently of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.[3] Vita Sancti Paterni, a major source for biographical details of Padarn, may be an epitome of a previous and more extensive source. According to the Vita Sancti Paterni, Padarn is Armorican by race, born to "Petran, his father, and Guean, his mother".[1] His parents "dedicated themselves to Christ" and Petran left Letavia (modern Brittany) for Ireland. Thomas Wakeman names Padarn a nephew of Hoel of Cornouaille.[4] However, Canon G. H. Doble believes Padarn was likely Welsh, and was later confused with Breton saints of the same name.[5] the year 524 Padarn traveled to join his father in Ireland. He joined a fellowship of monks led by his cousin, St. Cadvan, who were travelling to Britannia. At this time, as in many saints' lives of the era, there appears to be an aristocratic military function in Padarn's career, for among the travellers were Padarn's cousins, who appointed him as the fourth leader of the troop, saying "you should rule over people for example of life".[4] 1878 stained glass window of St. Paternus at the Cathedral of Vannes in Morbihan. became a student at Illtud's school, Cor Tewdws.[4] Padarn later founded a monastery at Llanbadarn Fawr, near Aberystwyth, which became the seat of a new diocese, with him as its first bishop.[1] He then left it in the charge of a trusted steward and proceeded to Ireland. Padarn's spiritual countenance was sufficient to calm the armies of kings of two provinces.[6] Padarn returned to Llanbadarn Fawr, Maelgwn Gwynedd tried to cheat him out of property belonging to the monastery. Two of Maelgwn's evil heralds were undone by the trial by ordeal of boiling water; scalded and defeated, "Their souls in raven-forms fly to the riverbed, which unto this day by the name of one of them is called, to wit, Graban."[7] Maelgwn Gwynedd himself is first cursed and then cured of his sickness and blindness when he comes on bended knee to ask forgiveness, and to bestow lands on Padarn's community, which are laid out with the exactitude of a deed: "a quantity of land, that is, from the mouth of the river Rheidiol upwards until it touches at its head the limit of the river Clarach; and along the length of the same river as far as the sea is the limit prolonged."[8] the Vita Sancti Paterni Padarn travels on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Saint David and Saint Teilo for all three to be ordained bishops by the patriarch. Along the way they acquired the gift of tongues so that whomever they spoke to understood them in his own language.[6] The patriarch gave Paternus two gifts, a crozier and a finely woven tunic. On their return, they amicably divided Britannia into three bishoprics.[9] finally returned to Letavia, where his fame filled the region and "made peace" with the bishop Samson in Vannes, where Padarn his built a monastery and subsequently made a peace with the six bishops of Armorica, of which he now made a seventh. and Arthur[edit] sketch from Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, by Benzinger Brothers. the most celebrated episode, King Arthur tries to steal Padarn's tunic and subsequently becomes Christian. It's too late to be reliable. But the episode was probably meant to increase Padarn's prestige and credibility as a saint by being granted credit for "Christianizing" the semi-historical leader who allegedly defeated the Anglo-Saxons with the help of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in the battle of Mount Badon according to the 9th century ad monk Nennius. The author also seemed to confuse this Padarn with Padarn Redcoat whose coat was one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain;[6] Padarn was in his church resting after so much labour at sea, a certain tyrant, Arthur by name, was traversing the regions on either side, who one day came to the cell of saint Padarn the bishop. And while he was addressing Padarn, he looked at the tunic, which he, being pierced with the zeal of avarice, sought for his own. The saint answering said, "This tunic is not fitting for the habit of any malign person, but for the habit of the clerical office." He went out of the monastery in a rage. And again he returns in wrath, that he might take away the tunic against the counsels of his own companions. One of the disciples of Padarn seeing him returning in fury, ran to saint Padarn and said, "The tyrant, who went out from here before, is returning. Reviling, stamping, he levels the ground with his feet". Padarn answers "Nay rather, may the earth swallow him." With the word straightway the earth opens the hollow of its depth, and swallows Arthur up to his chin. He immediately acknowledging his guilt begins to praise both God and Padarn, until, while he begs forgiveness, the earth delivered him up. From that place on bent knees he begged the saint for indulgence, whom the saint forgave. And he took Padarn as his continual patron, and so departed.[10] of Avranches[edit] British Padarn appears to be the same person as Saint Paternus of Avranches in Normandy. By tradition, it is said that he was born in Poitiers, became a monk at the Abbey of Saint-Jouin de Marnes [fr] in France, and retreated with his fellow monk, Saint Scubilion, to the forest of Scissy [fr] in the diocese of Coutances before the Bishop of Coutances made him a priest in 512.[11] day: April 16 [12] Three days were kept to honor Padern in Armorica; the Armoricans celebrate three solemnities of his, namely, that day of the Kalends of November, when he formed perpetual unity with the six chief saints of Letia, the day of his obit, and the day he received the order of the episcopate, the twelfth before the Kalends of the month of July. well as the church at Llanbadarn Fawr, there is a second church dedicated to him, in Llanberis in Gwynedd. Padarn’s Institute, located at St Michael’s Conference Centre, Llandaff, handles training for ministry in the Church in Wales.[13] AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (26 MAY 605);

England, 500-599, 6th Century Folder, Augustine of Canterbury, St Columba, Ireland called Scotland

England, 501-550, Gobnata of Ballyvourney, angel, walk to find 9 white deer, healing gifts, sent her bees to attack invaders
Ireland, 501-550, Saint,St Gobnata of Ballyvourney, angel, walk to find 9 white deer, healing gifts, sent her bees to attack invaders; Ireland, Saint, 500-550, St Gobnata of Ballyvourney; St Gobnata of Ballyvourney, Commemorated on February 11 ; Gobnata was born in Co.Clare at the end of the fifth, or the beginning of the sixth century. she fled to the Aran Islands to escape from some enemy. angel appeared to her one day and told her to leave that place and to keep walking until she found nine white deer. She saw three white deer at Clondrohid, Co. Cork, and decided to follow them. Then at Ballymakeera, she saw six white deer. at Ballyvourney she came upon nine white deer grazing in a wood. There she was given land for a women’s monastery by her spiritual Father Saint Abban of Kilabban, Co. Laois (March 16), and he installed her as abbess. Excavations in 1951 proved that indeed there had been an early Christian settlement on the site. Gobnata was renowned for her gift of healing, and there is a story of how she kept the plague from Ballyvourney. She is also famous for her skill as a bee-keeper. day, Saint Gobnata was watching from a hill overlooking a valley as an invading chieftain and his army came through, destroying crops and driving off cattle. She sent the bees to attack them, and they were thrown into such confusion that they left without their plunder. holy virgin Saint Gobnata fell asleep in the Lord on February 11. The exact year of her death is not known, but it probably occurred in the sixth century. Although she is regarded as the patron saint of Ballyvourney, she is venerated throughout southern Ireland. There are churches dedicated to her in Waterford and Kerry, for example, and she is also revered in Scotland.

England, 501-570, St Ita, Hermitess of Kileedy, Limerick, Ireland, the foster mother of Irish saints
Ireland, 501-570, St Ita, Hermitess of Kileedy, Limerick, Ireland, the foster mother of Irish saints; Kileedy; Ireland (then called Scotland); St Ita the Hermitess of Killeady, Commemorated on January 15 ; Ita, “the Foster Mother of the Irish Saints,” born in the fifth century. like many of the Irish saints, was of the nobility. Her parents were devout Christians who lived in County Waterford. founded a school and convent at Killeedy (Cille Ide) which still bears her name near Newcastle West in Co. Limerick. A holy well still marks the site of her church. she decided to settle in Killeedy, a local chieftain offered her a grant of land for the support of the convent, which Saint Ita accepted and cultivated. convent became known as a training ground for young boys, many of whom became famous churchmen. received Saint Brendan the Voyager (May 16) when he was only a year old, and kept him until he was six. She also cared for her nephew Saint Mochaemhoch (March 13) in his infancy. She called him “Pulcherius,” because he was such a handsome child. people sought her spiritual counsels, and she also seems to have practiced medicine to some degree. Her life was spent in repentance and asceticism. Ita once told Saint Brendan that the three things most displeasing to God are: A face that hates mankind, a will that clings to the love of evil, and placing one’s entire trust in riches (Compare Proverbs 6:16-19). three things most pleasing to God are: The firm belief of a pure heart in God, the simple religious life, and liberality with charity. Ita fell asleep in the Lord in 570. Her Feast Day is a local holiday in the district, and her name is a popular one for Irish girls. St Aidan the Bishop of Lindesfarne, Commemorated on August 31 ;

England, 501-550, St Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr, Wales, earth opened and Arthur swallowed to his neck
St Padarm's Church, Llanbadarn Fawr; England, 524-550, St Padarm of Llanbadarn Fawr, Commemorated April 15; ( ? – c. 550 AD)[1] was an early 6th century sanctified British Christian abbot-bishop who founded St Padarn's Church in[2] Ceredigion, Wales. first bishop of Braga and Saint Paternus of Avranches in Normandy appear to be the same person. Padarn built a monastery in Vannes and is considered one of the seven founding saints of Brittany. Padarn's early vita is one of five insular and two Breton saints' lives that mention King Arthur independently of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.[3] Vita Sancti Paterni, a major source for biographical details of Padarn, may be an epitome of a previous and more extensive source. According to the Vita Sancti Paterni, Padarn is Armorican by race, born to "Petran, his father, and Guean, his mother".[1] His parents "dedicated themselves to Christ" and Petran left Letavia (modern Brittany) for Ireland. Thomas Wakeman names Padarn a nephew of Hoel of Cornouaille.[4] However, Canon G. H. Doble believes Padarn was likely Welsh, and was later confused with Breton saints of the same name.[5] the year 524 Padarn traveled to join his father in Ireland. He joined a fellowship of monks led by his cousin, St. Cadvan, who were travelling to Britannia. At this time, as in many saints' lives of the era, there appears to be an aristocratic military function in Padarn's career, for among the travellers were Padarn's cousins, who appointed him as the fourth leader of the troop, saying "you should rule over people for example of life".[4] 1878 stained glass window of St. Paternus at the Cathedral of Vannes in Morbihan. became a student at Illtud's school, Cor Tewdws.[4] Padarn later founded a monastery at Llanbadarn Fawr, near Aberystwyth, which became the seat of a new diocese, with him as its first bishop.[1] He then left it in the charge of a trusted steward and proceeded to Ireland. Padarn's spiritual countenance was sufficient to calm the armies of kings of two provinces.[6] Padarn returned to Llanbadarn Fawr, Maelgwn Gwynedd tried to cheat him out of property belonging to the monastery. Two of Maelgwn's evil heralds were undone by the trial by ordeal of boiling water; scalded and defeated, "Their souls in raven-forms fly to the riverbed, which unto this day by the name of one of them is called, to wit, Graban."[7] Maelgwn Gwynedd himself is first cursed and then cured of his sickness and blindness when he comes on bended knee to ask forgiveness, and to bestow lands on Padarn's community, which are laid out with the exactitude of a deed: "a quantity of land, that is, from the mouth of the river Rheidiol upwards until it touches at its head the limit of the river Clarach; and along the length of the same river as far as the sea is the limit prolonged."[8] the Vita Sancti Paterni Padarn travels on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Saint David and Saint Teilo for all three to be ordained bishops by the patriarch. Along the way they acquired the gift of tongues so that whomever they spoke to understood them in his own language.[6] The patriarch gave Paternus two gifts, a crozier and a finely woven tunic. On their return, they amicably divided Britannia into three bishoprics.[9] finally returned to Letavia, where his fame filled the region and "made peace" with the bishop Samson in Vannes, where Padarn his built a monastery and subsequently made a peace with the six bishops of Armorica, of which he now made a seventh. and Arthur[edit] sketch from Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, by Benzinger Brothers. the most celebrated episode, King Arthur tries to steal Padarn's tunic and subsequently becomes Christian. It's too late to be reliable. But the episode was probably meant to increase Padarn's prestige and credibility as a saint by being granted credit for "Christianizing" the semi-historical leader who allegedly defeated the Anglo-Saxons with the help of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in the battle of Mount Badon according to the 9th century ad monk Nennius. The author also seemed to confuse this Padarn with Padarn Redcoat whose coat was one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain;[6] Padarn was in his church resting after so much labour at sea, a certain tyrant, Arthur by name, was traversing the regions on either side, who one day came to the cell of saint Padarn the bishop. And while he was addressing Padarn, he looked at the tunic, which he, being pierced with the zeal of avarice, sought for his own. The saint answering said, "This tunic is not fitting for the habit of any malign person, but for the habit of the clerical office." He went out of the monastery in a rage. And again he returns in wrath, that he might take away the tunic against the counsels of his own companions. One of the disciples of Padarn seeing him returning in fury, ran to saint Padarn and said, "The tyrant, who went out from here before, is returning. Reviling, stamping, he levels the ground with his feet". Padarn answers "Nay rather, may the earth swallow him." With the word straightway the earth opens the hollow of its depth, and swallows Arthur up to his chin. He immediately acknowledging his guilt begins to praise both God and Padarn, until, while he begs forgiveness, the earth delivered him up. From that place on bent knees he begged the saint for indulgence, whom the saint forgave. And he took Padarn as his continual patron, and so departed.[10] of Avranches[edit] British Padarn appears to be the same person as Saint Paternus of Avranches in Normandy. By tradition, it is said that he was born in Poitiers, became a monk at the Abbey of Saint-Jouin de Marnes [fr] in France, and retreated with his fellow monk, Saint Scubilion, to the forest of Scissy [fr] in the diocese of Coutances before the Bishop of Coutances made him a priest in 512.[11] day: April 16 [12] Three days were kept to honor Padern in Armorica; the Armoricans celebrate three solemnities of his, namely, that day of the Kalends of November, when he formed perpetual unity with the six chief saints of Letia, the day of his obit, and the day he received the order of the episcopate, the twelfth before the Kalends of the month of July. well as the church at Llanbadarn Fawr, there is a second church dedicated to him, in Llanberis in Gwynedd. Padarn’s Institute, located at St Michael’s Conference Centre, Llandaff, handles training for ministry in the Church in Wales.[13]

England, 502-577, Saint, St Brendan the Voyager, to find promised land of the saints
Ireland, Saint, 502-577, St Brendan the Voyager; of Clonfert (c. AD 484 – c. 577) Brenainn moccu Alti or Brénainn maccu Alti[1][2] (Irish: Naomh Bréanainn or Naomh Breandán; Latin: Brendanus; Icelandic: (heilagur) Brandanus), also referred to as "Brendán moccu Altae" (Brendan of the Fosterling Folk), called "the Navigator", "the Voyager", "the Anchorite", and "the Bold", one of the early Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.[3] is primarily renowned for his legendary quest to the "Isle of the Blessed", also denominated "Saint Brendan's Island". The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis ("Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot") can be described as an immram, i. e., Irish navigational narrative. Brendan's feast day is celebrated on 16 May by Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians.[4] is very little secure information concerning Brendan's life, although at least the approximate dates of his birth and death, and accounts of some events in his life, are found in Irish annals and genealogies. earliest mention of Brendan is in the Vita Sancti Columbae (Life of Saint Columba) of Adamnan written between AD 679 and 704. earliest mention of him as a seafarer appears in the Martyrology of Tallaght of the ninth century.[5] principal works regarding Brendan and his legend are a "Life of Brendan" in several Latin (Vita Brendani) and Irish versions (Betha Brenainn) and the better known Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot).[6] the versions of the Vita and the Navigatio provide little reliable information of his life and travels; they do, however, attest to the development of devotion to him in the centuries after his death. additional problem is that the precise relationship between the Vita and the Navigatio traditions is uncertain. date when the Vita tradition began is uncertain. The earliest surviving copies are no earlier than the end of the twelfth century, but scholars suggest that a version of the Vita was composed before AD 1000. Navigatio was probably written earlier than the Vita, perhaps in the second half of the eighth century.[7] Aengus the Culdee, in his Litany, composed in the end of the eighth century, invoked "the sixty who accompanied St. Brendan in his quest for the Land of Promise".[6] attempt to reconstruct the facts of the life of Brendan or to understand the nature of his legend must be based principally on Irish annals and genealogies and on the various versions of the Vita Brendani.[8] life[edit] was born in AD 484 in Tralee, in County Kerry, in the province of Munster, in the south-west of Ireland.[9] was born among the Altraige, an Irish clan originally centred around Tralee Bay, to parents called Finnlug and Cara. has it that he was born in the Kilfenora/Fenit area on the North side of the bay. He was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert by Erc of Slane,[3] and was originally to be called "Mobhí" but signs and portents attending his birth and baptism led to him being christened 'Broen-finn' or 'fair-drop'. five years he was both educated and given in fosterage to St. Íte of Killeedy, "The Brigid of Munster". When he was six he was sent to Jarlath's monastery school at Tuam to further his education. is considered one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland", one of those said to have been tutored by the great teacher, Finnian of Clonard.[10] the age of twenty-six, Brendan was ordained a priest by Erc.[11] Afterwards, he founded a number of monasteries. first voyage took him to the Aran Islands, where he founded a monastery. He also visited Hinba (Argyll), an island off of Scotland where he is said to have met Columcille. the same voyage he travelled to Wales and finally to Brittany, on the northern coast of France. Between AD 512 and 530 Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and Shanakeel (Seana Cill, usually translated as the "Old Church"), at the foot of Mount Brandon. there he is supposed to have embarked on his famous voyage of 7 years for Paradise. The old Irish calendars assigned a feast for the "egressio familiae Sancti Brendani".[6] journey[edit] is primarily renowned for his legendary journey to the Isle of the Blessed as described in the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) of the ninth century. versions exist that narrate how he set out on the Atlantic Ocean with sixteen monks (although other versions record fourteen monks and three unbelievers who joined in the last minute) to search for the Garden of Eden. of these companions is said to have been Malo.[12] voyage is dated to AD 512–530, before his travel to the island of Great Britain. his trip, Brendan is supposed to have seen Saint Brendan's Island, a blessed island covered with vegetation. also encountered a sea monster, an adventure he shared with his contemporary Columcille. The most commonly illustrated adventure is his landing on an island which turned out to be a giant sea monster named "Jasconius". Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot[edit] earliest extant version of the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) was recorded c. AD 900. There are over 100 manuscripts of the narrative throughout Europe and many translations. Navigatio is plainly a Christian narrative, but also narrates natural phenomena and fantastical events and places, which appealed to a broad audience. The Navigatio contains many parallels and inter-textual references to Bran and The Voyage of Máel Dúin. the Kerry coast, Brendan built a currach-like boat of wattle, covered it with hides tanned in oak bark and softened with butter, and set up a mast and a sail. He and a small group of monks fasted for 40 days, and after a prayer on the shore, embarked in the name of the Most Holy Trinity.[13] narrative is characterized by much literary licence, e. g., it refers to Hell where "great demons threw down lumps of fiery slag from an island with rivers of gold fire" and also to "great crystal pillars". Many speculate that these are references to volcanic activity around Iceland and to icebergs.[14] Synopsis Saint Barrid tells of his visit to the Island of Paradise, which prompts Brendan to go in search of the isle. Brendan assembles 14 monks to accompany him. They fast at three-day intervals for 40 days, and visit Saint Enda for 3 days and 3 nights. 3 latecomers join the group. They interfere with Brendan's sacred numbers. They find an island with a dog, mysterious hospitality (no people, but food left out), and an Ethiopian devil. One latecomer admits to stealing from the mysterious island; Brendan exorcises the Ethiopian devil from the latecomer; and the latecomer dies and is buried. They find an island inhabited by a boy eating bread and milk, and he shares with them. They find an island of sheep, eat some, and stay for Holy Week (before Easter). They find the island of Jasconius, celebrate Easter Mass, and hunt whales and fish. They find an island that is the "Paradise of Birds", and the birds sing psalms and praise God. They find the island of the monks of Ailbe, who have magic loaves, do not age, and maintain complete silence. They celebrate Christmas. A long voyage after Lent. They find an island with a well, and drinking the water puts them to sleep for 1, 2, or 3 days contingent on the number of cups each man drank. They find a "coagulated" sea. They return to the islands of sheep, Jasconius, and the Paradise of Birds. A bird prophesies that the men must continue this year-long cycle for 7 years before they will be holy enough to reach the Island of Paradise. A sea creature approaches the boat, but God shifts the sea to protect the men. Another sea creature comes, chops the first into three pieces, and leaves. The men eat the dead sea creature. They find an island of 3 choirs of anchorites (monks), who give them fruit, and the second latecomer remains while the others leave. They find an island of grapes, on which they stay for 40 days. They find a gryphon and a bird battle. The gryphon dies. Journey to the monastery at Ailbe again for Christmas. The sea is clear, and many threatening fish circle their boat, but God protects them. They find an island, but when they light a fire, the island sinks; they realize that it is actually a whale. They pass a "silver pillar wrapped in a net" in the sea. They pass an island of blacksmiths, who throw slag at them. They find a volcano, and demons take the third latecomer down to Hell. They find Judas Iscariot sitting unhappily on a cold, wet rock in the sea, and learn that this is his respite from Hell for Sundays and feast days. Brendan protects Judas from the demons of Hell for one night. They find an island where Paul the Hermit has lived a perfect monastic life for 60 years. He wears nothing but hair and is fed by an otter. They return to the islands of sheep, Jasconius, and the Paradise of Birds. They find the Promised Land of the Saints. They return home, and Brendan dies. Sculpture of St Brendan, The Square Bantry, County Cork Navigatio fits in with a then-popular literary genre, peculiar to Ireland, denominated an immram. immrama flourished during the seventh and eighth centuries. Typically, an immram is a tale that describes the hero's series of seafaring adventures. of these immrams involved the search for, and visits to, Tir na nOg, an island far to the west, beyond the edges of the world map. appear to be similarities with The Voyage of Bran written much earlier. the Navigatio, this style of storytelling meshed with a religious ascetic tradition in which Irish monks travel alone in boats, the same way their desert brothers isolated themselves in caves. voyages were one of the most remarkable and enduring of European legends. many of the facts of Brendan's journeys coming from the Navigatio, it has been difficult for scholars to distinguish fact and folklore. narrative of Brendan's voyage, developed during this time, shares some characteristics with immram. an immram, the Navigatio tells the story of Brendan, who, with some companion monks, sets out to find the terra repromissionis sanctorum, ("Promised Land of the Saints"), i. e., the Earthly Paradise.[15] S. Mackley holds that efforts to identify possible, actual locations referenced in the Navigatio distract from the author's purpose of presenting a legend of "salvation, monastic obedience and the faith required to undertake such a pilgrimage."[16] debate whether the Navigatio influenced The Voyage of Máel Dúin or vice versa. Jude Mackley suggests that an early Navigatio influenced an equally early Mael Duin and that inter-borrowing continued as the traditions developed. The Navigatio adapts the immram traditions to a Christian context.[16] principal similarity between Mael Duin and the Navigatio is the introduction in both of 3 additional passengers. Mael Dúin is joined by his foster brothers, and Brendan by 3 additional monks. Both additions upset the equilibrium of the voyages, and only when the additional persons are no longer on board can each voyage be completed.[16] Dutch version[edit] of the earliest extant written versions of Brendan's legend is the Dutch De Reis van Sinte Brandaen (Mediaeval Dutch for The Voyage of Saint Brendan) of the twelfth century. Scholars believe it is derived from a now lost Middle High German text combined with Gaelic elements from Ireland and that it combines Christian and fairy tale elements. Reis van Sinte Brandaen describes "Brandaen", a monk from Galway, and his voyage around the world for 9 years. journey began as a punishment by an angel who saw that Brendan did not believe in the truth of a book of the miracles of creation and saw Brandaen throw it into a fire. The angel tells him that truth has been destroyed. his journeys Brandaen encounters the wonders and horrors of the world, such as Judas Iscariot frozen on one side and burning on the other; people with swine heads, dog legs, and wolf teeth carrying bows and arrows; and an enormous fish that encircles Brandaen's ship by holding its tail in its mouth. English poem the Life of Saint Brandan is a later derivation from the Dutch version.[17] link to North America[edit] Faroese stamp depicting Saint Brendan, taking up the version that the island he discovered was in the Faroe Islands. the narrative is often assumed to be a religious allegory, there has been considerable discussion as to whether the legends are based on fact. There have been many interpretations of the possible geographical location of Saint Brendan's Island. Various pre-Columbian sea charts indicated it everywhere from the southern part of Ireland to the Canary Islands, Faroes, or Azores; to the island of Madeira; to a point 60 degrees west of the first meridian and very near the equator. Belief in the existence of the island was almost completely abandoned when a new theory arose that the Irish were the first Europeans to encounter the Americas. is no reliable evidence to indicate that Brendan ever reached Greenland or the Americas.[18] The Saint Brendan Society celebrates the belief that Brendan was the first European to reach North America. Tim Severin demonstrated that it is possible for a leather-clad boat such as the one described in the Navigatio to reach North America.[19][20][21][22] Severin's film The Brendan Voyage of 1978, which documented his team's feat, inspired the Irish composer Shaun Davey to write his orchestral suite "The Brendan Voyage". Navigatio was known widely in Europe throughout the Middle Ages.[23] Maps of Christopher Columbus’ time often included an island denominated Saint Brendan's Isle that was placed in the western Atlantic Ocean. Paul Chapman argues that Christopher Columbus learned from the Navigatio that the currents and winds would favor westbound travel by a southerly route from the Canary Islands, and eastbound on the return trip by a more northerly route, and hence followed this itinerary on all of his voyages.[24] life[edit] travelled to Wales and the holy island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland; to Ireland, he founded a monastery in Annaghdown, where he spent the rest of his life.[25] He also founded a convent at Annaghdown for his sister Briga.[11] Having established the bishopric of Ardfert, Brendan proceeded to Thomond, and founded a monastery at Inis-da-druim (currently Coney Island), in the present parish of Killadysert, County Clare, c. AD 550. then journeyed to Wales and studied under Gildas at Llancarfan, thence to Iona, for he is said to have left traces of his apostolic zeal at Kil-brandon (near Oban) and Kil-brennan Sound. a mission of three years in Britain he returned to Ireland, and evangelized further in various parts of Leinster, especially at Dysart, County Kilkenny, Killeney near Durrow (Tubberboe Irish: Tóbar Bó, meaning 'Well of the cow'),[26] and Brandon Hill. He established churches at Inchiquin, County Galway, and Inishglora, County Mayo, and founded Clonfert in Galway c. AD 557. He died c. AD 577 in Annaghdown, while visiting his sister Briga. that after his death his devotees might take his remains as relics, Brendan had previously arranged to have his body secretly returned to the monastery he founded in Clonfert, concealed in a luggage cart. He was interred in Clonfert Cathedral. was recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church. His feast day is celebrated on 16 May. the legend of the seven years voyage spread, crowds of pilgrims and students flocked to Ardfert. houses were formed at Gallerus, Kilmalchedor, Brandon Hill, and the Blasket Islands, to meet the wants of those who came for spiritual guidance from Brendan.[3] is the patron saint of sailors and travellers. At the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, a large stained glass window commemorates Brendan's achievements. At Fenit Harbour, Tralee, a substantial bronze sculpture by Tighe O'Donoghue/Ross was erected to honour the memory of Brendan. The project, including a Heritage Park and the Slí Bhreanainn (the Brendan way) was headed by Fr. Gearóid Ó Donnchadha and completed through the work of the St. Brendan Committee. Statue of Brendan at Fenit Harbour the Navigator or Brénainn moccu Alti as he is often known in the medieval Irish tradition is the patron saint of two Irish dioceses, Kerry and Clonfert. He is also a patron saint of boatmen, mariners, travelers, elderly adventurers, and whales,[27] and also of portaging canoes.[10] Brendan's activities as a churchman, however, were developed in Western Ireland, where his most important foundations are found, i.e., Ardfert (Co. Kerry), Inishdadroum (Co. Clare), Annaghdown (Co. Galway), and Clonfert (Co. Galway). His name is perpetuated in numerous place names and landmarks along the Irish coast (e.g., Brandon Hill, Brandon Point, Mount Brendan, Brandon Well, Brandon Bay, Brandon Head).[28] most celebrated foundation was Clonfert Cathedral, in the year 563, over which he appointed Moinenn as Prior and Head Master. Brendan was interred in Clonfert. group of ecclesiastical remains at Ardfert is one of the most interesting and instructive now existing in Ireland. The ruins of the ancient Cathedral of St Brendan, and of its annexed chantries and detached chapels, form a very complete reliquary of Irish ecclesiastical architecture, in its various orders and ages, from the plain but solid Danhliag of the seventh or eighth century to some late and most ornate examples of medieval Gothic. The cathedral, as it now stands, or rather as it stood before it was finally dismantled in A.D. 1641.[29] St Ciaran of Clonmacnois, Commemorated on September 9 ;

England, 519-589, DEWI of WALES, Mynyw in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, apostle of W, St. David's Cathedral of 4 territories
England, 519-589, DEWI of WALES, Mynyw in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, apostle of W, St. David's Cathedral, 4 territories Bangor, Llandaff, St Asaph, St Davids, Celtic ties, 1066 south wales roman, 1300 W highlands in North roman; Mynyw (Menevia in English) in Pembrokeshire; DAVID (DEWI) OF WALES, (1 MAR 544) ; the pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, many British Christians sought refuge in the hill country of Wales. they developed a style of Christian life devoted to learning, asceticism, and missionary fervor. there were no cities, the centers of culture were the monasteries, and most abbots were bishops as well. (David in English) was the founder, abbot, and bishop of the monastery of Mynyw (Menevia in English) in Pembrokeshire. was responsible for much of the spread of Christianity in Wales, and his monastery was sought out by many scholars from Ireland and elsewhere. He is commonly accounted the apostle of Wales, as Patrick is of Ireland. His tomb is in St. David's cathedral, on the site of ancient Mynyw, now called Ty-Dewi (House of David). of St. David, at St. David's CathedralThe ancient custom in Wales, as throughout Celtic Christendom, was to have bishops who were abbots of monasteries, and who had no clear territorial jurisdiction, simply traveling about as they were needed. however, the bishops of Bangor, Llandaff, St. Asaph, and St. Davids became the heads of four territorial dioceses, to which the diocese of Monmouth and the diocese of Swansea and Brecon have been added in this century. many centuries the Church in Wales had closer ties with the Celtic Churches in Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany than with the Church in Anglo-Saxon England. after the Norman conquest of Britain (1066 and after), the Anglo-Norman Kings began to contemplate the conquest of Wales. William the Conqueror began with the subjugation of South Wales as far as Carmathen, but the Welsh uplands remained independent far longer, and the conquest was not complete until about 1300, under Edward I. But eventually all of Wales came under English control, and the Church in Wales was placed under the jurisdiction of Canterbury, and thus became identified in the minds of many with the English supremacy. 1920 the Church in Wales (Eglwys yng Nghymru) became independent of outside jurisdiction (though still in communion with other Anglican Churches, in England and elsewhere) and clear of all ties with the government. It is bilingual and active in the preservation of the Welsh language and culture. by James Kiefer

England, 519-601, David of Wales, Mynyw, West Wales, Chief's son, Germanus' disciple, founded monastery, extreme austerity
England, 519-601, DEWI of WALES, Mynyw in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, Chief's son, disciple oMissionary Germanus, founded monastery, extreme austerity like Egyptian desert fathers; Saint David; David (Welsh: Dewi Sant; Latin: Davidus; c. 500 – c. 589) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. is the patron saint of Wales. was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. birth date, however, is uncertain: suggestions range from 462 to 512.[1] is traditionally believed to be the son of Saint Non and the grandson of Ceredig ap Cunedda, king of Ceredigion.[2] Welsh annals placed his death 569 years after the birth of Christ,[3] but Phillimore's dating revised this to 601.[4] Saint David, Bishop of Wales, Commemorated on March 1; David, Patron of Wales, said to have been the son of a Welsh chieftain, in the latter half of the sixth century. to the priesthood, he studied under the tutorship of a disciple of Saint Germanus, who later became Bishop of the Isle of Man, and engaged in missionary work and the building of churches in many places. he settled in the southwest corner of Wales, at Menevia. he founded a monastery known for its extreme austerity, in imitation of the desert fathers. he was consecrated Bishop of the primatial See of Wales, Menevia, afterwards known as Saint David’s in his honor. reposed in the Lord about the year 601 AD and, through the years, has been venerated as one of the greatest and most beloved saints of the British Isles. England, 519-589, DEWI of WALES, Mynyw in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, apostle of W, St. David's Cathedral, 4 territories Bangor, Llandaff, St Asaph, St Davids, Celtic ties, 1066 south wales roman, 1300 W highlands in North roman; Mynyw (Menevia in English) in Pembrokeshire; DAVID (DEWI) OF WALES, (1 MAR 544) ; the pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, many British Christians sought refuge in the hill country of Wales. they developed a style of Christian life devoted to learning, asceticism, and missionary fervor. there were no cities, the centers of culture were the monasteries, and most abbots were bishops as well. (David in English) was the founder, abbot, and bishop of the monastery of Mynyw (Menevia in English) in Pembrokeshire. was responsible for much of the spread of Christianity in Wales, and his monastery was sought out by many scholars from Ireland and elsewhere. He is commonly accounted the apostle of Wales, as Patrick is of Ireland. His tomb is in St. David's cathedral, on the site of ancient Mynyw, now called Ty-Dewi (House of David). of St. David, at St. David's CathedralThe ancient custom in Wales, as throughout Celtic Christendom, was to have bishops who were abbots of monasteries, and who had no clear territorial jurisdiction, simply traveling about as they were needed. however, the bishops of Bangor, Llandaff, St. Asaph, and St. Davids became the heads of four territorial dioceses, to which the diocese of Monmouth and the diocese of Swansea and Brecon have been added in this century. many centuries the Church in Wales had closer ties with the Celtic Churches in Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany than with the Church in Anglo-Saxon England. after the Norman conquest of Britain (1066 and after), the Anglo-Norman Kings began to contemplate the conquest of Wales. William the Conqueror began with the subjugation of South Wales as far as Carmathen, but the Welsh uplands remained independent far longer, and the conquest was not complete until about 1300, under Edward I. But eventually all of Wales came under English control, and the Church in Wales was placed under the jurisdiction of Canterbury, and thus became identified in the minds of many with the English supremacy. 1920 the Church in Wales (Eglwys yng Nghymru) became independent of outside jurisdiction (though still in communion with other Anglican Churches, in England and elsewhere) and clear of all ties with the government. It is bilingual and active in the preservation of the Welsh language and culture. by James Kiefer

England, 522-549, Saint, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, Ciaran the Younger
Ireland, Saint, 522-549, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, Ciaran the Younger; St Ciaran of Clonmacnois, Commemorated on September 9 ;

England, 527-918, Kingdom of Mercia, Pagan King Penda from 626-655
Severn Valley, Mercia; Saint Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5; Penda, King of Mercia, 626-655; Kingdom of Mercia, 527-918;

England, 540-604, St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Gregorian Mission, Kent, Rochester& London, did not rise
England, 540-604, St Augustine of Canterbury, Kent, Southeast ENG, Evangelizer of England, Gregorian Mission 597, from Messana, Italy, christian Bertha wife King Ethelbert, later converted, dioceses of Rochester and London, did not rise for Celtic Bishops; Kent; St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26; Augustine was from Italy, and a disciple of Saint Felix, Bishop of Messana. Saint Gregory Dialogus (March 12) chose him to lead a mission of forty monks to evangelize the people of Britain. They arrived at Ebbsfleet (on the isle of Thanet) in Kent in 597. Ethelbert, whose Frankish wife Bertha was a Christian, welcomed them. They were allowed to base their mission at the ancient church of Saint Martin in Canterbury, which was restored for their use. This church had been built during the Roman occupation of Britain, and the queen often went there to pray. At first, the king was reluctant to give up his pagan beliefs, but he promised not to harm them, and to supply them with whatever they needed. He also promised that he would not prevent them from preaching Christianity. Saint Augustine later converted the king to Christianity, along with thousands of his subjects. The holy right-believing King Ethelbert is commemorated on February 25. says that Saint Augustine was consecrated as Archbishop of Britain by Archbishop Etherius of Arles (others say that it was his successor Saint Virgilius of Arles [March 5] who consecrated Saint Augustine). to Britain, he threw himself into the work of evangelizing the country with renewed zeal. Augustine built Christ Church, predecessor of the present cathedral at Canterbury, and consecrated it on June 9, 603 (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). also founded the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul east of the city. Here Saint Augustine, the Archbishops of Canterbury, and the Kings of Kent were buried. The monastery, now in ruins, was later known as Saint Augustine’s Monastery. saint was instrumental in founding the dioceses of Rochester and London. In 604 he consecrated Saint Justus (November 10) and Saint Mellitus (April 24) as bishops for those Sees. Augustine also helped the king draft the earliest Anglo-Saxon laws, and founded a school in Canterbury. Augustine was not completely successful in all his efforts, however. He was not able to achieve unity with the already existing Christian communities who followed Celtic practices. He met with some of their bishops to urge them to abandon their Celtic traditions and to accept the Roman practices. He invited them to cooperate with him in evangelizing the country, but they refused to give up their ancient traditions. meeting with Saint Augustine in 603, the Celtic bishops asked a holy hermit whether or not to accept Augustine as their leader. The hermit replied, “If he rises to greet you, then accept him. If he remains seated, then he is arrogant and unfit to be your leader, and you should reject him.” Unfortunately, Saint Augustine did not rise to greet them. Perhaps Saint Augustine was, to some degree, a bit tactless and too insistent on conformity to Roman customs. On the other hand, Celtic resentment against Roman authority also contributed to the stormy relationship. in his lifetime as a wonderworker, Saint Augustine fell asleep in the Lord on May 26, 604. was laid to rest at the entrance of the unfinished church of Saints Peter and Paul. When the church was dedicated in 613, his holy relics were placed inside. An epitaph was composed for his tomb. In part, it reads: “Here lies the Lord Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, sent here by blessed Gregory, bishop of the city of Rome, who with the help of God, and aided by miracles, guided King Ethelbert and his people from the worship of idols to the Faith of Christ.” Bede (May 27) gives detailed information about Saint Augustine’s mission to Britain in his History of the English Church and People (Book I, 23-33. Book II, 1-3). AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (26 MAY 605) ; Christian Church was established in the British Isles well before 300. Some scholars believe that it was introduced by missionaries from the Eastern or Greek-speaking half of the Mediterranean world. Celtic Christianity had its own distinctive culture, and Greek scholarship flourished in Ireland for several centuries after it had died elsewhere in Western Europe. However, in the fifth century Britain was invaded by non-Christian Germanic tribes: the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. They conquered the native Celtic Christians (despite resistance by, among others, a leader whose story has come down to us, doubtless with some exaggeration, as that of King Arthur), or drove them north and west into Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. these regions Celtic Christian missionaries returned to England to preach the Gospel to the heathen invaders. Meanwhile, the Bishop of Rome, Gregory the Great, decided to send missionaries from Rome, a group of monks led by their prior, Augustine (not to be confused with the more famous Augustine of Hippo). Augustine baptizing Ethelbert British stamps commemorating St. Augustine: Above, Augustine baptizing Ethelbert. Below, Augutine and his cathedral Augustine & cathedral arrived in Kent (the southeast corner of England) in 597, and the king, whose wife was a Christian, allowed them to settle and preach. Their preaching was outstandingly successful, the people were hungry for the Good News of salvation, and they made thousands of converts in a short time. In 601 the king himself was converted and baptised. Augustine was consecrated bishop and established his headquarters at Canterbury. From his day to the present, there has been an unbroken succession of archbishops of Canterbury. In 603, he held a conference with the leaders of the already existing Christian congregations in Britain, but failed to reach an accomodation with them, largely due to his own tactlessness, and his insistence (contrary, it may be noted, to Gregory's explicit advice) on imposing Roman customs on a church long accustomed to its own traditions of worship. is said that the English bishops, before going to meet Augustine, consulted a hermit with a reputation for wisdom and holiness, asking him, "Shall we accept this man as our leader, or not?" The hermit replied, "If, at your meeting, he rises to greet you, then accept him, but if he remains seated, then he is arrogant and unfit to lead, and you ought to reject him." Augustine, alas, remained seated. It took another sixty years before the breach was healed. by James Kiefer

England, 541-597, Columba, Irish and Scottish Saint, abby of Iona, Celtic Christianity
England, Scottish Saint, 541-597, St Columba; or Colmcille[a] (7 December 521 – 9 June 597) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.[3][4] He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.[5] studied under some of Ireland's most prominent church figures and founded several monasteries in the country. Around 563 he and his twelve companions crossed to Dunaverty near Southend, Argyll, in Kintyre before settling in Iona in Scotland, then part of the Ulster kingdom of Dál Riata, where they founded a new abbey as a base for spreading Celtic Christianity among the pagan Northern Pictish kingdoms.[6][7] He remained active in Irish politics, though he spent most of the remainder of his life in Scotland. Three surviving early medieval Latin hymns may be attributed to him.[4] St Kentigern, first Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland, Commemorated on January 14;

England, 542-618, Kevin oGlendalough, Kathleen story lPotiphar's wife, but repentd, assisted bAngels&Animals, incorrupt r
Ireland, 542-618, St Kevin oGlendalough, Kevin's Monastery (between coast and Barrow River 3), noble family, kings oLeinster, taught by Petroc a7, a12 under 3Elders, Kathleen Story like Potiphar's W but with repentence, Kath became Nun, imitating Egyptian desert dwellers&Gaul monks Celtic monks longed tbHermits, Elders not let him go, people came, left in secret, Angel led him tGlendalough (Vale otTwo Lakes), hollow oaTree upper lake shore, wild herbs and water, discovered in tree by cow licking his clothes gives more milk, trees bend down, K blesses forest, 3 Elders come to bring him back, but blessed him to leave monastery, nothing more to teach him, Bishop Lugidus ordained K as Priest, sent him start Cluainduach church, returned Glendalough, Angel led oWicklow Mts establish monastery two rivers, then returned upper valley 4-7yrs, wild animals come, blackbird lays egg in his hand, still till it hatched, cave known as Kevin's bed, Angel told him rock about to fall, stayed till Pascha, left, then fell, finding space fMonastery angel suggested flattening mountains but K declined to protect tAnimals, chosen spot rocky ground cleared by Angel & cleared of thistles by local Chieftain ; Glendalough, Kevin's Monastery; Saint Kevin of Glendalough, Commemorated on June 3; Kevin (Coemgen) was born in Leinster in the early decades of the sixth century, age of Saints Columba (June 9), Columbanus of Luxeuil (November 21), Comgall of Bangor (May 10), Finnian of Clonard (December 12), Kieran of Clonmacnoise (September 9), and many other great saints. holy ascetic belonged to a noble family which had included several Kings of Leinster. himself, however, was a model of humility and self-denial. There are several miraculous stories connected with his birth and childhood, but most are unreliable. holy youth was baptized by a priest named Cronan and was named Kevin, which means "fair-begotten." There are so many saints named Cronan that it is not clear which one baptized Saint Kevin. he was seven years old, his parents sent him to be taught by Saint Petroc (June 4), who happened to be visiting Ireland at the time. a boy of twelve, Saint Kevin was placed in the charge of three holy Elders: Eogoin of Ardstraw (August 23), Lochan, and Enna. is known of these teachers or where their establishment was located. secular studies were certainly enhanced by spiritual instruction. He learned to read the Holy Scriptures, and to profit from the example of the virtuous men and women of the Old and New Testaments. Kevin was so handsome that a young girl named Kathleen became inflamed with desire for him, the holy youth resisted all her allurements. She pestered him so much with her attentions that he fled from her, just as Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife (Genesis 39:12). Kathleen followed him and found him alone in a field, so she approached him and threw her arms around him. Arming himself with the Sign of the Cross, and filled with the Holy Spirit, Saint Kevin broke away from her and ran into the woods. She soon discovered him hiding in a bed of nettles. Grabbing a bunch of nettles, the saint struck her about the face, hands and feet. Wounded by the nettles, the girl's passion quickly cooled. She fell on her knees in repentance, begged forgiveness from God and from Saint Kevin, and promised to become a nun. successfully resisting the temptations of the flesh, Saint Kevin continued to devote himself to his studies, and longed to live the monastic life as a hermit. was a common practice in the Celtic Church, which was influenced by the lives of the Egyptian desert dwellers, and by monks who had come from Gaul. Kevin was anxious to leave the monastery, but his three Elders would not let him go. he had acquired a reputation for holiness, and people from the surrounding area came to seek his advice. to flee from such unwelcome attention, he left the monastery in secret and went into the wilderness. is said that an angel led him to Glendalough (the Vale of the Two Lakes) where he lived in the hollow of a tree somewhere by the shores of the Upper Lake. ascetic remained in this place for several days, living on wild herbs and water. A cow wandered off and came to the tree where the Saint was living, and began to lick his clothing. After some time had passed, the cow showed an unusual increase in its milk, so her owner told his herdsman follow the animal. She led him to Glendalough, and there the herdsman discovered Saint Kevin, weak with hunger, and hiding in the tree. herdsman had to remove Saint Kevin on a litter by force, since the holy ascetic did not wish to leave. As he was being carried off, the trees bent down to make way for them. Saint Kevin then bestowed his blessing on the forest. of Saint Kevin reached his three Elders, who came to bring him back to their monastery. Recognizing the holiness of his life, they understood that they had nothing more to teach him, so they blessed him to leave the monastery. certain Bishop Lugidus ordained Saint Kevin to the priesthood, and sent him and a few other monks to found a new church. He spent a little time converting people at Cluainduach, but later moved back to Glendalough. by an angel, Saint Kevin crossed the Wicklow Mountains and established a monastery in the lower part of the valley where two rivers flow together. Once the monastery was organized, he appointed one of the monks as abbot, and then he retired to the upper valley a mile away to resume his life of solitude. He built a small dwelling on a narrow place between the mountain and the lake, where there were dense woods and clear rivulets. Some sources say that Saint Kevin lived there for four years, while others say seven years. this period of his life, wild animals would come to drink water out of his hands. Once during Lent, Saint Kevin stood praying in his hut with his hand sticking out of the window. Just then a blackbird nested in his hand and laid an egg. So gentle and compassionate was the Saint that he remained in this position until the eggs hatched and the fledglings were able to fly away. is a small cave above the Upper Lake known as Saint Kevin's Bed. One year he retired there for Lent, and an angel came and told him he would have to move because a rock was about to fall on that spot. Saint Kevin told the angel he could not interrupt his Lenten struggles or leave that place. On the eve of Pascha the angel returned to take him away. The venerable one protested that he would like to remain there for the rest of his life. He was persuaded to go, however, by the angel's promise that great benefits would follow for all who would come there in the future, both to live in the monastic city and to be buried there. Just as he was leaving with the angel, the rock came tumbling down and landed on the very spot where he had been standing. over the lake, they discussed the problem of finding sufficient space for so many people. The angel said that if Saint Kevin wished, God could transform the four mountains surrounding the valley to level fields, fruitful and easy to work. The holy ascetic replied that he would not want God's creatures to perish on his account. All of the animals of those mountains were tame and humble toward him, and they would be saddened by this proposal. they arrived at the chosen spot, Saint Kevin saw that the ground was rocky and unsuitable for burial. The angel fixed that by clearing all the stones away. The site is to the east of the smaller (Lower) lake. Saint Kevin told the local chieftain Dimma and his sons to cut away the thorns and thistles, and to make this a beautiful spot. is not certain just where in the valley Saint Kevin fell asleep in the Lord. It was not at the hermitage, however, because he sent a party of monks there to pray for him. Local tradition says that Saint Kevin is buried in the church of the Mother of God in that vicinity. Kevin was succeeded as abbot by his nephew Molibba (Jan. 8), who seems to have been the first bishop there. According to the Annals of Ulster, the holy abbot and confessor Kevin departed to Christ on June 3, 618.

England, 550 6th century, Brannock of Braunton, Bristol Bay, B church stained glass, sow and piglets dream for new church site
England, 550 6th century, Brannock of Braunton, Cornwall, Bristol Bay, King's children's tutor, went to Jerusalem w king, stopped in Brittany on way home, monastery, Braunton church dedicated to him, sow and piglets dream for new church site, stained glass window commemoration; of Braunton or Saint Brannock was a Christian saint associated with the village of Braunton in the English county of Devon. His feast is 7 January. The history of St Brannoc is confused – some sources conflate him with Saint Brynach, however Exeter Cathedral celebrates the feast of Brynach on 7 April and that of Brannoc on 7 January so it is unlikely that they are the same saint.[1][2] In contrast, Braunton celebrates St Brannock's Day on the 26 June.[citation needed] migrated from South Wales to establish a monastery at Braunton in the 6th century.[3][4] Braunton church was dedicated to him from at least 854 and in the Middle Ages it was believed that he was buried in the church[5] with both William of Worcester and Leland stating that he was buried there.[6] states that he first built his church on a hill overlooking Braunton, but it collapsed. In a dream he was told to look for a sow and piglets for the site to build his new church. This story is commemorated in one of the stained glass windows and in a roof boss of St Brannock's Church, Braunton.[1] Braunton; St Brannock of Braunton, Commemorated January 7 ; Brannock lived in the sixth century, and tutored the children of the Welsh ruler Brychan. He went with King Brychan on a pilgrimage to venerate the tombs of the Apostles. On the way home, he stopped in Brittany and remained there several years. the saint returned to Wales and settled at Braunton, where he built a church. His holy relics are said to rest beneath the altar of the Braunton church.

England, 553-604, Augustine of Canterbury, Gregorian mission 595, Bertha, wife of K Aethelberht, Franc Christian, K converted
England, 553-604, Saint, Augustine of Canterbury; of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.[4] was the prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory the Great chose him in 595 to lead a mission, usually known as the Gregorian mission, to Britain to Christianize King Æthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Kent was probably chosen because Æthelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of Charibert I the King of Paris, who was expected to exert some influence over her husband. Before reaching Kent, the missionaries had considered turning back, but Gregory urged them on, and in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to Æthelberht's main town of Canterbury. Æthelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated as a bishop and converted many of the king's subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597. Pope Gregory sent more missionaries in 601, along with encouraging letters and gifts for the churches, although attempts to persuade the native British bishops to submit to Augustine's authority failed. Roman bishops were established at London, and Rochester in 604, and a school was founded to train Anglo-Saxon priests and missionaries. Augustine also arranged the consecration of his successor, Laurence of Canterbury. The archbishop probably died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint. St Augustine's Abby; GREGORY THE GREAT, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (12 MAR 604) ; St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26;

England, 559-664, Kingdom of Deira, Yorkshire (from the Huber to the Tees, aka Vale of York)
Kingdom of Deira; to Simeon of Durham (writing early in the 12th century), it extended from the Humber to the Tyne, but the land was waste north of the Tees. was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom.[2] Deira[edit] the Roman withdrawal from Britain a number of successor kingdoms rose in northern England, reflecting pre-Roman tribal territories. The area between the Humber and River Tees was known as Deywr or Deifr corresponds to the tribal lands of the Parisi, bordered to the West and North by the Brythonic kingdoms of Elfed and Bryneich respectively, and to the East by the North Sea. Deira may have centred on Petuaria (modern Brough) and archaeological evidence shows that the town was refortified. Petuaria was a great tribal centre for the Parisi, but declined in importance from the mid-fourth century (possibly as the harbour silted up). After this period, Derventio (modern Malton) may have functioned as the region's capital.[6] is not known if Deira was ever an independent Brythonic kingdom, and no British king has been identified with the area from the surviving genealogies, poems or chronicles. However the area was subject to the same fractious inheritance traditions and changing power dynamic (following the Roman withdrawal) that allowed Elfed and Bryneich to become independent hereditary kingdoms in the early fifth century. In Welsh literature Deira is part of the Hen Ogledd (Old North) region, which was divided into many related kingdoms after the death of Coel Hen (Coel the Old).[7][8] Deira[edit] kingdom was previously inhabited by Britons and was probably created in the third quarter of the fifth century when Anglian warriors invaded the Derwent Valley.[9] Anglian Deira's territory also extended from the Humber to the Tees, and from the sea to the western edge of the Vale of York. It later merged with the kingdom of Bernicia, its northern neighbour, to form the kingdom of Northumbria. to Simeon of Durham (writing early in the 12th century), it extended from the Humber to the Tyne, but the land was waste north of the Tees. After the Brythonic kingdom centred on Eboracum, which may have been called Ebrauc, was taken by King Edwin, the city of Eboracum became its capital, and Eoforwic ("boar-place") was taken by the Angles.[10] suggests that the Anglian royal house was in place by the middle of the fifth century, but the first certainly recorded king is Ælla in the late sixth century.[11] After his death, Deira was subject to king Æthelfrith of Bernicia, who united the two kingdoms into Northumbria. Æthelfrith ruled until the accession of Ælla's son Edwin, in 616 or 617, who also ruled both kingdoms until 633.[12] the nephew of Edwin, ruled Deira after Edwin, but his son Oswine was put to death by Oswiu in 651. For a few years subsequently, Deira was governed by Æthelwald son of Oswald of Bernicia.[13] wrote of Deira in his Historia Ecclesiastica (completed in 731).[14] Vale of York St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated October 12 ; CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672) ;

England, 584-612, Kentigern Mungo, Scottish Welsh Saint, Asaph and Glaskow monasteries
England, Scottish Welsh Saint, 584-612, St Kentigern Mungo; St Kentigern, first Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland, Commemorated on January 14; Kentigern was from Lothian (in Scotland), and may have been of royal blood. He left home at an early age and was brought up by a hermit named Servan (July 1) on the Firth of Forth. It was Saint Servan who gave him the name Mungo (or dear friend). Kentigern Mungo labored in Strathclyde, and founded a monastery where the city of Glasgow stands today. He was made a bishop, taking Glasgow for his See. from Scotland by the enmity of a local ruler, Saint Kentigern went to Wales and founded the monastery of Saint Asaph. Eventually, he returned to Scotland and resumed his missionary work, baptizing many people. 584 he met Saint Columba (June 9), and exchanged croziers with him. Kentigern was a strict ascetic who traveled everywhere on foot. It is believed that he died in Glasgow around 612 at the age of eighty-five. A Gothic cathedral was built over his shrine in the thirteenth century.

England, 590-616, Aethelberht of Kent, E King, first E christian king, Queen Bertha brought c from France, first German Law
England, 590-616, King of the English, King of Kent, Aethelberht of Kent ; Æthelberht (c. 550 - 24 February 616) was King of Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, lists him as the third king to hold imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he is referred to as a bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". He was the first English king to convert to Christianity. Æthelberht was the son of Eormenric, succeeding him as king, according to the Chronicle. He married Bertha, the Christian daughter of Charibert I, king of the Franks, thus building an alliance with the most powerful state in contemporary Western Europe; the marriage probably took place before he came to the throne. Bertha's influence may have led to Pope Gregory I's decision to send Augustine as a missionary from Rome. Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet in east Kent in 597. Shortly thereafter, Æthelberht converted to Christianity, churches were established, and wider-scale conversion to Christianity began in the kingdom. He provided the new church with land in Canterbury, thus helping to establish one of the foundation stones of English Christianity. Æthelberht's law for Kent, the earliest written code in any Germanic language, instituted a complex system of fines; the law code is preserved in the Textus Roffensis. Kent was rich, with strong trade ties to the Continent, and Æthelberht may have instituted royal control over trade. Coinage probably began circulating in Kent during his reign for the first time since the Anglo-Saxon settlement. He later came to be regarded as a saint for his role in establishing Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. His feast day was originally 24 February but was changed to 25 February. Kingdom of Kent, 455-871 ; St Eanswythe the Abbess of Folkestone, Commemorated on August 31; AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (26 MAY 605); St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27 ; COLUMBA, ABBOT OF IONA AND MISSIONARY (9 JUNE 597) ;

England, 593-1093, House of Wessex
England, 593-1093, House of Wessex;

England, 593-616, Ethelred of Bernicia, E King, first B king to control Diera, over brits and irish
England, 593-616, King of the English, Ethelred of Bernicia, Ethelfirth ; Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Northumbria. He was especially notable for his successes against the Britons and his victory over the Gaels of Dál Riata. Although he was defeated and killed in battle and replaced by a dynastic rival, his line was eventually restored to power in the 630s. St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated on October 12;

England, 596, Gregorian Mission, headed by Augustine of Canterbury
England, 601, Gregorian mission ; Gregorian mission[1] or Augustinian mission[2] was a Christian mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to convert Britain's Anglo-Saxons.[3] The mission was headed by Augustine of Canterbury. By the time of the death of the last missionary in 653, the mission had established Christianity in southern Britain. Along with the Irish and Frankish missions it converted other parts of Britain as well and influenced the Hiberno-Scottish missions to Continental Europe. the time the Roman Empire recalled its legions from the province of Britannia in 410, parts of the island had already been settled by pagan Germanic tribes who, later in the century, appear to have taken control of Kent and other coastal regions no longer defended by the Roman Empire. In the late 6th century Pope Gregory sent a group of missionaries to Kent to convert Æthelberht, King of Kent, whose wife, Bertha of Kent, was a Frankish princess and practising Christian. Augustine had been the prior of Gregory's own monastery in Rome and Gregory prepared the way for the mission by soliciting aid from the Frankish rulers along Augustine's route. In 597, the forty missionaries arrived in Kent and were permitted by Æthelberht to preach freely in his capital of Canterbury. the missionaries wrote to Gregory telling him of their success, and of the conversions taking place. The exact date of Æthelberht's conversion is unknown but it occurred before 601. A second group of monks and clergy was dispatched in 601 bearing books and other items for the new foundation. Gregory intended Augustine to be the metropolitan archbishop of the southern part of the British Isles, and gave him power over the clergy of the native Britons, but in a series of meetings with Augustine the long-established Celtic bishops refused to acknowledge his authority. Æthelberht's death in 616, a number of other bishoprics had been established. However, after that date, a pagan backlash set in and the see, or bishopric, of London was abandoned. Æthelberht's daughter, Æthelburg, married Edwin, the king of the Northumbrians, and by 627 Paulinus, the bishop who accompanied her north, had converted Edwin and a number of other Northumbrians. When Edwin died, in about 633, his widow and Paulinus were forced to flee back to Kent. Although the missionaries could not remain in all of the places they had evangelised, by the time the last of them died in 653, they had established Christianity in Kent and the surrounding countryside and contributed a Roman tradition to the practice of Christianity in Britain. England, 600-644, Paulinus of York; England, 600-671, James the Deacon; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27 ;

England, 597-604, St Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury, Gregorian Mission, Bertha, wife of k Aethelberht, christian from Franks, k converted
England, 597-604, St Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury; of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.[4] was the prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory the Great chose him in 595 to lead a mission, usually known as the Gregorian mission, to Britain to Christianize King Æthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Kent was probably chosen because Æthelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of Charibert I the King of Paris, who was expected to exert some influence over her husband. Before reaching Kent, the missionaries had considered turning back, but Gregory urged them on, and in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to Æthelberht's main town of Canterbury. Æthelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated as a bishop and converted many of the king's subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597. Pope Gregory sent more missionaries in 601, along with encouraging letters and gifts for the churches, although attempts to persuade the native British bishops to submit to Augustine's authority failed. Roman bishops were established at London, and Rochester in 604, and a school was founded to train Anglo-Saxon priests and missionaries. Augustine also arranged the consecration of his successor, Laurence of Canterbury. The archbishop probably died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint. GREGORY THE GREAT, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (12 MAR 604); BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27 ;

England, 599-624, Redwald of East Anglia, English King, south of Heber, wide ruler, Christian b 605, over Edwin
England, 599-624, King of the English, Redwald of East Anglia ; (power in counsel), also written as Raedwald or Redwald, was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty (named after his grandfather, Wuffa), who were the first kings of the East Angles. Details about Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking invasions of the 9th century destroyed the monasteries in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. reigned from about 599 until his death around 624, initially under the overlordship of Ethelberht of Kent. In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating AEthelfrith of Northumbria, he was able to install Edwin, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria. During the battle, both AEthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere were killed. around 616, Rædwald was the most powerful of the English kings south of the River Humber. According to Bede he was the fourth ruler to hold imperium over other southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: he was referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written centuries after his death, as a bretwalda (an Old English term meaning 'Britain-ruler' or 'wide-ruler'). He was the first king of the East Angles to become a Christian, converting at Æthelberht's court some time before 605, while also maintaining a pagan temple. He helped Christianity to survive in East Anglia during the apostasy of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Kent. Historians consider him the most likely occupant of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, although other theories have been advanced. St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated on October 12;

England, 600-699, 7th Century Folder, Adian of Lindisfarne, Synod of Whitby

England, 601-644, Paulinus of York, Gregorian Mission, to Northumbria with Ethelburga to marry Edwin
England, 601, Gregorian mission ; England, 600-644, Paulinus of York; (died 10 October 644) was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York.[b] A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group. Little is known of Paulinus's activities in the following two decades. some years spent in Kent, perhaps in 625, Paulinus was consecrated a bishop0. He accompanied Æthelburg of Kent, sister of King Eadbald of Kent, on her journey to Northumbria to marry King Edwin of Northumbria, and eventually succeeded in converting Edwin to Christianity. Paulinus also converted many of Edwin's subjects and built some churches. One of the women Paulinus baptised was a future saint, Hilda of Whitby. Following Edwin's death in 633, Paulinus and Æthelburg fled Northumbria, leaving behind a member of Paulinus's clergy, James the Deacon. Paulinus returned to Kent, where he became Bishop of Rochester. He received a pallium from the pope, symbolizing his appointment as Archbishop of York, but too late to be effective. After his death in 644, Paulinus was canonized as a saint and is now venerated in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican Churches. England, 600-671, James the Deacon; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated on October 12;

England, 601-671, James the Deacon, Gregorian Mission, assisted Paulinus, hateful year 633, P left with E, G chants
England, 601, Gregorian mission ; Gregorian mission[1] or Augustinian mission[2] was a Christian mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to convert Britain's Anglo-Saxons.[3] The mission was headed by Augustine of Canterbury. By the time of the death of the last missionary in 653, the mission had established Christianity in southern Britain. Along with the Irish and Frankish missions it converted other parts of Britain as well and influenced the Hiberno-Scottish missions to Continental Europe. the time the Roman Empire recalled its legions from the province of Britannia in 410, parts of the island had already been settled by pagan Germanic tribes who, later in the century, appear to have taken control of Kent and other coastal regions no longer defended by the Roman Empire. In the late 6th century Pope Gregory sent a group of missionaries to Kent to convert Æthelberht, King of Kent, whose wife, Bertha of Kent, was a Frankish princess and practising Christian. Augustine had been the prior of Gregory's own monastery in Rome and Gregory prepared the way for the mission by soliciting aid from the Frankish rulers along Augustine's route. In 597, the forty missionaries arrived in Kent and were permitted by Æthelberht to preach freely in his capital of Canterbury. the missionaries wrote to Gregory telling him of their success, and of the conversions taking place. The exact date of Æthelberht's conversion is unknown but it occurred before 601. A second group of monks and clergy was dispatched in 601 bearing books and other items for the new foundation. Gregory intended Augustine to be the metropolitan archbishop of the southern part of the British Isles, and gave him power over the clergy of the native Britons, but in a series of meetings with Augustine the long-established Celtic bishops refused to acknowledge his authority. Æthelberht's death in 616, a number of other bishoprics had been established. However, after that date, a pagan backlash set in and the see, or bishopric, of London was abandoned. Æthelberht's daughter, Æthelburg, married Edwin, the king of the Northumbrians, and by 627 Paulinus, the bishop who accompanied her north, had converted Edwin and a number of other Northumbrians. When Edwin died, in about 633, his widow and Paulinus were forced to flee back to Kent. Although the missionaries could not remain in all of the places they had evangelised, by the time the last of them died in 653, they had established Christianity in Kent and the surrounding countryside and contributed a Roman tradition to the practice of Christianity in Britain. England, 600-644, Paulinus of York; England, 600-671, James the Deacon; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18 James lived in the seventh century, and assisted Saint Paulinus of York (October 10) in evangelizing the north of England. the death of Saint Edwin (October 12) in 633, the northern kingdom experienced many trials, including military defeats, famine, and plague. The year 633-634 was so fraught with misfortune that it became known as “The Hateful Year.” Saint Paulinus accompanied Saint Ethelburga (April 5) back to her native Kent after the death of her husband King Edwin, leaving Saint James behind to care for the new converts in northern England. James has been described as “faithful and undismayed,” even though the secular power which supported the Church had been overthrown. Even so, he would not abandon the people in his care, nor would he cease his missionary labors. faithful servant of the Lord established himself near the village of Catterick in Yorkshire, teaching, comforting, and encouraging his flock. Even in such difficult times, Saint James was able to win many converts to Christ. He had a talent for music, and was skilled in the Roman chants composed by Saint Gregory Dialogus (March 12) which were being used in Kent. James taught these chants to the Christians of the north. When peace returned and the churches reopened, their services were beautified with the chants which Saint James had given them. do not know exactly when Saint James died, but it is believed that he survived for at least thirty years after “The Hateful Year,” and participated in the Synod of Whitby in 664. James does not appear to have been ordained to the holy priesthood, but through his tireless labors he built up the Church in the north. Saint Bede (May 27) calls him “a man of great energy and repute in Christ’s Church” (History of the English Church and People, Book II, chapter 16).

England, 601, Gregorian Mission, pope gregory sent Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons
England, 601, Gregorian mission ; Gregorian mission[1] or Augustinian mission[2] was a Christian mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to convert Britain's Anglo-Saxons.[3] The mission was headed by Augustine of Canterbury. By the time of the death of the last missionary in 653, the mission had established Christianity in southern Britain. Along with the Irish and Frankish missions it converted other parts of Britain as well and influenced the Hiberno-Scottish missions to Continental Europe. the time the Roman Empire recalled its legions from the province of Britannia in 410, parts of the island had already been settled by pagan Germanic tribes who, later in the century, appear to have taken control of Kent and other coastal regions no longer defended by the Roman Empire. In the late 6th century Pope Gregory sent a group of missionaries to Kent to convert Æthelberht, King of Kent, whose wife, Bertha of Kent, was a Frankish princess and practising Christian. Augustine had been the prior of Gregory's own monastery in Rome and Gregory prepared the way for the mission by soliciting aid from the Frankish rulers along Augustine's route. In 597, the forty missionaries arrived in Kent and were permitted by Æthelberht to preach freely in his capital of Canterbury. the missionaries wrote to Gregory telling him of their success, and of the conversions taking place. The exact date of Æthelberht's conversion is unknown but it occurred before 601. A second group of monks and clergy was dispatched in 601 bearing books and other items for the new foundation. Gregory intended Augustine to be the metropolitan archbishop of the southern part of the British Isles, and gave him power over the clergy of the native Britons, but in a series of meetings with Augustine the long-established Celtic bishops refused to acknowledge his authority. Æthelberht's death in 616, a number of other bishoprics had been established. However, after that date, a pagan backlash set in and the see, or bishopric, of London was abandoned. Æthelberht's daughter, Æthelburg, married Edwin, the king of the Northumbrians, and by 627 Paulinus, the bishop who accompanied her north, had converted Edwin and a number of other Northumbrians. When Edwin died, in about 633, his widow and Paulinus were forced to flee back to Kent. Although the missionaries could not remain in all of the places they had evangelised, by the time the last of them died in 653, they had established Christianity in Kent and the surrounding countryside and contributed a Roman tradition to the practice of Christianity in Britain. England, 600-644, Paulinus of York; England, 600-671, James the Deacon; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18

England, 604-616, Sabert of the East Saxons, English King, first ES Christian king
England, King of the English, 604-616, King Sabert of the East Saxons; æberht, Saberht or Sæbert[1] (d. c. 616) was an Anglo-Saxon King of Essex (r. c. 604 – c. 616), in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity. principal source for his reign is the early 8th-century Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum by Bede (d. 735), who claims to have derived his information about the missionary work of Mellitus among the East Saxons from Abbot Albinus of Canterbury through the London priest Nothhelm, later Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 739).[2] Other sources include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an East Saxon genealogy possibly of the late 9th century (British Library Add MS 23211), and a handful of genealogies and regnal lists written down by Anglo-Norman historians. St Eanswythe the Abbess of Folkestone, Commemorated on August 31;

England, 610-651, Aidan of Lindisfarne, Saint, Irish Monk, restored christiantiy in northumbria
Scotland, 610-651, Saint, Irish Monk, Aidan of Lindisfarne, England; AIDAN, MISSIONARY, ABBOT, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE (31 AUGUST 651); Gospel first came to the northern English in 627, When King Edwin of Northumbria was converted by a mission from Canterbury led by Bishop Paulinus, who established his see at York. death in battle in 632 was followed by a severe pagan reaction. A year later, Edwin's exiled nephew Oswald gained the kingdom, and proceeded at once to restore the Christian mission. Statue of St. Aidan at Linsifarne his exile, Oswald had lived at Columba's monastery of Iona (see 9 June), where he had been converted and baptized. Hence he sent to Iona, rather than to Canterbury, for missionaries. first monk to preach was a man named Corman, who had no success, and returned to Iona to complain that the Northumbrians were a savage and unteachable race. young monk named Aidan responded, "Perhaps you were too harsh with them, and they might have responded better to a gentler approach." this, Aidan found himself appointed to lead a second expedition to Northumbria. centered his work, not at York, but in imitation of his home monastery, on Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England, now often called Holy Isle. his fellow monks and the English youths whom he trained, Aidan restored Christianity in Northumbria, King Oswald often serving as his interpreter, and extended the mission through the midlands as far south as London. Lindisfarne Ruins of the medieval monastery at Lindisfarne [photo by author] died at the royal town of Bamburgh, 31 August, 651. historian Bede said of him: "He neither sought nor loved anything of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately to the poor whatever was given him by kings or rich men of the world. He traversed both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity. Wherever on his way he saw any, either rich or poor, he invited them, if pagans, to embrace the mystery of the faith; or if they were believers, he sought to strengthen them in their faith and stir them up by words and actions to alms and good works." by James Kiefer

England, 616-640, Eadbald of Kent, Anglo Saxons (English), E King, Christian setback, pagan then convert late
England, 616-640, King of the English, Eadbald of Kent ; (Old English: Eadbald) was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert.[1] Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism. accession was a significant setback for the growth of the church, since he retained his people's paganism and did not convert to Christianity for at least a year, and perhaps for as much as eight years. He was ultimately converted by either Laurentius or Justus, and separated from his first wife, who had been his stepmother, at the insistence of the church. Eadbald's second wife was Emma, who may have been a Frankish princess. She bore him two sons, Eormenred and Eorcenberht, and a daughter, Eanswith. influence was less than his father's, but Kent was powerful enough to be omitted from the list of kingdoms dominated by Edwin of Northumbria. Edwin's marriage to Eadbald's sister, Æthelburg, established a good relationship between Kent and Northumbria which appears to have continued into Oswald's reign. When Æthelburg fled to Kent on Edwin's death in about 633, she sent her children to Francia for safety, fearing the intrigues of both Eadbald and Oswald. Kentish royal line made several strong diplomatic marriages over the succeeding years, including the marriage of Eanflæd, Eadbald's niece, to Oswiu, and of Eorcenberht to Seaxburh, daughter of King Anna of East Anglia. died in 640 and was buried in the Church of St Mary, which he had built in the precincts of the monastery of St Peter and St Paul in Canterbury (a church later incorporated within the Norman edifice of St Augustine's).[1] At that time, his relics were translated for reburial in the south transept ca. A.D. 1087.[2] was succeeded by Eorcenberht. Eormenred may have been his oldest son, but if he reigned at all it was only as a junior king. Kingdom of Kent, 455-871 ; St Eanswythe the Abbess of Folkestone, Commemorated on August 31; St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated on October 12; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 616-633, Edwin of Northumbria , King of the Angles (English)(Bernecia, Deira), christian in 627
King of the English, 616-633, Edwin of Northumbria (Bernecia); (Old English: Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint. was the son of Ælle, the first known king of Deira, and seems to have had at least two siblings. His sister Acha was married to Æthelfrith, king of neighbouring Bernicia. An otherwise unknown sibling fathered Hereric, who in turn fathered Abbess Hilda of Whitby and Hereswith, wife to Æthelric, the brother of king Anna of East Anglia.[1] AIDAN, MISSIONARY, ABBOT, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE (31 AUGUST 651); St Aidan the Bishop of Lindesfarne, Commemorated on August 31 ; St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated on October 12; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 620-647, Ethelburga, Kent, E Queen, wife of Edwin, marriage triggered christianity, not E of Barking 645
England, 620-647, English Queen, Ethelburg of Kent ; Æthelburh of Kent (born 601,[1] sometimes spelled Æthelburg, Ethelburga, Æthelburga; Old English: Æþelburh, Æðelburh, Æðilburh, also known as Tate or Tata),[2][3] was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a Christian from Kent, their marriage triggered the initial phase of the conversion of the pagan north of England to Christianity. Kingdom of Kent, 455-871 ; St Edwin, King and Martyr, Commemorated on October 12; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 624-632, Eorpwald of East Anglia, English King, baptised 627, killed, saint and martyr
England, King of the English, 624-632, Eorpwald of East Anglia; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, (reigned from c. 624, assassinated c. 627 or 632), succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles. Eorpwald was a member of the East Anglian dynasty known as the Wuffingas, named after the semi-historical king Wuffa. is known of Eorpwald's life or of his short reign, as little documentary evidence about the East Anglian kingdom has survived. The primary source for Eorpwald is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written by Bede in the 8th century. Soon after becoming king, Eorpwald received Christian teaching and was baptised in 627 or 632. Soon after his conversion he was killed by Ricberht, a pagan noble, who may have succeeded him and ruled for three years. The motive for Eorpwald's assassination was probably political as well as religious. He was the first early English king to suffer death as a consequence of his Christian faith and was subsequently venerated by the Church as a saint and martyr. 1939, a magnificent ship-burial was discovered under a large mound at Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk. Although Rædwald is usually considered to have been buried with the ship (or commemorated by it), another possibility is Eorpwald. Alternatively, he might also have had his own ship-burial nearby. St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 625-655, Penda, Pagan, Mercian supremacy, defeated Edwin 633 & Oswald 642, d by Oswiu, O's b
Severn Valley, Mercia; Saint Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5; Penda, King of Mercia, 626-655; (died 15 November 655)[1] was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the Midlands. pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the defeat of the powerful Northumbrian king Edwin at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633.[2] years later, he defeated and killed Edwin's eventual successor, Oswald, at the Battle of Maserfield; from this point he was probably the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon rulers of the time, laying the foundations for the Mercian Supremacy over the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. He repeatedly defeated the East Angles and drove Cenwalh the king of Wessex into exile for three years. He continued to wage war against the Bernicians of Northumbria. Thirteen years after Maserfield, he suffered a crushing defeat by Oswald's successor and brother Oswiu, and was killed at the Battle of the Winwaed in the course of a final campaign against the Bernicians. Kingdom of Mercia, 527-918;

England, 625-634, Caedwalla, Cwynedd, K North Wales & Britain, defeated and killed Edwin, killed by Oswald
Wales, Kingdom of Gwynedd, 450-1216; Wales, 625-634, King Caedwalla of Cwynedd (North Wales), 625-634, AKA Cadwallon ap Cadfan; ap Cadfan (died 634[1]) was the King of Gwynedd from around 625 until his death in battle. The son and successor of Cadfan ap Iago, he is best remembered as the King of the Britons who invaded and conquered the Kingdom of Northumbria, defeating and killing its king, Edwin, prior to his own death in battle against Oswald of Bernicia. His conquest of Northumbria, which he held for a year or two after Edwin died, making him one of the last recorded culturally traditional Celtic Britons to hold substantial territory in eastern Britain until the rise of the Welsh House of Tudor.[2] He was thereafter remembered as a national hero by the Britons and as a tyrant by the Anglo-Saxons of Northumbria. Saint Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5;

England, 629-634, Sigeberht of East Anglia, Christian education before kingship, Alliances w C kings, left to monasticism
Sigeberht of East Anglia, 629-634 ; of East Anglia (also known as Saint Sigebert), (Old English: Sigebryht) was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king to receive a Christian baptism and education before his succession and the first to abdicate in order to enter the monastic life. The principal source for Sigeberht is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which was completed in the 730s. was probably either a younger son of Rædwald of East Anglia, or his step-son from Rædwald's marriage to a pagan princess from the kingdom of Essex. Nothing is known of his life before he was exiled to Gaul, which was possibly done in order to ensure that Rædwald's own descendants ruled the kingdom. After his step-brother Eorpwald's assassination in about 627, Sigeberht returned to East Anglia and (perhaps in the aftermath of a military campaign) became king, ruling jointly with Ecgric, who may have been either a son of Rædwald's, or his nephew. Sigeberht's reign the cause of Christianity in East Anglia was advanced greatly, even though his co-ruler Ecgric probably remained a pagan. Alliances were strengthened between the Christian kingdoms of Kent, Northumbria and East Anglia, with Sigeberht playing an important part in the establishment of the Christian faith in his kingdom: Saint Felix arrived in East Anglia to assist him in establishing his episcopal see at Dommoc, he started a school for teaching Latin and he granted the Irish monk Saint Fursey a monastery site at Cnobheresburg (possibly Burgh Castle). He eventually abdicated his power to Ecgric and retired to his monastery at Beodricesworth. At an unknown date, East Anglia was attacked by a Mercian army led by its king, Penda. Ecgric and the East Anglians appealed to Sigeberht to lead them in battle, but he refused and had to be dragged from his monastery to the battlefield. He refused to bear arms during the battle, during which both kings were slain and the East Anglian army was destroyed. Rendlesham; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG);

England, 630-640, St Eanswythe & Folkstone Abby, Eadbald d, paganism return, Laurence, Gaul, Peter, f conversion, relics
England, 630-640, St Eanswythe and her Folkstone Abby ; St Eanswy, the the Abbess of Folkestone, Commemorated August 31 ; Eanswythe was born around 614, the only daughter of King Eadbald of Kent and his wife Emma, who was a Frankish princess. At the time of Eanswythe’s birth, her father was probably a pagan, while her mother was almost certainly a Christian. Therefore, it is highly likely that Eanswythe was baptized and raised as a Christian. she was two years old, her paternal grandfather King Ethelbert of Kent (February 25) died. Saint Ethelbert had been baptized at Saint Martin’s church in Canterbury by Saint Augustine of Canterbury (May 28). It was Saint Augustine who came to England in 597 with several monks in order to re-establish Christianity, which had almost been wiped out by the pagan Anglo-Saxons. These monks carried out their missionary work under the protection of King Ethelbert. ’s father King Eadbald offered no opposition to Christianity while his father was alive. When Saint Ethelbert died, however, Eadbald’s attitude changed. Not only did he embrace idolatry, he also married his father’s second wife (Bede, ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE Book 2, ch. 1). While this practice was prohibited by Church law, it was quite common among the pagan royalty. this time, King Sabert of the East Saxons (and a convert to Christianity) passed away. His three sons were pagans, and so idolatry returned to that territory as well. Laurence of Canterbury (February 3), Saint Mellitus of London (April 24), and Saint Justus of Rochester (November 10) held a council to determine what they should do. They decided that they should not waste their time among the pagans, and to go where people would be more receptive to their preaching. Appalled by the King’s behavior and by the rise of paganism, Saints Mellitus and Justus went to Gaul. night before he was to leave Canterbury, Saint Laurence decided to sleep in the church of Saints Peter and Paul. Saint Peter appeared to him and rebuked him for even thinking of leaving his flock. He also beat Saint Laurence, who remained with his flock and even converted King Eadbald. king ended his unlawful marriage and was baptized. Within a year, Saint Justus returned to Rochester. The people of London, who lived in the realm of the East Saxons, refused to accept Saint Mellitus back to his See. Following the death of Saint Laurence in 619, Saint Mellitus succeeded him as Archbishop of Canterbury. her childhood, Saint Eanswythe showed little interest in worldly pursuits, for she desired to dedicate her virginity to God and to serve Him as a nun. Her father, on the other hand, wanted her to marry. Saint Eanswythe told him that she would not have any earthly suitor whose love for her might also be mixed with dislike. There was a high rate of mortality for children in those days, so she knew it was likely that at least some of hers would also die. All of these sorrows awaited her if she obeyed her father. The young princess told her father that she had chosen an immortal Bridegroom Who would give her unceasing love and joy, and to Whom she had dedicated herself. She went on to say that she had chosen the good portion (Luke 10:42), and she asked her father to build her a cell where she might pray. king ultimately gave in to his daughter, and built her a monastery in Folkestone in Kent. While the monastery was under construction, a pagan prince came to Kent seeking to marry Eanswythe. King Eadbald, whose sister Saint Ethelburga (April 5) married the pagan King Edwin (October 12) two or three years before, recalled that this wedding resulted in Edwin’s conversion. Perhaps he hoped that something similar would happen if Eanswythe married the Northumbrian prince. Eanswythe, however, insisted that she would not exchange heavenly blessings for the things of this world, nor would she accept the fleeting joys of this life in place of eternal bliss. the year 630, the building of the monastery was completed. This was the first women’s monastery to be founded in England. Saint Eanswythe lived there with her companions in the monastic life, and they may have been guided by some of the Roman monks who had come to England with Saint Augustine in 597. Eanswythe was not made abbess at this time, for she was only sixteen years old. We do not know of any other abbess before Saint Eanswythe, but a few experienced nuns may have been sent from Europe to teach the others the monastic way of life. A temporary Superior could have been appointed until the nuns were able to elect their own abbess. are many stories of Saint Eanswythe’s miracles before and after her death. Among other things, she gave sight to a blind man, and cast out a demon from one who had been possessed. know few details about the rest of Saint Eanswythe’s life. Following the monastic Rule, she prayed to God day and night. When she was not in church, she spent her waking hours reading spiritual books and in manual labor. This may have consisted of copying and binding manuscripts. The nuns probably wove cloth for their clothing, and also for church vestments. They cared for the sick and aged nuns of their own community, as well as for the poor and infirm from outside. Then there was the daily routine of cooking and cleaning. to Tradition, Saint Eanswythe fell asleep in the Lord on the last day of August 640 when she was only in her mid-twenties. Her father King Eadbald also died in the same year. monastery at Folkestone did not last very long after the saint’s death. Some say it was destroyed by the sea, while others say it was sacked by the Danes in 867. Saint Eanswythe’s holy relics were moved to the nearby church of Saints Peter and Paul, which was farther away from the sea. In 927 King Athelstan granted the land where the monastery had stood to the monks of Christchurch, Canterbury. time passed, the sea continued to encroach on the land. In 1138 a new monastery and church, dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Eanswythe, were built farther inland. The relics of Saint Eanswythe were transferred once again, this time from the church of Saints Peter and Paul to the new priory church. During the Middle Ages, this second transfer of her relics was celebrated on September 12, which is the present Feast Day of the church of Saint Mary and Saint Eanswythe. November 15, 1535 the priory was seized by the officers of the King, who plundered the church of its valuables. The shrine of Saint Eanswythe was destroyed, but her relics had been hidden to protect them. June 17, 1885 workmen in the church discovered a niche in the walls which had been plastered up. Removing the plaster, they found a reliquary made of lead, about fourteen inches long, nine inches wide, and eight inches high. Judging by the ornamentation on the reliquary, it dated from the twelfth century. A number of bones were found inside, which experts said were those of a young woman. Today the niche is lined with alabaster, and is covered by a brass door and a grille. first, the holy relics were brought out for veneration every year on the parish Feast Day. This practice ended when several parishioners accused the Vicar of “worshiping” the relics. Although Saint Eanswythe’s relics are no longer offered for public veneration, candles and flowers are sometimes placed before the brass door where they are immured. Orthodox iconographer has presented the parish of Saint Mary and Saint Eanswythe with an icon of the saint.

England, 630-648, Saint Felix of Burgundy and Dunwich, he converted Sigeberht, churches, abbys, schools, Cambirdge
England, 630-648, Saint Felix of Burgundy and Dunwich; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; Felix, the Apostle of East Anglia, was born in the Burgundy region of Gaul (now France). It was he who converted King Sigebert (September 27), King of East Anglia, while he was in exile in Gaul. He was forced to flee there, in order to save himself from the intrigues of his kinsmen. Saint Sigebert (or Sigerberht, which means 'bright victory') was summoned home to claim his ancestral crown, he invited his Spiritual Father, Saint Felix, to leave Gaul to assist him in converting his idolatrous subjects to Christianity. Saint Felix was consecrated as a bishop in 631 by Archbishop Honorius of Canterbury (September 30), who sent him to preach in East Anglia. new Bishop was quite successful in his ministry. After seventeen years.he had converted almost the entire region. He established churches, monasteries, and a school for boys with the help of King Siegbert, and Saint Felix provided him with teachers from Canterbury. Because of this, some regard him as the founder of the university of Cambridge. Saint Felix also established schools at Felixstoe and at Flixton, or Felixton. after two years, King Sigebert abdicated in favor of his cousin Egric, and entered the monastery at Cnobersburgh, now Burgh Castle in Suffolk, the monastery he had founded for Saint Fursey, or Fursa (January 16), who had lived there for about ten years. In 642, after Saint Sigebert was killed in battle against King Penda of Mercia, Saint Fursey made a pilgrimage to Rome.Then he travelled to Gaul, where he established a monastery at Lagny-sur-Marne, near Paris, around the year 644. Felix reposed in 648 and was buried at Dunwich, but his relics were transferred to Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire in 971. Saint Felix has given his name to Felixstowe in Suffolk, and to Felixkirk in Yorkshire. He is mentioned by Saint Bede (History of the English Church and People, Book 3, chapters 18 and 20). was once a large city, with fifty-two religious establishments, but was gradually swallowed up by the sea. The remains of the steeples may still be seen, underwater, about five miles from shore.

England, 632-636, Ecgric of East Anglia, King of the English, Sigeberht's b, joint rule, pagan, S retired 634, k by Penda
England, King of the English, 632-636, Ecgric of East Anglia; (killed c.636) was a king of East Anglia, the independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was a member of the ruling Wuffingas dynasty, but his relationship with other known members of the dynasty is not known with any certainty. Anna of East Anglia may have been his brother, or his cousin. It has also been suggested that he was identical with Æthelric, who married the Northumbrian princess Hereswith and was the father of Ealdwulf of East Anglia. The primary source for the little that is known about Ecgric's life is Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, written by the English Benedictine monk Bede in around 731 AD. the years that followed the reign of Rædwald and the murder of Rædwald's son and successor Eorpwald in around 627, East Anglia lost its dominance over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Three years after Eorpwald's murder at the hands of a pagan, kinsman Sigeberht returned from exile and they ruled East Anglia jointly, with Ecgric perhaps ruling the northern part of the kingdom. Sigeberht succeeded in re-establishing Christianity throughout East Anglia, but Ecgric may have remained a pagan, as Bede praises only Sigeberht for his accomplishments, and his lack of praise for his co-ruler is significant. Ecgric ruled alone after Sigeberht retired to his monastery at Beodricesworth in around 634: it has also been suggested that he was a sub-king who only became king after Sigeberht's abdication. Both Ecgric and Sigeberht were killed in battle in around 636, at an unknown location, when the East Anglians were forced to defend themselves from a Mercian military assault led by their king, Penda. Ecgric, whose grave may have been the ship burial under Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, was succeeded by Anna. St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 633-642, Oswald, Northumbria, E King, York, Diera, Bernicia, d Brit Cadwallon, promoted Christianity, k by Penda
King of the English, 633-642, Oswald of Northumbria; (c 604 - 5 August 641/642[1]) was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is venerated as a saint,[2] of whom there was a particular cult in the Middle Ages.[3] was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile. After defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira once again under a single ruler, and promoted the spread of Christianity in Northumbria. He was given a strongly positive assessment by the historian Bede, writing a little less than a century after Oswald's death, who regarded Oswald as a saintly king; it is also Bede who is the main source for present-day historical knowledge of Oswald. After eight years of rule, in which he was the most powerful ruler in Britain, Oswald was killed in the Battle of Maserfield. AIDAN, MISSIONARY, ABBOT, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE (31 AUGUST 651); St Aidan the Bishop of Lindesfarne, Commemorated on August 31 ; St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 634-680, Hilda of Whitby Abbey, Northumbria, 664 Synod of W, moderating influ, scripture study
England, 634-680, Hilda of Whitby Abbey, Northumbria, 664 Synod of W, moderating influ, scripture study ; Whitby Abbey ; Synod of Whitby, 663-664; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); Ruins of Whitby Abbey (built long after Hilda's time). [Photo by author] Hilda (known in her own century as "Hild") the grandniece of King Edwin (see 12 Oct) of Northumbria, a kingdom of the Angles. She was born in 614 and baptized in 627 when the king and his household became Christians. 647 she decided to become a nun, and under the direction of Aidan (see 31 Aug) she established several monasteries. last foundation was at Whitby. was a double house: a community of men and another of women, with the chapel in between, and Hilda as the governor of both; and it was a great center of English learning, one which produced five bishops (during Hilda's lifetime or that of the Abbey?). a stable-boy, Caedmon, was moved to compose religious poems in the Anglo-Saxon tongue, most of them metrical paraphrases of narratives from Genesis and the Gospels. Celtic peoples of Britain had heard the Gospel well before 300 AD, but in the 400's and 500's a massive invasion of Germanic peoples (Angles, Jutes, and Saxons) forced the native Celts out of what is now England and into Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. invaders were pagans, and missionaries were sent to them in the north and west by the Celts, and in the south and east by Rome and other churches on the continent of Europe. and Celtic traditions differed, not in doctrine, but on such questions as the proper way of calculating the date of Easter, and the proper style of haircut and dress for a monk. was, in particular, highly desirable that Christians, at least in the same area, should celebrate Easter at the same time; and it became clear that the English Church would have to choose between the old Celtic customs which it had inherited from before 300, and the customs of continental Europe and in particular of Rome that missionaries from there had brought with them. 664 the Synod of Whitby met at that monastery to consider the matter, and it was decided to follow Roman usage. herself greatly preferred the Celtic customs in which she had been reared, but once the decision had been made she used her moderating influence in favor of its peaceful acceptance. influence was considerable; kings and commoners alike came to her for advice. She was urgent in promoting the study of the Scriptures and the thorough education of the clergy. She died 17 November 680. by James Kiefer

England, 636-654, Anna of East Anglia, he, E King, after P d Ecgric, strong Christian family, converted C of Wessex, k by Penda
England, King of the English, 636-654, Queen Anna of East Anglia; (or Onna; killed 653 or 654) was king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni who ruled the kingdom of East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia. Anna was praised by Bede for his devotion to Christianity and was renowned for the saintliness of his family: his son Jurmin and all his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh – were canonised. is known of Anna's life or his reign, as few records have survived from this period. In 631 he may have been at Exning, close to the Devil's Dyke. In 645 Cenwalh of Wessex was driven from his kingdom by Penda and, due to Anna's influence, he was converted to Christianity while living as an exile at the East Anglian court. Upon his return from exile, Cenwalh re-established Christianity in his own kingdom and the people of Wessex then remained firmly Christian. 651 the land around Ely was absorbed into East Anglia, following the marriage of Anna's daughter Æthelthryth. Anna richly endowed the coastal monastery at Cnobheresburg. In 651, in the aftermath of an attack by Penda on Cnobheresburg, Anna was forced to flee into exile, perhaps to the western kingdom of the Magonsæte. He returned to East Anglia in about 653, but soon afterwards the kingdom was attacked again by Penda and at the Battle of Bulcamp the East Anglian army, led by Anna, was defeated by the Mercians, and both Anna and his son Jurmin were killed. Anna was succeeded by his brother, Æthelhere. Botolph's monastery at Iken may have been built in commemoration of the king. After Anna's reign, East Anglia seems to have been eclipsed by its more powerful neighbour, Mercia. St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

England, 640-680, Cedd, Missionary Bishop throughout England, Essex, Lastingham, London, Lindisfarne, Bradwell, ETilbury, Diera
England, 640-680, Saint Cedd, Lastingham, North Yorkshire, Missionary, Bishop, throughout England, Lindisfarne, Irish Monasticism, tEssex (London area), Bradwell & East Tilbury Ms, St Paul's iL, King Aethelwald of Deira M inLastingham, died Great Plague; Lastingham, North Yorkshire; Saint Cedd of Lastingham, Commemorated on January 7; Cedd was a missionary and bishop who spread the faith throughout England during the seventh century. eldest of four brothers, all of whom became priests, he was born in 620 AD into a noble Northumbrian family. an early age, he began studies at the Lindisfarne Priory, where he became familiar with Irish monasticism. After pursuing further studies in Ireland, he was sent by Bishop Finan of Lindisfarne to evangelize the people of Essex. baptized many of the locals, built several churches, and founded monasteries in Bradwell-on-Sea and East Tilbury. his consecration to the episcopacy as Bishop of Essex, he reinstated Saint Paul's in London as the main seat of his diocese. remained fond of his northern homeland and made regular visits there. On one such occasion in 658, he was approached by King Aethelwald of Deira who, Saint Cedd to be a good and wise man, pressed him to accept a parcel of land at Lastingham in Yorkshire on which to build a monastery. Cedd eventually agreed, laying the foundation stones after the parcel had been cleansed through prayer and fasting. became the first Abbot of Lastingham and remained so while still ministering to his flock in Essex. Cedd died in Lastingham during a great plague that also claimed the life of his brother Cynebil. he was buried under the altar of a little stone church built at Lastingham in honor of the Mother of God. His relics were later transferred to the Litchfield Cathedral, which had been built by his brother Chad.

England, 642-670, Oswiu, Northumbria, E King, after Oswald, k Pends 655, over Mercia, Celtic C, Abbys, S of Whitby 664
King of the English, 642-670, Oswiu of Northumbria ; also known as Oswy or Oswig (c. 612 - 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the church in Northumbria into conformity with the wider Catholic Church. of the sons of Æthelfrith of Bernicia, Oswiu became king following the death of his brother Oswald in 642. Unlike Oswald, Oswiu struggled to exert authority over Deira, the other constituent kingdom of medieval Northumbria, for much of his reign. and his brothers were raised in exile in the Irish kingdom of Dal Riata in present-day Scotland after their father's death at the hands of Edwin of Deira, only returning after Edwin's death in 633. rose to the kingship when his brother Oswald was killed in battle against Penda of Mercia. The early part of his reign was defined by struggles to assert control over Deira and his contentious relationship with Penda, his overlord.[1] 655, Oswiu's forces killed Penda in a decisive victory at the Battle of the Winwaed, establishing Oswiu as one of the most powerful rulers in Britain. He secured control of Deira, with his son Alhfrith serving as a sub-king,[2] and for three years, Oswiu's power extended over Mercia, earning him recognition as bretwalda over much of Great Britain.[3] was a devoted Christian, promoting the faith among his subjects and establishing a number of monasteries, including Gilling Abbey and Whitby Abbey.[4] He was raised in the Celtic Christian tradition of much of the Irish world, rather than the Roman tradition practiced by the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms as well as some members of the Deiran nobility, including Oswiu's queen Eanflæd. 664, Oswiu presided over the Synod of Whitby, where clerics debated over the two traditions, and helped resolve tension between the parties by decreeing that Northumbria would follow the Roman style.[5] Oswiu died in 670 and was succeeded by his son, Ecgfrith.[6] His feast is 15 February in the East and in the West.[7] St Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5; CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG); St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672); St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

England, 645-688, Ethelberga of Barking, E Saint, miracles, time of death vision and appearances, not Edwin's w 620
English Saint, 645-688, Ethelberga of Barking; Venerable Ethelburga, Commemorated on October 11; Ethelburga (Aethelburh) was born into the royal family of East Anglia in the seventh century. She was the sister of Saint Erconwald (May 13), who founded the monastery of Barking (Berecingum) in Essex. Saint Ethelburga became the first abbess of this monastery. Bede (May 27) says (History of the English Church and People, Book IV, Chapters. 6-9) that she was worthy of her holy brother in every way. She led a virtuous life and guided those who were under her. It is said that many miracles took place at the monastery during her time. before Saint Ethelburga’s death, a nun called Tortgith had a vision in which she saw a body wrapped in a shroud, and shining with a bright light. She watched as the body was drawn up to Heaven on cords which seemed brighter than gold. Sister Tortgith had no doubt that this vision signified the imminent death of one of the nuns. Not many days later, Saint Ethelburga fell asleep in the Lord. later, when the nun Tortgith was dying, Saint Ethelburga appeared to her and told her that the hour of her passing was at hand. Saint Ethelburga should not be confused with another saint of the same name (April 5), who was married to the holy martyred King Edwin of Northumbria (October 12). St James the Deacon, Commemorated on October 18;

England, 653-954, Kingdom of Northumbria (North Anglia) north of the Humber Estuary
Kingdom of Northumbria, north of the Humber Estuary from the River Tees to the River Tweed; an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland. name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber",[2] as opposed to the people south of the Humber Estuary. started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century, when the two earlier core territories of Deira and Bernicia entered into a dynastic union. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber, Peak District and the River Mersey on the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) on the north. Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century when Deira was conquered by the Danes and formed into the Kingdom of York. The rump Earldom of Bamburgh maintained control of Bernicia for a period of time, however, the area north of the Tweed was eventually absorbed into the medieval Kingdom of Scotland while the portion south of the Tweed was absorbed into the Kingdom of England and formed into the county of Northumberland and County Palatine of Durham. St Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5 ; AIDAN, MISSIONARY, ABBOT, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE (31 AUGUST 651); CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG); St Adian, the bishop of Lindisfarne, Commemorated August 31; REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS, BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530); St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury; WILLIBRORD OF UTRECHT, ARCHBISHOP AND MISSIONARY (NOV 7, 739) ; EDMUND OF EAST ANGLIA, KING AND MARTYR (20 NOV 870); AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167); CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672) ; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16 ;

England, 654-672, CHAD OF LICHFIELD, West Midlands, not m bishop of York, traveled about L on foot preaching and teaching
England, 654-672, CHAD OF LICHFIELD, West Midlands, Birmingham Area, not made bishop of York, as bishop he traveled about L on foot, preaching and teaching as he went, only 2 1/2 yrs but; Lichfield; CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672) ; Bishop of Lichfield, is perhaps best known for NOT being Archbishop of York. was elected and duly installed, but various persons raised objections, and rather than cause division in the Church he withdrew in favor of the other candidate, Wilfrid (see 12 Oct). objection was that some of the bishops who had consecrated him--although not Chad himself--were holdouts who, even after the Synod of Whitby had supposedly settled the question in 663, insisted on preserving Celtic customs on the date of celebrating Easter and similar questions, instead of conforming to the customs of the remainder of Western Christendom.) was soon after made Bishop of Lichfield in Mercia. he travelled about as he had when Archbishop of York, always on foot (until the Archbishop of Canterbury gave him a horse and ordered him to ride it, at least on long journeys), preaching and teaching wherever he went. served there for only two and a half years before his death, but he made a deep impression. the following decades, many chapels, and many wells, were constructed in Mercia and named for him. (It was an old custom to dig a well where one was needed, and to mark it with one's own name or another's, that thirsty travellers and others might drink and remember the name with gratitude.) by James Kiefer

England, 654-687, Cuthbert, of Britain, Melrose Abby, Wonderworker, uncorrupt relics, help from angels, bishop
England, 654-687, Saint, Cuthbert; Melrose Abbey; CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG); St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; Cuthbert, the wonderworker of Britain, was born in Northumbria around 634. Very little information has come down to us about Cuthbert’s early life, but there is a remarkable story of him when he was eight. a child, Cuthbert enjoyed games and playing with other children. He could beat anyone his own age, and even some who were older, at running, jumping, wrestling, and other exercises. One day he and some other boys were amusing themselves by standing on their heads with their feet up in the air. A little boy who was about three years old chided Cuthbert for his inappropriate behavior. “Be sensible,” he said, “and give up these foolish pranks.” and the others ignored him, but the boy began to weep so piteously that it was impossible to quiet him. When they asked him what the matter was, he shouted, “O holy bishop and priest Cuthbert, these unseemly stunts in order to show off your athletic ability do not become you or the dignity of your office.” Cuthbert immediately stopped what he was doing and attempted to comfort the boy. the way home, he pondered the meaning of those strange words. From that time forward, Cuthbert became more thoughtful and serious.This incident reveals Saint Cuthbert as God’s chosen vessel (2 Tim. 2:20-21), just like Samuel, David, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and others who, from an early age, were destined to serve the Lord. another occasion, he was suffering from an injured knee. It was quite swollen and the muscles were so contracted that he limped and could scarcely place his foot on the ground. One day a handsome stranger of noble bearing, dressed in white, rode up on horseback to the place where Cuthbert was sitting in the sun beside the house. The stranger asked courteously if the boy would receive him as a guest. Cuthbert said that if only he were not hampered by his injuries, he would not be slow to offer hospitality to his guest. man got down from his horse and examined Cuthbert’s knee, advising him to cook up some wheat flour with milk, and to spread the warm paste on his sore knee. After the stranger had gone, it occurred to him that the man was really an angel who had been sent by God. A few days later, he was completely well. From that time forward, as Saint Cuthbert revealed in later years to a few trusted friends, he always received help from angels whenever he prayed to God in desperate situations. his prose Life of Saint Cuthbert, Saint Bede of Jarrow (May 27) reminds skeptics that it is not unknown for an angel to appear on horseback, citing 2 Maccabees 11:6-10 and 4 Maccabees 4:10. the saint was still young, he would tend his master’s sheep in the Lammermuir hills south of Edinburgh near the River Leader. One night while he was praying, he had a vision of angels taking the soul of Saint Aidan (August 31) to heaven in a fiery sphere. Cuthbert awakened the other shepherds and told them what he had seen. He said that this must have been the soul of a holy bishop or some other great person. A few days later they learned that Bishop Aidan of Lindisfarne had reposed at the very hour that Cuthbert had seen his vision. an adult, Saint Cuthbert decided to give up his life in the world and advanced to better things. He entered the monastery at Melrose in the valley of the Tweed, where he was received by the abbot Saint Boisil (February 23). Saint Cuthbert was accepted into the community and devoted himself to serving God. His fasting and vigils were so extraordinary that the other monks marveled at him. He often spent entire nights in prayer, and would not eat anything for days at a time. can describe his angelic life, his purity or his virtue? Much of this is known only to God, for Saint Cuthbert labored in secret in order to avoid the praise of men. few years later, Saint Eata (October 26) chose some monks of Melrose to live at the new monastery at Ripon. Among them was Saint Cuthbert. Both Eata and Cuthbert were expelled from Ripon and sent back to Melrose in 661 because they (and some other monks) refused to follow the Roman calculation for the date of Pascha. The Celtic Church, which followed a different, older reckoning, resisted Roman practices for a long time. However, in 664 the Synod of Whitby determined that the Roman customs were superior to those of the Celtic Church, and should be adopted by all. Saint Bede discusses this question in his HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH AND PEOPLE (Book III, 25). Cuthbert was chosen to be abbot of Melrose after the death of Saint Boisil, guiding the brethren by his words and by his example. He made journeys throughout the surrounding area to encourage Christians and to preach the Gospel to those who had never heard it. Sometimes he would be away from the monastery for a month at a time, teaching and preaching. He also worked many miracles, healing the sick and freeing those who were possessed by demons. 664, Cuthbert went with Saint Eata to Lindisfarne, and extended his territory to include the inhabitants of Northumberland and Durham. Soon Saint Eata appointed Cuthbert as prior of Lindisfarne (Holy Island). At that time both monasteries were under the jurisdiction of Saint Eata. While at Lindisfarne, Saint Cuthbert continued his habit of visiting the common people in order to inspire them to seek the Kingdom of Heaven. some of the monks prefered their negligent way of life to the monastic rule, Saint Cuthbert gradually brought them around to a better state of mind. At first he had to endure many arguments and insults, but eventually he brought them to obedience through his patience and gentle admonition. He had a great thirst for righteousness, and so he did not hesitate to correct those who did wrong. However, his gentleness made him quick to forgive those who repented. When people confessed to him, he often wept in sympathy with their weakness. He also showed them how to make up for their sins by doing their penances himself. Cuthbert was a true father to his monks, but his soul longed for complete solitude, so he went to live on a small island (Saint Cuthbert’s Isle), a short distance from Lindisfarne. After gaining victory over the demons through prayer and fasting, the saint decided to move even farther away from his fellow men. In 676, he retired to Inner Farne, an even more remote location. Saint Cuthbert built a small cell which could not be seen from the mainland. A few yards away, he built a guest house for visitors from Lindisfarne. Here he remained for nearly nine years. synod at Twyford, with the holy Archbishop Theodore (September 19) presiding, elected Cuthbert Bishop of Hexham in 684. Letters and messengers were sent to inform him of the synod’s decision, but he refused to leave his solitude. King Ecgfrith and Bishop Trumwine (February 10) went to him in person, entreating him in Christ’s name to accept. At last, Saint Cuthbert came forth and went with them to the synod. With great reluctance, he submitted to the will of the synod and accepted the office of bishop. Almost immediately, he exchanged Sees with Saint Eata, and became Bishop of Lindisfarne while Saint Eata went to Hexham. Cuthbert remained as humble as he had been before his consecration, avoiding finery and dressing in simple clothing. He fulfilled his office with dignity and graciousness, while continuing to live as a monk. His virtue and holiness of life only served to enhance the authority of his position. life as Bishop of Lindisfarne was quite similar to what it had been when he was prior of that monastery. He devoted himself to his flock, preaching and visiting people throughout his diocese, casting out demons, and healing all manner of diseases. He served as a bishop for only two years, however. Saint Cuthbert was invited to Carlisle to ordain seven deacons to the holy priesthood. The holy priest Hereberht was living in solitude on an island in that vicinity. Hearing that his spiritual friend Cuthbert was staying at Carlisle, he went to see him in order to discuss spiritual matters with him. Saint Cuthbert told him that he should ask him whatever he needed to ask, for they would not see one another in this life again. When he heard that Saint Cuthbert would die soon, Hereberht fell at his feet and wept. By God’s dispensation, the two men would die on the very same day. he was only in his early fifties, Saint Cuthbert felt the time of his death was approaching. He laid aside his archpastoral duties, retiring to the solitude of Inner Farne shortly after the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity in 686 to prepare himself. He was able to receive visitors from Lindisfarne at first, but gradually he weakened and was unable to walk down to the landing stage to greet them. last illness came upon him on February 27, 687. The pious priest Herefrith (later the abbot of Lindisfarne) came to visit him that morning. When he was ready to go back, he asked Saint Cuthbert for his blessing to return. The saint replied, “Do as you intend. Get into your boat and return safely home.” Cuthbert also gave Father Herefrith instructions for his burial. He asked to be laid to rest east of the cross that he himself had set up. He told him where to find a stone coffin hidden under the turf. “Put my body in it,” he said, “and wrap it in the cloth you will find there.” The cloth was a gift from Abbess Verca, but Saint Cuthbert thought it was too fine for him to wear. Out of affection for her, he kept it to be used as his winding sheet. Herefrith wanted to send some of the brethren to look after the dying bishop, but Saint Cuthbert would not permit this. “Go now, and come back at the proper time.” Herefrith asked when that time might be, Saint Cuthbert replied, “When God wishes. He will show you.” returned to Lindisfarne and told the brethren to pray for the ailing Cuthbert. Storms prevented the brethren from returning to Inner Farne for five days. When they did land there, they found the saint sitting on the beach by the guest house. He told them he had come out so that when they arrived to take care of him they would not have to go to his cell to find him. He had been sitting there for five days and nights, eating nothing but onions. He also revealed that during those five days he had been more severely assailed by demons than ever before. time, Saint Cuthbert consented to have some of the brethren attend him. One of these was his personal servant, the priest Bede. He asked particularly for the monk Walhstod to remain with him to help Bede take care of him. Father Herefrith returned to Lindisfarne and informed the brethren of Cuthbert’s wish to be buried on his island. and the others, however, wanted to bury him in their church with proper honor. Therefore, Herefrith went back to Cuthbert and asked for permission to do this. Saint Cuthbert said that he wanted to be buried there at the site of his spiritual struggles, and he pointed out that the peace of the brethren would be disturbed by the number of pilgrims who would come to Lindisfarne to venerate his tomb. insisted that they would gladly endure the inconvenience out of love for Cuthbert. Finally, the bishop agreed to be buried in the church on Lindisfarne so the monks would always have him with them, and they would also be able to decide which outsiders would be allowed to visit his tomb. Cuthbert grew weaker and weaker, so the monks carried him back into his cell. No one had ever been inside, so they paused at the door and asked that at least one of them be permitted to see to his needs. Cuthbert asked for Wahlstod to come in with him. Now Wahlstod had suffered from dysentery for a long time. Even though he was sick, he agreed to care for Cuthbert. As soon as he touched the holy bishop, his illness left him. Although he was sick and dying, Saint Cuthbert healed his servant Wahlstod. Remarkably, the holy man’s spiritual power was not impaired by his bodily weakness. About three o’clock in the afternoon Wahlstod came out and announced that the bishop wanted them to come inside. Herefrith asked Cuthbert if he had any final instructions for the monks. He spoke of peace and harmony, warning them to be on guard against those who fostered pride and discord. Although he encouraged them to welcome visitors and offer them hospitality, he also admonished them to have no dealings with heretics or with those who lived evil lives. He told them to learn the teachings of the Fathers and put them into practice, and to adhere to the monastic rule which he had taught them. passing the evening in prayer, Saint Cuthbert sat up and received Holy Communion from Father Herefrith. He surrendered his holy soul to God on March 20, 687at the time appointed for the night office years later, Saint Cuthbert’s tomb was opened and his relics were found to be incorrupt. In the ninth century, the relics were moved to Norham, then back to Lindisfarne. Because of the threat of Viking raids, Saint Cuthbert’s body was moved from place to place for seven years so that it would not be destroyed by the invaders. Cuthbert’s relics were moved to Chester-le-Street in 995. They were moved again because of another Viking invasion, and then brought to Durham for safekeeping. Around 1020 the relics of Saints Bede (May 27), Aidan (August 31), Boisil (February 23), Aebbe (August 25), Eadberht (May 6), Aethilwald (February 12), and other saints associated with Saint Cuthbert were also brought to Durham. tomb was opened again on August 24, 1104, and the incorrupt and fragrant relics were placed in the newly-completed cathedral. Relics of the other saints mentioned above were placed in various places around the church. The head of Saint Oswald of Northumbria (August 5), however, was left in Saint Cuthbert’s coffin. 1537 three commissioners of King Henry VIII came to plunder the tomb and desecrate the relics. Saint Cuthbert’s body was still incorrupt, and was later reburied. The tomb was opened again in 1827. A pile of bones was found in the outer casket, probably the relics of the various saints which had been collected seven centuries before, then replaced after the Protestant commissioners had completed their work. the inner casket was a skeleton wrapped in a linen shroud and five robes. In the vestments a gold and garnet cross was found, probably Saint Cuthbert’s pectoral cross. Also found were an ivory comb, a portable wood and silver altar, a stole (epitrachilion), pieces of a carved wooden coffin, and other items. These may be seen today in the Dean and Chapter library of Durham Cathedral. The tomb was opened again in 1899, and a scientific examination determined that the bones were those of a man in his fifties, Cuthbert’s age when he died. Saint Cuthbert’s relics (and the head of Saint Oswald) lie beneath a simple stone slab on the site of the original medieval shrine in the Chapel of the Nine Altars, and Saint Bede’s relics rest at the other end of the cathedral. The relics and the treasures in the Library make Durham an appropriate place for pilgrims to visit.

England, 663-664, Synod of Whitby, went with Rome, at Hilda's double monastery
Synod of Whitby 663-664; CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG); HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672) ; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20;

England, 665-666, Great Plague of London
England, 665-666, Great Plague of London; St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury, Commemorated on September 19; THEODORE OF TARSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (19 SEP 690);

England, 668-690, Theodore of Tarsus, 8th Archbishop of Canterbury, first E council, condemned monotheists, incorrupt r
England, 668-690, Saint Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury; St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury, Commemorated on September 19; Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury (668-690), and one of England’s great saints. He was a Greek from Tarsus, the home of Saint Paul. He was a highly-educated monk living in Rome who was quickly advanced through all the clerical ranks and consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury at the age of sixty-five. Saint Adrian (January 9), an African who was the abbot of a monastery near Naples, was sent to assist Saint Theodore. Theodore arrived in Kent in 669, when he was almost seventy. In spite of his age, he was quite energetic, traveling throughout England founding churches and consecrating bishops to fill those Sees which were left vacant by an outbreak of plague. He also created new Sees and established a school in Canterbury where Greek was taught. Northumbria, Saint Theodore settled a dispute involving episcopal succession. Saint Wilfrid (October 12) had been elected Bishop of Lindisfarne (the See was later transferred to York), and he traveled to Gaul to be consecrated by a Roman bishop, because he would not accept consecration from a Celtic bishop. In the meantime, Saint Chad, or Ceadda (March 2), had been elected and uncanonically consecrated because Wilfrid remained in Gaul for three years. Although Saint Theodore deposed Saint Chad, he recognized his worthiness to be a bishop. He regularized the consecration, then sent Saint Chad to be Bishop of Mercia. Saint Wilfred was restored to his See. Theodore summoned a council of the entire English Church at Hertford in 672. Not only was this the first church council in England, it was the first assembly of any kind attended by representatives from all over the country. In 679 he convened another synod at Hatfield to maintain the purity of Orthodox doctrine and to condemn the heresy of Monothelitism. Theodore fell asleep in the Lord in 690, and his body remained incorrupt for a long time. Under his leadership, the English Church became united in a way that the various tribal kingdoms did not. The diocesean structures which he established continue to serve as the basis for church administration in England. He was respected for his administrative skills, and also for his moral and canonical decisions. THEODORE OF TARSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (19 SEP 690);

England, 668-690, Theodore of Tarsus, after plague, traveled throughout england, Hertford Council, incorrupt relics
Kent, England, 668-690, Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury; Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury (668-690), and one of England’s great saints. was a Greek from Tarsus, the home of Saint Paul. was a highly-educated monk living in Rome who was quickly advanced through all the clerical ranks and consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury at the age of sixty-five. Saint Adrian (January 9), an African who was the abbot of a monastery near Naples, was sent to assist Saint Theodore. Theodore arrived in Kent in 669, when he was almost seventy. In spite of his age, he was quite energetic, traveling throughout England founding churches and consecrating bishops to fill those Sees which were left vacant by an outbreak of plague. He also created new Sees and established a school in Canterbury where Greek was taught. Northumbria, Saint Theodore settled a dispute involving episcopal succession. Saint Wilfrid (October 12) had been elected Bishop of Lindisfarne (the See was later transferred to York), and he traveled to Gaul to be consecrated by a Roman bishop, because he would not accept consecration from a Celtic bishop. In the meantime, Saint Chad, or Ceadda (March 2), had been elected and uncanonically consecrated because Wilfrid remained in Gaul for three years. Although Saint Theodore deposed Saint Chad, he recognized his worthiness to be a bishop. He regularized the consecration, then sent Saint Chad to be Bishop of Mercia. Saint Wilfred was restored to his See. Theodore summoned a council of the entire English Church at Hertford in 672. Not only was this the first church council in England, it was the first assembly of any kind attended by representatives from all over the country. In 679 he convened another synod at Hatfield to maintain the purity of Orthodox doctrine and to condemn the heresy of Monothelitism. Theodore fell asleep in the Lord in 690, and his body remained incorrupt for a long time. Under his leadership, the English Church became united in a way that the various tribal kingdoms did not. The diocesean structures which he established continue to serve as the basis for church administration in England. He was respected for his administrative skills, and also for his moral and canonical decisions.

England, 668-710, Saint Adrian of Canterbury, North African, Naples Abbot, came w Theodore, Educator
England, 668-710, Educator, Saint Adrian of Canterbury; also spelled Hadrian (born before 637, died 710), was a North African scholar in Anglo-Saxon England and the abbot of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's in Canterbury. was a noted teacher and commentator of the Bible.[1] Adrian was born between 630 and 637.[1] According to Bede, he was "by nation an African",[2] and thus a Berber[3][4] native of North Africa, and was abbot of a monastery near Naples, called Monasterium Niridanum (perhaps a mistake for Nisidanum, as being situated on the island of Nisida). England, 668-690, Saint Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury; St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury, Commemorated on September 19; THEODORE OF TARSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (19 SEP 690);

England, 670-685, Ecgfrith of Northumbria, E King, heighth of N power, killed by Picts at N
King of the English, 670-685, Ecgfrith of Northumbria; (c. 645 - 20 May 685) was the King of Deira from 664 until 670, and then King of Northumbria from 670 until his death in 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Nechtansmere in which he lost his life. CUTHBERT OF LINDISFARNE, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (20 MAR 687) (now 31 AUG); Venerable Ethelburga, Commemorated on October 11; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672); St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20; BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

England, 672, Synod of Hertford, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, first anglo-saxon council
England, 672, Synod of Hertford, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury ; Council of Hertford, 672; Council of Hertford was the first general council of the Anglo-Saxon Church.[1] It was convened in Anglo-Saxon Herutford, most likely modern Hertford, in 672 by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury.[2] The Venerable Bede is the historical source for this council, as he included its text in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.[3] council was attended by a number of bishops from across Anglo-Saxon England. Bede also records royal attendance, as King Ecgfrith of Northumbria was present.[4] The Council of Hertford acted as a milestone in the organisation of the Anglo-Saxon Church, as the decrees passed by its delegates focused on issues of authority and structure within the church.[5] The council helped achieve unification in the English Church. St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury, Commemorated on September 19; THEODORE OF TARSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (19 SEP 690);

England, 675-693, Earconwald, London bishop, converted E Saxon King, established abbys, sister Aethelburga, K Ine's law code
England, English Saint, 675-693, Earconwald, Bishop of London; or Erkenwald[a] (died 693) was Bishop of London between 675 and 693. was born at Lindsey in Lincolnshire,[1] and was supposedly of royal ancestry.[2] Earconwald gave up his share of family money[citation needed] to help establish two Benedictine abbeys, Chertsey Abbey in Surrey[3] in 666 for men, and Barking Abbey for women.[1][4] His sister, Æthelburg, was Abbess of Barking,[1][5] while he served as Abbot of Chertsey.[6] 675, Earconwald became the Bishop of London, after Wine.[7] He was the choice of Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury.[6] While bishop, he contributed to King Ine of Wessex's law code, and is mentioned specifically in the code as a contributor.[8] He is also reputed to have converted Sebba, King of the East Saxons to Christianity in 677.[citation needed] Current historical scholarship credits Earconwald with a large role in the evolution of Anglo-Saxon charters, and it is possible that he drafted the charter of Caedwalla to Farnham.[5] King Ine of Wessex named Earconwald as an advisor on his laws.[9] died in 693[7] and his remains were buried at Old St Paul's Cathedral. His grave was a popular place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, and was destroyed together with a number of other tombs in the cathedral during the Reformation.[10] feast day is 30 April, with translations being celebrated on 1 February and 13 May.[2] He is a patron saint of London.[11] Venerable Ethelburga, Commemorated on October 11;

England, 678-739, WILLIBRORD OF UTRECHT, from Northumbria, Missionary to pagans of Friesia (Netherlands+)
Scotland, 610-651, Saint, Irish Monk, Aidan of Lindisfarne, England; AIDAN, MISSIONARY, ABBOT, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE (31 AUGUST 651); WILLIBRORD OF UTRECHT, ARCHBISHOP AND MISSIONARY (NOV 7, 739); first Archbishop of Utrecht, is one of the missionaries sent out by the Anglo-Saxon Christians about a century after they had themselves been Christianized by missionaries in the south and east of England from Rome and the Continent, and in the north and west from the Celtic peoples of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Our information about Willibrord comes to us from the Venerable Bede (History of the English Church and People, v. 10-11) and from a biography by his younger kinsman Alcuin (see 20 May), Minister of Education under the Emperor Charlemagne. was born in Northumbria in England about 658, and studied in France and Ireland. In 690 he set out with 12 companions to preach to the pagans of Frisia (a region roughly coextensive with the province of Friesland in the Netherlands, including some adjacent territories and the Frisian islands in the North Sea). His work was interrupted several times by wars, and he left for a while to preach to the Danes instead. He died 7 November 739. Willibrord is a symbol of ties between the Christians of England and those of Holland. Today the historic See of Utrecht is in full communion with the Church of England. by James Kiefer

England, 679, Synod of Hatfield, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, condemned monotheism
England, 679, Synod of Hatfield, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury; St Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury, Commemorated on September 19; Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury (668-690), and one of England’s great saints. He was a Greek from Tarsus, the home of Saint Paul. He was a highly-educated monk living in Rome who was quickly advanced through all the clerical ranks and consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury at the age of sixty-five. Saint Adrian (January 9), an African who was the abbot of a monastery near Naples, was sent to assist Saint Theodore. Theodore arrived in Kent in 669, when he was almost seventy. In spite of his age, he was quite energetic, traveling throughout England founding churches and consecrating bishops to fill those Sees which were left vacant by an outbreak of plague. He also created new Sees and established a school in Canterbury where Greek was taught. Northumbria, Saint Theodore settled a dispute involving episcopal succession. Saint Wilfrid (October 12) had been elected Bishop of Lindisfarne (the See was later transferred to York), and he traveled to Gaul to be consecrated by a Roman bishop, because he would not accept consecration from a Celtic bishop. In the meantime, Saint Chad, or Ceadda (March 2), had been elected and uncanonically consecrated because Wilfrid remained in Gaul for three years. Although Saint Theodore deposed Saint Chad, he recognized his worthiness to be a bishop. He regularized the consecration, then sent Saint Chad to be Bishop of Mercia. Saint Wilfred was restored to his See. Theodore summoned a council of the entire English Church at Hertford in 672. Not only was this the first church council in England, it was the first assembly of any kind attended by representatives from all over the country. In 679 he convened another synod at Hatfield to maintain the purity of Orthodox doctrine and to condemn the heresy of Monothelitism. Theodore fell asleep in the Lord in 690, and his body remained incorrupt for a long time. Under his leadership, the English Church became united in a way that the various tribal kingdoms did not. The diocesean structures which he established continue to serve as the basis for church administration in England. He was respected for his administrative skills, and also for his moral and canonical decisions. THEODORE OF TARSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (19 SEP 690);

England, 685-705, Aldfrith, Northumbria, E King, recalled from Iona, succeded b Ecgfrith, who d in Picts v, restored kingdom
England, 685-705, King of the English, Aldfrith of Northumbria; (died 14 December 704 or 705) was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon as a man of great learning. Some of his works and some letters written to him survive. His reign was relatively peaceful, marred only by disputes with Bishop Wilfrid, a major figure in the early Northumbrian church. was born on an uncertain date to Oswiu of Northumbria and an Irish princess named Fín. Oswiu later became King of Northumbria; he died in 670 and was succeeded by his son Ecgfrith. was educated for a career in the church and became a scholar. in 685, when Ecgfrith was killed at the battle of Nechtansmere, Aldfrith was recalled to Northumbria, reportedly from the Hebridean island of Iona, and became king. his early-8th-century account of Aldfrith's reign, Bede states that he "ably restored the shattered fortunes of the kingdom, though within smaller boundaries".[2] His reign saw the creation of works of Hiberno-Saxon art such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Codex Amiatinus, and is often seen as the start of Northumbria's golden age. WILLIBRORD OF UTRECHT, ARCHBISHOP AND MISSIONARY (NOV 7, 739); CHAD OF LICHFIELD, (2 MAR 672); BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ; BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754);

England, 692-735, BEDE THE VENERABLE, Historian, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR. Wearmouth-Jarrow Abby (Tyne River Mouth)
England, 692-735, BEDE THE VENERABLE, Historian, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR. Wearmouth-Jarrow Abby (Tyne River Mouth), recorded history of England up until his time, not objective but fair, on the Roman Side ; Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey; BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); was a monk at the English monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow, in Northumbria. the age of seven, he spent all his life at that monastery except for a few brief visits to nearby sites. He says of himself: "I have devoted my energies to a study of the Scriptures, observing monastic discipline, and singing the daily services in church; study, teaching, and writing have always been my delight." was the first person to write scholarly works in the English language, although unfortunately only fragments of his English writings have survived. translated the Gospel of John into Old English, completing the work on the very day of his death. also wrote extensively in Latin. wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch and other portions of Holy Scripture. best-known work is his History of the English Church and People, a classic which has frequently been translated and is available in Penguin Paperbacks. gives a history of Britain up to 729, speaking of the Celtic peoples who were converted to Christianity during the first three centuries of the Christian era, the invasion of the Anglo-Saxon pagans in the fifth and sixth centuries, their subsequent conversion by Celtic missionaries from the north and west, and Roman missionaries from the south and east. work is our chief source for the history of the British Isles during this period. Bede was careful to sort fact from hearsay, and to tell us the sources of his information. also wrote hymns and other verse, the first martyrology with historical notes, letters and homilies, works on grammar, on chronology and astronomy -- he was aware that the earth is a sphere, and he is the first historian to date events ANNO DOMINI, and the earliest known writer to state that the solar year is not exactly 365 and a quarter days long, so that the Julian calendar (one leap year every four years) requires some adjusting if the months are not to get out of step with the seasons. His hymns include one for the Ascension, which follows. Bede in his scriptorium A hymn of glory let us sing; New songs throughout the world shall ring: Christ, by a road before untrod, Now rises to the throne of God. The holy apostolic band Upon the Mount of Olives stand; And with his followers they see Their Lord's ascending majesty. To them the angels drawing nigh, "Why stand and gaze upon the sky? This is the Savior," thus they say; "This is his glorious triumph day. "Again shall ye behold him so As ye today have seen him go, In glorious pomp ascending high, Up to the portals of the sky." O risen Christ, ascended Lord, All praise to thee let earth accord, Who art, while endless ages run, With Father and with Spirit one. tune is Agincourt, also called Deo Gratias (or Gracias), found in some hymnals and heard at the end of the Olivier film version of Henry V. (Capital letters represent notes an octave lower than lower-case letters; t = b-flat.) d d c | d - c | c B - | A - d | d c A | G A D | F E - | D - A | c - c | d c T | A G - | F - F | A - A | G - F | F E - | D - by James Kiefer Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27; Bede was a church historian who recorded the history of Christianity in England up to his own time. He was probably born around 673 in Northumbria. We do not know exactly where he was born, but it is likely that it was somewhere near Jarrow. he was seven, Bede was sent to Saint Benedict Biscop (January 12) at the monastery of Saint Peter at Wearmouth to be educated and raised. he was sent to the new monastery of Saint Paul founded at Jarrow in 682, where he remained until his death. There he was guided by the abbot Saint Ceolfrith (September 25), who succeeded Saint Benedict in 690, ruling both Wearmouth and Jarrow. is an incident in the anonymous Life of Ceolfrith which may refer to the young Bede. A plague swept through Ceolfrith’s monastery in 686, taking most of the monks who sang in the choir for the church services. Only the abbot and a young boy raised and educated by him remained. This young boy “is now a priest of the same monastery and commends the abbot’s admirable deeds both verbally and in writing to all who desire to learn them.” by this catastrophe, Ceolfrith decided that they should sing the Psalms without antiphons, except at Matins and Vespers. After a week of this, he went back to chanting the antiphons in their proper place. With the help of the boy and the surviving monks, the services were performed with difficulty until other monks could be brought in and trained to sing. Bede was ordained as a deacon when he was nineteen, and to the holy priesthood at the age of thirty by Saint John of Beverley (May 7), the holy Bishop of Hexham (687), and later (705) of York. had a great love for the church services, and believed that since the angels were present with the monks during the services, that he should also be there. “What if they do not find me among the brethren when they assemble? Will they not say, ‘Where is Bede?’ began as a pupil of Saint Benedict Biscop, who had been a monk of the famous monastery at Lerins, and had founded monasteries himself. Benedict had brought many books with him to England from Lerins and from other European monasteries. This library enabled Bede to write his own books, which include biblical commentary, ecclesiastical history, and hagiography. was not an objective historian. is squarely on the Roman side in the debate with Celtic Christianity, for example. was, however, fair and thorough. His books, derived from “ancient documents, from the traditions of our ancestors, and from my own personal knowledge” (Book V, 24) give us great insight into the religious and secular life of early Britain. read Saint Bede is to enter a world shaped by spiritual traditions very similar to those cherished by Orthodox Christians. These saints engage in the same heroic asceticism shown by saints in the East, and their holiness fills us with love and admiration. Christians were expected to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, and there was a forty day Nativity Fast (Book IV, 30). Bede became ill in 735. For about two weeks before Pascha, he was weak and had trouble breathing, but experienced little pain. He remained cheerful and gave daily lessons to his students, then spent the rest of the day singing Psalms and giving thanks to God. He would often quote the words of Saint Ambrose, “I have not lived in such a way that I am ashamed to live among you, and I do not fear to die, for God is gracious” (Paulinus, Life of Saint Ambrose, Ch. 45). addition to giving daily lessons and chanting the Psalms, Saint Bede was also working on an Anglo-Saxon translation of the Gospel of Saint John, and also a book of extracts from the writings of Saint Isidore of Seville (April 4). On the Tuesday before the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension, the saint’s breathing became more labored, and his feet began to swell. “Learn quickly,” he told those who were taking dictation from him, “for I do not know how long I can continue. The Lord may call me in a short while.” a sleepless night, Saint Bede continued his dictation on Wednesday morning. At the Third Hour, there was a procession with the relics of the saints in the monastery, and the brethren went to attend this service, leaving a monk named Wilbert with Bede. The monk reminded him that there remained one more chapter to be written in the book which he was dictating. Wilbert was reluctant to disturb the dying Bede, however. Saint Bede said, “It is no trouble. Take your pen and write quickly.” the Ninth Hour, Bede paused and told Wilbert that he had some items in his chest, such as pepper, incense, and linen. He asked the monk to bring the priests of the monastery so that he could distribute these items to them. When they arrived, he spoke to each of them in turn, requesting them to pray for him and to remember him in the services. Then he said, “The time of my departure is at hand, and my soul longs to see Christ my King in His beauty.” evening, Wilbert said to him, “Dear Master, there is one sentence left unfinished.” Bede said, “Very well, write it down.” Then the young monk said, “It is finished now.” Bede replied, “You have spoken truly, it is well finished.” Then he asked Wilbert to raise his head so that he could see the church where he used to pray. After chanting, “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit” to its ending, Saint Bede fell asleep in the Lord Whom he had loved. Saint Bede reposed on May 25, the eve of the Ascension, he is commemorated on the 27th, since the Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury is appointed for the 26th. His body was first buried in the south porch of the monastery church, then later transferred to a place near the altar. Today his holy relics lie in Durham Cathedral, in the Galilee chapel. Saint Bede is the only Englishman mentioned by Dante in the DIVINE COMEDY (Paradiso).

England, 700-799, 8th Century Folder, Anglo Saxons, Viking Invasions

England, 701-754, Boniface, Sacred Oak at Geismar, from Cornwall, evangelized Netherlands, France, and West Germany
BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754); nicknamed Boniface ("good deeds"), was born around 680 near Crediton in Devonshire, England. he was five, he listened to some monks who were staying at his father's house. They had returned from a mission to the pagans on the continent, and Boniface was so impressed by them that he resolved to follow their example. Although his father had intended him for a secular career, he gave way to his son's entreaties and sent him at the age of seven to a monastery school. eventually became director of the school at Nursling, in Winchester, where he wrote the first Latin grammar in England, and gave lectures that were widely copied and circulated. illumination showing Bonface baptizing, and his martyrdom thirty, he was ordained and set out to preach in Friesland (overlaps with modern Holland), whence he was soon expelled because of war between its heathen king and Charles Martel of France. after a brief withdrawal, went into Hesse and Bavaria, having secured the support of the Pope and of Charles Martel for his work there. Hesse, in the presence of a large crowd of pagans, he cut down the Sacred Oak of Geismar, a tree of immense age and girth, sacred to the god Thor. It is said that after only a few blows of his axe, the tree tottered and crashed to the ground, breaking into four pieces and revealing itself to be rotted away within. was the beginning of a highly successful missionary effort, and the planting of a vigorous Christian church in Germany, where Boniface was eventually consecrated bishop. He asked the Christian Saxons of England to support his work among their kinsmen on the continent, and they responded with money, books, supplies, and above all, with a steady supply of monks to assist him in teaching and preaching. felling the oak, from an old German book of Saints did not confine his attentions to Germany. He worked to establish cooperation between the Pope and others in Italy on the one hand and Charles and his successors in France on the other. He persuaded Carloman and Pepin, the sons of Charles, to call synods for the reform of the church in their territories, where under previous rulers bishoprics had often been sold to the highest bidder. never forgot his initial failure in Friesland, and in old age resigned his bishopric and returned to work there. Many Frisians had been converted earlier by Willibrord (another Saxon missionary from England--see 7 Nov), but had lapsed after his death. Boniface preached among them with considerable success. On June 5, the eve of Pentecost, 754, he was preparing a group of Frisians for confirmation when they were attacked and killed by heathen warriors. historian Christopher Dawson estimates that he has had a greater influence on the history of Europe than any other Englishman. Sacred Oak of Thor at Geismar;

England, 701-754, BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR, Crediton, Devon, Cornwall, greatest English influence in Europe
England, 700-754, BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR, Crediton, Devon, Cornwall (a crossroads in Creedy River Valley), at 5 resolved to convert pagans on Continent, monastery school at 7, director Nursing school, first Latin grammar, lecturers, to Friesland at 30, F war w Christian Charles Martel, to Hesse and Bavaria in 710, supported by Pope and CM, cut Oak of Geismar in Hesse, bishop of Germany, synods in France for Church reform, not hightest bidder for bishop, back to Friesland, greatest English influence in Europe; Crediton, Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about 7 miles (11 km) north west of Exeter. It has a population of 6,837.[1] The town is situated in the narrow vale of the River Creedy, between two steep hills and is divided into two parts, the east or old town and the west or new town. ; BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754); nicknamed Boniface ("good deeds"), was born around 680 near Crediton in Devonshire, England. he was five, he listened to some monks who were staying at his father's house. They had returned from a mission to the pagans on the continent, and Boniface was so impressed by them that he resolved to follow their example. his father had intended him for a secular career, he gave way to his son's entreaties and sent him at the age of seven to a monastery school. eventually became director of the school at Nursling, in Winchester, where he wrote the first Latin grammar in England, and gave lectures that were widely copied and circulated. Manuscript illumination showing Bonface baptizing, and his martyrdom thirty, he was ordained and set out to preach in Friesland (overlaps with modern Holland), he was soon expelled because of war between its heathen king and Charles Martel of France. after a brief withdrawal, went into Hesse and Bavaria, having secured the support of the Pope and of Charles Martel for his work there. Hesse, in the presence of a large crowd of pagans, he cut down the Sacred Oak of Geismar, a tree of immense age and girth, sacred to the god Thor. is said that after only a few blows of his axe, the tree tottered and crashed to the ground, breaking into four pieces and revealing itself to be rotted away within. was the beginning of a highly successful missionary effort, and the planting of a vigorous Christian church in Germany, where Boniface was eventually consecrated bishop. asked the Christian Saxons of England to support his work among their kinsmen on the continent, and they responded with money, books, supplies, and above all, with a steady supply of monks to assist him in teaching and preaching. Boiniface felling the oak, from an old German book of Saints did not confine his attentions to Germany. He worked to establish cooperation between the Pope and others in Italy on the one hand and Charles and his successors in France on the other. persuaded Carloman and Pepin, the sons of Charles, to call synods for the reform of the church in their territories, where under previous rulers bishoprics had often been sold to the highest bidder. never forgot his initial failure in Friesland, and in old age resigned his bishopric and returned to work there. Frisians had been converted earlier by Willibrord (another Saxon missionary from England--see 7 Nov), but had lapsed after his death. Boniface preached among them with considerable success. June 5, the eve of Pentecost, 754, he was preparing a group of Frisians for confirmation when they were attacked and killed by heathen warriors. historian Christopher Dawson estimates that he has had a greater influence on the history of Europe than any other Englishman. by James Kiefer

England, 709-716, Ceolred of Mercia, King of the English, crimes and immorality, Lord of London
England, 709-716, King of the English, Ceolred of Mercia, crimes and immorality, Lord of London, London under Mercia, Bede no contact w Mercia; (died 716) was King of Mercia from 709 to 716. at the end of the 7th century[edit] the end of the 7th century, England was almost entirely divided into kingdoms ruled by the Anglo-Saxons, who had come to Britain two hundred years earlier. kingdom of Mercia occupied what is now the English Midlands,[1] bordered by Northumbria to the north, East Anglia to the east, and Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons, to the south. the kingdom of the East Saxons, included London and lay between East Anglia and the kingdom of Kent.[2] main source for this period is Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in about 731. Despite its focus on the history of the church, this work provides valuable information about the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. had informants who supplied him with details of the church's history in Wessex and Kent, but he appears to have had no such contact in Mercia.[3] Charters of Ceolred's, recording royal grants of land to individuals and to religious houses, also survive,[4][5][6] as does the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, compiled in Wessex at the end of the 9th century, but incorporating earlier material.[7] and reign[edit] family tree father, Aethelred, came to throne of Mercia in 675 on the death of his brother, Wulfhere. Aethelred abdicated in 704 and went to Rome, leaving the kingdom to his nephew Coenred, Wulfhere's son. reduced prestige of both Ceolred and his predecessor, Coenred, may have stirred unrest among the Mercian nobility: Aethelbald was in exile during Ceolred's reign, and the survival of a hostile account of Ceolred may indicate a more general dissatisfaction with the ruling line.[8] 709 Coenred abdicated in favour of Ceolred.[9] Coenred went to Rome and was made a monk there by Pope Constantine.[10] Historians have generally accepted Bede's report of Coenred's abdication, but Barbara Yorke has suggested that he may not have relinquished his throne voluntarily. There are instances of kings being forcibly removed and placed in holy orders to make them ineligible for kingship; one such was King Osred II of Northumbria, who was forced into a monastery.[10] was Aethelred's son, but his mother was not Osthryth, Aethelred's only recorded wife.[11] He may have still been young at the time of his accession. of what is recorded about Ceolred is highly negative, accusing him of crimes and immorality; this may reflect poor treatment of the Church.[11][12] 715, the Mercians under Ceolred fought a battle at "Woden's Barrow", either against the West Saxons under Ine or together with them against an unnamed opponent, possibly the British;[13] the outcome of this battle was not recorded. confirmed a grant to Waldhere, the Bishop of London, evidence that London was firmly under Mercian overlordship.[14] Later Mercian kings treated London as their direct possession, rather than as a province ruled by an underking, but Ceolred did not go that far.[15][16] Three possibly genuine charters of Ceolred's have survived.[17] and succession[edit] the next year, Ceolred died; Saint Boniface later described him as dying in a crazed frenzy at a banquet, "gibbering with demons and cursing the priests of God". Aethelbald, a member of another branch of the Mercian royal line who had been forced into exile during Ceolred's rule, succeeded him.[11] He was related to Coenred, the brother of Saint Werburgh of Mercia. WILLIBRORD OF UTRECHT, ARCHBISHOP AND MISSIONARY (NOV 7, 739); BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ; BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754);

England, 716-757, Aethelbald of Mercia, King of the English, exiled, then strong ruler, long reign, dominates Anglo Saxons
England, King of the English, 716-757, Aethelbald of Mercia; (also spelled Ethelbald or Aethelbald;[1] died 757) was the King of Mercia, in what is now the English Midlands from 716 until he was killed in 757. was the son of Alweo and thus a grandson of King Eowa. came to the throne after the death of his cousin, King Ceolred, who had driven him into exile. During his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the strong reigns of Mercian kings Penda and Wulfhere between about 628 and 675. Aethelbald came to the throne, both Wessex and Kent were ruled by stronger kings, but within fifteen years the contemporary chronicler Bede describes Aethelbald as ruling all England south of the river Humber. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not list Aethelbald as a bretwalda, or "Ruler of Britain", though this may be due to the West Saxon origin of the Chronicle. ---------------------St. Boniface wrote to Aethelbald in about 745, reproving him for various dissolute and irreligious acts. The subsequent 747 council of Clovesho and a charter Aethelbald issued at Gumley in 749—which freed the church from some of its obligations—may have been responses to Boniface's letter. Aethelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguards. He was succeeded briefly by Beornred, of whom little is known, but within a year, Offa, the grandson of Aethelbald's cousin Eanwulf, had seized the throne, possibly after a brief civil war. Under Offa, Mercia entered its most prosperous and influential period. BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ; BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754);

England, 750-804, Alcuin, Theologian for Charlemagne, York Deacon, scriptoria, cursive, rev Latin liturgy, plainchant, Filioque
England, 750-804, Alcuin, Scholar and Theologian for Charlemagne, York Deacon, scriptoria, cursive, revised Latin liturgy, plainchant, Filioque; England, 755-804, Alcuin, Scholar and Theologian for Charlemagne; York; ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804); was an Englishman from York, born into a noble family about 730, and educated by a pupil of Bede. become a deacon, he was made head of the cathedral school at York around 770. 781 he was asked by the Emperor Charlemagne to become his minister of education. He accepted, and established schools at many cathedrals and monasteries, and promoted learning in every way he could. the preceding years of constant wars and invasions, many ancient writings had been lost. Alcuin established scriptoria, dedicated to the copying and preservation of ancient manuscripts, both pagan and Christian. we have as much as we do of the writings of classical Roman authors is largely due to Alcuin and his scribes. is credited with the invention of cursive script, in which the letters are connected for greater speed of writing.) Alcuin, backed by Charlemagne, belongs much of the credit for the revision and organization of the Latin liturgy, the preservation of many of the ancient prayers, and the development of plainchant. and his fellow theologians at Charlemagne's capital of Aachen (or Aix-le-Chappelle) were important advocates of the doctrine that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son jointly. the East, which regarded the Emperor at Byzantium as the sole Emperor, resented Charlemagne's assumption of the title of Holy Roman Emperor, and this hardened their opposition to the aforesaid doctrine, thus contributing to the rift between East and West. by James Kiefer Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

England, 757-796, Offa of Mercia, King of the English, christian, increased control over Essex, Kent and Sussex
England, King of the English, 757-796, Offa of Mercia; (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald. defeated the other claimant, Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign, it is likely that he consolidated his control of Midland peoples such as the Hwicce and the Magonsæte. advantage of instability in the kingdom of Kent to establish himself as overlord, Offa also controlled Sussex by 771, though his authority did not remain unchallenged in either territory. the 780s he extended Mercian Supremacy over most of southern England, allying with Beorhtric of Wessex, who married Offa's daughter Eadburh, and regained complete control of the southeast. also became the overlord of East Anglia and had King Æthelberht II of East Anglia beheaded in 794, perhaps for rebelling against him. was a Christian king who came into conflict with the Church, particularly with Jænberht, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Offa persuaded Pope Adrian I to divide the archdiocese of Canterbury in two, creating a new archdiocese of Lichfield. This reduction in the power of Canterbury may have been motivated by Offa's desire to have an archbishop consecrate his son Ecgfrith as king, since it is possible Jænberht refused to perform the ceremony, which took place in 787. Offa had a dispute with the Bishop of Worcester, which was settled at the Council of Brentford in 781. surviving coins from Offa's reign carry elegant depictions of him, and the artistic quality of these images exceeds that of the contemporary Frankish coinage. Some of his coins carry images of his wife, Cynethryth—the only Anglo-Saxon queen ever depicted on a coin. Only three gold coins of Offa's have survived: one is a copy of an Abbasid dinar of 774 and carries Arabic text on one side, with "Offa Rex" on the other. The gold coins are of uncertain use but may have been struck to be used as alms or for gifts to Rome. historians regard Offa as the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king before Alfred the Great. His dominance never extended to Northumbria, though he gave his daughter Ælfflæd in marriage to the Northumbrian king Æthelred I in 792. Historians once saw his reign as part of a process leading to a unified England, but this is no longer the majority view: in the words of a recent historian, "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy."[1] His son Ecgfrith succeeded him after his death, but reigned for less than five months before Coenwulf of Mercia became king. ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804);

England, 800-899, 9th Century Folder, Viking Invasions, Alfred the Great, Battle of Edington

England, 855-870, Edmund of East Anglia, King of the English, w Edward t Confessor Patron saint till George
England, 855-870, Edmund of East Anglia (Edmund the Martyr), King of the English, w Edward t Confessor Patron saint till George ; the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869)[note 1] was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death. cult flourished in the Early and High Middle Ages, and he and Edward the Confessor were regarded as England's patron saints until they were replaced by Saint George in the fifteenth century.[2] nothing is known about Edmund. He is thought to have been of East Anglian origin and was first mentioned in an annal of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written some years after his death. kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by the Vikings, who destroyed any contemporary evidence of his reign. writers produced fictitious accounts of his life, asserting that he was born in 841, the son of Aethelweard, an obscure East Anglian king, whom it was said Edmund succeeded when he was 14 (or alternatively that he was the youngest son of a Germanic king named Alcmund). Later versions of Edmund's life relate that he was crowned on 25 December 855 at Burna (probably Bures St Mary in Suffolk), which at that time functioned as the royal capital,[3] and that he became a model king. 869, the Great Heathen Army advanced on East Anglia and killed Edmund. According to Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he died in battle,[4] but by later tradition, he met his death at an unidentified place known as Haegelisdun, after he refused the Danes' demand that he renounce Christ: the Danes beat him, shot him with arrows and then beheaded him, on the orders of Ivar the Boneless and his brother Ubba. According to one legend, his head was then thrown into the forest, but was found by searchers following the cries of an ethereal wolf calling out in Latin, "Hic, Hic, Hic" – "Here, Here, Here". coinage commemorating Edmund was minted from around the time East Anglia was absorbed by the kingdom of Wessex and a popular cult emerged. In about 986, Abbo of Fleury wrote of his life and martyrdom. The saint's remains were temporarily moved from Bury St Edmunds to London for safekeeping in 1010. His shrine at Bury was visited by many kings, including Canute, who was responsible for rebuilding the abbey: the stone church was rebuilt again in 1095. During the Middle Ages, when Edmund was regarded as the patron saint of England, Bury and its magnificent abbey grew wealthy, but during the Dissolution of the Monasteries his shrine was destroyed. Medieval manuscripts and works of art relating to Edmund include Abbo's Passio Sancti Eadmundi, John Lydgate's 14th-century Life, the Wilton Diptych, and a number of church wall paintings. EDMUND OF EAST ANGLIA, KING AND MARTYR (20 NOV 870); the heathen Anglo-Saxons invaded Christian Britain in the 400's, they eventually established seven kingdoms: Essex, Wessex, Sussex (East Saxons, West Saxons, and South Saxons), Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia (three kingdoms of the Angles), and the Jute kingdom of Kent. (The borders between these ancient kingdoms are still borders between regions speaking English with different accents today.) the influence of missionaries from the Celts and from continental Europe, these peoples became Christian, only to be faced themselves by a wave of heathen invaders. The finding of Edmund's head. See Abbo of Fleury's Life. was born about 840, became King of East Anglia in about 855, and in 870 faced a horde of marauding Danes, who moved through the countryside, burning churches and slaughtering villages wholesale. On reaching East Anglia, their leaders confronted Edmund and offered him peace on condition that he would rule as their vassal and forbid the practice of the Christian faith. refused this last condition, fought, and was captured. He was ill-treated and killed. His burial place is the town of Bury St. Edmunds. by James Kiefer

England, 869-899, Alfred the Great, Alfred's victory in 878
Wessex, 869-899, Alfred the Great King Alfred's Victory, 878; Great Heathen Army (Old English: mycel hæþen here; Danish: Store Hedenske Hær), also known as the Viking Great Army,[1] was a coalition of Scandinavian warriors, mainly Danes, who invaded England in 865 AD. Since the late 8th century, the Vikings[a] had been engaging in raids on centres of wealth such as monasteries. The Great Heathen Army was much larger and aimed to occupy and conquer the four kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex. The name Great Heathen Army is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 865. Legend has it that the force was led by three of the five sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, including Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless and Ubba.[b] The campaign of invasion and conquest against the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms lasted 14 years. Surviving sources give no firm indication of its numbers, but it was amongst the largest forces of its kind. The invaders initially landed in East Anglia, where the king provided them with horses for their campaign in return for peace. They spent the winter of 865–66 at Thetford, before marching north to capture York in November 866. York had been founded as the Roman legionary fortress of Eboracum and revived as the Anglo-Saxon trading port of Eoforwic. During 867, the army marched deep into Mercia and wintered in Nottingham. The Mercians agreed to terms with the Viking army, which moved back to York for the winter of 868–69. In 869, the Great Army returned to East Anglia, conquering it and killing its king. The army moved to winter quarters in Thetford. In 871, the Vikings moved on to Wessex, where Alfred the Great paid them to leave. The army then marched to London to overwinter in 871–72. The following campaigning season the army first moved to York, where it gathered reinforcements. This force campaigned in northeastern Mercia, after which it spent the winter at Torksey, on the Trent close to the Humber.[1] The following campaigning season it seems to have subdued much of Mercia. Burgred, the king of Mercia, fled overseas and Coelwulf, described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as "a foolish king's thegn" was imposed in his place. The army spent the following winter at Repton on the middle Trent, after which the army seems to have divided. One group seems to have returned to Northumbria, where they settled in the area, while another group seems to have turned to invade Wessex.[5] By this time, only the kingdom of Wessex had not been conquered. In May of 878 Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington, and a treaty was agreed whereby the Vikings were able to remain in control of much of northern and eastern England. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not mention the reason for this invasion, perhaps because Viking raids were fairly common during that period of time. The Tale of Ragnar's Sons,[6] on the other hand, mentions that the invasion of England by the Great Heathen Army was aimed at avenging the death of Ragnar Lodbrok, a legendary Viking ruler of Sweden and Denmark.[c] In the Viking saga, Ragnar is said to have conducted a raid on Northumbria during the reign of King Ælla. The Vikings were defeated and Ragnar was captured by the Northumbrians. Ælla then had Ragnar executed by throwing him into a pit of venomous snakes. When the sons of Ragnar received news of their father's death, they decided to avenge him.[7][8] Contents Background[edit] Viking[d] raids began in England in the late 8th century, primarily on monasteries.[10] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for AD 787[e] reports the first confrontation with the Vikings[a] in England.[11][12] AD 787 – This year king Bertric took to wife Eadburga, king Offa's daughter; and in his days first came three ships of Northmen, out of Hæretha-land [Denmark]. And then the reeve rode to the place, and would have driven them to the king's town, because he knew not who they were: and they there slew him. These were the first ships of Danishmen which sought the land of the English nation. This incident is regarded, by some, as the first raid on England.[13] Æthelweard's version of the Chronicle, known as the Chronicon Æthelweardi, has a slightly different version of events, saying that the reeve, a certain Beaduheard, had spoken to the visitors in an "authoritative tone" and this is why they killed him.[13] The designation of these "Hæretha-landers" as Danes is somewhat problematic. Sara María Pons-Sanz states, in "Analysis of the Scandinavian Loanwords in the Aldredian Glosses to the Lindisfarne Gospels", that they were either men from Harthæsysæl (Hardsyssel) in Jutland, so actually Danes, or from Hörthaland in Norway, so that in the last case the word "Danish" refers to all Scandinavian people.[14] The first monastery to be raided was in 793 at Lindisfarne, off the northeast coast; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described the Vikings as "heathen men".[15] Monasteries and minster churches were popular targets as they were wealthy and had valuable, portable objects.[16] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 840 says that Æthelwulf of Wessex was defeated at Carhampton, Somerset, after 35 Viking ships had landed in the area.[17] The Annals of St. Bertin also reported the incident, stating: The Northmen launched a major attack; in three days, the Northmen emerged the winners – plundering, looting, slaughtering, and controlling the land.[f] Despite this, Æthelwulf had some success against the Vikings. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has repeated references during his reign of victories won by ealdormen with the men of their shires.[19] However, the raiding of England continued on and off until the 860s, when instead of raiding, the Vikings changed their tactics and sent a great army to invade England. This army was described by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a "Great Heathen Army" (OE: mycel hæþen here or mycel heathen here).[20][21][22][23] The size of the army[edit] A reconstruction of a Viking from Repton in Mercia. This model is now in Derby Museum.[g] Historians provide varying estimates for the size of the Great Heathen Army.[24] According to the 'minimalist' scholars, such as Pete Sawyer, the army may have been smaller than traditionally thought.[25][26] Sawyer notes that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 865 referred to the Viking force as a Heathen Army, or in Old English "hæþen here".[25][22] The law code of King Ine of Wessex, issued in about 694, provides a definition of here (pronounced /ˈheːre/) as "an invading army or raiding party containing more than thirty five men", thus differentiating between the term for the invading Viking army and the Anglo-Saxon army that was referred to as the fyrd.[25][27] The scribes who wrote the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle used the term here to describe the Viking forces. The historian Richard Abels suggested that this was to differentiate between the Viking war bands and those of military forces organised by the state or the crown. However, by the late 10th and early 11th century, here was used more generally as the term for army, whether it was Viking or not.[24] Sawyer produced a table of Viking ship numbers, as documented in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and assumes that each Viking ship could carry no more than 32 men[h] leading to his conclusion that the army would have consisted of no more than 1,000 men.[25] Other scholars give higher estimates. For example, Laurent Mazet-Harhoff observes that many thousands of men were involved in the invasions of the Seine area. However, Mazet-Harhoff does say that the military bases that would accommodate these large armies have yet to be rediscovered.[29][30] Guy Halsall reported that, in the 1990s, several historians suggested that the Great Heathen Army would have numbered in the low thousands; however, Halsall advises that there "clearly is still much room for debate".[26] The army probably developed from the campaigns in France. In Francia, there was a conflict between the Emperor and his sons, and one of the sons had welcomed the support from a Viking fleet.[31] By the time that the war had ended, the Vikings had discovered that monasteries and towns situated on navigable rivers were vulnerable to attack. In 845, a raid on Paris was prevented by the large payment of silver to the Vikings. The opportunity for rich pickings drew other Vikings to the area, and by the end of the decade all the main rivers of West Francia were being patrolled by Viking fleets.[31] In 862, the West Frankish king responded to the Vikings, fortifying his towns and defending his rivers, thus making it difficult for the Vikings to raid inland. The lower reaches of the rivers and the coastal regions were left largely undefended. Religious communities in these areas, however, chose to move inland away from the reaches of the Viking fleets. With the changes in Francia making raiding more difficult, the Vikings turned their attention to England.[31] Invasion of England[edit] The Viking leaders would often join together for mutual benefit and then dissolve once profit had been achieved.[24] Several of the Viking leaders who had been active in Francia and Frisia joined forces to conquer the four kingdoms constituting Anglo-Saxon England. The composite force probably contained elements from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Ireland as well as those who had been fighting on the continent. The Anglo-Saxon historian Æthelweard was very specific in his chronicle and said that "the fleets of the viking tyrant Ivar the Boneless landed in England from the north".[31][32] The Vikings had been defeated by the West Saxon King Æthelwulf in 851, so rather than land in Wessex they decided to go further north to East Anglia.[20][31][33] Legend has it that the united army was led by the three sons[b] of Ragnar Lodbrok: Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless (Hingwar), and Ubba.[20][31][33] Norse sagas consider the invasion by the three brothers[c] as a response to the death of their father at the hands of Ælla of Northumbria in 865, but the historicity of this claim is uncertain.[34][8] Start of the invasion, 865[edit] Silver penny of Æthelred I, King of Wessex (865–871) In late 865, the Great Heathen Army encamped in the Isle of Thanet and was promised by the people of Kent danegeld in exchange for peace. Regardless, the Vikings did not abide by this agreement and proceeded to rampage across eastern Kent.[35][36] The Vikings used East Anglia as a starting point for an invasion. The East Anglians made peace with the invaders by providing them with horses.[37] The Vikings stayed in East Anglia for the winter before setting out for Northumbria towards the end of 866, establishing themselves at York. In 867, the Northumbrians paid danegeld and the Viking Army established a puppet leader in Northumbria before setting off for the Kingdom of Mercia, where in 867 they captured Nottingham. The king of Mercia requested help from the king of Wessex to help fight the Vikings. A combined army from Wessex and Mercia besieged the city of Nottingham with no clear result, so the Mercians settled on paying the Vikings off. The Vikings returned to Northumbria in autumn 868 and overwintered in York, staying there for most of 869. They returned to East Anglia and spent the winter of 869–70 at Thetford. While in Thetford, they were attacked by Edmund, king of East Anglia, with whom they had no peace agreement. The Viking army was victorious in these battles, and Edmund was captured, possibly tortured, and killed. He would later come to be known as Edmund the Martyr.[38] In 871, the Great Summer Army arrived from Scandinavia, led by Bagsecg.[39] The reinforced Viking army turned its attention to Wessex but the West Saxons, led by King Æthelred's brother Alfred, defeated them on 8 January 871 at the Battle of Ashdown, slaying Bagsecg in the process. Three months later, Æthelred died and was succeeded by Alfred (later known as Alfred the Great), who bought[i] the Vikings off to gain time. During 871–72, the Great Heathen Army wintered in London before returning to Northumbria. It seems that there had been a rebellion against the puppet ruler in Northumbria, so they returned to restore power. They then established their winter quarters for 872–73 at Torksey in the Kingdom of Lindsey (now part of Lincolnshire).[41] The Mercians again paid them off in return for peace,[i] and at the end of 873 the Vikings took up winter quarters at Repton in Derbyshire.[42] In 874, following their winter stay in Repton, the Great Heathen Army drove the Mercian king into exile and finally conquered Mercia; the exiled Mercian king was replaced by Ceolwulf. According to Alfred the Great's biographer Asser, the Vikings then split into two bands.[43][44] Halfdan led one band north to Northumbria, where he overwintered by the river Tyne (874–75). In 875 he ravaged further north to Scotland, where he fought the Picts and the Britons of Strathclyde.[45] Returning south of the border in 876, he shared out Northumbrian land amongst his men, who "ploughed the land and supported themselves"; this land was part of what became known as the Danelaw.[44] King Alfred's victory[edit] According to Asser, the second band was led by Guthrum, Oscetel, and Anwend. This group also left Repton in 874 and established a base at Cambridge for the winter of 874–75. In late 875 they moved onto Wareham, where they raided the surrounding area and occupied a fortified position. Asser reports that Alfred made a treaty with the Vikings to get them to leave Wessex.[43][46] The Vikings left Wareham, but it was not long before they were raiding other parts of Wessex, and initially they were successful. Alfred fought back, however, and eventually won victory over them at the Battle of Edington in 878. This was followed closely by what was described by Asser as the Treaty of Wedmore, where Guthrum agreed to be baptised and then for him and his army to leave Wessex.[47] Then some time after, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was agreed, that set out the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories as well as agreements on peaceful trade, and the weregild value of their people.[48] Aftermath[edit] A sword of a Viking buried at Repton in Mercia. This sword is now in Derby Museum. In late 878, Guthrum's band withdrew to Cirencester, in the kingdom of Mercia.[49] Then, probably in late 879, it moved to East Anglia,[50] where Guthrum, who was also known by his baptismal name of Aethelstan, reigned as king until his death in 890.[51] The part of the army that did not go with Guthrum mostly went on to more settled lives in Northumbria and York. Some may have settled in Mercia. Evidence for this is the presence of two Viking cemeteries in Derbyshire that are believed to be connected to the Great Army, at Repton and at Heath Wood.[5] In 878, a third Viking army gathered on Fulham by the Thames. It seems they were partly discouraged by the defeat of Guthrum but also Alfred's success against the Vikings coincided with a period of renewed weakness in Francia. The Frankish emperor, Charles the Bald, died in 877 and his son shortly after, precipitating a period of political instability of which the Vikings were quick to take advantage. The assembled Viking army on the Thames departed in 879 to begin new campaigns on the continent.[52][53] In 892, the army that had encamped on Fulham, now comprising 250 ships, had returned and re-established itself in Appledore, Kent.[54] Another army of 80 ships soon afterwards also encamped in Milton Regis, posing a threat to the West Saxons.[54] The army subsequently launched a series of attacks on Wessex. Due in part to the king's efforts to resist the invaders and defend Wessex, the Heathen army made less of an impact against the kingdom than hoped and saw little progress, eventually disbanding in 896.[55] Throughout the 880s, the Viking presence in his kingdom encouraged Alfred to protect Wessex. The king realised the importance of naval combat against the Vikings and saw to the creation of a navy; Alfred ordered the construction of specialised ships that were supposedly twice as long as Viking ships, some possessing 60 oars, others possessing even more.[36][56] Alfred also reorganised the army and set up a powerful system of fortified towns known as burhs. Alfred mainly used old Roman cities for his burhs, as he was able to rebuild and reinforce their existing fortifications.[57][58] Every freeman in the land could be called out to protect the realm in times of trouble but the speed of Viking hit-and-run raids had been too quick for the local militias to act; part of Alfred's reforms was to create a standing army that could react rapidly to attacks. The Anglo-Saxon rural population lived within a 24 km (15-mile) radius of each burh, so they were able to seek refuge when necessary.[59] To maintain the burhs, as well as the standing army, Alfred set up a system of taxation and conscription that is recorded in a document now known as the Burghal Hidage.[60] The burhs were connected with a network of military roads, known as herepaths, enabling Alfred's troops to move swiftly to engage the enemy. Some historians believe that each burh would have had a mounted force ready for action against the Vikings.[61] Based on figures from the Burghal Hidage, it is probable that a fifth of the adult male population of Wessex (27,000 men) would have been mobilised.[62] A common Viking tactic was to seize a centre, usually some sort of fortification, that they could reinforce and then use as a base to plunder the surrounding district. From 884 Alfred's reforms prevented them from doing this in Wessex.[62] By 896, the Viking army was all but defeated and no longer saw any reason to continue their attacks and dispersed to East Anglia and Northumbria. Those that were penniless found themselves ships and went south across the sea to the Seine.[36][55][63][64] This influx of new settlers helped consolidate the ever-growing establishment of Danelaw.[65] Anglo-Saxon England had been torn apart by the invading Great Heathen Army and the Vikings had control of northern and eastern England, while Alfred and his successors had defended their kingdom and remained in control of Wessex.[66] Archaeological sites[edit] The stone church of St Wystan at Repton was, in the 9th century, the site of an Anglo-Saxon monastery and church. Excavations at the site between 1974 and 1988 found a D-shaped earthwork on the river bank, incorporated into the church. Burials of Viking type were made at the east end of the church, and an existing building was cut down and converted into the chamber of a burial mound that revealed the disarticulated remains of at least 249 people, with their long bones pointing towards the centre of the burial. A large stone coffin was found in the middle of the mass grave; however, the remains of this individual did not survive. A study of the skeletal remains revealed that at least 80% of the individuals were male, and were between the ages of 15 and 45.[67] Further investigation of the male skeletal remains revealed that they were dissimilar to the local population of Repton, most likely of Scandinavian descent, and many showed signs of violent injury. In contrast, analysis of the female remains revealed that they were similar to the local population, suggesting an Anglo-Saxon lineage.[67] It is possible that the people in the grave may have suffered some sort of epidemic when the army overwintered in Repton during 873–74, leading to the mass burial.[44] A variety of Viking artifacts, such as a silver Thor's hammer, were also found among the bones.[67] Although initial radiocarbon dating suggested that the bodies had accumulated there over several centuries, in February 2018, a team out of the University of Bristol announced that the remains could indeed all be dated to the late 9th century, consistent with the time the army wintered in Derbyshire. They attributed the initial discrepancies to the high consumption of seafood by the Vikings. Because the carbon in the Earth's oceans is older than much of the carbon found by organisms on land, radiocarbon dating must be adjusted. This is called the marine reservoir effect.[68][69] The nearby Heath Wood barrow cemetery contains about sixty cremations (rather than burials). Finds of cremation sites in the British Isles are very rare, and this one probably was the war cemetery of the Great Heathen Army.[5] Great Heathen Army, Great Danish Army; ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS (26 OCT 899) ; GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, APOLOGIST and WRITER, 1936, Commemorated June 13 ;

England, 871-899, Alphred the Great, King of the English, King of Wessex, m tactics, biblical law code, education
England, 871-899, Alphred the Great, King of the English, King of Wessex, m tactics, biblical law code, education, Danes conversion; ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS (26 OCT 899), Commemorated October 26; the Gospel was first preached in Britain, the island was inhabited by Celtic peoples. the 400's, pagan Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, invaded Britain and drove the Christian Celts out of what is now England into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. new arrivals (called collectively the Anglo-Saxons) were then converted by Celtic missionaries moving in from the one side and Roman missionaries moving in from the other. (They then sent missionaries of their own, such as Boniface, to their pagan relatives on the Continent.) the 800's the cycle partly repeated itself, as the Christian Anglo-Saxons were invaded by the Danes, pagan raiders, who rapidly conquered the northeast portion of England. seemed about to conquer the entire country and eliminate all resistance when they were turned back by Alfred, King of the West Saxons. was born in 849 at Wantage, Berkshire, youngest of five sons of King Aethelwulf. wished to become a monk, but after the deaths (all in battle, I think) of his father and his four older brothers, he was made king in 871. proved to be skilled at military tactics, and devised a defensive formation which the Danish charge was unable to break. a decisive victory at Edington in 878, he reached an agreement with the Danish leader Guthrum, by which the Danes would retain a portion of northeastern England and be given other concessions in return for their agreement to accept baptism and Christian instruction. a later point of view, it seems obvious that such a promise could not involve a genuine change of heart, and was therefore meaningless (and indeed, one Dane complained that the white robe that he was given after his baptism was not nearly so fine as the two that he had received after the two previous times that he had been defeated and baptized). Alfred's judgement proved sound. Guthrum, from his point of view, agreed to become a vassal of Christ. His nobles and chief warriors, being his vassals, were thereby obligated to give their feudal allegiance to Christ as well. They accepted baptism and the presence among them of Christian priests and missionaries to instruct them. door was opened for conversions on a more personal level in that and succeeding generations. his later years, having secured a large degree of military security for his people, Alfred devoted his energies to repairing the damage that war had done to the cultural life of his people. translated Boethius' Consolations of Philosophy into Old English, and brought in scholars from Wales and the Continent with whose help various writings of Bede, Augustine of Canterbury, and Gregory the Great were likewise translated. was much impressed by the provisions in the Law of Moses for the protection of the rights of ordinary citizens, and gave order that similar provisions should be made part of English law. promoted the education of the parish clergy. one of his treatises, he wrote: seems to me a very foolish man, and very wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear." died on 26 October 899, and was buried in the Old Minster at Winchester. Alone among English monarchs, he is known as "the Great." writer G K Chesterton has written a long narrative poem about Alfred, called, "The Ballad of the White Horse." my view, it would be improved by abridgement (I would, for example, terminate the prologue after the line "And laid peace on the sea"), I think it well worth reading as it stands, both for the history and (with minor reservations) for the theology. by James Kiefer England, King of the English, 871-899, Alphred the Great, King of Wessex ; the Great (848/49 – 26 October 899) was king of the West Saxons from 871 to c. 886 and king of the Anglo-Saxons from c. 886 to 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf, who died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred's rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England.[2] After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement with the Vikings, creating what was known as the Danelaw in the North of England. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity. He defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, becoming the dominant ruler in England.[3] Details of his life are described in a work by 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in Old English rather than Latin and improving the legal system and military structure and his people's quality of life. He was given the epithet "the Great" in the 16th century. Contents Family[edit] Further information: House of Wessex family tree Alfred was a son of Æthelwulf, king of Wessex, and his wife Osburh.[4] According to his biographer, Asser, writing in 893, "In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 849 Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons", was born at the royal estate called Wantage, in the district known as Berkshire[a] (which is so called from Berroc Wood, where the box tree grows very abundantly)." This date has been accepted by the editors of Asser's biography, Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge,[5] and by other historians such as David Dumville and Richard Huscroft.[6] However, West Saxon genealogical lists state that Alfred was 23 when he became king in April 871, implying that he was born between April 847 and April 848.[7] This dating is adopted in the biography of Alfred by Alfred Smyth, who regards Asser's biography as fraudulent,[8] an allegation which is rejected by other historians.[9] Richard Abels in his biography discusses both sources but does not decide between them and dates Alfred's birth as 847/849, while Patrick Wormald in his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article dates it 848/849.[b] Berkshire had been historically disputed between Wessex and Mercia, and as late as 844, a charter showed that it was part of Mercia, but Alfred's birth in the county is evidence that, by the late 840s, control had passed to Wessex.[11] He was the youngest of six children. His eldest brother, Æthelstan, was old enough to be appointed sub-king of Kent in 839, almost 10 years before Alfred was born. He died in the early 850s. Alfred's next three brothers were successively kings of Wessex. Æthelbald (858-860) and Æthelberht (860-865) were also much older than Alfred, but Æthelred (865-871) was only a year or two older. Alfred's only known sister, Æthelswith, married Burgred, king of the midland kingdom of Mercia in 853. Most historians think that Osburh was the mother of all Æthelwulf's children, but some suggest that the older ones were born to an unrecorded first wife. Osburh was descended from the rulers of the Isle of Wight. She was described by Alfred's biographer Asser as "a most religious woman, noble by temperament and noble by birth". She had died by 856 when Æthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, king of West Francia.[12] In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of the Mercian nobleman Æthelred Mucel, ealdorman of the Gaini, and his wife Eadburh, who was of royal Mercian descent.[13][c] Their children were Æthelflæd, who married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians; Edward the Elder, Alfred's successor as king; Æthelgifu, abbess of Shaftesbury; Ælfthryth, who married Baldwin, count of Flanders; and Æthelweard.[15] Background[edit] Map of Britain in 886 Alfred's grandfather, Ecgberht, became king of Wessex in 802, and in the view of the historian Richard Abels, it must have seemed very unlikely to contemporaries that he would establish a lasting dynasty. For 200 years, three families had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. No ancestor of Ecgberht had been a king of Wessex since Ceawlin in the late sixth century, but he was believed to be a paternal descendant of Cerdic, the founder of the West Saxon dynasty.[d] This made Ecgberht an ætheling – a prince eligible for the throne. But after Ecgberht's reign, descent from Cerdic was no longer sufficient to make a man an ætheling. When Ecgberht died in 839, he was succeeded by his son Æthelwulf; all subsequent West Saxon kings were descendants of Ecgberht and Æthelwulf, and were also sons of kings.[18] At the beginning of the ninth century, England was almost wholly under the control of the Anglo-Saxons. Mercia dominated southern England, but its supremacy came to an end in 825 when it was decisively defeated by Ecgberht at the Battle of Ellendun.[19] The two kingdoms became allies, which was important in the resistance to Viking attacks.[20] In 853, King Burgred of Mercia requested West Saxon help to suppress a Welsh rebellion, and Æthelwulf led a West Saxon contingent in a successful joint campaign. In the same year Burgred married Æthelwulf's daughter, Æthelswith.[21] In 825, Ecgberht sent Æthelwulf to invade the Mercian sub-kingdom of Kent, and its sub-king, Baldred, was driven out shortly afterwards. By 830, Essex, Surrey and Sussex had submitted to Ecgberht, and he had appointed Æthelwulf to rule the south-eastern territories as king of Kent.[22] The Vikings ravaged the Isle of Sheppey in 835, and the following year they defeated Ecgberht at Carhampton in Somerset,[23] but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[24] When Æthelwulf succeeded, he appointed his eldest son Æthelstan as sub-king of Kent.[25] Ecgberht and Æthelwulf may not have intended a permanent union between Wessex and Kent because they both appointed sons as sub-kings and charters in Wessex were attested (witnessed) by West Saxon magnates, and Kentish charters were witnessed by the Kentish elite; both kings kept overall control and the sub-kings were not allowed to issue their own coinage.[26] Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 Æthelwulf was defeated at Carhampton.[25] In 850, Æthelstan defeated a Danish fleet off Sandwich in the first recorded naval battle in English history.[27] In 851 Æthelwulf and his second son, Æthelbald, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Aclea and, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen raiding-army that we have heard tell of up to this present day, and there took the victory".[28] Æthelwulf died in 858 and was succeeded by his oldest surviving son, Æthelbald, as king of Wessex and by his next oldest son, Æthelberht, as king of Kent. Æthelbald only survived his father by two years and Æthelberht then for the first time united Wessex and Kent into a single kingdom.[29] Childhood[edit] Alfred's father Æthelwulf of Wessex in the early 14th-century Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England According to Asser, in his childhood Alfred won a beautifully decorated book of English poetry, offered as a prize by his mother to the first of her sons able to memorise it. He must have had it read to him because his mother died when he was about six and he did not learn to read until he was 12.[30] In 853, Alfred is reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have been sent to Rome where he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV, who "anointed him as king".[31] Victorian writers later interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his eventual succession to the throne of Wessex. This is unlikely; his succession could not have been foreseen at the time because Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul" and a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion.[15] It may be based upon the fact that Alfred later accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, king of the Franks, around 854–855.[32] On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his son Æthelbald. With civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to form a compromise. Æthelbald retained the western shires (i.e. historical Wessex), and Æthelwulf ruled in the east. After King Æthelwulf died in 858, Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession: Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred.[33] The reigns of Alfred's brothers[edit] A map of the route taken by the Viking Great Heathen Army which arrived in England from Denmark, Norway, and southern Sweden in 865 Alfred is not mentioned during the short reigns of his older brothers Æthelbald and Æthelberht. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the Great Heathen Army of Danes landing in East Anglia with the intent of conquering the four kingdoms which constituted Anglo-Saxon England in 865.[34] Alfred's public life began in 865 at age 16 with the accession of his third brother, 18-year-old Æthelred. During this period, Bishop Asser gave Alfred the unique title of secundarius, which may indicate a position similar to the Celtic tanist, a recognised successor closely associated with the reigning monarch. This arrangement may have been sanctioned by Alfred's father or by the Witan to guard against the danger of a disputed succession should Æthelred fall in battle. It was a well known tradition among other Germanic peoples - such as the Swedes and Franks to whom the Anglo-Saxons were closely related - to crown a successor as royal prince and military commander.[35] Viking invasion[edit] In 868, Alfred was recorded as fighting beside Æthelred in a failed attempt to keep the Great Heathen Army led by Ivar the Boneless out of the adjoining Kingdom of Mercia.[36] The Danes arrived in his homeland at the end of 870, and nine engagements were fought in the following year, with mixed results; the places and dates of two of these battles have not been recorded. A successful skirmish at the Battle of Englefield in Berkshire on 31 December 870 was followed by a severe defeat at the siege and the Battle of Reading by Ivar's brother Halfdan Ragnarsson on 5 January 871. Four days later, the Anglo-Saxons won a victory at the Battle of Ashdown on the Berkshire Downs, possibly near Compton or Aldworth.[35] The Saxons were defeated at the Battle of Basing on 22 January. They were defeated again on 22 March at the Battle of Merton (perhaps Marden in Wiltshire or Martin in Dorset).[35] Æthelred died shortly afterwards in April.[35] King at war[edit] Early struggles[edit] In April 871 King Æthelred died and Alfred acceded to the throne of Wessex and the burden of its defence, even though Æthelred left two under-age sons, Æthelhelm and Æthelwold. This was in accordance with the agreement that Æthelred and Alfred had made earlier that year in an assembly at an unidentified place called Swinbeorg. The brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other would inherit the personal property that King Æthelwulf had left jointly to his sons in his will. The deceased's sons would receive only whatever property and riches their father had settled upon them and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be king. Given the Danish invasion and the youth of his nephews, Alfred's accession probably went uncontested.[37] While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated the Saxon army in his absence at an unnamed spot and then again in his presence at Wilton in May.[35] The defeat at Wilton smashed any remaining hope that Alfred could drive the invaders from his kingdom. Alfred was forced instead to make peace with them. Although the terms of the peace are not recorded, Bishop Asser wrote that the pagans agreed to vacate the realm and made good their promise.[38] The Viking army withdrew from Reading in the autumn of 871 to take up winter quarters in Mercian London. Although not mentioned by Asser or by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred probably paid the Vikings cash to leave, much as the Mercians were to do in the following year.[38] Hoards dating to the Viking occupation of London in 871/872 have been excavated at Croydon, Gravesend and Waterloo Bridge. These finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Vikings. For the next five years, the Danes occupied other parts of England.[39] In 876, under their three leaders Guthrum, Oscetel and Anwend, the Danes slipped past the Saxon army and attacked and occupied Wareham in Dorset. Alfred blockaded them but was unable to take Wareham by assault. He negotiated a peace that involved an exchange of hostages and oaths, which the Danes swore on a "holy ring" associated with the worship of Thor. The Danes broke their word, and after killing all the hostages, slipped away under cover of night to Exeter in Devon.[40] Alfred blockaded the Viking ships in Devon, and with a relief fleet having been scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. The Danes withdrew to Mercia. In January 878, the Danes made a sudden attack on Chippenham, a royal stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas "and most of the people they killed, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood and swamp, and after Easter he made a fort at Athelney in the marshes of Somerset, and from that fort kept fighting against the foe".[41] From his fort at Athelney, an island in the marshes near North Petherton, Alfred was able to mount a resistance campaign, rallying the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.[35] 878 was the nadir of the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. With all the other kingdoms having fallen to the Vikings, Wessex alone was resisting.[42] The cake legend[edit] A legend tells how when Alfred first fled to the Somerset Levels, he was given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some wheaten cakes she had left cooking on the fire.[42][43] Preoccupied with the problems of his kingdom, Alfred accidentally let the cakes burn and was roundly scolded by the woman upon her return. There is no contemporary evidence for the legend, but it is possible that there was an early oral tradition. The first known written account of the incident is from about 100 years after Alfred's death.[43] Counter-attack and victory[edit] King Alfred's Tower (1772) on the supposed site of Egbert's Stone, the mustering place before the Battle of Edington.[e] In the seventh week after Easter (4–10 May 878), around Whitsuntide, Alfred rode to Egbert's Stone east of Selwood where he was met by "all the people of Somerset and of Wiltshire and of that part of Hampshire which is on this side of the sea (that is, west of Southampton Water), and they rejoiced to see him".[41] Alfred's emergence from his marshland stronghold was part of a carefully planned offensive that entailed raising the fyrds of three shires. This meant not only that the king had retained the loyalty of ealdormen, royal reeves and king's thegns, who were charged with levying and leading these forces, but that they had maintained their positions of authority in these localities well enough to answer his summons to war. Alfred's actions also suggest a system of scouts and messengers.[45] Alfred won a decisive victory in the ensuing Battle of Edington which may have been fought near Westbury, Wiltshire. He then pursued the Danes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. One of the terms of the surrender was that Guthrum convert to Christianity. Three weeks later, the Danish king and 29 of his chief men were baptised at Alfred's court at Aller, near Athelney, with Alfred receiving Guthrum as his spiritual son.[35] According to Asser, The unbinding of the chrisom[f] on the eighth day took place at a royal estate called Wedmore. — Keynes & Lapidge 1983, Ch. 56 At Wedmore, Alfred and Guthrum negotiated what some historians have called the Treaty of Wedmore, but it was to be some years after the cessation of hostilities that a formal treaty was signed.[47] Under the terms of the so-called Treaty of Wedmore, the converted Guthrum was required to leave Wessex and return to East Anglia. Consequently, in 879 the Viking army left Chippenham and made its way to Cirencester.[48] The formal Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, preserved in Old English in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (Manuscript 383), and in a Latin compilation known as Quadripartitus, was negotiated later, perhaps in 879 or 880, when King Ceolwulf II of Mercia was deposed.[49] That treaty divided up the kingdom of Mercia. By its terms, the boundary between Alfred's and Guthrum's kingdoms was to run up the River Thames to the River Lea, follow the Lea to its source (near Luton), from there extend in a straight line to Bedford, and from Bedford follow the River Ouse to Watling Street.[50] Alfred succeeded to Ceolwulf's kingdom consisting of western Mercia, and Guthrum incorporated the eastern part of Mercia into an enlarged Kingdom of East Anglia (henceforward known as the Danelaw). By terms of the treaty, moreover, Alfred was to have control over the Mercian city of London and its mints—at least for the time being.[51] In 825, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle had recorded that the people of Essex, Sussex, Kent and Surrey surrendered to Egbert, Alfred's grandfather. From then until the arrival of the Great Heathen Army, Essex had formed part of Wessex. After the foundation of Danelaw, it appears that some of Essex would have been ceded to the Danes, but how much is not clear.[52] 880s[edit] Further information: Londinium and Anglo-Saxon London With the signing of the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, an event most commonly held to have taken place around 880 when Guthrum's people began settling East Anglia, Guthrum was neutralised as a threat.[53] The Viking army, which had stayed at Fulham during the winter of 878–879, sailed for Ghent and was active on the continent from 879 to 892.[54][55] There were local raids on the coast of Wessex throughout the 880s. In 882, Alfred fought a small sea battle against four Danish ships. Two of the ships were destroyed, and the others surrendered. This was one of four sea battles recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, three of which involved Alfred.[56] Similar small skirmishes with independent Viking raiders would have occurred for much of the period as they had for decades.[57] In 883, Pope Marinus exempted the Saxon quarter in Rome from taxation, probably in return for Alfred's promise to send alms annually to Rome, which may be the origin of the medieval tax called Peter's Pence. The pope sent gifts to Alfred, including what was reputed to be a piece of the True Cross.[58] After the signing of the treaty with Guthrum, Alfred was spared any large-scale conflicts for some time. Despite this relative peace, the king was forced to deal with a number of Danish raids and incursions. Among these was a raid in Kent, an allied kingdom in South East England, during the year 885, which was possibly the largest raid since the battles with Guthrum. Asser's account of the raid places the Danish raiders at the Saxon city of Rochester,[54] where they built a temporary fortress in order to besiege the city. In response to this incursion, Alfred led an Anglo-Saxon force against the Danes who, instead of engaging the army of Wessex, fled to their beached ships and sailed to another part of Britain. The retreating Danish force supposedly left Britain the following summer.[59] Not long after the failed Danish raid in Kent, Alfred dispatched his fleet to East Anglia. The purpose of this expedition is debated, but Asser claims that it was for the sake of plunder.[59] After travelling up the River Stour, the fleet was met by Danish vessels that numbered 13 or 16 (sources vary on the number), and a battle ensued.[59] The Anglo-Saxon fleet emerged victorious, and as Huntingdon accounts, "laden with spoils".[60] The victorious fleet was surprised when attempting to leave the River Stour and was attacked by a Danish force at the mouth of the river. The Danish fleet defeated Alfred's fleet, which may have been weakened in the previous engagement.[61] A plaque in the City of London noting the restoration of the Roman walled city by Alfred A year later, in 886, Alfred reoccupied the city of London and set out to make it habitable again.[62] Alfred entrusted the city to the care of his son-in-law Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia. The restoration of London progressed through the latter half of the 880s and is believed to have revolved around a new street plan; added fortifications in addition to the existing Roman walls; and, some believe, the construction of matching fortifications on the south bank of the River Thames.[63] This is also the period in which almost all chroniclers agree that the Saxon people of pre-unification England submitted to Alfred.[64] In 888, Æthelred, the archbishop of Canterbury, also died. One year later Guthrum, or Athelstan by his baptismal name, Alfred's former enemy and king of East Anglia, died and was buried in Hadleigh, Suffolk.[65] Guthrum's death changed the political landscape for Alfred. The resulting power vacuum stirred other power-hungry warlords eager to take his place in the following years. The quiet years of Alfred's life were coming to a close.[66] Viking attacks (890s)[edit] After another lull, in the autumn of 892 or 893, the Danes attacked again. Finding their position in mainland Europe precarious, they crossed to England in 330 ships in two divisions. They entrenched themselves, the larger body, at Appledore, Kent and the lesser under Hastein, at Milton, also in Kent. The invaders brought their wives and children with them indicating a meaningful attempt at conquest and colonisation. Alfred, in 893 or 894, took up a position from which he could observe both forces.[67] While he was in talks with Hastein, the Danes at Appledore broke out and struck north-westwards. They were overtaken by Alfred's eldest son, Edward and were defeated at the Battle of Farnham in Surrey. They took refuge on an island at Thorney, on the River Colne between Buckinghamshire and Middlesex, where they were blockaded and forced to give hostages and promise to leave Wessex.[68][67] They then went to Essex and after suffering another defeat at Benfleet, joined with Hastein's force at Shoebury.[68] Alfred had been on his way to relieve his son at Thorney when he heard that the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes were besieging Exeter and an unnamed stronghold on the North Devon shore. Alfred at once hurried westward and raised the Siege of Exeter. The fate of the other place is not recorded.[69] The force under Hastein set out to march up the Thames Valley, possibly with the idea of assisting their friends in the west. They were met by a large force under the three great ealdormen of Mercia, Wiltshire and Somerset and forced to head off to the north-west, being finally overtaken and blockaded at Buttington. (Some identify this with Buttington Tump at the mouth of the River Wye, others with Buttington near Welshpool.) An attempt to break through the English lines failed. Those who escaped retreated to Shoebury. After collecting reinforcements, they made a sudden dash across England and occupied the ruined Roman walls of Chester. The English did not attempt a winter blockade but contented themselves with destroying all the supplies in the district.[69] Early in 894 or 895 lack of food obliged the Danes to retire once more to Essex. At the end of the year, the Danes drew their ships up the River Thames and the River Lea and fortified themselves twenty miles (32 km) north of London. A frontal attack on the Danish lines failed but later in the year, Alfred saw a means of obstructing the river to prevent the egress of the Danish ships. The Danes realised that they were outmanoeuvred, struck off north-westwards and wintered at Cwatbridge near Bridgnorth. The next year, 896 (or 897), they gave up the struggle. Some retired to Northumbria, some to East Anglia. Those who had no connections in England returned to the continent.[69] Military reorganisation[edit] Alfred the Great silver offering penny, 871–899. Legend: AELFRED REX SAXONUM ('Alfred King of the Saxons'). The Germanic tribes who invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries relied upon the unarmoured infantry supplied by their tribal levy, or fyrd, and it was upon this system that the military power of the several kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England depended.[70] The fyrd was a local militia in the Anglo-Saxon shire in which all freemen had to serve; those who refused military service were subject to fines or loss of their land.[71] According to the law code of King Ine of Wessex, issued in about 694, If a nobleman who holds land neglects military service, he shall pay 120 shillings and forfeit his land; a nobleman who holds no land shall pay 60 shillings; a commoner shall pay a fine of 30 shillings for neglecting military service — Attenborough 1922, pp. 52–53 Wessex's history of failures preceding Alfred's success in 878 emphasised to him that the traditional system of battle he had inherited played to the Danes' advantage. While the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes attacked settlements for plunder, they employed different tactics. In their raids the Anglo-Saxons traditionally preferred to attack head-on by assembling their forces in a shield wall, advancing against their target and overcoming the oncoming wall marshalled against them in defence.[72] The Danes preferred to choose easy targets, mapping cautious forays to avoid risking their plunder with high-stake attacks for more. Alfred determined their tactic was to launch small attacks from a secure base to which they could retreat should their raiders meet strong resistance.[72] The bases were prepared in advance, often by capturing an estate and augmenting its defences with ditches, ramparts and palisades. Once inside the fortification, Alfred realised, the Danes enjoyed the advantage, better situated to outlast their opponents or crush them with a counter-attack because the provisions and stamina of the besieging forces waned.[72] The means by which the Anglo-Saxons marshalled forces to defend against marauders also left them vulnerable to the Vikings. It was the responsibility of the shire fyrd to deal with local raids. The king could call up the national militia to defend the kingdom but in the case of the Viking raids, problems with communication and raising supplies meant that the national militia could not be mustered quickly enough. It was only after the raids had begun that a call went out to landowners to gather their men for battle. Large regions could be devastated before the fyrd could assemble and arrive. Although the landowners were obliged to the king to supply these men when called, during the attacks in 878 many of them abandoned their king and collaborated with Guthrum.[73][74] With these lessons in mind Alfred capitalised on the relatively peaceful years following his victory at Edington with an ambitious restructuring of Saxon defences. On a trip to Rome Alfred had stayed with Charles the Bald and it is possible that he may have studied how the Carolingian kings had dealt with Viking raiders. Learning from their experiences he was able to establish a system of taxation and defence for Wessex. There had been a system of fortifications in pre-Viking Mercia that may have been an influence. When the Viking raids resumed in 892 Alfred was better prepared to confront them with a standing, mobile field army, a network of garrisons and a small fleet of ships navigating the rivers and estuaries.[75][76][77] Administration and taxation[edit] Tenants in Anglo-Saxon England had a threefold obligation based on their landholding: the so-called "common burdens" of military service, fortress work, and bridge repair. This threefold obligation has traditionally been called trinoda necessitas or trimoda necessitas.[78] The Old English name for the fine due for neglecting military service was fierdwite.[79] To maintain the burhs, and to reorganise the fyrd as a standing army, Alfred expanded the tax and conscription system based on the productivity of a tenant's landholding. The hide was the basic unit of the system on which the tenant's public obligations were assessed. A hide is thought to represent the amount of land required to support one family. The hide differed in size according to the value and resources of the land and the landowner would have to provide service based on how many hides he owned.[78][80] Burghal system[edit] See also: Burghal Hidage A map of burhs named in the Burghal Hidage The walled defence round a burh. The City Walls of Alfred's capital, Winchester. Saxon and medieval work on Roman foundations. The foundation of Alfred's new military defence system was a network of burhs, distributed at tactical points throughout the kingdom.[81] There were thirty-three burhs, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) apart, enabling the military to confront attacks anywhere in the kingdom within a day.[82][83] Alfred's burhs (of which 22 developed into boroughs) ranged from former Roman towns, such as Winchester, where the stone walls were repaired and ditches added, to massive earthen walls surrounded by wide ditches, probably reinforced with wooden revetments and palisades, such as at Burpham in West Sussex.[84][85][86][g] The size of the burhs ranged from tiny outposts such as Pilton in Devon, to large fortifications in established towns, the largest being at Winchester.[88] A document now known as the Burghal Hidage provides an insight into how the system worked. It lists the hidage for each of the fortified towns contained in the document. Wallingford had a hidage of 2,400, which meant that the landowners there were responsible for supplying and feeding 2,400 men, the number sufficient for maintaining 9,900 feet (1.88 miles; 3.0 kilometres) of wall.[89] A total of 27,071 soldiers were needed, approximately one in four of all the free men in Wessex.[90] Many of the burhs were twin towns that straddled a river and were connected by a fortified bridge, like those built by Charles the Bald a generation before.[76] The double-burh blocked passage on the river, forcing Viking ships to navigate under a garrisoned bridge lined with men armed with stones, spears or arrows. Other burhs were sited near fortified royal villas, allowing the king better control over his strongholds.[91] The burhs were connected by a road system maintained for army use (known as herepaths). The roads allowed an army quickly to be assembled, sometimes from more than one burh, to confront the Viking invader.[92] The road network posed significant obstacles to Viking invaders, especially those laden with booty. The system threatened Viking routes and communications making it far more dangerous for them. The Vikings lacked the equipment for a siege against a burh and a developed doctrine of siegecraft, having tailored their methods of fighting to rapid strikes and unimpeded retreats to well-defended fortifications. The only means left to them was to starve the burh into submission but this gave the king time to send his field army or garrisons from neighbouring burhs along the army roads. In such cases, the Vikings were extremely vulnerable to pursuit by the king's joint military forces.[93] Alfred's burh system posed such a formidable challenge against Viking attack that when the Vikings returned in 892 and stormed a half-built, poorly garrisoned fortress up the Lympne estuary in Kent, the Anglo-Saxons were able to limit their penetration to the outer frontiers of Wessex and Mercia.[94] Alfred's burghal system was revolutionary in its strategic conception and potentially expensive in its execution. His contemporary biographer Asser wrote that many nobles balked at the demands placed upon them even though they were for "the common needs of the kingdom".[95][96] English navy[edit] Alfred also tried his hand at naval design. In 896 he ordered the construction of a small fleet, perhaps a dozen or so longships that, at 60 oars, were twice the size of Viking warships.[97] This was not, as the Victorians asserted, the birth of the English Navy. Wessex had possessed a royal fleet before this. Alfred's older brother sub-king Æthelstan of Kent and Ealdorman Ealhhere had defeated a Viking fleet in 851 capturing nine ships and Alfred had conducted naval actions in 882.[98] The year 897 marked an important development in the naval power of Wessex. The author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle related that Alfred's ships were larger, swifter, steadier and rode higher in the water than either Danish or Frisian ships. It is probable that, under the classical tutelage of Asser, Alfred used the design of Greek and Roman warships, with high sides, designed for fighting rather than for navigation.[99] Alfred had seapower in mind; if he could intercept raiding fleets before they landed, he could spare his kingdom from being ravaged. Alfred's ships may have been superior in conception, but in practice they proved to be too large to manoeuvre well in the close waters of estuaries and rivers, the only places in which a naval battle could be fought.[100] The warships of the time were not designed to be ship killers but rather troop carriers. It has been suggested that, like sea battles in late Viking age Scandinavia, these battles may have entailed a ship coming alongside an opposing vessel, lashing the two ships together and then boarding the craft. The result was a land battle involving hand-to-hand fighting on board the two lashed vessels.[101] In the one recorded naval engagement in 896, Alfred's new fleet of nine ships intercepted six Viking ships at the mouth of an unidentified river in the south of England. The Danes had beached half their ships and gone inland.[102][97] Alfred's ships immediately moved to block their escape. The three Viking ships afloat attempted to break through the English lines. Only one made it; Alfred's ships intercepted the other two.[97] Lashing the Viking boats to their own, the English crew boarded and proceeded to kill the Vikings. One ship escaped because Alfred's heavy ships became grounded when the tide went out.[101] A land battle ensued between the crews. The Danes were heavily outnumbered, but as the tide rose, they returned to their boats which, with shallower drafts, were freed first. The English watched as the Vikings rowed past them but they suffered so many casualties (120 dead against 62 Frisians and English) that they had difficulty putting out to sea.[101] All were too damaged to row around Sussex, and two were driven against the Sussex coast (possibly at Selsey Bill).[97][101] The shipwrecked crew were brought before Alfred at Winchester and hanged.[97] Legal reform[edit] Main article: Doom book A coin of Alfred, London, 880 (based upon a Roman model) In the late 880s or early 890s, Alfred issued a long domboc or law code consisting of his own laws, followed by a code issued by his late seventh-century predecessor King Ine of Wessex.[103] Together these laws are arranged into 120 chapters. In his introduction Alfred explains that he gathered together the laws he found in many "synod-books" and "ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed—those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me, I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way".[104] Alfred singled out in particular the laws that he "found in the days of Ine, my kinsman, or Offa, king of the Mercians, or King Æthelberht of Kent who first among the English people received baptism". He appended, rather than integrated, the laws of Ine into his code and although he included, as had Æthelbert, a scale of payments in compensation for injuries to various body parts, the two injury tariffs are not aligned. Offa is not known to have issued a law code, leading historian Patrick Wormald to speculate that Alfred had in mind the legatine capitulary of 786 that was presented to Offa by two papal legates.[105] About a fifth of the law code is taken up by Alfred's introduction which includes translations into English of the Ten Commandments, a few chapters from the Book of Exodus, and the Apostolic Letter from the Acts of the Apostles (15:23–29). The introduction may best be understood as Alfred's meditation upon the meaning of Christian law.[106] It traces the continuity between God's gift of law to Moses to Alfred's own issuance of law to the West Saxon people. By doing so, it linked the holy past to the historical present and represented Alfred's law-giving as a type of divine legislation.[107] Similarly Alfred divided his code into 120 chapters because 120 was the age at which Moses died and, in the number-symbolism of early medieval biblical exegetes, 120 stood for law.[108] The link between Mosaic law and Alfred's code is the Apostolic Letter which explained that Christ "had come not to shatter or annul the commandments but to fulfill them; and he taught mercy and meekness" (Intro, 49.1). The mercy that Christ infused into Mosaic law underlies the injury tariffs that figure so prominently in barbarian law codes since Christian synods "established, through that mercy which Christ taught, that for almost every misdeed at the first offence secular lords might with their permission receive without sin the monetary compensation which they then fixed".[109] The only crime that could not be compensated with a payment of money was treachery to a lord "since Almighty God adjudged none for those who despised Him, nor did Christ, the Son of God, adjudge any for the one who betrayed Him to death; and He commanded everyone to love his lord as Himself".[109] Alfred's transformation of Christ's commandment, from "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matt. 22:39–40) to love your secular lord as you would love the Lord Christ himself, underscores the importance that Alfred placed upon lordship which he understood as a sacred bond instituted by God for the governance of man.[110] When one turns from the domboc's introduction to the laws themselves, it is difficult to uncover any logical arrangement. The impression is of a hodgepodge of miscellaneous laws. The law code, as it has been preserved, is singularly unsuitable for use in lawsuits. In fact, several of Alfred's laws contradicted the laws of Ine that form an integral part of the code. Patrick Wormald's explanation is that Alfred's law code should be understood not as a legal manual but as an ideological manifesto of kingship "designed more for symbolic impact than for practical direction".[111] In practical terms the most important law in the code may well have been the first: "We enjoin, what is most necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge" which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law.[112] Alfred devoted considerable attention and thought to judicial matters. Asser underscores his concern for judicial fairness. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted upon reviewing contested judgments made by his ealdormen and reeves and "would carefully look into nearly all the judgements which were passed [issued] in his absence anywhere in the realm to see whether they were just or unjust".[113] A charter from the reign of his son Edward the Elder depicts Alfred as hearing one such appeal in his chamber while washing his hands.[114] Asser represents Alfred as a Solomonic judge, painstaking in his own judicial investigations and critical of royal officials who rendered unjust or unwise judgments. Although Asser never mentions Alfred's law code he does say that Alfred insisted that his judges be literate so that they could apply themselves "to the pursuit of wisdom". The failure to comply with this royal order was to be punished by loss of office.[115] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, commissioned at the time of Alfred, was probably written to promote unification of England,[116] whereas Asser's The Life of King Alfred promoted Alfred's achievements and personal qualities. It was possible that the document was designed this way so that it could be disseminated in Wales because Alfred had acquired overlordship of that country.[116] Foreign relations[edit] Asser speaks grandiosely of Alfred's relations with foreign powers but little definite information is available.[69] His interest in foreign countries is shown by the insertions which he made in his translation of Orosius. He corresponded with Elias III, the patriarch of Jerusalem,[69] and embassies to Rome conveying the English alms to the pope were fairly frequent.[76][h] Around 890, Wulfstan of Hedeby undertook a journey from Hedeby on Jutland along the Baltic Sea to the Prussian trading town of Truso. Alfred personally collected details of this trip.[118] Alfred's relations with the Celtic princes in the western half of Great Britain are clearer. Comparatively early in his reign, according to Asser, the southern Welsh princes, owing to the pressure on them from North Wales and Mercia, commended themselves to Alfred. Later in his reign, the North Welsh followed their example and the latter cooperated with the English in the campaign of 893 (or 894). That Alfred sent alms to Irish and Continental monasteries may be taken on Asser's authority. The visit of three pilgrim "Scots" (i.e., Irish) to Alfred in 891 is undoubtedly authentic. The story that, in his childhood, he was sent to Ireland to be healed by Saint Modwenna may show Alfred's interest in that island.[69] Religion, education and culture[edit] Alfred depicted in a stained-glass window of c. 1905 in Bristol Cathedral In the 880s, at the same time that he was "cajoling and threatening" his nobles to build and man the burhs, Alfred, perhaps inspired by the example of Charlemagne almost a century before, undertook an equally ambitious effort to revive learning.[69] During this period, the Viking raids were often seen as a divine punishment, and Alfred may have wished to revive religious awe in order to appease God's wrath.[119] This revival entailed the recruitment of clerical scholars from Mercia, Wales and abroad to enhance the tenor of the court and of the episcopacy; the establishment of a court school to educate his own children, the sons of his nobles, and intellectually promising boys of lesser birth; an attempt to require literacy in those who held offices of authority; a series of translations into the vernacular of Latin works the king deemed "most necessary for all men to know";[120] the compilation of a chronicle detailing the rise of Alfred's kingdom and house, with a genealogy that stretched back to Adam, thus giving the West Saxon kings a biblical ancestry.[121] Very little is known of the church under Alfred. The Danish attacks had been particularly damaging to the monasteries. Although Alfred founded monasteries at Athelney and Shaftesbury, these were the first new monastic houses in Wessex since the beginning of the eighth century.[122] According to Asser, Alfred enticed foreign monks to England for his monastery at Athelney because there was little interest for the locals to take up the monastic life.[123] Alfred undertook no systematic reform of ecclesiastical institutions or religious practices in Wessex. For him, the key to the kingdom's spiritual revival was to appoint pious, learned, and trustworthy bishops and abbots. As king, he saw himself as responsible for both the temporal and spiritual welfare of his subjects. Secular and spiritual authority were not distinct categories for Alfred.[124][125] He was equally comfortable distributing his translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care to his bishops so that they might better train and supervise priests and using those same bishops as royal officials and judges. Nor did his piety prevent him from expropriating strategically sited church lands, especially estates along the border with the Danelaw, and transferring them to royal thegns and officials who could better defend them against Viking attacks.[125][126] Effect of Danish raids on education[edit] The Danish raids had a devastating effect on learning in England. Alfred lamented in the preface to his translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care that "learning had declined so thoroughly in England that there were very few men on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English or even translate a single letter from Latin into English: and I suppose that there were not many beyond the Humber either".[127] Alfred undoubtedly exaggerated, for dramatic effect, the abysmal state of learning in England during his youth.[32] That Latin learning had not been obliterated is evidenced by the presence in his court of learned Mercian and West Saxon clerics such as Plegmund, Wæferth, and Wulfsige.[128] Manuscript production in England dropped off precipitously around the 860s when the Viking invasions began in earnest, not to be revived until the end of the century.[129] Numerous Anglo-Saxon manuscripts burnt along with the churches that housed them. A solemn diploma from Christ Church, Canterbury, dated 873, is so poorly constructed and written that historian Nicholas Brooks posited a scribe who was either so blind he could not read what he wrote or who knew little or no Latin. "It is clear", Brooks concludes, "that the metropolitan church [of Canterbury] must have been quite unable to provide any effective training in the scriptures or in Christian worship".[130] Establishment of a court school[edit] Alfred established a court school for the education of his own children, those of the nobility, and "a good many of lesser birth". There they studied books in both English and Latin and "devoted themselves to writing, to such an extent ... they were seen to be devoted and intelligent students of the liberal arts".[131] He recruited scholars from the Continent and from Britain to aid in the revival of Christian learning in Wessex and to provide the king personal instruction. Grimbald and John the Saxon came from Francia; Plegmund (whom Alfred appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 890), Bishop Wærferth of Worcester, Æthelstan, and the royal chaplains Werwulf, from Mercia; and Asser, from St David's in southwestern Wales.[132] Advocacy of education in English[edit] Line drawing of the Alfred Jewel, showing the socket at its base Alfred's educational ambitions seem to have extended beyond the establishment of a court school. Believing that without Christian wisdom there can be neither prosperity nor success in war, Alfred aimed "to set to learning (as long as they are not useful for some other employment) all the free-born young men now in England who have the means to apply themselves to it".[133] Conscious of the decay of Latin literacy in his realm Alfred proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin.[134] There were few "books of wisdom" written in English. Alfred sought to remedy this through an ambitious court-centred programme of translating into English the books he deemed "most necessary for all men to know".[134] It is unknown when Alfred launched this programme but it may have been during the 880s when Wessex was enjoying a respite from Viking attacks. Alfred was, until recently, often considered to have been the author of many of the translations but this is now considered doubtful in almost all cases.[135] Scholars more often refer to translations as "Alfredian" indicating that they probably had something to do with his patronage but are unlikely to be his own work.[136] Apart from the lost Handboc or Encheiridio, which seems to have been a commonplace book kept by the king, the earliest work to be translated was the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, a book greatly popular in the Middle Ages. The translation was undertaken at Alfred's command by Wærferth, Bishop of Worcester, with the king merely furnishing a preface.[69] Remarkably, Alfred – undoubtedly with the advice and aid of his court scholars – translated four works himself: Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustine's Soliloquies and the first fifty psalms of the Psalter.[137] One might add to this list the translation, in Alfred's law code, of excerpts from the Vulgate Book of Exodus. The Old English versions of Orosius's Histories against the Pagans and Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People are no longer accepted by scholars as Alfred's own translations because of lexical and stylistic differences.[137] Nonetheless the consensus remains that they were part of the Alfredian programme of translation. Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge suggest this also for Bald's Leechbook and the anonymous Old English Martyrology.[138] The preface of Alfred's translation of Pope Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care[133] explained why he thought it necessary to translate works such as this from Latin into English. Although he described his method as translating "sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense", the translation keeps very close to the original although, through his choice of language, he blurred throughout the distinction between spiritual and secular authority. Alfred meant the translation to be used, and circulated it to all his bishops.[139] Interest in Alfred's translation of Pastoral Care was so enduring that copies were still being made in the 11th century.[140] Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy was the most popular philosophical handbook of the Middle Ages. Unlike the translation of the Pastoral Care the Alfredian text deals very freely with the original and, though the late Dr. G. Schepss showed that many of the additions to the text are to be traced not to the translator himself[141] but to the glosses and commentaries which he used, still there is much in the work which is distinctive to the translation and has been taken to reflect philosophies of kingship in Alfred's milieu. It is in the Boethius that the oft-quoted sentence occurs: "To speak briefly: I desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works."[142] The book has come down to us in two manuscripts only. In one of these[143] the writing is prose, in the other[144] a combination of prose and alliterating verse. The latter manuscript was severely damaged in the 18th and 19th centuries.[145] The last of the Alfredian works is one which bears the name Blostman ('Blooms') or Anthology. The first half is based mainly on the Soliloquies of St Augustine of Hippo, the remainder is drawn from various sources. The material has traditionally been thought to contain much that is Alfred's own and highly characteristic of him. The last words of it may be quoted; they form a fitting epitaph for the noblest of English kings. "Therefore, he seems to me a very foolish man, and truly wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear."[139] Alfred appears as a character in the twelfth- or 13th-century poem The Owl and the Nightingale where his wisdom and skill with proverbs is praised. The Proverbs of Alfred, a 13th-century work, contains sayings that are not likely to have originated with Alfred but attest to his posthumous medieval reputation for wisdom.[146] The Alfred Jewel, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, commissioned by Alfred; probably a pointer to aid reading The Alfred jewel, discovered in Somerset in 1693, has long been associated with King Alfred because of its Old English inscription AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN ('Alfred ordered me to be made'). The jewel is about 2+1⁄2 inches (6.4 centimetres) long, made of filigreed gold, enclosing a highly polished piece of quartz crystal beneath which is set in a cloisonné enamel plaque with an enamelled image of a man holding floriate sceptres, perhaps personifying Sight or the Wisdom of God.[147] It was at one time attached to a thin rod or stick based on the hollow socket at its base. The jewel certainly dates from Alfred's reign. Although its function is unknown it has been often suggested that the jewel was one of the æstels – pointers for reading – that Alfred ordered sent to every bishopric accompanying a copy of his translation of the Pastoral Care. Each æstel was worth the princely sum of 50 mancuses which fits in well with the quality workmanship and expensive materials of the Alfred jewel.[148] Historian Richard Abels sees Alfred's educational and military reforms as complementary. Restoring religion and learning in Wessex, Abels contends, was to Alfred's mind as essential to the defence of his realm as the building of the burhs.[149] As Alfred observed in the preface to his English translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, kings who fail to obey their divine duty to promote learning can expect earthly punishments to befall their people.[150] The pursuit of wisdom, he assured his readers of the Boethius, was the surest path to power: "Study wisdom, then, and, when you have learned it, condemn it not, for I tell you that by its means you may without fail attain to power, yea, even though not desiring it".[151] The portrayal of the West-Saxon resistance to the Vikings by Asser and the chronicler as a Christian holy war was more than mere rhetoric or propaganda. It reflected Alfred's own belief in a doctrine of divine rewards and punishments rooted in a vision of a hierarchical Christian world order in which God is the Lord to whom kings owe obedience and through whom they derive their authority over their followers. The need to persuade his nobles to undertake work for the 'common good' led Alfred and his court scholars to strengthen and deepen the conception of Christian kingship that he had inherited by building upon the legacy of earlier kings including Offa, clerical writers including Bede, and Alcuin and various participants in the Carolingian renaissance. This was not a cynical use of religion to manipulate his subjects into obedience but an intrinsic element in Alfred's worldview. He believed, as did other kings in ninth-century England and Francia, that God had entrusted him with the spiritual as well as physical welfare of his people. If the Christian faith fell into ruin in his kingdom, if the clergy were too ignorant to understand the Latin words they butchered in their offices and liturgies, if the ancient monasteries and collegiate churches lay deserted out of indifference, he was answerable before God, as Josiah had been. Alfred's ultimate responsibility was the pastoral care of his people.[149] Appearance and character[edit] No known portrait of Alfred the Great exists from life. A likeness by artist and historian George S. Stuart created from his physical description mentioned in historical records. Asser wrote of Alfred in his Life of King Alfred, Now, he was greatly loved, more than all his brothers, by his father and mother—indeed, by everybody—with a universal and profound love, and he was always brought up in the royal court and nowhere else...[He] was seen to be more comely in appearance than his other brothers, and more pleasing in manner, speech and behaviour...[and] in spite of all the demands of the present life, it has been the desire for wisdom, more than anything else, together with the nobility of his birth, which have characterized the nature of his noble mind. — Keynes & Lapidge 1983, pp. 74–75 It is also written by Asser that Alfred did not learn to read until he was 12 years old or later, which is described as "shameful negligence" of his parents and tutors. Alfred was an excellent listener and had an incredible memory and he retained poetry and psalms very well. A story is told by Asser about how his mother held up a book of Saxon poetry to him and his brothers, and said; "I shall give this book to whichever one of you can learn it the fastest." After excitedly asking, "Will you really give this book to the one of us who can understand it the soonest and recite it to you?" Alfred then took it to his teacher, learned it, and recited it back to his mother.[152] Alfred is noted as carrying around a small book, probably a medieval version of a small pocket notebook, that contained psalms and many prayers that he often collected. Asser writes: these "he collected in a single book, as I have seen for myself; amid all the affairs of the present life he took it around with him everywhere for the sake of prayer, and was inseparable from it."[152] An excellent hunter in every branch of the sport, Alfred is remembered as an enthusiastic huntsman against whom nobody's skills could compare.[152] Although he was the youngest of his brothers, he was probably the most open-minded. He was an early advocate for education. His desire for learning could have come from his early love of English poetry and inability to read or physically record it until later in life. Asser writes that Alfred "could not satisfy his craving for what he desired the most, namely the liberal arts; for, as he used to say, there were no good scholars in the entire kingdom of the West Saxons at that time".[152] Family[edit] A posthumous image of Queen Ealhswith, 1220 In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family.[153] They had five or six children together, including Edward the Elder who succeeded his father as king; Æthelflæd who became lady of the Mercians; and Ælfthryth who married Baldwin II, Count of Flanders. His mother was Osburga, daughter of Oslac of the Isle of Wight, Chief Butler of England. Asser, in his Vita Ælfredi asserts that this shows his lineage from the Jutes of the Isle of Wight. This is unlikely because Bede tells us that they were all slaughtered by the Saxons under Cædwalla.[154] Osferth was described as a relative in King Alfred's will and he attested charters in a high position until 934. A charter of King Edward's reign described him as the king's brother – mistakenly according to Keynes and Lapidge, and in the view of Janet Nelson, he probably was an illegitimate son of King Alfred.[155][156] Name Birth Death Notes Æthelflæd 12 June 918 Married c. 886, Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians d. 911; had issue Edward c. 874 17 July 924 Married (1) Ecgwynn, (2) Ælfflæd, (3) 919 Eadgifu Æthelgifu Abbess of Shaftesbury Æthelweard 16 October 922(?) Married and had issue Ælfthryth 929 Married Baldwin II d. 918; had issue Death and burial[edit] Alfred's will Alfred died on 26 October 899 at the age of 50 or 51.[157] How he died is unknown, but he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness. His biographer Asser gave a detailed description of Alfred's symptoms, and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. It is thought that he had either Crohn's disease or haemorrhoids.[158][159] His grandson King Eadred seems to have suffered from a similar illness.[160][i] Alfred was temporarily buried at the Old Minster in Winchester with his wife Ealhswith and later, his son Edward the Elder. Before his death he ordered the construction of the New Minster hoping that it would become a mausoleum for him and his family.[162] Four years after his death, the bodies of Alfred and his family were exhumed and moved to their new resting place in the New Minster and remained there for 211 years. When William the Conqueror rose to the English throne after the Norman conquest in 1066, many Anglo-Saxon abbeys were demolished and replaced with Norman cathedrals. One of those unfortunate abbeys was the very New Minster abbey where Alfred was laid to rest.[162] Before demolition, the monks at the New Minster exhumed the bodies of Alfred and his family to safely transfer them to a new location. The New Minster monks moved to Hyde in 1110 a little north of the city, and they transferred to Hyde Abbey along with Alfred's body and those of his wife and children, which were interred before the high altar.[162] In 1536, many Roman Catholic churches were vandalized by the people of England spurred by disillusionment with the church during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. One such Catholic church was the site of Alfred's burial, Hyde Abbey. Once again, Alfred's place of rest was disturbed for the now 3rd time. Hyde Abbey was dissolved in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII,[162] the church site was demolished and treated like a quarry, as the stones that made up the abbey were then re-used in local architecture.[163] The stone graves housing Alfred and his family stayed underground, and the land returned to farming. These graves remained intact until 1788 when the site was acquired by the county for the construction of a town jail. Before construction began, convicts that would later be imprisoned at the site were sent in to prepare the ground, to ready it for building. While digging the foundation trenches, the convicts discovered the coffins of Alfred and his family. The local Catholic priest, Dr. Milner recounts this event: Thus miscreants couch amidst the ashes of our Alfreds and Edwards; and where once religious silence and contemplation were only interrupted by the bell of regular observance, the chanting of devotion, now alone resound the clank of the captives chains and the oaths of the profligate! In digging for the foundation of that mournful edifice, at almost every stroke of the mattock or spade some ancient sepulchre was violated, the venerable contents of which were treated with marked indignity. On this occasion a great number of stone coffins were dug up, with a variety of other curious articles, such as chalices, patens, rings, buckles, the leather of shoes and boots, velvet and gold lace belonging to chasubles and other vestments; as also the crook, rims, and joints of a beautiful crosier double gilt.[164] The convicts broke the stone coffins into pieces, the lead, which lined the coffins, was sold for two guineas, and the bones within scattered around the area.[163] The prison was demolished between 1846 and 1850.[165] Further excavations were inconclusive in 1866 and 1897.[166][167] In 1866, amateur antiquarian John Mellor claimed to have recovered a number of bones from the site which he said were those of Alfred. These came into the possession of the vicar of nearby St Bartholomew's Church who reburied them in an unmarked grave in the church graveyard.[165] Excavations conducted by the Winchester Museums Service of the Hyde Abbey site in 1999 located a second pit dug in front of where the high altar would have been located, which was identified as probably dating to Mellor's 1866 excavation.[166] The 1999 archeological excavation uncovered the foundations of the abbey buildings and some bones, suggested at the time to be those of Alfred; they proved instead to belong to an elderly woman.[168] In March 2013, the Diocese of Winchester exhumed the bones from the unmarked grave at St Bartholomew's and placed them in secure storage. The diocese made no claim that they were the bones of Alfred, but intended to secure them for later analysis, and from the attentions of people whose interest may have been sparked by the recent identification of the remains of King Richard III.[168][169] The bones were radiocarbon-dated but the results showed that they were from the 1300s and therefore not of Alfred. In January 2014, a fragment of pelvis that had been unearthed in the 1999 excavation of the Hyde site, and had subsequently lain in a Winchester museum store room, was radiocarbon-dated to the correct period. It has been suggested that this bone may belong to either Alfred or his son Edward, but this remains unproven.[170][171] Legacy[edit] See also: Cultural depictions of Alfred the Great Statue of Alfred the Great at Wantage, Oxfordshire Alfred is venerated as a saint by some Christian traditions.[172] Though Henry VI of England attempted unsuccessfully to have him canonized by Pope Eugene IV in 1441, he was venerated sometimes in the Catholic Church; however the current "Roman Martyrology" does not mention him.[173][174][j] The Anglican Communion venerates him as a Christian hero, with a Lesser Festival on 26 October,[175] and he may often be found depicted in stained glass in Church of England parish churches.[176] Alfred commissioned Bishop Asser to write his biography, which inevitably emphasised Alfred's positive aspects. Later medieval historians such as Geoffrey of Monmouth also reinforced Alfred's favourable image. By the time of the Reformation, Alfred was seen as a pious Christian ruler who promoted the use of English rather than Latin, and so the translations that he commissioned were viewed as untainted by the later Roman Catholic influences of the Normans. Consequently, it was writers of the 16th century who gave Alfred his epithet as "the Great", not any of Alfred's contemporaries.[177] The epithet was retained by succeeding generations who admired Alfred's patriotism, success against barbarism, promotion of education, and establishment of the rule of law.[177] A number of educational establishments are named in Alfred's honour: The University of Winchester created from the former King Alfred's College, Winchester (1928 to 2004) Alfred University and Alfred State College in Alfred, New York; the local telephone exchange for Alfred University is 871 in commemoration of the year of Alfred's ascension to the throne. Additionally, the mascot of Alfred University is named Lil' Alf and is modeled after the king The University of Liverpool created a King Alfred Chair of English Literature Eighteenth-century portrait of Alfred by Samuel Woodforde King Alfred's Academy, a secondary school in Wantage, Oxfordshire, the birthplace of Alfred King's Lodge School in Chippenham, Wiltshire, so named because King Alfred's hunting lodge is reputed to have stood on or near the site of the school The King Alfred School and Specialist Sports Academy, Burnham Road, Highbridge, so named due to its rough proximity to Brent Knoll (a Beacon site) and Athelney The King Alfred School in Barnet, North London, UK King Alfred's house in Bishop Stopford's School at Enfield King Alfred Swimming Pool & Leisure complex in Hove, Brighton UK The Royal Navy named one ship and two shore establishments HMS King Alfred, and one of the early ships of the U.S. Navy was named USS Alfred in his honour. In 2002, Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.[178] Statues[edit] Winchester[edit] A bronze statue of Alfred the Great stands at the eastern end of The Broadway, close to the site of Winchester's medieval East Gate. The statue was designed by Hamo Thornycroft, cast in bronze by Singer & Sons of Frome and erected in 1899 to mark one thousand years since Alfred's death.[179][180] The statue is placed on a pedestal consisting of two immense blocks of grey Cornish granite.[181] Pewsey[edit] Pewsey statue, 1913 A prominent statue of King Alfred the Great stands in the middle of Pewsey. It was unveiled in June 1913 to commemorate the coronation of King George V.[182] Wantage[edit] A statue of Alfred the Great, situated in the Wantage market place, was sculpted by Count Gleichen, a relative of Queen Victoria, and unveiled on 14 July 1877 by the Prince and Princess of Wales.[183] The statue was vandalised on New Year's Eve 2007, losing part of its right arm and axe. After the arm and axe were replaced, the statue was again vandalised on Christmas Eve 2008, losing its axe.[183] Alfred University, New York[edit] Statue at Alfred University The centerpiece of Alfred University's quad is a bronze statue of the king, created in 1990 by then-professor William Underhill. It features the king as a young man, holding a shield in his left hand and an open book in his right.[184] Cleveland, Ohio[edit] A marble statue of Alfred the Great stands on the North side of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It was sculpted by Isidore Konti in 1910.[185] Chronology[edit] Date Event c. 848 Alfred is born in Wantage, Berkshire. c. 852 Alfred's oldest brother Æthelstan of Kent dies. c. 853 Alfred's sister, Æthelswith marries Burgred, the king of Mercians. c. 854 Alfred's father Æthelwulf sends Alfred and his youngest older brother Æthelred on a pilgrimage to Rome.[186] Alfred's mother Osburh dies. c. 855 Æthelwulf goes on a pilgrimage with Alfred, after dividing his realm between his sons, Æthelbald and Æthelberht.[187] c. 856 Preteen Judith of Flanders becomes the stepmother of Alfred after Æthelwulf marries her.[187] Æthelwulf returns home, but Æthelbald refuses to give up his position, forcing Æthelwulf to retire to Kent with Æthelberht.[188] c. 858 Æthelwulf dies. c. 860 Æthelbald dies and is succeeded by his brother Æthelberht. c. 865 Æthelberht dies and is succeeded by his brother Æthelred. The Great Heathen Army lands in East Anglia. c. 868 Æthelred aids Burgred against the Danes. Alfred marries Ealhswith in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. c. 870 Alfred's first child Æthelflæd is born. c. 871 Æthelred dies and is succeeded by Alfred. Alfred makes peace with the Danes and takes Winchester as his residence. c. 872 Burgred pays tribute to the Danes. c. 873 The Danes invade Mercia and seize Repton. c. 874 Danes sack Tamworth, exiling Burgred. Alfred's first son Edward the Elder is born. The Great Heathen Army splits as Halfdan retires to Northumbria. c. 875 Guthrum invades Alfred's realm. c. 876 Guthrum takes Wareham, but is besieged by Alfred. The Danes abandon Wareham, only to take Exeter instead. c. 877 Alfred besieges Exeter and is able to expel the Danes from his realm. c. 878 Alfred is forced to flee to Somerset Levels and begin guerilla warfare. Alfred defeats Guthrum decisively in the Battle of Edington, causing Guthrum's conversion to Christianity. Alfred's subject defeats another Danish invasion in the Battle of Cynwit. c. 886 Alfred conquers London and declares himself the king of the Anglo-Saxons.[189] c. 888 Æthelswith dies in Pavia. c. 893 Edward marries Ecgwynn. c. 894 Alfred becomes a grandfather when Ecgwynn gives birth to Æthelstan, the son of Edward. 899 Alfred dies. ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS (26 OCT 899); the Gospel was first preached in Britain, the island was inhabited by Celtic peoples. In the 400's, pagan Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, invaded Britain and drove the Christian Celts out of what is now England into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The new arrivals (called collectively the Anglo-Saxons) were then converted by Celtic missionaries moving in from the one side and Roman missionaries moving in from the other. (They then sent missionaries of their own, such as Boniface, to their pagan relatives on the Continent.) the 800's the cycle partly repeated itself, as the Christian Anglo-Saxons were invaded by the Danes, pagan raiders, who rapidly conquered the northeast portion of England. They seemed about to conquer the entire country and eliminate all resistance when they were turned back by Alfred, King of the West Saxons. was born in 849 at Wantage, Berkshire, youngest of five sons of King Aethelwulf. He wished to become a monk, but after the deaths (all in battle, I think) of his father and his four older brothers, he was made king in 871. He proved to be skilled at military tactics, and devised a defensive formation which the Danish charge was unable to break. After a decisive victory at Edington in 878, he reached an agreement with the Danish leader Guthrum, by which the Danes would retain a portion of northeastern England and be given other concessions in return for their agreement to accept baptism and Christian instruction. From a later point of view, it seems obvious that such a promise could not involve a genuine change of heart, and was therefore meaningless (and indeed, one Dane complained that the white robe that he was given after his baptism was not nearly so fine as the two that he had received after the two previous times that he had been defeated and baptized). However, Alfred's judgement proved sound. Guthrum, from his point of view, agreed to become a vassal of Christ. His nobles and chief warriors, being his vassals, were thereby obligated to give their feudal allegiance to Christ as well. They accepted baptism and the presence among them of Christian priests and missionaries to instruct them. The door was opened for conversions on a more personal level in that and succeeding generations. his later years, having secured a large degree of military security for his people, Alfred devoted his energies to repairing the damage that war had done to the cultural life of his people. He translated Boethius' Consolations of Philosophy into Old English, and brought in scholars from Wales and the Continent with whose help various writings of Bede, Augustine of Canterbury, and Gregory the Great were likewise translated. He was much impressed by the provisions in the Law of Moses for the protection of the rights of ordinary citizens, and gave order that similar provisions should be made part of English law. He promoted the education of the parish clergy. In one of his treatises, he wrote: "He seems to me a very foolish man, and very wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear." died on 26 October 899, and was buried in the Old Minster at Winchester. Alone among English monarchs, he is known as "the Great." writer G K Chesterton has written a long narrative poem about Alfred, called, "The Ballad of the White Horse." In my view, it would be improved by abridgement (I would, for example, terminate the prologue after the line "And laid peace on the sea"), but I think it well worth reading as it stands, both for the history and (with minor reservations) for the theology. by James Kiefer DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 878, Battle of Edington, Wessex, A S Kingdom of Wessex under Alfred over Great Summer Army of Dane Grunthrum
Battle of Edington in 878; the Battle of Edington, an army of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by the Dane Guthrum on a date between 6 and 12 May 878, resulting in the Treaty of Wedmore later the same year. sources locate the battle at "Eðandun". Until a scholarly consensus linked the battle site with the present-day town of Edington in Wiltshire, it was known as the Battle of Ethandun. This name continues to be used. Guthrum; (c. 835 - c. 890) was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century. A native of Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the "Great Summer Army" that arrived in Reading during April 871 to join forces with the Great Danish Army, whose intentions were to conquer the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. combined armies were successful in conquering the kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria, and overran Alfred the Great's Wessex, but were ultimately defeated by Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. Danes retreated to their stronghold, where Alfred laid siege and eventually Guthrum surrendered. the terms of his surrender, Guthrum was obliged to be baptised as a Christian and then leave Wessex. The subsequent Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum set out the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories, as well as agreements on peaceful trade and the weregild value of its people. treaty is seen as the foundation of the Danelaw. Guthrum ruled East Anglia under his baptismal name of Æthelstan until his death.[1] ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS (26 OCT 899); GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, APOLOGIST and WRITER, 1936;

England, 900-999, 10th Century Folder, Battle of Brunaburh, Eng. v Scot. and Ire.

England, 924-939, Athelstan, King of the English, conquered Viking York, first king of England, invaded Scotland, Brunaburh v
English King, 924-939, Athelstan; or Athelstan (c. 894 - 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to 939 when he died.[a] He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon kings. He never married and had no children. He was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund. Edward died in July 924, Æthelstan was accepted by the Mercians as king. His half-brother Ælfweard may have been recognised as king in Wessex, but died within three weeks of their father's death. Æthelstan encountered resistance in Wessex for several months, and was not crowned until September 925. 927 he conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York, making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England. 934 he invaded Scotland and forced Constantine II to submit to him, but Æthelstan's rule was resented by the Scots and Vikings, and in 937 they invaded England. Æthelstan defeated them at the Battle of Brunanburh, a victory which gave him great prestige both in the British Isles and on the Continent. his death in 939 the Vikings seized back control of York, and it was not finally reconquered until 954. centralised government; he increased control over the production of charters and summoned leading figures from distant areas to his councils. These meetings were also attended by rulers from outside his territory, especially Welsh kings, who thus acknowledged his overlordship. legal texts survive from his reign than from any other 10th-century English king. They show his concern about widespread robberies, and the threat they posed to social order. His legal reforms built on those of his grandfather, Alfred the Great. was one of the most pious West Saxon kings, and was known for collecting relics and founding churches. household was the centre of English learning during his reign, and it laid the foundation for the Benedictine monastic reform later in the century. No other West Saxon king played as important a role in European politics as Athelstan, and he arranged the marriages of several of his sisters to continental rulers. Martyr Nectan of Hartland, Commemorated on June 17;

England, 929-988, DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, Monk and Archbishop, restored Monasticism, Glastonbury, music, church bells, painting
England, 929-988, DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, Kent, England (crossroads of 4 Roman roads, Stour River 5), Monk and Archbishop, restored E Monasticism, Glastonbury Abby, music, church bells, painting, Regularis Concordia, Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, Exeter and other, Canterbury school for boys; Canterbury (crossraods of 4 Roman roads); DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988) ; was born near Glastonbury in the southwest of England about the year 909, ten years after the death of King Alfred. the Viking invasions of the ninth century, monasteries had been favorite targets of the invaders, and by Dunstan's time English monasticism had been wiped out. its restoration in the tenth century, Dunstan played the leading role. was born of an upper-class family, and sent to court, where he did not fit in. the urging of his uncle, the Bishop of Westminster, he became a monk and a priest, and returned to Glastonbury, where he built a hut near the ruins of the old monastery, and devoted himself to study, music, metal working (particularly the art of casting church bells, an art which he is said to have advanced considerably), and painting. A manuscript illuminated by him is in the British Museum. returned to court and was again asked to leave; but then King Edmund had a narrow escape from death while hunting, and in gratitude recalled Dunstan and in 943 commissioned him to re-establish monastic life at Glastonbury. is one of the oldest Christian sites in England, and is associated in legend with King Arthur and his Court, with Joseph of Arimathea, and with other worthies. It has been said that the Holy Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper, is hidden somewhere near Glastonbury.) Dunstan's direction, Glastonbury became an important center both of monasticism and of learning. The next king, Edred, adopted Dunstan's ideas for various reforms of the clergy (including the control of many cathedrals by monastic chapters) and for relations with the Danish settlers. policies made Dunstan popular in the North of England, but unpopular in the South. Edred was succeeded by his sixteen-year-old nephew Edwy, whom Dunstan openly rebuked for unchastity. furious Edwy drove Dunstan into exile, but the North rose in rebellion on his behalf. When the dust settled, Edwy was dead, his brother Edgar was king, and Dunstan was Archbishop of Canterbury. coronation service which Dunstan compiled for Edgar is the earliest English coronation service of which the full text survives, and is the basis for all such services since, down to the present. the active support of King Edgar, Dunstan re-established monastic communities at Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, Exeter, and many other places. Around 970 he presided at a conference of bishops, abbots, and abbesses, which drew up a national code of monastic observance, the Regularis Concordia. It followed Benedictine lines, but under it the monasteries were actively involved in the life of the surrounding community. For centuries thereafter the Archbishop of Canterbury was always a monk. took an active role in politics under Edgar and his successor Edward, but under the next king, Ethelred, he retired from politics and concentrated on running the Canterbury cathedral school for boys, where he was apparently successful in raising the academic standards while reducing the incidence of corporal punishment. On Ascension Day in 988, he told the congregation that he was near to death, and died two days later. by James Kiefer

England, 937, Battle of Brunaburh, United England v invading Scotland&Ireland who lost
England, 937, Battle of Brunaburh, Saxon England v Scotland and Ireland; Martyr Nectan of Hartland, Commemorated on June 17;

England, 939-946, Edmund I, King of the English, constant warfare, reconquests, killed in a brawl w outlaw
England, King of the English, 939-946, Edmund I ; I (921 - 26 May 946) was King of the English from 939 until his death. His epithets include the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, and the Magnificent.[2] was the son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. Edmund was a young child when his father died in 924 and was succeeded by his eldest son and Edmund's half-brother Æthelstan, who died in 939. Edmund then became king. reign was marked by almost constant warfare, including conquests or reconquests of the Midlands, Northumbria, and Strathclyde (the last of which was ceded to Malcolm I of Scotland). was killed in a brawl with an outlaw at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire after six-and-a-half years as king. He was succeeded by his brother Eadred, who was succeeded by Edmund's sons Eadwig and then Edgar the Peaceful. DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 946-955, Edread, King of the English, won Northumbria
England, King of the English, 946-955, Edread; (also Edred, 'the Weak-in-the-Feet'[1]) (923 - 23 November 955) was King of the English from 946 until his death. He was the son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. Eadred came to the throne following the assassination of his older brother, Edmund I. chief achievement of his reign was to bring the Kingdom of Northumbria under total English control, which occurred with the defeat and expulsion of Eric Bloodaxe in 954. died at the age of 32 having never married, and was succeeded by his 15-year-old nephew, Eadwig. DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 955-959, Eadwig (Edwy), King of the English, disputes with nobles and church, premature death
England, King of the English, 955-959, Eadwig ; also spelled Edwy or Eadwige (c. 940 - October 959), sometimes called the All-Fair,[2] was King of the English from 955 until his premature death. elder son of Edmund I and Alfgifu of Shaftesbury, Eadwig became king in 955 aged 15 following the death of his uncle Eadred. short reign was tarnished by disputes with nobles and men of the church, including Archbishops Dunstan and Oda. He died in 959, having ruled less than four years. He was buried in the capital Winchester. His brother Edgar the Peaceful succeeded him. DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 959-975, Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English, unity, relative stability, advisor Dunstan
England, King of the English, 959-975, Edgar the Peaceful; (c. 943 – 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death. He was the younger son of Edmund I and Alfgifu of Shaftesbury, and came to the throne as a teenager, following the death of his older brother Eadwig. king, Edgar further consolidated the political unity achieved by his predecessors, with his reign being noted for its relative stability. most trusted advisor was Dunstan, whom he recalled from exile and made Archbishop of Canterbury. The pinnacle of Edgar's reign was his coronation at Bath in 973, which was organised by Dunstan and forms the basis for the current coronation ceremony. After his death he was succeeded by his son Edward, although the succession was disputed. ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, MARTYR (19 APR 1012); DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 973, Council of Winchester, Regularis Concordia (Winchester)
England, 973, Council of Winchester, Regularis Concordia (Winchester); DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988) ;

England, 973-1011, ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, Kent, 2nd Viking Raids period, MARTYR, killed by Danes
England, 973-1011, ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, Kent, England (crossroads of 4 Roman roads, Stour River 5), 2nd Viking Raids period, MARTYR, killed by Danes; Canterbury (crossraods of 4 Roman roads); ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, MARTYR (19 APR 1012); (Elphege, Ælfheah) was born about 953, during the second major period of Viking raids against England. became first a monk and then a hermit, and then was appointed Abbot of Bath. 984 he became Bishop of Westminster. In 994 King Ethelred the Unready sent him to parley with the Danish invaders Anlaf and Swein. Anglo-Saxons paid tribute, but Anlaf became a Christian and swore never to invade England again. He never did. that same year Alphege brought the newly baptized King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway to a peaceful meeting with King Ethelred, and to his confirmation at Andover. "Unready" does not mean that the king was often unprepared; it means that he was headstrong and stubborn, and would not accept "rede," meaning counsel or advice.) In 1005 Alphege became Archbishop of Canterbury. 1011 the Danes overran much of southern England. The payment of the tribute agreed on (the Danegeld) did not stop them, and in September they captured Canterbury and held Alphege and other prominent persons for ransom. others were duly paid for and released, but the price demanded for Alphege was a fantastically high 3,000 pounds (worth of course, far more than modern pounds). knowing the poverty of his people, refused to pay or let anyone else pay for him. infuriated Danes, at the end of a drunken feast, brought him out and repeated their demands. When he again refused, they threw various objects at him (large bones from the feast, for example) and finally an axeman delivered the death-blow. chief, Thorkell the Tall, tried to save him, offering all his possessions except his ship for the Archbishop's life. By his death Alphege became a national hero. the Dane Cnut (Canute) became King of England in 1016, he adopted a policy of conciliation, and in 1023 he brought the body of Alphege from London to Canterbury, where he was long remembered as a martyr, one who died, not precisely for professing the Christian faith, but for exercising the Christian virtue of justice. In art, he is shown with an axe, the instrument of his death, or as a shepherd defending his flock from wolves. by James Kiefer

England, 975-978, Edward the Martyr, King of the English
England, King of the English, 975-978, Edward the Martyr; ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, MARTYR (19 APR 1012); DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 978-1016, Ethelred the Unready, King of the English
England, King of the English, 978-1016, Ethelred the Unready ; ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, MARTYR (19 APR 1012); DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988;

England, 1000-1699, Folder 11th - 17th Century, Normans or Vikings

England, 1001-1099, London, 11th Century History Folder, Viking, William the Conqueror, King of England and Normandy

England, 1013-1014, Swein Forkbeard, 1st Dane English King, Denmark, Norway K, revolt against Harald I, f of H II & Cnute
England, 1013-1014, King of England, Swein Forkbeard ; Forkbeard (17 April 963[1] - 3 February 1014) was king of Denmark from 986 to 1014. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark, King Cnut the Great and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter. the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father, Harald Bluetooth, and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987.[3] 1000, with the allegiance of Trondejarl and Eric of Lade, Sweyn ruled most of Norway. 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of England after a long effort. ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, MARTYR (19 APR 1012);

England, 1014-1016, Aethelred the Unready, poorly advised, Aethelred means well advised, English King, massacre, invasion
England, 1014-1016, King of England, Aethelred the Unready ; (c. 966 - 23 April 1016), known as the Unready, was King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death in 1016. epithet does not derive from the modern word "unready", but rather from the Old English unræd meaning "poorly advised"; it is a pun on his name, which means "well advised". was the son of King Edgar and Queen Aelfthryth. came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his older half-brother, Edward the Martyr. His brother's murder was carried out by supporters of his own claim to the throne, although he was too young to have any personal involvement.[citation needed] chief problem of Aehelred's reign was conflict with the Danes. After several decades of relative peace, Danish raids on English territory began again in earnest in the 980s, becoming markedly more serious in the early 990s. Following the Battle of Maldon in 991, Aethelred paid tribute, or Danegeld, to the Danish king. 1002, Aethelred ordered what became known as the St. Brice's Day massacre of Danish settlers. 1013, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, as a result of which Aethelred fled to Normandy in 1013 and was replaced by Sweyn. However, he returned as king for two years after Sweyn's death in 1014. 37-year combined reign was the longest of any Anglo-Saxon king of England, and was only surpassed in the 13th century, by Henry III. was briefly succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside, but he died after a few months and was replaced by Sweyn's son, Cnut. Another of Aethelred's sons, Edward the Confessor, became king in 1042.

England, 1016-1016, Edmund Ironside, English King, Valourous, resisted the Danes, then Wessex only
England, 1016-1016, King of England, Edmund Ironside; Ironside (c. 990 - 30 November 1016; sometimes also known as Edmund II[a]) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. was the son of King Aethelred the Unready and his first wife, Aelfgifu of York. reign was marred by a war he had inherited from his father; his cognomen "Ironside" was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the Great.[1] was not expected to be King of England; however, by June 1014 two elder brothers had died, making him heir apparent. the end of the same year, England was conquered by Sweyn Forkbeard, who died shortly thereafter. Aethelred was able to reclaim the throne, despite opposition. son, Cnut, was defeated and returned to Denmark, where he assembled an invasion force to re-conquer England. It would not arrive for another year. regaining the throne, the royal family set about strengthening its hold on the country with the assistance of Eadric Streona (Edmund's brother-in-law). who had sided with the Danes in 1014 were punished, and some were killed. In one case, two brothers, Morcar and Sigeferth, were killed and their possessions were taken by Aethelred. Sigeferth's widow Ealdgyth was imprisoned within a monastery, but she had already captured Edmund's attention. returned to England in August 1015. Over the next few months, Cnut pillaged most of England. Edmund joined Aethelred to defend London, but in 1016 Edmund unofficially named himself the Earl of the East Midlands and raised a revolt against his father. the king's permission he took Ealdgyth from the monastery, and married her; it would have been a politically advantageous marriage, since she was a member of one of the strongest families in the Midlands. died on 23 April 1016, making Edmund king. It was not until the summer of 1016 that any serious fighting was done: fought five battles against the Danes, ending in his defeat on 18 October at the Battle of Assandun, after which they agreed to divide the kingdom, Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the country. died shortly afterwards on 30 November, leaving two sons, Edward and Edmund; however, Cnut became the king of all England, and exiled the remaining members of Edmund's family. MARGARET, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND (16 NOV 1093) ;

England, 1016-1035, Cnut the Great, Dane effective King of All England, Denmark and Norway also, North Sea Empire
England, 1016-1035, King of England, Cnut the Great ; the Great (died 12 November 1035), also known as Canute, was King of England, Denmark and Norway, often referred to together as the North Sea Empire during his rule. a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His later accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut sought to keep this power-base by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, as well as through sheer brutality. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut (he had coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation).[3] In 1031, Malcolm II of Scotland also submitted to him, though Anglo-Norse influence over Scotland was weak and ultimately did not last by the time of Cnut's death.[4][5] of England lent the Danes an important link to the maritime zone between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, where Cnut, like his father before him, had a strong interest and wielded much influence among the Norse–Gaels.[6] possession of England's dioceses and the continental Diocese of Denmark—with a claim laid upon it by the Holy Roman Empire's Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen—was a source of great prestige and leverage within the Catholic Church and among the magnates of Christendom (gaining notable concessions such as one on the price of the pallium of his bishops, though they still had to travel to obtain the pallium, as well as on the tolls his people had to pay on the way to Rome). his 1026 victory against Norway and Sweden, and on his way back from Rome where he attended the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, Cnut, in a letter written for the benefit of his subjects, deemed himself "King of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes".[7] Anglo-Saxon kings used the title "king of the English". Cnut was ealles Engla landes cyning—"king of all England". Medieval historian Norman Cantor called him "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history".[8] St Brihtwald of Wilton, Commemorated on January 22;

England, 1035-1040, Harold Harefoot, fleet of foot, Dane King of England, Cnute's son, blinded and k b, body in fen by b
England, 1035-1040, King of England, Harold Harefoot ; I (died 17 March 1040), also known as Harold Harefoot, was King of England from 1035 to 1040. nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth century in the history of Ely Abbey, and according to some late medieval chroniclers it meant that he was "fleet of foot".[a][1] son of Cnut the Great and Aelfgifu of Northampton, was elected regent of England following the death of his father in 1035. He initially ruled England in place of his brother Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark due to a rebellion in Norway which had ousted their brother Svein. Harold had wished to be crowned king since 1035, Aethelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to do so. It was not until 1037 that Harold, supported by earl Leofric and many others, was officially proclaimed king. same year, Harold's two step-brothers Edward and Alfred returned to England with a considerable military force. Alfred was captured by Earl Godwin, who had him seized and delivered to an escort of men loyal to Harefoot. While en route to Ely, he was blinded and soon after died of his wounds. died in 1040, having ruled just five years; his half-brother Harthacnut soon returned and took hold of the kingdom peacefully. Harold was originally buried in Westminster, but Harthacnut had his body dragged up and thrown into a fen, as well as then thrown into the river Thames, but it was after a short time picked up by a fisherman, immediately taken to the Danes, and honourably buried by them in their cemetery at London. St Brihtwald of Wilton, Commemorated on January 22;

England, 1040-1042, Harthacnut, last Dane King of England, K of Denmark, son of Cnute, lost Norway
England, 1040-1042, King of England, Harthacnut; ( c. 1018 - 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. was the son of King Cnut the Great (who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England) and Emma of Normandy. Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark and became King of England in 1040 after the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot. died suddenly in 1042 and was succeeded by Magnus in Denmark and Edward the Confessor in England. Harthacnut was the last Dane to rule England. St Brihtwald of Wilton, Commemorated on January 22;

England, 1042-1066, Edward the Confessor, English King, Anglo Saxon, long reign, no heirs, House of Wessex end
England, 1042-1066, King of England, Edward the Confessor; the Confessor[a] ( c. 1003 - 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. was the son of Aethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeeded Cnut the Great's son – and his own half-brother – Harthacnut. restored the rule of the House of Wessex after the period of Danish rule since Cnut conquered England in 1016. Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by the Normans under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. young great-nephew Edgar the Aetheling of the House of Wessex was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 but was never crowned and was peacefully deposed after about eight weeks. disagree about Edward's fairly long 24-year reign. His nickname reflects the traditional image of him as unworldly and pious. Confessor reflects his reputation as a saint who did not suffer martyrdom as opposed to his uncle, King Edward the Martyr. Some portray Edward the Confessor's reign as leading to the disintegration of royal power in England and the advance in power of the House of Godwin, because of the infighting that began after his death with no heirs to the throne. Frank Barlow and Peter Rex, on the other hand, portray Edward as a successful king, one who was energetic, resourceful and sometimes ruthless; they argue that the Norman conquest shortly after his death tarnished his image.[1][2] Richard Mortimer argues that the return of the Godwins from exile in 1052 "meant the effective end of his exercise of power", citing Edward's reduced activity as implying "a withdrawal from affairs".[3] a century later, in 1161, Pope Alexander III canonised the king. Edward was one of England's national saints until King Edward III adopted George of Lydda as the national patron saint in about 1350. Saint Edward's feast day is 13 October, celebrated by both the Church of England and the Catholic Church. MARGARET, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND (16 NOV 1093); ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109); St Brihtwald of Wilton, Commemorated on January 22;

England, 1053-1109, ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, from Bec Abbey, Seine River 8, Western age of reason
England, 1053-1109, ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, Monastery of Bec, Normandy, France (Bec Abbey, Seine River 8) most important western theologian between Augustine and Aquinas, also focused on reason; Monastery of Bec (Bec Abbey) ; ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, 21 April 1109 ; - ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109): is the most important Christian theologian in the West between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. two great accomplishments are his Proslogium (in which he undertakes to show that Reason requires that men should believe in God), and his Cur Deus Homo? (in which he undertakes to show that Divine Love responding to human rebelliousness requires that God should become a man). was born in Italy about 1033, and in 1060 he entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy to study under Stephen Lanfranc, whom he succeeded in office, first as prior of Bec, and later as Archbishop of Canterbury. 1078 he was elected abbot of Bec. The previous year, he completed a work called the Monologium, in which he argues for the existence of God from the existence of degrees of perfection (Aquinas's Fourth Way is a variation of this argument). 1087, while still at Bec, he produced his Proslogium, an outline of his "ontological argument" for the existence of God. Taking as his text the opening of Psalm 14 ("The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God."), undertakes to show that the fool is contradicting himself -- that the concept of God is unique in that anyone who understands what is meant by the question, "Does God exist?" will see that the answer must be "Yes." The argument has received mixed reviews from the start. at once another theologian, Gaunilon, wrote, "A Reply on Behalf of the Fool." Thomas Aquinas rejected Anselm's argument as inconclusive (and is followed in this by most Roman Catholic writers today). Kant practically made his reputation as a philosopher by explaining in detail what he thought was wrong with Anselm's argument. the other hand, Leibniz and others have thought it valid. William II of England had no fondness for the Church, and at the death of Lanfranc he kept the See of Canterbury vacant until he was gravely ill, whereon he promised to let Anselm be made Archbishop. Anselm was made Archbishop (4 December 1093), the King recovered, and the two began to dispute the extent of the King's right to intervene in Church matters. Anselm went into exile in 1097 and remained in Italy for three years until the King died in 1100. During that time Anselm was instrumental in settling the doubts of the Greek bishops of southern Italy about the doctrine of the Filioque. For a discussion of the Filioque (the principal doctrinal difference between Eastern and Western Christians), see article in the Christia library. He also devoted the time to writing a book known as Cur Deus Homo? (meaning Why did God become Man?). In it he puts forward the "satisfaction theory" of the Atonement. Man's offence of rebellion against God is one that demands a payment or satisfaction. Fallen man is incapable of making adequate satisfaction, and so God took human nature upon Him, in order that a perfect man might make perfect satisfaction and so restore the human race. The success of his work may be gauged by the fact that many Christians today not only accept his way of explaining the Atonement, but are simply unaware that there is any other way. For a discussion of Anselm's theory of the Atonement and a comparison with Abelard's theory, consult the Web page mentioned above. For several other theories of the Atonement, read the Essays GEN05 RUFF, GEN06 RUFF, and GEN07 RUFF, found at the same location. five works Proslogium, Monologium, Gaunilon's Reply, Anselm on Gaunilon, and Cur Deus Homo? are available in a single paperback volume from Oxford Univ. Press. the death of King William II in 1100, Anselm returned to England at the invitation of the new king Henry I, only to quarrel with Henry about the lawful extent of the king's control over the selection of bishops and abbots (it must be remembered that these officials had civil as well as religious authority). Anselm was again in exile from 1103 to 1106. In 1107 a compromise was reached, and Anselm returned home to Canterbury, where he lived his last few years in peace, dying 21 April 1109. of Anselm is his reversal of a tendency among English bishops after the Norman Conquest to ignore or downgrade the Anglo-Saxon saints as representatives of the conquered race. Lanfranc had proposed to remove even Dunstan and Alphege from the calendar, the latter on the grounds that he had not died as a martyr for refusing to deny the Christian faith. Anselm argued that, if he was not a martyr to faith, he was a martyr to justice and to charity. From the Preface to the Proslogium: I have written the little work that follows... in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes. I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this too I believe, that "unless I believe, I shall not understand." (Isa. 7:9) A PRAYER OF ANSELM My God, I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you. And if I may not do so fully in this life let me go steadily on to the day when I come to that fullness ... Let me receive That which you promised through your truth, that my joy may be full A SONG OF ANSELM Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you: you are gentle with us as a mother with her children; Often you weep over our sins and our pride: tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement. You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds: in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us. Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life: by your anguish and labour we come forth in joy. Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness: through your gentleness we find comfort in fear. Your warmth gives life to the dead: your touch makes sinners righteous. Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us: in your love and tenderness remake us. In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness: for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us. (text edited) by James Kiefer

England, 1062-1095, Wulfstan of Worchester, Western Saint, last pre conquest bishop, last english born b, submitted, miracles
England, 1062-1095, Saint of England, Wulfstan of Worchester; (c. 1008 – 20 January 1095) was Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop and the only English-born bishop after 1075. Wulfstan is a saint in the Western Christian churches. denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate that he is the second Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester. This, however, does not prevent confusion, since the first Bishop Wulfstan is also called Wulfstan II to denote that he was the second Archbishop of York called Wulfstan.[1] Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, was the maternal uncle of Wulfstan II, Bishop of Worcester. See also: History of Worcestershire ; Medieval, and Anglican Diocese of Worcester ; History was born about 1008 at Long Itchington in the English county of Warwickshire.[2] family lost their lands around the time King Cnut of England came to the throne.[3] was probably named after his uncle, Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York. Through his uncle's influence, he studied at monasteries in Evesham and Peterborough, before becoming a clerk at Worcester. During this time, his superiors, noting his reputation for dedication and chastity, urged him to join the priesthood. Wulfstan was ordained shortly thereafter, in 1038, and soon joined a monastery of Benedictines at Worcester. served as treasurer and prior of Worcester, and from 1034 onwards served as the parish priest of Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire.[4][5][6] Ealdred, the bishop of Worcester as well as the Archbishop of York, was required to relinquish Worcester by Pope Nicholas, Ealdred decided to have Wulfstan appointed to Worcester. addition, Ealdred continued to hold a number of the manors of the diocese.[7] Wulfstan was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 8 September 1062,[8] by Ealdred. It would have been more proper for him to have been consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose province Worcester was in.[7] had deliberately avoided consecration by the current archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, since Stigand's own consecration had been uncanonical. still acknowledged that the see of Worcester was a suffragan of Canterbury. made no profession of obedience to Ealdred, instead offering a profession of obedience to Stigand's successor Lanfranc.[9] was a confidant of Harold Godwinson, who helped secure the bishopric for him.[10] social reformer, Wulfstan struggled to bridge the gap between the old and new regimes, and to alleviate the suffering of the poor. He was a strong opponent of the slave trade, and together with Lanfranc, was mainly responsible for ending the trade from Bristol.[11] the Norman conquest of England, Wulfstan was the only English-born bishop to retain his diocese for any significant time after the Conquest (all others had been replaced or succeeded by Normans by 1075).[12][13] William noted that pastoral care of his diocese was Wulfstan's principal interest. 1072 Wulfstan signed the Accord of Winchester. 1075, Wulfstan and the Worcestershire fyrd militia countered the Revolt of the Earls, when various magnates attempted a rebellion against William the Conqueror. founded the Great Malvern Priory, and undertook much large-scale rebuilding work, including Worcester Cathedral, Hereford Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, and many other churches in the Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester areas.[citation needed] the Norman Conquest, he claimed that the Oswaldslow, a "triple hundred" administered by the bishops of Worcester, was free of interference by the local sheriff. This right to exclude the sheriff was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. also administered the diocese of Lichfield when it was vacant between 1071 and 1072.[14] bishop, he often assisted the archbishops of York with consecrations, as they had few suffragan bishops. In 1073 Wulfstan helped Thomas of Bayeux consecrate Radulf as Bishop of Orkney, and in 1081 helped consecrate William de St-Calais as Bishop of Durham.[7] was responsible for the compilation by Hemming of the second cartulary of Worcester.[15] He was close friends with Robert Losinga, the Bishop of Hereford, who was well known as a mathematician and astronomer.[14] died 20 January 1095 after a protracted illness, the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop.[16] After his death, an altar was dedicated to him in Great Malvern Priory, next to those of Thomas Cantilupe and King Edward the Confessor. Easter of 1158, Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine visited Worcester Cathedral and placed their crowns on the shrine of Wulfstan, vowing not to wear them again. Their son King John is buried at Worcester Cathedral.[17] after Wulfstan's death, a hagiography, or saint's life, was written about him in English by his former chancellor Colman. It was translated into Latin by the medieval chronicler and historian William of Malmesbury.[18] Wulfstan was canonized on 14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent III.[4] of the miracles attributed to Wulfstan was the curing of King Harold's daughter. recently founded Victorine priory in Celbridge, Ireland (paid for by Adam de Hereford) was named St. Wolstan's Priory in his honour.[19] 2021, St. Mary's Church, Hawkesbury, where Wulfstan served as incumbent from 1034, installed a ring of eight bells in their tower. The largest bell, weighing 600 kg, is named in honour of Wulfstan.[5] is remembered in the Church of England with a lesser festival on 19 January.[20] WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, BISHOP (19 JAN 1095);

England, 1066-1072, Norman Conquest of England
England, 1066, Norman Conquest of England; Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Bretons, Flemish, and men from other French provinces, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror. claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged William's hopes for the throne. died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. Norwegian king Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in September 1066 and was victorious at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September, Godwinson's army defeated and killed Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Three days later on 28 September, William's invasion force of thousands of men and hundreds of ships landed at Pevensey in Sussex in southern England. marched south to oppose him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north. Harold's army confronted William's invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings. William's force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement, and William became king. William's main rivals were gone, he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on the English throne until after 1072. lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated; some of the elite fled into exile. To control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the land. Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales, was completed by 1086. effects of the conquest included the court and government, the introduction of the Norman language as the language of the elites, and changes in the composition of the upper classes, as William enfeoffed lands to be held directly from the king. gradual changes affected the agricultural classes and village life: the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery, which may or may not have been linked to the invasion. There was little alteration in the structure of government, as the new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government. England, 1066-1087, King of England, William the Conqueror, Norman King ; MARGARET, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND (16 NOV 1093); ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109); WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, BISHOP (19 JAN 1095);

England, 1066-1087, William the Conqueror, C and King of England, Norman King, invaded E after Ed the Confessor, Doomsday Book
England, 1066-1087, King of England, William the Conqueror, Norman King ; I[a] (c. 1028[1] - 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,[2][b] the first Norman monarch of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. was a descendant of Rollo and was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose. was the son of the unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, as did the anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule. his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke, and for their own ends. In 1047, William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointment of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and he secured control of the neighbouring county of Maine by 1062. the 1050s and early 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as king on his deathbed in January 1066. that Edward had previously promised the throne to him and that Harold had sworn to support his claim, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066. decisively defeated and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066, in London. made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but William's hold was mostly secure on England by 1075, allowing him to spend the majority of his reign in continental Europe. final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his son, Robert, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. 1086, he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all the land-holdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. He died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, settling a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire but continued to administer each part separately. lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to Robert, and England went to his second surviving son, William Rufus. MARGARET, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND (16 NOV 1093); ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109); WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, BISHOP (19 JAN 1095);

England, 1087-1100, William II, Norman King of England, over Normandy, i Scotland, not married, sodomy, hunting accident
England, 1087-1100, King of England, William II of England; II (c. 1056 - 2 August 1100), the third son of William the Conqueror, was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. was less successful in extending control into Wales. is commonly referred to as William Rufus (Rufus being Latin for "the Red"), perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, due to having red hair as a child that grew out in later life.[2][a] was a figure of complex temperament, capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance. He did not marry nor have children, which—along with contemporary accounts—has led historians to speculate on homosexuality or bisexuality.[4] died after being hit by an arrow while hunting, under circumstances that remain unclear. Circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him raises strong, but unproven, suspicions of murder.[5] younger brother Henry I hurriedly succeeded him as king. Frank Barlow observed William was "[a] rumbustious, devil-may-care soldier, without natural dignity or social graces, with no cultivated tastes and little show of conventional religious piety or morality—indeed, according to his critics, addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy." the other hand, he was a wise ruler and victorious general. Barlow noted, "His chivalrous virtues and achievements were all too obvious. He had maintained good order and satisfactory justice in England and restored good peace to Normandy. He had extended Anglo-Norman rule in Wales, brought Scotland firmly under his lordship, recovered Maine, and kept up the pressure on the Vexin."[6] WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, BISHOP (19 JAN 1095);

England, 1100-1199, London, 12th Century History Folder, Third Crusade, Richard the Lion Heart, King John

England, 1101-1135, King Henry I of England, son of Conqueror, fought with b and french kings for Normandy, harsh but effective
England, 1100-1135, King of England, Henry I of England; I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, Henry was left landless. He purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in 1091. He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert. at the place where his brother William died in a hunting accident in 1100, Henry seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies. married Matilda of Scotland and they had two surviving children, William Adelin and Empress Matilda; he also had many illegitimate children by his many mistresses. who invaded in 1101, disputed Henry's control of England; this military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life. Henry's control of Normandy was challenged by Louis VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou, who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William Clito, and supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between 1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skillfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but also strengthened it with additional institutions, including the royal exchequer and itinerant justices. was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds, rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators. encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, which was resolved through a compromise solution in 1105. supported the Cluniac order and played a major role in the selection of the senior clergy in England and Normandy. son William drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, throwing the royal succession into doubt. took a second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. response to this, he declared his daughter Matilda his heir and married her to Geoffrey of Anjou. relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness. his plans for Matilda, the king was succeeded by his nephew Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. 1 Early life, 1068–1099 1.1 Childhood and appearance, 1068–86 1.2 Inheritance, 1087–88 1.3 Count of the Cotentin, 1088–90 1.4 Fall and rise, 1091–99 2 Early reign, 1100–06 2.1 Taking the throne, 1100 2.2 Marriage to Matilda, 1100 2.3 Treaty of Alton, 1101–02 2.4 Conquest of Normandy, 1103–06 3 Government, family and household 3.1 Government, law and court 3.2 Relations with the Church 4 Later reign, 1107–35 4.1 Continental and Welsh politics, 1108–14 4.2 Rebellion, 1115–20 4.3 Succession crisis, 1120–24 4.4 Planning the succession, 1125–34 5 Death and legacy 5.1 Death 5.2 Historiography 6 Family and children 6.1 Legitimate 6.2 Illegitimate 6.3 Family tree 7 Notes 8 References 9 Bibliography life, 1068–1099[edit] and appearance, 1068–86[edit] was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the town of Selby in Yorkshire.[1][nb 1] His father was William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who had invaded England in 1066 to become the king of England, establishing lands stretching into Wales. The invasion had created an Anglo-Norman ruling class, many with estates on both sides of the English Channel.[2] These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the Kingdom of France, which was then a loose collection of counties and smaller polities, under only the nominal control of the king.[3] Henry's mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France.[4] was the youngest of William and Matilda's four sons. Physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, "short, stocky and barrel-chested," with black hair.[5] As a result of their age differences and Richard's early death, Henry would have probably seen relatively little of his older brothers.[6] He probably knew his sister Adela well, as the two were close in age.[7] There is little documentary evidence for his early years; historians Warren Hollister and Kathleen Thompson suggest he was brought up predominantly in England, while Judith Green argues he was initially brought up in the Duchy.[8][nb 2] He was probably educated by the Church, possibly by Bishop Osmund, the King's chancellor, at Salisbury Cathedral; it is uncertain if this indicated an intent by his parents for Henry to become a member of the clergy.[10][nb 3] It is also uncertain how far Henry's education extended, but he was probably able to read Latin and had some background in the liberal arts.[11] He was given military training by an instructor called Robert Achard, and Henry was knighted by his father on 24 May 1086.[12] 1087–88[edit] century picture ------------------13th-century depiction of Henry 1087, William was fatally injured during a campaign in the Vexin.[13] Henry joined his dying father near Rouen in September, where the King partitioned his possessions among his sons.[14] The rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, primogeniture, in which the eldest son would inherit a title, was growing in popularity.[15] In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands – usually considered to be the most valuable – and younger sons given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates.[15] dividing his lands, William appears to have followed the Norman tradition, distinguishing between Normandy, which he had inherited, and England, which he had acquired through war.[16] William's second son, Richard, had died in a hunting accident, leaving Henry and his two brothers to inherit William's estate. Robert, the eldest, despite being in armed rebellion against his father at the time of his death, received Normandy.[17] England was given to William Rufus, who was in favour with the dying king.[17] Henry was given a large sum of money, usually reported as £5,000, with the expectation that he would also be given his mother's modest set of lands in Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire.[18][nb 4] William's funeral at Caen was marred by angry complaints from a local man, and Henry may have been responsible for resolving the dispute by buying off the protester with silver.[20] returned to Normandy, expecting to have been given both the Duchy and England, to find that William Rufus had crossed the Channel and been crowned king.[21] The two brothers disagreed fundamentally over the inheritance, and Robert soon began to plan an invasion of England to seize the kingdom, helped by a rebellion by some of the leading nobles against William Rufus.[22] Henry remained in Normandy and took up a role within Robert's court, possibly either because he was unwilling to side openly with William Rufus, or because Robert might have taken the opportunity to confiscate Henry's inherited money if he had tried to leave.[21][nb 5] William Rufus sequestered Henry's new estates in England, leaving Henry landless.[24] 1088, Robert's plans for the invasion of England began to falter, and he turned to Henry, proposing that his brother lend him some of his inheritance, which Henry refused.[25] Henry and Robert then came to an alternative arrangement, in which Robert would make Henry the count of western Normandy, in exchange for £3,000.[25][nb 6] Henry's lands were a new countship created by a delegation of the ducal authority in the Cotentin, but it extended across the Avranchin, with control over the bishoprics of both.[27] This also gave Henry influence over two major Norman leaders, Hugh d'Avranches and Richard de Redvers, and the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, whose lands spread out further across the Duchy.[28] Robert's invasion force failed to leave Normandy, leaving William Rufus secure in England.[29] of the Cotentin, 1088–90[edit] of Bishop Odo (wielding club at centre) who imprisoned Henry from 1088–89. From the Bayeux Tapestry. Henry quickly established himself as count, building up a network of followers from western Normandy and eastern Brittany, whom historian John Le Patourel has characterised as "Henry's gang".[30] His early supporters included Roger of Mandeville, Richard of Redvers, Richard d'Avranches and Robert Fitzhamon, along with the churchman Roger of Salisbury.[31] Robert attempted to go back on his deal with Henry and re-appropriate the county, but Henry's grip was already sufficiently firm to prevent this.[32] Robert's rule of the duchy was chaotic, and parts of Henry's lands became almost independent of central control from Rouen.[33] this period, neither William nor Robert seems to have trusted Henry.[34] Waiting until the rebellion against William Rufus was safely over, Henry returned to England in July 1088.[35] He met with the King but was unable to persuade him to grant him their mother's estates, and travelled back to Normandy in the autumn.[36] While he had been away, however, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who regarded Henry as a potential competitor, had convinced Robert that Henry was conspiring against the duke with William Rufus.[37] On landing, Odo seized Henry and imprisoned him in Neuilly-la-Forêt, and Robert took back the county of the Cotentin.[38] Henry was held there over the winter, but in the spring of 1089 the senior elements of the Normandy nobility prevailed upon Robert to release him.[39] no longer formally the Count of Cotentin, Henry continued to control the west of Normandy.[40] The struggle between his brothers continued. William Rufus continued to put down resistance to his rule in England, but began to build a number of alliances against Robert with barons in Normandy and neighbouring Ponthieu.[41] Robert allied himself with Philip I of France.[42] In late 1090 William Rufus encouraged Conan Pilatus, a powerful burgher in Rouen, to rebel against Robert; Conan was supported by most of Rouen and made appeals to the neighbouring ducal garrisons to switch allegiance as well.[43] issued an appeal for help to his barons, and Henry was the first to arrive in Rouen in November.[44] Violence broke out, leading to savage, confused street fighting as both sides attempted to take control of the city.[44] Robert and Henry left the castle to join the battle, but Robert then retreated, leaving Henry to continue the fighting.[45] The battle turned in favour of the ducal forces and Henry took Conan prisoner.[45] Henry was angry that Conan had turned against his feudal lord. He had him taken to the top of Rouen Castle and then, despite Conan's offers to pay a huge ransom, threw him off the top of the castle to his death.[46] Contemporaries considered Henry to have acted appropriately in making an example of Conan, and Henry became famous for his exploits in the battle.[47] and rise, 1091–99[edit] of Mont St Michel ----------------- Mont Saint-Michel, site of the 1091 siege the aftermath, Robert forced Henry to leave Rouen, probably because Henry's role in the fighting had been more prominent than his own, and possibly because Henry had asked to be formally reinstated as the count of the Cotentin.[48] In early 1091, William Rufus invaded Normandy with a sufficiently large army to bring Robert to the negotiating table.[49] The two brothers signed a treaty at Rouen, granting William Rufus a range of lands and castles in Normandy. In return, William Rufus promised to support Robert's attempts to regain control of the neighbouring county of Maine, once under Norman control, and help in regaining control over the duchy, including Henry's lands.[49] They nominated each other as heirs to England and Normandy, excluding Henry from any succession while either one of them lived.[50] now broke out between Henry and his brothers.[51] Henry mobilised a mercenary army in the west of Normandy, but as William Rufus and Robert's forces advanced, his network of baronial support melted away.[52] Henry focused his remaining forces at Mont Saint-Michel, where he was besieged, probably in March 1091.[53] The site was easy to defend, but lacked fresh water.[54] The chronicler William of Malmesbury suggested that when Henry's water ran short, Robert allowed his brother fresh supplies, leading to remonstrations between Robert and William Rufus.[55] The events of the final days of the siege are unclear: the besiegers had begun to argue about the future strategy for the campaign, but Henry then abandoned Mont Saint-Michel, probably as part of a negotiated surrender.[56][nb 7] He left for Brittany and crossed over into France.[57] next steps are not well documented; one chronicler, Orderic Vitalis, suggests that he travelled in the French Vexin, along the Normandy border, for over a year with a small band of followers.[58] By the end of the year, Robert and William Rufus had fallen out once again, and the Treaty of Rouen had been abandoned.[59] In 1092, Henry and his followers seized the Normandy town of Domfront.[60] Domfront had previously been controlled by Robert of Bellême, but the inhabitants disliked his rule and invited Henry to take over the town, which he did in a bloodless coup.[61] Over the next two years, Henry re-established his network of supporters across western Normandy, forming what Judith Green terms a "court in waiting".[62] By 1094, he was allocating lands and castles to his followers as if he were the Duke of Normandy.[63] William Rufus began to support Henry with money, encouraging his campaign against Robert, and Henry used some of this to construct a substantial castle at Domfront.[64] Rufus crossed into Normandy to take the war to Robert in 1094, and when progress stalled, called upon Henry for assistance.[65] Henry responded, but travelled to London instead of joining the main campaign further east in Normandy, possibly at the request of the King, who in any event abandoned the campaign and returned to England.[66][nb 8] Over the next few years, Henry appears to have strengthened his power base in western Normandy, visiting England occasionally to attend at William Rufus's court.[68] In 1095 Pope Urban II called the First Crusade, encouraging knights from across Europe to join.[67] Robert joined the Crusade, borrowing money from William Rufus to do so, and granting the King temporary custody of his part of the Duchy in exchange.[69] The King appeared confident of regaining the remainder of Normandy from Robert, and Henry appeared ever closer to William Rufus. They campaigned together in the Norman Vexin between 1097 and 1098.[70] reign, 1100–06[edit] the throne, 1100[edit] Pontificals --------------A 17th-century manuscript drawing of Henry's coronation. the afternoon of 2 August 1100, King William went hunting in the New Forest, accompanied by a team of huntsmen and a number of the Norman nobility, including Henry.[71] An arrow, possibly shot by the baron Walter Tirel, hit and killed William Rufus.[72] Numerous conspiracy theories have been put forward suggesting that the King was killed deliberately; most modern historians reject these, as hunting was a risky activity, and such accidents were common.[73][nb 9] Chaos broke out, and Tirel fled the scene for France, either because he had shot the fatal arrow, or because he had been incorrectly accused and feared that he would be made a scapegoat for the King's death.[72] rode to Winchester, where an argument ensued as to who now had the best claim to the throne.[75] William of Breteuil championed the rights of Robert, who was still abroad, returning from the Crusade, and to whom Henry and the barons had given homage in previous years.[76] Henry argued that, unlike Robert, he had been born to a reigning king and queen, thereby giving him a claim under the right of porphyrogeniture.[77] Tempers flared, but Henry, supported by Henry de Beaumont and Robert of Meulan, held sway and persuaded the barons to follow him.[78] He occupied Winchester Castle and seized the royal treasury.[79] was hastily crowned king in Westminster Abbey on 5 August by Maurice, the bishop of London, as Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, had been exiled by William Rufus, and Thomas, the archbishop of York, was in the north of England at Ripon.[80] In accordance with English tradition and in a bid to legitimise his rule, Henry issued a coronation charter laying out various commitments.[81] The new king presented himself as having restored order to a trouble-torn country.[82] He announced that he would abandon William Rufus's policies towards the Church, which had been seen as oppressive by the clergy; he promised to prevent royal abuses of the barons' property rights, and assured a return to the gentler customs of Edward the Confessor; he asserted that he would "establish a firm peace" across England and ordered "that this peace shall henceforth be kept".[83] addition to his existing circle of supporters, many of whom were richly rewarded with new lands, Henry quickly co-opted many of the existing administration into his new royal household.[84] William Giffard, William Rufus's chancellor, was made the bishop of Winchester, and the prominent sheriffs Urse d'Abetot, Haimo Dapifer and Robert Fitzhamon continued to play a senior role in government.[84] By contrast, the unpopular Ranulf Flambard, the bishop of Durham and a key member of the previous regime, was imprisoned in the Tower of London and charged with corruption.[85] The late king had left many Church positions unfilled, and Henry set about nominating candidates to these, in an effort to build further support for his new government.[86] The appointments needed to be consecrated, and Henry wrote to Anselm, apologising for having been crowned while the archbishop was still in France and asking him to return at once.[87] to Matilda, 1100[edit] ------------Picture of Matilda first wife, Matilda of Scotland 11 November 1100 Henry married Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland.[88] Henry was now around 31 years old, but late marriages for noblemen were not unusual in the 11th century.[89] The pair had probably first met earlier the previous decade, possibly being introduced through Bishop Osmund of Salisbury.[90] Historian Warren Hollister argues that Henry and Matilda were emotionally close, but their union was also certainly politically motivated.[91][nb 10] Matilda had originally been named Edith, an Anglo-Saxon name, and was a member of the West Saxon royal family, being the niece of Edgar the Ætheling, the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and a descendant of Alfred the Great.[93] For Henry, marrying Matilda gave his reign increased legitimacy, and for Matilda, an ambitious woman, it was an opportunity for high status and power in England.[94] had been educated in a sequence of convents, however, and may well have taken the vows to formally become a nun, which formed an obstacle to the marriage progressing.[95] She did not wish to be a nun and appealed to Anselm for permission to marry Henry, and the Archbishop established a council at Lambeth Palace to judge the issue.[95] Despite some dissenting voices, the council concluded that although Matilda had lived in a convent, she had not actually become a nun and was therefore free to marry, a judgement that Anselm then affirmed, allowing the marriage to proceed.[95][nb 11] Matilda proved an effective queen for Henry, acting as a regent in England on occasion, addressing and presiding over councils, and extensively supporting the arts.[97] The couple soon had two children, Matilda, born in 1102, and William Adelin, born in 1103; it is possible that they also had a second son, Richard, who died young.[98][nb 12] Following the birth of these children, Matilda preferred to remain based in Westminster while Henry travelled across England and Normandy, either for religious reasons or because she enjoyed being involved in the machinery of royal governance.[100] had a considerable sexual appetite and enjoyed a substantial number of sexual partners, resulting in many illegitimate children, at least nine sons and 13 daughters, many of whom he appears to have recognised and supported.[101] It was normal for unmarried Anglo-Norman noblemen to have sexual relations with prostitutes and local women, and kings were also expected to have mistresses.[102][nb 13] Some of these relationships occurred before Henry was married, but many others took place after his marriage to Matilda.[103] Henry had a wide range of mistresses from a range of backgrounds, and the relationships appear to have been conducted relatively openly.[100] He may have chosen some of his noble mistresses for political purposes, but the evidence to support this theory is limited.[104] of Alton, 1101–02[edit] of Henry -----------Early 14th-century depiction of Henry early 1101, Henry's new regime was established and functioning, but many of the Anglo-Norman elite still supported his brother Robert, or would be prepared to switch sides if Robert appeared likely to gain power in England.[105] In February, Flambard escaped from the Tower of London and crossed the Channel to Normandy, where he injected fresh direction and energy to Robert's attempts to mobilise an invasion force.[106] By July, Robert had formed an army and a fleet, ready to move against Henry in England.[107] Raising the stakes in the conflict, Henry seized Flambard's lands and, with the support of Anselm, Flambard was removed from his position as bishop.[108] The King held court in April and June, where the nobility renewed their oaths of allegiance to him, but their support still appeared partial and shaky.[109] the invasion imminent, Henry mobilised his forces and fleet outside Pevensey, close to Robert's anticipated landing site, training some of them personally in how to counter cavalry charges.[110] Despite English levies and knights owing military service to the Church arriving in considerable numbers, many of his barons did not appear.[111] Anselm intervened with some of the doubters, emphasising the religious importance of their loyalty to Henry.[112] Robert unexpectedly landed further up the coast at Portsmouth on 20 July with a modest force of a few hundred men, but these were quickly joined by many of the barons in England.[113] However, instead of marching into nearby Winchester and seizing Henry's treasury, Robert paused, giving Henry time to march west and intercept the invasion force.[114] two armies met at Alton, Hampshire, where peace negotiations began, possibly initiated by either Henry or Robert, and probably supported by Flambard.[114] The brothers then agreed to the Treaty of Alton, under which Robert released Henry from his oath of homage and recognised him as king; Henry renounced his claims on western Normandy, except for Domfront, and agreed to pay Robert £2,000 a year for life; if either brother died without a male heir, the other would inherit his lands; the barons whose lands had been seized by either the King or the Duke for supporting his rival would have them returned, and Flambard would be reinstated as bishop; the two brothers would campaign together to defend their territories in Normandy.[115][nb 14] Robert remained in England for a few months more with Henry before returning to Normandy.[117] the treaty, Henry set about inflicting severe penalties on the barons who had stood against him during the invasion.[118] William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, was accused of fresh crimes, which were not covered by the Alton amnesty, and was banished from England.[119] In 1102 Henry then turned against Robert of Bellême and his brothers, the most powerful of the barons, accusing him of 45 different offences.[120] Robert escaped and took up arms against Henry.[121] Henry besieged Robert's castles at Arundel, Tickhill and Shrewsbury Castles, pushing down into the south-west to attack Bridgnorth.[122] His power base in England broken, Robert accepted Henry's offer of banishment and left the country for Normandy.[123] of Normandy, 1103–06[edit] of Tinchebray ------The village of Tinchebray in 2008 network of allies in Normandy became stronger during 1103.[124] He arranged the marriages of his illegitimate daughters, Juliane and Matilda, to Eustace of Breteuil and Rotrou III, Count of Perche, respectively, the latter union securing the Norman border.[125] Henry attempted to win over other members of the Norman nobility and gave other English estates and lucrative offers to key Norman lords.[126] Duke Robert continued to fight Robert of Bellême, but the Duke's position worsened, until by 1104, he had to ally himself formally with Bellême to survive.[127] Arguing that the Duke had broken the terms of their treaty, the King crossed over the Channel to Domfront, where he met with senior barons from across Normandy, eager to ally themselves with him.[128] He confronted the Duke and accused him of siding with his enemies, before returning to England.[129] continued to disintegrate into chaos.[130] In 1105, Henry sent his friend Robert Fitzhamon and a force of knights into the Duchy, apparently to provoke a confrontation with Duke Robert.[131] Fitzhamon was captured, and Henry used this as an excuse to invade, promising to restore peace and order.[130] Henry had the support of most of the neighbouring counts around Normandy's borders, and King Philip of France was persuaded to remain neutral.[132] Henry occupied western Normandy, and advanced east on Bayeux, where Fitzhamon was held.[133] The city refused to surrender, and Henry besieged it, burning it to the ground.[133] Terrified of meeting the same fate, the town of Caen switched sides and surrendered, allowing Henry to advance on Falaise, Calvados, which he took with some casualties.[134] His campaign stalled, and the King instead began peace discussions with Robert.[135] The negotiations were inconclusive and the fighting dragged on until Christmas, when Henry returned to England.[136] invaded again in July 1106, hoping to provoke a decisive battle.[137] After some initial tactical successes, he turned south-west towards the castle of Tinchebray.[138] He besieged the castle and Duke Robert, supported by Robert of Bellême, advanced from Falaise to relieve it.[138] After attempts at negotiation failed, the Battle of Tinchebray took place, probably on 28 September.[139][nb 15] The battle lasted around an hour, and began with a charge by Duke Robert's cavalry; the infantry and dismounted knights of both sides then joined the battle.[141] Henry's reserves, led by Elias I, Count of Maine, and Alan IV, Duke of Brittany, attacked the enemy's flanks, routing first Bellême's troops and then the bulk of the ducal forces.[142] Duke Robert was taken prisoner, but Bellême escaped.[142] mopped up the remaining resistance in Normandy, and Duke Robert ordered his last garrisons to surrender.[143] Reaching Rouen, Henry reaffirmed the laws and customs of Normandy and took homage from the leading barons and citizens.[144] The lesser prisoners taken at Tinchebray were released, but the Duke and several other leading nobles were imprisoned indefinitely.[145] The Duke's son, William Clito, was only three years old and was released to the care of Helias of Saint-Saens, a Norman baron.[146] Henry reconciled himself with Robert of Bellême, who gave up the ducal lands he had seized and rejoined the royal court.[147] Henry had no way of legally removing the Duchy from his brother, and initially Henry avoided using the title "duke" at all, emphasising that, as the King of England, he was only acting as the guardian of the troubled Duchy.[148] family and household[edit] Government, law and court[edit] Henry's royal seal, showing the King on horseback (l) and seated on his throne (r) information on English government during this period: England in the Middle Ages § High Middle Ages (1066–1272) inherited the kingdom of England from William Rufus, giving him a claim of suzerainty over Wales and Scotland, and acquired the Duchy of Normandy, a complex entity with troubled borders.[149] The borders between England and Scotland were still uncertain during Henry's reign, with Anglo-Norman influence pushing northwards through Cumbria, but his relationship with King David I of Scotland was generally good, partially due to Henry's marriage to his sister.[150] In Wales, Henry used his power to coerce and charm the indigenous Welsh princes, while Norman Marcher Lords pushed across the valleys of South Wales.[151] Normandy was controlled via various interlocking networks of ducal, ecclesiastical and family contacts, backed by a growing string of important ducal castles along the borders.[152] Alliances and relationships with neighbouring counties along the Norman border were particularly important to maintaining the stability of the Duchy.[153] ruled through the various barons and lords in England and Normandy, whom he manipulated skilfully for political effect.[154] Political friendships, termed amicitia in Latin, were important during the 12th century, and Henry maintained a wide range of these, mediating between his friends in various factions across his realm when necessary, and rewarding those who were loyal to him.[155] He also had a reputation for punishing those barons who stood against him, and he maintained an effective network of informers and spies who reported to him on events.[156] Henry was a harsh, firm ruler, but not excessively so by the standards of the day.[157] Over time, he increased the degree of his control over the barons, removing his enemies and bolstering his friends until the "reconstructed baronage", as historian Warren Hollister describes it, was predominantly loyal and dependent on the King.[158] itinerant royal court comprised various parts.[159] At the heart was his domestic household, called the domus; a wider grouping was termed the familia regis, and formal gatherings of the court were termed curia.[160] The domus was divided into several parts. The chapel, headed by the chancellor, looked after the royal documents, the chamber dealt with financial affairs and the master-marshal was responsible for travel and accommodation.[161] The familia regis included Henry's mounted household troops, up to several hundred strong, who came from a wider range of social backgrounds, and could be deployed across England and Normandy as required.[162] Initially Henry continued his father's practice of regular crown-wearing ceremonies at his curia, but they became less frequent as the years passed.[163] Henry's court was grand and ostentatious, financing the construction of large new buildings and castles with a range of precious gifts on display, including his private menagerie of exotic animals, which he kept at Woodstock Palace.[164] Despite being a lively community, Henry's court was more tightly controlled than those of previous kings.[165] Strict rules controlled personal behaviour and prohibited members of the court from pillaging neighbouring villages, as had been the norm under William Rufus.[165] was responsible for a substantial expansion of the royal justice system.[166][nb 16] In England, Henry drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxes, but strengthened it with additional central governmental institutions.[168] Roger of Salisbury began to develop the royal exchequer after 1110, using it to collect and audit revenues from the King's sheriffs in the shires.[169] Itinerant justices began to emerge under Henry, travelling around the country managing eyre courts, and many more laws were formally recorded.[170] Henry gathered increasing revenue from the expansion of royal justice, both from fines and from fees.[171] The first Pipe Roll that is known to have survived dates from 1130, recording royal expenditures.[172] Henry reformed the coinage in 1107, 1108 and in 1125, inflicting harsh corporal punishments to English coiners who had been found guilty of debasing the currency.[173][nb 17] In Normandy, he restored law and order after 1106, operating through a body of Norman justices and an exchequer system similar to that in England.[175] Norman institutions grew in scale and scope under Henry, although less quickly than in England.[176] Many of the officials that ran Henry's system were termed "new men", relatively low-born individuals who rose through the ranks as administrators, managing justice or the royal revenues.[177][nb 18] with the Church[edit] information on religion in England during this period: Religion in Medieval England and the King[edit] of seal seal of Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury ability to govern was intimately bound up with the Church, which formed the key to the administration of both England and Normandy, and this relationship changed considerably over the course of his reign.[179] William the Conqueror had reformed the English Church with the support of his Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc, who became a close colleague and advisor to the King.[180][nb 19] Under William Rufus this arrangement had collapsed, the King and Archbishop Anselm had become estranged and Anselm had gone into exile. Henry also believed in Church reform, but on taking power in England he became embroiled in the investiture controversy.[182] argument concerned who should invest a new bishop with his staff and ring: traditionally, this had been carried out by the King in a symbolic demonstration of royal power, but Pope Urban II had condemned this practice in 1099, arguing that only the papacy could carry out this task, and declaring that the clergy should not give homage to their local temporal rulers.[183] Anselm returned to England from exile in 1100 having heard Urban's pronouncement, and informed Henry that he would be complying with the Pope's wishes.[184] Henry was in a difficult position. On one hand, the symbolism and homage was important to him; on the other hand, he needed Anselm's support in his struggle with his brother Duke Robert.[185] stuck firmly to the letter of the papal decree, despite Henry's attempts to persuade him to give way in return for a vague assurance of a future royal compromise.[186] Matters escalated, with Anselm going back into exile and Henry confiscating the revenues of his estates. Anselm threatened excommunication, and in July 1105 the two men finally negotiated a solution.[187] A distinction was drawn between the secular and ecclesiastical powers of the prelates, under which Henry gave up his right to invest his clergy, but retained the custom of requiring them to come and do homage for the temporalities, the landed properties they held in England.[188] Despite this argument, the pair worked closely together, combining to deal with Duke Robert's invasion of 1101, for example, and holding major reforming councils in 1102 and 1108.[189] long-running dispute between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York flared up under Anselm's successor, Ralph d'Escures.[190] Canterbury, traditionally the senior of the two establishments, had long argued that the Archbishop of York should formally promise to obey their Archbishop, but York argued that the two episcopates were independent within the English Church and that no such promise was necessary. Henry supported the primacy of Canterbury, to ensure that England remained under a single ecclesiastical administration, but the Pope preferred the case of York.[190] The matter was complicated by Henry's personal friendship with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, and the King's desire that the case should not end up in a papal court, beyond royal control.[190] Henry needed the support of the Papacy in his struggle with Louis of France, however, and therefore allowed Thurstan to attend the Council of Rheims in 1119, where Thurstan was then consecrated by the Pope with no mention of any duty towards Canterbury.[191] Henry believed that this went against assurances Thurstan had previously made and exiled him from England until the King and Archbishop came to a negotiated solution the following year.[192] after the investiture dispute, Henry continued to play a major role in the selection of new English and Norman bishops and archbishops.[193] He appointed many of his officials to bishoprics and, as historian Martin Brett suggests, "some of his officers could look forward to a mitre with all but absolute confidence".[194] Henry's chancellors, and those of his queens, became bishops of Durham, Hereford, London, Lincoln, Winchester and Salisbury.[195] Henry increasingly drew on a wider range of these bishops as advisors – particularly Roger of Salisbury – breaking with the earlier tradition of relying primarily on the Archbishop of Canterbury.[196] The result was a cohesive body of administrators through which Henry could exercise careful influence, holding general councils to discuss key matters of policy.[197] This stability shifted slightly after 1125, when he began to inject a wider range of candidates into the senior positions of the Church, often with more reformist views, and the impact of this generation would be felt in the years after Henry's death.[198] beliefs and piety[edit] of Reading Abbey ruined chapter house of Reading Abbey in 2008 other rulers of the period, Henry donated to the Church and patronised various religious communities, but contemporary chroniclers did not consider him an unusually pious king.[199] His personal beliefs and piety may, however, have developed during the course of his life. Henry had always taken an interest in religion, but in his later years he may have become much more concerned about spiritual affairs.[200] If so, the major shifts in his thinking would appear to have occurred after 1120, when his son William Adelin died, and 1129, when his daughter's marriage teetered on the verge of collapse.[201][nb 20] a proponent of religious reform, Henry gave extensively to reformist groups within the Church.[203] He was a keen supporter of the Cluniac order, probably for intellectual reasons.[204] He donated money to the abbey at Cluny itself, and after 1120 gave generously to Reading Abbey, a Cluniac establishment.[204] Construction on Reading began in 1121, and Henry endowed it with rich lands and extensive privileges, making it a symbol of his dynastic lines.[205] He also focused effort on promoting the conversion of communities of clerks into Augustinian canons, the foundation of leper hospitals, expanding the provision of nunneries, and the charismatic orders of the Savigniacs and Tironensians.[206] He was an avid collector of relics, sending an embassy to Constantinople in 1118 to collect Byzantine items, some of which were donated to Reading Abbey.[207] reign, 1107–35[edit] and Welsh politics, 1108–14[edit] faced an increased threat from France, Anjou and Flanders after 1108.[208] King Louis VI succeeded to the French throne in 1108 and began to reassert central royal power.[208] Louis demanded Henry give homage to him and that two disputed castles along the Normandy border be placed into the control of neutral castellans.[209] Henry refused, and Louis responded by mobilising an army.[210] After some arguments, the two kings negotiated a truce and retreated without fighting, leaving the underlying issues unresolved.[210][nb 21] Fulk V assumed power in Anjou in 1109 and began to rebuild Angevin authority.[212] He inherited the county of Maine, but refused to recognise Henry as his feudal lord and instead allied himself with Louis.[213] Robert II of Flanders also briefly joined the alliance, before his death in 1111.[214] of coin coin of Henry's rival, Louis VI of France 1108, Henry betrothed his six-year-old daughter, Matilda, to Henry V, the future Holy Roman Emperor.[215] For King Henry, this was a prestigious match; for Henry V, it was an opportunity to restore his financial situation and fund an expedition to Italy, as he received a dowry of £6,666 from England and Normandy.[216][nb 22] Raising this money proved challenging, and required the implementation of a special "aid", or tax, in England.[218] Matilda was crowned German queen in 1110.[219] responded to the French and Angevin threat by expanding his own network of supporters beyond the Norman borders.[220] Some Norman barons deemed unreliable were arrested or dispossessed, and Henry used their forfeited estates to bribe his potential allies in the neighbouring territories, in particular Maine.[221] Around 1110, Henry attempted to arrest the young William Clito, but William's mentors moved him to the safety of Flanders before he could be taken.[222] At about this time, Henry probably began to style himself as the duke of Normandy.[223][nb 23] Robert of Bellême turned against Henry once again, and when he appeared at Henry's court in 1112 in a new role as a French ambassador, he was arrested and imprisoned.[225] broke out in France and Anjou between 1111 and 1113, and Henry crossed into Normandy to support his nephew, Count Theobald II, Count of Champagne, who had sided against Louis in the uprising.[226] In a bid to isolate Louis diplomatically, Henry betrothed his young son, William Adelin, to Fulk's daughter Matilda, and married his illegitimate daughter Matilda to Duke Conan III of Brittany, creating alliances with Anjou and Brittany respectively.[227] Louis backed down and in March 1113 met with Henry near Gisors to agree a peace settlement, giving Henry the disputed fortresses and confirming Henry's overlordship of Maine, Bellême and Brittany.[228] the situation in Wales was deteriorating. Henry had conducted a campaign in South Wales in 1108, pushing out royal power in the region and colonising the area around Pembroke with Flemings.[229] By 1114, some of the resident Norman lords were under attack, while in Mid-Wales, Owain ap Cadwgan blinded one of the political hostages he was holding, and in North Wales Gruffudd ap Cynan threatened the power of the Earl of Chester.[230] Henry sent three armies into Wales that year, with Gilbert Fitz Richard leading a force from the south, Alexander, King of Scotland, pressing from the north and Henry himself advancing into Mid-Wales.[230] Owain and Gruffudd sued for peace, and Henry accepted a political compromise.[231] He reinforced the Welsh Marches with his own appointees, strengthening the border territories.[232] 1115–20[edit] pennies of Henry I, struck at the Oxford mint about the succession, Henry sought to persuade Louis VI to accept his son, William Adelin, as the legitimate future Duke of Normandy, in exchange for his son's homage.[233] Henry crossed into Normandy in 1115 and assembled the Norman barons to swear loyalty; he also almost successfully negotiated a settlement with Louis, affirming William's right to the Duchy in exchange for a large sum of money. However, Louis, backed by his ally Baldwin of Flanders, instead declared that he considered William Clito the legitimate heir to the Duchy.[234] broke out after Henry returned to Normandy with an army to support Theobald of Blois, who was under attack from Louis.[235] Henry and Louis raided each other's towns along the border, and a wider conflict then broke out, probably in 1116.[235][nb 24] Henry was pushed onto the defensive as French, Flemish and Angevin forces began to pillage the Normandy countryside.[237] Amaury III of Montfort and many other barons rose up against Henry, and there was an assassination plot from within his own household.[237] Henry's wife, Matilda, died in early 1118, but the situation in Normandy was sufficiently pressing that Henry was unable to return to England for her funeral.[238] responded by mounting campaigns against the rebel barons and deepening his alliance with Theobald.[239] Baldwin of Flanders was wounded in battle and died in September 1118, easing the pressure on Normandy from the north-east.[240] Henry attempted to crush a revolt in the city of Alençon, but was defeated by Fulk and the Angevin army.[241] Forced to retreat from Alençon, Henry's position deteriorated alarmingly, as his resources became overstretched and more barons abandoned his cause.[242] Early in 1119, Eustace of Breteuil and Henry's daughter, Juliana, threatened to join the baronial revolt.[243] Hostages were exchanged in a bid to avoid conflict, but relations broke down and both sides mutilated their captives.[244] Henry attacked and took the town of Breteuil, Eure, despite Juliana's attempt to kill her father with a crossbow.[244][nb 25] In the aftermath, Henry dispossessed the couple of almost all of their lands in Normandy.[246] situation improved in May 1119 when he enticed Fulk to switch sides by finally agreeing to marry William Adelin to Fulk's daughter, Matilda, and paying Fulk a large sum of money.[247] Fulk left for the Levant, leaving the County of Maine in Henry's care, and the King was free to focus on crushing his remaining enemies.[248] During the summer Henry advanced into the Norman Vexin, where he encountered Louis's army, resulting in the Battle of Brémule.[249] Henry appears to have deployed scouts and then organised his troops into several carefully formed lines of dismounted knights.[250] Unlike Henry's forces, the French knights remained mounted; they hastily charged the Anglo-Norman positions, breaking through the first rank of the defences but then becoming entangled in Henry's second line of knights.[251] Surrounded, the French army began to collapse.[250] In the melee, Henry was hit by a sword blow, but his armour protected him.[252] Louis and William Clito escaped from the battle, leaving Henry to return to Rouen in triumph.[253] war slowly petered out after this battle, and Louis took the dispute over Normandy to Pope Callixtus II's council in Reims that October.[254] Henry faced a number of French complaints concerning his acquisition and subsequent management of Normandy, and despite being defended by Geoffrey, the Archbishop of Rouen, Henry's case was shouted down by the pro-French elements of the council.[255] Callixtus declined to support Louis, however, and merely advised the two rulers to seek peace.[256] Amaury de Montfort came to terms with Henry, but Henry and William Clito failed to find a mutually satisfactory compromise.[257] In June 1120, Henry and Louis formally made peace on terms advantageous to the King of England: William Adelin gave homage to Louis, and in return Louis confirmed William's rights to the Duchy.[258] crisis, 1120–24[edit] of White Ship 14th-century depiction of the sinking of the White Ship at Barfleur on 25 November 1120 succession plans were thrown into chaos by the sinking of the White Ship on 25 November 1120.[259] Henry had left the port of Barfleur for England in the early evening, leaving William Adelin and many of the younger members of the court to follow on that night in a separate vessel, the White Ship.[260] Both the crew and passengers were drunk and, just outside the harbour, the ship hit a submerged rock.[261][nb 26] The ship sank, killing as many as 300 people, with only one survivor, a butcher from Rouen.[261] Henry's court was initially too scared to report William's death to the King. When he was finally told, he collapsed with grief.[263] disaster left Henry with no legitimate son, his various nephews now the closest possible male heirs.[264] Henry announced he would take a new wife, Adeliza of Louvain, opening up the prospect of a new royal son, and the two were married at Windsor Castle in January 1121.[265][nb 27] Henry appears to have chosen her because she was attractive and came from a prestigious noble line. Adeliza seems to have been fond of Henry and joined him in his travels, probably to maximise the chances of her conceiving a child.[267] The White Ship disaster initiated fresh conflict in Wales, where the drowning of Richard, Earl of Chester, encouraged a rebellion led by Maredudd ap Bleddyn.[268] Henry intervened in North Wales that summer with an army and, although he was hit by a Welsh arrow, the campaign reaffirmed royal power across the region.[268] alliance with Anjou – which had been based on his son William marrying Fulk's daughter Matilda – began to disintegrate.[269] Fulk returned from the Levant and demanded that Henry return Matilda and her dowry, a range of estates and fortifications in Maine.[269] Matilda left for Anjou, but Henry argued that the dowry had in fact originally belonged to him before it came into the possession of Fulk, and so declined to hand the estates back to Anjou.[270] Fulk married his daughter Sibylla to William Clito, and granted them Maine.[271] Once again, conflict broke out, as Amaury de Montfort allied himself with Fulk and led a revolt along the Norman-Anjou border in 1123.[271] Amaury was joined by several other Norman barons, headed by Waleran de Beaumont, one of the sons of Henry's old ally, Robert of Meulan.[272][nb 28] dispatched Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf le Meschin to Normandy and then intervened himself in late 1123.[274] He began the process of besieging the rebel castles, before wintering in the Duchy.[275] In the spring of 1124, campaigning began again. In the battle of Bourgthéroulde, Odo Borleng, castellan of Bernay, Eure, led the King's army and received intelligence that the rebels were departing from the rebel base in Beaumont-le-Roger allowing him to ambush them as they traversed through the Brotonne forest. Waleran charged the royal forces, but his knights were cut down by Odo's archers and the rebels were quickly overwhelmed.[276] Waleran was captured, but Amaury escaped.[276] Henry mopped up the remainder of the rebellion, blinding some of the rebel leaders – considered, at the time, a more merciful punishment than execution – and recovering the last rebel castles.[277] He paid Pope Callixtus a large amount of money, in exchange for the Papacy annulling the marriage of William Clito and Sibylla on the grounds of consanguinity.[278][nb 29] the succession, 1125–34[edit] and Adeliza did not conceive any children, generating prurient speculation as to the possible explanation, and the future of the dynasty appeared at risk.[280][nb 30] Henry may have begun to look among his nephews for a possible heir. He may have considered Stephen of Blois as a possible option and, perhaps in preparation for this, he arranged a beneficial marriage for Stephen to a wealthy heiress, Matilda.[282] Theobald of Blois, his close ally, may have also felt that he was in favour with Henry.[283] William Clito, who was King Louis's preferred choice, remained opposed to Henry and was therefore unsuitable.[284] Henry may have also considered his own illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, as a possible candidate, but English tradition and custom would have looked unfavourably on this.[285] plans shifted when the Empress Matilda's husband, the Emperor Henry, died in 1125.[286] The King recalled his daughter to England the next year and declared that, should he die without a male heir, she was to be his rightful successor.[287] The Anglo-Norman barons were gathered together at Westminster at Christmas 1126, where they swore to recognise Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have.[287][nb 31] Putting forward a woman as a potential heir in this way was unusual: opposition to Matilda continued to exist within the English court, and Louis was vehemently opposed to her candidacy.[289] conflict broke out in 1127, when the childless Charles I, Count of Flanders, was murdered, creating a local succession crisis.[290] Backed by King Louis, William Clito was chosen by the Flemings to become their new ruler.[291] This development potentially threatened Normandy, and Henry began to finance a proxy war in Flanders, promoting the claims of William's Flemish rivals.[292] In an effort to disrupt the French alliance with William, Henry mounted an attack into France in 1128, forcing Louis to cut his aid to William.[293] William died unexpectedly in July, removing the last major challenger to Henry's rule and bringing the war in Flanders to a halt.[294] Without William, the baronial opposition in Normandy lacked a leader. A fresh peace was made with France, and Henry was finally able to release the remaining prisoners from the revolt of 1123, including Waleran of Meulan, who was rehabilitated into the royal court.[295] Henry rebuilt his alliance with Fulk of Anjou, this time by marrying Matilda to Fulk's eldest son, Geoffrey.[296] The pair were betrothed in 1127 and married the following year.[297] It is unknown whether Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping his son-in-law's status deliberately uncertain. Similarly, although Matilda was granted a number of Normandy castles as part of her dowry, it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them.[298] Fulk left Anjou for Jerusalem in 1129, declaring Geoffrey the Count of Anjou and Maine.[299] The marriage proved difficult, as the couple did not particularly like each other and the disputed castles proved a point of contention, resulting in Matilda returning to Normandy later that year.[300] Henry appears to have blamed Geoffrey for the separation, but in 1131 the couple were reconciled.[301] Much to the pleasure and relief of Henry, Matilda then gave birth to a sequence of two sons, Henry and Geoffrey, in 1133 and 1134.[302] and legacy[edit] of Henry 14th-century depiction of Henry mourning the death of his son between Henry, Matilda, and Geoffrey became increasingly strained during the King's final years. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England. In 1135 they urged Henry to hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he was still alive, and insisted that the Norman nobility swear immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a more powerful position after Henry's death.[303] Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy.[304] A fresh rebellion broke out amongst the barons in southern Normandy, led by William III, Count of Ponthieu, whereupon Geoffrey and Matilda intervened in support of the rebels.[305] campaigned throughout the autumn, strengthening the southern frontier, and then travelled to Lyons-la-Forêt in November to enjoy some hunting, still apparently healthy.[306] There he fell ill – according to the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, he ate too many ("a surfeit of") lampreys against his physician's advice – and his condition worsened over the course of a week.[307] Once the condition appeared terminal, Henry gave confession and summoned Archbishop Hugh of Amiens, who was joined by Robert of Gloucester and other members of the court.[308] In accordance with custom, preparations were made to settle Henry's outstanding debts and to revoke outstanding sentences of forfeiture.[309] The King died on 1 December 1135, and his corpse was taken to Rouen accompanied by the barons, where it was embalmed; his entrails were buried locally at the priory of Notre-Dame du Pré, and the preserved body was taken on to England, where it was interred at Reading Abbey.[310] Henry's efforts, the succession was disputed. When news began to spread of the King's death, Geoffrey and Matilda were in Anjou supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester.[15] Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England.[311] The Norman nobility discussed declaring Theobald of Blois king.[312] Theobald's younger brother, Stephen of Blois, quickly crossed from Boulogne to England, however, accompanied by his military household.[313] Hugh Bigod dubiously testified that Henry, on his deathbed, had released the barons from their oath to Matilda,[314] and with the help of his brother, Henry of Blois, Stephen seized power in England and was crowned king on 22 December.[315] Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, appealing at first to the Pope against the decision to allow the coronation of Stephen,[314] and then invading England to start a prolonged civil war, known as the Anarchy, between 1135 and 1153.[316] AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167);

England, 1129-1167, ALFRED OF RIEVAULX, Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire, writer, room for particular friendships
Cistercian monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire; AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167) ; was born in 1109 at Durham, and was sent to the Scottish court for an education that would ensure his future as a noble and courtier. succeeded, to the extent of being made Master of the Household of the King of Scotland. Nevertheless, he found success at the court of an earthly king unsatisfying, at the age of 24 he entered the Cistercian monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire. Bernard of Clairvaux encouraged him to write his first work, The Mirror of Charity, which deals with seeking to follow the example of Christ in all things. In 1147 he became abbot of Rievaulx, a post which he held until his death of kidney disease twenty years later at the age of 57. His most famous work is called Spiritual Friendship (both it and the Mirror have been published in English by the Cistercian Press). Jesus was told that his family was waiting to see him, he replied, "All who do the will of my Father are my family." this, some Christians have drawn the conclusion that the only kind of love permissible to a Christian is Charity -- that is: (a) the universal benevolence that wills the good of all persons, and (b) the bond that unites the Christian with Christ and through Christ with all other Christians. that Universal Benevolence is extended equally to all persons (we are to love Jones because God made him), and that the bond of Christian Unity unites us equally with all our fellow Christians who are in a state of grace (we are to love Jones because Christ dwells in him). leaves any room for particular friendships, for liking Jones more than Smith because Jones shares our interest in hockey, or because Jones and we like the same sort of jokes, or come from the same part of the country and have similar childhood memories, or because Jones is an easy-going type and it is easy to relax and feel comfortable around him, or because Jones and we have a special bond of friendship, loyalty, and trust. Particular friendships are out! who do not think that every Christian must renounce particular friendships believe that every monastic must do so. In many religious houses, where the monks or nuns walk two by two into chapel or the dining hall or while pacing about during the daily hour of recreation, the superior will make a point of constantly shifting partners, lest anyone form a liking for onepartner more than another. (This does not apply just to friends. It is sometimes held that no monk ought to allow himself any preferences in food or drink.) Against this view, Aelred wrote that it is compatible with the highest degree of Christian perfection to take special pleasure in the company of particular friends. He point out that we are told that Jesus loved John, and Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus, and that this probably means that he found their company congenial. by James Kiefer

England, 1135-1154, King, Stephen. of Blois, Boulogne, Normandy, Anarchy, long Civil War w Matilda and Henry
England, 1135-1154, King of England, Stephen, King of England ; (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death. A younger son of the Count of Blois, he was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England. was born in the County of Blois in central France; his father, Count Stephen-Henry, died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother, Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin, in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel and with the help of his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester and Abbot of Glastonbury, took the throne, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda. early years of Stephen's reign were largely successful, despite a series of attacks on his possessions in England and Normandy by David I of Scotland, Welsh rebels, and the Empress Matilda's husband Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. In 1138, the Empress's half-brother Robert of Gloucester rebelled against Stephen, threatening civil war. Together with his close advisor, Waleran de Beaumont, Stephen took firm steps to defend his rule, including arresting a powerful family of bishops. When the Empress and Robert invaded in 1139, Stephen was unable to crush the revolt rapidly, and it took hold in the south-west of England. Captured at the battle of Lincoln in 1141, he was abandoned by many of his followers and lost control of Normandy. He was freed only after his wife and William of Ypres, one of his military commanders, captured Robert at the Rout of Winchester, but the war dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage. became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son Eustace would inherit his throne. The King tried to convince the Church to agree to crown Eustace to reinforce his claim; Pope Eugene III refused, and Stephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy. In 1153, the Empress's son Henry invaded England and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support his claim for the throne. The two armies met at Wallingford, but neither side's barons were keen to fight another pitched battle. Stephen began to examine a negotiated peace, a process hastened by the sudden death of Eustace. Later in the year Stephen and Henry agreed to the Treaty of Winchester, in which Stephen recognised Henry as his heir in exchange for peace, passing over William, Stephen's second son. Stephen died the following year. Modern historians have extensively debated the extent to which his personality, external events, or the weaknesses in the Norman state contributed to this prolonged period of civil war. AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167);

England, 1139-1170, THOMAS BECKET, Canterbury, court jurisdiction, church protection, no death penalty for clerics or readers
England, 1139-1170, THOMAS BECKET, Canterbury, court jurisdiction, protecting the church, not tried twice for same crime, no death penalty for clerics, anybody who can read; Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London[1] and later Thomas à Becket[note 1] (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II, King of England, over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III. Canterbury (crossraods of 4 Roman roads); THOMAS OF CANTERBURY, Commemorated December 29 ; December 29, we remember Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, slain in his own cathedral in 1170, for his defiance of King Henry II. death of Thomas reminds us that a Christian, even when safe from pagans, can be in danger from his fellow-Christians. also reminds us that one can be martyred in a cause where the merits of the particular issue at hand are not obvious to all men of good will. issue here, or one of the issues, was one of court jurisdiction. Henry claimed that a cleric accused of an ordinary crime ought to be tried in the King's Courts like any layman. who was Henry's Chancellor and his close friend, vigorously upheld the king's position. when he was made Archbishop of Canterbury with the king's support, he reversed himself completely and upheld the right of clergy to be tried only in Church courts, which could not inflict capital punishment. reversal does not imply fickleness or treachery. As Chancellor, Thomas was bound to serve the king. Now, as Archbishop, he was bound to defend the Church.) wanted an arrangement by which (for example) a priest accused of murder would be tried by a Church Court, which if it found him guilty would degrade him to the rank of a layman, whereupon a King's Court would try him, and if it found him guilty would order him hanged. Thomas objected that a man could not be tried and punished twice for the same offense. Digression: In the United States, what is often counted as the first bloodshed of the War of Independence was that of the Boston Massacre (5 March 1770), when a mob threw stones at a group of sentries, who eventually fired at them, killing five. The soldiers were tried for murder, and defended by John Adams (later the 2nd President of the United States). The jury acquitted all but two, whom it found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder, and Adams promptly said, "I claim for my clients the benefit of clergy." Under law, the penalty for murder was "death without benefit of clergy," whereas the penalty for manslaughter was simply "death." The former penalty was supposed by Mark Twain (see his novels The Prince and the Pauper (about England in 1547) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) to mean that the accused was to have no access to a clergyman before being killed, and that the law thus sought to destroy his soul as well as his body. Naturally, Twain was horrified. However, the law was not what he thought it was. In fact, "death without benefit of clergy" meant simply that anyone convicted of murder was to be put to death even if a cleric. On the other hand, conviction of manslaughter meant death only if the accused was a layman. But what was the legal definition of a cleric (or clerk, or scholar)? The courts had developed the principle that in order to claim benefit of clergy it was sufficient to be able to read. Moreover, the literacy test had become extremely standardized. The convicted man approached the court clerk, who opened a Bible, pointed to a verse, and said, "Read this." The verse pointed to, known as the Neck Verse, was Psalm 56:13 "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living." (The Hebrew word "nephesh," here translated "soul," is derived, like our word "spirit," from a root meaning "breath," and can also, where the context permits, be translated "throat" or "neck," a translation that would make the verse even more appropriate than it already is. I must check to see whether there are any old translations that so render it.) The accused would read the verse, or recite it from memory, and be certified as a clerk. He would then be branded on the thumb with a hot iron, as a sign that he was now a convicted felon, and could never claim the benefit of clergy again. That is why, when one takes an oath in court, one holds up one's right hand. The court must see that the witness has no brand on the hand, and is therefore not a convicted felon, and is therefore presumed to be trustworthy under oath. Thus some remnants of the issue disputed between Henry and Thomas were with us (in English-speaking countries at least) until the 1700's, and others are still with us. End of digression. Back to Thomas.] Picture of stained glass from Christ Church Cathedral Stained glass depicting the murder of Thomas a Becket, at Christ Chruch Cathedral, Oxford. being angered at opposition from someone whom he had counted on for support, was heard to exclaim in anger, "This fellow who has eaten my bread has lifted up his heel against me [see Psalm 41:9]. Have I no friend who will rid me of this upstart priest?" Four of his knights promptly rode to Canterbury, where they confronted the Archbishop and demanded that he back down. When he did not, they killed him. Public reaction was immediate and vigorous, and reckoned Thomas as a saint and a martyr, and Henry as a blaspheming murderer. Henry swore that he had not intended his remark to be taken seriously, and had himself publicly whipped at the tomb of Thomas. Thomas was very soon canonized, and his tomb was one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in Europe for the next three-and-a-half centuries. During a war between England and France, a King of France obtained a cease-fire to enable him to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is concerned with a group of pilgrims on their way to the tomb of Thomas. chief moral that I draw from Thomas's life and death is that when a man seeks to serve God, God graciously accepts that service, even if the man is quite wrong about what it is that God expects of him. close by quoting a section from T.S. Eliot's play, "Murder in the Cathedral," which deals with the death of Thomas. Note that the words are Eliot's and not Thomas's. I quote it not as applicable simply to Thomas, but as applicable to all martyrs (and thus appropriate during the Witness Days) and indeed as directed to all Christians in their understanding of the Christian life, and how it involves both sorrow and joy. The Archbishop preaches in the Cathedral on Christmas morning, 1170. to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." The fourteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. children of God, my sermon this morning will be a very short one. I wish only that you should ponder and meditate on the deep meaning and mystery of our masses of Christmas Day. For whenever Mass is said, we re-enact the Passion and Death of Our Lord; and on this Christmas Day we do this in celebration of His Birth. So that at the same moment we rejoice in His coming for the salvation of men, and offer again to God His Body and Blood in sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It was in this same night that has just passed, that a multitude of the heavenly host appeared before the shepherds at Bethlehem, saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"; at this same time of all the year that we celebrate at once the Birth of Our Lord and His Passion and Death upon the Cross. Beloved, as the World sees, this is to behave in a strange fashion. For who in the World will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason? For either joy will be overcome by mourning or mourning will be cast out by joy; so that it is only in these our Christian mysteries that we can rejoice and mourn at once for the same reason. But think for a while on the meaning of this word "peace." Does it seem strange to you that the angels should have announced Peace, when ceaselessly the world has been stricken with War and the fear of War? Does it seem to you that the angelic voices were mistaken, and that the promise was a disappointment and a cheat? now, how Our Lord Himself spoke of Peace. He said to His disciples: "My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." Did He mean peace as we think of it: the kingdom of England at peace with its neighbors, the barons at peace with the King, the householder counting over his peaceful gains, the swept hearth, his best wine for a friend at the table, his wife singing to the children? Those men His disciples knew no such things: they went forth to journey afar, to suffer by land and sea, to know torture, imprisonment, disappointment, to suffer death by martyrdom. What then did He mean? If you ask that, remember that He said also, "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." So then, He gave to his disciples peace, but not peace as the world gives. also one thing of which you have probably never thought. Not only do we at the feast of Christmas celebrate at once Our Lord's Birth and His Death: but on the next day we celebrate the martyrdom of his first martyr, the blessed Stephen. Is it an accident, do you think, that the day of the first martyr follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ? By no means. Just as we rejoice and mourn at once, in the Birth and Passion of Our Lord; so also, in a smaller figure, we both rejoice and mourn in the death of martyrs. We mourn, for the sins of the world that has martyred them; we rejoice, that another soul is numbered among the Saints in Heaven, for the glory of God and for the salvation of men. we do not think of a martyr simply as a good Christian who has been killed because he is a Christian: for that would be solely to mourn. We do not think of him simply as a good Christian who has been elevated to the company of the Saints: for that would be simply to rejoice: and neither our mourning nor our rejoicing is as the world's is. A Christian martyrdom is no accident. Saints are not made by accident. Still less is a Christian martyrdom the effect of a man's will to become a Saint, as a man by willing and contriving may become a ruler of men. Ambition fortifies the will of man to become ruler over other men: it operates with deception, cajolery, and violence, it is the action of impurity upon impurity. Not so in Heaven. A martyr, a saint, is always made by the design of God, for His love of men, to warn them and to lead them, to bring them back to His ways. A martyrdom is never the design of man; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom. So thus as on earth the Church mourns and rejoices at once, in a fashion that the world cannot understand; so in Heaven the Saints are most high, having made themselves most low, seeing themselves not as we see them, but in the light of the Godhead from which they draw their being. have spoken to you today, dear children of God, of the martyrs of the past, asking you to remember especially our martyr of Canterbury, the blessed Archbishop Elphege; because it is fitting, on Christ's birthday, to remember what is that peace which he brought; and because, dear children, I do not think that I shall ever preach to you again; and because it is possible that in a short time you may have yet another martyr, and that one perhaps not the last. I would have you keep in your hearts these words that I say, and think of them at another time. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. [End of sermon] by James Kiefer

England, 1154-1189, King Henry II, Norman, Angevin Empire, Common Law, Matilda's son, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Touraine
England, 1154-1189, King of England, Henry II of England ; II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (French: Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 to his death. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. Louis VII of France made him Duke of Normandy in 1150. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Geoffrey of Anjou, in 1151. marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185. he was 40 he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France—an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire. At various times, Henry also partially controlled Scotland, Wales and the Duchy of Brittany. became actively involved by the age of 14 in the efforts of his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign the younger Henry restored the royal administration in England, re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Becket's murder in 1170. Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII, and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire at Louis's expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse; despite numerous peace conferences and treaties, no lasting agreement was reached. and Eleanor had eight children—three daughters and five sons. Three of his sons would be king, though Henry the Young King was named his father's co-ruler rather than a stand-alone king. As the sons grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard (later a king) and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them "new men" appointed for their loyalty and administrative skills. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. The Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John (later a king), but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. By 1189, Young Henry and Geoffrey were dead, and Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry II would make John king, leading to a final rebellion. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from a bleeding ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon Castle in Anjou. He died soon afterwards and was succeeded by Richard. empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his son John (who succeeded Richard), but many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule had long-term consequences. Henry's legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales, and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems. Historical interpretations of Henry's reign have changed considerably over time. In the 18th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. During the Victorian expansion of the British Empire, historians were keenly interested in the formation of Henry's own empire, but they also expressed concern over his private life and treatment of Becket. Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of Henry, challenging earlier Anglocentric interpretations of his reign. HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); THOMAS OF CANTERBURY, ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR (29 DEC 1170); AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167);

England, 1176-1200, Hugh of Lincoln, faced riots a Jews, King John's amulet, wit, temper, washed lepers
Lincoln, Yorkshire, England; HUGH OF LINCOLN BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); ROBERT GROSSETESTE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN (9 OCT 1253) ; NICHOLAS FERRAR, DEACON, MAN OF PRAYER (1 DEC 1637) ;

England, 1176-1200, Hugh of Lincoln, Carthusian, Henry II a friend and sponsor, E Monastery, Land comensation, vacant bisoprics, Lincoln, forresters, meaningless lucrative post, Falaise glove
England, 1176-1200, Hugh of Lincoln, Carthusian, Henry II friend and sponsor, Monastery, Land comensation, vacant bisoprics, Lincoln, forresters, meaningless lucrative post, Falaise glove, faced riots against Jews, refused money grant for King Richard the Lion Hearted, legal precedent, King John's amulet, wit, temper, love for defenceless, washed lepers, animals loved him; Avalon, France; Chartreuse Mountains (Carthusians); Carthusians - Grande Chartreuse; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); a sign of his remorse for his role in the murder of the Archbishop Thomas a Becket, King Henry II founded the first house in England of the strict monastic order called the Carthusians. Difficulties arose with the first two priors, and a French noble recommended Hugh de Avalon, who at that time had been a monk at the mother house of the order for 17 years. his arrival in England in 1176, Hugh found that the building of the monastery had not begun. Worse, no compensation had been paid to those who would have to lose their lands and property to make room for it. refused to take office until these persons had been paid "to the last penny." He intervened again on behalf of the builders, whose pay was not forthcoming. Henry loved him for his plain speaking. "I do not despair of you," Hugh said to him at their first interview; "I know how much your many occupations interfere with the health of your soul." impressed by his frankness, swore that while he lived he should not leave his kingdom, and took so much pleasure in his conversation, and paid so much heed to his counsels, that a rumor arose that Hugh was his son. biographer wrote that "of all men only Hugh could bend that rhinosceros to his will." Henry was in danger of shipwreck, he cried out, "If only my Carthusian Hugh were awake and at prayer, God would not forget me." This affection never diminished, though Hugh dared to oppose the king, particularly in the matter of keeping bishoprics vacant in order that their revenues might fall to the king's treasury. of the worst examples was Lincoln, which, except for a few months, had been without a bishop for eighteen years. Hugh was elected to the post in 1186, and his monastic superiors ordered him to accept. After so long a period of neglect, there was great need of reform. employed priests of great piety and learning, and made the fullest use of his authority in disciplining his clergy. He took a stern view of the ill-treatment of the poor by the royal foresters, and when a subject of the church of Lincoln suffered at their hands he excommunicated their chief. He also refused to appoint a royal favorite to a meaningless but lucrative post. Henry was furious, and summoned him to his presence. He came, and Henry turned away his face and would not speak, but by way of ignoring his presence took out a torn glove and began to sew it. At last Hugh said, "How like you are to your relations at Falaise." king might have resented this allusion to the humble birth of William the Conqueror's mother, the daughter of a glove-maker, but he only laughed, and the quarrel was made up. against the Jews broke out in England at the time of the Third Crusade. In defence of the persecuted, Hugh faced armed mobs in Lincoln, Stamford and Northampton and compelled their submission. refused to raise money for the foreign wars of King Richard the Lion-Heart, calmed the king's rage with a kiss, and persisted in his refusal: was the first clear example on record of the refusal of a money-grant demanded directly by the crown, and an important legal precedent. Richard said, "If all bishops were like my lord of Lincoln, not a prince among us could raise his head against them." His relations with King John were less happy. John showed him an amulet, which he said was sacred and would preserve him. Hugh replied, "Do not put your trust in lifeless stone, but only in the living and heavenly stone, our Lord Jesus Christ." following Easter he preached at length on the duties of kings, and the king slipped out partway through. tireless, and forgetful of self, Hugh also had wit, a temper that he described as "more biting than pepper," and a great love and concern for children and the defenceless. He visited leper-houses and washed the ulcerous limbs of their inmates. He was fond of animals, and they of him. Birds and squirrels came readily to his hand. He had a swan that would feed from his hand, follow him about, and keep guard over his bed, so that no one could approach it without being attacked. In 1200 the king sent him on an embassy to France. His mission was a success, but he took ill and returned to England to die on 16 November 1200. John Ruskin called him "the most beautiful sacerdotal (priestly) figure known to me in history." by James Kiefer

England, 1189-1199, King Richard I, Lion Heart, French and English hero, only 6 mos in England
England, 1189-1199, King of England, Richard I of England ; I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and seemed unlikely to become king, but all his brothers except the youngest, John, predeceased their father. Richard is known as Richard CÅ“ur de Lion (Norman French: Le quor de lion) or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.[1] troubador Bertran de Born also called him Richard Oc-e-Non (Occitan for Yes and No), possibly from a reputation for terseness.[2] the age of 16, Richard had taken command of his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father.[1] Richard was an important Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and achieving considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, although he finalized a peace treaty and ended the campaign without retaking Jerusalem.[3] probably spoke both French and Occitan.[4] He was born in England, where he spent his childhood; before becoming king, however, he lived most of his adult life in the Duchy of Aquitaine, in the southwest of France. his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England. Most of his life as king was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or actively defending his lands in France. than regarding his kingdom as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler, he has been perceived as preferring to use it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies.[5] Nevertheless, he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects.[6] He remains one of the few kings of England remembered more commonly by his epithet than his regnal number, and is an enduring iconic figure both in England and in France.[7] HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade and Richard the Lion Heart
England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade; England, 1189-1199, King of England, Richard I of England ; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade riots against Jews, stopped by Hugh of Lincoln
England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade riots against Jews, stopped by Hugh of Lincoln England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade; England, 1189-1199, King of England, Richard I of England ; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

England, 1194-1240, Edmund Rich (Edmund of Abingdon)
Edmund Rich (Edmund of Abingdon); RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253) Richard of Wyche;

England, 1195-1253, Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, scholar, Theologian, removed clergy for neglecting duties
England, 1195-1253, Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, scholar, Theologian, removed clergy neglecting duties; Lincoln, Yorkshire, England; ROBERT GROSSETESTE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN (9 OCT 1253) ; the leaders of the thirteenth century heeded this preacher, many of the disasters of the following three centuries might have been avoided. was a peasant lad from Suffolk, born about 1175. distinguished himself at Oxford in law, medicine, languages, natural sciences, and theology. He became what is now called Chancellor of Oxford University. 1235, he was elected Bishop of Lincoln, in area the largest diocese in England. He promptly visited all the churches in the diocese and quickly removed many of the prominent clergy because they were neglectng their pastoral duties. vigorously opposed the practice by which the Pope appointed Italians as absentee clergy for English churches (collecting salaries from said churches without ever setting foot in the country). insisted that his priests spend their time in the service of their people, in prayer, and in study. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he spoke out boldly against ecclesiastical abuses. Back in England, he spoke against unlawful usurpations of power by the monarch, and was one of those present at the signing of the Magna Carta. scholarly writings embraced many fields of learning. He translated into Latin the Ethics of Aristotle and the theological works of John of Damascus and of the fifth-century writer known as Dionysius the Areopagite. was skilled in poetry, music, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, optics, and physics (one of his pupils was Roger Bacon). writings on the first chapter of Genesis include an interesting anticipation of modern cosmological ideas. (He read that the first thing created was light, and said that the universe began with pure energy exploding from a point source.) knew Hebrew and Greek, and his Biblical studies were a notable contribution to the scholarship of the day. by James Kiefer RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253) Richard of Wyche ;

England, 1199-1216, King John, collapse of Angevin E, to Capetian France, Magna Carta, Villain
England, 1199-1216, King of England, John, King of England; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

England, 1200-1299, London, 13th Century History Folder, Magna Carta by John, and Henry III

England, 1215, Magna Carta Signing at Runnymede (Thames River 4)
Magna Carta Signing at Runnymede ; ROBERT GROSSETESTE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN (9 OCT 1253) ;

England, 1216-1272, King, Henry III of England, defeated popular rebel barons, charter of 1225, allied w Poitevins
England, King of England, 1216-1272, Henry III of England; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); ROBERT GROSSETESTE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN (9 OCT 1253); RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253);

England, 1217-1253, RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester, Henry III's vacant bishoprics, walking barefoot, Clergy&Laity reqs
England, 1217-1253, RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester, of Wyche , Worchester West Midlands (Droitwich Spa, Severn River 5.7), restored wasted inheritance, to Oxford, Chancellor Oxford & Canterbury, Henry III's vacant bishoprics, walking barefoot bishop, Clergy&Laity reqs, appealed new Jerusalem crusade ; Wyche (Droitwich Spa); RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253), Richard of Wyche ; of Wyche was born in 1197 at Droitwyche, the son of a prosperous yeoman farmer. and his brother were orphaned at an early age, and an incompetent guardian wasted the inheritance. worked long and hard to restore the family property, and when he had succeeded, he turned it over to his brother and went off to Oxford to become a scholar. was too poor to afford a gown or a fire in winter, but he did very well at his studies, with Robert Grosseteste among his teachers, and he established what would be a lifelong friendship with his tutor, Edmund Rich (Edmund of Abingdon). He studied canon law at Oxford (and probably also at Paris and Bologna) and, having acquired a doctorate, he became Chancellor of Oxford in 1235. his tutor had become Archbishop of Canterbury, and soon asked Richard to become his Chancellor. When the Archbishop rebuked King Henry III for keeping various bishoprics vacant as long as possible (because as long as they were vacant their revenues went to the Crown), Henry forced him into exile, and Richard accompanied him to France and nursed him in his final illness. After the Archbishop's death in 1240, Richard studied at the Dominican house in Orleans, and was ordained priest in 1243. 1244 he was elected Bishop of Chichester, but Henry would not recognize the election, locked him out of the bishop's residence, and pocketed the revenues. Richard accepted shelter with a village priest, and spent the next two years walking barefoot through his diocese, preaching to fishermen and farmers, and correcting abuses. He held synods to legislate, and insisted that the sacraments must be administered without payment, and the Liturgy celebrated with reverence and The clergy were required to be celibate, to wear clerical dress, and to live in the parishes they were assigned to and carry out their duties in person. laity were required to attend services on all Sundays and holy days, and to know by heart the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed. After two years, Henry was pressured into recognizing Richard as Bishop, but Richard continued to live as he had before. of his concerns was that the moslems then in control of Jerusalem would not admit Christian pilgrims. In 1253 he travelled about appealing for a new Crusade, aimed solely at pressuring the moslems into permitting pilgrimages. He caught a fever and died in 1253. well-known prayer written by him reads in part as follows: Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day. by James Kiefer

England, 1300-1399, London, 14th Century History Folder, 100 Years War, John Wycliff, Julian of Norwich

England, 1307-1327, King, Edward II, boyfriend Gaveston, d by Robert the Bruce, Parliment growth
King of England, 1307-1327, Edward II of England; II (25 April 1284 - 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to the throne following the death of his elder brother Alphonso. in 1300, Edward accompanied his father on campaigns to pacify Scotland. In 1306, he was knighted in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey. his father's death, Edward succeeded to the throne in 1307. married Isabella, the daughter of the powerful King Philip IV of France, in 1308, as part of a long-running effort to resolve tensions between the English and French crowns. had a close and controversial relationship with Piers Gaveston, who had joined his household in 1300. The precise nature of their relationship is uncertain; they may have been friends, lovers, or sworn brothers. relationship with Gaveston inspired Christopher Marlowe's 1592 play Edward II, along with other plays, films, novels and media. power as Edward's favourite provoked discontent both among the barons and the French royal family, and Edward was forced to exile him. On Gaveston's return, the barons pressured the king into agreeing to wide-ranging reforms, called the Ordinances of 1311. The newly empowered barons banished Gaveston, to which Edward responded by revoking the reforms and recalling his favourite. Led by Edward's cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, a group of the barons seized and executed Gaveston in 1312, beginning several years of armed confrontation. English forces were pushed back in Scotland, where Edward was decisively defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Widespread famine followed, and criticism of the king's reign mounted. Despenser family, in particular Hugh Despenser the Younger, became close friends and advisers to Edward, but Lancaster and many of the barons seized the Despensers' lands in 1321, and forced the king to exile them. In response, Edward led a short military campaign, capturing and executing Lancaster. Edward and the Despensers strengthened their grip on power, formally revoking the 1311 reforms, executing their enemies and confiscating estates. Unable to make progress in Scotland, Edward finally signed a truce with Robert. Opposition to the regime grew, and when Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward and refused to return. Instead, she allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Edward's regime collapsed and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November. The king was forced to relinquish his crown in January 1327 in favour of his 14 year-old son, Edward III, and he died in Berkeley Castle on 21 September, probably murdered on the orders of the new regime. contemporaries criticised his performance as king, noting his failures in Scotland and the oppressive regime of his later years, although 19th-century academics later argued that the growth of parliamentary institutions during his reign was a positive development for England over the longer term.

England, 1310-1349, Richard Rolle of Hampole, Mystic and Writer
England, 1310-1349, Richard Rolle of Hampole, Mystic and Writer ; Richard Rolle of RICHARD ROLLE, WALTER HILTON, AND MARGERY KEMPE, MYSTICS, 28 Sept. 1349, 1396, c. 1440;

England, 1327-1377, King of England, Edward III of England, formidable Military, claimed French throne, starting 100 yr war
England, King of England, 1327-1377, Edward III of England; III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous and unorthodox reign of his father, Edward II. III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. fifty-year reign was the second-longest in medieval English history, and saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English Parliament, as well as the ravages of the Black Death. He outlived his eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, and the throne passed to his grandson, Richard II. was crowned at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother, Isabella of France, and her lover Roger Mortimer. At age seventeen he led a successful coup d'état against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. a successful campaign in Scotland he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1337. started what became known as the Hundred Years' War.[1] some initial setbacks, this first phase of the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny, in which England made territorial gains, and Edward renounced his claim to the French throne. This phase would become known as the Edwardian War. Edward's later years were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health. was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in many ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. Admired in his own time and for centuries after, he was denounced as an irresponsible adventurer by later Whig historians such as Bishop William Stubbs, but modern historians credit him with some significant achievements.[2][3] JOHN WYCLIF, TRANSLATOR AND CONTROVERSIALIST, 30 OCT. 1384;

England, 1348, Order of the Garter
England, 1348, Order of the Garter ; GEORGE, SOLDIER and MARTYR, 23 APRIL 303, Commemorated April 23;

England, 1350-1384, JOHN WYCLIFF, Bible Translator
England, 1350-1384, JOHN WYCLIFF; JOHN WYCLIF, TRANSLATOR AND CONTROVERSIALIST, 30 OCT. 1384;

England, 1360-1399, John of Gaunt, nobleman, soldier, statesman and prince
Gaunt; England, 1360-1399, John of Gaunt, nobleman, soldier, statesman and prince JOHN WYCLIF, Commemorated October 30 ;

England, 1360-1396, Author Walter Hilton
England, 1360-1396, Author Walter Hilton; Walter Hilton of RICHARD ROLLE, WALTER HILTON, AND MARGERY KEMPE MYSTICS, 28 Sept. 1349, 1396, c. 1440;

England, 1362-1416, Author, Julian of Norwich
England, 1362-1416, Author, Julian of Norwich; Julian's Business Model, The Passion of Christ, using business terminology; England, 1400-1438, Author Margery Kempe; Margery Kemp of RICHARD ROLLE, WALTER HILTON, AND MARGERY KEMPE, MYSTICS, 28 Sept. 1349, 1396, c. 1440, Commemorated September 28 ;

England, 1377-1399, King of England, Richard II of England, regents, 100yr war, personality disorder, deposed
England, 1377-1399, King of England, Richard II of England; II (6 January 1367 - c. 14 February 1400), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard's father, Edward, Prince of Wales, died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III. Upon the death of Edward III, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne. Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils, influenced by Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock. England then faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War. A major challenge of the reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and the young king played a central part in the successful suppression of this crisis. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative, Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated a refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which the king was an elevated figure. king's dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among the influential, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant. By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In 1397, he took his revenge on the Appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". In 1399, after John of Gaunt died, the king disinherited Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, who had previously been exiled. Henry invaded England in June 1399 with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Meeting little resistance, he deposed Richard and had himself crowned king. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate. posthumous reputation has been shaped to a large extent by William Shakespeare, whose play Richard II portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for the 15th-century Wars of the Roses. Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed, he may have had a personality disorder, particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that the way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall. JOHN WYCLIF, TRANSLATOR AND CONTROVERSIALIST, 30 OCT. 1384; DAME JULIAN OF NORWICH, CONTEMPLATIVE (8 MAY 1417);

England, 1381, Peasants' Revolt 1381
Peasants' Revolt 1381; JOHN WYCLIF, TRANSLATOR AND CONTROVERSIALIST, 30 OCT. 1384 ; DAME JULIAN OF NORWICH, CONTEMPLATIVE (8 MAY 1417);

England, 1393-1438, Author Margery Kempe, christian mystic, dictation, 1st autobiography, pilgrimages, conversations w God
England, 1400-1438, Author Margery Kempe, christian mystic, dictation, first autobiography, pilgrimages, conversations with God; Kempe (c. 1373 – after 1438) was an English Christian mystic, known for writing through dictation The Book of Margery Kempe, a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. Her book chronicles Kempe's domestic tribulations, her extensive pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and the Holy Land, as well as her mystical conversations with God. She is honoured in the Anglican Communion, but has not been canonised as a Catholic saint. Margery Kemp of RICHARD ROLLE, WALTER HILTON, AND MARGERY KEMPE, MYSTICS, 28 Sept. 1349, 1396, c. 1440, Commemorated September 28 ; Kempe (c. 1373 – after 1438) known for writing The Book of Margery Kempe, a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. book chronicles, to some extent, her extensive pilgrimages to various holy sites in Europe and Asia. of Margery Kempe's significance lies in the autobiographical nature of her book: is the best insight available that points to a female, middle class experience in the Middle Ages. is admittedly unusual among the more traditional holy exemplars of her time, such as Julian of Norwich. in fact, described her visit to Julian in her anchorhold in Norwich, describes how they together discussed Margery's visions as to their orthodoxy, deciding that because they lead to charity they were of the Holy Spirit. Kempe is often depicted as an "oddity" or even a "madwoman," recent scholarship on vernacular theologies and popular practices of piety suggest she was not, perhaps, as odd as she appears. than being the ramblings of a madwoman, her Book is revealed as a carefully constructed spiritual and social commentary. ... autobiography begins with "the onset of her spiritual quest, her recovery from the ghostly aftermath of her first child-bearing". is no firm evidence that Margery Kempe could herself read or write, Leyser notes how religious culture was informed by texts, as was that of her more well-known contemporary Julian of Norwich, how there is some evidence that the "Incendium Amoris" by Richard Rolle influenced Margery Kempe; Hilton has been cited as another possible influence on Kempe. other books that Margery had read to her were, repeatedly, the "Revelationes" of Birgitta of Sweden in fact, her pilgrimages carefully copy those of that married saint who had had eight children. — more from Wikipedia

England, 1400-1499, London, 15th Century History Folder, Battle of Agincourt in 100 Yrs War, King Henry V, Printing

England, 1413-1422, Henry V, King, claimed F Throne, 100 Y War success, Agincourt, but died before uni, immortalized by S
England, 1413-1422, King of England, Henry V ; V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe.[1] Immortalised in Shakespeare's "Henriad" plays, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the greatest warrior kings of medieval England. the reign of his father Henry IV, Henry gained military experience fighting the Welsh during the revolt of Owain GlyndÅµr and against the powerful aristocratic Percy family of Northumberland at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Henry acquired an increasing role in England's government due to the king's declining health, but disagreements between father and son led to political conflict between the two. After his father's death in 1413, Henry assumed control of the country and asserted the pending English claim to the French throne. 1415, Henry embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War (1337-“1453) between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt (1415) and saw him come close to conquering France. Taking advantage of political divisions within France, he conquered large portions of the kingdom, resulting in Normandy's occupation by the English for the first time since 1345-“1360. After months of negotiation with Charles VI of France, the Treaty of Troyes (1420) recognised Henry V as regent and heir apparent to the French throne, and he was subsequently married to Charles's daughter, Catherine of Valois. seemed to point to the formation of a union between the kingdoms, in the person of Henry. However, he died two years later and was succeeded by his only child, the infant Henry VI. JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ;

England, 1415, Battle of Agincourt in 100 Years War with France 1337-1453
Battle of Agincourt; Hundred Years War (1337-1453); GEORGE, SOLDIER and MARTYR, 23 APRIL 303, Commemorated April 23;

England, 1422-1461, Henry VI, disputed f king, regents, timid, unstable, Q Margaret, private armies in E, Richard, civil W of Roses, colleges
England, 1422-1461, King of England, Henry VI; VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at the age of nine months upon his father's death, and succeeded to the French throne on the death of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, shortly afterwards. inherited the long-running Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), in which his uncle Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. He is the only English monarch to have been also crowned King of France (as Henry II, in 1431). early reign, when several people were ruling for him, saw the pinnacle of English power in France, but subsequent military, diplomatic, and economic problems had seriously endangered the English cause by the time Henry was declared fit to rule in 1437. found his realm in a difficult position, faced with setbacks in France and divisions among the nobility at home. his father, Henry is described as timid, shy, passive, well-intentioned and averse to warfare and violence; he was also at times mentally unstable. ineffective reign saw the gradual loss of the English lands in France. Partially in the hope of achieving peace, in 1445 Henry married Charles VII's niece, the ambitious and strong-willed Margaret of Anjou. peace policy failed, leading to the murder of one of Henry's key advisers, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand; by 1453, Calais was Henry's only remaining territory on the continent. the situation in France worsened, there was a related increase in political instability in England. With Henry effectively unfit to rule, power was exercised by quarrelsome nobles, while factions and favourites encouraged the rise of disorder in the country. Regional magnates and soldiers returning from France formed and maintained increasing numbers of private armed retainers, with whom they fought one another, terrorised their neighbours, paralysed the courts, and dominated the government.[1] Margaret did not remain unpartisan and took advantage of the situation to make herself an effective power behind the throne. military disasters in France and a collapse of law and order in England, the Queen and her clique came under accusations, especially from Henry VI's increasingly popular cousin Richard, Duke of York, of misconduct of the war in France and misrule of the country. in 1453, Henry had a series of mental breakdowns, and tensions mounted between Margaret and Richard of York over control of the incapacitated King's government and over the question of succession to the English throne. war broke out in 1455, leading to a long period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry was deposed on 4 March 1461 by Richard's son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Margaret continuing to lead a resistance to Edward, Henry was captured by Edward's forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. was restored to the throne in 1470 but Edward retook power in 1471, killing Henry's only son and heir, Edward of Westminster, in battle and imprisoning Henry once again. "lost his wits, his two kingdoms and his only son",[2] Henry died in the Tower during the night of 21 May, possibly killed on the orders of King Edward. were attributed to Henry after his death and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, King's College, Cambridge, and, (together with Henry Chichele), All Souls College, Oxford. Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret. JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ;

England, 1429-1431, JOAN OF ARC, called to save France by voices, Angel Michael and see the girls accounts below
France, 1429-1431, JOAN OF ARC, Burgundy, France (Morvan Hills, rivers source area, Saone drainage), called to save France by voices, Angel Michael, Catherine of Alexandria, Marina of Pisidia, see the girls accounts below, Joan was successful in uniting France, but burned at the stake for being a witch; Burgundy; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; of Arc was born in France, near the border of Burgundy, on 6 January 1412. her time the King of England claimed the crown of France by the laws of inheritance, and English troops were fighting in France to support that claim. English King inherited through a woman, and the French claimants, the House of Valois, asserted that French law did not allow the crown to be inherited by or through a woman.) V of England won a decisive victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 (see Shakespeare's play Henry V, filmed in 1944 starring Laurence Olivier and in 1993 starring Kenneth Branagh, who emphasizes the darker aspects of war) and signed an agreement with the Valois monarch Charles VI, providing that Charles should keep his crown during his lifetime, that his daughter Catherine should marry Henry, and that Henry should be the next king. VI had a son (the Dauphin), but the Queen took an oath that she had been unfaithful to her husband, and that the Dauphin was not the King's son, and therefore had no right to inherit the throne. 1422, Henry V died, leaving an infant son who became Henry VI of England. England claimed the throne of France in his name. Duke of Burgundy supported the English claim, and was allied with England. French claimant, the Dauphin (later Charles VII), had not been crowned. Since many Frenchmen thought that his mother the Queen might be telling the truth about his illegitimacy, the story largely paralyzed the national will to fight for Charles. this situation came Joan. she was thirteen, she began to hear voices telling her that she was called to save France. she identified these voices as those of Michael the Archangel (mentioned in the Bible in Daniel and Jude and Revelation), Catherine of Alexandria and Margaret of Antioch, two early virgin martyrs about whom little is known historically as we have them contain many blatant improbabilities, and even among thoroughly conservative Roman Catholics, they are widely thought to be fictional persons. (for the real accounts of their lives (see Orthodox accounts below, they are both normal christian saint stories) but who were popular in France at that time. as she said, under direction from her voices, she persuaded a local baron to send her to the castle of Charles at Chinon, where she spoke with the Dauphin (French word for the heir to the throne until he is officially crowned king), and convinced him that her message was genuine. city of Orleans was under siege by the English. Joan and an army marched to the scene and raised the siege (8 May 1429). then proceeded to win other battles, and to bring Charles to Rheims to be crowned king. However, the king refused to take her advice that he should press the military advantage. When she attempted to recapture Paris from the English, he denied her adequate support, and the attempt failed. Joan of Arc being interrogated by an English cardinal, by Ingres May 1430 she was taken prisoner in battle, and tried on an accusation of sorcery and heresy. made no effort to ransom her or rescue her, although her first captors would almost certainly have accepted a ransom. was convicted and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, being then a little less than nineteen and a half years old. French, however, eventually went on to win the war and to expel the English from France. Charles, perhaps because it was not to his advantage to have it said that he had been crowned by a witch and a heretic, and that he owed his victories and his kingdom to a pact with the Devil, pressured the Church courts for a review of the verdict against Joan, and got her condemnation annulled in 1456. came to be regarded as a French national hero, and was eventually canonized by the Pope in May 1920. day (or a Sunday close to it) is a French national holiday. She is ranked with Denis of Paris and Remi of Rheims as one of France's three great national saints. is honored by the Church, not for winning military victories, or even because her visions were necessarily authentic, but because, being persuaded of the will of God for her life, she responded in faith and obedience to that will as she understood it. many literary works inspired by the life of Joan, I mention three: Bernard Shaw has written a play about her, Saint Joan. It has a preface for the reader which should not be skipped Twain has a novel, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, supposedly related by a follower of Joan. Twain is a devoted and uncritical admirer of Joan. von Schiller, friend of Goethe and eminent German playwright, has a play, Die Jungfrau von Orleans, which has been highly praised. It is available in translation. — by James Kiefer 0717 - Greatmartyr Marina (Margaret) of Antioch in Pisidia; Holy Great Martyr Marina was born in Asia Minor, in the city of Antioch of Pisidia (southern Asia Minor), into the family of a pagan priest. infancy she lost her mother, and her father gave her into the care of a nursemaid, who raised Marina in the Orthodox Faith. learning that his daughter had become a Christian, the father angrily disowned her. the time of the persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), when she was fifteen years old, Saint Marina was arrested and locked up in prison. With firm trust in the will of God and His help, the young prisoner prepared for her impending fate. governor Olymbrios, charmed with the beautiful girl, tried to persuade her to renounce the Christian Faith and become his wife. But the saint, unswayed, refused his offers. The vexed governor gave the holy martyr over to torture. Having beaten her fiercely, they fastened the saint with nails to a board and tore at her body with tridents. The governor himself, unable to bear the horror of these tortures, hid his face in his hands. But the holy martyr remained unyielding. Thrown for the night into prison, she was granted heavenly aid and healed of her wounds. stripped her and tied her to a tree, then burned the martyr with fire. Barely alive, the martyr prayed: “Lord, You have granted me to go through fire for Your Name, grant me also to go through the water of holy Baptism.” the word “water”, the governor gave orders to drown the saint in a large cauldron. martyr besought the Lord that this manner of execution should become for her holy Baptism. they plunged her into the water, there suddenly shone a light, and a snow-white dove came down from Heaven, bearing in its beak a golden crown. The fetters put upon Saint Marina came apart by themselves. The martyr stood up in the fount of Baptism glorifying the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Saint Marina emerged from the fount completely healed, without any trace of burns. at this miracle, the people glorified the True God, and many came to believe. This brought the governor into a rage, and he gave orders to kill anyone who might confess the Name of Christ. 15,000 Christians perished there, and the holy Martyr Marina was beheaded. The sufferings of the Great Martyr Marina were described by an eyewitness of the event, named Theotimos. until the taking of Constantinople by Western crusaders in the year 1204, the relics of the Great Martyr Marina were in the Panteponteia monastery. According to other sources, they were located in Antioch until the year 908 and from there transferred to Italy. Now they are in Athens, in a church dedicated to the holy Virgin Martyr. Her venerable hand was transferred to Mount Athos, to the Batopedi monastery. 1124 - Greatmartyr Catherine of Alexandria; Holy Great Martyr Katherine was the daughter of Konstos, the governor of Alexandria, Egypt during the reign of Emperor Maximian (305-313). in the capital, the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of a rare beauty and intellect, Katherine received an excellent education, studying the works of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. men from the most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Katherine, but she was not interested in any of them. She told her parents that she would enter into marriage only with someone who surpassed her in nobility, wealth, comeliness and wisdom. ’s mother, a secret Christian, sent her to her own Spiritual Father, a saintly Elder living in a cave outside the city, for advice. After listening to Katherine, the Elder said that he knew of someone who surpassed her in everything. “His countenance is more radiant than the shining of the sun, and all of creation is governed by His wisdom. His riches are given to all the nations of the world, yet they never diminish. His compassion is unequaled.” description of the Heavenly Bridegroom produced an ardent desire in the soul of the holy maiden to see Him. "If you do as I tell you,” said the monk, “you will gaze upon the countenance of this illustrious man.” In parting, the Elder gave Katherine an icon of the Theotokos with the Divine Child on Her arm and told her to pray with faith to the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of the Heavenly Bridegroom, and she would hear Katherine and grant her heart’s desire. prayed all night and was permitted to see the Most Holy Virgin, Who said to her Divine Son, “Behold Thy handmaiden Katherine, how fair and virtuous she is.” the Child turned His face away from her saying, “No, she is ugly and unbelieving. She is a foolish pauper, and I cannot bear to look at her until she forsakes her impiety.” returned again to the Elder deeply saddened, and told him what she had seen in the dream. He received her, instructed her in the faith of Christ, admonished her to preserve her purity and integrity and to pray unceasingly. then received the Mystery of Holy Baptism from him. Again Saint Katherine had a vision of the Most Holy Theotokos with her Child. Now the Lord looked at her tenderly and gave her a beautiful ring, a wondrous token of her betrothal to the Heavenly Bridegroom (this ring is still on her hand). that time Emperor Maximian was in Alexandria for a pagan festival. Therefore, the celebration was especially splendid and crowded. cries of the sacrificial animals, the smoke and the smell of the sacrifices, the endless blaze of fires, and the bustling crowds at the arenas defiled the city of Alexandria. Human victims also were brought, the confessors of Christ, who would not deny Him under torture. They were condemned to death in the fire. love for the Christian martyrs, and her fervent desire to ease their sufferings, compelled her to speak to the pagan priest and to Emperor Maximian. herself, the Saint confessed her faith in the One True God, and exposed the errors of the pagans. beauty of the maiden captivated the Emperor. In order to convince her of the superiority of pagan wisdom, the Emperor ordered fifty of the most learned philosophers and rhetoricians of the Empire to dispute with her, but the Saint got the better of the wise men, so that they came to believe in Christ themselves. Katherine made the Sign of the Cross over the martyrs, and they bravely accepted death for Christ and were burnt alive by order of the Emperor. to persuade the Saint, Maximian tried to entice her with the promise of riches and fame. Hearing her angry refusal, the Emperor ordered his men to subject the Saint to terrible tortures, and then throw her in prison. Empress Augusta, who had heard much about the Saint, wanted to see her. She prevailed upon the military commander Porphyrios to accompany her to the prison with a detachment of soldiers. The Empress was impressed by Katherine's strong spirit, and her face was radiant with divine grace. The holy martyr explained the Christian Faith to them, and they were converted to Christ. the following day, they again brought the martyr to the judgment court where, under the threat of being broken on the wheel, she was urged to renounce the Christian Faith and to offer sacrifice to the "gods." The Saint steadfastly confessed Christ and she was taken to be tortured on four wheels with sharp iron spikes, an Angel smashed the instruments of execution, which shattered into pieces with many pagans standing nearby. seeing this miracle, the Empress Augusta and the imperial courtier Porphyrios and 200 soldiers confessed their faith in Christ before everyone, and they were beheaded. tried again to entice the holy martyr, offering to marry her, and again he was refused. Saint Katherine remained faithful to her heavenly Bridegroom Christ, and after praying to Him, she laid her head on the block beneath the executioner’s sword. relics of Saint Katherine were taken by the Angels to Mount Sinai. the VI century, the venerable head and left hand of the holy martyr were found through a revelation and transferred with honor to the newly-constructed church of the Monastery on Mount Sinai, built by the holy Emperor Justinian (November 14). Katherine is called upon for relief and assistance during a difficult childbirth. Pilgrims to her monastery on Mount Sinai are given souvenir rings as a remembrance of their visit. Katherine is commemorated on November 25 in Greek usage.

England, 1461-1483, Edward IV, King, Civil War of Roses, Killed by Henry Tudor who married Edward's daughter
England, 1461-1483, King, Edward IV; IV (28 April 1442 - 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470,[1] then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England fought between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions between 1455 and 1487. inherited the Yorkist claim when his father, Richard, Duke of York, died at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. defeating Lancastrian armies at Mortimer's Cross and Towton in early 1461, he deposed King Henry VI and took the throne. His marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 led to conflict with his chief advisor, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as the "Kingmaker". In 1470, a revolt led by Warwick and Edward's brother George, Duke of Clarence, briefly re-installed Henry VI. fled to Flanders, where he gathered support and invaded England in March 1471; after victories at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, he resumed the throne. Shortly afterwards, Henry VI was found dead in the Tower of London. Despite a continuing threat from Henry Tudor, the last Lancastrian claimant, Edward reigned in relative peace for the next twelve years. Edward died suddenly in April 1483, his minor son became King Edward V, with his father's brother, the Duke of Gloucester, as Lord Protector. In June, Gloucester seized the throne as Richard III after declaring his nephews illegitimate; they are generally supposed to have been murdered shortly afterwards. In 1485, he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field by Henry Tudor, who ruled as Henry VII, and married Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the two houses. JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ;

England, 1483-1483, Edward V, King, dominated by his uncle who deposed him, King Richard III
England, 1483-1483, King, Edward V; V (2 November 1470 - c. June/July 1483)[1] was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 9 April to 26 June 1483. He succeeded his father, Edward IV,[2] upon the latter's death. V was never crowned, and his brief reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle and Lord Protector, the Duke of Gloucester, who deposed him to reign as King Richard III; this was confirmed by the Act entitled Titulus Regius, which denounced any further claims through his father's heirs. V and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York were the Princes in the Tower who disappeared after being sent to heavily guarded royal lodgings in the Tower of London. Responsibility for their deaths is widely attributed to Richard III, but the lack of any solid evidence and conflicting contemporary accounts allow for other possibilities.

England, 1483-1485, Richard III, King, two revolts, Henry Tudor and French Troups won second revolt
England, 1483-1485, King, Richard III; III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history plays. Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after his brother ascended the throne as King Edward IV. In 1472 he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders. were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.

England, 1485-1509, Henry VII, King, Henry Tudor, with French help, ended war of Roses, married Edward IV's daughter
England, 1485-1509, King, Henry Tudor, Henry VII; VII (28 January 1457 - 21 April 1509) was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. mother, Margaret Beaufort, was a descendant of the Lancastrian branch of the House of Plantagenet. Henry's father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, a half-brother of Henry VI of England and descendant of the Welsh Tudors of Penmynydd, died three months before his son Henry was born. During Henry's early years, his uncle Henry VI was fighting against Edward of York (later King Edward IV), a member of the Yorkist Plantagenet branch. Edward re-took the throne in 1471, Henry Tudor spent 14 years in exile in Brittany. He attained the throne when his forces, supported by France, Scotland, and Wales, defeated Edward IV's brother Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward. was successful in restoring power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. He is credited with a number of administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with the Low Countries had long-lasting benefit to the whole English economy. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. New taxes stabilised the government's finances. After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. Henry reigned for nearly 24 years and was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII.

England, 1500-1599, London, 16th Century History Folder, Luther's 95 Theses, Henry VIII, Book of Common Prayer

England, 1505-1536, Bible Translator, William Tyndall
England, 1505-1536, Bible Translator, William Tyndall; England, 1508-1569, Bible Translator and Bishop, Miles Coverdale; WILLIAM TYNDALE and MILES CLOVERDALE, TRANSLATOR OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); England, 1533-1555, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER , Commemorated May 22;

England, 1507-1555, HUGH LATIMERl, the 3 Oxford Martyrs, famous preacher, Worchester Bishop, be of good cheer Ridley
England, 1507-1555, HUGH LATIMER, Worcester Cathedral, West Midlands, Wales (River Severn 6), the 3 Oxford Martyrs, famous preacher, Worchester Bishop, be of good cheer Ridley; Worcester (pronounced "Wooster") Cathedral; HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555); Henry the Eighth of England died, he left three heirs: his son Edward and his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. succeeded to the throne and was a staunch Protestant (or at least his advisors were). his rule, the church services, previously in Latin, were translated into English, and other changes were made. Edward died, the throne passed to his sister Mary, who was firmly Roman Catholic in her beliefs. determined to return England to union with the Pope. With more diplomacy, she might have succeeded. But she was headstrong and would take no advice. mother had been Spanish, and she determined to marry the heir to the throne of Spain, not realizing how much her people (of all religious persuasions) feared that this would make England a province of the Spanish Empire. insisted that the best way to deal with heresy was to burn as many heretics as possible. (It is worth noting that her husband was opposed to this.) the course of a five-year reign, she lost all the English holdings on the continent of Europe, she lost the affection of her people, and she lost any chance of a peaceful religious settlement in England. the nearly three hundred persons burned by her orders, the most famous are the Oxford Martyrs, commemorated today. Latimer was famous as a preacher. was Bishop of Worcester (pronounced WOOS-ter) in the time of King Henry, but resigned in protest against the King's refusal to allow the Protestant reforms that Latimer desired. sermons speak little of doctrine; he preferred to urge men to upright living and devoutness in prayer. when Mary came to the throne, he was arrested, tried for heresy, and burned together with his friend Nicholas Ridley. last words at the stake are well known: "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out." portrait of nicholas ridley Ridley became an adherent of the Protestant cause while a student at Cambridge. was a friend of Archbishop Cranmer and became private chaplain first to Cranmer and then to King Henry. the reign of Edward, he became bishop of Rochester, and was part of the committee that drew up the first English Book of Common Prayer. Mary came to the throne, he was arrested, tried, and burned with Latimer at Oxford on 16 October 1555. Martyrdom of Latimer & Ridley Martyrdom of Latimer & Ridley Cross in Broad St., Oxford, marking the spot where Latimer & Ridley died. [Photo by the web author.] Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury in the days of Henry, defended the position that Henry's marriage to Katharine of Aragon (Spain) was null and void. Edward came to the throne, Cranmer was foremost in translating the worship of the Church into English (his friends and enemies agree that he was an extraordinarily gifted translator) and securing the use of the new forms of worship. Mary came to the throne, Cranmer was in a quandary. had believed, with a fervor that many people today will find hard to understand, that it is the duty of every Christian to obey the monarch, and that "the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13). long as the monarch was ordering things that Cranmer thought good, it was easy for Cranmer to believe that the king was sent by God's providence to guide the people in the path of true religion, and that disobedience to the king was disobedience to God. Mary was Queen, and commanding him to return to the Roman obedience. five times wrote a letter of submission to the Pope and to Roman Catholic doctrines, and four times he tore it up. the end, he submitted. Mary was unwilling to believe that the submission was sincere, and he was ordered to be burned at Oxford on 21 March 1556. the very end, he repudiated his final letter of submission, and announced that he died a Protestant. said, "I have sinned, in that I signed with my hand what I did not believe with my heart. When the flames are lit, this hand shall be the first to burn." And when the fire was lit around his feet, he leaned forward and held his right hand in the fire until it was charred to a stump. from this, he did not speak or move, except that once he raised his left hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. The martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer, from an old edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs The martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer, from an old edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs by James Kiefer

England, 1508-1569, Bible Translator and Bishop, Miles Coverdale
England, 1508-1569, Bible Translator and Bishop, Miles Coverdale; WILLIAM TYNDALE and MILES CLOVERDALE, TRANSLATOR OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); England, 1533-1555, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER , Commemorated May 22;

England, 1509-1547, Henry VIII, King of England, 6 marriages to get male heir, E Reformation
England, 1509-1547, King of England, Henry VIII ; Tudor Dynasty, Lancaster York; Palace of Whitehall; Miles Coverdale of WILLIAM TYNDALE [AND MILES COVERDALE], TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); William Tyndale of WILLIAM TYNDALE [AND MILES COVERDALE], TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555), NICHOLAS RIDLEY, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555) ; John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ;

England, 1520-1555 , Nicholas Ridley, book C Prayer, Cranmer's& King's chaplin, debates Papal s & vestments, Latimer's candle
England, 1500- , Nicholas Ridley; Ridley (c. 1500 - 16 October 1555) was an English Bishop of London (the only bishop called "Bishop of London and Westminster"[1]). was burned at the stake as one of the Oxford Martyrs during the Marian Persecutions for his teachings and his support of Lady Jane Grey. He is remembered with a commemoration in the calendar of saints (with Hugh Latimer) in some parts of the Anglican Communion (Church of England) on 16 October.[2] years and advancement (c.1500–50) came from a prominent family in Tynedale, Northumberland. He was the second son of Christopher Ridley, first cousin to Lancelot Ridley and grew up in Unthank Hall from the old House of Unthank located on the site of an ancient watch tower or pele tower. a boy, Ridley was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, and Pembroke College, Cambridge,[3] where he proceeded to Master of Arts in 1525.[4][5] afterward he was ordained as a priest and went to the Sorbonne, in Paris, for further education. returning to England around 1529, he became the senior proctor of Cambridge University in 1534. that time there was significant debate about the Pope's supremacy. Ridley was well versed on Biblical hermeneutics, through his arguments the university came up with the following resolution: "That the Bishop of Rome had no more authority and jurisdiction derived to him from God, in this kingdom of England, than any other foreign bishop." graduated B.D. in 1537 and was then appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, to serve as one of his chaplains. April 1538, Cranmer made him vicar of Herne, in Kent.[6] 1540–1, he was made one of the King's Chaplains, and was also presented with a prebendal stall in Canterbury Cathedral. 1540 he was made Master of Pembroke College and in 1541 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity.[7] 1543 he was accused of heresy, but he was able to beat the charge. Cranmer had resolved to support the English Reformation by gradually replacing the old guard in his ecclesiastical province with men who followed the new thinking.[8] was made the Bishop of Rochester in 1547, and shortly after coming to office, directed that the altars in the churches of his diocese should be removed, and tables put in their place to celebrate the Lord's Supper. 1548 he helped Cranmer compile the Book of Common Prayer and in 1549 he was one of the commissioners who investigated Bishops Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner. He concurred that they should be removed. John Ponet took Ridley's former position. Incumbent conservatives were uprooted and replaced with reformers.[9] Ridley was appointed to the see of London by letters patent on 1 April 1550, he was called the "Bishop of London and Westminster" because the Diocese of London had just re-absorbed the dissolved Diocese of Westminster.[1] controversy (1550–3) played a major part in the vestments controversy. John Hooper, having been exiled during King Henry's reign, returned to England in 1548 from the churches in Zürich that had been reformed by Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger in a highly iconoclastic fashion. Hooper was invited to give a series of Lenten sermons before the king in February 1550, he spoke against Cranmer's 1549 ordinal whose oath mentioned "all saints" and required newly elected bishops and those attending the ordination ceremony to wear a cope and surplice. Hooper's view, these requirements were vestiges of Judaism and Roman Catholicism, which had no biblical warrant for Christians since they were not used in the early Christian church.[10] Heinrich Bullinger, a major influence on John Hooper, Ridley's opponent in the vestments controversy. to answer to the Privy Council and archbishop—who were primarily concerned with Hooper's willingness to accept the royal supremacy, which was also part of the oath for newly ordained clergy—Hooper evidently made sufficient reassurances, as he was soon appointed to the bishopric of Gloucester. declined the office, however, because of the required vestments and oath by the saints. king accepted Hooper's position, but the Privy Council did not. Called before them on 15 May 1550, a compromise was reached. Vestments were to be considered a matter of adiaphora, or Res Indifferentes ("things indifferent", as opposed to an article of faith), and Hooper could be ordained without them at his discretion, but he must allow that others could wear them. Hooper passed confirmation of the new office again before the king and council on 20 July 1550 when the issue was raised again, and Cranmer was instructed that Hooper was not to be charged "with an oath burdensome to his conscience".[10] assigned Ridley to perform the consecration, and Ridley refused to do anything but follow the form of the ordinal as it had been prescribed by Parliament. Ridley, it seems likely, had some particular objection to Hooper. It has been suggested that Henrician exiles like Hooper, who had experienced some of the more radically reformed churches on the continent, were at odds with English clergy who had accepted and never left the established church. John Henry Primus also notes that on 24 July 1550, the day after receiving instructions for Hooper's unique consecration, the church of the Austin Friars in London had been granted to Jan Laski for use as a Stranger church. This was to be a designated place of worship for Continental Protestant refugees, a church with forms and practices that had taken reforms much further than Ridley would have liked. This development—the use of a London church virtually outside Ridley's jurisdiction—was one that Hooper had had a hand in.[11] Privy Council reiterated its position, and Ridley responded in person, agreeing that vestments are indifferent but making a compelling argument that the monarch may require indifferent things without exception. The council became divided in opinion, and the issue dragged on for months without Hooper now insisted that vestments were not indifferent, since they obscured the priesthood of Christ by encouraging hypocrisy and superstition. disagreed, emphasising that the king must be obeyed in things indifferent, and he pointed to St Paul's concessions to Jewish traditions in the early church. an acrimonious debate with Ridley went against Hooper. Ridley's position centred on maintaining order and authority; not the vestments themselves, Hooper's primary concern.[10] –Ridley debate John Hooper clashed with Ridley as he advocated more radical reforms. Portrait by Henry Bryan Hall, 1839. a Latin letter dated 3 October 1550, Hooper laid out his argument contra usum vestium.[12] With Ridley's reply (in English), it marks the first written representation of a split in the English Reformation. Hooper's argument is that vestments should not be used as they are not indifferent, nor is their use supported by scripture, a point he takes as self-evident. He contends that church practices must either have express biblical support or be things indifferent, approval for which is implied by scripture. Furthermore, an indifferent thing, if used, causes no profit or loss. Ridley objected in his response, saying that indifferent things do have profitable effects, which is the only reason they are used. Failing to distinguish between conditions for indifferent things in general and the church's use of indifferent things, Hooper then all but excludes the possibility of anything being indifferent in the four conditions he sets: An indifferent thing has either an express justification in scripture or is implied by it, finding its origin and foundation in scripture. Hooper cites Romans 14:23 (whatever is not faith is sin), Romans 10:17 (faith comes from hearing the word of God), and Matthew 15:13 (everything not "planted" by God will be "rooted up") to argue that indifferent things must be done in faith, and since what cannot be proved from scripture is not of faith, indifferent things must be proved from scripture, which is both necessary and sufficient authority, as opposed to tradition. Hooper maintains that priestly garb distinguishing clergy from laity is not indicated by scripture; there is no mention of it in the New Testament as being in use in the early church, and the use of priestly clothing in the Old Testament is a Hebrew practice, a type or foreshadowing that finds its antitype in Christ, who abolishes the old order and recognises the spiritual equality, or priesthood, of all Christians. The historicity of these claims is further supported by Hooper with a reference to Polydore Vergil's De Inventoribus Rerum. response, Ridley rejected Hooper's insistence on biblical origins and countered Hooper's interpretations of his chosen biblical texts. He points out that many non-controversial practices are not mentioned or implied in scripture. Ridley denies that early church practices are normative for the present situation, and he links such primitivist arguments with the Anabaptists. Joking that Hooper's reference to Christ's nakedness on the cross is as insignificant as the clothing King Herod put Christ in and "a jolly argument" for the Adamites, Ridley does not dispute Hooper's main typological argument, but neither does he accept that vestments are necessarily or exclusively identified with Israel and the Roman church. On Hooper's point about the priesthood of all believers, Ridley says it does not follow from this doctrine that all Christians must wear the same clothes. An indifferent thing must be left to individual discretion; if required, it is no longer indifferent. For Ridley, on matters of indifference, one must defer conscience to the authorities of the church, or else "thou showest thyself a disordered person, disobedient, as [a] contemner of lawful authority, and a wounder of thy weak brother his conscience." For him, the debate was finally about legitimate authority, not the merits and demerits of vestments themselves. He contended that it is only accidental that the compulsory ceases to be indifferent; the degeneration of a practice into non-indifference can be corrected without throwing out the practice. Things are not, "because they have been abused, to be taken away, but to be reformed and amended, and so kept still." An indifferent thing's usefulness must be demonstrated and not introduced arbitrarily. For this point, Hooper cites 1 Corinthians 14 and 2 Corinthians 13. As it contradicts the first point above, Primus contends that Hooper must now refer to indifferent things in the church and earlier meant indifferent things in general, in the abstract. Regardless, the apparent contradiction was seized by Ridley and undoubtedly hurt Hooper's case with the council. Indifferent things must be introduced into the church with apostolic and evangelical lenity, not violent tyranny. making such an inflammatory, risky statement (he later may have called his opponents "papists" in a part of his argument that is lost), Hooper may not have been suggesting England was tyrannical but that Rome was—and that England could become like Rome. Ridley warned Hooper of the implications of an attack on English ecclesiastical and civil authority and of the consequences of radical individual liberties, while also reminding him that it was Parliament that established the "Book of Common Prayer in the church of England". closing, Hooper asks that the dispute be resolved by church authorities without looking to civil authorities for support—although the monarch was the head of both the church and the state. This hint of a plea for a separation of church and state would later be elaborated by Thomas Cartwright, but for Hooper, although the word of God was the highest authority, the state could still impose upon men's consciences (such as requiring them not to be Roman Catholic) when it had a biblical warrant. Hooper himself addressed the civil magistrates, suggesting that the clergy supporting vestments were a threat to the state, and he declared his willingness to be martyred for his cause. by contrast, responds with humour, calling this "a magnifical promise set forth with a stout style". He invites Hooper to agree that vestments are indifferent, not to condemn them as sinful, and then he will ordain him even if he wears street clothes to the ceremony.[10] of the controversy weaknesses in Hooper's argument, Ridley's laconic and temperate rejoinder, and Ridley's offer of a compromise no doubt turned the council against Hooper's inflexible convictions when he did not accept it. Heinrich Bullinger, Pietro Martire Vermigli, and Martin Bucer, while agreeing with Hooper's views, ceased to support him for the pragmatic sake of unity and slower reform. Only Jan Laski remained a constant ally. time in mid-December 1550, Hooper was put under house arrest, during which time he wrote and published A godly Confession and protestation of the Christian faith. Because of this publication, his persistent nonconformism, and violations of the terms of his house arrest, Hooper was placed in Thomas Cranmer's custody at Lambeth Palace for two weeks by the Privy Council on 13 January 1551. Hooper was then sent to Fleet Prison by the council, who made that decision on 27 January. On 15 February, Hooper submitted to consecration in vestments in a letter to Cranmer. He was consecrated Bishop of Gloucester on 8 March 1551, and shortly thereafter, preached before the king in vestments.[10] (1553–5) death of Edward VI, here as Prince of Wales, brought about Ridley's downfall. 2 February 1553 Cranmer was ordered to appoint John Knox, a Scot, as vicar of All Hallows, Bread Street in London, placing him under the authority of Ridley. Knox returned to London in order to deliver a sermon before the king and the court during Lent after which he refused to take his assigned post.[13] That same year, Ridley pleaded with Edward VI to give some of his empty palaces over to the city to house homeless women and children. One such foundation was Bridewell Royal Hospital, which is today known as King Edward's School, Witley.[14] VI became seriously ill from tuberculosis and in mid-June the councillors were told that he did not have long to live. They set to work to convince several judges to put on the throne Lady Jane Grey, Edward's cousin, instead of Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon and a Roman Catholic. On 17 June 1553 the king made his will noting Jane would succeed him, contravening the Third Succession Act.[15] signed the letters patent giving the English throne to Lady Jane Grey. On 9 July 1553 he preached a sermon at St Paul's cross in which he affirmed that the princesses Mary and Elizabeth were bastards. By mid-July, there were serious provincial revolts in Mary's favour and support for Jane in the council fell. As Mary was proclaimed queen, Ridley, Jane's father, the Duke of Suffolk and others were imprisoned. Ridley was sent to the Tower of London.[16] February 1554 Jane and her leading supporters were executed. After that, there was time to deal with the religious leaders of the English Reformation and so on 8 March 1554 the Privy Council ordered Cranmer, Ridley, and Hugh Latimer to be transferred to Bocardo prison in Oxford to await trial for heresy. The trial of Latimer and Ridley started shortly after Cranmer's with John Jewel acting as notary to Ridley. Their verdicts came almost immediately and they were to be burned at the stake.[17] and legacy Ridley being burned at the stake, together with Hugh Latimer. From John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. sentence was carried out on 16 October 1555 in Oxford. Cranmer was taken to a tower to watch the proceedings. Ridley burned extremely slowly and suffered a great deal: his brother-in-law had put more tinder on the pyre in order to speed his death, but this only caused his lower parts to burn. Latimer is supposed to have said to Ridley, "Be of good comfort, and play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." This was quoted in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.[18] metal cross in a cobbled patch of road in Broad Street, Oxford, marks the site. Eventually Ridley and Latimer were seen as martyrs for their support of a Church of England independent from the Roman Catholic Church. Along with Thomas Cranmer, they are known as the Oxford Martyrs. the Victorian era, his death was commemorated by the Martyrs' Memorial, located near the site of his execution. As well as being a monument to the English Reformation and the doctrines of the Protestant and Reformed doctrines, the memorial is a landmark of the 19th century, a monument stoutly resisted by John Keble, John Henry Newman and others of the Tractarian Movement and Oxford Movement. Profoundly alarmed at the Romewardizing intrusions and efforts at realignment that the movement was attempting to bring into the Church of England, Protestant and Reformed Anglican clergymen raised the funds for erecting the monument, with its highly anti-Roman Catholic inscription, a memorial to over three hundred years of history and reformation. As a result, the monument was built 300 years after the events it commemorates.[19] Stained glass window depicting Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, the Oxford Martyrs 1881, Ridley Hall in Cambridge, England, was founded in his memory for the training of Anglican priests. Ridley College, a private University-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, was founded in his honour in 1889. Also named after him is Ridley Melbourne, a theological college in Australia, founded in 1910. There is a Church of England church dedicated to him in Welling, southeast London. The words spoken to Ridley by Latimer at their execution are used. Ridley and Latimer are remembered with a commemoration in the Calendar of saints in some parts of the Anglican Communion on 16 October.[20] Cambridge; WILLIAM WHITE, BISHOP OF PENNSYLVANIA (17 JULY 1836); JOHN MASON NEALE, PRIEST, SCHOLAR, AND TRANSLATOR (7 AUGUST 1866); JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667); Thomas Gallaudet of THOMAS GALLAUDET & HENRY WINTER SYLE PRIESTS (27 AUGUST 1902 & 6 JANUARY 1890) ; NICHOLAS RIDLEY, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555) ; HENRY MARTYN, MISSIONARY AND TRANSLATOR (19 OCT 1812) ; CHARLES SIMEON, TEACHER, PROMOTOR OF MISSIONARY WORK (12 NOV 1836); WILLIAM BYRD of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585, Commemorated November 21 ; C S LEWIS, SCHOLAR AND SPIRITUAL WRITER (22 NOV 1963) ; ISAAC WATTS, HYMNWRITER, 1748, Commemorated November 26 ; FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872); WILLIAM LAW, WRITER, PRIEST, AND NON-JUROR (09 APR 1761) ; NICHOLAS FERRAR, DEACON, MAN OF PRAYER (1 DEC 1637) ; ROBERT McDONALD, Commemorated December 15 ; CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 ; GEORGE HERBERT, PRIEST AND POET (27 FEBRUARY 1633); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631); FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872) ; WILLIAM LAW, WRITER, PRIEST, AND NON-JUROR (09 APR 1761; GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (11 APR 1878); DAME JULIAN OF NORWICH, CONTEMPLATIVE (8 MAY 1417); JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 1690;

England, 1525-1585, Thomas Tallis, Chapel Royal, St James Palace, composer, musician, catholic, original voice, english w
England, 1525-1585, Thomas Tallis, Chapel Royal, St James Palace, composer, musician, catholic, original voice, english words, resisted compositional complexity Tallis (c. 1505 – 23 November 1585;[a] also Tallys or Talles) was an English Renaissance composer who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. He is considered one of England's greatest composers, and he is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship.[2] Chapel Royal, St James Palace; THOMAS TALLIS of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585, Commemorated November 21 ; WILLIAM BYRD of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585, Commemorated November 21 ; Tallis (c. 1505 – 23 November 1585) was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship. his service to successive monarchs as organist and composer, Tallis avoided the religious controversies that raged around him, though, like William Byrd, he stayed an "unreformed Roman Catholic." reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547-1553), and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used. the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical development seen in his younger contemporaries such as William Byrd, who embraced compositional complexity and adopted texts built by combining disparate biblical extracts. retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike. More from Wikipedia

England, 1530-1585, John Merbecke, Organist at Windsor, Prayer Book Music Uniformity, convicted calvinist theological writer
England, , John Merbecke, Beverley in Yorkshire, Organist at Windsor, Prayer Book Music Uniformity, convicted calvinist theological writer Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke (c. 1510 – c. 1585) was an English composer and theological writer whose musical setting of the early Anglican liturgy standardised the sung Anglican service until the late 20th century. He is also known today for his setting of the Mass, Missa Per arma justitiae. Beverley; in Yorkshire; JOHN MERBECKE of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585, Commemorated November 21 ; Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke (c. 1510 – c. 1585) was an English theological writer and musician who produced a standard setting of the Anglican liturgy. He is also known today for his setting of the Mass, Missa per arma iustitie. a native of Beverley in Yorkshire, Merbecke appears to have been a boy chorister at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and was employed as an organist there from about 1541. years later he was convicted with three others of heresy and sentenced to stake, but received a pardon owing to the intervention of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. page from Merbecke's "Booke of Common Prayer Noted" In the same year Marbeck published his Booke of Common Praier Noted, intended to provide for musical uniformity in the use of the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. set the liturgy to semi-rhythmical melodies partly adapted from Gregorian chant; it was rendered obsolete when the Prayer Book was revised in 1552. was however rediscovered in the 19th century, and adaptations for the 1662 liturgy are still in use. wrote several devotional and controversial works of a strongly Calvinistic character, and a number of his musical compositions are preserved in manuscript in the British Library, and at Oxford and Cambridge. He died, probably while still organist at Windsor, about 1585. from Wikipedia Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

England, 1532-1540, Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister to Henry VIII, arranged the marriages, executed for treason
England, 1532-1540, Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister to Henry VIII ; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 1549, Commemorated May 22 ;

England, 1533-1555, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, reformer, book of C P, r supremacy, 39 A, executed
England, 1533-1555, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer; John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER , Commemorated May 22;

England, 1539, House of Lords
England, 1539, House of Lords; GEORGE BELL, BISHOP OF CHICHESTER, AND ECUMENIST, 3 October 1958;

England, 1542-1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, King of Scotland, and France, married the Dauhin
England, 1542-1567, King of England, Mary, Queen of Scots ; HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555), NICHOLAS RIDLEY, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555) ; John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; William Byrd of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; RICHARD HOOKER, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN (3 NOV 1600);

England, 1547-1553, Edward VI, King of England, never reached maturity, social problems, protestant
England, 1547-1553, King of England, Edward VI ; Tudor Dynasty, Lancaster York; Palace of Whitehall; Miles Coverdale of WILLIAM TYNDALE [AND MILES COVERDALE], TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); William Tyndale of WILLIAM TYNDALE [AND MILES COVERDALE], TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555), NICHOLAS RIDLEY, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555) ; John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, Commemorated May 22 ;

England, 1549, First Book of Common Prayer, Latin to English, Thomas Cranmer, from juggling books to only 2, Laity could follow
England, 1549, First Book of Common Prayer, Latin to English, Thomas Cranmer, from juggling books to only 2, Laity could follow service and participate, good english, should have in Gaelic; Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ; THE FIRST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 1549, Commemorated May 22 ; 1549, under the reign of Edward VI, successor to Henry VIII, the primary language of public worship in England and other areas ruled by Edward was changed from Latin to English, and the first Book of Common Prayer came into use. It was first used on Pentecost Sunday, 9 June 1549, and the occasion is now commemorated "on the first convenient day following Pentecost." Book was the work of a commission of scholars, but primarily of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. was based primarily upon the Latin worship tradition of the Use of Sarum (similar to, but not identical with, the Roman rite used by most Roman Catholic between 1600 and 1950), with some elements taken from the Greek liturgies of the Eastern Church, from ancient Gallican (French) rites, from the new Lutheran order of service, and from the Latin rite of Cologne. older usage had grown haphazardly through the centuries, and had added so many complications that it was difficult to follow (the priest often needed to juggle up to a dozen books to get through a single service). new order pruned and simplified so that only one book other than the Bible was necessary, and so that even the laity could follow the service and participate without difficulty. the quality of the English was outstanding. Christians who worship in English, from Roman Catholics to Southern Baptists and beyond, are in some measure influenced by it, and all to whom it is important that the people of God understand the worship of the Church and take an active part therein have cause to be grateful for the Book of Common Prayer. the time, it had its drawbacks. It was resented in non-English-speaking areas ruled from London, such as Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall. a Gaelic version had been produced simultaneously, the religious history of Ireland might have been radically different. As it was, the Prayer Book and the English Bible were viewed as part of an attempt to impose the English language upon Ireland. Similar sentiments were common in Wales and Cornwall, but with less drastic consequences. by James Kiefer

England, 1553-1558, Queen Mary 1, King of England, Tudor, Bloody Mary, to reverse reformation
England, 1553-1558, King of England, Queen Mary 1, Bloody Mary ; Tudor Dynasty, Lancaster York; Palace of Whitehall; HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555), NICHOLAS RIDLEY, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555) ; John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ;

England, 1558-1603, Elizabeth 1, Queen of England, established E protestant church
England, 1558-1603, Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth 1; England, 1509-1547, King of England, Henry VIII ; Tudor Dynasty, Lancaster York; Palace of Whitehall; Miles Coverdale of WILLIAM TYNDALE [AND MILES COVERDALE], TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); William Tyndale of WILLIAM TYNDALE [AND MILES COVERDALE], TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569); HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555), NICHOLAS RIDLEY, BISHOP AND MARTYR (16 OCTOBER 1555) ; John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; William Byrd of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; THOMAS CRANMER, BISHOP AND MARTYR (21 MARCH 1556) ;

England, 1560-1617, Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, legal advocate for the Crown
England, 1560-1617, Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley; Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, PC (1540 - 15 March 1617), known as 1st Baron Ellesmere from 1603 to 1616, was an English nobleman, judge and statesman from the Egerton family who served as Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor for twenty-one years. JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631);

England, 1560-1623, William Byrd, Chapel Royal, St James Palace, Renaissance composer, polyphony, keyboard, and Concert
England, 1560-1623, William Byrd, Chapel Royal, St James Palace, Renaissance composer, polyphony, keyboard, and Concert, Tudor consort and keyboard fantasia, raised Anglican service setting to new heights; Byrd ( birth date variously given as c.1539/40 or 1543 – 4 July 1623) was an English composer of the Renaissance. Widely considered to be one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance and one of the greatest British composers, he had a huge influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent.[1][2] wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard (the so-called Virginalist school), and consort music. he produced sacred music for Anglican services, sometime during the 1570s he became a Roman Catholic and wrote Catholic sacred music later in his life. Chapel Royal, St James Palace; WILLIAM BYRD of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585, Commemorated November 21 ; Byrd (1540 or late 1539- 4 July 1623) was an English composer of the Renaissance. He cultivated many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music. obtained the prestigious post of Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1572 following the death of Robert Parsons. From the early 1570s onwards Byrd became increasingly involved with Roman Catholicism, which became a major factor in his personal and creative life. As a result, Byrd's membership of the Chapel Royal was suspended for a time, restrictions were placed on his movements and his house was placed on the search list. output of about 470 compositions amply justifies his reputation as one of the great masters of European Renaissance music. Perhaps his most impressive achievement as a composer was his ability to transform so many of the main musical forms of his day and stamp them with his own identity. Having grown up in an age in which Latin polyphony was largely confined to liturgical items for the Sarum rite, he assimilated and mastered the Continental motet form of his day, employing a highly personal synthesis of English and continental models. He virtually created the Tudor consort and keyboard fantasia, having only the most primitive models to follow. He also raised the consort song, the church anthem and the Anglican service setting to new heights. More from Wikipedia

England, 1567-1625, King of Scotland and England, James VI and I, S and E Union, Literature
England, 1567-1625, King of England, James I ; VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566-“ 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died childless. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England (the largest of the three realms) from 1603, returning to Scotland only once, in 1617, and styled himself "King of Great Britain and Ireland". He was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonisation of the Americas began. 57 years and 246 days, James's reign in Scotland was the longest of any Scottish monarch. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced great difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and repeated conflicts with the English Parliament. Under James, the "Golden Age" of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary culture.[1] James himself was a talented scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie (1597), The True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), and Basilikon Doron (1599). He sponsored the translation of the Bible into English that would later be named after him: the Authorized King James Version.[2] Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed "the wisest fool in Christendom", an epithet associated with his character ever since.[3] Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise James's reputation and treat him as a serious and thoughtful monarch.[4] He was strongly committed to a peace policy, and tried to avoid involvement in religious wars, especially the Thirty Years' War (1618-“1648) that devastated much of Central Europe. He tried but failed to prevent the rise of hawkish elements in the English Parliament who wanted war with Spain.[5] RICHARD HOOKER, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN (3 NOV 1600); John Merbecke of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; Thomas Tallis of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE, and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; William Byrd of WILLIAM BYRD, JOHN MERBECKE and THOMAS TALLIS, Musicians, 1623, 1585, 1585. Commemorated on November 21 ; NICHOLAS FERRAR, DEACON, MAN OF PRAYER (1 DEC 1637); WILLIAM LAUD, ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR (10 JANUARY 1645); Anne Hutchinson of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; GEORGE HERBERT, PRIEST AND POET (27 FEBRUARY 1633); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631); WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Playwright, 23 April, 1616; ROBERT HUNT, PRIEST & FIRST CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, 1608, Commemorated April 26 ; JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1574-1600, Richard Hooker, Theologian, redemed reason, revelation, reason and tradition, natural law, Aristotelian
England, 1574-1600, Richard Hooker, Theologian; Hooker (25 March, 1554 - 2 November 1600)[2] was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.[3] was one of the most important English theologians of the sixteenth century.[4] His defence of the role of redeemed reason informed the theology of the seventeenth century Caroline Divines and later provided many members of the Church of England with a theological method which combined the claims of revelation, reason and tradition.[4] disagree regarding Hooker's relationship with what would later be called "Anglicanism" and the Reformed theological tradition. Traditionally, he has been regarded as the originator of the Anglican via media between Protestantism and Catholicism.[5]:1 However, a growing number of scholars have argued that he should be considered as being in the mainstream Reformed theology of his time and that he only sought to oppose the extremists (Puritans), rather than moving the Church of England away from Protestantism.[5]:4 The term "Anglican" is not found in his writings and indeed first appears early in the reign of Charles I as the Church of England moved towards an Arminian position doctrinally and a more "Catholic" look liturgically under the leadership of Archbishop William Laud. RICHARD HOOKER, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN (3 NOV 1600); any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. His masterpiece is The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are developed from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience. The occasion of his writing was the demand of English Puritans for a reformation of Church government. Calvin had established in Geneva a system whereby each congregation was ruled by a commission comprising two thirds laymen elected annually by the congregation and one third clergy serving for life. The English Puritans (by arguments more curious than convincing) held that no church not so governed could claim to be Christian. Hooker replies to this assertion, but in the process he raises and considers fundamental questions about the authority and legitimacy of government (religious and secular), about the nature of law, and about various kinds of law, including the laws of physics as well as the laws of England. In the course of his book he sets forth the Anglican view of the Church, and the Anglican approach to the discovery of religious truth (the so-called via media, or middle road), and explains how this differs from the position of the Puritans, on the one hand, and the adherents of the Pope, on the other. He is very heavy reading, but well worth it. (He says, on the first page of Chapter I: "Those unto whom we shall seem tedious are in no wise injuried by us, seeing that it lies in their own hands to spare themselves the labor they are unwilling to endure." This translates into modern English as: "If you can't take the intellectual heat, get out of the kitchen. If you can't stand a book that makes you think, go read the funny papers.") The effect of the book has been considerable. Hooker greatly influenced John Locke, and (both directly and through Locke), American political philosophy in the late 1700's. Although Hooker is unsparing in his censure of what he believes to be the errors of Rome, his contemporary, Pope Clement VIII (died 1605), said of the book: "It has in it such seeds of eternity that it will abide until the last fire shall consume all learning." best short work is his sermon, "A Learned discourse of Justification." In an earlier sermon, Hooker had expressed the hope of seeing in Heaven many who had been Romanists on earth. A Puritan preacher took him to task for this, saying that since the Romanists did not believe the doctrine of Justification by Faith, they could not be justified. Hooker replied at length in this sermon, in which (1) he sets forth the Doctrine of Justification by Faith, and agrees with his opponent that the official theology of Rome is defective on this point; (2) he defends his assertion that those who do not rightly understand the means that God has provided for our salvation may nonetheless be saved by it, in which connection he says (I quote from memory): "God is no captious sophister, eager to trip us up whenever we say amiss, but a courteous tutor, ready to amend what, in our weakness or our ignorance, we say ill, and to make the most of what we say aright." His sermon is often bound with the Laws, and is also available in the paperback volume Faith and Works (ed. Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, Morehouse-Barlow, Wilton CN 06897, ISBN 0-8192-1315-2) [Note: this book is out of print but should be available used] by James Kiefer England, 1574-1618, Sir Walter Raleigh; England, 1575-1626, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, King James Bible; England, King of England, 1567-1625, James I ; LANCELOT ANDREWES, BISHOP AND SCHOLAR (26 SEPT 1626); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631);

England, 1574-1618, Sir Walter Raleigh, statesman, soldier, spy, writer, poet, explorer, landed gentleman, America, S Armada
England, 1574-1618, Sir Walter Raleigh; Walter Raleigh, ( c. 1552 - 29 October 1618) also spelled Ralegh,[a] was an English statesman, soldier, spy, writer, poet, explorer and landed gentleman. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England during the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I. was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne, and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part in the suppression of rebellion in the colonisation of Ireland; he also participated in the siege of Smerwick. Later, he became a landlord of property in Ireland and mayor of Youghal in East Munster, where his house still stands in Myrtle Grove.[2] rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. He was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset. 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of "El Dorado". Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, who was not favourably disposed towards him. 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and the 1604 peace treaty with Spain. Raleigh returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, he was arrested and executed in 1618. England, 1575-1626, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, King James Bible; England, King of England, 1567-1625, James I ; LANCELOT ANDREWES, BISHOP AND SCHOLAR (26 SEPT 1626); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631);

England, 1575-1626, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, King James Bible
England, 1575-1626, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, King James Bible; England, King of England, 1567-1625, James I ; LANCELOT ANDREWES, BISHOP AND SCHOLAR (26 SEPT 1626);

England, 1584-1616, William Shakesphere, Poet and Playwright
England, 1584-1616, William Shakesphere, Poet and Playwright; England, 1584-1616, William Shakesphere, Poet and Playwright;

England, 1585-1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, favorite of Q Eliz, general, coup, executed by Q Eliz for treason
England, 1585-1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex; Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (10 November 1565[1] - 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599. In 1601, he led an abortive coup d'état against the government of Elizabeth I and was executed for treason. England, 1574-1618, Sir Walter Raleigh; England, 1575-1626, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, King James Bible; England, King of England, 1567-1625, James I ; LANCELOT ANDREWES, BISHOP AND SCHOLAR (26 SEPT 1626); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631);

England, 1593-1631, JOHN DONNE, all mankind is one volume...pages...translated...several translators...bind up again... open
England, 1593-1631, JOHN DONNE: England, 1574-1618, Sir Walter Raleigh; England, 1575-1626, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, King James Bible; England, King of England, 1567-1625, James I ; LANCELOT ANDREWES, BISHOP AND SCHOLAR (26 SEPT 1626); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631); “All mankind is one volume. When one man dies, one chapter is torn out of the book and translated into a better language. And every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators. Some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice. But God's hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to another.” Donne (rhymes with “sun”) was born in 1573 (his father died in 1576) into a Roman Catholic family, and from 1584 to 1594 was educated at Oxford and Cambridge and Lincoln's Inn (this last a highly regarded law school). He became an Anglican (probably around 1594) and aimed at a career in government. He joined with Raleigh and Essex in raids on Cadiz and the Azores, and became private secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton. But in 1601 he secretly married Anne More, the 16-year-old niece of Egerton, and her enraged father had Donne imprisoned. The years following were years of poverty, debt, illness, and frustration. In 1615 he was ordained, perhaps largely because he had given up hope of a career in Parliament. From the above information, the reader might conclude that Donne's professed religious belief was mere opportunism. But the evidence of his poetry is that, long before his ordination, and probably beginning with his marriage, his thoughts were turned toward holiness, and he saw in his wife Anne (as Dante had earlier seen in Beatrice) a glimpse of the glory of God, and in human love a revelation of the nature of Divine Love. His poetry, mostly written before his ordination, includes poems both sacred and secular, full of wit, puns, paradoxes, and obscure allusions at whose meanings we can sometimes only guess, presenting amorous experience in religious terms and devotional experience in erotic terms, so that I have seen one poem of his both in a manual of devotion and in a pornography collection. After his ordination, his reputation as a preacher grew steadily. From 1622 until his death he was Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and drew huge crowds to hear him, both at the Cathedral and at Paul's Cross, an outdoor pulpit nearby. His prose style is in some ways outdated, but his theme continues to fascinate: “the paradoxical and complex predicament of man as he both seeks and yet draws away from the inescapable claim of God on him.” Various collections of his sermons (a ten-volume complete edition and a one-volume selection) have been published. Most anthologies of English poetry contain at least a few of his poems, and it is a poor college library that does not have a complete set of them. His friend Izaak Walton (author of The Compleat Angler) has written a biography. Three poems and a portion of a meditation follow. THREE POEMS BY JOHN DONNE portrait of a younger John DonneNOTES ON PRONUNCIATION: Since this is an international list, and not all listmembers are familiar with the traditional conventions of English poetry, a few explanations may be useful. All of the poems that follow are written in iambic pentameter. That is, a line normally has ten syllables, with five stresses, which normally fall on the even-numbered syllables, although their position may vary (in particular, the stress on the second syllable is often transferred to the first). A sonnet has fourteen lines: an octet of eight lines, followed by a sestet of six. In some of these poems, Donne uses a convention that is a requirement of classical Latin poetry: the elision. If a word ends in a vowel (or diphthong) and the next word begins with one, the first vowel is omitted and the number of syllables in the line reduced by one. As an aid to the reader, I have inserted an “=” sign at each elision. In modern English the “e” in the ending “-ed” of a verb is usually silent. Sometimes in older English it is sounded, creating an extra syllable. When this happens, I have capitalized the “-ED” SONNET XIV Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me= and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like a usurped town to= another due, Labor to= admit you, but oh, to no end; Reason, your viceroy= in me, me should defend, But is captived, and proves weak or untrue. Yet dearly= I love you,= and would be lov-ED fain, But am betrothed unto your enemy Divorce me,= untie or break that knot again; Take me to you, imprison me, for I Except you= enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. SONNET X Death, be not proud, though some have call-ED thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy picture be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow; And soonest our best men with thee do go-- Rest of their bones and souls' delivery! Thou= art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy= or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke, Why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die! HYMN TO GOD, MY GOD, IN MY SICKNESS (Numbered footnotes below.) Since I am coming to that holy room Where, with thy choir of saints for evermore I shall be made thy music, as I come I tune the instrument here at the door, And what I must do then, think here before.(1) Whilst my physicians by their love are grown Cosmographers(2), and I their map, who lie Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown That this is my southwest discovery,(3) PER FRETUM FEBRIS,(4) by these straits to die,(5) I joy that in these straits I see my west; For though their currents yield return to none, What shall my west hurt me? As west and east In all flat maps (and I am one) are one, So death doth touch the resurrection. (6) Is the Pacific Sea my home? Or are The eastern riches? Is Jerusalem? Anyan,(7) and Magellan, and Gibraltar,(8) All straits, and none but straits, are ways to them,(9) Whether where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Shem.(10) We think that Paradise, and Calvary, Christ's cross, and Adam's tree, stood in one place;(11) Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me; As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face, May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace. So, in his purple wrapp'd receive me, Lord, By these his thorns give me his other crown; And as to others' souls I preached thy word, Be this my text, my sermon to mine own: “Therefore, that he may raise, the Lord throws down.” NOTES: (1) That is: “Since I am on the verge of death, let me prepare my thoughts.” (2) Cosmography is the study of the basic structure and constitution of the world. (3) “Southwest discovery” refers to the fact that from England one can reach the riches of the Orient by sailing southwest around South America through the Straits of Magellan, or northwest around North America through the Bering Straits, or southeast around Africa, or northeast around Norway and Siberia. One can also go east through the Straits of Gibraltar and then across land, either across the Isthmus of Suez and then again by sea to India or else by the Silk Road to China along the route of Marco Polo. Donne here speaks of the “southwest discovery,” the route taken by the explorer Magellan. (4) “Per fretum febris,” by the wearing away of a fever (Latin). The explorer Magellan, who made the “southwest discovery,” died “per fretum febris” before he could complete his goal of sailing around the earth. Donne, at the time of this writing, is ill with a fever. (5) “Strait” means “narrow, constricted, or tight” (as in “strait-laced,” referring to the extremely tight corsets that were once fashionable, and thence by analogy to someone considered to be inflexible in his behavior). It is not to be confused with “straight”, meaning “not crooked”. A strait is a narrow passage, a tight squeeze, especially a narrow sea passage connecting two larger bodies of water, and bounded closely on either side by land. The word also refers, especially in the plural, to a situation of distress, deprivation, difficulty, perplexity, misfortune, or the like. (A man lost in the desert is said to be “in dire straits”.) Hence Donne, playing on the double meaning of the word “strait,” says that he is about to die of his present distress, meaning his fever and his illness. (6) On a flat map of the whole world the far east (the rightmost edge of the map) and the far west (the leftmost edge of the map) are places that touch on a globe or in the real world. (7) “Anyan” is another name for the Bering Straits. (8) We place the stresses in this line as follows: “AN-yan, and MA-gel-LAN, and GIB-ral-TAR”. (9) No matter what desirable and fabled country is my destiny, I must sail through a narrow strait to reach it. The same is true of Heaven, which I shall reach by passing through the strait of death. (10) The three sons of Noah were named Shem, Ham and Japheth. (The initial sound of “Ham,” or “Cham” is a throaty breathing as in the name “Bach.” Neither Greek nor Hebrew nor Latin has the sound of “ch” used in English words like “church,” and therefore a name in the Bible with a “CH” in it should always be pronounced in English with a “K” sound or a German “CH” sound, unless the name has been thoroughly assimilated into English (like “Rachel”, for example). The three sons are thought of as ancestors of the inhabitants of the thee continents known to the ancients: Asia, Africa, and Europe. (11) A common Christian usage, going back to the Apostle Paul (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-22,45-49), is to contrast Adam and Christ, or to call Christ the new Adam. The old Adam is the beginning of the fallen and wounded race of humanity; the new Adam is the beginning of the restored and healed race. What Adam did, Christ has undone. Hence the common supposition in poetry that the Cross was cut from the wood of the Forbidden Tree that once stood in the Garden of Eden, and that the hill of Calvary (“Skull Hill”) where Christ was crucified was so called because that was where Adam was buried. MEDITATION 17, BY JOHN DONNE NUNC LENTO SONITU DICUNT, MORIERIS [Now this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.] Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he know not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me and see my state may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another. As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness. There was a contention as far as a suit (in which piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled) which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; and it was determined that they should ring first that rose earliest. If we understand aright the dignity of this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early, in that application, that it might be ours as well as his whose indeed it is. The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute that that occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God. Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? but who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world? No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbors. Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did; for affliction is a treasure, and scarcely any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick unto death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels as gold in a mine and be no use to him; but this bell that tells me of his affliction digs out and applies that gold to me, if by this consideration of another's danger I take mine own into contemplation and so secure myself by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security. by James Kiefer

England, 1593-1645, ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM LAUD, martyr, killed by the protestants
England, 1593-1645, ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM LAUD; WILLIAM LAUD, ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR (10 JANUARY 1645);

England, 1600-1699, London, 17th Century History Folder, English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell

England, 1601, Essex House, London, Earl of Essex Rebellion
Essex House, London, Earl of Essex Rebellion 1601; JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631);

England, 1604-1610, Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, chief overseer of King James Bible
England, 1604-1610, Archbishop of Canterbury, Richard Bancroft ; Bancroft (1544 - 2 November 1610) was an English churchman, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1604 to 1610 and "chief overseer" of the King James Bible. ROBERT HUNT, PRIEST & FIRST CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, 1608, Commemorated April 26 ;

England, 1612-1637, NICHOLAS FERRAR, Little Gidding, ascetics, voluntary poverty for alms, communal living, prayer, fasting
England, 1612-1637, NICHOLAS FERRAR, Little Gidding, ascetics, voluntary poverty for alms, communal living, prayer, fasting, church services, teaching; Ferrar (22 February 1592 – 4 December 1637) was an English scholar, courtier and businessman, who was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. lost much of his fortune in the Virginia Company and retreated with his extended family in 1626 to the manor of Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, for his remaining years, in an informal spiritual community following High Anglican practice.[1] friend the poet and Anglican priest George Herbert (1593–1633), on his deathbed, sent Ferrar the manuscript of The Temple, telling him to publish the poetry if it might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul." "If not, let him burn it; for I and it are less than the least of God's mercies."[2] Ferrar published them in 1633; they remain in print. Little Gidding; NICHOLAS FERRAR, DEACON, MAN OF PRAYER (1 DEC 1637) ; Ferrar, born in 1592, was the founder of a religious community that lasted from 1626 to 1646. FerrarAfter Nicholas had been ordained as a deacon, he and his family and a few friends retired to Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, England, to devote themselves to a life of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (Matthew 6:2,5,16). restored the abandoned church building, and became responsible for regular services there. They taught the neighborhood children, and looked after the health and well-being of the people of the district. read the regular daily offices of the Book of Common Prayer, including the recital every day of the complete Psalter. (Day and night, there was always at least one member of the community kneeling in prayer before the altar, that they might keep the word, "Pray without ceasing.") wrote books and stories dealing with various aspects of Christian faith and practice. fasted with great rigor, and in other ways embraced voluntary poverty, so that they might have as much money as possible for the relief of the poor. community was founded in 1626 (when Nicholas was 34). He died in 1637 (aged 45), and in 1646 the community was forcibly broken up by the Puritans of Cromwell's army. memory of the community survived to inspire and influence later undertakings in Christian communal living, and one of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets is called "Little Gidding." by James Kiefer

England, 1613-1633, George Herbert, Priest and Poet, remembered for his book of poems
England, 1613-1633, Priest and Poet, George Herbert; Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633)[1] was a Welsh-born poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotional lyricists."[2] was born into an artistic and wealthy family and largely raised in England. He received a good education that led to his admission to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1609. He went there with the intention of becoming a priest, but he became the University's Public Orator and attracted the attention of King James I. He served in the Parliament of England in 1624 and briefly in 1625.[3] the death of King James, Herbert renewed his interest in ordination. He gave up his secular ambitions in his mid-thirties and took holy orders in the Church of England, spending the rest of his life as the rector of the rural parish of Fugglestone St Peter, just outside Salisbury. He was noted for unfailing care for his parishioners, bringing the sacraments to them when they were ill and providing food and clothing for those in need. Henry Vaughan called him "a most glorious saint and seer".[4] He was never a healthy man and died of consumption at age 39. GEORGE HERBERT, PRIEST AND POET (27 FEBRUARY 1633); Herbert was born in 1593, a cousin of the Earl of Pembroke. His mother was a friend of the poet John Donne. George attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and became the Public Orator of the University, responsible for giving speeches of welcome in Latin to famous visitors, and writing letters of thanks, also in Latin, to acknowledge gifts of books for the University Library. brought him to the attention of King James I, who granted him an annual allowance, and seemed likely to make him an ambassador. However, in 1625 the king died, and George Herbert, who had originally gone to college with the intention of becoming a priest, but had his head turned by the prospect of a career at Court, determined anew to seek ordination. In 1626 he was ordained, and became vicar and then rector of the parish of Bemerton and neighboring Fugglestone, not far from Salisbury. He served faithfully as a parish priest, diligently visiting his parishioners and bringing them the sacraments when they were ill, and food and clothing when they were in want. He read Morning and Evening Prayer daily in the church, encouraging the congregation to join him when possible, and ringing the church bell before each service so that those who could not come might hear it and pause in their work to join their prayers with his. He used to go once a week to Salisbury to hear Evening Prayer sung there in the cathedral. On one occasion he was late because he had met a man whose horse had fallen with a heavy load, and he stopped, took off his coat, and helped the man to unload the cart, get the horse back on its feet, and then reload the cart. His spontaneous generosity and good will won him the affection of his parishioners. Today, however, he is remembered chiefly for his book of poems, The Temple, which he sent shortly before his death to his friend Nicholas Ferrar, to publish if he thought them suitable. They were published after Herbert's death, and have influenced the style of other poets, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Several of them have been used as hymns, in particular "Teach me, my God and King," and "Let all the world in every corner sing." Another of his poems contains the lines: Prayer, the Church's banquet, Angel's age, God's breath in man returning to his birth, The soul in paraphrase, the heart in pilgrimage, The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth. more of his poems follow: THE FLOWER How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean are Thy returns! Even as the flowers in spring, to which, besides their own demean, the late-past frosts tributes of pleasure bring. Grief melts away like snow in May, As if there were no such cold thing. Who would have thought my shrivelled heart could have recovered greenness? It was gone quite underground, as flowers depart to see their mother-root, when they have blown; where they together all the hard weather, dead to the world, keep house unknown. These are Thy wonders, Lord of power, killing and quickening, bringing down to hell and up to heaven in an hour; making a chiming of a passing-bell. We say amiss this or that is; Thy word is all, if we could spell. Oh, that I once past changing were, fast in Thy paradise, where no flower can wither! Many a spring I shoot up fair, offering at heaven, growing and groaning thither; nor doth my flower want a spring shower, my sins and I joining together. But while I grow in a straight line, still upwards bent, as if heaven were mine own, Thy anger comes, and I decline. What frost to that? What pole is not the zone where all things burn, when Thou dost turn, and the least frown of Thine is shown? And now in age I bud again; after so many deaths I love and write; I once more smell the dew and rain, and relish versing. O my only Light, it cannot be that I am he on whom Thy tempests fell all night. These are Thy wonders, Lord of love, to make us see we are but flowers that glide; which when we once can find and prove, Thou hast a garden for us where to bide. Who would be more, swelling through store, forfeit their paradise by their pride. LOVE (III) Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back, guilty of dust and sin. But quicked-ey'd Love, Observing me grow slack from my first entrance in, Drew near to me, sweetly questioning, if I lack'd any thing. A guest, I answer'd, worthy to be here: Love said, You should be he. I the unkinde, engrateful? ah my deare, I can not look on thee. Love took my hand, and smiling did reply, Who made the eyes but I? Truth Lord, but I hav marr'd them: let my shame go where it doth deserve. And know you not, sayes Love, who bore the blame? My deare, then I will serve. You must sit down, sayes love, and taste my meat: So I did sit and eat. Glory to God on High And on earth Peace good will toward man. George Herbert (1595-1633) He also wrote a volume for parish clergy called A Priest to the Temple, or the Country Parson. died on 1 March 1633, but is commemorated two days earlier, to avoid conflict with other commemorations. by James Kiefer

England, 1618-1648, Holy Roman Empire, Thirty Year's War, Protestant Catholic
Belgium, Holy Roman Empire, 1618-1648, Thirty Year's War, Protestant Catholic ;

England, 1625-1649, Charles I, King, divine right of k, high church, civil war, killed
England, 1625-1649, King of England, Charles I ; I (19 November 1600-“ 30 January 1649)[a] was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603 (as James I), he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He became heir apparent to the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1612 on the death of his elder brother Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to the Spanish Habsburg princess Maria Anna culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623 that demonstrated the futility of the marriage negotiations. Two years later he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France. his succession in 1625, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. believed in the divine right of kings, and was determined to govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch. religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Roman Catholic, generated antipathy and mistrust from Reformed religious groups such as the English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters, who thought his views were too Catholic. supported high church Anglican ecclesiastics such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid continental Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years' War. His attempts to force the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to the Bishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments, and helped precipitate his own downfall. 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors' demands for a constitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November 1647. Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England was established as a republic. The monarchy would be restored to Charles's son, Charles II, in 1660. JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667); NICHOLAS FERRAR, DEACON, MAN OF PRAYER (1 DEC 1637); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; WILLIAM LAUD, ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR (10 JANUARY 1645); Anne Hutchinson of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; Roger Williams of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; GEORGE HERBERT, PRIEST AND POET (27 FEBRUARY 1633); JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631); JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1633-1667, Jeremy Taylor, many books on theological, moral, and devotional subjects, freedom of speech and conscience
England, 1633-1667, Jeremy Taylor, Cambridge, many books on theological, moral, and devotional subjects, freedom of speech and conscience; Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is frequently cited as one of the greatest prose writers in the English language. He is remembered in the Church of England's calendar of saints with a Lesser Festival on 13 August. was under the patronage of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. He went on to become chaplain in ordinary to King Charles I as a result of Laud's sponsorship. This made him politically suspect when Laud was tried for treason and executed in January 1644/5 by the Puritan parliament during the English Civil War. After the parliamentary victory over the King, he was briefly imprisoned several times. he was allowed to live quietly in Wales, where he became the private chaplain of the Earl of Carbery. After the Restoration, he was made Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland. He also became vice-chancellor of the University of Dublin. Cambridge; JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667); Taylor was born at Cambridge in 1613 and ordained in 1633. In the years between 1633 and the ascendency of the Puritans in 1645, he was a Fellow of two Cambridge colleges, and chaplain to Archbishop Laud and to King Charles. Puritan rule, he was imprisoned three times, and forced into retirement as a family chaplain in Wales. the Restoration, in 1661, he became Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland. his many books on theological, moral, and devotional subjects, the best known are The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650) and The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying (1651), usually cited simply as Holy Living and Holy Dying. Many readers, including Charles Wesley a century later, have reported finding these books of great spiritual benefit. work of his, Liberty of Prophesying, argues for freedom of conscience and freedom of speech in a religious context. Being stationed in an area that was largely Roman Catholic, he was, perhaps inevitably, drawn into controversy, and he wrote a book called Dissuasion (or Dissuasive) against Popery.

England, 1635-1691, RICHARD BAXTER, protestant writer, theologian, controversialist
England, 1635-1691, RICHARD BAXTER; Baxter (12 November 1615 - 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, theologian and controversialist, called by Dean Stanley "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long and prolific career as theological writer. After the Restoration he refused preferment [i. e., an appointment within the Church of England], while retaining a non-separatist presbyterian approach, and became one of the most influential leaders of the nonconformists, spending time in prison. ministry at Kidderminster continued, with many interruptions, for about nineteen years; and during that time he accomplished many reforms. He formed the ministers in the country around him into an association, uniting them irrespective of their differences as Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Independents. The Reformed Pastor was a book which Baxter published in relation to the general ministerial efforts he promoted. the outbreak of the English Civil War, Baxter blamed both parties and recommended the Protestation, an attempt to avert civil war. In 1647, Baxter was staying at the home of Lady Rouse, wife of Sir Thomas Rouse, 1st Baronet, of Rouse Lench in Warwickshire. There, though debilated by illness, he wrote the most of a major work, The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650). the Restoration in 1660 Baxter, who had helped to bring about that event, settled in London. He preached there till the Act of Uniformity 1662 took effect, and looked for such terms of comprehension as would have permitted the moderate dissenters with whom he acted to have remained in the Church of England. In this hope he was sadly disappointed. The Savoy conference [which formed the basis of the 1662 BCP] resulted in Baxter's Reformed Liturgy, though it was cast aside without consideration. 1662 until the indulgence of 1687, Baxter's life was constantly disturbed by persecution of one kind or another. Baxter's health had grown even worse, yet this was the period of his greatest activity as a writer. He wrote 168 or so separate works -- such treatises as the Christian Directory, the Methodus Theologiae Christianae, and the Catholic Theology, might each have represented the life's work of an ordinary man. Without doubt, however, his most famous and enduring contribution to Christian literature was a devotional work published in 1658 under the title Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live. This slim volume was credited with the conversion of thousands and formed one of the core extra-biblical texts of evangelicalism until at least the middle of the nineteenth century. from Wikipedia RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ;

England, 1636-1643, ANNE HUTCHINSON, Massachusetts, Puritan spiritual advisor, banished to Rhode Island & Bronx, New Netherlands
US, 1636-1643, ANNE HUTCHINSON, Massachusetts Bay, Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, Antinomian Controversy, banished to Rhode Island and Bronx, New Netherlands; Massachusetts; Anne Hutchison of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious convictions were at odds with the established Puritan clergy in the Boston area and her popularity and charisma helped create a theological schism that threatened the Puritan religious community in New England. She was eventually tried and convicted, then banished from the colony with many of her supporters. was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, the daughter of Francis Marbury, an Anglican cleric and school teacher who gave her a far better education than most other girls received. lived in London as a young adult, and there married a friend from home, William Hutchinson. The couple moved back to Alford where they began following preacher John Cotton in the nearby port of Boston, Lincolnshire. Cotton was compelled to emigrate in 1633, and the Hutchinsons followed a year later with their 11 children and soon became well established in the growing settlement of Boston in New England. Hutchinson was a midwife and helpful to those needing her assistance, as well as forthcoming with her personal religious understandings. Soon she was hosting women at her house weekly, providing commentary on recent sermons. These meetings became so popular that she began offering meetings for men as well, including the young governor of the colony, Henry Vane. began to accuse the local ministers (except for Cotton and her husband's brother-in-law, John Wheelwright) of preaching a covenant of works rather than a covenant of grace, and many ministers began to complain about her increasingly blatant accusations, as well as certain unorthodox theological teachings. The situation eventually erupted into what is commonly called the Antinomian Controversy, culminating in her 1637 trial, conviction, and banishment from the colony. This was followed by a March 1638 church trial in which she was put out of her congregation. and many of her supporters established the settlement of Portsmouth with encouragement from Providence Plantations founder Roger Williams in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. After her husband's death a few years later, threats of Massachusetts taking over Rhode Island compelled Hutchinson to move totally outside the reach of Boston into the lands of the Dutch. Five of her older surviving children remained in New England or in England, while she settled with her younger children near an ancient landmark, Split Rock, in what later became The Bronx in New York City. Tensions were high at the time with the Siwanoy Indian tribe. In August 1643, Hutchinson, six of her children, and other household members were killed by Siwanoys during Kieft's War. The only survivor was her nine-year-old daughter Susanna, who was taken captive. is a key figure in the history of religious freedom in England's American colonies and the history of women in ministry, challenging the authority of the ministers. She is honored by Massachusetts with a State House monument calling her a "courageous exponent of civil liberty and religious toleration".[1] She has been called "the most famous—or infamous—English woman in colonial American history".[2]

England, 1642-1651, English Civil War, Parlimentarians (Roundheads) v Royalists (Cavaliers), rule of 3 Kingdoms (Eng, Ire, Scot)
England, 1642-“1651, English Civil War; English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of religious freedom.[2] It was part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The wars also involved the Scottish Covenanters and Irish Confederates. The war ended with Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Unlike other civil wars in England, which were mainly fought over who should rule, these conflicts were also concerned with how the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland should be governed. The outcome was threefold: the trial of and execution of Charles I (1649); the exile of his son, Charles II (1651); and the replacement of English monarchy with the Commonwealth of England, which from 1653 (as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland) unified the British Isles under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658) and briefly his son Richard (1658–1659). In England, the monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship was ended, and in Ireland, the victors consolidated the established Protestant Ascendancy. Constitutionally, the outcome of the wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament's consent, though the idea of Parliamentary sovereignty was legally established only as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688.[3] JOHN BUNYAN, WRITER, 30 August 1688; WILLIAM LAUD, ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR (10 JANUARY 1645);

England, 1648-1688, John Bunyan, lay preacher and writer, Pilgrim's Progress
England, 1648-1688, John Bunyan, lay preacher and writer, Pilgrim's Progress; Bunyan (baptised 30 November 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons. came from the village of Elstow, near Bedford. He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary Army during the first stage of the English Civil War. After three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker, which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford, and becoming a preacher. After the restoration of the monarch, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the next twelve years in jail as he refused to give up preaching. During this time he wrote a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and began work on his most famous book, The Pilgrim's Progress, which was not published until some years after his release. later years, in spite of another shorter term of imprisonment, were spent in relative comfort as a popular author and preacher, and pastor of the Bedford Meeting. He died aged 59 after falling ill on a journey to London and is buried in Bunhill Fields. The Pilgrim's Progress became one of the most published books in the English language; 1,300 editions having been printed by 1938, 250 years after the author's death. is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 30 August,[1] and on the liturgical calendar of the United States Episcopal Church on 29 August. Some other churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, honour him on the day of his death (31 August). life Bunyan's High Street cottage Bunyan was born in 1628 to Thomas and Margaret Bunyan at Bunyan's End in the parish of Elstow, Bedfordshire. Bunyan's End is about halfway between the hamlet of Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford) and Elstow High Street. Bunyan's date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 30 November 1628, the baptismal entry in the parish register reading "John the sonne of Thomas Bunnion Jun., the 30 November".[2] The name Bunyan was spelt in many ways (there are 34 variants in Bedfordshire Record Office) and probably had its origins in the Norman-French name Buignon.[3] There had been Bunyans in Bedfordshire since at least 1199.[4] father was a brazier or tinker who travelled around the area mending pots and pans, and his grandfather had been a chapman or small trader.[4] The Bunyans owned land and properties in Elstow, so Bunyan's origins were not quite as humble as he suggested in his autobiographical work Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners when he wrote that his father's house was "of that rank that is meanest and most despised in the country".[5] a child Bunyan learned his father's trade of tinker and was given some schooling[6] but it is not known which school he attended. In Grace Abounding Bunyan recorded few details of his upbringing, but he did note how he picked up the habit of swearing (from his father), suffered from nightmares, and read the popular stories of the day in cheap chap-books. In the summer of 1644 Bunyan lost both his mother and his sister Margaret.[7] That autumn, shortly before or after his sixteenth birthday, Bunyan enlisted in the Parliamentary army when an edict demanded 225 recruits from the town of Bedford. There are few details available about his military service, which took place during the first stage of the English Civil War. A muster roll for the garrison of Newport Pagnell shows him as private "John Bunnian".[8] In Grace Abounding, he recounted an incident from this time, as evidence of the grace of God: I was a Souldier, I, with others, were drawn out to go to such a place to besiege it; But when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired to go in my room, to which, when I had consented, he took my place; and coming to the siege, as he stood Sentinel, he was shot into the head with a Musket bullet and died.[9] army service provided him with a knowledge of military language which he then used in his book The Holy War, and also exposed him to the ideas of the various religious sects and radical groups he came across in Newport Pagnell.[10] The garrison town also gave him opportunities to indulge in the sort of behaviour he would later confess to in Grace Abounding: "So that until I came to the state of Marriage, I was the very ringleader of all the Youth that kept me company, in all manner of vice and ungodliness".[11] Bunyan spent nearly three years in the army, leaving in 1647 to return to Elstow and his trade as a tinker. His father had remarried and had more children and Bunyan moved from Bunyan's End to a cottage in Elstow High Street. and conversion two years of leaving the army, Bunyan married. The name of his wife and the exact date of his marriage are not known, but Bunyan did recall that his wife, a pious young woman, brought with her into the marriage two books that she had inherited from her father: Arthur Dent's Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven and Lewis Bayly's Practice of Piety. He also recalled that, apart from these two books, the newly-weds possessed little: "not having so much household-stuff as a Dish or a Spoon betwixt us both".[12] The couple's first daughter, Mary, was born in 1650, and it soon became apparent that she was blind. They would have three more children, Elizabeth, Thomas and John. his own account, Bunyan had as a youth enjoyed bell-ringing, dancing and playing games including on Sunday, which was forbidden by the Puritans, who held a particularly high view of Sunday, called the Lord's Day. One Sunday the vicar of Elstow preached a sermon against Sabbath breaking, and Bunyan took this sermon to heart. That afternoon, as he was playing tip-cat (a game in which a small piece of wood is hit with a bat) on Elstow village green, he heard a voice from the heavens "Wilt thou leave thy sins, and go to Heaven? Or have thy sins, and go to Hell?"[13] The next few years were a time of intense spiritual conflict for Bunyan as he struggled with his doubts and fears over religion and guilt over what he saw as his state of sin.[14] this time Bunyan, whilst on his travels as a tinker, happened to be in Bedford and pass a group of women who were talking about spiritual matters on their doorstep. The women were in fact some of the founding members of the Bedford Free Church or Meeting and Bunyan, who had been attending the parish church of Elstow, was so impressed by their talk that he joined their church.[15] At that time the nonconformist group was meeting in St John's church in Bedford under the leadership of former Royalist army officer John Gifford.[16] At the instigation of other members of the congregation Bunyan began to preach, both in the church and to groups of people in the surrounding countryside.[17] In 1656, having by this time moved his family to St Cuthbert's Street in Bedford, he published his first book, Gospel Truths Opened, which was inspired by a dispute with Ranters and Quakers.[18] 1658 Bunyan's wife died, leaving him with four small children, one of them blind. A year later he married an eighteen-year-old woman named Elizabeth.[19] in prison as imagined in 1881 religious tolerance which had allowed Bunyan the freedom to preach became curtailed with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The members of the Bedford Meeting were no longer able to meet in St John's church, which they had been sharing with the Anglican congregation.[20] That November, Bunyan was preaching at Lower Samsell, a farm near the village of Harlington, thirteen miles from Bedford, when he was warned that a warrant was out for his arrest. Deciding not to make an escape, he was arrested and brought before the local magistrate Sir Francis Wingate, at Harlington House. Bunyan was arrested under the Conventicle Act of 1593, which made it an offence to attend a religious gathering other than at the parish church with more than five people outside their family. The offence was punishable by 3 months' imprisonment followed by banishment or execution if the person then failed to promise not to re-offend. The Act had been little used, and Bunyan's arrest was probably due in part to concerns that non-conformist religious meetings were being held as a cover for people plotting against the king (although this was not the case with Bunyan's meetings). The Act of Uniformity, which made it compulsory for preachers to be ordained by an Anglican bishop and for the revised Book of Common Prayer to be used in church services, was still two years away, and the Act of Conventicles, which made it illegal to hold religious meetings of five or more people outside the Church of England was not passed until 1664.[21] trial of Bunyan took place in January 1661 at the quarter sessions in Bedford, before a group of magistrates under John Kelynge, who would later help to draw up the Act of Uniformity.[22] Bunyan, who had been held in prison since his arrest, was indicted of having "devilishly and perniciousy abstained from coming to church to hear divine service" and having held "several unlawful meetings and conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good subjects of this kingdom".[23] He was sentenced to three months imprisonment with transportation to follow if at the end of this time he did not agree to attend the parish church and desist from preaching.[24] Bunyan refused to agree to give up preaching, his period of imprisonment eventually extended to 12 years and brought great hardship to his family. Elizabeth, who made strenuous attempts to obtain his release, had been pregnant when her husband was arrested and she subsequently gave birth prematurely to a still-born child.[25] Left to bring up four step-children, one of whom was blind, she had to rely on the charity of Bunyan's fellow members of the Bedford Meeting and other supporters and on what little her husband could earn in gaol by making shoelaces. But Bunyan remained resolute: "O I saw in this condition I was a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his Wife and Children; yet thought I, I must do it, I must do it".[26] spent his 12 years' imprisonment in Bedford County Gaol, which stood on the corner of the High Street and Silver Street. There were however occasions when he was allowed out of prison, depending on the gaolers and the mood of the authorities at the time, and he was able to attend the Bedford Meeting and even preach. His daughter Sarah was born during his imprisonment (the other child of his second marriage, Joseph, was born after his release in 1672).[27] prison, Bunyan had a copy of the Bible and of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, as well as writing materials. He also had at times the company of other preachers who had been imprisoned. It was in Bedford Gaol that he wrote Grace Abounding and started work on The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as penning several tracts that may have brought him a little money.[28] In 1671, while still in prison, he was chosen as pastor of the Bedford Meeting.[29] By that time there was a mood of increasing religious toleration in the country and in March 1672 the king issued a declaration of indulgence which suspended penal laws against nonconformists. Thousands of nonconformists were released from prison, amongst them Bunyan and five of his fellow inmates of Bedford Gaol. Bunyan was freed in May 1672 and immediately obtained a licence to preach under the declaration of indulgence.[30] life his release from jail in 1672 Bunyan probably did not return to his former occupation of a tinker. Instead, he devoted his time to writing and preaching.[31] He continued as pastor of the Bedford Meeting and traveled over Bedfordshire and adjoining counties on horseback to preach, becoming known affectionately as "Bishop Bunyan". His preaching also took him to London, where Lord Mayor Sir John Shorter became a friend and presented him with a silver-mounted walking stick.[31] The Pilgrim's Progress was published in 1678 by Nathaniel Ponder and immediately became popular, though probably making more money for its publisher than for its author.[31] events marred Bunyan's life during the later 1670s. Firstly he became embroiled in a scandal concerning a young woman called Agnes Beaumont. When going to preach in Gamlingay in 1674 he allowed Beaumont, a member of the Bedford Meeting, to ride pillion on his horse, much to the anger of her father, who then died suddenly. His daughter was initially suspected of poisoning him, though the coroner found he had died of natural causes.[32] In 1676-7 he underwent a second term of imprisonment, probably for refusing to attend the parish church.[33] This second imprisonment lasted six months.[34] effigy on his grave in Bunhill Fields 1688, on his way to London, Bunyan made a detour to Reading, Berkshire, to try and resolve a quarrel between a father and son. Continuing to London to the house of his friend, grocer John Strudwick of Snow Hill in the City of London, he was caught in a storm and fell ill with a fever. He died in Strudwick's house on the morning of 31 August 1688 and was buried in the tomb belonging to Strudwick in Bunhill Fields nonconformist burial ground in London.[35] estate at his death was worth £42 19s 0d. His widow Elizabeth died in 1691.[36] Progress, first edition 1678. Between 1656, when he published his first work, Some Gospel Truths Opened (a tract against the Ranters and Quakers—has—who at the time were somewhat indistinguishable), and his death in 1688, Bunyan published 42 titles. A further two works, including his Last Sermon, were published the following year by George Larkin. In 1692 Southwark comb-maker Charles Doe, who was a friend of Bunyan's later years, brought out, with the collaboration of Bunyan's widow, a collection of the author's works, including 12 previously unpublished titles, mostly sermons. Six years later Doe published The Heavenly Footman and finally in 1765 Relation of My Imprisonment was published, giving a total of 58 published titles.[37] is the allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, written during Bunyan's twelve-year imprisonment although not published until 1678 six years after his release, that made Bunyan's name as an author with its immediate success. It remains the book for which Bunyan is best remembered.[37] The images Bunyan uses in The Pilgrim's Progress are reflections of images from his own world; the strait gate is a version of the wicket gate at Elstow Abbey church,[38] the Slough of Despond is a reflection of Squitch Fen, a wet and mossy area near his cottage in Harrowden, the Delectable Mountains are an image of the Chiltern Hills surrounding Bedfordshire. Even his characters, like the Evangelist as influenced by John Gifford, are reflections of real people. allegorical works were to follow: The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), Pilgrim's Progress Part II and The Holy War (1682). Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, a spiritual autobiography, was published in 1666, when he was still in jail. There is a small obelisk marking his birthplace in a field beside 'Bumpy Lane', which is inbetween Elstow and Old Harrowden Lane Bunhill Fields funerary monument In 1862 a recumbent statue was created to adorn Bunyan's grave; it was restored in 1922.[39] 1874, a bronze statue of John Bunyan, sculpted by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, was erected in Bedford. This stands at the south-western corner of St Peter's Green, facing down Bedford's High Street. The site was chosen by Boehm for its significance as a crossroads. Bunyan is depicted expounding the Bible, to an invisible congregation, with a broken fetter representing his imprisonment by his left foot. There are three scenes from "The Pilgrim's Progress" on the stone plinth: Christian at the wicket gate; his fight with Apollyon; and losing his burden at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The statue was unveiled by Lady Augusta Stanley, wife of the Dean of Westminster, on Wednesday 10 June 1874.[40] In 1876 the Duke of Bedford gave bronze doors by Frederick Thrupp depicting scenes from The Pilgrim's Progress to the John Bunyan Meeting (the former Bedford Meeting which had been renamed in Bunyan's honour, and now houses the John Bunyan Museum).[41] is another statue of him in Kingsway, London, and there are memorial windows in Westminster Abbey, Southwark Cathedral and various churches, including Elstow Abbey (the parish church of Elstow) and the Bunyan Meeting Free Church in Bedford.[42] is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the United States Episcopal Church on 29 August. Some other churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, honour him on the day of his death (31 August). is best remembered for The Pilgrim's Progress, a book which gained immediate popularity. By 1692, four years after the author's death, publisher Charles Doe estimated that 100,000 copies had been printed in England, as well as editions "in France, Holland, New England and Welch".[43] By 1938, 250 years after Bunyan's death, more than 1,300 editions of the book had been printed.[44] the 18th century Bunyan's unpolished style fell out of favour, but his popularity returned with Romanticism, poet Robert Southey writing a lengthy appreciative biography in 1830 to accompany an edition of The Pilgrim's Progress that many critics deem a turning point in Bunyan scholarship.[45] Bunyan's reputation was further enhanced by the evangelical revival and he became a favourite author of the Victorians.[46] The tercentenary of Bunyan's birth, celebrated in 1928, elicited praise from his former adversary, the Church of England.[47] Although popular interest in Bunyan waned during the second half of the twentieth century, academic interest in the writer has increased and Oxford University Press brought out a new edition of his works, beginning in 1976.[48] Authors who have been influenced by Bunyan include C. S. Lewis, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott and George Bernard Shaw.[47] work, in particular The Pilgrim's Progress, has reached a wider audience through stage productions, film, TV, and radio. A stage work by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which the composer styled a Morality, based on The Pilgrim's Progress was first performed at the Royal Opera House in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain and revived in 2012 by the English National Opera.[49] Bunyan had six children, five of whom are known to have married, of whom four had children. Moot Hall Museum (in Elstow) has a record of John's descendants, down to the nineteenth century but as of September 2013, no verifiable trace of later descendants has been found.[50][page needed] Bedford ; JOHN BUNYAN, WRITER, 30 August 1688; was born in 1628 near Bedford, in the agricultural midlands of England. He was the son of a tinker (a maker and mender of metal pots). He had little schooling. During the English Civil War, he served in the Parliamentary Army. He underwent a period of acute spiritual anxiety, and finally found peace in a Baptist congregation. He became a lay preacher, while earning his living as a tinker. the Restoration in 1660, Bunyan (under suspicion for having fought on the anti-Anglican side) was ordered to preach no more, and, since he refused to desist, he was several times sentenced to jail, where he spent his time studying, preaching to his fellow prisoners, and writing. His first substantial work was an autobiography, Grace Abounding To the Chief of Sinners. This was followed by other works, of which by far the most read and most loved is his The Pilgrim's Progress From This World To That Which Is To Come, usually called Pilgrim's Progress. The work recounts in allegorical form the experience of a person (called Christian), from his his first awareness of his sinfulness and spiritual need, to his personal conversion to Christ, to his walk as a believer. He is shown as a pilgrim in this world on his way to the "Celestial City," which will be his true home forever. The work was an immediate sensation, and its popularity endured. For a century and more thereafter, there were many English-speaking Christians who were thoroughly familiar with only two books, The Bible and Pilgrim's Progress. (Those who have read the book or seen the movie Little Women, portraying the life of an American family in the 1860's, will remember that the book was a family favorite.) extracts follow: Pilgrim's Progress In the Similitude of A Dream I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on A certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back. I looked, and saw him open the book, and read therein; and, as he read, he wept, and trembled; and, not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying, What shall I do? this plight, therefore, he went home and refrained himself As long as he could, that his wife and children should not perceive his distress; but he could not be silent long, because that his trouble increased. Wherefore at length he brake his mind to his wife and children; and thus he began to talk to them: O my dear wife, said he, and you the children of my bowels, I, your dear friend, am in my self undone by reason of a burden that lieth hard upon me; moreover, I am for certain informed that this our city will be burned with fire from heaven; in which fearful overthrow, both myself, with thee my wife, and you my sweet babes, shall miserably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see not) some way of escape can be found, whereby we may be delivered. At this his relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed that what he had said to them was true, but because they thought that some frenzy distemper had got into his head; therefore, it drawing towards night, and they hoping that sleep might settle his brains, with all haste they got him to bed. But the night was as troublesome to him as the day; wherefore, instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. So, when the morning was come, they would know how he did. He told them, Worse and worse: he also set to talking to them again; but they began to be hardened. They also sought to drive away his distemper by harsh and surly carriages to him; sometimes they would deride, sometimes they would chide, and sometimes they would quite neglect him. Wherefore he began to retire himself to his chamber, to pray for and pity them, and also to condole his own misery; he would also walk solitarily in the fields, sometimes reading, and sometimes praying: and thus for some days he spent his time. I saw, upon a time, when he was walking in the fields, That he was, as he was wont, reading in his book, and greatly distressed in his mind; and, as he read, he burst out, as he had done before, crying, What shall I do to be saved? saw also that he looked this way and that way, as if he would Run; yet he stood still, because, as I perceived, he could not tell which way to go. I looked then, and saw a man named Evangelist coming to him, who asked, Wherefore dost thou cry? He answered, Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand, at I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment; and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second. said Evangelist, Why not willing to die, since this life Is attended with so many evils? The man answered, Because I fear that this burden that is upon my back will sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into Tophet. And, Sir, if I be not fit to go to prison, I am not fit, I am sure, to go to judgment, and from thence to execution; and the thoughts of these things make me cry. said Evangelist, If this be thy condition, why standest Thou still? He answered, Because I know not whither to go. Then he gave him a parchment roll, and there was written within, Flee from the wrath to come. when he [Christian] was got up to the top of the Hill, There came two men running up against him amain; the name of the one was Timorous, and the name of the other Mistrust. To whom Christian said, "Sirs, what's the matter you run the wrong way?" Timorous answered that they were going to the city of Sion, and had got up that difficult place; "But," said he, "the further we go, the more danger we meet with, wherefore we turned, and are going back again." said Mistrust, 'for just before us lie a couple of Lions in the way, whether sleeping or waking we know not and we could not think, if we came within reach, but they would presently pull us in pieces." said Christian, "You make me afraid, but whither Shall I fly to be safe? If I go back to mine own country, that is prepared for fire and brimstone, and I shall certainly perish there. If I can get to the Celestial City, I am sure to be in safety there. I must venture: to go back is nothing but death, to go forward is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it. I will yet go forward." So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the Hill, and Christian went on his way. I saw in my dream, that these two men [Christian and Hopeful] went in at the Gate; and lo, as these entered they were transfigured, and they had raiment put on that shone like gold. There was also that met them, with harps and crowns, and gave them to them, the harp to praise withal, and the crowns in token of honour. Then I heard in my dream, that all the bells in the City rang again for joy; and that it was said unto them, "Enter Ye Into the Joy of Your Lord." I also heard the men themselves, that they sang with a loud voice, saying, "Blessing, Honour, Glory, and Power, Be To Him That Sitteth Upon the Throne and To the Lamb For Ever and Ever." just as the Gates were opened to let in the men, I Looked in after them; and behold, the City shone like the sun, the streets also were paved with gold, and in them walked many men with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps to sing praises withal. were also of them that had wings, and they answered One another without intermission, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Is The Lord. And after that, they shut up the Gates: which when I had seen, I wished myself among them. died 31 August 1688, and is remembered on the 30th. [August 29th in the Episcopal Church.] by James Kiefer

England, 1649-1651, Charles II, 1660-1685, King, defeated by Cromwell, reinste after C's d, Clarendon Code laws, 2nd Dutch war
England, 1649-1651, 1660-1685, King of England, Charles II ; II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685)[c] was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of Scotland, England and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. After Charles I's execution at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on 5 February 1649. But England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. The political crisis that followed Cromwell's death in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents stating a regnal year did so as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England. Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the Treaty of Dover, an alliance with his cousin King Louis XIV of France. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, and Charles secretly promised to convert to Catholicism at an unspecified future date. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oates's revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, was Catholic. The crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and after the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile. Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685. He was allegedly received into the Catholic Church on his deathbed. considered one of the most popular English kings,[1] Charles is known as the Merry Monarch, a reference to the liveliness and hedonism of his court. He acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses, but left no legitimate children and was succeeded by his brother, James. Palace of Whitehall; JOHN BUNYAN, WRITER, 30 August 1688; JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; Anne Hutchinson of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ; JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1649-1660, King of England, English Interregnum
England, 1649-1660, King of England, English Interregnum Palace of Whitehall; JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; Anne Hutchinson of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ; JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1653-1658, Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, Cromwell's (Parliment's) Army, E Civil War
England, 1653-1658, Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, Cromwell's Army ; Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599-“ 3 September 1658)[note 1] was an English general and statesman who led the Parliament of England's armies against King Charles I during the English Civil War and ruled the British Isles as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. He acted simultaneously as head of state and head of government of the new republican commonwealth. Cromwell was born into the middle gentry to a family descended from the sister of Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell. Little is known of the first 40 years of his life, as only four of his personal letters survive along with a summary of a speech that he delivered in 1628.[2] He became an Independent Puritan after undergoing a religious conversion in the 1630s, taking a generally tolerant view towards the many Protestant sects of his period.[3] He was an intensely religious man, and he fervently believed that God was guiding his victories. He was elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1628 and for Cambridge in the Short (1640) and Long (1640-“1649) Parliaments. He entered the English Civil Wars on the side of the "Roundheads" or Parliamentarians. His nickname was "Old Ironsides". He demonstrated his ability as a commander and was quickly promoted from leading a single cavalry troop to being one of the principal commanders of the New Model Army, playing an important role under General Sir Thomas Fairfax in the defeat of the Royalist ("Cavalier") forces. Cromwell was one of the signatories of King Charles I's death warrant in 1649, and he dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England as a member of the Rump Parliament (1649-“1653). He was selected to take command of the English campaign in Ireland in 1649-“1650. Cromwell's forces defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the country, bringing to an end the Irish Confederate Wars. During this period, a series of Penal Laws were passed against Roman Catholics (a significant minority in England and Scotland but the vast majority in Ireland), and a substantial amount of their land was confiscated. Cromwell also led a campaign against the Scottish army between 1650 and 1651. On 20 April 1653, he dismissed the Rump Parliament by force, setting up a short-lived nominated assembly known as Barebone's Parliament before being invited by his fellow leaders to rule as Lord Protector of England (which included Wales at the time), Scotland, and Ireland from 16 December 1653.[4] As a ruler, he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy. He died from natural causes in 1658 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The Royalists returned to power along with King Charles II in 1660, and they had his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded. Cromwell is one of the most controversial figures in the history of the British Isles, considered a regicidal dictator by historians such as David Sharp,[5] a military dictator by Winston Churchill,[6] and a hero of liberty by John Milton, Thomas Carlyle, and Samuel Rawson Gardiner. His tolerance of Protestant sects did not extend to Catholics; his measures against them in Ireland have been characterised by some as genocidal or near-genocidal,[7] and his record is strongly criticised in Ireland.[8] He was selected as one of the ten greatest Britons of all time in a 2002 BBC poll.[9] JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667); NICHOLAS FERRAR, DEACON, MAN OF PRAYER (1 DEC 1637); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; Anne Hutchinson of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; Roger Williams of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711); JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1656-1674, Thomas Traherne, Progressive Poet, Discovered in 1902
England, 1656-1674, Thomas Traherne, Progressive Poet, Discovered in 1902; THOMAS TRAHERNE, PRIEST AND POET, 27 Sept. 1674;

England, 1659, Christian Commonwealth, Pure Biblical Republic, New England Indians
England, 1659, Christian Commonwealth, Pure Biblical Republic ; JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1660, The Restoration, Charles II Crowned in Westminster Abby
England, 1660, The Restoration, Charles II Crowned in Westminster Abby; JEREMY TAYLOR, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (13 AUGUST 1667);

England, 1660-1685, Charles II, King, restoration
England, 1660-1685, King of England, Charles II of England; Henry Purcell of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL and HENRY PURCELL, COMPOSERS, 1750, 1759, 1695. Commemorated July 28; Roger Williams of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711);

England, 1662, Act of Uniformity 1662 (to Book of Common Prayer)
England, 1662, Act of Uniformity 1662 (to Book of Common Prayer); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; Anne Hutchinson of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5;

England, 1682-1742, Elie Neau, French Huguenot, Anglican, and American Catechist school for slaves and indians in New York
France, 1682-1742, Elie Neau, French Huguenot, Anglican, and American Catechist school for slaves and indians in New York ; ELIE NAUD, (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722; most effective work of the Society [for the Propogation of the Gospel] among Negroes of the Northern colonies was accomplished in New York. that colony, the instruction of the Negro and Indian slaves to prepare them for conversion, baptism, and communion was a primary charge oft repeated to every missionary and schoolmaster of the Society. addition to the general efforts put forth in the colonies, there was in New York a special provision for the employment of sixteen clergymen and thirteen lay teachers mainly for the evangelization of the slaves and the free Indians. the Negro slaves a catechizing school was opened in New York City in 1704 under the charge of Elias Neau. benevolent man, after several years’ imprisonment because of his Protestant faith, had come to New York to try his fortunes as a trader. early as 1703 he called the attention of the Society to the great number, of slaves in New York “who were without God in the world, and of whose souls there was no manner of care taken” and proposed the appointment of a catechist to undertake their instruction. himself finally being prevailed upon to accept this position, obtained a license from the Governor, resigned his position as elder in the French church [Église du Saint Esprit] and conformed to the Established Church of England, “not upon any worldly account but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of the English liturgy.” He was later licensed by the Bishop of London. ’s task was not an easy one. At first he went from house to house, but afterwards arranged for some of the slaves to attend him. succeeded, however, in obtaining gratifying results. He was commended to the Society by Rev. Mr. Vesey in 1706 as a “constant communicant of our church, and a most zealous and prudent servant of Christ, in proselyting the miserable Negroes and Indians among them to the Christian Religion, whereby he does great service to God and his church.” confidence in him was attested by an act of the Society in preparing at his request “a Bill to be offered to Parliament for the more effectual Conversion of the Negro and other Servants in the Plantations, to compell Owners of Slaves to cause children to be baptized within 3 months after their birth and to permit them when come to years of discretion to be instructed in the Christian Religion on our Lord’s day by the Missionaries under whose ministry they live.” ’s school suffered greatly in 1712 because of the prejudice engendered by the declaration that instruction was the main cause of the Negro riot in that city. some days Neau dared not show himself, so bitter was the feeling of the masters. Upon being assured, however, that only one Negro connected with the school had participated in the affair and that the most criminal belonged to the masters who were openly opposed to educating them, the institution was permitted to continue its endeavors, and the Governor extended to it his protection and recommended that masters have their slaves instructed. Neau had still to complain thereafter of the struggle and opposition of the generality of the inhabitants, who were strongly prejudiced with a horrid motive thinking that Christian knowledge “would be a means to make the slave more cunning and apter to wickedness.” so long thereafter, however, the support of the best people and officials of the community made his task easier. Neau could say in 1714 that “if the slaves and domestics in New York were not instructed it was not his fault.” Governor, the Council, Mayor, the Recorder and the Chief Justice informed the Society that Neau had performed his work “to the great advancement of religion in general and the particular benefit of the free Indians, Negro slaves, and other Heathens in those parts, with indefatigable zeal and application.” Elias Neau signature Neau died in 1722. His work was carried on by Mr. Huddlestone, Rev. Mr. Whitmore, Rev. Mr. Colgan, Rev. R. Charlton, and Rev. S. Auchmutty. See also his biography from Holy Women, Holy Men. Elias Neau; Neau (1662 – 7 September 1722), born Élie Neau, in Moëze, Saintonge, was a French Huguenot. the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, he fled first to the French colony of Saint-Domingue, to Boston, where he became a prosperous merchant. 1692, he was captured by a French privateer near Jamaica, and for being a fugitive Protestant, was first sentenced to a life sentence as a galley slave, then imprisoned in Marseille.[1 He was released in 1697, following the intercession of King William III, whose ministers argued that Neau was an English subject.[1] [2] back in North America, Neau's story made him "probably the most famous refugee in British America at the time" because his refusal to gain his freedom by converting to Catholicism attracted "a wide Protestant readership in both French and English."[3][4] 1704, Neau cut his ties with the French Protestant church in New York and converted to Anglicanism. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel then appointed him as minister to black slaves in North America, and he established the first school open to African-Americans in New York City.[5][6] 1706, he secured passage of a bill in New York allowing slaves to be catechized.[7][8] Episcopal Church commemorates him as a "witness to the faith" on September 7.

England, 1685-1688, James II & VIII, King, last catholic monarch
England, 1685-1688, King of England, James II & VIII ; Palace of Whitehall; Henry Purcell of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL and HENRY PURCELL, COMPOSERS, 1750, 1759, 1695. Commemorated July 28; JOHN BUNYAN, WRITER, 30 August 1688; SAMUEL SEABURY, BISHOP (14 NOV 1784), (BESTOWAL OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ; JOHN ELIOT, MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 21 MAY 169;

England, 1687, Declaration of Indulgence, for freedom of religion
England, 1687, Declaration of Indulgence (1687); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ;

England, 1689-1702, William and Mary, King and Queen, William of Orange, Protestant, Glorious Revolution
England, 1689-1702, King of England, William and Mary, King and Queen ; III (William Henry; Dutch: Willem Hendrik; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702),[b] also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II.[1] He is sometimes informally known as "King Billy" in Ireland and Scotland.[2] His victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by unionists, who display orange colours in his honour. Popular histories usually refer to his joint reign with his wife, Queen Mary II, as that of William and Mary. was the only child of William II, Prince of Orange, who died a week before his birth, and Mary, Princess of Orange, the daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In 1677, during the reign of his uncle King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he married his cousin Mary, the fifteen-year-old daughter of his maternal uncle James, Duke of York. A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic King Louis XIV of France, in coalition with both Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith. In 1685, his Catholic uncle and father-in-law, James, became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. James's reign was unpopular with the Protestant majority in Britain, who feared a revival of Catholicism. by a group of influential British political and religious leaders, William invaded England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. In 1688, he landed at the south-western English port of Brixham. Shortly afterwards, James was deposed. reputation as a staunch Protestant enabled him and his wife to take power. During the early years of his reign, William was occupied abroad with the Nine Years' War (1688–97), leaving Mary to govern the kingdom alone. She died in 1694. 1696, the Jacobites plotted unsuccessfully to assassinate William and return his father-in-law to the throne. lack of children and the death in 1700 of his nephew Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, the son of his sister-in-law Anne, threatened the Protestant succession. The danger was averted by placing distant relatives, the Protestant Hanoverians, in line to the throne with the Act of Settlement 1701. his death in 1702, the king was succeeded in Britain by Anne and as titular Prince of Orange by his cousin, John William Friso. Palace of Whitehall; Henry Purcell of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL and HENRY PURCELL, COMPOSERS, 1750, 1759, 1695. Commemorated July 28; SAMUEL SEABURY, BISHOP (14 NOV 1784), (BESTOWAL OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE); RICHARD BAXTER, PASTOR AND WRITER, 1691, Commemorated December 8 ; THOMAS BRAY, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY (15 FEB 1730); THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711) ; George Berkeley of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752) , Commemorated June 16 ; ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, ECUMENIST and JOURNALIST, 1929, Commemorated June 26;

England, 1694-1748, ISAAC WATTS, hymnwriter, theologian, logician, Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington
England, 1694-1748, ISAAC WATTS, hymnwriter, theologian, logician, Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington; Stoke Newington; ISAAC WATTS HYMNWRITER, 1748, Commemorated November 26 ; Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) is recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today and have been translated into many languages. unable to go to either Oxford or Cambridge due to his Non-conformity, went to the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, and much of his life centred around that village, then a rural idyll but now part of Inner London. He held religious opinions that were more non-denominational or ecumenical than was at that time common for a non-conformist, having a greater interest in promoting education and scholarship, than preaching for any particular ministry. music scholar Stephen Marini describes the ways in which Watts contributed to English hymnody. Notably, Watts led the way in the inclusion in worship of "original songs of Christian experience"; that is, new poetry. The older tradition limited itself to the poetry of the Bible, notably the Psalms. This stemmed from the teachings of the 16th century Reformation leader John Calvin, who initiated the practice of creating verse translations of the Psalms in the vernacular for congregational singing. Watts' introduction of extra-Biblical poetry opened up a new era of Protestant hymnody as other poets followed in his path. also introduced a new way of rendering the Psalms in verse for church services. Watts proposed that the metrical translations of the Psalms as sung by Protestant Christians should give them a specifically Christian perspective. being a famous hymn-writer, Isaac Watts was also a renowned theologian and logician, writing many books and essays on these subjects. Watts was the author of a text book on logic which was particularly popular; its full title was, Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences. This was first published in 1724, and its popularity ensured that it went through twenty editions. of Watts' more well-known hymns are: Joy to the world! (arranged by Lowell Mason to an older melody originating from Handel) Come ye that love the Lord (often sung with the chorus [and titled] "We’re marching to Zion") Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove Jesus shall reign where’er the sun O God, Our Help in Ages Past When I survey the wondrous cross Alas! and did my Saviour bleed This is the day the Lord has made more at Wikipedia

England, 1697-1737, Robert Walpole, Longest serving Prime Minister, moderation, peace, lower taxes, exports, Protest tolerance
England, 1697-1737, Robert Walpole, Longest serving Prime Minister, policies sought moderation, he worked for peace, lower taxes and growing exports and allowed a little more tolerance for Protestant Dissenters. He mostly avoided controversy and high-intensity disputes as his middle way attracted moderates from both the Whig and Tory camps ; Houghton, Norfolk (Robert Walpole); Robert Walpole; England, 1712-1752, Saint, Joseph Butler, Butler's Analogy; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16;

England, 1700-Present, Folder 18th - 21st Century, Great Britain

England, 1701-1799, 18th Century Folder, Great Britain, Methodists

England, 1702-1714, Queen Anne, 1st King of Great Britain, 17 pregnancies no h, protestant
England, 1702-1714, King of Great Britain, Queen Anne ; George Frederick Handel of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL and HENRY PURCELL, COMPOSERS, 1750, 1759, 1695. Commemorated July 28; Timothy Cutler of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; ELIE NAUD (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722 ; ISAAC WATTS, HYMNWRITER, 1748, Commemorated November 26; THOMAS BRAY, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY (15 FEB 1730); THOMAS KEN, BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711); WILLIAM LAW, WRITER, PRIEST, AND NON-JUROR (09 APR 1761); George Berkeley of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752) , Commemorated June 16 ; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16 ;

England, 1705-1753, Saint, George Berkeley (to be is to be perceived)
England, 1705-1753, Saint, George Berkeley (to be is to be perceived); George Berkeley of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752) ;

England, 1703-1737, Caroline of Ansbach, Queen to George II, Protector of the Realm
Leicester House Square, home of Caroline and George II; Caroline of Ansbach. Queen to George II; of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline; 1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737[1]) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George II. father, Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, belonged to a branch of the House of Hohenzollern and was the ruler of a small German state, the Principality of Ansbach. Caroline was orphaned at a young age and moved to the enlightened court of her guardians, King Frederick I and Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. At the Prussian court, her previously limited education was widened, and she adopted the liberal outlook possessed by Sophia Charlotte, who became her good friend and whose views influenced Caroline all her life. a young woman, Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. After rejecting the suit of the nominal King of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria, she married George Augustus, the third-in-line to the British throne and heir apparent to the Electorate of Hanover. They had eight children, seven of whom grew to adulthood. moved permanently to Britain in 1714 when her husband became Prince of Wales. As Princess of Wales, she joined her husband in rallying political opposition to his father King George I. In 1717, her husband was expelled from court after a family row. Caroline came to be associated with Robert Walpole, an opposition politician who was a former government minister. Walpole rejoined the government in 1720, and Caroline's husband and King George I reconciled publicly, on Walpole's advice. Over the next few years, Walpole rose to become the leading minister. became queen and electress consort upon her husband's accession in 1727. Her eldest son, Frederick, became Prince of Wales. He was a focus for the opposition, like his father before him, and Caroline's relationship with him was strained. princess and as queen, Caroline was known for her political influence, which she exercised through and for Walpole. Her tenure included four regencies during her husband's stays in Hanover, and she is credited with strengthening the House of Hanover's place in Britain during a period of political instability. Caroline was widely mourned by her political allies following her death in 1737, as well as by the King, who refused to remarry. 1 Early life 1.1 Education 2 Marriage 3 Princess of Wales 4 Queen and regent 5 Final years 6 Legacy 7 Titles, styles, honours and arms 7.1 Titles and styles 7.2 Honours 7.3 Arms 8 Issue 9 Ancestry 10 Notes 11 Sources 12 Further reading 13 External links life[edit] in the 17th century Caroline was born on 1 March 1683 at Ansbach, the daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach.[2][3] Her father was the ruler of one of the smallest German states; he died of smallpox at the age of 32, when Caroline was three years old. Caroline and her only full sibling, her younger brother Margrave William Frederick, left Ansbach with their mother, who returned to her native Eisenach.[4] In 1692, Caroline's widowed mother was pushed into an unhappy marriage with the Elector of Saxony, and she and her two children moved to the Saxon court at Dresden. Eleonore Erdmuthe was widowed again two years later, after her unfaithful husband contracted smallpox from his mistress.[5] Eleonore remained in Saxony for another two years, until her death in 1696.[3][6] The orphaned Caroline and William Frederick returned to Ansbach to stay with their elder half-brother, Margrave George Frederick II. George Frederick was a youth with little interest in parenting a girl, and so Caroline soon moved to Lützenburg outside Berlin, where she entered into the care of her new guardians, Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte, who had been a friend of Eleonore Erdmuthe.[7] and Sophia Charlotte became king and queen of Prussia in 1701. The queen was the daughter of Dowager Electress Sophia of Hanover, and the sister of George, Elector of Hanover. She was renowned for her intelligence and strong character, and her uncensored and liberal court attracted a great many scholars, including philosopher Gottfried Leibniz.[8] Caroline was exposed to a lively intellectual environment quite different from anything she had experienced previously. Before she began her education under Sophia Charlotte's care, Caroline had received little formal education; her handwriting remained poor throughout her life.[3][9] With her lively mind, Caroline developed into a scholar of considerable ability.[8] She and Sophia Charlotte developed a strong relationship in which Caroline was treated as a surrogate daughter;[10] the queen once declared Berlin was "a desert" without Caroline whenever she left temporarily for Ansbach.[3][9] of the royal couple and their seven children who survived infancy intelligent and attractive woman, Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. Dowager Electress Sophia called her "the most agreeable Princess in Germany".[11] She was considered for the hand of Archduke Charles of Austria, who was a candidate for the throne of Spain and later became Holy Roman Emperor. Charles made official overtures to her in 1703, and the match was encouraged by King Frederick of Prussia. After some consideration, Caroline refused in 1704, as she would not convert from Lutheranism to Catholicism.[3][12] Early in the following year, Queen Sophia Charlotte died on a visit to her native Hanover.[13] Caroline was devastated, writing to Leibniz, "The calamity has overwhelmed me with grief and sickness, and it is only the hope that I may soon follow her that consoles me."[13] June 1705, Queen Sophia Charlotte's nephew, Prince George Augustus of Hanover, visited the Ansbach court, supposedly incognito, to inspect Caroline, as his father the Elector did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he himself had.[14] The nephew of three childless uncles, George Augustus was under pressure to marry and father an heir to prevent endangering the Hanoverian succession.[15] He had heard reports of Caroline's "incomparable beauty and mental attributes".[16] He immediately took a liking to her "good character" and the British envoy reported that George Augustus "would not think of anybody else after her".[3][17] For her part, Caroline was not fooled by the prince's disguise, and found her suitor attractive.[18] He was the heir apparent of his father's Electorate of Hanover and third-in-line to the British throne of his distant cousin Queen Anne, after his grandmother Dowager Electress Sophia and his father the Elector.[18] 22 August 1705, Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding to George Augustus; they were married that evening in the palace chapel at Herrenhausen.[2][3][19] By May of the following year, Caroline was pregnant, and her first child Prince Frederick was born on 20 January 1707.[20] A few months after the birth, in July, Caroline fell seriously ill with smallpox followed by pneumonia. Her baby was kept away from her, but George Augustus remained at her side devotedly, and caught and survived the infection himself.[21] Over the next seven years, Caroline had three more children, Anne, Amelia, and Caroline, all of whom were born in Hanover.[22] Howard, Countess of Suffolk (pictured) was one of Caroline's Women of the Bedchamber in addition to being one of Caroline's husband's mistresses. Augustus and Caroline had a successful and loving marriage, though he continued to keep mistresses, as was customary for the time.[23] Caroline was well aware of his infidelities, as they were well known and he told her about them. His two best-known mistresses were Henrietta Howard, later Countess of Suffolk, and, from 1735, Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth. Howard was one of Caroline's Women of the Bedchamber and became Mistress of the Robes when her husband inherited a peerage in 1731; she retired in 1734.[24] In contrast with her mother-in-law and husband, Caroline was known for her marital fidelity; she never made any embarrassing scenes nor did she take lovers.[23] She preferred her husband's mistresses to be ladies-in-waiting, as that way she believed she could keep a closer eye on them.[25] succession of her husband's family to the British throne was still insecure, as Queen Anne's half-brother James Stuart contested the Hanoverian claim, and Queen Anne and Caroline's grandmother-in-law Dowager Electress Sophia had fallen out. refused permission for any of the Hanoverians to visit Britain in her lifetime.[26] Caroline wrote to Leibniz, "I accept the comparison which you draw, though all too flattering, between me and Queen Elizabeth as a good omen. Like Elizabeth, the Electress's rights are denied her by a jealous sister [Queen Anne], and she will never be sure of the English crown until her accession to the throne."[27] June 1714, Dowager Electress Sophia died in Caroline's arms at the age of 83, and Caroline's father-in-law became heir presumptive to Queen Anne. Just weeks later, Anne died and the Elector of Hanover was proclaimed as her successor, becoming George I of Great Britain.[28] of Wales[edit] Princess of Wales, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1716 Augustus sailed to England in September 1714, and Caroline and two of her daughters followed in October.[29] Her journey across the North Sea from The Hague to Margate was the only sea voyage she took in her life.[30] Their young son, Prince Frederick, remained in Hanover for the rest of George I's reign to be brought up by private tutors.[22] the accession of George I in 1714, Caroline's husband automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay. Shortly afterwards, he was invested as Prince of Wales, whereupon she became Princess of Wales. was the first woman to receive the title at the same time as her husband received his.[18] She was the first Princess of Wales in over two hundred years, the last one being Catherine of Aragon. As George I had repudiated his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle in 1694 prior to his becoming King of Great Britain, there was no queen consort, and Caroline was the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom.[22] Augustus and Caroline made a concerted effort to "anglicise" by acquiring knowledge of England's language, people, politics and customs.[31] Two separate courts developed with strong contrasts; the old king's had German courtiers and government ministers, while the Wales's court attracted English nobles out of favour with the King, and was considerably more popular with the British people. George Augustus and Caroline gradually became centres of the political opposition to the King.[32] years after their arrival in England, Caroline suffered a stillbirth, which her friend the Countess of Buckeburg blamed on the incompetence of English doctors,[33] but the following year she had another son, Prince George William in November. the baptism, her husband fell out with his father over the choice of godparents, leading to the couple's placement under house arrest at St. James's Palace prior to their banishment from court.[34] was originally allowed to stay with their children, but refused as she believed her place was with her husband.[35] She and her husband moved into Leicester House, while their children remained in the care of the King.[36] Caroline fell sick with worry, and fainted during a secret visit to her children made without the King's approval.[37] By January, the King had relented and allowed Caroline unrestricted access. February, Prince George William fell ill, and the King allowed both George Augustus and Caroline to see him at Kensington Palace without any conditions. When the baby died, a post-mortem was conducted to prove that the cause of death was disease (a polyp on the heart) rather than the separation from his mother.[38] tragedy occurred in 1718, when she miscarried at Richmond Lodge, her country residence,[39] after being startled by a violent storm.[40] Over the next few years, Caroline had three more children: William, Mary and Louise.[41] In July 1725, her 11th and final pregnancy ended in a second miscarriage.[42] House became a frequent meeting place for the ministry's political opponents. Caroline struck up a friendship with politician Sir Robert Walpole, a former minister in the Whig government who led a disgruntled faction of the party. In April 1720, Walpole's wing of the Whig party reconciled with the governing wing, and Walpole and Caroline helped to effect a reconciliation between the King and her husband for the sake of public unity.[3][43] Caroline wanted to regain her three eldest daughters, who remained in the care of the King, and thought the reconciliation would lead to their return, but negotiations came to nothing. George Augustus came to believe that Walpole had tricked him into the reconciliation as part of a scheme to gain power. The prince was isolated politically when Walpole's Whigs joined the government,[44] and Leicester House played host to literary figures and wits, such as John Arbuthnot and Jonathan Swift, rather than politicians.[45] Arbuthnot told Swift that Caroline had enjoyed his Gulliver's Travels, particularly the tale of the crown prince who wore one high-heel and one low-heel in a country where the King and his party wore low heels, and the opposition wore high ones: a barely veiled reference to the political leanings of the Prince of Wales.[46] intellect far outstripped her husband's, and she read avidly. She established an extensive library at St. James's Palace. As a young woman, she corresponded with Gottfried Leibniz, the intellectual colossus who was courtier and factotum to the House of Hanover. She later facilitated the Leibniz-Clarke correspondence, arguably the most important philosophy of physics discussion of the 18th century. She helped to popularise the practice of variolation (an early type of immunisation), which had been witnessed by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Charles Maitland in Constantinople. At the direction of Caroline, six condemned prisoners were offered the chance to undergo variolation instead of execution: they all survived, as did six orphan children given the same treatment as a further test. Convinced of its medical value, Caroline had her children Amelia, Caroline and Frederick inoculated against smallpox in the same manner.[47] In praising her support for smallpox inoculation, Voltaire wrote of her, "I must say that despite all her titles and crowns, this princess was born to encourage the arts and the well-being of mankind; even on the throne she is a benevolent philosopher; and she has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity."[48] and regent[edit] Coronation medal of Queen Caroline in 1727 by J. Croker by Jacopo Amigoni, 1735 became queen consort on the death of her father-in-law in 1727, and she was crowned alongside her husband at Westminster Abbey on 11 October that year.[49] She was the first queen consort to be crowned since Anne of Denmark in 1603.[50] George II denounced Walpole as a "rogue and rascal" over the terms of the reconciliation with his father, Caroline advised her husband to retain Walpole as the leading minister.[3] commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George II had little choice but to accept him or risk ministerial instability.[51] secured a civil list payment of £100,000 a year for Caroline, and she was given both Somerset House and Richmond Lodge.[52] Lord Hervey called Walpole "the Queen's minister" in recognition of their close relationship.[3] the next ten years, Caroline had immense influence. She persuaded the King to adopt policies at the behest of Walpole, and persuaded Walpole against taking inflammatory actions. had absorbed the liberal opinions of her mentor, Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia, and supported clemency for the Jacobites (supporters of the rival Stuart claim to the throne), freedom of the press, and freedom of speech in Parliament.[53] the next few years, she and her husband fought a constant battle against their eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who had been left behind in Germany when they came to England. He joined the family in 1728, by which time he was an adult, had mistresses and debts, and was fond of gambling and practical jokes. He opposed his father's political beliefs, and complained of his lack of influence in government.[3][54] Regency Act 1728 made Caroline rather than Frederick regent when her husband was in Hanover for five months from May 1729. During her regency, a diplomatic incident with Portugal (where a British ship had been seized on the Tagus) was defused, and the negotiation of the Treaty of Seville between Britain and Spain was concluded.[54][55] May 1732, she was regent for four months while George II was again away in Hanover. An investigation into the penal system uncovered widespread abuses, including cruel treatment and conspiracy in the escape of wealthy convicts. Caroline pressed Walpole for reform, largely unsuccessfully.[56] In March 1733, Walpole introduced an unpopular Excise Bill to parliament, which the Queen supported, but it gathered such strong opposition that it was eventually dropped.[57] entire life in Britain was spent in the South-East of England in or around London.[58] As queen, she continued to surround herself with artists, writers and intellectuals. She collected jewellery, especially cameos and intaglios, acquired important portraits and miniatures, and enjoyed the visual arts. She commissioned works such as terracotta busts of the kings and queens of England from Michael Rysbrack,[59] and supervised a more naturalistic design of the royal gardens by William Kent and Charles Bridgeman.[60] In 1728, she rediscovered sets of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci and Hans Holbein that had been hidden in a drawer since the reign of William III.[61] eldest daughter Anne married William IV of Orange in 1734, and moved with her husband to the Netherlands. Caroline wrote to her daughter of her "indescribable" sadness at the parting.[62] Anne soon felt homesick, and travelled back to England when her husband went on campaign. Eventually, her husband and father commanded her to return to Holland.[63] years[edit] by Joseph Highmore, 1735 mid-1735, Frederick, Prince of Wales, was further dismayed when Caroline, rather than himself, again acted as regent while the King was absent in Hanover.[64] King and Queen arranged Frederick's marriage, in 1736, to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Shortly after the wedding, George went to Hanover, and Caroline resumed her role as "Protector of the Realm". As regent, Caroline considered the reprieve of Captain John Porteous, who had been convicted of murder in Edinburgh. Before she could act, a mob stormed the jail where he was held and killed him. Caroline was appalled.[65] King's absences abroad were leading to unpopularity, and in late 1736 he made plans to return, but his ship was caught in poor weather, and it was rumoured that he had been lost at sea. Caroline was devastated, and disgusted by the insensitivity of her son, who hosted a grand dinner while the gale was blowing.[66] her regency, the Prince of Wales attempted to start a number of quarrels with his mother, whom he saw as a useful proxy to irritate the King.[3] George eventually returned in January 1737.[67] Frederick applied to Parliament unsuccessfully for an increased financial allowance that had hitherto been denied him by the King, and public disagreement over the money drove a further wedge between parents and son. the advice of Walpole, Frederick's allowance was raised in an attempt to mitigate further conflict, but by less than he had asked.[68] June 1737, Frederick informed his parents that Augusta was pregnant, and due to give birth in October. In fact, Augusta's due date was earlier and a peculiar episode followed in July in which the prince, on discovering that his wife had gone into labour, sneaked her out of Hampton Court Palace in the middle of the night, to ensure that the King and Queen could not be present at the birth.[69] and Caroline were horrified. Traditionally, royal births were witnessed by members of the family and senior courtiers to guard against supposititious children, and Augusta had been forced by her husband to ride in a rattling carriage for an hour and a half while heavily pregnant and in pain. a party including two of her daughters and Lord Hervey, the Queen raced over to St. James's Palace, where Frederick had taken Augusta.[70] Caroline was relieved to discover that Augusta had given birth to a "poor, ugly little she-mouse" rather than a "large, fat, healthy boy" as the pitiful nature of the baby made a supposititious child unlikely.[71] circumstances of the birth deepened the estrangement between mother and son.[71] According to Lord Hervey, she once remarked after seeing Frederick, "Look, there he goes—that wretch!—that villain!—I wish the ground would open this moment and sink the monster to the lowest hole in hell!"[3][72] the final years of her life, Caroline was troubled by gout in her feet,[73] but more seriously she had suffered an umbilical hernia at the birth of her final child in 1724.[74] On 9 November 1737, she felt an intense pain and, after struggling through a formal reception, took to her bed. Part of her small intestine had poked through the hernia opening.[75] Over the next few days she was bled, purged, and operated on, without anaesthetic, but there was no improvement in her condition.[76] King refused Frederick permission to see his mother,[77] a decision with which she complied; she sent her son a message of forgiveness through She asked her husband to remarry after her death, which he rejected saying he would take only mistresses; she replied "Ah, mon Dieu, cela n'empêche pas" ("My God, that doesn't prevent it").[79] 17 November, her strangulated bowel burst.[80][81] She died on 20 November 1737 at St. James's Palace.[2] was buried in Westminster Abbey on 17 December.[82] Frederick was not invited to the funeral. George Frideric Handel composed an anthem for the occasion, The Ways of Zion Do Mourn / Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. The King arranged for a pair of matching coffins with removable sides, so that when he followed her to the grave (23 years later), they could lie together again.[83] to Caroline on the bank of the Serpentine, a picturesque lake in London created at her request was widely mourned. The Protestants lauded her moral example, and even the Jacobites acknowledged her compassion, and her intervention on the side of mercy for their compatriots.[84] During her lifetime her refusal to convert when offered the hand of Archduke Charles was used to portray her as a strong adherent to Protestantism.[3] For example, John Gay wrote of Caroline in A Letter to A Lady (1714): The pomp of titles easy faith might shake, She scorn'd an empire for religion's sake: For this, on earth, the British crown is giv'n, And an immortal crown decreed in heav'n. She was widely seen by both the public and the court as having great influence over her husband.[85] A satirical verse of the period went:[86] You may strut, dapper George, but 'twill all be in vain, We all know 'tis Queen Caroline, not you, that reign – You govern no more than Don Philip of Spain. Then if you would have us fall down and adore you, Lock up your fat spouse, as your dad did before you. memoirs of the 18th century, particularly those of John, Lord Hervey, fed perceptions that Caroline and Walpole governed her husband. Peter Quennell wrote that Hervey was the "chronicler of this remarkable coalition" and that she was Hervey's "heroine".[87] Using such sources, biographers of the 19th and 20th centuries credit her with aiding the establishment of the House of Hanover in Britain, in the face of Jacobite opposition. R. L. Arkell wrote "by her acumen and geniality, [Caroline] ensured the dynasty's rooting itself in England", and William Henry Wilkins said her "gracious and dignified personality, her lofty ideals and pure life did much to counteract the unpopularity of her husband and father-in-law, and redeem the early Georgian era from utter grossness."[88] Although modern historians tend to believe that Hervey, Wilkins and Arkell have overestimated her importance, it is nevertheless probable that Caroline of Ansbach was one of the most influential consorts in British history.[3] JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOP and THEOLOGIAN (1752) , Commemorated June 16;

England, 1705-1753, GEORGE BERKELEY. B of Cloyne, Ireland, Theologian, Immaterialism, must be percieved, only spirits & ideas
Ireland, 1705-1753, GEORGE BERKELEY. Bishop of Cloyne, Cork, Southern Ireland, Theologian, Immaterialism, must be percieved Berkeley (/ˈbɑːrkli/;[5][6] 12 March 1685 – 14 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism" (later referred to as "subjective idealism" by others). theory denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that familiar objects like tables and chairs are ideas perceived by the mind and, as a result, cannot exist without being perceived. is also known for his critique of abstraction, an important premise in his argument for immaterialism.[7] 1709, Berkeley published his first major work, An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, in which he discussed the limitations of human vision and advanced the theory that the proper objects of sight are not material objects, but light and colour.[8] foreshadowed his chief philosophical work, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, in 1710, which, after its poor reception, he rewrote in dialogue form and published under the title Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous in 1713.[9] this book, Berkeley's views were represented by Philonous (Greek: "lover of mind"), while Hylas ("hyle", Greek: "matter") embodies the Irish thinker's opponents, in particular John Locke. argued against Isaac Newton's doctrine of absolute space, time and motion in De Motu[10] (On Motion), published 1721. arguments were a precursor to the views of Mach and Einstein.[11][12] 1732, he published Alciphron, a Christian apologetic against the free-thinkers, in 1734, he published The Analyst, a critique of the foundations of calculus, which was influential in the development of mathematics.[13] in Berkeley's work increased after World War II because he tackled many of the issues of paramount interest to philosophy in the 20th century, such as the problems of perception, the difference between primary and secondary qualities, and the importance of language.[14] section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) was born at his family home, Dysart Castle, near Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland, the eldest son of William Berkeley, a cadet of the noble family of Berkeley whose ancestry can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period and who had served as feudal lords and landowners in Gloucester, England. Little is known of his mother. was educated at Kilkenny College and attended Trinity College Dublin, where he was elected a Scholar in 1702, being awarded BA in 1704 and MA and a Fellowship in 1707. He remained at Trinity College after completion of his degree as a tutor and Greek lecturer. earliest publication was on mathematics, but the first that brought him notice was his An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, first published in 1709. the essay, Berkeley examines visual distance, magnitude, position and problems of sight and touch. While this work raised much controversy at the time, its conclusions are now accepted as an established part of the theory of optics. next publication to appear was the Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge in 1710, had great success and gave him a lasting reputation, though few accepted his theory that nothing exists outside the mind. This was followed in 1713 by Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, in which he propounded his system of philosophy, the leading principle of which is that the world, as represented by our senses, depends for its existence on being perceived. this theory, the Principles gives the exposition and the Dialogues the defence. of his main objectives was to combat the prevailing materialism of his time. theory was largely received with ridicule, while even those such as Samuel Clarke and William Whiston, who did acknowledge his "extraordinary genius," were nevertheless convinced that his first principles were false. and Europe afterwards, Berkeley visited England and was received into the circle of Addison, Pope and Steele. the period between 1714 and 1720, he interspersed his academic endeavours with periods of extensive travel in Europe, including one of the most extensive Grand Tours of the length and breadth of Italy ever undertaken.[15] 1721, he took Holy Orders in the Church of Ireland, earning his doctorate in divinity, and once again chose to remain at Trinity College Dublin, lecturing this time in Divinity and in Hebrew. In 1721/2 he was made Dean of Dromore and, in 1724, Dean of Derry. 1723, following her violent quarrel with Jonathan Swift, who had been her intimate friend for many years, Esther Vanhomrigh (for whom Swift had created the nickname "Vanessa") named Berkeley her co-heir along with the barrister Robert Marshall; her choice of legatees caused a good deal of surprise since she did not know either of them well, although Berkeley as a very young man had known her father. said generously that he did not grudge Berkeley his inheritance, much of which vanished in a lawsuit in any event. story that Berkeley and Marshall disregarded a condition of the inheritance that they must publish the correspondence between Swift and Vanessa is probably untrue. 1725, he began the project of founding a college in Bermuda for training ministers and missionaries in the colony, in pursuit of which he gave up his deanery with its income of £1100. and America A group portrait of Berkeley and his entourage by John Smibert 1728, he married Anne Forster, daughter of John Forster, Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, and his first wife Rebecca Monck. then went to America on a salary of £100 per annum. He landed near Newport, Rhode Island, where he bought a plantation at Middletown – the famous "Whitehall". purchased several enslaved Africans to work on the plantation.[16][17] It has been claimed that "he introduced Palladianism into America by borrowing a design from [William] Kent's Designs of Inigo Jones for the door-case of his house in Rhode Island, Whitehall."[18] also brought to New England John Smibert, the Scottish artist he "discovered" in Italy, who is generally regarded as the founding father of American portrait painting.[19] he drew up plans for the ideal city he planned to build on Bermuda.[20] lived at the plantation while he waited for funds for his college to arrive. The funds, however, were not forthcoming. the withdrawal from London of his own persuasive energies, opposition gathered force; and the Prime Minister, Walpole grew steadily more sceptical and lukewarm. At last it became clear that the essential Parliamentary grant would be not forthcoming"[21] in 1732 he left America and returned to London. and Anne had four children who survived infancy: Henry, George, William and Julia, and at least two other children who died in infancy. William's death in 1751 was a great cause of grief to his father. in Ireland was nominated to be the Bishop of Cloyne in the Church of Ireland on 18 January 1734. He was consecrated as such on 19 May 1734. He was the Bishop of Cloyne until his death on 14 January 1753, although he died at Oxford (see below). work living in London's Saville Street, he took part in efforts to create a home for the city's abandoned children. The Foundling Hospital was founded by Royal Charter in 1739, and Berkeley is listed as one of its original governors. works last two publications were Siris: A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries Concerning the Virtues of Tarwater, And divers other Subjects connected together and arising one from another (1744) and Further Thoughts on Tar-water (1752). Pine tar is an effective antiseptic and disinfectant when applied to cuts on the skin, but Berkeley argued for the use of pine tar as a broad panacea for diseases. His 1744 work on tar-water sold more copies than any of his other books during Berkeley's lifetime.[22] remained at Cloyne until 1752, when he retired. With his wife and daughter Julia he went to Oxford to live with his son George and supervise his education.[23] died soon afterward and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. affectionate disposition and genial manners made him much loved and held in warm regard by many of his contemporaries. Anne outlived her husband by many years, and died in 1786.[24] to philosophy Main article: Subjective idealism to Berkeley there are only two kinds of things: spirits and ideas. Spirits are simple, active beings which produce and perceive ideas; ideas are passive beings which are produced and perceived.[25] use of the concepts of "spirit" and "idea" is central in Berkeley's philosophy. As used by him, these concepts are difficult to translate into modern terminology. His concept of "spirit" is close to the concept of "conscious subject" or of "mind", and the concept of "idea" is close to the concept of "sensation" or "state of mind" or "conscious experience". Berkeley denied the existence of matter as a metaphysical substance, but did not deny the existence of physical objects such as apples or mountains ("I do not argue against the existence of any one thing that we can apprehend, either by sense or reflection. That the things I see with mine eyes and touch with my hands do exist, really exist, I make not the least question. The only thing whose existence we deny, is that which philosophers call matter or corporeal substance. And in doing of this, there is no damage done to the rest of mankind, who, I dare say, will never miss it.", Principles #35). This basic claim of Berkeley's thought, his "idealism", is sometimes and somewhat derisively called "immaterialism" or, occasionally, subjective idealism. In Principles #3, he wrote, using a combination of Latin and English, esse is percipi (to be is to be perceived), most often if slightly inaccurately attributed to Berkeley as the pure Latin phrase esse est percipi.[26] The phrase appears associated with him in authoritative philosophical sources, e.g., "Berkeley holds that there are no such mind-independent things, that, in the famous phrase, esse est percipi (aut percipere)—to be is to be perceived (or to perceive)."[22] Hence, human knowledge is reduced to two elements: that of spirits and of ideas (Principles #86). In contrast to ideas, a spirit cannot be perceived. A person's spirit, which perceives ideas, is to be comprehended intuitively by inward feeling or reflection (Principles #89). For Berkeley, we have no direct 'idea' of spirits, albeit we have good reason to believe in the existence of other spirits, for their existence explains the purposeful regularities we find in experience[27] ("It is plain that we cannot know the existence of other spirits otherwise than by their operations, or the ideas by them excited in us", Dialogues #145). This is the solution that Berkeley offers to the problem of other minds. Finally, the order and purposefulness of the whole of our experience of the world and especially of nature overwhelms us into believing in the existence of an extremely powerful and intelligent spirit that causes that order. According to Berkeley, reflection on the attributes of that external spirit leads us to identify it with God. Thus a material thing such as an apple consists of a collection of ideas (shape, color, taste, physical properties, etc.) which are caused in the spirits of humans by the spirit of God. Theology A convinced adherent of Christianity, Berkeley believed God to be present as an immediate cause of all our experiences. He did not evade the question of the external source of the diversity of the sense data at the disposal of the human individual. He strove simply to show that the causes of sensations could not be things, because what we called things, and considered without grounds to be something different from our sensations, were built up wholly from sensations. There must consequently be some other external source of the inexhaustible diversity of sensations. The source of our sensations, Berkeley concluded, could only be God; He gave them to man, who had to see in them signs and symbols that carried God's word.[28] Here is Berkeley's proof of the existence of God: Whatever power I may have over my own thoughts, I find the ideas actually perceived by Sense have not a like dependence on my will. When in broad daylight I open my eyes, it is not in my power to choose whether I shall see or no, or to determine what particular objects shall present themselves to my view; and so likewise as to the hearing and other senses; the ideas imprinted on them are not creatures of my will. There is therefore some other Will or Spirit that produces them. (Berkeley. Principles #29) As T. I. Oizerman explained: Berkeley's mystic idealism (as Kant aptly christened it) claimed that nothing separated man and God (except materialist misconceptions, of course), since nature or matter did not exist as a reality independent of consciousness. The revelation of God was directly accessible to man, according to this doctrine; it was the sense-perceived world, the world of man's sensations, which came to him from on high for him to decipher and so grasp the divine purpose.[28] Berkeley believed that God is not the distant engineer of Newtonian machinery that in the fullness of time led to the growth of a tree in the university quadrangle. Rather, the perception of the tree is an idea that God's mind has produced in the mind, and the tree continues to exist in the quadrangle when "nobody" is there, simply because God is an infinite mind that perceives all. The philosophy of David Hume concerning causality and objectivity is an elaboration of another aspect of Berkeley's philosophy. A.A. Luce, the most eminent Berkeley scholar of the 20th century, constantly stressed the continuity of Berkeley's philosophy. The fact that Berkeley returned to his major works throughout his life, issuing revised editions with only minor changes, also counts against any theory that attributes to him a significant volte-face.[citation needed] arguments See also: Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous Locke (Berkeley's intellectual predecessor) states that we define an object by its primary and secondary qualities. He takes heat as an example of a secondary quality. If you put one hand in a bucket of cold water, and the other hand in a bucket of warm water, then put both hands in a bucket of lukewarm water, one of your hands is going to tell you that the water is cold and the other that the water is hot. Locke says that since two different objects (both your hands) perceive the water to be hot and cold, then the heat is not a quality of the water. Locke used this argument to distinguish primary from secondary qualities, Berkeley extends it to cover primary qualities in the same way. For example, he says that size is not a quality of an object because the size of the object depends on the distance between the observer and the object, or the size of the observer. Since an object is a different size to different observers, then size is not a quality of the object. Berkeley rejects shape with a similar argument and then asks: if neither primary qualities nor secondary qualities are of the object, then how can we say that there is anything more than the qualities we observe?[clarification needed] is the idea that there is no objective, universal truth; it is a state of dependence in which the existence of one independent object is solely dependent on that of another. According to Locke, characteristics of primary qualities are mind-independent, such as shape, size, etc., whereas secondary qualities are mind-dependent, for example, taste and color. George Berkeley refuted John Locke's belief on primary and secondary qualities because Berkeley believed that "we cannot abstract the primary qualities (e.g shape) from secondary ones (e.g color)".[29] Berkeley argued that perception is dependent on the distance between the observer and the object, and "thus, we cannot conceive of mechanist material bodies which are extended but not (in themselves) colored".[29] What perceived can be the same type of quality, but completely opposite from each other because of different positions and perceptions, what we perceive can be different even when the same types of things consist of contrary qualities. Secondary qualities aid in people's conception of primary qualities in an object, like how the color of an object leads people to recognize the object itself. More specifically, the color red can be perceived in apples, strawberries, and tomatoes, yet we would not know what these might look like without its color. We would also be unaware of what the color red looked like if red paint, or any object that has a perceived red color, failed to exist. From this, we can see that colors cannot exist on their own and can solely represent a group of perceived objects. Therefore, both primary and secondary qualities are mind-dependent: they cannot exist without our minds. Berkeley was a philosopher who was against rationalism and "classical" empiricism. He was a "subjective idealist" or "empirical idealist", who believed that reality is constructed entirely of immaterial, conscious minds and their ideas; everything that exists is somehow dependent on the subject perceiving it, except the subject themselves. He refuted the existence of abstract objects that many other philosophers believed to exist, notably Plato. According to Berkeley, "an abstract object does not exist in space or time and which is therefore entirely non-physical and non-mental";[30] however, this argument contradicts with his relativity argument. If "esse est percipi",[31] (Latin meaning that to exist is to be perceived) is true, then the objects in the relativity argument made by Berkeley can either exist or not. Berkeley believed that only the minds' perceptions and the Spirit that perceives are what exists in reality; what people perceive every day is only the idea of an object's existence, but the objects themselves are not perceived. Berkeley also discussed how, at times, materials cannot be perceived by oneself, and the mind of oneself cannot understand the objects. However, there also exists an "omnipresent, eternal mind"[32] that Berkeley believed to consist of God and the Spirit, both omniscient and all-perceiving. According to Berkeley, God is the entity who controls everything, yet Berkeley also argued that "abstract object[s] do not exist in space or time".[30] In other words, as Warnock argues, Berkeley "had recognized that he could not square with his own talk of spirits, of our minds and of God; for these are perceivers and not among objects of perception. Thus he says, rather weakly and without elucidation, that in addition to our ideas we also have notions—we know what it means to speak of spirits and their operations."[33] the relativity argument violates the idea of immaterialism. Berkeley's immaterialism argues that "esse est percipi (aut percipere)",[34] which in English is to be is to be perceived (or to perceive). That is saying only what perceived or perceives is real, and without our perception or God's nothing can be real. Yet, if the relativity argument, also by Berkeley, argues that the perception of an object depends on the different positions, then this means that what perceived can either be real or not because the perception does not show that whole picture and the whole picture cannot be perceived. Berkeley also believes that "when one perceives mediately, one perceives one idea by means of perceiving another".[35] By this, it can be elaborated that if the standards of what perceived at first are different, what perceived after that can be different, as well. In the heat perception described above, one hand perceived the water to be hot and the other hand perceived the water to be cold due to relativity. If applying the idea "to be is to be perceived", the water should be both cold and hot because both perceptions are perceived by different hands. However, the water cannot be cold and hot at the same time for it self-contradicts, so this shows that what perceived is not always true because it sometimes can break the law of noncontradiction. In this case, "it would be arbitrary anthropocentrism to claim that humans have special access to the true qualities of objects".[4] The truth for different people can be different, and humans are limited to accessing the absolute truth due to relativity. Summing up, nothing can be absolutely true due to relativity or the two arguments, to be is to be perceived and the relativity argument, do not always work together. theory of vision his Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, Berkeley frequently criticised the views of the Optic Writers, a title that seems to include Molyneux, Wallis, Malebranche and Descartes.[36] sections 1–51, Berkeley argued against the classical scholars of optics by holding that: spatial depth, as the distance that separates the perceiver from the perceived object is itself invisible. is, we do not see space directly or deduce its form logically using the laws of optics. Space for Berkeley is no more than a contingent expectation that visual and tactile sensations will follow one another in regular sequences that we come to expect through habit. goes on to argue that visual cues, such as the perceived extension or 'confusion' of an object, can only be used to indirectly judge distance, because the viewer learns to associate visual cues with tactile sensations. gives the following analogy regarding indirect distance perception: one perceives distance indirectly just as one perceives a person's embarrassment indirectly. When looking at an embarrassed person, we infer indirectly that the person is embarrassed by observing the red color on the person's face. We know through experience that a red face tends to signal embarrassment, as we've learned to associate the two. question concerning the visibility of space was central to the Renaissance perspective tradition and its reliance on classical optics in the development of pictorial representations of spatial depth. matter was debated by scholars since the 11th-century Arab polymath and mathematician Alhazen (al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham) affirmed in experimental contexts the visibility of space. issue, which was raised in Berkeley's theory of vision, was treated at length in the Phenomenology of Perception of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, in the context of confirming the visual perception of spatial depth (la profondeur), and by way of refuting Berkeley's thesis.[37] wrote about the perception of size in addition to that of distance. He is frequently misquoted as believing in size–distance invariance—a view held by the Optic Writers. This idea is that we scale the image size according to distance in a geometrical manner. The error may have become commonplace because the eminent historian and psychologist E. G. Boring perpetuated it.[38] In fact, Berkeley argued that the same cues that evoke distance also evoke size, and that we do not first see size and then calculate distance.[39] is worth quoting Berkeley's words on this issue (Section 53): inclines men to this mistake (beside the humour of making one see by geometry) is, that the same perceptions or ideas which suggest distance, do also suggest magnitude ... I say they do not first suggest distance, and then leave it to the judgement to use that as a medium, whereby to collect the magnitude; but they have as close and immediate a connexion with the magnitude as with the distance; and suggest magnitude as independently of distance, as they do distance independently of magnitude. claimed that his visual theories were “vindicated” by a 1728 report regarding the recovery of vision in a 13-year-old boy operated for congenital cataracts by surgeon William Cheselden. 2021, the name of Cheselden's patient was published for the first time: Daniel Dolins.[40] Berkeley knew the Dolins family, had numerous social links to Cheselden, including the poet Alexander Pope, and Princess Caroline, to whom Cheselden's patient was presented.[40] report misspelled Cheselden's name, used language typical of Berkeley, and may even have been ghost-written by Berkeley.[40] Dolins was never able to see well enough to read, and there is no evidence that the surgery improved Dolins' vision at any point prior to his death at age 30.[40] of physics See also: De Motu (Berkeley's essay) works display his keen interest in natural philosophy [...] from his earliest writings (Arithmetica, 1707) to his latest (Siris, 1744). Moreover, much of his philosophy is shaped fundamentally by his engagement with the science of his time."[41] The profundity of this interest can be judged from numerous entries in Berkeley's Philosophical Commentaries (1707–1708), e.g. "Mem. to Examine & accurately discuss the scholium of the 8th Definition of Mr Newton's Principia." (#316) argued that forces and gravity, as defined by Newton, constituted "occult qualities" that "expressed nothing distinctly". He held that those who posited "something unknown in a body of which they have no idea and which they call the principle of motion, are in fact simply stating that the principle of motion is unknown." those who "affirm that active force, action, and the principle of motion are really in bodies are adopting an opinion not based on experience."[42] and gravity existed nowhere in the phenomenal world. On the other hand, if they resided in the category of "soul" or "incorporeal thing", they "do not properly belong to physics" as a matter. thus concluded that forces lay beyond any kind of empirical observation and could not be a part of proper science.[43] He proposed his theory of signs as a means to explain motion and matter without reference to the "occult qualities" of force and gravity. razor razor is a rule of reasoning proposed by the philosopher Karl Popper in his study of Berkeley's key scientific work De Motu.[10] razor is considered by Popper to be similar to Ockham's razor but "more powerful". It represents an extreme, empiricist view of scientific observation that states that the scientific method provides us with no true insight into the nature of the world. the scientific method gives us a variety of partial explanations about regularities that hold in the world and that are gained through experiment. The nature of the world, according to Berkeley, is only approached through proper metaphysical speculation and reasoning.[44] summarises Berkeley's razor as such: A general practical result—which I propose to call "Berkeley's razor"—of [Berkeley's] analysis of physics allows us a priori to eliminate from physical science all essentialist explanations. If they have a mathematical and predictive content they may be admitted qua mathematical hypotheses (while their essentialist interpretation is eliminated). If not they may be ruled out altogether. This razor is sharper than Ockham's: all entities are ruled out except those which are perceived.[45] another essay of the same book[46] titled "Three Views Concerning Human Knowledge", Popper argues that Berkeley is to be considered as an instrumentalist philosopher, along with Robert Bellarmine, Pierre Duhem and Ernst Mach. to this approach, scientific theories have the status of serviceable fictions, useful inventions aimed at explaining facts, and without any pretension to be true. Popper contrasts instrumentalism with the above-mentioned essentialism and his own "critical rationalism". of mathematics addition to his contributions to philosophy, Berkeley was also very influential in the development of mathematics, although in a rather indirect sense. "Berkeley was concerned with mathematics and its philosophical interpretation from the earliest stages of his intellectual life."[7] "Philosophical Commentaries" (1707–1708) witness to his interest in mathematics: Axiom. No reasoning about things whereof we have no idea. Therefore no reasoning about Infinitesimals. (#354) Take away the signs from Arithmetic & Algebra, & pray what remains? (#767) These are sciences purely Verbal, & entirely useless but for Practise in Societys of Men. No speculative knowledge, no comparison of Ideas in them. (#768) 1707, Berkeley published two treatises on mathematics. In 1734, he published The Analyst, subtitled A DISCOURSE Addressed to an Infidel Mathematician, a critique of calculus. Florian Cajori called this treatise "the most spectacular event of the century in the history of British mathematics."[47] However, a recent study suggests that Berkeley misunderstood Leibnizian calculus.[48] The mathematician in question is believed to have been either Edmond Halley, or Isaac Newton himself—though if to the latter, then the discourse was posthumously addressed, as Newton died in 1727. The Analyst represented a direct attack on the foundations and principles of calculus and, in particular, the notion of fluxion or infinitesimal change, which Newton and Leibniz used to develop the calculus. In his critique, Berkeley coined the phrase "ghosts of departed quantities", familiar to students of calculus. Ian Stewart's book From Here to Infinity captures the gist of his criticism. regarded his criticism of calculus as part of his broader campaign against the religious implications of Newtonian mechanics – a defence of traditional Christianity against deism, which tends to distance God from His worshipers. Specifically, he observed that both Newtonian and Leibnizian calculus employed infinitesimals sometimes as positive, nonzero quantities and other times as a number explicitly equal to zero. Berkeley's key point in "The Analyst" was that Newton's calculus (and the laws of motion based in calculus) lacked rigorous theoretical foundations. claimed that in every other Science Men prove their Conclusions by their Principles, and not their Principles by the Conclusions. But if in yours you should allow your selves this unnatural way of proceeding, the Consequence would be that you must take up with Induction, and bid adieu to Demonstration. And if you submit to this, your Authority will no longer lead the way in Points of Reason and Science.[49] did not doubt that calculus produced real world truth; simple physics experiments could verify that Newton's method did what it claimed to do. cause of Fluxions cannot be defended by reason",[50] but the results could be defended by empirical observation, Berkeley's preferred method of acquiring knowledge at any rate. however, found it paradoxical that "Mathematicians should deduce true Propositions from false Principles, be right in Conclusion, and yet err in the Premises. In The Analyst he endeavoured to show "how Error may bring forth Truth, though it cannot bring forth Science".[51] Newton's science, therefore, could not on purely scientific grounds justify its conclusions, and the mechanical, deistic model of the universe could not be rationally justified.[52] difficulties raised by Berkeley were still present in the work of Cauchy whose approach to calculus was a combination of infinitesimals and a notion of limit, and were eventually sidestepped by Weierstrass by means of his (ε, δ) approach, which eliminated infinitesimals altogether. More recently, Abraham Robinson restored infinitesimal methods in his 1966 book Non-standard analysis by showing that they can be used rigorously. philosophy See also: Passive obedience tract A Discourse on Passive Obedience (1712) is considered Berkeley's major contribution to moral and political philosophy. A Discourse on Passive Obedience, Berkeley defends the thesis that people have "a moral duty to observe the negative precepts (prohibitions) of the law, including the duty not to resist the execution of punishment."[53] Berkeley does make exceptions to this sweeping moral statement, stating that we need not observe precepts of "usurpers or even madmen"[54] and that people can obey different supreme authorities if there are more than one claims to the highest authority. defends this thesis with a deductive proof stemming from the laws of nature. he establishes that because God is perfectly good, the end to which he commands humans must also be good, and that end must not benefit just one person, but the entire human race. Because these commands—or laws—if practiced, would lead to the general fitness of humankind, it follows that they can be discovered by the right reason— example, the law to never resist supreme power can be derived from reason because this law is "the only thing that stands between us and total disorder".[53] these laws can be called the laws of nature, because they are derived from God—the creator of nature himself. "These laws of nature include duties never to resist the supreme power, lie under oath ... or do evil so that good may come of it."[53] may view Berkeley's doctrine on Passive Obedience as a kind of 'Theological Utilitarianism', insofar as it states that we have a duty to uphold a moral code which presumably is working towards the ends of promoting the good of humankind. However, the concept of 'ordinary' Utilitarianism is fundamentally different in that it "makes utility the one and only ground of obligation"[55]—that is, Utilitarianism is concerned with whether particular actions are morally permissible in specific situations, while Berkeley's doctrine is concerned with whether or not we should follow moral rules in any and all circumstances. Whereas Act Utilitarianism might, for example, justify a morally impermissible act in light of the specific situation, Berkeley's doctrine of Passive Obedience holds that it is never morally permissible to not follow a moral rule, even when it seems like breaking that moral rule might achieve the happiest ends. Berkeley holds that even though sometimes, the consequences of an action in a specific situation might be bad, the general tendencies of that action benefits humanity. important sources for Berkeley's views on morality are Alciphron (1732), especially dialogues I–III, and the Discourse to Magistrates (1738)."[56] Passive Obedience is notable partly for containing one of the earliest statements of rule utilitarianism.[57] Berkeley’s theory that matter does not exist comes from the belief that "sensible things are those only which are immediately perceived by sense."[58] says in his book called The Principles of Human Knowledge that "the ideas of sense are stronger, livelier, and clearer than those of the imagination; and they are also steady, orderly and coherent."[59] From this we can tell that the things that we are perceiving are truly real rather than it just being a dream. knowledge comes from perception; what we perceive are ideas, not things in themselves; a thing in itself must be outside experience; so the world only consists of ideas and minds that perceive those ideas; a thing only exists so far as it perceives or is perceived.[60] Through this we can see that consciousness is considered something that exists to Berkeley due to its ability to perceive. be,' said of the object, means to be perceived, 'esse est percipi'; 'to be', said of the subject, means to perceive or 'percipere'."[61] established this, Berkeley then attacks the "opinion strangely prevailing amongst men, that houses, mountains, rivers, and in a word all sensible objects have an existence natural or real, distinct from being perceived".[59] believes this idea to be inconsistent because such an object with an existence independent of perception must have both sensible qualities, and thus be known (making it an idea), and also an insensible reality, which Berkeley believes is inconsistent.[62] believes that the error arises because people think that perceptions can imply or infer something about the material object. calls this concept abstract ideas. rebuts this concept by arguing that people cannot conceive of an object without also imagining the sensual input of the object. argues in Principles of Human Knowledge that, similar to how people can only sense matter with their senses through the actual sensation, they can only conceive of matter (or, rather, ideas of matter) through the idea of sensation of matter.[59] implies that everything that people can conceive in regards to matter is only ideas about matter. Thus, matter, should it exist, must exist as collections of ideas, which can be perceived by the senses and interpreted by the mind. if matter is just a collection of ideas, then Berkeley concludes that matter, in the sense of a material substance, does not exist as most philosophers of Berkeley's time believed. Indeed, if a person visualizes something, then it must have some color, however dark or light; it cannot just be a shape of no color at all if a person is to visualize it.[63] ideas raised controversy because his argument refuted Descartes' worldview, which was expanded upon by Locke, and resulted in the rejection of Berkeley's form of empiricism by several philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Locke's worldview, "the world causes the perceptual ideas we have of it by the way it interacts with our senses."[60] contradicts with Berkeley's worldview because not only does it suggest the existence of physical causes in the world, but in fact there is no physical world beyond our ideas. The only causes that exist in Berkeley's worldview are those that are a result of the use of the will. theory relies heavily on his form of empiricism, which in turn relies heavily on the senses. empiricism can be defined by five propositions: all significant words stand for ideas; knowledge of things is about ideas; ideas come from without or from within; from without it must be by the senses, and they are called sensations (the real things), from within they are the operations of the mind, and are called thoughts.[63] clarifies his distinction between ideas by saying they "are imprinted on the senses," "perceived by attending to the passions and operations of the mind," or "are formed by help of memory and imagination."[63] refutation of his idea was: if someone leaves a room and stops perceiving that room does that room no longer exist? answers this by claiming that it is still being perceived and the consciousness that is doing the perceiving is God. (This makes Berkeley's argument hinge upon an omniscient, omnipresent deity.) claim is the only thing holding up his argument which is "depending for our knowledge of the world, and of the existence of other minds, upon a God that would never deceive us."[60] anticipates a second objection, which he refutes in Principles of Human Knowledge. anticipates that the materialist may take a representational materialist standpoint: although the senses can only perceive ideas, these ideas resemble (and thus can be compared to) the actual, existing object. Thus, through the sensing of these ideas, the mind can make inferences as to matter itself, even though pure matter is non-perceivable. objection to that notion is that "an idea can be like nothing but an idea; a color or figure can be like nothing but another color or figure".[59] Berkeley distinguishes between an idea, which is mind-dependent, and a material substance, which is not an idea and is mind-independent. As they are not alike, they cannot be compared, just as one cannot compare the color red to something that is invisible, or the sound of music to silence, other than that one exists and the other does not. This is called the likeness principle: the notion that an idea can only be like (and thus compared to) another idea. attempted to show how ideas manifest themselves into different objects of knowledge: is evident to anyone who takes a survey of the objects of human knowledge, that they are either ideas actually imprinted on the senses; or else such as are perceived by attending to the passions and operations of the mind; or lastly ideas formed by help of memory and imagination—either compounding, dividing, or barely representing those originally perceived in the aforesaid ways". (Berkeley's emphasis.)[64] also attempted to prove the existence of God throughout his beliefs in immaterialism.[4] Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge was published three years before the publication of Arthur Collier's Clavis Universalis, which made assertions similar to those of Berkeley's.[65] However, there seemed to have been no influence or communication between the two writers.[66] philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote of him: "Berkeley was, therefore, the first to treat the subjective starting-point really seriously and to demonstrate irrefutably its absolute necessity. He is the father of idealism ...".[67] is considered one of the originators of British empiricism.[68] A linear development is often traced from three great "British Empiricists", leading from Locke through Berkeley to Hume.[69] influenced many modern philosophers, especially David Hume. Thomas Reid admitted that he put forward a drastic criticism of Berkeleianism after he had been an admirer of Berkeley's philosophical system for a long time.[70] Berkeley's "thought made possible the work of Hume and thus Kant, notes Alfred North Whitehead."[71] Some authors[who?] draw a parallel between Berkeley and Edmund Husserl.[clarification needed][72] Berkeley visited America, the American educator Samuel Johnson visited him, and the two later corresponded. Johnson convinced Berkeley to establish a scholarship program at Yale, and to donate a large number of books as well as his plantation to the college when the philosopher returned to England. It was one of Yale's largest and most important donations; it doubled its library holdings, improved the college's financial position and brought Anglican religious ideas and English culture into New England.[73] Johnson also took Berkeley's philosophy and used parts of it as a framework for his own American Practical Idealism school of philosophy. As Johnson's philosophy was taught to about half the graduates of American colleges between 1743 and 1776,[74] and over half of the contributors to the Declaration of Independence were connected to it,[75] Berkeley's ideas were indirectly a foundation of the American Mind. of America, during Berkeley's lifetime his philosophical ideas were comparatively uninfluential.[76] But interest in his doctrine grew from the 1870s when Alexander Campbell Fraser, "the leading Berkeley scholar of the nineteenth century",[77] published The Works of George Berkeley. A powerful impulse to serious studies in Berkeley's philosophy was given by A. A. Luce and Thomas Edmund Jessop, "two of the twentieth century's foremost Berkeley scholars",[78] thanks to whom Berkeley scholarship was raised to the rank of a special area of historico-philosophical science. In addition, the philosopher Colin Murray Turbayne wrote extensively on Berkeley's use of language as model for visual, physiological, natural and metaphysical relationships.[79] proportion of Berkeley scholarship, in literature on the history of philosophy, is increasing. This can be judged from the most comprehensive bibliographies on George Berkeley. During the period of 1709–1932, about 300 writings on Berkeley were published. That amounted to 1.5 publication per annum. During the course of 1932–79, over one thousand works were brought out, i.e., 20 works per annum. Since then, the number of publications has reached 30 per annum.[80] In 1977 publication began in Ireland of a special journal on Berkeley's life and thought (Berkeley Studies). In 1988, the Australian philosopher Colin Murray Turbayne established the International Berkeley Essay Prize Competition at the University of Rochester in an effort to advance scholarship and research on the works of Berkeley.[81][82] than philosophy, Berkeley also influenced modern psychology with his work on John Locke's theory of association and how it could be used to explain how humans gain knowledge in the physical world. He also used the theory to explain perception, stating that all qualities were, as Locke would call them, "secondary qualities", therefore perception laid entirely in the perceiver and not in the object. These are both topics today studied in modern psychology.[83] in literature Byron's Don Juan references immaterialism in the Eleventh Canto: When Bishop Berkeley said 'there was no matter,' And proved it—'t was no matter what he said: They say his system 't is in vain to batter, Too subtle for the airiest human head; And yet who can believe it? I would shatter Gladly all matters down to stone or lead, Or adamant, to find the world a spirit, And wear my head, denying that I wear it. Melville humorously references Berkeley in Chapter 20 of Mardi (1849), when outlining a character's belief of being on board a ghostship: here be it said, that for all his superstitious misgivings about the brigantine; his imputing to her something equivalent to a purely phantom-like nature, honest Jarl was nevertheless exceedingly downright and practical in all hints and proceedings concerning her. Wherein, he resembled my Right Reverend friend, Bishop Berkeley–truly, one of your lords spiritual—who, metaphysically speaking, holding all objects to be mere optical delusions, was, notwithstanding, extremely matter-of-fact in all matters touching matter itself. Besides being pervious to the points of pins, and possessing a palate capable of appreciating plum-puddings:—which sentence reads off like a pattering of hailstones. Joyce references Berkeley's philosophy in the third episode of Ulysses (1922): watches me here? Who ever anywhere will read these written words? Signs on a white field. Somewhere to someone in your flutiest voice. The good bishop of Cloyne took the veil of the temple out of his shovel hat: veil of space with coloured emblems hatched on its field. Hold hard. Coloured on a flat: yes, that's right. Flat I see, then think distance, near, far, flat I see, east, back. Ah, see now! In commenting on a review of Ada or Ardor, author Vladimir Nabokov alludes to Berkeley's philosophy as informing his novel: finally I owe no debt whatsoever (as Mr. Leonard seems to think) to the famous Argentine essayist and his rather confused compilation "A New Refutation of Time." Mr. Leonard would have lost less of it had he gone straight to Berkeley and Bergson. (Strong Opinions, pp. 2892–90) Boswell, in the part of his Life of Samuel Johnson covering the year 1763, recorded Johnson's opinion of one aspect of Berkeley's philosophy: we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is untrue, it is impossible to refute it. I shall never forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it,– "I refute it thus." the University of California, Berkeley, and the city of Berkeley, California, were named after him, although the pronunciation has evolved to suit American English: (/ˈbɜːrkli/ BURK-lee). The naming was suggested in 1866 by Frederick H. Billings, a trustee of the then College of California. Billings was inspired by Berkeley's Verses on the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America, particularly the final stanza: "Westward the course of empire takes its way; The first four Acts already past, A fifth shall close the Drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last."[84] Town of Berkley, currently the least populated town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, was founded on 18 April 1735 and named after the renowned philosopher. It is located 40 miles south of Boston and 25 miles north of Middletown, Rhode Island. residential college and an Episcopal seminary at Yale University also bear Berkeley's name, as does the Berkeley Library at Trinity College Dublin. Preparatory School in Tampa, Florida, a private school affiliated with the Episcopal Church, is also named for him. Berkeley's Gold Medals" are two awards given annually at Trinity College Dublin, "provided outstanding merit is shown", to candidates answering a special examination in Greek. The awards were founded in 1752 by Berkeley.[85] An Ulster History Circle blue plaque commemorating him is located in Bishop Street Within, city of Derry. farmhouse in Middletown, Rhode Island, is preserved as Whitehall Museum House, also known as Berkeley House, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. St. Columba's Chapel, located in the same town, was formerly named "The Berkeley Memorial Chapel," and the appellation still survives at the end of the formal name of the parish, "St. Columba's, the Berkeley Memorial Chapel". Cloyne, Cork, Ireland; George Berkeley of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752) , Commemorated June 16 ; longer there

England, 1707-1800, Kingdom of Great Britain, united England (including Wales) and Scotland
England, 1707-1800, Kingdom of Great Britain;

England, 1712, New York Slave Riot, 1712, Maiden Lane and Broadway
New York Slave Riot, 1712, Maiden Lane and Broadway; New York Slave Revolt of 1712 was an uprising in New York City, in the Province of New York, of 23 enslaved Africans. They killed nine whites and injured another six before they were stopped. More than three times that number of black people, 70, were arrested and jailed. Of these, 27 were put on trial, and 21 convicted and executed. the early 18th century, New York City had one of the largest enslaved populations of any of the settlements in the Thirteen Colonies. Slavery in the city differed from some of the other colonies because there were no plantations producing cash crops. Slaves worked as domestic servants, artisans, dock workers, and various skilled laborers.[1] Enslaved Africans lived near each other, making communication easy. They also often worked among free black people, a situation that did not exist on most Southern plantations. Slaves in the city could communicate and plan a conspiracy more easily than among those on plantations.[2] the seizure of New Netherland in 1667 and it's incorporation into the Province of New York, the rights of the Free Negro social group were gradually eroded. In 1702, the first of the New York slave codes were passed, which further limited the rights enjoyed by the African community in New York; many of these legal rights, such as the right to own land and marry, were granted during the Dutch colonial period.[3] On December 13, 1711, the New York City Common Council established the city's first slave market near Wall Street for the sale and rental of enslaved Africans and Native Americans.[4][5] the early 1700s, about 20 percent of the population were enslaved black people. The colonial government in New York restricted this group through several measures: requiring slaves to carry a pass if traveling more than a mile (1.6 km) from home; discouraging marriage among them; prohibiting gatherings in groups of more than three persons; and requiring them to sit in separate galleries at church services.[6] group of more than twenty black slaves gathered on the night of April 6, 1712, and set fire to a building on Maiden Lane near Broadway.[2] While the white colonists tried to put out the fire, the enslaved blacks, armed with guns, hatchets, and swords, attacked the whites then ran off. Almost immediately all runaway slaves were captured and returned to their owners.[7] forces arrested seventy blacks and jailed them. Six are reported to have committed suicide. Twenty-seven were put on trial, 21 of whom were convicted and sentenced to death, including one woman with child.[7] Twenty were burned to death and one was executed on a breaking wheel.[8][citation needed] the revolt, the city and colony passed more restrictive laws governing black and Indian slaves. Slaves were not permitted to gather in groups of more than three, they were not permitted to carry firearms, and gambling was outlawed. Crimes of property damage, rape, and conspiracy to kill qualified for the death penalty. Free blacks were still allowed to own land, however. Anthony Portuguese (alternately spelled Portugies),[3] owned land that makes up a portion of present-day Washington Square Park; this continued to be owned by his daughter and grandchildren.[9] colony required slave owners who wanted to free their slaves to pay a tax of £200 per person, then an amount much higher than the cost of a slave. In 1715 Governor Robert Hunter argued in London before the Lords of Trade that manumission and the chance for a slave to inherit part of a master's wealth was important to maintain in New York. He said that this was a proper reward for a slave who had helped a master earn a lifetime's fortune, and that it could keep the slave from descending into despair.[7] ELIE NAUD, (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722, Commemoratedd 7 September; most effective work of the Society [for the Propogation of the Gospel] among Negroes of the Northern colonies was accomplished in New York. In that colony, the instruction of the Negro and Indian slaves to prepare them for conversion, baptism, and communion was a primary charge oft repeated to every missionary and schoolmaster of the Society. In addition to the general efforts put forth in the colonies, there was in New York a special provision for the employment of sixteen clergymen and thirteen lay teachers mainly for the evangelization of the slaves and the free Indians. For the Negro slaves a catechizing school was opened in New York City in 1704 under the charge of Elias Neau. This benevolent man, after several years’ imprisonment because of his Protestant faith, had come to New York to try his fortunes as a trader. As early as 1703 he called the attention of the Society to the great number, of slaves in New York “who were without God in the world, and of whose souls there was no manner of care taken” and proposed the appointment of a catechist to undertake their instruction. He himself finally being prevailed upon to accept this position, obtained a license from the Governor, resigned his position as elder in the French church [Église du Saint Esprit] and conformed to the Established Church of England, “not upon any worldly account but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of the English liturgy.” He was later licensed by the Bishop of London. Neau’s task was not an easy one. At first he went from house to house, but afterwards arranged for some of the slaves to attend him. He succeeded, however, in obtaining gratifying results. He was commended to the Society by Rev. Mr. Vesey in 1706 as a “constant communicant of our church, and a most zealous and prudent servant of Christ, in proselyting the miserable Negroes and Indians among them to the Christian Religion, whereby he does great service to God and his church.” Further confidence in him was attested by an act of the Society in preparing at his request “a Bill to be offered to Parliament for the more effectual Conversion of the Negro and other Servants in the Plantations, to compell Owners of Slaves to cause children to be baptized within 3 months after their birth and to permit them when come to years of discretion to be instructed in the Christian Religion on our Lord’s day by the Missionaries under whose ministry they live.” Neau’s school suffered greatly in 1712 because of the prejudice engendered by the declaration that instruction was the main cause of the Negro riot in that city. For some days Neau dared not show himself, so bitter was the feeling of the masters. Upon being assured, however, that only one Negro connected with the school had participated in the affair and that the most criminal belonged to the masters who were openly opposed to educating them, the institution was permitted to continue its endeavors, and the Governor extended to it his protection and recommended that masters have their slaves instructed. Yet Neau had still to complain thereafter of the struggle and opposition of the generality of the inhabitants, who were strongly prejudiced with a horrid motive thinking that Christian knowledge “would be a means to make the slave more cunning and apter to wickedness.” Not so long thereafter, however, the support of the best people and officials of the community made his task easier. Neau could say in 1714 that “if the slaves and domestics in New York were not instructed it was not his fault.” The Governor, the Council, Mayor, the Recorder and the Chief Justice informed the Society that Neau had performed his work “to the great advancement of religion in general and the particular benefit of the free Indians, Negro slaves, and other Heathens in those parts, with indefatigable zeal and application.” Elias Neau signature Neau died in 1722. His work was carried on by Mr. Huddlestone, Rev. Mr. Whitmore, Rev. Mr. Colgan, Rev. R. Charlton, and Rev. S. Auchmutty.

England, 1712-1752, Saint, Joseph Butler, Butler's Analogy
England, 1712-1752, Saint, Joseph Butler, Butler's Analogy; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16;

England, 1714-1727, George I, King of GB, Hanover in HRE, European Wars, o jacobites, parliment
King of Great Britain, 1714-1727, George I ; CONRAD WEISER, WITNESS TO PEACE and RECONCILIATION, 1760, Commemorated July 13; George Frederick Handel of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL and HENRY PURCELL, COMPOSERS, 1750, 1759, 1695. Commemorated July 28; Samuel Johnson of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; Timothy Cutler of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; ELIE NAUD (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722 ; ELIE NAUD (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722 ; ISAAC WATTS, HYMNWRITER, 1748, Commemorated November 26; THOMAS BRAY, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY (15 FEB 1730); JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH (3 MAR 1791); WILLIAM LAW, WRITER, PRIEST, AND NON-JUROR (09 APR 1761); George Berkeley of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752) , Commemorated June 16 ; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16 ;

England, 1716-1760, CONRAD WEISER, German PA pioneer, interpreter and Native American diplomat, lived w Iroquois at 16
Affstatt Village, Wurttemberg; CONRAD WEISER, WITNESS TO PEACE and RECONCILIATION, 1760, Commemorated July 13 ; Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760), born Johann Conrad Weiser, Jr., a German Pennsylvanian pioneer, interpreter and effective diplomat between the Pennsylvania Colony and Native Americans. was a farmer, soldier, monk, tanner, and judge as well. He contributed as an emissary in councils between Native Americans and the colonies, especially Pennsylvania, during the French and Indian War. Weiser was born in 1696 in the small village of Affstätt in the Duchy of Württemberg (now part of Germany). Conrad Weiser and his family were among thousands of refugees who left German lands in 1709, many of them from the Palatine area. Weiser family eventually ended up in the Schoharie Valley of New York. age 16, Conrad's father agreed to a chief's proposal for the youth to live with the Mohawks in the upper Schoharie Valley. his stay in the winter and spring of 1712-1713, Weiser learned much about the Mohawk language and the customs of the Iroquois, while enduring hardships of cold, hunger, and homesickness. Conrad Weiser returned to his own people towards the end of July 1713. November 22, 1720, at the age of 24, Weiser married the young German girl Anna Eve Feck (Faeg). 1723 the couple followed the Susquehanna River south out of New York and settled their young family on a farm in Tulpehocken near present-day Reading, Pennsylvania. couple had fourteen children, but only seven reached adulthood. colonial service began in 1731. Iroquois sent Shikellamy, an Oneida chief and friend of Weiser, as an emissary to other tribes and the British. Iroquois trusted him and considered him an adopted son of the Mohawks. impressed the Pennsylvania governor and council, which thereafter relied heavily on his services. signature the winter of 1737, Weiser attempted to broker a peace between southern tribes and the Iroquois. had to survive high snow, freezing temperatures and starvation rations just to make the six-week journey to the Iroquois capital of Onondaga (near persent-day Syracuse, NY). with his fortitude, the Iroquois named Weiser Tarachiawagon (Holder of the Heavens). violence from a war between the Iroquois and southern tribes such as the Catawba would have drawn first Virginia, and then Pennsylvania, into conflict with the Iroquois. this peace-brokering had a profound effect on Native American/colonial relations. his decades-long career, Weiser built on his knowledge of Native American languages and culture. was a key player in treaty negotiations, land purchases, and the formulation of Pennsylvania's policies towards Native Americans. of his early experiences with the Iroquois, Weiser was inclined to be sympathetic to their interpretation of events, as opposed to the Lenape or the Shawnees. may have exacerbated Pennsylvanian-Lenape/Shawnee relations, with bloody consequences in the French and Indian Wars. for many years, Weiser helped to keep the powerful Iroquois allied with the British as opposed to the French. important service contributed to the continued survival of the British colonies and the eventual victory of the British over the French in the French and Indian Wars. 1734 and 1741, Weiser became a follower of Conrad Beissel, a German Seventh Day Baptist preacher. six years, he lived at the monastic settlement, Ephrata Cloister, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. was also teacher and a lay minister of the Lutheran Church; he was one of the founders of Trinity Church in Reading. died on his farm on July 13, 1760. his death, one Iroquois Indian noted to a group of colonists, "We are at a great loss and sit in darkness ... as since his death we cannot so well understand one another." shortly after Conrad Weiser's death, relations between the colonists and the Native Americans began a rapid decline. — more at Wikipedia and the Conrad Weiser Homestead State Park

England, 1723-1791, JOHN & CHARLES WESLEY, both of Oxford University, preacher John, hymn writer Charles, both church renewers
England, 1723-1791, JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, both of Oxford University, John the preacher, Charles the hymn writer, both renewers of the Church, Book of Common Prayer Methodists, both to Georgia 1n 1735, both saved there by Moravians, John's influence of Classical Education; Oxford University; JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH (3 MAR 1791); Wesley died 29 March 1788. John Wesley died 2 March 1791. Because Chad is remembered on 2 March, the Wesleys are remembered on 3 March.) Wesley Wesley brothers, John born in 1703 and Charles in 1707, were leaders of the evangelical revival in the Church of England in the eighteenth century. both attended Oxford University, and there they gathered a few friends with whom they undertook a strict adherence to the worship and discipline of the Book of Common Prayer, from which strict observance they received the nickname, "Methodists." been ordained, they went to the American colony of Georgia in 1735, John as a missionary and Charles as secretary to Governor Oglethorpe. They found the experience disheartening, and returned home in a few years. There, three days apart, they underwent a conversion experience. John, present with a group of Moravians who were reading Martin Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, received a strong emotional awareness of the love of Christ displayed in freely forgiving his sins and granting him eternal life. this experience, John and Charles, with others, set about to stir up in others a like awareness of and response to the saving love of God. Of the two, John was the more powerful preacher, and averaged 8000 miles of travel a year, mostly on horseback. At the time of his death he was probably the best known and best loved man in England. (Albert C. Outler, John Wesley's Sermons: An Introduction, p 79f) biblical world was, however, no enclave. Sola Scriptura was never a displacement of, or substitute for, classical learning: and this was natural enough in view of the fact that he had mastered the baseline curriculum of his Oxford education and had come to cherish the classical tradition as the font of Western civilization. In the sermons (and elsewhere, too) Wesley's favourite classical source was Horace; there are twenty-seven quotations from him in the sermons alone, some repeated in different contexts. One senses that he read Virgil with more personal pleasure, but he quotes from him only twenty-one times. Ovid follows with ten, Circero with nine, Juvenal with seven. Thirteen others are quoted at least once: Aristophanes, Hadrian, Homer, Lucan, Lucretius, Persius, Pindar, Sophocles, Suetonius, Symmachus, Terence, Velleius Paterculus. display was more than mere ornamentation; (My comment: this would have violated Wesley's doctrine of 'plain preaching'.) within these borrowings we find the germs of some of Wesley's most distinctive general ideas (e.g. his participation theme, his mind-body dualism, and his ideas about psycho-physical parallelism). These are major sources for his ideas about human nature, human volition, and the human passions. Out of this heritage had come his predilection for form over raw feelings, his concept of conscience as a universal moral sense. had bolstered his convictions about the ontological primacy of good over evil. The whole of the Greco-Roman tradition had stressed coherence as a criterion of rationality. Besides, these ancient authors were shrewd critics of human folly; thus Wesley found in them discerning witnesses to the flaws in contemporary proposals about 'natural' theology and ethics. It was in this sense that his long dialogue with the ancients was a genuine preparatio evangelica; one might even suppose that he might still commend it as such. Wesley although Wesley found it natural to approach the Gospel with habits of thought formed by a classical education, he was quick to recognize the value of other approaches. early Methodist meetings were often led by lay preachers with very limited education. On one occasion, such a preacher took as his text Luke 19:21, "Lord, I feared thee, because thou art an austere man." Not knowing the word "austere," he thought that the text spoke of "an oyster man." He spoke about the work of those who retrieve oysters from the sea-bed. The diver plunges down from the surface, cut off from his natural environment, into bone-chilling water. He gropes in the dark, cutting his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. Now he has the oyster, and kicks back up to the surface, up to the warmth and light and air, clutching in his torn and bleeding hands the object of his search. So Christ descended from the glory of heaven into the squalor of earth, into sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven, His torn and bleeding hands a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest. Twelve men were converted that evening. Afterwards, someone complained to Wesley about the inappropriateness of allowing preachers who were too ignorant to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. Wesley, simply said, "Never mind, the Lord got a dozen oysters tonight." was the better hymn-writer of the two. He wrote over 6000 hymns, including about 600 for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Some of the better known are the following: A charge to keep I have And can it be that I should gain Author of life divine Christ the Lord is risen today Christ, whose glory fills the skies Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire Come, O Thou Traveller unknown Come, thou long expected Jesus Forth in Thy name, O Lord, I go Gentle Jesus, meek and mild Hail the day that sees Him rise Hark, the herald angels sing, Jesus, Lover of my soul Let saints on earth in concert sing Lo, He comes with clouds descending Love Divine, all loves excelling O Jesus, full of pardoning grace O Love Divine, how sweet Thou art! O Thou who camest from above. Oh for a heart to praise my God Oh for a thousand tongues to sing Our Lord is risen from the dead Rejoice! the Lord is King Soldiers of Christ, arise! Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim Here are two of his hymns printed out at length: Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace! My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name. Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease; 'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life, and health, and peace. He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free; his blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me. He speaks, and listening to his voice, new life the dead receive; the mournful, broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe. In Christ, your head, you then shall know, shall feel your sins forgiven, anticipate your heaven below, and own that love in heaven. [Note that in the second line of this next hymn, the word "interest" is used in the older sense of "benefit" or "advantage." (Thus, in some contest, an uninterested person is one who is bored by the proceedings, but a disinterested person is one who has nothing to gain or lose personally by the outcome. We want a referee or judge to be disinterested, but not to be uninterested. The word "interested" is ambiguous, being the opposite of both.) Instead of "an interest in" in the second line, an editor seeking to modernize the language of this hymn might write "my healing from" or "redemption from" or "salvation from" or "a cleansing from" or the like.] And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain-- for me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? 'Tis mystery all! Th' Immortal dies: Who can explore His strange design? In vain the first-born seraph tries to sound the depths of love divine. 'Tis mercy all! let earth adore, let angel minds inquire no more. He left His Father's throne above,-- so free, so infinite His grace-- emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam's helpless race: 'Tis mercy all, immense and free; for, O my God, it found out me! Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature's night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,-- I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine! Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown, thorugh Christ my own. was the intention of the Wesleys and their colleagues that their "Methodist Societies" should be a group within the existing structure of the Anglican Church, but after their deaths the Societies in America, and to a lesser extent in England, developed a separate status. by James Kiefer

England, 1727-1791, Salina Hastings, Calvinist Methodist Church Builder
England, 1727-1791, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, built Calvanist Methodist Churches; Donnington Hall, Salina Hastings, Calvinist Methodist Church Builder; George Whitefield of FRANCIS ASBURY & GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelists, 1816, 1770, Commemorated November 15 ;

England, 1727-1760, George II, King of GB, Summers in Hanover G, H Succession, little domestic control, war hero
England, King of Great Britain, 1727-1760, George II; CONRAD WEISER, WITNESS TO PEACE and RECONCILIATION, 1760, Commemorated July 13; SAMSON OCCUM, WITNESS TO THE FAITH IN NEW ENGLAND, 1792, Commemorated July 14 ; George Frederick Handel of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL and HENRY PURCELL, COMPOSERS, 1750, 1759, 1695. Commemorated July 28; Samuel Johnson of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; Timothy Cutler of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; HENRY MUHLENBERG, PATRIARCH OF AMERICAN LUTHERANS, 7 October 1787 ; ISAAC WATTS, HYMNWRITER, 1748, Commemorated November 26; JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH (3 MAR 1791); WILLIAM LAW, WRITER, PRIEST, AND NON-JUROR (09 APR 1761); NIKOLAUS LUDWIG von ZINZENDORF, PROPHETIC WITNESS, 1760, Commemorated May 10 ; George Berkeley of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752) , Commemorated June 16 ; Joseph Butler of GEORGE BERKELEY and JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOPS and THEOLOGIANS (1753, 1752), Commemorated June 16 ;

England, 1729, Holy Club at Christ Church Oxford (The Methodists)
Holy Club at Christ Church Oxford (The Methodists); FRANCIS ASBURY & GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelists, 1816, 1770, Commemorated November 15;

England, 1731-1787, HENRY MUHLENBERG, organizer American Lutheranism, factionalism d, Free Church model from govt control m
Germany, 1731-1787, HENRY MUHLENBERG, Einbeck, Germany (Weser River 4), organizer of American Lutheranism, danger of factionalism, asking for pastor to take charge, transition to Free Church model from govt control model, famous sons ; Einbeck, Germany HENRY MUHLENBERG, PATRIARCH OF AMERICAN LUTHERANS, 7 October 178; Melchior Muhlenberg is the principal organizer of American Lutheranism. He was born in Einbeck, Germany, in 1711, studied at Goettingen and at Halle. in America at that time were found in a few scattered communities, of various national backgrounds, with no central organization, with a grave danger of factionalism. congregations wrote to Halle University, asking for a pastor to take charge. Francke, a Lutheran leader of the Pietist movement at Halle, chose Muhlenberg and sent him to America. arrived in Charleston on 23 September 1742. He was soon accorded widespread recognition by Lutheran churches, Swedish, and others, the senior Lutheran pastor in America. set the tone for the Lutheran community in what was to be the United States, almost all Lutheran Churches in America today use liturgies which are developed from the one that he proposed for American use. plans for local church government, to congregations that had been accustomed to a great deal of government control, the transition to the "free church" model, and form the basis for plans of local church government in American Lutheran churches today. of his sons, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, served as a general under George Washington in the War of Independence. Another, Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, became a member of the Continental Congress, and first speaker of the House of Representatives. A great-grandson, William Augustus Muhlenberg, became an eminent Anglican priest (see 8 April). Melchior Muhlenberg died 7 October 1787, is buried at Trappe, Pennsylvania. epitaph (in Latin) reads: "Who and what he was, future ages will know without a stone." by James Kiefer

England, 1732-1778, Rousseau, enlightenment, modern political, social thought, Facism, Naziism, Communism, democracy, progressive
Switzerland, 1732-1778, Rousseau, enlightenment, modern political, social thought, Facism, Naziism, Communism, democracy, progressive; Rousseau; 28 June 1712 - 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic and educational thought.[1] Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction.[2][3] His Emile, or On Education (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions (composed in 1769), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished Reveries of the Solitary Walker (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified the late-18th-century "Age of Sensibility", and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. befriended fellow philosopher Denis Diderot in 1742, and would later write about Diderot's romantic troubles in his Confessions. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophers among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death. Absolved From Being Good-Mannered: The Romantic Totalitarianism of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, May 20, 2021 ;

England, 1734-1770, George Whitefield, Gloucester, England, US Methodist Episcopal Evangelist
England, 1734-1770, George Whitefield, Gloucester, England, US Methodist Episcopal Evangelist; England, , George Whitefield, Gloucester, England, US Methodist Episcopal Evangelist; Gloucester, England (on Wales border); George Whitefield of FRANCIS ASBURY & GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelists, 1816, 1770, Commemorated November 15 ; Whitefield, also known as George Whitfield, (December 16, 1714 - September 30, 1770), was an Anglican itinerant minister who helped spread the Great Awakening in Great Britain and, especially, in the British North American colonies. His ministry had tremendous impact on American ideology. He was a very influential figure in the establishment of Methodism. He was famous for his preaching in America which was a significant part of an 18th century movement of Christian revivals, sometimes called "The Great Awakening." from Wikipedia. Whitefield (27 December [O.S. 16 December] 1714 - 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement.[1][2] in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at the University of Oxford in 1732. he joined the "Holy Club" and was introduced to the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, with whom he would work closely in his later ministry. was ordained after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree. immediately began preaching, but he did not settle as the minister of any parish. Rather he became an itinerant preacher and evangelist. 1740, Whitefield traveled to North America, where he preached a series of revivals that became part of the "Great Awakening". His methods were controversial and he engaged in numerous debates and disputes with other clergymen. received widespread recognition during his ministry; he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million listeners in Great Britain and her American colonies. Whitefield could enthrall large audiences through a potent combination of drama, religious rhetoric, and patriotism.[3] life[edit] The Old Bell Inn, Southgate Street, Gloucester was born on 27 December [O.S. 16 December] 1714 at the Bell Inn, Southgate Street, Gloucester in England. Whitefield was the fifth son (seventh and last child) of Thomas Whitefield and Elizabeth Edwards, who kept an inn at Gloucester.[4] At an early age, he found that he had a passion and talent for acting in the theatre, a passion that he would carry on with the very theatrical re-enactments of Bible stories he told during his sermons. He was educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester,[5] and Pembroke College, Oxford.[6][7] His father died when he was still young and he help his mother with the inn. Because business at the inn had diminished, Whitefield did not have the means to pay for his tuition.[8] He therefore came up to the University of Oxford as a servitor, the lowest rank of undergraduates. Granted free tuition, he acted as a servant to Fellows and Fellow-commoners; duties including teaching them in the morning, helping them bathe, cleaning their rooms, carrying their books, and assisting them with work.[8] He was a part of the "Holy Club" at the University with the Wesley brothers, John and Charles. An illness, as well as Henry Scougal's The Life of God in the Soul of Man, influenced him to turn to the Church. Following a religious conversion, he became passionate for preaching his new-found faith. The Bishop of Gloucester ordained him a deacon.[1] preached his first sermon at St Mary de Crypt Church[2] in his home town of Gloucester, a week after his ordination. He had earlier become the leader of the Holy Club at Oxford when the Wesley brothers departed for Georgia.[9] had cross-eyed (strabismus) vision. 1738 he went to Savannah, Georgia, in the American colonies, as parish priest of Christ Church. While there he decided that one of the great needs of the area was an orphan house. He decided this would be his life's work. returned to England to raise funds, as well as to receive priest's orders. While preparing for his return, he preached to large congregations. At the suggestion of friends he preached to the miners of Kingswood, outside Bristol, in the open air. Because he was returning to Georgia he invited John Wesley to take over his Bristol congregations, and to preach in the open air for the first time at Kingswood and then at Blackheath, London.[10] accepted the Church of England's doctrine of predestination and disagreed with the Wesley brothers' Arminian views on the doctrine of the atonement.[11] However, Whitefield finally did what his friends hoped he would not do—hand over the entire ministry to John Wesley.[12] Whitefield formed and was the president of the first Methodist conference, but he soon relinquished the position to concentrate on evangelical work.[13] churches were established in England in his name—one in Penn Street, Bristol, and two in London, in Moorfields and in Tottenham Court Road—all three of which became known by the name of "Whitefield's Tabernacle". The society meeting at the second Kingswood School at Kingswood, a town on the eastern edge of Bristol, was eventually also named Whitefield's Tabernacle. acted as chaplain to Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and some of his followers joined the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, whose chapels were built by Selina, where a form of Calvinistic Methodism similar to Whitefield's was taught. Many of Selina's chapels were built in the English and Welsh counties.[14] One was erected in London—Spa Fields Chapel.[15][16] 1739, Whitefield returned to England to raise funds to establish the Bethesda Orphanage, now the Bethesda Academy. It is the oldest extant charity in North America.[17] Orphanage[edit] endeavor to build an orphanage in Georgia was central to his preaching.[4] The Bethesda Orphanage and his preaching comprised the "two-fold task" that occupied the rest of his life.[18] On 25 March 1740, construction began. Whitefield wanted the orphanage to be a place of strong Gospel influence, with a wholesome atmosphere and strong discipline.[19] raised the money by his preaching, Whitefield "insisted on sole control of the orphanage". He refused to give the Trustees a financial accounting. The Trustees also objected to Whitefield's using "a wrong Method" to control the children, who "are often kept praying and crying all the Night".[4] returning to North America in 1740, he preached a series of revivals that came to be known as the First Great Awakening. 1740 he engaged Moravian Brethren from Georgia to build an orphanage for negro children on land he had bought in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. a theological disagreement, he dismissed them and was unable to complete the building, which the Moravians subsequently bought and completed. This now is the Whitefield House in the center of the Moravian settlement of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The Whitefield House is owned by the Moravian Historical Society, and operates as the Society's museum and administrative offices.[20][21] preached nearly every day for months to large crowds of sometimes several thousand people as he traveled throughout the colonies, especially New England. His journey on horseback from New York City to Charleston, South Carolina, was at that time the longest in North America by a white man.[22] his contemporary and acquaintance, Jonathan Edwards, Whitefield preached staunchly Calvinist theology that was in line with the "moderate Calvinism" of the Thirty-nine Articles.[23] While explicitly affirming God's sole agency in salvation, Whitefield freely offered the Gospel, saying at the end of his sermons: "Come poor, lost, undone sinner, come just as you are to Christ."[24] meetings[edit] Whitefield preaching. 1857 engraving Church of England did not assign him a pulpit, so he began preaching in parks and fields in England on his own, reaching out to people who normally did not attend church. Like Jonathan Edwards, he developed a style of preaching that elicited emotional responses from his audiences. But Whitefield had charisma, and his loud voice, his small stature, and even his cross-eyed appearance (which some people took as a mark of divine favour) all served to help make him one of the first celebrities in the American colonies.[25] Whitefield included slaves in his revivals and their response was positive. Historians see this as "the genesis of African-American Christianity."[26] Whitefield "the gospel message was so critically important that he felt compelled to use all earthly means to get the word out."[27] Thanks to widespread dissemination of print media, perhaps half of all colonists eventually heard about, read about, or read something written by Whitefield. He employed print systematically, sending advance men to put up broadsides and distribute handbills announcing his sermons. He also arranged to have his sermons published.[28] sought to influence the colonies after he returned to England from his 1740 tour in America. He contracted to have his autobiographical Journals published throughout America. These Journals have been characterized as "the ideal vehicle for crafting a public image that could work in his absence." They depicted Whitefield in the "best possible light". When he returned to America for his third tour in 1745, he was better known than when he had left.[29] of Whitefield's publicity was the work of William Seward, a wealthy layman who accompanied Whitefield. Seward acted as Whitefield's "fund-raiser, business co-ordinator, and publicist". He furnished newspapers and booksellers with material, including copies of Whitefield's writings.[4] Whitefield returned to England in 1742, a crowd Whitefield estimated at 20,000 and William M'Culloch, the local minister, at 30,000, met him.[30] One such open-air congregation took place on Minchinhampton common. Whitefield preached to the "Rodborough congregation" - a gathering of 10,000 people - at a place now known as "Whitefield's tump." and advocate of slavery[edit] Staffordshire figure painted earthenware bust modelled and made by Enoch Wood, c. 1790 was a plantation owner and slaveholder, and viewed the work of slaves as essential for funding his orphanage's operations.[31][32] contemporary, John Wesley denounced slavery as "the sum of all villainies," and detailed its abuses.[33][34] However, defenses of slavery were common among 18th-century Protestants, especially missionaries who used the institution to emphasize God's providence.[35] was at first conflicted about slaves. He believed that they were human, and was angered that they were treated as "subordinate Creatures".[36] Nevertheless, George whitefield and his friend, James Habersham, played an important role in the reintroduction of slavery to Georgia.[37] had been outlawed in the young colony of Georgia in 1735. In 1747, Whitefield attributed the financial woes of his Bethesda Orphanage to Georgia's prohibition of black people in the colony.[35] He argued that "the constitution of that colony [Georgia] is very bad, and it is impossible for the inhabitants to subsist" while blacks were banned.[31] 1748 and 1750, Whitefield campaigned for the legalisation of African-American emigration into the colony because the trustees of Georgia had banned slavery. Whitefield argued that the colony would never be prosperous unless slaves were allowed to farm the land.[38] Whitefield wanted slavery legalized not only for the prosperity of the colony, but also for the financial viability of the Bethesda Orphanage. "Had Negroes been allowed" to live in Georgia, he said, "I should now have had a sufficiency to support a great many orphans without expending above half the sum that has been laid out."[31] Whitefield's push for the legalization of slave emigration in to Georgia "cannot be explained solely on the basics of economics." It was also his hope for their adoption and for their eternal salvation.[39] slaves were permitted to live in Georgia in 1751.[38] Whitefield saw the "legalization of (black residency) as part personal victory and part divine will."[40] Whitefield now argued a scriptural justification for black residency as slaves. He increased the number of the black children at his orphanage, using his preaching to raise money to house them. Whitefield became "perhaps the most energetic, and conspicuous, evangelical defender and practitioner of the rights of black people.[4] By propagating such "a theological defense for" black residency Whitefield helped slaveholders prosper.[39] Upon his death, Whitefield left everything in the orphanage to the Countess of Huntingdon. This included 4,000 acres of land and 50 black slaves.[4] against cruel treatment of slaves[edit] 1740, during his second visit to America, Whitefield published "an open letter to the planters of South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland" chastising them for their cruelty to their slaves. He wrote, "I think God has a Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes."[41] Furthermore, Whitefield wrote: "Your dogs are caressed and fondled at your tables; but your slaves who are frequently styled dogs or beasts, have not an equal privilege."[31] However, Whitefield "stopped short of rendering a moral judgment on slavery itself as an institution."[39] have claimed that the Bethesda Orphanage "set an example of humane treatment" of black people.[42] Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784), who was a slave, wrote a poem On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield in 1770. The first line calls Whitefield a "happy saint".[43] Franklin and Whitefield[edit] Franklin attended a revival meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was greatly impressed with Whitefield's ability to deliver a message to such a large group. Franklin had previously dismissed as exaggeration reports of Whitefield preaching to crowds of the order of tens of thousands in England. listening to Whitefield preaching from the Philadelphia court house, Franklin walked away towards his shop in Market Street until he could no longer hear Whitefield distinctly—Whitefield could be heard over 500 feet. He then estimated his distance from Whitefield and calculated the area of a semicircle centred on Whitefield. Allowing two square feet per person he computed that Whitefield could be heard by over 30,000 people in the open air.[44][45] admired Whitefield as a fellow intellectual but thought Whitefield's plan to run an orphanage in Georgia would lose money. He published several of Whitefield's tracts and was impressed by Whitefield's ability to preach and speak with clarity and enthusiasm to crowds. Franklin was an ecumenist and approved of Whitefield's appeal to members of many denominations, but, unlike Whitefield, was not an evangelical. After one of Whitefield's sermons, Franklin noted the: ... change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. — Franklin 1888, p. 135 lifelong close friendship developed between the revivalist preacher and the worldly Franklin.[46] Looking beyond their public images, one finds a common charity, humility, and ethical sense embedded in the character of each man. True loyalty based on genuine affection, coupled with a high value placed on friendship, helped their association grow stronger over time.[47] Letters exchanged between Franklin and Whitefield can be found at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.[48] These letters document the creation of an orphanage for boys named the Charity School. in 1749, Franklin chose the Whitefield meeting house, with its Charity School, to be purchased as the site of the newly-formed Academy of Philadelphia which opened in 1751, followed in 1755 with the College of Philadelphia, both the predecessors of the University of Pennsylvania. statue of George Whitefield is located in the Dormitory Quadrangle, standing in front of the Morris and Bodine sections of the present Ware College House on the University of Pennsylvania campus.[49] 2 July 2020, the University of Pennsylvania announced they would be removing the statue due to Whitefield's connection to slavery. [50] Timeline of Whitefield's travel to America[51] 1738 First voyage to America, Spent three months in Georgia. 1740–1741 Second voyage to America. Established Bethesda Orphan House. Preached in New England. 1745–1748 Third voyage to America. In poor health. 1751–1752 Fourth voyage to America. 1754 Fifth voyage to America. 1763–1765 Sixth voyage to America. Traveled east coast. 1770 Seventh voyage to America. Wintered in Georgia, then traveled to New England where he died. is remembered as one of the first to preach to slaves.[32] Phillis Wheatley wrote a poem in his memory after he died, while she was still a slave.[52] an age when crossing the Atlantic Ocean was a long and hazardous adventure, he visited America seven times, making 13 ocean crossings in total. is estimated that throughout his life, he preached more than 18,000 formal sermons, of which 78 have been published.[53] addition to his work in North America and England, he made 15 journeys to Scotland—most famously to the "Preaching Braes" of Cambuslang in 1742—two journeys to Ireland, and one each to Bermuda, Gibraltar, and the Netherlands.[54] In England and Wales, Whitefield's itinerary included every county.[55] went to the Georgia Colony in 1738 following John Wesley's departure, to serve as a colonial chaplain at Savannah.[56] While in Georgia, Whitefield served as minister for an orphanage and traveled extensively throughout both North America and Britain in an effort to raise money for the organization. He would often preach and attend public events during his travels, which served to further spread his message.[57] believe it is God's will that I should marry", George Whitefield wrote to a friend in 1740.[58] But he was concerned: "I pray God that I may not have a wife till I can live as though I had none." That ambivalence—believing God willed a wife, yet wanting to live as if without one—brought Whitefield a disappointing love life and a largely unhappy marriage.[58] wife Elizabeth, a widow previously Elizabeth James, née Gwynne, married Whitefield on 14 November 1741,[59] After their 1744–48 stay in America, she never accompanied him on his travels. Whitefield reflected that "none in America could bear her". His wife believed that she had been "but a load and burden" to him. Cornelius Winter, who for a time lived with the Whitefields, observed that Whitefield "was not happy in his wife". Thus, "her death set his mind much at liberty". died of a fever on 9 August 1768. She was buried in a vault at the Tottenham Court Road Chapel. At the end of the 19th century the Chapel needed restoration and all those interred there, except Augustus Toplady, were moved to Chingford Mount cemetery in north London.[4] [60] 1743 after four miscarriages, Elizabeth had bore the couple's only child, a son. The baby died at four months old.[58] 1770, the 55-year-old Whitefield continued preaching in spite of poor health. He said, "I would rather wear out than rust out." His last sermon was preached in a field "atop a large barrel".[61] The next morning Whitefield died in the parsonage of Old South Presbyterian Church,[62] Newburyport, Massachusetts, on 30 September 1770, and was buried, according to his wishes, in a crypt under the pulpit of this church.[4] A bust of Whitefield is in the collection of the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery. George Whitefield's grave in the crypt of Old South Presbyterian Church, Newburyport, Massachusetts between Jonathan Parsons and Joseph Prince It was John Wesley who preached his funeral sermon in London, at Whitefield's request.[63] left almost £1,500 (equivalent to £209,000 in 2019) to friends and family. Furthermore, he had deposited £1,000 (equivalent to £140,000 in 2019) for his wife if he predeceased her and had contributed £3,300 (equivalent to £461,000 in 2019) to the Bethesda Orphanage. "Questions concerning the source of his personal wealth dogged his memory. His will stated that all this money had lately been left him 'in a most unexpected way and unthought of means.'"[4] to other Methodist leaders[edit] terms of theology, Whitefield, unlike John Wesley, was a supporter of Calvinism.[64] The two differed on eternal election, final perseverance, and sanctification, but were reconciled as friends and co-workers, each going his own way. is a prevailing misconception that Whitefield was not primarily an organizer like Wesley. However, as Wesleyan historian Luke Tyerman states, "It is notable that the first Calvinistic Methodist Association was held eighteen months before Wesley held his first Methodist Conference."[65] He was a man of profound experience, which he communicated to audiences with clarity and passion. His patronization by the Countess of Huntingdon reflected this emphasis on practice. and controversy[edit] welcomed opposition because as he said, "the more I am opposed, the more joy I feel".[66] He proved himself adept at creating controversy. In his 1740 visit to Charles Town, it "took Whitefield only four days to plunge Charles Town into religious and social controversy."[67] thought he might be martyred for his views. After he attacked the established church he predicted that he would "be set at nought by the Rabbies of our Church, and perhaps at last be killed by them".[4] versus other clergy[edit] Whitefield had a strained relationship with John Wesley (depicted in an engraving). chastised other clergy for teaching only "the shell and shadow of religion" because they did not hold the necessity of a new birth, without which a person would be "thrust down into Hell".[4] his 1740–1741 visit to America (as he had done in England), he attacked other clergy (mostly Anglican) calling them "God's persecutors". He said that Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London with supervision over Anglican clergy in America,[68] knew no "more of Christianity, than Mahaomet, or an Infidel".[4] Whitefield preached at St. Philip's, Charleston, the Commissary, Alexander Garden, suspended him as a "vagabond clergyman." After being suspended, Whitefield attacked all South Carolina's Anglican clergy in print.[4] Furthermore, Whitefield issued a blanket indictment of New England's Congregational ministers for their "lack of zeal".[4] 1740, Whitefield published attacks on "the works of two of Anglicanism's revered seventeenth-century authors". Whitefield wrote that John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury (1691–1694), had "no more been a true Christian than had Muhammad". He also attacked Richard Allestree's The Whole Duty of Man, one of Anglicanism's most popular spiritual tracts. At least once Whitefield had his followers burn the tract "with great Detestation".[4] England and Scotland (1741–1744), Whitefield bitterly accused John Wesley of undermining his work. He preached against Wesley, arguing that Wesley's attacks on predestination had alienated "very many of my spiritual children". Wesley replied that Whitefield's attacks were "treacherous" and that Whitefield had made himself "odious and contemptible".[4] However, the two reconciled in later life. with Wesley, Whitefield had been influenced by the Moravian Church, but in 1753 he condemned them and attacked their leader, Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf, and their practices.[4] Joseph Trapp criticized Whitefield's Journals, Whitefield retorted that Trapp was "no Christian but a servant of Satan".[4] versus Whitefield[edit] Mezzotint of Whitefield after James Moore, after 1751 Scottish, and American clergy attacked Whitefield, often in response to his attacks on them and Anglicanism, as documented in this section. Early in his career, Whitefield criticized the Church of England. In response, clergy called Whitefield one of "the young quacks in divinity" who are "breaking the peace and unity" of the church. 1738 to 1741, Whitefield issued seven Journals.[69] A sermon in St Paul's Cathedral depicted them as "a medley of vanity, and nonsense, and blasphemy jumbled together". Joseph Trapp called the Journals "blasphemous" and accused Whitefield of being "besotted either with pride or madness".[4] England, by 1738 when he was ordained priest, Whitefield wrote that "the spirit of the clergy began to be much embittered" and that "churches were gradually denied me".[70] In response to Whitefield's Journals, the bishop of London, Edmund Gibson, published a 1739 pastoral letter criticizing Whitefield.[71][72] Whitefield responded by labeling Anglican clerics as "lazy, non-spiritual, and pleasure seeking". He rejected ecclesiastical authority claiming that 'the whole world is now my parish'.[4] 1740, Whitefield had attacked John Tillotson and Richard Allestree's The Whole Duty of Man. These attacks resulted in hostile responses and reduced attendance at his London open-air preaching.[4] 1741, Whitefield made his first visit to Scotland at the invitation of "Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, leaders of the breakaway Associate Presbytery. When they demanded and Whitefield refused that he preach only in their churches, they attacked him as a "sorcerer" and a "vain-glorious, self-seeking, puffed-up creature". In addition, Whitefield's collecting money for his Bethesda orphanage, combined with the hysteria evoked by his open-air sermons, resulted in bitter attacks in Edinburgh and Glasgow."[4] itinerant preaching throughout the colonies was opposed by Bishop Benson who had ordained him for a settled ministry in Georgia. Whitefield replied that if bishops did not authorize his itinerant preaching, God would give him the authority.[4] 1740, Jonathan Edwards invited Whitefield to preach in his church in Northampton. Edwards was "deeply disturbed by his unqualified appeals to emotion, his openly judging those he considered unconverted, and his demand for instant conversions". Whitefield refused to discuss Edwards' misgivings with him. Later, Edwards delivered a series of sermons containing but "thinly veiled critiques" of Whitefield's preaching, "warning against over-dependence upon a preacher's eloquence and fervency".[4] Whitefield's 1744–1748 visit to America, ten critical pamphlets were published, two by officials of Harvard and Yale. This criticism was in part evoked by Whitefield's criticism of "their education and Christian commitment" in his Journal of 1741. Whitefield saw this opposition as "a conspiracy" against him.[4] versus laity[edit] Whitefield preached in a dissenting church and "the congregation's response was dismal," he ascribed the response to "the people's being hardened" as were "Pharaoh and the Egyptians" in the Bible.[73] versus Whitefield[edit] New Englanders claimed that Whitefield destroyed "New England's orderly parish system, communities, and even families". The "Declaration of the Association of the County of New Haven, 1745" stated that after Whitefield's preaching "religion is now in a far worse state than it was".[4] After Whitefield preached in Charlestown, a local newspaper article attacked him as "blasphemous, uncharitable, and unreasonable."[74] Whitefield condemned Moravians and their practices, his former London printer (a Moravian), called Whitefield "a Mahomet, a Caesar, an imposter, a Don Quixote, a devil, the beast, the man of sin, the Antichrist".[4] the open air in Dublin, Ireland (1757), Whitefield condemned Roman Catholicism, inciting an attack by "hundreds and hundreds of papists" who cursed and wounded him severely and smashed his portable pulpit.[4] various occasions, a woman assaulted Whitefield with "scissors and a pistol, and her teeth". "Stones and dead cats" were thrown at him. A man almost killed him with a brass-headed cane. "Another climbed a tree to urinate on him."[75] In 1760, Whitefield was burlesqued by Samuel Foote in The Minor.[76] changes[edit] Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon made Whitefield her personal chaplain. In her chapel, it was noted that his preaching was "more Considered among persons of a Superior Rank" who attended the Countess's services. Whitefield was humble before the Countess saying that he cried when he was "thinking of your Ladyship's condescending to patronize such a dead dog as I am". He now said that he "highly esteemed bishops of the Church of England because of their sacred character". He confessed that in "many things" he had "judged and acted wrong" and had "been too bitter in my zeal". In 1763, in a defense of Methodism, Whitefield "repeated contrition for much contained in his Journals".[4] the nobility who heard Whitefield in the Countess of Huntingdon's home was Lady Townshend.[77] Regarding the changes in Whitefield, someone asked Lady Townshend, "Pray, madam, is it true that Whitefield has recanted?" She replied, "No, sir, he has only canted."[78] One meaning of cant is "to affect religious or pietistic phraseology, esp. as a matter of fashion or profession; to talk unreally or hypocritically with an affectation of goodness or piety.".[79] innovation[edit] the First Great Awakening, rather than listening demurely to preachers, people groaned and roared in enthusiastic emotion. Whitefield was a "passionate preacher" who often "shed tears". Underlying this was his conviction that genuine religion "engaged the heart, not just the head".[80] his preaching, Whitefield used a number of rhetorical ploys that were characteristic of theater, an artistic medium largely unknown in colonial America. Stout 1991 refers to him as a "divine dramatist" and ascribes his success to the theatrical sermons which laid foundations to a new form of pulpit oratory. Whitefield's "Abraham Offering His Son Isaac" is an example of a sermon whose whole structure resembles a theatrical play.[81] divinity schools opened to challenge the hegemony of Yale and Harvard; personal experience became more important than formal education for preachers. Such concepts and habits formed a necessary foundation for the American Revolution.[82] Whitefield's preaching bolstered "the evolving republican ideology that sought local democratic control of civil affairs and freedom from monarchial and parliamentary intrusion."[83] sermons were widely reputed to inspire his audience's enthusiasm. Many of them as well as his letters and journals were published during his lifetime. He was an excellent orator as well, strong in voice and adept at extemporaneity.[84] His voice was so expressive that people are said to have wept just hearing him allude to "Mesopotamia". His journals, originally intended only for private circulation, were first published by Thomas Cooper.[85][86] James Hutton then published a version with Whitefield's approval. His exuberant and "too apostolical" language were criticised; his journals were no longer published after 1741.[87] prepared a new installment in 1744–45, but it was not published until 1938. 19th-century biographies generally refer to his earlier work, A Short Account of God's Dealings with the Reverend George Whitefield (1740), which covered his life up to his ordination. In 1747 he published A Further Account of God's Dealings with the Reverend George Whitefield, covering the period from his ordination to his first voyage to Georgia. In 1756, a vigorously edited version of his journals and autobiographical accounts was published.[88][89] Whitefield was "profoundly image-conscious". His writings were "intended to convey Whitefield and his life as a model for biblical ethics ... , as humble and pious".[90] Whitefield's death, John Gillies, a Glasgow friend, published a memoir and six volumes of works, comprising three volumes of letters, a volume of tracts, and two volumes of sermons. Another collection of sermons was published just before he left London for the last time in 1769. These were disowned by Whitefield and Gillies, who tried to buy all copies and pulp them. They had been taken down in shorthand, but Whitefield said that they made him say nonsense on occasion. These sermons were included in a 19th-century volume, Sermons on Important Subjects, along with the "approved" sermons from the Works. An edition of the journals, in one volume, was edited by William Wale in 1905. This was reprinted with additional material in 1960 by the Banner of Truth Trust. It lacks the Bermuda journal entries found in Gillies' biography and the quotes from manuscript journals found in 19th-century biographies. A comparison of this edition with the original 18th-century publications shows numerous omissions—some minor and a few major.[91] also wrote several hymns. Charles Wesley composed a hymn in 1739, "Hark, how all the welkin rings". Whitefield revised the opening couplet in 1758 for "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing".[92]

England, 1755-1774, Major General William Johnson, Husband of Mohawk Molly Bryant
Major General William Johnson, Husband of Molly Bryant, served 1755-1774; MARY (MOLLY) BRANT, WITNESS TO THE FAITH AMONG THE MOHAWKS, 1796, Commemorated April 16 ;

England, 1760-1820, George III, King of GB and UK, conflicts, his Kingdom, Europe, Colonies, Africa, Asia
England, 1760-1820, King of Great Britain, George III of the United Kingdom; WILLIAM WILBERFORCE [and ANTHONY ASHLEY-COOPER, 7th EARL OF SHAFTESBURY], PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1833, 1885, Commemorated July 30; Samuel Johnson of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; Timothy Cutler of SAMUEL JOHNSON, TIMOTHY CUTLER, & THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, PRIESTS, 1772, 1765, 1790, Commemorated August 17 ; HENRY MUHLENBERG, PATRIARCH OF AMERICAN LUTHERANS, 7 October 1787 ; HENRY MARTYN, MISSIONARY AND TRANSLATOR (19 OCT 1812); WILLIAM CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA, 19 October 1834; CHARLES SIMEON, TEACHER, PROMOTOR OF MISSIONARY WORK (12 NOV 1836); SAMUEL SEABURY, BISHOP (14 NOV 1784), (BESTOWAL OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE); Francis Ashbury of FRANCIS ASBURY & GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelists, 1816, 1770; George Whitefield of FRANCIS ASBURY & GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelists, 1816, 1770; JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH (3 MAR 1791); JOHN KEBLE, PRIEST, POET, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (29 MAR 1866), Commemorated March 29; MARY (MOLLY) BRANT, WITNESS TO THE FAITH AMONG THE MOHAWKS, 1796, Commemorated April 16;

England, 1765-1816, Francis Asbury, Hamstead Bridge, West Midlands, US Methodist Episcopal bishop
England, 1765-1816, Francis Asbury, Hamstead Bridge, West Midlands, US Methodist Episcopal bishop; Hamstead Bridge, West Midlands ; Francis Asbury of FRANCIS ASBURY & GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelists, 1816, 1770, Commemorated November 15; Asbury (August 20, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. In 1784 John Wesley named Asbury and Thomas Coke as co-superintendents of the work in America. This marks the beginning of the "Methodist Episcopal Church of the USA". For the next thirty-two years, Asbury led all the Methodists in America. Wesley, Asbury preached in all sorts of places: courthouses, public houses, tobacco houses, fields, public squares, wherever a crowd assembled to hear him. For the remainder of his life he rode an average of 6000 miles each year, preaching virtually every day and conducting meetings and conferences. Under his direction, the church grew from 1,200 to 214,000 members and 700 ordained preachers. from Wikipedia Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ministry, traveling on horseback and by carriage thousands of miles to those living on the frontier. spread Methodism in British colonial America as part of the Second Great Awakening. He also founded several schools during his lifetime, although his own formal education was limited. His journal is valuable to scholars for its account of frontier society, with references to many towns and villages in Colonial America.[1] and adolescence Bishop Asbury Cottage, Asbury's boyhood home at Great Barr Asbury was born at Hamstead Bridge, Staffordshire, England on August 20 or 21, 1745, to Elizabeth and Joseph Asbury. The family moved to a cottage at Great Barr, Sandwell, the next year.[2] His boyhood home still stands and is open as Bishop Asbury Cottage museum.[3] after the family moved to Great Barr, in May 1748, Asbury's older sister, Sarah, died; he was less than three years old. Asbury wrote later that his mother Eliza was "very much a woman of the world"; with his sister's death, she "sank into deep distress....from which she was not relieved for many years," and was living "in a very, dark, dark, dark, day and place".[4] A few years later she found a renewed Christian faith as itinerant preachers, either Baptist or Methodists, visited Barr on a revival circuit. From then on she began to read the Bible every day and encouraged her son to do so as well.[4] deep faith may not have been shared by her husband, who seemed to have problems, possibly drink or gambling. Francis Asbury described his father as "industrious." The husband supported his wife in her faith and witness: he allowed Methodist meetings to be held each Sunday in the cottage.[5] Asbury's childhood the West Midlands was undergoing massive changes as the industrial revolution swept through the area. Waves of workers migrated into the area, attracted by jobs in the growing factories and workshops in Birmingham and the Black Country of the mines. Asburys lived in a cottage tied to a public house, on a main route between the mines and the factories. They would have been aware of the drinking, gambling, poverty and poor behaviour prevalent in the area.[6] Asbury attended a local endowed school in Snail's Green, a nearby hamlet. He did not get on well with his fellow pupils who ridiculed him because of his mother's religious beliefs. the 1740s there had been widespread anti-Methodist rioting in Wednesbury and the surrounding area, and into the 1750s a great deal of persecution. Nor did he like his teacher and left school at the first opportunity.[7] took a keen interest in religion, having "felt something of God as early as the age of seven".[8] He lived not far from All Saint's Church, Bromwich, which under the patronage of the Methodist Earl of Dartmouth, provided a living for Evangelical minister Edward Stillinghurst. Well connected, Stillinghurst invited as visiting preachers some of the foremost preachers and theologians of the day. These included John Fletcher, John Ryland, Henry Venn, John Cennick and Benjamin Ingham. His mother encouraged Francis to meet with the Methodists in Wednesbury, eventually joining a "band" with four other young men who would meet and pray together. For them a typical Sunday would be a preaching meeting at 5.00 am, communion at the parish church mid morning, and attending a preaching meeting again at 5.00 pm.[9] had his first formal job at age thirteen; he went "into service" for local gentry, whom he later described as "one of the most unGodly families in the parish". But he soon left them and is believed to have eventually worked for Thomas Foxall, at the Old Forge Farm,[10] where he made metal goods. He became great friends with Foxall's son, Henry.[11] They developed a friendship, which continued after Henry Foxall's emigration to Colonial America. There he continued working with metal and established the Foundry Church in Georgetown, now part of Washington, D.C. began to preach locally, and eventually became an itinerant preacher on behalf of the Methodist cause.[12] Asbury's preaching ministry in England is detailed in the section below: "Asbury's circuits in England". work in America the age of 22, Asbury's selection by John Wesley as a traveling lay preacher became official. Typically such positions were held by young, unmarried men, known as exhorters. In 1771 Asbury volunteered to travel to British North America. His first sermon in the Colonies took place with the Methodist congregation in Woodrow, Staten Island.[13] Within the first 17 days of being in the colonies, Asbury preached in both Philadelphia and New York. During the first year, he served as Wesley's assistant and preached in 25 different settlements. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he and James Dempster were the only British Methodist lay ministers to remain in America.[14] "During his early years in North America, Asbury devoted his attention mainly to followers living on the eastern shore between the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay. Bishop Asbury was a good friend of the Melsons and was their guest many times on his rounds. When the American revolution severed the traditional ties between the American Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain, Bishop Asbury, in the interest of his religious tenets and principles and in an attempt to remain aloof from the political and military fervor that swept the country, announced he would, to keep the embryonic Methodist congregations neutral, refrain from endorsing either Great Britain or the newly formed United States of America government and urged all his followers to do the same. This request placed almost all of his followers, especially those living in Maryland, in an untenable position. The State of Maryland had enacted a law requiring all citizens to take an Oath of Allegiance to the newly formed American Congress. In addition to this, it stipulated all non-residents within its boundaries also had to take and sign an Oath of Allegiance. Those refusing were summarily incarcerated for treason. Asbury, after proclaiming his neutrality, fled to Delaware, where taking an oath of allegiance was not a requirement. His adherents in Maryland suffered the rancor of the proponents of the Oath."[15] remained hidden during the war and ventured occasionally back into Maryland. Sometimes this had the effect of compromising his parishioners. Asbury did not become ordained or a bishop until December 1784. 1780, Asbury met the freedman Henry "Black Harry" Hosier, a meeting the minister believed "providentially arranged".[16] Hosier served as his driver and guide and, though illiterate, memorized long passages of the Bible as Asbury read them aloud during their travels. Hosier eventually became a famous preacher in his own right, the first African American to preach directly to a white congregation in the United States.[16] Camp Meeting the fall of 1800, Asbury attended one of the events of the Revival of 1800 as he travelled from Kentucky into Tennessee. The combined Presbyterian and Methodist communion observance made a deep impression on Asbury; it was as an early experience for him of multi-day meetings, which included attendees camping on the grounds or sleeping in their wagons around the meeting house. He recorded the events in his journal: it showed the relation between religious revivalism and camp meetings, later a staple of nineteenth-century frontier Methodism.[17] and Consecrated a bishop The Ordination of Bishop Asbury, an engraving of an 1882 painting of the scene 1784, John Wesley named Asbury and Thomas Coke as co-superintendents of the work in the United States. The Christmas Conference that year marked the beginning of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. It was during this Conference that Asbury was ordained by Coke.[18] the next 32 years, Asbury led all the Methodists in America. However, his leadership did not go unchallenged. His idea for a ruling council was opposed by such notables as William McKendree, Jesse Lee, and James O'Kelly. Eventually, based on advice by Coke, he established in 1792 a General Conference, to which delegates could be sent, as a way of building broader support. journeys Wesley, Asbury preached in myriad of places: courthouses, public houses, tobacco houses, fields, public squares, wherever a crowd assembled to hear him. For the remainder of his life, he rode an average of 6,000 miles each year, preaching virtually every day and conducting meetings and conferences. Under his direction, the church grew from 1,200 to 214,000 members and 700 ordained preachers. Among the men he ordained was Richard Allen in Philadelphia, the first black Methodist minister in the United States who later founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the country. Another African American was Daniel Coker, who emigrated to Sierra Leone in 1820 and became the first Methodist minister there from the West. Bishop Asbury also ordained Peter Cartwright in the fall of 1806.[19] health and death 1813, Asbury wrote his will. This was a time when "the greatest membership gain in the history of the church" was achieved.[20] In 1814 his health started to fail and he became ill. In 1816 he started to regain strength and continued his preaching journey. He "preached his last Sermon in Richmond, Virginia" on March 24, "and died at the home of George Arnold near Fredericksburg" on March 31.[21] Asbury died in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, in Baltimore, near the graves of Bishops John Emory and Beverly Waugh. as a preacher an exciting time in American history, Asbury was reported to be an extraordinary preacher. Biographer Ezra Squier Tipple wrote: "If to speak with authority as the accredited messenger of God; to have credentials which bear the seal of heaven ... if when he lifted the trumpet to his lips the Almighty blew the blast; if to be conscious of an ever-present sense of God, God the Summoner, God the Anointing One, God the Judge, and to project it into speech which would make his hearers tremble, melt them with terror, and cause them to fall as dead men; if to be and do all this would entitle a man to be called a great preacher, then Asbury was a great preacher." habits Asbury had a great distrust of personal popularity, and equally marked distaste of personal publicity".[22] Not being a vain person, he did not care to have his image preserved. He had been in America for 23 years, and a bishop for 10 years before he had let a portrait be made of him. His friend James McCannon persuaded him to have it done. Asbury had had a portrait painted of him for his mother in 1797. His last portrait was made in 1813 by an unknown artist in Strasburgh, Pennsylvania. had times when he tended to have gloomy thoughts and opinions. He believed himself to be "a true prophet of evil tidings, as it suits my cast of mind".[23] Although he was pessimistic, those who knew him considered him an extremely sensitive person. In his journal he recorded more failures and misgivings than success in his ministry. He loved simplicity and had "frequent spells of morbid depression".[23] He tended to use cynical sarcasm in his preachings. One of the typical prayers he would say, even on his way to America, was "Lord, we are in thy hands and in thy work. Thou knowest what is best of us and for thy work; whether plenty or poverty. The hearts of all men are in thy hands. If it is best for us and for thy church that we should be cramped and straitened, let the people's hands and hearts be closed: If it is better for us; for the church,—and more to thy glory that we should abound in the comforts of life; do thou dispose the hearts of those we serve to give accordingly: and may we learn to be content whether we abound, or suffer need".[24] rose at 5 every morning to read the Bible. He was impatient with those who did not do the tasks assigned to them as soon as the task was assigned. He was "one of the wisest and most farseeing men of his day".[25] journal September 4, 1771, at the age of 26, Francis Asbury began his journey to Philadelphia from Pill near Bristol, England. "It cost him much to leave home and kindred, as is witnessed by his affectionate letters and sacrificial remittances home: but the call of God was not to be denied".[26] Before he left, he wrote a letter to his family. "I wonder sometimes how anyone will sit to hear me, but the Lord covers my weakness with his power…. I trust you will be easy and more quiet. As for me, I know what I am called to. It is to give up all, and to have my hands and heart in the work, yea, the nearest and dearest friends…. Let others condemn me as being without natural affection, disobedient to parents, or say what they please…. I love my parents and friends, but I love my God better and his service…. And tho' I have given up all, I do not repent, for I have found all".[27] On this voyage he began a journal. "In his journal he pours out the feelings and impulses of the moment, but often without giving a clue to either the offender or the offense".[28] He became seasick for the first week but had recovered. He was "poor in material things, but rich in the spiritual atmosphere created and maintained by his mother".[29] He also spent a lot of time studying and reading the Bible and books written by Wesley. On September 22, September 29, and October 6, he preached to the ship's company. Finally, on October 27, he landed at his destination in Philadelphia. His journal also contains some references to opinions of ministers who disagreed with the Methodist leadership, such as Rev. Charles Hopkins of Powhatan County, Virginia who had rejected the Methodist ideals several years before. journal also frequently mentioned Thomas S. Hinde who was the son of Dr. Thomas Hinde and founder of the city of Mount Carmel, Illinois.[30] circuits in England article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Francis Asbury" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) travels in America are amply noted in his three-volume journal, The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury. However, his travels in England are much harder to piece together as very little information exists.[31] John Wigger provide some details in American Saint, his biography on Asbury.[32] 1763, Asbury began leading the class of about two dozen faithful at the West Bromwich Wesleyan society. In March 1765, his mentor, Wesleyan Alexander Mather asked Asbury to assist him. For the next 11 months, the twenty-year-old Asbury taught and preached around the Staffordshire circuit. The circuit consisted of small Wesleyan societies in West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Billbrook. These areas were the foundation of Methodism in the Black Country. During this initial phase of his circuits around England, two Wesleyan preachers offered the majority of the young preachers mentoring. The first was the already mentioned Scottish itinerant, Mather. The second was an English preacher from Bedfordshire, James Glasbrook. These two taught Asbury, John Wesley's basic requirements for a Wesleyan itinerant preacher. January 1766, Mather offered him the opportunity to quit the forge and join the Wesleyan movement as a full-time itinerant on a trial basis. The twenty-one-year-old Asbury accepted.[citation needed] Part of his training as a full-time traveling preacher required that he read extensively from books suggested by Wesley, who made them available in London, Bristol and Newcastle. The list included several Divinity Books: the Bible, Wesley's tracts, the works of Boehm and Francke. There were also books on Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, History, Poetry and Latin Prose. There were also books on Latin Verse, Greek Prose, including the Greek New Testament, Greek Verse - including Homer's Iliad, and the Hebrew Bible. the next five months, during his circuits in England Asbury teamed with William Orpe, a young preacher who was the Hebrew teacher at Wesley's Kingswood School in Bristol. They covered the large Staffordshire circuit that encompassed not only Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Willenhall, Walsall, Wednesbury, Darlaston and Billbrook, but also an extended portion to the south in Worcestershire, Tewkesbury and Gloucestershire. Despite his happiness with his new career, Asbury struggled with a sense that his efforts were somewhat limited. He was still living with his parents, he was preaching in places that had heard him preach for the last five years. He looked for more travel and more responsibility. pressed Mather to assign Asbury to the low round of the Staffordshire circuit, and found it more grueling than he had anticipated. After twelve months Mather sent him home for a short break. Asbury then received instructions to head for London. The London conference of 1767 assigned Asbury to the Bedfordshire circuit. London, it is likely that Asbury met George Whitefield when he attended worship at Whitefield's Tabernacle. At the time of Asbury's arrival in London, Benjamin Franklin was staying in London and a guest of his friend Whitefield, whom he had met years earlier during one of Whitefield's trips to America. Along with Franklin at Whitefield's home were Connecticut colonial leaders including a Mohegan Indian named Samson Occum and his traveling companion, Princeton College Presbyterian minister, Nathaniel Whitaker, Lord Dartmouth, and the merchant Dennis De Bert. Occum and Whitaker were in England to raise money for their Indian Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut. Spending a couple months in London before the August conference, it is likely that Asbury not only heard Samson Occum speak at The Tabernacle, but also had opportunity to meet this unique group. 18, 1767 the conference in London began at John and Charles Wesley's Foundry Church. At this conference, Wesley assigned Asbury to the sprawling Bedfordshire circuit. In addition to Bedfordshire, Asbury was officially admitted on trial and teamed with Bedfordshire native, James Glasbrook. The main locations were Hertford, Luton, Sundon, Millbrook, Bedford, Clifton and Northampton. It was a rural circuit made up of small societies whose total membership was just 208 people.[33] lieu of attending the 1768 conference in Bristol, Asbury is given instructions to wait in London to await his next assignment. Asbury's short stopover in London occurs at the same time that Benjamin Rush is staying with George Whitefield, having completed his medical studies in Edinburgh. After the Bristol conference in August 1768, Wesley assigns Asbury to the only circuit more difficult than the Staffordshire low Round, Colchester. Asbury will preach along the southern coastline of the River Stour, from Manningtree to Harwich. As beautiful as the scenery is, the area sours with rampant smuggling. Asbury is to preach against smuggling. out of worry for the young itinerant and the dangerous territory he travels, after two months on the Colchester circuit, Asbury receives word to relocate to the Wiltshire circuit. The three main cities of the Wiltshire circuit are Salisbury, Winchester and Portsmouth. In Portsmouth, it is likely that Asbury began his study of Hebrew through the large Jewish settlement that coexisted with the Portsmouth Methodists. In Portsmouth, the majority of the Jewish settlers reside in Portsea, also known as Portsmouth Common, the same area as the Methodists. For the next ten months, he remains on the Wiltshire circuit. 10, 1769, word from the Leeds Conference arrives for Asbury in Salisbury. Word from Wesley is that the next circuit is Oxfordshire. There he teams up with his friend from Staffordshire, Richard Whatcoat. In Oxford, Asbury and Whatcoat occasionally preach from St Giles Church. Asbury and Whatcoat remain in Oxford until Christmas. They are both assigned to preach the Bedfordshire circuit in the new year. In addition to returning to Northampton, Asbury will travel to the smaller Wesleyan societies in Towcester and Whittlebury. He also spends time in Weedon. For the next eight months, Asbury will preach on the western portion of the Bedfordshire circuit. March 1770, Wesley preached at West Bromwich. The news of Wesley draws Asbury to return home after nearly three years away. After his visit home, Asbury returns to the western portion of the Bedfordshire circuit. After the 1770 conference Wesley once again assigns Asbury to Wiltshire. It is during this assignment Asbury is abandoned by his assigned helper, John Catermole, who leaves the Wiltshire circuit after his dealing with a disorderly lay leader who threatens violence to Catermole and Asbury. A visit by Wesley to the struggling Wiltshire circuit results in Wesley asking Asbury to visit the Isle of Wight. It is at the August 1771 conference in Bristol where Asbury volunteers for the circuit simply called, America.

England, 1776, Declaration of Independence, Independence Hall (Philidelphia's State House)
England, 1776, Declaration of Independence, Independence Hall (Philidelphia's State House); Independence Hall (Philidelphia's State House); Continental Congress; INDEPENDENCE DAY, (United States of America) (4 JULY 1776);

England, 1779-1836, CHARLES SIMEON, Teacher
England, 1779-1836, CHARLES SIMEON, Teacher; Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge; CHARLES SIMEON, TEACHER, PROMOTOR OF MISSIONARY WORK (12 NOV 1836) ;

England, 1780, Bampton Lectures, Oxford, new Christian theology
Bampton Lectures; CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 ;

England, 1780-1834, William Carey, Baptist Missionary to India
England, 1795, London Missionary Society, Baptist Missionary Society; WILLIAM CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA, 19 October 1834;

England, 1780-1825, Parlimentarian, William Wilberforce, social reformer, abolition of slavery
England, 1780-1825, Parlimentarian, William Wilberforce ; WILLIAM WILBERFORCE [and ANTHONY ASHLEY-COOPER, 7th EARL OF SHAFTESBURY], PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1833, 1885, Commemorated July 30;

England, 1784, Samuel Seabury became Bishop of US Episcopal Church in Aberdeen, Scotland
Scotland, 1784, Samuel Seabury became Bishop of US Episcopal Church in Aberdeen, Scotland; Aberdeen, Scotland; SAMUEL SEABURY, BISHOP (14 NOV 1784), (BESTOWAL OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE) ; crucial date for members of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America is the consecration of the first Bishop of the Anglican Communion in the United States. During the colonial era, there had been no Anglican bishops in the New World; and persons seeking to be ordained as clergy had had to travel to England for the purpose. After the achievement of American independence, it was important for the Church in the United States to have its own bishops, and an assembly of Connecticut clergy chose Samuel Seabury to go to England and there seek to be consecrated as a bishop. the English bishops were forbidden by law to consecrate anyone who would not take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown. He accordingly turned to the Episcopal Church of Scotland. When the Roman Catholic king James II was deposed in 1688, some of the Anglican clergy (including some who had been imprisoned by James for defying him on religious issues) said that, having sworn allegiance to James as King, they could not during his lifetime swear allegiance to the new monarchs William and Mary. Those who took this position were known as non-Jurors (non-swearers), and they included almost all the bishops and clergy of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. Accordingly, the monarchs and Parliament declared that thenceforth the official church in Scotland should be the Presbyterian Church. The Episcopal Church of Scotland thereafter had no recognition by the government, and for some time operated under serious legal disablities. However, since it had no connection with the government, it was free to consecrate Seabury without government permission, and it did. This is why you see a Cross of St. Andrew on the Episcopal Church flag. Aberdeen, 14 November 1784, Samuel Seabury was consecrated to the Episcopate by the Bishop and the Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen and the Bishop of Ross and Caithness. He thus became part of the unbroken chain of bishops that links the Church today with the Church of the Apostles. In return, he promised them that he would do his best to persuade the American Church to use as its Prayer of Consecration (blessing of the bread and wine at the Lord's Supper) the Scottish prayer, taken largely unchanged from the 1549 Prayer Book, rather than the much shorter one in use in England. The aforesaid prayer, adopted by the American Church with a few modifications, has been widely regarded as one of the greatest treasures of the Church in this country. by James Kiefer

England, 1795-1966, London Missionary Society, Baptist Missionary Society
England, 1795, London Missionary Society, Baptist Missionary Society; WILLIAM CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA, 19 October 1834; ERIC LIDDELL MISSIONARY TO CHINA, 1945, Commemorated February 22;

England, 1800-1899, 19th Century Folder, Q Victria, C Socialism, Smith Wigglesworth, Salvatn Army

England, 1801-1812 , Henry Martyn, Sr Wrangler, Cambridge, Translator, C Simeon, India, Pakistan, Hindi, Persian, Arabic
England, 1801-1812 , Henry Martyn, Senior Wrangler, Cambridge, Translator, Charles Simeon, India, Pakistan, Hindi, Persian, Arabic; Martyn (18 February 1781 - 16 October 1812) was an Anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of India and Persia. Born in Truro, Cornwall, he was educated at Truro Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge.[1] A chance encounter with Charles Simeon led him to become a missionary. He was ordained a priest in the Church of England and became a chaplain for the British East India Company. arrived in India in April 1806, where he preached and occupied himself in the study of linguistics. He translated the whole of the New Testament into Urdu, Persian and Judaeo-Persic. He also translated the Psalms into Persian and the Book of Common Prayer into Urdu. From India, he set out for Bushire, Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tabriz. was seized with fever, and, though the plague was raging at Tokat, he was forced to stop there, unable to continue. On 16 October 1812, he died. He was remembered for his courage, selflessness and his religious devotion. In parts of the Anglican Communion he is celebrated with a Lesser Festival on 19 October. Martyn's papers and private letters are held at the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide at Westminster College in Cambridge, England. University of Cambridge; HENRY MARTYN, MISSIONARY AND TRANSLATOR (19 OCT 1812) ; Martyn was born in 1781, studied at Cambridge, and became Senior Wrangler. (That is, he won the Cambridge University annual mathematics problem-solving competition, and was accordingly recognized as the University's best undergraduate mathematician. "Wrangling" is a British University expression for solving mathematical problems.) He had, moreover, a considerable facility in languages. Under the encouragement of Charles Simeon (see 12 Nov 1836), he abandoned his intention of going into law and instead went to India as a chaplain in 1806. In the six remaining years of his life, he translated the New Testament into Hindi and Persian, revised an Arabic translation of the New Testament, and translated the Psalter into Persian and the Prayer Book into Hindi. In 1811 he left India for Persia, hoping to do further translations and to improve his existing ones, there and in Arabia. But travel in those days was not a healthy occupation, and he fell ill and eventually died at Tokat on October 16, 1812. (The American Calendar commemorates him on 19 October.) He was buried by the Armenian church there, with the honors ordinarily reserved for one of their own bishops. His diary (vol. 1, vol. 2) has been called "one of the most precious treasures of Anglican devotion." by James Kiefer

England, 1803-1815, Napoleonic Wars
England, 1803-1815, Napoleonic Wars; JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, 1890, Commemorated February 21;

England, 1820-1830,George IV of the United Kingdom, extravagant, regency f 1810, L Liverpool
England, 1820-1830, King of Great Britain, George IV of the United Kingdom; IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as regent during his father's final mental illness. IV was the eldest child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era. He was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace, and commissioned Sir Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle. George's charm and culture earned him the title "the first gentleman of England", but his dissolute way of life and poor relationships with his parents and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, earned him the contempt of the people and dimmed the prestige of the monarchy. He excluded Caroline from his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in an unsuccessful attempt to divorce her. presiding over the British Empire's emergence as a global hegemon, George IV's rule was tarnished by scandal and financial extravagance. His ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible, and he was strongly influenced by favourites.[1] Taxpayers were angry at his wasteful spending during the Napoleonic Wars. During most of George's regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Liverpool's government presided over Britain's ultimate victory over Napoleon and negotiated a peace settlement with the French. After Liverpool's retirement, George IV was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte, predeceased him in 1817; on his death, he was succeeded by his younger brother, King William IV. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE [and ANTHONY ASHLEY-COOPER, 7th EARL OF SHAFTESBURY], PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1833, 1885, Commemorated July 30; WILLIAM CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA, 19 October 1834; CHARLES SIMEON, TEACHER, PROMOTOR OF MISSIONARY WORK (12 NOV 1836); JOHN KEBLE, PRIEST, POET, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (29 MAR 1866), Commemorated March 29; FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872);

England, 1820-1882, John Nelson Darby, Bible Translation and Plymouth Brethern
Ireland, 1820-1882, John Nelson Darby, Bible Translation and Plymouth Brethern; Leap Castle (Barrow River Source); PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Smith Wigglesworth, Commemorated March 12;

England, 1820-1882, EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, Oxford Tracts, Book Common Prayer focus on Litergy and Communion, plus social justice
England, 1820-1882, EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, Pusey House, Oxford, Oxford Tracts, Book Common Prayer focus on Litergy and Communion, plus social justice; Pusey House, Oxford; EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); the early Church, it was the normal practice for every baptised Christian to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion at least once a week. gradually the practice changed. was still understood that a Christian would attend a celebration of the Liturgy every Sunday, attending the Liturgy did not necessarily mean receiving the Sacrament. the early 1500's, most Christians in Western Europe other than clergy or monastics received the Sacrament once a year, at Easter. rest of the year, a typical devout Christian would attend the Liturgy every Sunday, but, not understanding Latin, would spend most of his time praying silently or in an undertone in his pew, the priest read the Liturgy in Latin in an undertone at the altar some distance away. through the service, a bell would ring and the priest would hold up the consecrated bread and wine, the private prayers would stop for a moment as all eyes focused on what Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself had appointed as the vehicle of His abiding presence among His people. the private prayers would resume. It was the hope of the sixteenth-century Reformers to restore the ancient practice of the Church by celebrating the Liturgy in the language of the people, and encouraging the people to participate, not only by listening to the readings and joining in the prayers, but also by reverently receiving the Sacrament at every Liturgy they attended. England, at least, they only partly achieved their goals. The English Reformers provided that, at every celebration of the Liturgy, after the prayers and Bible readings and the sermon and Creed, there would be a general confession of sins, that those intending to receive the Sacrament would come forward and kneel at the altar rail to repeat the Prayer of Confession, while the rest of the congregation would remain in their pews, and recite the prayer along with them. priest would turn around and see how many worshippers were at the rail. If there were at least three, he would place the bread and wine on the altar and proceed to consecrate them. there were at least three, he was to close the service at that point with a Blessing and Dismissal. theory was that when the people were thus dramatically reminded that receiving the Sacrament was the reason for having the service, they would flock to receive. they simply got used to the idea that the Liturgy would be celebrated only a few times a year. most Sundays, the Sunday morning service in most parishes consisted of Prayer (one Reading from the Psalms, one Old Testament Reading, one New Testament Reading, interspersed with Prayers and Hymns, taking about fifteen minutes), (prayer with responses, taking about eight minutes), Ante-Communion (first part of the Liturgy, with the Ten Commandments, a reading from an Epistle and another from a Gospel, the Creed, plus a few hymns and prayers, lasting about fifteen minutes). the years passed, this was reduced in many parishes to Morning Prayer with Hymns and Sermon. in the 1830's, several lecturers at Oxford University, reading their copies of the Book of Common Prayer, noticed that this was not the intended state of affairs. Prayer Book provided for a sermon at the Liturgy, but not at Morning Prayer, for the taking of a collection at the Liturgy, but not at Morning Prayer. every way it was clear that the compilers of the Prayer Book had intended the Liturgy to be the principal service on every Sunday and Feast Day. the lecturers got busy and wrote a series of pamphlets explaining this and various related points to their readers. They called the pamphlets Tracts for the Times, by Residents in Oxford, and the public referred to them as The Oxford Tracts. immediate result was a total washout. The majority of their readers, both clergy and laity, responded in effect by saying: you have shown that the universal custom of the Church from apostolic times down to the sixteenth century was for every Christian congregation to celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday. You have shown that it was the clear intent of the reformers here in England to continue this practice. And I suppose that in theory it would be a good thing if we did continue it. But, well, you know...." problem was that Englishmen had forgotten what it was like to celebrate the Liturgy every Sunday. Because they had no experience of such a thing, they simply could not imagine its actually being done. And when an occasional priest who had been convinced by the Tracts tried to abolish ten o'clock Morning Prayer on Sundays in favor of a ten o'clock Liturgy instead, his congregation simply refused to have anything to do with it. the leaders of the Tractarian Movement (as it came to be called) saw their mistake and began advising priests as follows. "Don't try to change the ten o'clock service. Leave it as Morning Prayer. Start another service at eight o'clock. Make it Holy Communion. Get anyone you can to come to it. But be there every Sunday at eight and celebrate the Liturgy even if there is only one person present besides yourself. And keep it up for YEARS!" And they did. the generation of Anglicans who said, "But we have never had the Liturgy except at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. That's the way it has always been!" was replaced by a new generation who said: "Every Sunday we have Holy Communion at eight and Morning Prayer at ten, and Evening Prayer at six. That's the way it has always been!" first, it was understood that the Early Service was only for the exceptionally devout, perhaps ten per cent of a typical congregation. the numbers grew, and gradually the ten o'clock service became Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month, and the rest of the time Morning Prayer, and then the first and third Sundays of each month, and every Sunday in Lent, and then.... is perhaps worth mentioning that, while the Tractarians were recovering for the Anglican Church the practice of celebrating the Liturgy every Sunday and every major Feast Day (and, in the larger parishes, every day), other Churches that had lost that practice in the sixteenth century were also recovering it (partly because their theologians were paying some attention to the Tractarians), the Roman Catholic Church was gradually encouraging its people to receive the Holy Communion every Sunday, and more generally to be participants in the Liturgy and not mere spectators. I understand that in the East Orthodox Churches, the receiving of the Holy Communion by the ordinary layperson every Sunday is far commoner now than it was a century ago. A correspondent reminds me that, almost a century before the Tractarians, the Wesleys were receiving the Holy Communion daily at Oxford. He suggests that the picture of a pre-Tractarian England in which frequent celebrations of the Eucharist were unheard-of smacks of Puseyite propaganda. Point taken. It was wrong of me to state that frequent celebrations were unheard-of. On the other hand, there were many parishes in which celebrations were rare, and the Tractarian movement greatly reduced the number of such parishes.] to the subject of the Oxford Tracts. There were ninety Tracts in all, written over the eight years from 1833 to 1841 -- about one Tract per month. created a school of thought and action in the Anglican Communion that came to be called the Tractarian Movement, or Puseyism, or the Oxford Movement. note that the Oxford Group, or Moral Re-Armament, or Buchmanism, was founded in the 1920's or 1930's by Frank Buchman, and is not at all the same thing). Tractarians defended what is sometimes called High Anglicanism, or High Churchmanship, which involves emphasis on the continuity of the Anglican Church from earliest times (in the third century or earlier) through the sixteenth century, and down to the present. of what is meant by continuity is illustrated by something I have heard from a friend who teaches English history of the Tudor and Stuart period. He has researched the history of a certain small monastery. In the early 1500's, the monks chanted the Psalms in Latin every day from the book called the Breviary, as a part of the monastic routine. their monastery was abolished by Henry VIII, they were not simply set adrift, but were attached to the choir of a cathedral, where they continued to chant the Psalms in Latin. King Henry died and Edward succeeded him, they chanted the Psalms in English as part of Morning and Evening Prayer, as found in the Book of Common Prayer. Mary came to the throne, they switched back to Latin and the Breviary. Mary died and Elizabeth came to the throne, they returned to chanting the Psalms in English from the Book of Common Prayer. through all these years, they never missed a day. is no reason to suppose that they thought of themselves as having turned their backs on one Church or religion and adopted another. change from Latin to English was doubtless a jolt for some of them, but no more so than the same change for Roman Catholic monks in our own time.) must not be supposed that the Tractarians were concerned only with a renewed emphasis on the sacraments. They were instrumental in stirring up the Church's concern for the welfare, both spiritual and material, of the working classes. building of factories had flooded many areas with workers who were without churches to minister to them. Tractarians built churches in these areas, and in slum areas, and staffed them with dedicated priests. influence of their work was widespread. For example: disciple of Pusey was R M Benson, the founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist. of Benson's disciples was Fr C N Field, who came to America and became deeply interested in the housing conditions of the poor in Boston. of his disciples was Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch. She says that it was Fr Field and the other priests of the SSJE who first taught her to visit the poor. Mrs Simkhovitch is accounted one of the founders of social work. She founded Greenwich House in New York City. of her disciples was Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor in the New Deal. She and Mrs Simkhovitch went to Harold Ickes and persuaded him to put public housing on the agenda of the New Deal. the American public housing program of the 1930's and after was indirectly a result of the Tractarian movement. [I owe this point to Mr. Robert Rea.] leaders of the Tractarian Movement were Richard Hurrell Froude, John Keble, Pusey, and John Henry Newman, all fellows of Oriel College, Oxford. Bouverie Pusey (1800--16 September 1882) was competent in Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic, and was Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, from 1828 until his death. He wrote two of the Oxford Tracts (on Fasting and on Baptism), and preached a sermon on the Eucharist that got him suspended from university preaching for two years. This episode gained publicity for the Tractarian Movement, and greatly increased the sales of the Tracts. In 1845 he helped to found a convent in London, the first Anglican convent since the 1500's. His best-known books defend the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the inerrancy of Scripture (see his Daniel the Prophet, and The Minor Prophets). In the great cholera epidemic of 1866, he did outstanding work in caring for the sick. Two years after his death, his friends and admirers established Pusey House at Oxford, a library and study center. the Tractarians were Anglicans, there is perhaps no Christian group that has not been in some degree influenced, directly or indirectly, by their work. by James Kiefer [A number of his works, and books about him, are also online thanks to Project Canterbury.]

England, 1821-1890, JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, Oxford Movement, High Church doctrine, Catholic convert
England, 1821-1890, JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, Oxford Movement, High Church doctrine and discipline, influential books, father's bank closing 1816 turning point,3 illnesses, Pope antichrist calvinist, then Fathers of the Church, 1833 Oxford M, his Tracts of the times, tractarianism, Church basis of doctrine, 1842 Littlemore Christian Doctrine essay, Roman more complex creed, 1845 Catholic, 1846 C Priest, 1879 Cardinal Deacon, prestige for British Catholics; Oxford Movement; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC & ECUMENIST, 30 August 1912 ; JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, 1890, Commemorated February 21; Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O. (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was a Roman Catholic priest and cardinal, a convert from Anglicanism in October 1845. his early life, he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots. his studies in history persuaded him to become a Roman Catholic. Both before and after becoming a Roman Catholic, wrote influential books, including Via Media, Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–66) and the Grammar of Assent (1870). happy childhood came to an abrupt end in March 1816 when the financial collapse after the Napoleonic Wars forced his father's bank to close. period from the beginning of August to 21 December, 1816, when the next term ended, Newman always regarded as the turning point of his life. at school and shocked by the family disaster, he fell ill in August. he came to see it as one of the three great providential illnesses of his life, for it was in the autumn of 1816 that he underwent a religious conversion under the influence of one of the schoolmasters, Rev. Walter Mayers, who had himself shortly before been converted to a Calvinistic form of evangelicalism. had had a conventional upbringing in an ordinary Church of England home, where the emphasis was on the Bible rather than dogmas or sacraments, and where any sort of evangelical "enthusiasm" would have been frowned upon. The tone of his mind at this time became evangelical and Calvinist, and he held that the Pope was Antichrist. Trinity Sunday, 29 May 1825 he was ordained priest in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. He became, at the suggestion of Edward Bouverie Pusey, curate of St Clement’s, Oxford. later wrote that the influences leading him in a religiously liberal direction were abruptly checked by his suffering first, at the end of 1827, a kind of nervous collapse brought on by overwork and family financial troubles, and then, at the beginning of 1828, the sudden death of his beloved youngest sister, Mary. was also a crucial theological factor: his fascination since 1816 with the Fathers of the Church, whose works he began to read systematically in the long vacation of 1828. This he regarded as his second formative providential illness. At this date, though still nominally associated with the Evangelicals, Newman’s views were gradually assuming a higher ecclesiastical tone. 14 July 1833, John Keble preached at St Mary’s an assize sermon on "National Apostasy," which Newman afterwards regarded as the inauguration of the Oxford Movement. few weeks later Newman started, apparently on his own initiative, the Tracts for the Times, from which the movement was subsequently named Its aim was to secure for the Church of England a definite basis of doctrine and discipline. teaching of the tracts was supplemented by Newman's Sunday afternoon sermons at St Mary's, the influence of which, especially over the junior members of the university, was increasingly marked during a period of eight years. 1835 Pusey joined the movement, which, so far as concerned ritual observances, was later called "Puseyite". influence in Oxford was supreme about the year 1839 when, however, his study of the monophysite heresy first raised in his mind a doubt as to whether the Anglican position was really tenable on those principles of ecclesiastical authority which he had accepted. He continued his work, however, as a High Anglican controversialist until he had published, in 1841, Tract 90, the last of the series, in which he put forth, as a kind of proof charge, to test the tenability of all Catholic doctrine within the Church of England, a detailed examination of the Thirty-Nine Articles, suggesting that their negations were not directed against the authorized creed of Roman Catholics, but only against popular errors and exaggerations. 1842 he withdrew to Littlemore, and was largely devoted to the completion of an Essay on the development of Christian doctrine, by which principle he sought to reconcile himself to the more complex creed and the practical system of the Roman Catholic Church. was formally received into the Roman Catholic Church on 9 October 1845 by Blessed Dominic Barberi, an Italian Passionist, at the College in Littlemore. In October 1846 he proceeded to Rome, where he was ordained priest by Cardinal Giacomo Filippo Fransoni and given the degree of D.D. by Pope Pius IX. Leo XIII was encouraged by the Duke of Norfolk and other distinguished Roman Catholic laymen to make Newman a cardinal. The distinction was a marked one, because he was neither a bishop nor resident in Rome The offer was made in February 1879. Newman's elevation to cardinal took place on 12 May, making him Cardinal-Deacon of San Giorgio al Velabro. the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, his conversion secured great prestige and the dissipation of many prejudices. Within it, his influence was mainly in the direction of a broader spirit and of a recognition of the important part played by development both in doctrine and in Church government. — more at Wikipedia The above books and many, many other works by Newman are also online thanks to the National Institute for Newman Studies.

England, 1825-1872, F.D. Maurice, Anglican theologian, Christian Socialism
England, Broads, 1825-1872, F.D. Maurice, Anglican theologian, Christian Socialism; PAUL JONES, BISHOP (4 SEP 1941);

England, 1825-1872, FREDERICK D MAURICE, Priest&Theologian, Cambridge, T Kingdom of Christ, Christian Socialist Movement
England, 1825-1872, FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian, Cambridge, University of Cambridge, The Kingdom of Christ, Christian Socialist Movement, sneaky approach in Theological Essays; University of Cambridge; FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872); D Maurice was born in 1805, the son of a Unitarian clergyman. studied civil law at Cambridge, but refused the degree in 1827 rather than declare himself an Anglican. However, he was later converted, and in 1834 was ordained to the priesthood. In 1838, he published his major work, The Kingdom of Christ, a discussion of the causes and cures of divisions within the Christian Church. He was much concerned with the role of the Church in speaking to social questions, speaking of "faith in a God who has redeemed mankind, in whom I may vindicate my rights as a man." with his friends John Ludlow and Charles Kingsley, he organized the Christian Socialist Movement, which, he wrote, "will commit us at once to the conflict we must engage in sooner or later with the unsocial Christians and unchristian Socialists." work is one of the reasons why Socialism in England has been largely devoid of the avowedly anti-Christian overtones it had in many other countries. the late 1940's the majority of the members of the British Cabinet, then organized under the Labor Party, met regularly under the leadership of Sir Stafford Cripps, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for prayer, Bible study, and discussion of the application of Christian principles to public life.) Soon after his ordination, Maurice became Professor of English Literature and History at King's College, London, and in 1846, Professor of Theology as well. However, his book Theological Essays, published in 1853, was regarded by many readers as doubtfully orthodox, and the resulting furor cost him his professorships. In 1854, he founded the Working Men's College, and became its first head. He was professor of Moral Theology at Cambridge from 1866 until his death in 1872. A friend of mine, who has read considerably more of Maurice than I have, says of the Theological Essays: "Maurice has a sneaky approach. He begins an Essay by considering an objection to traditional Christian theology: for example, the objection that the instructions supposedly given by God to the Israelites to massacre the inhabitants of Canaan are morally indefensible. begins by conceding his opponent's assertion, by granting that indeed it is preposterous to suppose that God would ever do anything of the kind. then invites his opponent to consider how it is that we come to believe that the wholesale slaughter of defeated opponents in war is wrong. glance at any history of the Pelopennesian War, by Thyucidides or another, will make it clear that the Ancient Greeks did not share this view.) explores with his opponent the question of the role of Israel in the moral and spiritual development of mankind -- the implications of the fact that the overwhelming majority of those who believe that it is wrong to slaughter a defeated people originally got that idea from sources traceable back to the religious ideas of the ancient Israelites. points out that, if there is a God and He has revealed Himself, there is reason to suppose that the history of Israel is a part of that revelation. And by the time he is done, he has won more territory than he appeared at first to be losing." That, at any rate, is what he finds in Maurice. Other readers give different reports that leave me wondering whether they have read the same author. by James Kiefer Several of his sermons and meditations are online, thanks to Project Canterbury.

England, 1829-1878, GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY, Eton College, New Zealand, Melanesia, Polynesia
England, 1829-1878, GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY, Eton College (Thames River 4), New Zealand, Melanesia, Polynesia, full participation of Maoris in Church G; Eton College; GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (11 APR 1878); was born in London in 1809, educated at Eton and Cambridge and ordained in 1833. 1841, he was made first Bishop of New Zealand. He diligently studied the Maori tongue on his long sea voyage, and was able to preach in it on his arrival. laid the foundations of the Church, not only in New Zealand, but throughout the islands of Melanesia. (This was the result of a clerical error. The northern boundary of his diocese was supposed to be the parallel of latitude 34 degrees south of the equator. The official document read "north" instead of "south," and Selwyn cheerfully accepted responsibility for the vast Pacific regions of the Melanesian and Polynesian islands as well as New Zealand. 1957 the Islands became a separate Province of the Anglican Communion.) the ten-year war between the Maoris and the European colonists, Selwyn managed to keep the confidence of both sides, and ultimately at the first general synod of the Church in New Zealand in 1859 to secure the adoption of a Constitution that established the principle of full participation by Maori Christians at all levels of Church government. In 1867, Selwyn was pressured to accept appointment as Bishop of Lichfield. Reluctantly, he returned to England, where he died eleven years later. by James Kiefer

England, 1829-1891, SAMUEL AJAYI CROWDER, Nigeria, linguist, bishop, recalled to England, ordained, translated Bible
Africa, West Africa, 1829-1891, SAMUEL AJAYI CROWDER, Nigeria, linguist, bishop, captured by muslim Fulani slave traders at 12, sold to Portugese slave traders, saved by British Royal Navy, taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone and released, there Anglican Missionary Society, taught, converted, baptized in 1825, mission on Niger River, recalled to England, trained ordained, returned opened mission Abeokuta, Ogun State, translated Bible, dictionary, Book Common Prayer, 1824 first African Anglican Bishop, other languages; Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809–31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist, Sierra Leonean-Nigerian clergyman, and the celebrated first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by Fulani slave raiders when he was about twelve years old.[2] was freed from slavery at a coastal port by the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which was enforcing the British ban against the Atlantic slave trade. The liberated peoples were resettled in Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, Ajayi adopted an English name of Samuel Crowther, and began his education in English.[3] He adopted Christianity and also identified with Sierra Leone's then ascendant Krio ethnic group. He studied languages and was ordained as a minister in England, where he later received a doctoral degree from Oxford University. He prepared a Yoruba grammar and translation of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer into Yoruba, also working on a Yoruba version of the Bible, as well as other language projects.[4] Osogun, Yorubaland; SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER, BISHOP IN THE NIGER TERRITORIES, 1891, Commemorated December 31; Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809 – 31 December 1891) was a linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria. He was born in Osogun, Yorubaland (in today's Oyo State, Nigeria). was in his 12th year when he was captured, along with his entire village, by Muslim Fulani slave raiders in 1821 and sold to Portuguese slave traders. Before leaving port, his ship was boarded by a Royal Navy ship under the command of Captain Henry Leeke, and Crowther was taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone and released. there, Crowther was cared for by the Anglican Church Missionary Society, who taught him English. He converted to Christianity, was baptized by Rev. John Raban, and took the name Samuel Crowther in 1825. 1841 Crowther was selected to accompany the missionary James Frederick Schön on an expedition along the Niger River. The goal of the expedition was to spread commerce, teach agricultural techniques, spread Christianity, and help end the slave trade. the expedition, Crowther was recalled to England, where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the bishop of London. He returned to Africa in 1843 and with Henry Townsend, opened a mission in Abeokuta, in today's Ogun State, Nigeria. Dr. Crowther began translating the Bible into the Yoruba language and compiling a Yoruba dictionary. A Yoruba version of the Book of Common Prayer followed later. 1864, Crowther was ordained as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church. That same year he also received a Doctor of Divinity from Oxford University. Dr. Crowther's attention was directed more and more to languages other than Yoruba, but he continued to supervise the translation of the Yoruba Bible, which was completed in the mid-1880s, a few years before his death. In 1891, Crowther suffered a stroke and died on the last day of that year. more from Wikipedia A biography written just after his death is online, thanks to Project Canterbury.

England, 1830-1837, William IV of the United Kingdom, reforms, child labor, slavery, electoral sys
England, 1830-1837, King of Great Britain, William IV of the United Kingdom ; IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded his elder brother George IV, becoming the last king and penultimate monarch of Britain's House of Hanover. served in the Royal Navy in his youth, spending time in North America and the Caribbean, and was later nicknamed the "Sailor King".[1][2] 1789, he was created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. In 1827, he was appointed as Britain's first Lord High Admiral since 1709. As his two older brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished in nearly all of the British Empire, and the British electoral system refashioned by the Reform Act 1832. William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the last monarch to appoint a British prime minister contrary to the will of Parliament. He granted his German kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution. the time of his death, William had no surviving legitimate children, but he was survived by eight of the ten illegitimate children he had by the actress Dorothea Jordan, with whom he cohabited for twenty years. Late in life, he married and apparently remained faithful to the young princess who would become Queen Adelaide. was succeeded by his niece Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom, and his brother King Ernest Augustus in Hanover. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE [and ANTHONY ASHLEY-COOPER, 7th EARL OF SHAFTESBURY], PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1833, 1885, Commemorated July 30; EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); WILLIAM CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA, 19 October 1834; Richard Meau Benson of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 JOHN KEBLE, PRIEST, POET, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (29 MAR 1866), Commemorated March 29; FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872); GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (11 APR 1878);

England, 1833-1841, Newman's Oxford Tracts, Eucharist every Sunday, Sermon at Devine Liturgy
England, 1833-1841, Oxford Tracts, Eucharist every Sunday, Sermon at Devine Liturgy; Tracts for the Times were a series of 90 theological publications, varying in length from a few pages to book-length, produced by members of the English Oxford Movement, an Anglo-Catholic revival group, from 1833 to 1841. were about a dozen authors, including Oxford Movement leaders John Keble, John Henry Newman and Edward Bouverie Pusey, with Newman taking the initiative in the series, and making the largest contribution. the wide distribution associated with the tract form, and a price in pennies, the Tracts succeeded in drawing attention to the views of the Oxford Movement on points of doctrine, but also to its overall approach, to the extent that Tractarian became a synonym for supporter of the movement. Oxford Movement; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC & ECUMENIST, 30 August 1912 ; John Henry Newman EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); Other well-known Tractarians included John Keble, Charles Marriott, Richard Hurrell Froude, Robert Wilberforce, Isaac Williams and William Palmer. RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, Commemorated January 16; JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, 1890, Commemorated February 21; JOHN KEBLE, PRIEST, POET, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (29 MAR 1866), Commemorated March 29; BERNARD MIZEKI, CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN AFRICA (18 JUNE 1896);

England, 1833-1841, Oxford Movement, High Church doctrine and discipline
Oxford Movement; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC & ECUMENIST, 30 August 1912 ; John Henry Newman EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); Other well-known Tractarians included John Keble, Charles Marriott, Richard Hurrell Froude, Robert Wilberforce, Isaac Williams and William Palmer. RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, Commemorated January 16; JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, 1890, Commemorated February 21; JOHN KEBLE, PRIEST, POET, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (29 MAR 1866), Commemorated March 29; BERNARD MIZEKI, CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN AFRICA (18 JUNE 1896);

England, 1834-1875, Henry Budd, Norway House, Manitoba, Cumberland House, The Pas, first Native American Anglican Priest
Norway House, Manitoba; HENRY BUDD, Commemorated December 22 ; Budd (~1812 - 2 April 1875) was the first native American ordained as an Anglican priest. was born near Norway House in what is now Manitoba, and was orphaned as a child. was then raised by an Anglican priest, the Rev. John West. proved bright and capable, and put in charge of a school. 1840 he was asked to start a mission at Cumberland House, in what is now Saskatchewan. soon moved to The Pas (today just across the border in Manitoba) and converted many of the native Cree to Christianity. He was eventually ordained on 22 Dec. 1850. remained in the area serving the people there until his death in 1875. journals and other resources are online thanks to Project Canterbury.

England, 1837-1901, Victoria, Queen and King, Victorian Era, expansion, industry, science
England, 1837-1901, King of Great Britain, Queen Victoria ; (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death, in 1901. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any of her predecessors. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, Parliament voted her the additional title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After both the Duke and his father died in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Though a constitutional monarch, privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality. Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe" and spreading haemophilia in European royalty. After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism in the United Kingdom temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. She died on the Isle of Wight in 1901. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE [and ANTHONY ASHLEY-COOPER, 7th EARL OF SHAFTESBURY], PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1833, 1885, Commemorated July 30; CATHERINE WINKWORTH, Poet, Commemorated August 7 ; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC & ECUMENIST, 30 August 1912 ; EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON, BISHOP OF MELANESIA, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS (20 SEP 1871) ; WILFRED GRENFELL, MEDICAL MISSIONARY, 9 October 1940; JAMES HANNINGTON AND THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, (29 OCT 1885); KING KAMEHAMEHA AND QUEEN EMMA OF HAWAII , (28 NOV 1864); JOHN HORDEN, Commemorated December 15 ; ROBERT McDONALD, PRIEST, 1913, Commemorated December 15; HENRY BUDD, PRIEST, 1875, Commemorated December 22 ; VEDANAYAGAM SAMUEL AZARIAH, FIRST INDIAN ANGLICAN BISHOP, DORNAKAL, 1945, Commemorated January 2 ; Charles Gore of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915 AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 ; Richard Meau Benson of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16; JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, 1890, Commemorated February 21; Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Commemorated March 12; JOHN KEBLE, PRIEST, POET, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (29 MAR 1866), Commemorated March 29; FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872); PANDITA MARY RAMABAI, PROPHETIC WITNESS AND EVANGELIST IN INDIA, 1922. Commemorated April 5; GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (11 APR 1878); CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, POET, 1894, Commemorated April 27 ; GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, APOLOGIST and WRITER, 1936, Commemorated June 12 ;

England, 1838, Christian Socialists Movement (CSM), F.D. Maurice
England, 1838, Christian Socialists Movement (CSM), F.D. Maurice; FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, Priest and Theologian (1 April 1872);

England, 1840, World Antislavery Convention, Exeter Hall, London
World Antislavery Convention, Exeter Hall, London, 1840 (Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Honeymoon); Elizabeth Cady Stanton of ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, AMELIA BLOOMER, SOJOURNER TRUTH, HARRIET ROSS TUBMAN: FOUR AMERICAN PIONEERS OF BLACK RIGHTS AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS, Commemorated July 20; Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 - October 26, 1902) was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-1800s. Anti-Slavery Convention Mott on their honeymoon in England in 1840, the Stantons attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Elizabeth was appalled by the convention's male delegates, who voted to prevent women from participating even if they had been appointed as delegates of their respective abolitionist societies. The men required the women to sit in a separate section, hidden by curtains from the convention's proceedings. William Lloyd Garrison, a prominent American abolitionist and supporter of women's rights who arrived after the vote had been taken, refused to sit with the men and sat with the women instead.[26] Mott, a Quaker minister, abolitionist and women's rights advocate, was one of the women who had been sent as a delegate. Although Mott was much older than Stanton, they quickly bonded in an enduring friendship, with Stanton eagerly learning from the more experienced activist. While in London, Stanton heard Mott preach in a Unitarian chapel, the first time Stanton had heard a woman give a sermon or even speak in public.[27] Stanton later gave credit to this convention for focusing her interests on women's rights.[28]

England, 1840-1910, Florence Nightingale, Nurse, N school, medical knowledge, hunger relief, infographics
England, 1840-1910, Florence Nightingale, Nurse; Nightingale, OM, RRC, DStJ (12 May 1820 - 13 August 1910) was a British social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople.[3] She gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.[4][5] commentators have asserted that Nightingale's Crimean War achievements were exaggerated by the media at the time, but critics agree on the importance of her later work in professionalising nursing roles for women.[6] 1860, she laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, and is now part of King's College London.[7] In recognition of her pioneering work in nursing, the Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses, and the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve, were named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated on her birthday. Her social reforms included improving healthcare for all sections of British society, advocating better hunger relief in India, helping to abolish prostitution laws that were harsh for women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce. was a prodigious and versatile writer. In her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her tracts were written in simple English so that they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills. She was also a pioneer in data visualization with the use of infographics, effectively using graphical presentations of statistical data.[6] Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously. Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery; FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE, NURSE, RENEWER OF SOCIETY (12 AUGUST 1910); commemoration of Florence Nightingale is controversial. On the one hand, she doubted or denied many of the central articles of the Creed. On the other hand, she believed in God and devoted her life to His service as she understood it. was born in Florence on 12 May 1820 of upper-class English parents travelling through Italy, and named for her native city. ("Florence" was not an accepted first name at the time. Her sister was born in Naples and named "Parthenope," the Greek name for that city.) Florence was reared in the Unitarian Church, but later joined the Church of England. her diary, an entry shortly before her seventeenth birthday reads: "On February 7th, 1837, God spoke to me and called me to his service." She did not know what the service would be, and therefore decided that she must remain single, so as to have no encumbrances and be ready for anything. With this in mind, she rejected a proposal of marriage from a young man whom she dearly loved. She suffered from "trances" or "dreaming" spells, in which she would lose consciousness for several minutes or longer, and be unaware when she recovered that time had passed. (Could this be a form of petit mal epilepsy? No biographer of hers that I have read uses the word.) She found the knowledge that she was subject to such spells terrifying, and feared that they meant that she was unworthy of her calling, particularly since she did not hear the voice of God again for many years. In the spring of 1844 she came to believe that her calling was to nurse the sick. In 1850 her family sent her on a tour of Egypt for her health. Some extracts from her diary follow: 7. God called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for Him, for Him alone without the reputation. 9. During half an hour I had by myself in my cabin, settled the question with God. 1. Not able to go out but wished God to have it all His own way. I like Him to do exactly as He likes without even telling me the reason. 12. Today I am thirty--the age Christ began his mission. no more childish things. No more love. No more marriage. Now Lord let me think only of Thy Will, what Thou willest me to do. Oh Lord Thy Will, Thy Will. June 10. The Lord spoke to me; he said, Give five minutes every hour to the thought of Me. Coudst thou but love Me as Lizzie loves her husband, how happy wouldst thou be." But Lizzie does not give five minutes every hour to the thought of her husband, she thinks of him every minute, spontaneously. decided that she must train to be a nurse. Her family was horrified. In her day, nursing was done mostly by disabled army veterans or by women with no other means of support. It was common for nurses of either sex to be drunk on the job most of the time, and they had no training at all. It was common practice never to wash or change the sheets on a bed, not even when a patient died and his bed was given to a new patient. Florence was told to go to Kaiserswerth, Germany, to learn and train with the Lutheran order of Deaconesses who were running a hospital there. Back in England again, she used the influence of Sidney Herbert, a family friend and Member of Parliament, to be appointed supervisor of a sanatorium in London. Under her able guidance, it turned from a chamber of horrors into a model hospital. The innovations introduced by Miss Nightingale were, for their day, little short of revolutionary. She demanded, and got, a system of dumb-waiters that enabled food to be sent directly to every floor, so that nurses did not exhaust themselves carrying trays up numerous flights of stairs. She also invented and had installed a system of call bells by which a patient could ring from his bed and the bell would sound in the corridor, with a valve attached to the bell which opened when the bell rang, and remained open so that the nurse could see who had rung. "Without a system of this kind," she wrote, "a nurse is converted to a pair of legs." working in the poorer districts of London, Miss Nightingale encountered a Roman Catholic priest, Henry Edward Manning (later Cardinal Manning), who was working among the poor of London. She was impressed by the assistance he gave to many who had nowhere else to turn, and they became friends for life. She was greatly attracted by Roman Catholicism, but rejected much of its theology, and so reluctantly decided against joining it. Nightingale attending patientsThen war broke out in the Crimea (in Russia, on the north edge of the Black Sea), and Sir Sidney Herbert, now Secretary of War, obtained permission for Florence to lead a group of 38 nurses there. Of these, 10 were Roman Catholic nuns, 14 were Anglican nuns, and the remaining 14 were "of no particular religion, unless one counts the worship of Bacchus." They found conditions appalling. Blankets were rotting in warehouses while the men did without, because no one had issued the proper forms for their distribution. The lavatories in the hospitals had no running water, and the latrines were tubs to be emptied by hand. But no one emptied them, since official regulations did not specify which department was responsible for doing so. The result was that the hospital had a foul stench that could be smelled for some distance outside its walls. Far more men were dying in hospitals of infection than of wounds. The chief concern of many of the Army doctors was that the nurses might usurp some of their authority. Florence gradually managed to win the doctors and other authorities over, and to reform hospital procedures, with spectacular results. Once the medical situation had ceased to be an acute problem, she turned her attention to other aspects of the soldiers' welfare. For example, most of them squandered all their pay on drink. She noted that there was no trustworthy way for them to send money home to their families, and she set up facilities for them to do so. First, she undertook to send money home herself for any soldier in the hospital that wanted it sent, and the soldiers brought in about 1000 pounds a month. She asked the authorities to set up an official service to do this, and they refused. By appealing to Queen Victoria herself, she overcame opposition to the idea, and the men sent home 71,000 pounds sterling in less than six months. She established with her own money a reading-room with tables for writing letters, and the men used it enthusiastically. She imported four schoolmasters to give lectures, and the halls were filled to overflowing. All this was done despite opposition from officers who said, "The men are hopeless brutes. You cannot expect anything from them." night, she would often patrol the wards, carrying a dim lamp, to make sure that all was well and no one was in need of help. She became famous as "the Lady with the Lamp." Nightingale, "The lady with the lamp"In April 1856 the war was over, and by mid-July the hospital was emptied and her work in Crimea over. She returned to England a national hero, with a great welcome prepared for her; but she slipped into the country unnoticed and went to a convent that had supplied some of her nurses. There, she spent the day in prayer before coming out to face the public and beginning to lobby Parliament for suitable legislation. She wrote pamphlet after pamphlet, pointing out by pie charts, for example, that the major cause of deaths in the Army was not wounds caused by enemy action but disease caused by lack of proper sanitation. She is perhaps the first person to use pie charts and similar graphic devices to convey statistical information. She obtained the formation of an Army Medical Staff Corps and a Sanitary Commission to oversee military health conditions. these efforts, she relied on the help of Sidney Herbert, insisting that he must work hard and long to get the legislation she needed through Parliament. When he protested that she was asking too much, she would not listen. His health broke, and he died in August 1861. Florence prayed God to raise him from the dead, explaining that she needed him for the job. When God failed to comply, her faith was badly shaken. She wrote a book called, Suggestions for Thought: An Address to the Artisans of England, in which she explained that God was less of a Person and more of a Cosmic Force than is generally supposed by Christians. (But note that she was working on this book before Sir Sidney died, and one cannot call it simply a response to his death.) Advance copies were given to a few friends, such as John Stuart Mill, who praised it highly. However, it was never published (I have not seen it, and neither the Library of Congress nor the National library of Medicine has a copy, nor any other library in the United States that I have been able to learn of), since Florence kept revising it -- arguably, because her beliefs on the nature of God were simply not internally consistent. Eventually, it seems, God spoke to her again and said, "You are here to carry out my program. I am not here to carry out yours." She wrote in her diary, "I must remember that God is not my private secretary." his death, Sir Sidney had gotten her involved in Indian affairs. She served on the Indian Sanitary Commission. In May 1859, she decided that there were insufficient data available in England on conditions in the Indian Army, and she wrote to 200 military stations there, asking for copies of all regulations and all documents relating to the health and sanitary administration of the army. The reports that came back filled two vans. She read them all and summarized them for the Report of the Commission. Her conclusion was that the death toll from disease in the Indian Army was appallingly high (69 out of 1000 annually), and that this was largely due, not to the climate, but to lack of sanitation, and that preventive measures included sanitation not just for army posts but for neighboring villages and, in the long run, for all of India. was a friend of General Charles George Gordon, who captured the British imagination when he and his troops were beseiged at Khartoum in the Sudan, and finally captured and killed. After his death, Florence wrote to a friend that suffering, disappointment, and lack of success are the tribute which it is the soul's greatest privilege to present to God. In Gordon's death, she wrote, we see "the triumph of failure, the triumph of the Cross. With him, all is well." met the scholar Benjamin Jowett, who was translating Plato into English. They became fast friends, and she contributed to the translation. She also began an anthology of mystical writings, called "Notes from Devotional Authors of the Middle Ages, Collected, Chosen, and Freely Translated by Florence Nightingale." It was her contention that mystical prayer is not just for monks and nuns, but should form a part of the every-day life of ordinary persons. the strain of ceaseless overwork, her own health broke, and she was an invalid for the latter half of her life. On Christmas Day when she was sixty-five, she wrote: "Today, O Lord, let me dedicate this crumbling old woman to thee. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. I was thy handmaid as a girl. Since then, I have backslid." She wrote a manual called Notes for Nurses, and a set of instructions for the matron in charge of training nurses, emphasizing the importance for a nurse of a schedule of daily prayer. A few years before her death, she was the first woman to receive the Order of Merit from the British government. She died at ninety, and, by her directions, her tombstone read simply, "F.N. 1820-1910". Nightingale died on 13 August 1910, and is commemorated on this day on the Lutheran Calendar. The Episcopal calendar commemorates Jeremy Taylor on 13 August, and accordingly has shifted the commemoration of Nightingale to 18 May. I am not sure of the significance of this date, but it is the date (or nearly) of the opening of the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860. [Note: the current date in the Episcopal Church for her commemoration is 12 Aug.] by James Kiefer

England, 1840-1910, FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE, God called, London sanitarium & Crimean War success, reformed hospital procedures
England, 1840-1910, FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE, NURSE, born in Florence, Tuscany (Arno River 1), controversial commemoration, God called her to his service, nursing of her day, to Kaiserwerth to learn, London sanitarium success, dumwaiters, call bells, Crimean War, leader of 38 nurses, rotting blankets, unemptied latrine tubs, reformed hospital procedures, Queen Victoria helped send money home, reading room, schoolmasters, lady w lamp, proved sanitation more deaths than enemy; Florence; Medici Family; FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE, NURSE, RENEWER OF SOCIETY (12 AUGUST 1910); commemoration of Florence Nightingale is controversial. the one hand, she doubted or denied many of the central articles of the Creed. the other hand, she believed in God and devoted her life to His service as she understood it. was born in Florence on 12 May 1820 of upper-class English parents travelling through Italy, and named for her native city. was not an accepted first name at the time. Her sister was born in Naples and named "Parthenope," the Greek name for that city.) was reared in the Unitarian Church, but later joined the Church of England. her diary, an entry shortly before her seventeenth birthday reads: "On February 7th, 1837, God spoke to me and called me to his service." did not know what the service would be, and therefore decided that she must remain single, so as to have no encumbrances and be ready for anything. this in mind, she rejected a proposal of marriage from a young man whom she dearly loved. suffered from "trances" or "dreaming" spells, in which she would lose consciousness for several minutes or longer, and be unaware when she recovered that time had passed. this be a form of petit mal epilepsy? No biographer of hers that I have read uses the word.) found the knowledge that she was subject to such spells terrifying, and feared that they meant that she was unworthy of her calling, particularly since she did not hear the voice of God again for many years. the spring of 1844 she came to believe that her calling was to nurse the sick. In 1850 her family sent her on a tour of Egypt for her health. Some extracts from her diary follow: March 7. God called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for Him, for Him alone without the reputation. March 9. During half an hour I had by myself in my cabin, settled the question with God. April 1. Not able to go out but wished God to have it all His own way. I like Him to do exactly as He likes without even telling me the reason. May 12. Today I am thirty--the age Christ began his mission. Now no more childish things. No more love. No more marriage. Now Lord let me think only of Thy Will, what Thou willest me to do. Oh Lord Thy Will, Thy Will. June 10. The Lord spoke to me; he said, Give five minutes every hour to the thought of Me. Coudst thou but love Me as Lizzie loves her husband, how happy wouldst thou be." But Lizzie does not give five minutes every hour to the thought of her husband, she thinks of him every minute, spontaneously. decided that she must train to be a nurse. Her family was horrified. In her day, nursing was done mostly by disabled army veterans or by women with no other means of support. It was common for nurses of either sex to be drunk on the job most of the time, and they had no training at all. It was common practice never to wash or change the sheets on a bed, not even when a patient died and his bed was given to a new patient. was told to go to Kaiserswerth, Germany, to learn and train with the Lutheran order of Deaconesses who were running a hospital there. in England again, she used the influence of Sidney Herbert, a family friend and Member of Parliament, to be appointed supervisor of a sanatorium in London. her able guidance, it turned from a chamber of horrors into a model hospital. The innovations introduced by Miss Nightingale were, for their day, little short of revolutionary. demanded, and got, a system of dumb-waiters that enabled food to be sent directly to every floor, so that nurses did not exhaust themselves carrying trays up numerous flights of stairs. also invented and had installed a system of call bells by which a patient could ring from his bed and the bell would sound in the corridor, with a valve attached to the bell which opened when the bell rang, and remained open so that the nurse could see who had rung. "Without a system of this kind," she wrote, "a nurse is converted to a pair of legs." working in the poorer districts of London, Miss Nightingale encountered a Roman Catholic priest, Henry Edward Manning (later Cardinal Manning), who was working among the poor of London. was impressed by the assistance he gave to many who had nowhere else to turn, and they became friends for life. She was greatly attracted by Roman Catholicism, but rejected much of its theology, and so reluctantly decided against joining it. Florence Nightingale attending patients war broke out in the Crimea (in Russia, on the north edge of the Black Sea), and Sir Sidney Herbert, now Secretary of War, obtained permission for Florence to lead a group of 38 nurses there. these, 10 were Roman Catholic nuns, 14 were Anglican nuns, and the remaining 14 were "of no particular religion, unless one counts the worship of Bacchus." found conditions appalling. were rotting in warehouses while the men did without, because no one had issued the proper forms for their distribution. lavatories in the hospitals had no running water, and the latrines were tubs to be emptied by hand. no one emptied them, since official regulations did not specify which department was responsible for doing so. result was that the hospital had a foul stench that could be smelled for some distance outside its walls. more men were dying in hospitals of infection than of wounds. chief concern of many of the Army doctors was that the nurses might usurp some of their authority. gradually managed to win the doctors and other authorities over, and to reform hospital procedures, with spectacular results. the medical situation had ceased to be an acute problem, she turned her attention to other aspects of the soldiers' welfare. example, most of them squandered all their pay on drink. noted that there was no trustworthy way for them to send money home to their families, and she set up facilities for them to do so. she undertook to send money home herself for any soldier in the hospital that wanted it sent, and the soldiers brought in about 1000 pounds a month. asked the authorities to set up an official service to do this, and they refused. appealing to Queen Victoria herself, she overcame opposition to the idea, and the men sent home 71,000 pounds sterling in less than six months. established with her own money a reading-room with tables for writing letters, and the men used it enthusiastically. imported four schoolmasters to give lectures, and the halls were filled to overflowing. this was done despite opposition from officers who said, "The men are hopeless brutes. You cannot expect anything from them." night, she would often patrol the wards, carrying a dim lamp, to make sure that all was well and no one was in need of help. She became famous as "the Lady with the Lamp." Florence Nightingale, "The lady with the lamp" April 1856 the war was over, and by mid-July the hospital was emptied and her work in Crimea over. returned to England a national hero, with a great welcome prepared for her; she slipped into the country unnoticed and went to a convent that had supplied some of her nurses. she spent the day in prayer before coming out to face the public and beginning to lobby Parliament for suitable legislation. wrote pamphlet after pamphlet, pointing out by pie charts, example, that the major cause of deaths in the Army was not wounds caused by enemy action but disease caused by lack of proper sanitation. is perhaps the first person to use pie charts and similar graphic devices to convey statistical information. obtained the formation of an Army Medical Staff Corps and a Sanitary Commission to oversee military health conditions. these efforts, she relied on the help of Sidney Herbert, insisting that he must work hard and long to get the legislation she needed through Parliament. he protested that she was asking too much, she would not listen. health broke, and he died in August 1861. prayed God to raise him from the dead, explaining that she needed him for the job. When God failed to comply, her faith was badly shaken. wrote a book called, Suggestions for Thought: An Address to the Artisans of England, in which she explained that God was less of a Person and more of a Cosmic Force than is generally supposed by Christians. note that she was working on this book before Sir Sidney died, and one cannot call it simply a response to his death.) copies were given to a few friends, such as John Stuart Mill, who praised it highly. However, it was never published have not seen it, and neither the Library of Congress nor the National library of Medicine has a copy, nor any other library in the United States that I have been able to learn of), Florence kept revising it -- arguably, because her beliefs on the nature of God were simply not internally consistent. it seems, God spoke to her again and said, "You are here to carry out my program. I am not here to carry out yours." She wrote in her diary, "I must remember that God is not my private secretary." his death, Sir Sidney had gotten her involved in Indian affairs. She served on the Indian Sanitary Commission. May 1859, she decided that there were insufficient data available in England on conditions in the Indian Army, and she wrote to 200 military stations there, asking for copies of all regulations and all documents relating to the health and sanitary administration of the army. reports that came back filled two vans. She read them all and summarized them for the Report of the Commission. conclusion was that the death toll from disease in the Indian Army was appallingly high (69 out of 1000 annually), that this was largely due, not to the climate, but to lack of sanitation, and that preventive measures included sanitation not just for army posts but for neighboring villages and, in the long run, for all of India. was a friend of General Charles George Gordon, who captured the British imagination when he and his troops were beseiged at Khartoum in the Sudan, and finally captured and killed. his death, Florence wrote to a friend that suffering, disappointment, and lack of success are the tribute which it is the soul's greatest privilege to present to God. Gordon's death, she wrote, we see "the triumph of failure, the triumph of the Cross. With him, all is well." met the scholar Benjamin Jowett, who was translating Plato into English. They became fast friends, and she contributed to the translation. also began an anthology of mystical writings, called "Notes from Devotional Authors of the Middle Ages, Collected, Chosen, and Freely Translated by Florence Nightingale." It was her contention that mystical prayer is not just for monks and nuns, but should form a part of the every-day life of ordinary persons. the strain of ceaseless overwork, her own health broke, and she was an invalid for the latter half of her life. Christmas Day when she was sixty-five, she wrote: "Today, O Lord, let me dedicate this crumbling old woman to thee. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. I was thy handmaid as a girl. Since then, I have backslid." wrote a manual called Notes for Nurses, and a set of instructions for the matron in charge of training nurses, the importance for a nurse of a schedule of daily prayer. few years before her death, she was the first woman to receive the Order of Merit from the British government. She died at ninety, and, by her directions, her tombstone read simply, "F.N. 1820-1910". Nightingale died on 13 August 1910, and is commemorated on this day on the Lutheran Calendar. The Episcopal calendar commemorates Jeremy Taylor on 13 August, and accordingly has shifted the commemoration of Nightingale to 18 May. I am not sure of the significance of this date, but it is the date (or nearly) of the opening of the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860. [Note: the current date in the Episcopal Church for her commemoration is 12 Aug.] by James Kiefer

England, 1847-1871, John C Patteson, Melanesia, Polynesia, L 23 languages, f school, d ended slave trade there
England, 1847-1871, John Coleridge Patteson, Bishop, Melanesia; Balliol College, Oxford; JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON, BISHOP OF MELANESIA, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS (20 SEP 1871) ; Coleridge Patteson was born in London in 1827. attended Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated in 1849. a tour of Europe and a study of languages, he became a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, in 1852. 1855, he heard Bishop George Selwyn of New Zealand (see 11 Apr.) call for volunteers to go the South Pacific to preach the Gospel. He went there, and founded a school for the education of native Christian workers. He was adept at languages, and learned twenty-three of the languages spoken in the Polynesian and Melanesian Islands of the South Pacific. In 1861 he was consecrated Bishop of Melanesia. The slave-trade was technically illegal in the South Pacific at that time, but the laws were only laxly enforced and in fact slave-raiding was a flourishing business. Patteson was actively engaged in the effort to stamp it out. However, injured men do not always distinguish friends from foes. After slave-raiders had attacked the island of Nakapu, in the Santa Cruz group, Patteson and several companions visited the area. They were assumed to be connected with the raiders, and Patteson's body was floated back to his ship with five hatchet wounds in the chest, one for each native who had been killed in the earlier raid. The death of Bishop Patteson caused an uproar back in England, and stimulated the government there to take firm measures to stamp out slavery and the slave trade in its Pacific territories. It was also the seed of a strong and vigorous Church in Melanesia today. Patteson and his companions died on 20 September 1871. by James Kiefer

England, 1847-1878, CATHERINE WINKWORTH, Manchester, translated German Hymns to English, women's rights & education
England, 1847-1878, CATHERINE WINKWORTH, Manchester, translated German Hymns to English, Great German Chorale tradition to England, women's rights & education ; Manchester; CATHERINE WINKWORTH. POET, 7 August 1878; Winkworth was born in London in 1827, and spent most of her life in Manchester. 1845 she went to Dresden, Germany, to stay for a year. 1853 (or 1855?) she published a collection of translations of German hymns into English, called Lyra Germanica. was an instant success, and went into 23 editions. second series, published in 1858, went into 12 editions. 1863 she published The Chorale Book For England, in 1869 Christian Singers of Germany. work is one of the principal means by which the great German chorale tradition of the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries has been incorporated into English-language worship. of her hymn translations widely sung today, plucked from a couple of nearby hymnals, are listed below. I give the first line, followed by the German author, and the date of writing or (preceded by a +) the date of the author's death. Stars mark my own favorites. All depends on our possessing (Nürnberg Hymnal, 1676) * All my heart this night rejoices (Paulus Gerhardt, 1656) * Baptized into thy name most holy (Johann J Rambach, +1735) * Blessed Jesus, at thy word (Tobias Clausnitzer, +1684) Christ, the life of all the living (Ernst C Homburg, +1681) Christ the Lord is risen again! (Michael Weissel, +1534) * Comfort, comfort ye my people (Johann Olearius, +1684) Dearest Jesus, we are here (Benjamin Schmolck, +1737) Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness (Johann Franck, 1649) * From deepest woe I cry to thee (Martin Luther, +1546) * If thou but suffer God to guide thee (Georg Neumark, +1681) In thee is gladness (Johann Lindemann, + c1631) * Jesus Christ, my sure defense (anon., Berlin, 1653) * Jesus, priceless treasure (Johann Franck, +1677) Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates (George Weissel, 1642) Lord God, we worship thee (Johann Franck, 1653) * Lord Jesus Christ, be present now (Wilhelm II, +1662) Lord, keep us steadfast in thy Word (Martin Luther, +1546) * Lord, thee I love with all my heart (Martin Schalling, +1608) * My soul, now bless thy maker (Johann Gramann, +1541) * Now thank we all our God (Martin Rinkart, c1630) O Christ, our light, O Radiance true (Johann Hermann, +1647) * O God, thou faithful God (Johann, Franck, +1647) O Holy Spirit, enter in (Michael Schirmer, +1673) O Jesus Christ, our Lord most dear (Heinrich von Laufenburg,1429) * O living Bread from heaven (Johann Rist, +1667) Oh, blest the house, whate'er befall (Christoph von Pfeil, +1784) Once he came in blessing (Johann Horn (aka Jan Roh?), +1547) Open now thy gates of beauty (Benjamin Schmolck, +1737) * Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Joachim Neander, +1680) Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (Johann B Freystein, +1718) Thy Word, O Lord, is gentle dew (Carl B Garve, +1841) * Wake, awake, for night is flying (Philip Nicolai, 1597) * When in the hour of deepest need (Paul Eber +1569) (Note: Your hymnal may have a slightly different title, since hymnal compilers tend to fiddle with the wording. Thus, "All my heart this night rejoices" has been changed in some hymnals to "Once again my heart rejoices," presumably so that it can be sung on other occasions than Christmas Eve.) addition to translating hymns, Miss Winkworth was deeply involved in promoting women's rights, and was the secretary of the Clifton Association for Higher Education for Women, a supporter of the Clifton High School for Girls, and a member of the Cheltenham Ladies' College. She died suddenly of heart disease near Geneva on 1 July 1878. by James Kiefer

England, 1848-1893, JOHN HORDEN, Moosonee, Ontario Canada, Ruperts Land, preached in Cree in 8 mos, translated Bible into Cree
Canada, 1848-1893, JOHN HORDEN, Moosonee, Ontario Canada (Moose River, Hudson Bay Waters). Ruperts Land, preached in Cree after only 8 mos, 1 month to marry and leave, translated Bible into Cree language; Moosonee, Ontario Canada ; JOHN HORDEN, Commemorated December 15 ; Horden (1828 – January 12, 1893) was the first Anglican Bishop of Moosonee, Canada. May 10, 1851, he received a letter from Church Missionary Society, informing him that the bishop of Rupert's Land had made a request for a schoolmaster at Moose Factory, in northern Ontario, and that he had been appointed to fill the position. also told him to prepare to leave within a month, and indicated that they desired he marry and take his wife out to assist him in his missionary work. he was less than enthused about the appointment, he immediately prepared for his new position. He contacted the woman of his choice, a young lady who herself had missionary inclinations, and she agreed to marry him. On June 8, 1851, they set sail for Canada. spent much of his time on the trip by continuing his studies of the Greek Testament and beginning the study of the Cree language. went among the natives, writing down new words as he heard them and, after eight month's effort, was able to preach to the natives without an interpreter. He was ordained a priest during this period. Soon Horden had prepared a prayer book, a hymnal, and translations of the Gospels in the Cree language. in 1865, Horden and his family, which now included five children that he and his wife had had in Canada, sailed back to England so that his children could be educated. Horden's return to England, he found he was very well-known throughout the British Isles, and became a popular and sought-after speaker. In 1867, Horden returned with his wife to James' Bay. the autumn of 1872, Horden received a message to return to England to be consecrated as a bishop, and on December 15, 1872, he and two others were ordained in a ceremony involving eight other bishops, including Bishop Anderson, who had first ordained Horden 20 years earlier. continued to serve as bishop of his huge territory, making pastoral visits to as many parts of his huge diocese as possible, despite his having a serious problem with rheumatism. In his later years, he also worked diligently to finish his translation of the Bible into the Cree language. more from Wikipedia

England, 1849-1912, William Boothe, Founder Salvation Army
England, 1849-1912, William Boothe, Founder Salvation Army; PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Smith Wigglesworth, Commemorated March 12;

England, 1850-1894, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, POET, London, Goblin Market, Remember, In the Bleak Midwinter, Anglo-Catholic, Socialist
England, 1850-1894, London, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, POET, Goblin Market, Remember, In the Bleak Midwinter, Anglo-Catholic, Socialist, graves disease, cancer; London; CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, POET, 1894, Commemorated April 27 ; Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems. is best known for her long poem Goblin Market, her love poem "Remember", and for the words of what became the popular Christmas carol "In the Bleak Midwinter". was born in London and educated at home by her mother. Her father, Gabriele Rossetti, was an Italian poet and a political asylum seeker from Naples; their mother, Frances Polidori, was the sister of Lord Byron's friend and physician, John William Polidori, author of The Vampyre. she was 14, Rossetti suffered a nervous breakdown, which was followed by bouts of depression and related illness. this period she, her mother, and her sister became seriously interested in the Anglo-Catholic movement of the Church of England. This religious devotion played a major role in Rossetti's personal life. She was a volunteer worker from 1859 to 1870 at the St. Mary Magdalene "house of charity" in Highgate, a refuge for former prostitutes. began writing at age 7, but she was 18 when her first published poem appeared in the Athenaeum magazine. However her most famous collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems, appeared in 1862, when she was 31. The collection garnered much critical praise and, according to Jan Marsh, "Elizabeth Barrett Browning's death" (in 1861) "led to Rossetti being hailed as her natural successor as 'female laureate'." Christmas poem "In the Bleak Midwinter" (Hymnal 1982 #112) became widely known after her death when set as a Christmas carol first by Gustav Holst, and then by Harold Darke: in this setting it was judged in 1998 the best carol in a poll of some of the world's leading choirmasters and choral experts. Her poem "Love Came Down at Christmas" (1885; Hymnal 1982 #84) has also been widely arranged as a carol. continued to write and publish for the rest of her life although she focused primarily on devotional writing and children's poetry. In the later decades of her life, she suffered from Graves Disease. In 1893 she developed cancer, and died the following year 29 December 1894. — more at Wikipedia

England, 1852, William Palmer, Theologian, Orthodox communion
English Theologian, 1852, William Palmer, Orthodox communion; ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, ECUMENIST and JOURNALIST, 1929, Commemorated June 26;

England, 1855-1864, 1885, KING KAMEHAMEHA & QUEEN EMMA, spread c, English missionaries, t BCP & Hymnsl, Queen's Hospitl
Pacific Islands, 1855-1864, 1885, KING KAMEHAMEHA AND QUEEN EMMA OF HAWAII, Christian rulers, built schools & hospitals, spread christianity, avoided US, to England for missionaries, personally translated BCP & Hymnal, Queen's Hospital; Hawaii; KING KAMEHAMEHA AND QUEEN EMMA OF HAWAII, (28 NOV 1864) ; Kamehameha IV and his wife Emma were Christian rulers who encouraged the building of Christian schools and hospitals, and who contributed greatly to the spread of Christianity among the Hawaiian people. King was worried by the growth of American political influence, directly connected with the work of American missionaries, many of whom openly favored annexation of the islands by the United States. accordingly invited the Church of England to send missionaries and to establish a presence in Hawaii. touring England as a prince, he had attended worship services, and had been favorably impressed.) although the King's support of the Church of England was perhaps politically motivated, his support of Christianity was not. and his wife were earnest in their devotion to both the material and the spiritual welfare of their people. King personally translated the Book of Common Prayer and much of the Hymnal into Hawaiian. only son died in 1863, and the King died, apparently of grief, on 30 November 1864. Queen devoted the remainder of her life to charitable endeavors (Queen's Hospital, the largest civilian hospital in Hawaii, is largely her doing). She died in 1885. of the television program, MAGNUM, P I, will be disappointed to learn that the King Kamehameha Club was probably named for King Kamehameha I, who was a somewhat different sort of ruler.) NOTE: successor, Kamehameha V, suspended the constitution and announced his intention to rule in the traditional autocratic manner. the end of his life, he was too fat to walk unaided. He was the last of his dynasty. In 1893 Queen Liliuokalani was deposed and a republic proclaimed. 1894, the republic acquired its first president, Sanford B. Dole. (His family is in the pineapple business.) 1898, the United States, (having just acquired Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in a brief war with Spain, and being in an expansionist mood) annexed the Republic of Hawaii at the request of the government thereof. US troops withdrew from Cuba (except for Guantanamo Naval Base) in 1902. The Philippines became independent in 1946. Puerto Rico, by vote of its inhabitants, has rejected both independence and becoming one of the United States, and has been since 1952 officially an "associated commonwealth," whose citizens are also citizens of the United States, free to travel between the two countries, voting in US elections when on the mainland, free of US taxes when on the island. Guam has been a self-governing unincorporated US territory since 1950. Since the 1970's, there has been talk of giving it the same status as Puerto Rico. Hawaii was made a territory in 1900 and a State in 1959. by James Kiefer

England, 1859, Charles Darwin and his book On the Origin of Species, Theory of Evolution
England, 1859, Charles Darwin and his book On the Origin of Species;

England, 1865, Salvation Army, Blind Beggar Tavern, London
Salvation Army, 1865, Blind Beggar Tavern, London; Salvation Army, 1865, Blind Beggar Tavern, London; Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1947, Commemorated March 12 ;

England, 1866, Cowley, Oxfordshire, Society of St. John the Evangelist, Anglican monasteries
Society of St. John the Evangelist; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC & ECUMENIST, 30 August 1912 ; EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, PRIEST, RENEWER OF THE CHURCH (18 SEP 1882); RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, Commemorated January 16 ; BERNARD MIZEKI, CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN AFRICA (18 JUNE 1896);

England, 1867-1942, WILSON CARLILE, THE CHURCH ARMY
England, 1867-1942, WILSON CARLILE, THE CHURCH ARMY; WILSON CARLILE, PRIEST, FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH ARMY, 26 September 1942.;

England, 1867, First Lambeth Conference, Anglican, expressing mind of communion on issues of day
England, 1937, Lambeth Conference of 1937; Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. the Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous national and regional churches and is not a governing body, the Lambeth Conferences serve a collaborative and consultative function, expressing "the mind of the communion" on issues of the day.[1] which a Lambeth Conference may pass are without legal effect, but they are nonetheless influential. So, although the resolutions of conferences carry no legislative authority, they "do carry great moral and spiritual authority."[This quote needs a citation] "Its statements on social issues have influenced church policy in the churches."[2] conferences form one of the communion's four "Instruments of Communion".[3] Lambeth; Lambeth Convention; PAUL SHINJI SASAKI AND PHILIP LENDEL TSEN, BISHOP OF TOKYO, 1946; BISHOP OF HONAN, CHINA, 1954; Oct. 31; JAMES THEODORE HOLLY, BISHOP OF HAITI AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, (13 March 1911), Commemorated November 8 ;

England, 1867-1885, James Hannington and Martyrs of Uganda, East Africa
Uganda; JAMES HANNINGTON AND THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, (29 OCT 1885) ; the new nations of Africa, Uganda is the most predominantly Christian. Mission work began there in the 1870's with the favor of King Mutesa, who died in 1884. However, his son and successor, King Mwanga, opposed all foreign presence, including the missions. Hannington, born 1847, was sent out from England in 1884 by the Anglican Church as missionary Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. As he was travelling toward Uganda, he was apprehended by emissaries of King Mwanga. He and his companions were brutally treated and, a week later, 29 October 1885, most of them were put to death. Hannington's last words were: "Go tell your master that I have purchased the road to Uganda with my blood." first native martyr was the Roman Catholic Joseph Mkasa Balikuddembe, who was beheaded after having rebuked the king for his debauchery and for the murder of Bishop Hannington. On 3 June 1886, a group of 32 men and boys, 22 Roman Catholic and 10 Anglican, were burned at the stake. Most of them were young pages in Mwanga's household, from their head-man, Charles Lwanga, to the thirteen-year-old Kizito, who went to his death "laughing and chattering." These and many other Ugandan Christians suffered for their faith then and in the next few years. 1977, the Anglican Archbishop Janani Luwum and many other Christians suffered death for their faith under the tyrant Idi Amin. largely to their common heritage of suffering for their Master, Christians of various communions in Uganda have always been on excellent terms. by James Kiefer JANANI LUWUM, ARCHBISHOP OF UGANDA, MARTYR (16 FEB 1977); MARTYRS OF SUDAN, (16 May 1983); THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, (3 JUNE 1886) ;

England, 1873-1932, GHARLES GORE, Wimbledon, trades union m, higher criticism, development of c, unreliability of OT, emptying
England, 1873-1932, GHARLES GORE, Wimbledon, London, trades union movement, 1880 Cuddesdon Theological College vice-principal, Pussy House 1883, higher criticism friendly, development of christianity, unreliability of OT, Kenotic (emptying) Theory of Incarnation, Resurrection Society at Pusey House then at Radley near Oxford, Boer Wars south africa, Joseph Chamberlin, Worcester, Birmingham Industrial area, 1919 Retirement speaking at 66, 6 mo. Tour of India 1930; Wimbledon, London ; CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 ; Gore was born in Wimbledon in 1853. His father's grandfather was the Earl of Arran, his mother's grandfather was the Earl of Bessborough, and his brother Spencer was England's first National Tennis Champion. attended Harrow Prep School (during which time he became dedicated to weekly Communion), and Balliol College, Oxford (where he became a supporter of the trades-union movement). He took First Class Honors in Classical Moderations and in Greats (philosophy), and was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1875. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1878. 1880 he became Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, founded by Edward King. During the three years he spent there he did a great deal of outside preaching and lecturing. the death of Edward Pusey, a library and study center was established at Oxford in 1883, known as Pusey House, and Gore became its first Principal, a position he held until 1893. His appointment raised some eyebrows, since Gore was known to be friendly to what was called the Higher Criticism, which favored non-traditional views on the authorship of some books of the Old Testament (Lower Criticism means attempting to establish the original text of the Scriptures by diligently comparing the existing copies and analyzing their variations), while Pusey had firmly opposed the Higher Criticism. 1888 Gore wrote The Ministry of the Catholic Church (or The Church and the Ministry — my sources differ), a book on the origins of the Christian Ministry and its development in the first two centuries of the Christian era. the same year, he wrote Roman Catholic Claims, a reply to assertions that the Anglican Church was not the true successor of the New Testament Church. 1889, he helped to found the Christian Social Union (he was one of the two Vice-Presidents), dedicated to promoting the view that Christian principles as applied to the political and economic organization of society demanded reform along trade-unionist and moderate socialist lines. His political views aroused some public protest. more protest was aroused, however, by the publication, also in 1889, of a book called Lux Mundi (meaning "Light of the World"): A Series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation. book was a set of essays by various writers. Gore was the general editor, and contributed one essay. Overall, the book expressed the belief of many educated Christians that Biblical and archaeological studies and scientific discoveries had made it necessary for the Church to re-examine and perhaps restate some of its traditional formulations. book was a sensation, and considered by many to be less a restatement than an abandonment of traditional doctrines. Gore's essay was called, "On the Inspiration of Holy Scripture." He distinguished sharply between the Old and New Testaments, saying that the New Testament accounts were either eye-witness or close to eye-witness accounts of the events described, while we had reason to suppose that some Old Testament accounts were written centuries after the event, and were not reliable sources of factual detail. Their value is not as a revelation of historical of scientific information, but as a revelation of God's nature and His dealings with us. Thus, the point of the story of Adam and Eve is not that the human race is less than ten thousand years old, but that obedience to God makes men happy, and disobedience to God makes them unhappy. Gore wrote: "It is of the essence of the New Testament, as the religion of the Incarnation, to be final and catholic: on the other hand, it is of the essence of the Old Testament to be imperfect, because it represents a gradual process of education by which man was lifted out of the depth of sin and ignorance." objected: "But you are on a slippery slope! If Genesis is not reliable history, how can we be sure of later books?" To this, Gore might have replied: "Consider the history of ancient Rome. The history begins with stories about the flight of Aeneas from Troy, and continues with Romulus and Remus, and with the story of Lucretia, and Horatius at the bridge, and Mucius Scaevola thrusting his hand into the fire, and the secession of the plebs, and the treason of Tarpeia, and Curtius leaping into the abyss, and so on. Yet the same books that tell us these stories about early Rome also tell us about the First and Second Triumvirates, and the battle of Actium, and so on. No one says that, if we reject the story of Dido and Aeneas as legend, we cannot trust the later accounts as history." chiefly outraged Gore's critics, however, was his adoption of what is called the Kenotic Theory of the Incarnation. The Greek word Kenosis means "emptying," and is used in Philippians 2:7, where we read that Jesus, + having the nature of God, + did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, + but emptied himself, and took the nature of a servant. put forward the suggestion that Jesus, when He took upon Himself the limitations of our human nature, accepted the limitations of human knowledge, and that therefore, when He spoke (for example) of the Flood, He was simply accepting the common assumptions of His culture, and we are not bound to accept these assumptions as correct. surprisingly, many readers found this view completely unacceptable. The book was widely read and disputed over, and cheap, popular editions were soon available. years later, Gore was invited to deliver the annual Bampton Lecture Series. He welcomed the opportunity to make clarify his position and reassure his listeners of his fundamental orthodoxy. The Lectures were delivered in Lent, 1891, in the University Church of Oxford, St. Mary the Virgin, to capacity audiences. Listeners filled the pews, stood in the aisles, and sat on the steps of the chancel and the pulpit. A few months later, the lectures were published in book form as The Incarnation of the Son of God. in 1887, Gore had founded the Society of the Resurrection, an association for priests, aimed at a deepening of the spiritual life. In July 1892 this became the Community of the Resurrection, a religious order for priests, beginning with six members. The members declared their intention of remaining celibate for life, but took vows of celibacy for only one year at a time, rather than taking a vow binding for life. (In technical language, they were monastics of the Simple Profession rather than of the Solemn Profession.) The Community first lived at Pusey House, but soon (1893) moved to Radley, near Oxford, and in 1898 to its present headquarters in Mirfield, Yorkshire. Many Americans (and perhaps others) will know the Community best through the work in the 1950's and early 1960's of the priest Trevor Huddleston, author of Nought For Your Comfort, a book discussing racial animosities and inequities in the Republic of South Africa and elsewhere, and calling Christians to a ministry of justice and reconciliation. while retaining his office as Senior of the Community of the Resurrection, was made a canon of Westminster late in 1894, where his preaching attracted great crowds. When it was known that he was scheduled to preach, would-be listeners gathered outside the Abbey well in advance, and when the doors were opened the building filled like a lock in flood-time. In minutes, not even standing-room was to be found. In addition to his Sunday sermons, he also gave weekday lectures, many of them later collected into books, such as The Sermon On the Mount (1896), The Epistle To The Ephesians (1897), and The Epistle To the Romans (1898). In 1901 he wrote The Body of Christ, dealing with the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, asserting and defending the doctrine that Christ is objectively present in the Sacrament, and that the Sacrament is a sacrificial offering, but repudiating certain late mediaeval innovations in worship, such as Processions of the Sacrament, unknown to the Primitive Church. tension increased between the British government and the Boer republics of South Africa, Gore denounced British Imperialism, and when war began in 1899 he denounced the British policy of rounding up Boer civilians in detention camps, where the mortality rate was very high. He wrote a fierce letter on the subject to The Times. The next day, there was a fierce reply by a canon of Worcester (pronounced "Wooster") Cathedral. The Worcester area was the political base of Joseph Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary whose policy Gore was denouncing. few days later, Gore was appointed Bishop of Worcester. He was consecrated in February 1902. The diocese included the city of Birmingham, which had been tiny or non-existent when the dioceses of England were organized, but which had grown to become a large industrial city. Gore saw that the needs of Birmingham and of the surrounding rural areas were quite different, and immediately began to urge a division. Chamberlain, who had come to respect and admire Gore, helped steer the necessary legislation through Parliament. 1905 Birmingham was organized as a separate bishopric and Gore became its first bishop. Things went well for him there. Under his leadership, church attendance increased considerably, new buildings were erected, and many priests brought into the diocese to minster to the growing congregations. In spite of his adherence to views widely regarded as tending toward Roman Catholicism, he established strong bonds of courtesy and affection with the Protestants of Birmingham. 1911 he was transferred and became Bishop of Oxford instead. This was a sprawling, largely rural diocese, but Gore traveled about, regularly visiting the parishes under his care, and on most Sundays preached in at least two different pulpits. Since college days he had been committed to educational and economic improvement for the working class, and he gave an annual lecture to the Workers' Educational Association at Reading. 1911 a major labor dispute arose in Reading, and Gore publicly sided with the workers, giving them money, and pressing for a panel of inquiry into the living conditions of the workers. The report of the panel favored the workers' cause, and won for Gore a great deal of gratitude and affection among working-class people in his diocese and elsewhere. the next few years, several Anglican clergy publicly declared that an Anglican might reasonably deny the Virgin Birth and the physical Resurrection of Christ and remain an Anglican. Gore was horrified, and proposed to resign his bishopric so as to devote himself to contending against a position that he believed to be destructive of all Christian faith. His friends persuaded him to reconsider. 1914, WWI broke out. Gore dutifully travelled to France twice to preach and administer the sacraments to men in uniform. In June 1918 he went to the United States to speak on the Church and the post-war world. He spoke in New York, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, various cities in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, then on to Milwaukee, Nashotah, Detroit, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and then back to England as the war ended in November. He spoke chiefly on reconciliation and the necessity, once the war had been won, of restoring Germany as soon as possible to the family of nations. the war, Gore resigned his bishopric and retired in July 1919, being 66 years old. was flooded with invitations to speak or preach, and had a supply of postcards printed reading, "Sorry, Can't. C.G." for immediate response to most of them. The invitations he did accept were quite enough to fill his calendar. Later that year he became a lecturer in theology at King's College, and was made a Life Governor. From 1924 to 1928 he was Dean of the Faculty of Theology in the University of London. He also served on the Council of Christian Ministers on Social Questions, the Christian Social Crusade, the Industrial Christian Fellowship, the General Council of the League of Nations, the Oxford Mission to Calcutta, the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, the Board of Governors of Pusey House, the World Conference on Faith and Order (of the World Council of Churches), and the Archbishop's Eastern Churches Committee. Not bad for a man in "retirement." these years he also completed his Exposition of the Epistles of Saint John (1920), and then wrote his trilogy, Belief in God (1921), Belief in Christ (1922), and The Holy Spirit and the Church (1924). These three works were re-issued in a single volume called The Reconstruction of Belief, intended as an exposition and defense of the faith of the Catholic Church, as stated in the Holy Scriptures and codified in the Councils of the first five centuries of the Christian era, and now restated in modern terms--"the faith once delivered to the saints presented in conformity with twentieth-century categories of thought and scientific methods of reasoning." [Rice] The book prompted many objections, chiefly from Modernists, and Gore dealt with many of these objections in a sequel called Can We Then Believe? In 1928 the SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) published A New Commentary On Holy Scripture, which contained notes on every book of the Old and New Testaments and of the Apocrypha, together with many general articles. Gore was the general editor. Gore also wrote Christ and Society (1928), dealing with the social and economic applications of Christian ethics; Jesus of Nazareth(1929), dealing with the person and work of Jesus; and The Philosophy of the Good Life (1930), the Gifford Lectures, dealing with answers offered by various philosophies and religions to the question, "How ought I to live?" (The Gifford Lectures are lectures in Natural Theology, in which the lecturer is barred from asking his listeners to accept the authenticity of any revelation. Perhaps the best-known Gifford Lectures are William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience.) Gore's last book, Reflections On the Litany, was published the day after he died. November of 1930, he began a six-month tour of India, preaching and lecturing pretty much in every district in the country, "speaking whenever he was not walking, riding, or sleeping." He returned home totally exhausted. From then on his health deteriorated. In January 1932 he acquired a severe cough, and then pneumonia. On Friday 15 he was still able to write a few postcards to friends. Then he fell into a coma, and died on the morning of Sunday 17 January 1932. His influence remains great. [Note: This Bio is based largely on the book The Bridge Builders: Biographical Studies in the History of Anglicanism, by Hugh A. Lawrence Rice (1961, Darton, Longman & Todd, London; Longmans, Green & Co, New York).] by James Kiefer

England, 1877, Cambridge Brotherhood to Deli (Cambridge Mission to Delhi) 1877
Cambridge Brotherhood to Deli (Cambridge Mission to Delhi) 1877; St. Stephen's College, Delhi, located at the University of Delhi; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND ÂœFRIEND OF THE POORIN INDIA, 1940, Commemorated February 12;

England, 1879-1947, Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, great healing ministry
England, 1879-1947, Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT; Wigglesworth (8 June 1859 – 12 March 1947) was a British evangelist who was influential in the early history of Pentecostalism. life[edit] Wigglesworth was born on 8 June 1859[1] in Menston, Yorkshire, England, to an impoverished family. As a small child, he worked in the fields pulling turnips alongside his mother; he also worked in factories to help provide for his family. He was illiterate as a child, being unschooled because of his labours.[2] a Methodist, he became a born again Christian at the age of eight. His grandmother was a devout Methodist; his parents, John and Martha, took young Smith to Methodist and Anglican churches on regular occasions. He was confirmed by a Bishop in the Church of England, baptized by immersion in the Baptist Church and had the grounding in Bible teaching in the Plymouth Brethren while learning the plumbing trade as an apprentice from a man in the Brethren movement.[3] married Polly Featherstone on 4 December 1882 at St Peter's church, Bradford.[4] At the time of their marriage, she was a preacher with the Salvation Army and had come to the attention of General William Booth. They had one daughter, Alice, and four sons, Seth, Harold, Ernest and George. Polly died in 1913.[5] His grandson, Leslie Wigglesworth, after more than 20 years as a missionary in the Congo, served as the president of the Elim Pentecostal Church. learned to read after he married Polly; she taught him to read the Bible. He often stated that it was the only book he ever read, and did not permit newspapers in his home, preferring the Bible to be their only reading material. worked as a plumber, but he abandoned this trade because he was too busy for it after he started preaching. In 1907, Wigglesworth visited Alexander Boddy during the Sunderland Revival, and following a laying-on of hands from Alexander's wife, Mary Boddy, he experienced speaking in tongues.[6] He spoke at some of the Assemblies of God events in Great Britain. He also received ministerial credentials with the Assemblies of God in the United States, where he evangelized from 1924 to 1929.[7] believed that healing came through faith, and he was flexible in his approach. When he was forbidden to lay hands on audience members by the authorities in Sweden, he preached for a "corporate healing", by which people laid hands on themselves. He also practiced anointing with oil, and the distribution of "prayer handkerchiefs" (one of which was sent to King George V). Wigglesworth sometimes attributed ill-health to demons.[6] largely believed his ministerial success was due to his speaking in tongues. He said: “I want you to see that he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself or builds himself up. We must be edified before we can edify the church. I cannot estimate what I, personally, owe to the Holy Ghost method of spiritual edification. I am here before you as one of the biggest conundrums in the world. There never was a weaker man on the platform. Language? None. Inability–full of it. All natural things in my life point exactly opposite to my being able to stand on the platform and preach the gospel. The secret is that the Holy Ghost came and brought this wonderful edification of the Spirit. I had been reading this Word continually as well as I could, but the Holy Ghost came and took hold of it, for the Holy Ghost is the breath of it, and He illuminated it to me.”[8] Smith Wigglesworth praying for a sick woman at many churches throughout Yorkshire, often at Bethesda Church at Swallownest (on the outskirts of Sheffield), Wigglesworth claimed to have made many prophecies. He also had an international ministry. He ministered in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Pacific Islands, India, Ceylon, and several countries in Europe.[9] Some of his sermons were transcribed for Pentecostal magazines, and these were collected into two books: Ever Increasing Faith[10][11] and Faith that Prevails.[12] continued to minister until the time of his death on 12 March 1947.[13] were numerous claims of divine healing during Wigglesworth's ministry.[14] These include a woman healed of a tumor, a woman healed of tuberculosis, a wheelchair-confined woman walking, and many more.[15] There were reports that people were raised from the dead, including his wife Polly.[16] people said they were cured of cancer by Jesus Christ through him. Wigglesworth described cancer as "a living evil spirit", and insisted that many diseases were "Satanic in origin".[17] His methods often involved hitting, slapping, or punching the afflicted part of the body. On a number of occasions his approach to persons suffering from stomach complaints was to punch them in the stomach, sometimes with such force that it propelled them across the room. When challenged on this, his response was "I don't hit them, I hit the devil". Responding to criticism over his method of praying for the sick, Wigglesworth stated: "You might think by the way I went about praying for the sick that I was sometimes unloving and rough, but oh, friends, you have no idea what I see behind the sickness and the one who is afflicted. I am not dealing with the person; I am dealing with the satanic forces that are binding the afflicted". On one occasion Wigglesworth declared to the sick "I'll only pray for you once, to pray twice is unbelief". The second night, a man approached the altar to receive prayer again and Wigglesworth, recognizing him, said "Didn't I pray for you last night? You are full of unbelief, get off this platform!"[18] This last statement should be seen in light of Smith Wigglesworth often praying for hours for/with one person until they were healed. The above-mentioned man would have been provocative for example, so he told him what he needed to hear. On other occasions Wigglesworth mentions a change of heart in a person who did not experience healing, which then led to healing the second time round. One of his principles was "if one promises healing, one should stay and pray until it's done". Menston, Yorkshire, birthplace of Smith Wigglesworth; Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1947, Commemorated March 12 ;

England, 1881-1896, BERNARD MIZEKI, Capetown, Cowley Fathers convert, translated languages, many converts
Africa, South Africa, 1881-1896, BERNARD MIZEKI, CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN AFRICA, Capetown, South Africa (Cape of Good Hope), Society of St John (SSJE) convert, Cowley Fathers, Mastered translated languages, used their monotheistic faith, many converts, killed by black african nationalists because missionary for England; Capetown, South Africa; BERNARD MIZEKI, CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN AFRICA (18 JUNE 1896); Mizeki was born in Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) in about 1861. he was twelve or a little older, he left his home and went to Capetown, South Africa, where for the next ten years he worked as a laborer, living in the slums of Capetown, but (perceiving the disastrous effects of drunkenness on many workers in the slums) firmly refusing to drink alcohol, and remaining largely uncorrupted by his surroundings. his day's work, he attended night classes at an Anglican school. Under the influence of his teachers, from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE, an Anglican religious order for men, popularly called the Cowley Fathers), he became a Christian and was baptized on 9 March 1886. the fundamentals of European schooling, he mastered English, French, high Dutch, and at least eight local African languages. time he would be an invaluable assistant when the Anglican church began translating its sacred texts into African languages. graduating from the school, he accompanied Bishop Knight-Bruce to Mashonaland, a tribal area in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), to work there as a lay catechist. In 1891 the bishop assigned him to Nhowe, the village of paramount-chief Mangwende, and there he built a mission-complex. He prayed the Anglican hours each day, tended his subsistence garden, studied the local language (which he mastered better than any other foreigner in his day), and cultivated friendships with the villagers. eventually opened a school, and won the hearts of many of the Mashona through his love for their children. moved his mission complex up onto a nearby plateau, next to a grove of trees sacred to the ancestral spirits of the Mashona. Although he had the chief's permission, he angered the local religious leaders when he cut some of the trees down and carved crosses into others. he opposed some local traditional religious customs, Bernard was very attentive to the nuances of the Shona Spirit religion. He developed an approach that built on people's already monotheistic faith in one God, Mwari, and on their sensitivity to spirit life, while at the same time he forthrightly proclaimed the Christ. Over the next five years (1891-1896), the mission at Nhowe produced an abundance of converts. black African nationalists regarded all missionaries as working for the European colonial governments. During an uprising in 1896, Bernard was warned to flee. He refused, since he did not regard himself as working for anyone but Christ, and he would not desert his converts or his post. 18 June 1896, he was fatally speared outside his hut. His wife and a helper went to get food and blankets for him. They later reported that, from a distance, they saw a blinding light on the hillside where he had been lying, and heard a rushing sound, as though of many wings. they returned to the spot his body had disappeared. The place of his death has become a focus of great devotion for Anglicans and other Christians, and one of the greatest of all Christian festivals in Africa takes place there every year around the feast day that marks the anniversary of his martyrdom, June 18. James Kiefer

England, 1882, Church Army, St Pauls Cathedral, Westminster Slums
England, 1882, Church Army, St Pauls Cathedral, Westminster Slums; WILSON CARLILE PRIEST, FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH ARMY, 26 September 1942 ; JOHN DONNE, Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631);

England, 1884-1886, JAMES HANNINGTON & MARTYRS OF UGANDA, East Africa, Anglican & Catholic martyrs killed by Mwanga
Africa, East Africa, 1884-1886, JAMES HANNINGTON AND THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, East Africa, Anglican and Catholic martyrs killed by Mwanga, after Christian father Mutesa; Uganda; JAMES HANNINGTON AND THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, (29 OCT 1885) ; the new nations of Africa, Uganda is the most predominantly Christian. work began there in the 1870's with the favor of King Mutesa, who died in 1884. his son and successor, King Mwanga, opposed all foreign presence, including the missions. Hannington, born 1847, was sent out from England in 1884 by the Anglican Church as missionary Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. he was travelling toward Uganda, he was apprehended by emissaries of King Mwanga. and his companions were brutally treated and, a week later, 29 October 1885, most of them were put to death. last words were: "Go tell your master that I have purchased the road to Uganda with my blood." first native martyr was the Roman Catholic Joseph Mkasa Balikuddembe, who was beheaded after having rebuked the king for his debauchery and for the murder of Bishop Hannington. 3 June 1886, a group of 32 men and boys, 22 Roman Catholic and 10 Anglican, were burned at the stake. of them were young pages in Mwanga's household, from their head-man, Charles Lwanga, to the thirteen-year-old Kizito, who went to his death "laughing and chattering." and many other Ugandan Christians suffered for their faith then and in the next few years. 1977, the Anglican Archbishop Janani Luwum and many other Christians suffered death for their faith under the tyrant Idi Amin. largely to their common heritage of suffering for their Master, Christians of various communions in Uganda have always been on excellent terms. by James Kiefer THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA, (3 JUNE 1886) ; 3 June 1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the court of King Mwanga of Buganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. the following months many other Christians throughout the country died by spear or fire for their faith. martyrdoms totally changed the dynamic of Christian growth in Uganda. by a handful of Anglican and Roman missionaries after 1877, the Christian faith had been preached only to the immediate members of the court, by order of King Mutesa. successor, Mwanga, became increasingly angry as he realized that the first converts put loyalty to Christ above the traditional loyalty to the king. began in 1885. first forbade anyone to go near a Christian mission on pain of death, finding himself unable to cool the ardor of the converts, resolved to wipe out Christianity. Matryrs of Uganda Namugongo martyrdoms produced a result entirely opposite to Mwanga's intentions. example of these martyrs, who walked to their deaths singing hymns and praying for their enemies, so inspired many of the bystanders that they began to seek instruction from the remaining Christians. a few years the original handful of converts had multiplied many times and spread far beyond the court. martyrs had left the indelible impression that Christianity was truly African, not simply a white man's religion. of the missionary work was carried out by Africans rather than by white missionaries, and Christianity spread steadily. now has the largest percentage of professed Christians of any nation in Africa. years ago I heard an African clergyman, born of pagan parents, tell of his conversion. He said: afternoon I was bicycling along a road and met a young man about my own age bicycling in the opposite direction. He promptly turned about and began to ride beside me and to talk. spoke with great enthusiasm about Jesus, whom I had never heard of before, and how He had destroyed the power of death and evil by dying and rising again, and how He was God become man to reconcile man with God. heard what my companion had to say, and before we parted I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Now, the young man who preached the Good News of Jesus Christ to me that afternoon had himself heard of Jesus for the first time that morning. persecution of Christians in the 1970's by the military dictatorship of Idi Amin proved the vitality of the example of the Namugongo martyrs. the thousands of new martyrs, both Anglican and Roman, was Janani Luwum, Archbishop of the (Anglican) Church of Uganda. by James Kiefer

England, 1889, Christian Social Union (UK) 1889 at Oxford
Christian Social Union (UK) 1889 at Oxford; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND ÂœFRIEND OF THE POORÂ IN INDIA, 1940. Commemorated February 12;

England, 1889-1948, Mahatma Gandhi, nonviolent freedom fighter
India, 1889-1948, Mahatma Gandhi; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND ÂœFRIEND OF THE POORÂ IN INDIA, 1940, Commemorated January 12;

England, 1891-1940, CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, priest and friend of the poor in India, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Gandi's associate
India, 1891-1940, CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, priest and friend of the poor in India, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Gandi's associate, relationship Gospel and Justice, persuaded G to return to India from S Africa, Indian indentured laborers in Fiji, radical discipleship in England, leave freedom struggle to Indians; St. Stephen's College, Delhi, located at the University of Delhi; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND œFRIEND OF THE POOR IN INDIA, 1940, Commemorated February 12; Freer Andrews (1871 – 1940) was an English priest, educator and Indian freedom fighter who is best known as an associate of Mahatma Gandhi. greatly admired the philosophy of the young Mohandas Gandhi and was instrumental in convincing him to return to India from South Africa, where Gandhi was a leading light in the Indian civil rights struggle there. was affectionately known as Christ's Faithful Apostle, and also, for his contributions to the Indian Independence Movement the Mahatma and his students at St. Stephen's College, Delhi named him, Deenabandhu, or 'Friend of the Poor'. had been involved in the Christian Social Union since college, and was interested in exploring the relationship between a commitment to the gospel and a commitment to justice, through which he was attracted to struggles for justice throughout the British Empire, especially in India. 1904 he joined the Cambridge Brotherhood in Delhi and arrived there to teach philosophy at St. Stephen's College, where he famously grew close to many of his Indian colleagues and students. Increasingly dismayed by the racist behavior and treatment of Indians by British officials and civilians, he supported Indian political aspirations, and soon became involved in the activities of the Indian National Congress. known for his persuasive ways, intellect and keen sense of moral firmness, he was asked by senior Indian political leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale to visit South Africa and help the Indian community there resolve their political disputes with the Government. He met there a young Gujarati lawyer, Mohandas Gandhi who was attempting to organize the Natal Indian Congress and the Indian community to protest the racial discrimination and police legislation that infringed upon their civil liberties. was deeply impressed with Gandhi's knowledge of Christian values, and his espousal of the concept of ahimsa, non-violence - something that Gandhi mixed with inspiration from elements of Christian anarchism. He helped Gandhi organize an Ashram in Natal and publish his famous magazine, The Indian Opinion. the advice of several Indian Congress leaders and, significantly, that of Principal S K Rudra of St. Stephen's College, Andrews was instrumental in persuading Gandhi to return to India with him in 1915. news reached India of the mistreatment of Indian indentured labourers in Fiji, the Indian Government, in September 1915, sent Andrews and W.W. Pearson to make inquiries. The two visited numerous plantations and interviewed indentured labourers, overseers and Government officials and on their return to India also interviewed returned labourers. In their report, Andrews and Pearson highlighted the ills of the indenture system which led to a stop of further transportation of Indian labour to the British colonies. made a second visit to Fiji in 1917 and although reported on some improvements, was still appalled at the moral degradation of the indentured labourers. He called for an immediate end to indenture and the system of Indian indentured labour was formally abolished in 1920. this time, Gandhi reasoned to Andrews that it was probably best for sympathetic Britons like himself to leave the freedom struggle to Indians. So, from 1935 onwards, Andrews began to spend more time back in Britain, teaching young people all over the country about Christ’s call to radical discipleship. Gandhi's affectionate nickname for Andrews was Christ’s Faithful Apostle, based on the initials of his name, "C.F.A". He was widely known as Gandhi's closest friend and was perhaps the only major figure to address Gandhi by his first name, Mohan. Andrews died on April 5, 1940 during a visit to Calcutta, and is buried there. He is widely commemorated and respected in India, and was a major character portrayed by British actor Ian Charleson in the 1982 film Gandhi by Richard Attenborough. - more at Wikipedia

England, 1894-1936, G K Chesterton, Writer and Apologist in defense of Roman Catholicism
England, 1894-1936, G K Chesterton, Writer and Apologist in defense of Roman Catholicism; Keith Chesterton KC*SG (29 May 1874 - 14 June 1936) was an English writer,[2] philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox".[3] Time magazine observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."[4] created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown,[5] and wrote on apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognised the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man.[4][6] Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian, and came to identify this position more and more with Catholicism, eventually converting to Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. Biographers have identified him as a successor to such Victorian authors as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, John Henry Newman, and John Ruskin.[7] On his contributions, T. S. Eliot wrote: was importantly and consistently on the side of the angels. Behind the Johnsonian fancy-dress, so reassuring to the British public, he concealed the most serious and revolutionary designs—concealing them by exposure ... Chesterton's social and economic ideas...were fundamentally Christian and Catholic. He did more, I think, than any man of his time—and was able to do more than anyone else, because of his particular background, development and abilities as a public performer—to maintain the existence of the important minority in the modern world. He leaves behind a permanent claim upon our loyalty, to see that the work that he did in his time is continued in ours.[8] GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, APOLOGIST and WRITER, 1936, Commemorated June 12; Keith Chesterton was born in London in 1874. He became a well-known writer and lecturer. He was officially received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1922, but had been writing from a Romanist point of view for a long time before that. Some of his writing is specifically Roman Catholic, and (in my judgement) he sometimes attacks Protestant positions without troubling to understand them. However, much of his writing is "generic Christian," and is read with profit and delight by many theologically well-informed Protestant readers. If you are a Protestant, you will have to read him with your mind in gear, but then you have no business to read anything whatsoever with your mind out of gear.

England, 1895-1941, EVELYN UNDERHILL, THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC, London, Essex, anglo-catholic, spriitual writer, pacifist
England, 1895-1941, EVELYN UNDERHILL, THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC, London, Essex (Thames River 5), anglo-catholic, spriitual writer, pacifist ; Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. Her best-known is Mysticism, published in 1911.[1][2] Underhill was born in Wolverhampton. was a poet and novelist as well as a pacifist and mystic. only child, she described her early mystical insights as "abrupt experiences of the peaceful, undifferentiated plane of reality—like the 'still desert' of the mystic—in which there was no multiplicity nor need of explanation".[3] meaning of these experiences became a lifelong quest and a source of private angst, provoking her to research and write. her father and her husband were writers (on the law), London barristers, and yachtsmen. and her husband, Hubert Stuart Moore, grew up together and were married on 3 July 1907. The couple had no children. She travelled regularly within Europe, primarily Switzerland, France and Italy, where she pursued her interests in art and Catholicism, visiting numerous churches and monasteries. her husband (a Protestant) nor her parents shared her interest in spiritual matters. was called simply "Mrs Moore" by many of her friends. She was a prolific author and published over 30 books either under her maiden name, Underhill, or under the pseudonym "John Cordelier", as was the case for the 1912 book The Spiral Way. an agnostic, she gradually began to acquire an interest in Neoplatonism and from there was increasingly drawn to Catholicism against the objections of her husband, eventually converting before becoming a prominent Anglo-Catholic. spiritual mentor from 1921 to 1924 was Baron Friedrich von Hügel, who was appreciative of her writing yet concerned with her focus on mysticism and who encouraged her to adopt a much more Christocentric view as opposed to the theistic and intellectual one she had previously held. described him as "the most wonderful personality. ... so saintly, truthful, sane and tolerant" (Cropper, p. 44) and was influenced by him toward more charitable and down-to-earth activities. his death in 1925, her writings became more focused on the Holy Spirit and she became prominent in the Anglican Church as a lay leader of spiritual retreats, a spiritual director for hundreds of individuals, guest speaker, radio lecturer and proponent of contemplative prayer. came of age in the Edwardian era, at the turn of the 20th century and, like most of her contemporaries, had a decided romantic bent. enormous excitement in those days was mysteriously compounded of the psychic, the psychological, the occult, the mystical, the medieval, the advance of science, the apotheosis of art, the rediscovery of the feminine, the unashamedly sensuous, and the most ethereally "spiritual" (Armstrong, p. xiii–xiv). seemed to her out-of-key with this, her world. She sought the centre of life as she and many of her generation conceived it, not in the state religion, but in experience and the heart. age of "the soul" was one of those periods when a sudden easing of social taboos brings on a great sense of personal emancipation and desire for an El Dorado despised by an older, more morose and insensitive generation.[2] an only child, she was devoted to her parents and, later, to her husband. She was fully engaged in the life of a barrister's daughter and wife, including the entertainment and charitable work that entailed, and pursued a daily regimen that included writing, research, worship, prayer and meditation. was a fundamental axiom of hers that all of life was sacred, as that was what "incarnation" was about. was a cousin of Francis Underhill, Bishop of Bath and Wells. was educated at home, except for three years at a private school in Folkestone, and subsequently read history and botany at King's College London. honorary Doctorate of Divinity was conferred on her by Aberdeen University and she was made a fellow of King's College. was the first woman to lecture to the clergy in the Church of England and the first woman officially to conduct spiritual retreats for the Church. She was also the first woman to establish ecumenical links between churches and one of the first woman theologians to lecture in English colleges and universities, which she did frequently. was an award-winning bookbinder, studying with the most renowned masters of the time. was schooled in the classics, well read in Western spirituality, well informed (in addition to theology) in the philosophy, psychology, and physics of her day, and was a writer and reviewer for The Spectator. work Blue plaque, 50 Campden Hill Square, London undertaking many of her better-known expository works on mysticism, she first published a small book of satirical poems on legal dilemmas, The Bar-Lamb's Ballad Book, which received a favourable welcome. then wrote three unconventional, though profoundly spiritual novels. Like Charles Williams and later, Susan Howatch, Underhill uses her narratives to explore the sacramental intersection of the physical with the spiritual. She then uses that sacramental framework effectively to illustrate the unfolding of a human drama. novels are entitled The Grey World (1904), The Lost Word (1907), and The Column of Dust (1909). her first novel, The Grey World, described by one reviewer as an extremely interesting psychological study, the hero's mystical journey begins with death, and then moves through reincarnation, beyond the grey world, and into the choice of a simple life devoted to beauty, reflecting Underhill's own serious perspective as a young woman. It seems so much easier in these days to live morally than to live beautifully. Lots of us manage to exist for years without ever sinning against society, but we sin against loveliness every hour of the day.[4] Lost Word and The Column of Dust are also concerned with the problem of living in two worlds and reflect the writer's own spiritual challenges. the 1909 novel, her heroine encounters a rift in the solid stuff of her universe: She had seen, abruptly, the insecurity of those defences which protect our illusions and ward off the horrors of truth. She had found a little hole in the wall of appearances; and peeping through, had caught a glimpse of that seething pot of spiritual forces whence, now and then, a bubble rises to the surface of things.[5] novels suggest that perhaps for the mystic, two worlds may be better than one. her, mystical experience seems inseparable from some kind of enhancement of consciousness or expansion of perceptual and aesthetic horizons—to see things as they are, in their meanness and insignificance when viewed in opposition to the divine reality, but in their luminosity and grandeur when seen bathed in divine radiance. at this stage the mystic's mind is subject to fear and insecurity, its powers undeveloped. first novel takes us only to this point. Further stages demand suffering, because mysticism is more than merely vision or cultivating a latent potentiality of the soul in cosy isolation. According to Underhill's view, the subsequent pain and tension, and final loss of the private painful ego-centered life for the sake of regaining one's true self, has little to do with the first beatific vision. two later novels are built on the ideal of total self-surrender even to the apparent sacrifice of the vision itself, as necessary for the fullest possible integration of human life. This was for her the equivalent of working out within, the metaphorical intent of the life story of Jesus. One is reunited with the original vision—no longer as mere spectator but as part of it. dimension of self-loss and resurrection is worked out in The Lost Word, but there is some doubt as to its general inevitability. The Column of Dust, the heroine's physical death reinforces dramatically the mystical death to which she has already surrendered. Two lives are better than one but only on the condition that a process of painful re-integration intervenes to re-establish unity between Self and Reality.[2] her characters derive their interest from the theological meaning and value which they represent, and it is her ingenious handling of so much difficult symbolic material that makes her work psychologically interesting as a forerunner of such 20th-century writers as Susan Howatch, whose successful novels also embody the psychological value of religious metaphor and the traditions of Christian mysticism. first novel received critical acclaim, but her last was generally derided. Yet her novels give remarkable insight into what we may assume was her decision to avoid what St Augustine described as the temptation of fuga in solitudinem ("the flight into solitude"), but instead acquiescing to a loving, positive acceptance of this world. looking back, by this time she was already working on her magnum opus. on religion (1911) book, Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness, was published in 1911. The spirit of the book is romantic, engaged, and theoretical rather than historical or scientific. Underhill has little use for theoretical explanations and the traditional religious experience, formal classifications or analysis. dismisses William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), and his "four marks of the mystic state" (ineffability, noetic quality, transience, and passivity). James had admitted that his own constitution shut him off almost entirely from the enjoyment of mystical states, thus his treatment was purely objective. substituted (1) mysticism is practical, not theoretical, (2) mysticism is an entirely spiritual activity, (3) the business and method of mysticism is love, and (4) mysticism entails a definite psychological experience. insistence on the psychological approach was that it was the glamorous science of the pre-war period, offering the potential key to the secrets of human advances in intelligence, creativity, and genius, and already psychological findings were being applied in theology (i.e., William Sanday's Christologies Ancient and Modern).[2] divided her subject into two parts: the first, an introduction, and the second, a detailed study of the nature and development of human consciousness. the first section, in order to free the subject of mysticism from confusion and misapprehension, she approached it from the point of view of the psychologist, the symbolist and the theologian. separate mysticism from its most dubious connection, she included a chapter on mysticism and magic. Mysticism has been associated with the occult, magic, secret rites, and fanaticism, while she knew the mystics throughout history to be the world's spiritual pioneers. divided her map of "the way" into five stages: first was the "Awakening of Self". She quotes Henry Suso (disciple of Meister Eckhart): That which the Servitor saw had no form neither any manner of being; yet he had of it a joy such as he might have known in the seeing of shapes and substances of all joyful things. His heart was hungry, yet satisfied, his soul was full of contentment and joy: his prayers and his hopes were fulfilled. (Cropper p. 46) -Underhill tells how Suso's description of how the abstract truth (related to each soul's true nature and purpose), once remembered, contains the power of fulfilment became the starting point of her own path. second stage she presents as psychological "Purgation of Self", quoting the Theologia Germanica (14th century, anonymous) regarding the transcendence of ego (Underhill's "little self"): We must cast all things from us and strip ourselves of them and refrain from claiming anything for our own. third stage she titles "Illumination" and quotes William Law: Everything in ...nature, is descended out that which is eternal, and stands as a. ..visible outbirth of it, so when we know how to separate out the grossness, death, and darkness. ..from it, we find. ..it in its eternal state. fourth stage she describes as the "Dark Night of the Soul" (which her correspondence leads us to believe she struggled with throughout her life) wherein one is deprived of all that has been valuable to the lower self, and quoting Mechthild of Magdeburg: ...since Thou hast taken from me all that I had of Thee, yet of Thy grace leave me the gift which every dog has by nature: that of being true to Thee in my distress, when I am deprived of all consolation. This I desire more fervently than Thy heavenly Kingdom. last she devotes a chapter to the unitive life, the sum of the mystic way: When love has carried us above all things into the Divine Dark, there we are transformed by the Eternal Word Who is the image of the Father; and as the air is penetrated by the sun, thus we receive in peace the Incomprehensible Light, enfolding us, and penetrating us. (Ruysbroech) Underhill struck new ground was in her insistence that this state of union produced a glorious and fruitful creativeness, so that the mystic who attains this final perfectness is the most active doer – not the reclusive dreaming lover of God. are all the kindred of the mystics. ..Strange and far away from us though they seem, they are not cut off from us by some impassable abyss. They belong to us; the giants, the heroes of our race. As the achievement of genius belongs not to itself only but also to the society that brought it forth;...the supernal accomplishment of the mystics is ours also. ..our guarantee of the end to which immanent love, the hidden steersman. ..is moving. ..us on the path toward the Real. They come back to us from an encounter with life's most august secret. ..filled with amazing tidings which they can hardly tell. We, longing for some assurance. ..urge them to pass on their revelation. ..the old demand of the dim-sighted and incredulous. ..But they cannot. ..only fragments of the Symbolic Vision. According to their strength and passion, these lovers of the Absolute. ..have not shrunk from the suffering. ..Beauty and agony have called. ..have awakened a heroic response. For them the winter is over. ..Life new, unquenchable and lovely comes to meet them with the dawn. (Cropper, p. 47) book ends with an extremely valuable appendix, a kind of who's who of mysticism, which shows its persistence and interconnection from century to century. (1914) work by Evelyn Underhill on the 14th-century Flemish mystic Jan van Ruusbroec (1293–1381), entitled Ruysbroeck, was published in London in 1914.[6] She had discussed him from several different perspectives during the course of her 1911 book on Mysticism. Life. She starts with a biography, drawn mainly from two near-contemporary works on his life, each written by a fellow monastic: Pomerius,[7] and Gerard Naghel.[8] His childhood was spent in the village of Ruysbroeck. [page 7] At eleven he ran away to Brussels, where he began to live with his uncle, John Hinckaert, a Canon at the Cathedral of St Gudule, and a younger Canon, Francis van Coudenberg. [10] At twenty-four he was ordained a priest and became a prebend at St. Gudule. [12] At his first mass he envisioned his mother's spirit released from Purgatory and entering Heaven. [15] From age 26 to 50 Ruysbroeck was a cathedral chaplain at St Gudule. [15] Although he "seemed a nobody to those who did not know him", he was developing a strong spiritual life, "a penetrating intellect, a fearless heart, deep knowledge of human nature, remarkable powers of expression". [17] At one point he wrote strong pamphlets and led a campaign against a heretical group, the Brethren of the Free Spirit led by Bloemardinne, who practiced a self-indulgent "mysticality". [18–20] Later, with the two now elderly Canons, he moved into the countryside at Groenendael ("Green Valley"). [21–22] Pomerius writes that he retired not to hide his light "but that he might tend it better" [22]. Five years later their community became a Priory under the Augustinian Canons. [23] of his works were written during this period, often drawing lessons from nature. [24] He had a favourite tree, under which he would sit and write what the 'Spirit' gave to him. [25] He solemnly affirmed that his works were composed under the "domination of an inspiring power", writes Underhill. [26] Pomerius says that Ruysbroeck could enter a state of contemplation in which he appeared surrounded by radiant light. [26–27] Alongside his spiritual ascent, Naghel says, he cultivated the friendship of those around him, enriching their lives. [27–28] He worked in the garden fields of the priory, and sought to help out creatures of the forest. [29–30] He moved from the senses to the transcendent without frontiers or cleavage, Underhill writes, these being for him "but two moods within the mind of God". [30] He counseled many who came to him, including Gerard Groot of the Brothers of the Common Life. [31] His advice would plumb the "purity and direction" of the seeker's will, and the seeker's love. [32] There, at Groenendael, he finally made a "leap to a more abundant life". [34] In The Sparkling Stone Ruysbroeck wrote about coming to know the love "which giveth more than one can take, and asketh more than one can pay". [34] Works. Next, Underhill gives a bibliography of Ruysbroeck's eleven admittedly authentic works, providing details on each work's origin, nature, and contents, as well as their place in his writings. 1. The Spiritual Tabernacle; 2. The Twelve Points of True Faith; 3. The Book of the Four Temptations; 4. The Book of the Kingdom of God's Lovers; 5. The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage;[9] 6. The Mirror of Eternal Salvation or Book of the Blessed Sacraments; 7. The Seven Cloisters; 8. The Seven Degrees of the Ladder of Love; 9. The Book of the Sparkling Stone; 10. The Book of the Supreme Truth; 11. The Twelve Béguines. [36–51] Doctrine of God. Several types of mystics are described. The first (e .g., St Teresa) deals with personal psychological experiences and emotional reactions, leaving the nature of God to existing theology. [page 52] The second (e. g., Plotinus) has passion sprung from the vision of a philosopher; the intellect often is more active than the heart, yet like a poet such a mystic strives to sketch his vision of the Ultimate. [53] The greatest mystics (e. g., St Augustine) embrace at once "the infinite and the intimate" so that "God is both near and far, and the paradox of transcendent-immanent Reality is a self-evident if an inexpressible truth." Such mystics "give us by turns a subjective and psychological, an objective and metaphysical, reading of spiritual experience." Here is Ruysbroeck. [53–54] An apostolic mystic [55] represents humanity in its quest to discern the Divine Reality, she writes, being like "the artist extending our universe, the pioneer cutting our path, the hunter winning food for our souls." [56] Yet, although his experience is personal, his language is often drawn from tradition. [57] His words about an ineffable Nature of God, "a dim silence, and a wild desert," may be suggestive, musical, she writes, "which enchant rather than inform the soul". [58] Ruysbroeck goes venturing "to hover over that Abyss which is 'beyond Reason,' stammering and breaking into wild poetry in the desperate attempt to seize the unseizable truth." [55] "[T]he One is 'neither This nor That'." [61] "God as known by man" is the Absolute One who combines and resolves the contradictory natures of time and eternity, becoming and being; who is both transcendent and immanent, abstract and personal, work and rest, the unmoved mover and movement itself. God is above the storm, yet inspires the flux. [59–60] The "omnipotent and ever-active Creator" who is "perpetually breathing forth His energetic Life in new births of being and new floods of grace." [60] Yet the soul may persist, go beyond this fruitful nature,[10] into the simple essence of God. There we humans would find that "absolute and abiding Reality, which seems to man Eternal Rest, the 'Deep Quiet of the Godhead,' the 'Abyss,' the 'Dim Silence'; and which we can taste indeed but never know. There, 'all lovers lose themselves'." [60] The Trinity, according to Ruysbroeck, works in living distinctions, "the fruitful nature of the Persons." [61] The Trinity in itself is a Unity, yet a manifestation of the active and creative Divine, a Union of Three Persons, which is the Godhead. [60–61][11] Beyond and within the Trinity, or the Godhead, then, is the "fathomless Abyss" [60] that is the "Simple Being of God" that is "an Eternal Rest of God and of all created things." [61][12] The Father is the unconditioned Origin, Strength and Power, of all things. [62] The Son is the Eternal Word and Wisdom that shines forth in the world of conditions. [62] The Holy Spirit is Love and Generosity emanating from the mutual contemplation of Father and Son. [62][13] The Three Persons "exist in an eternal distinction [emphasis added] for that world of conditions wherein the human soul is immersed". [63] By the acts of the Three Persons all created things are born; by the incarnation and crucifixion we human souls are adorned with love, and so to be drawn back to our Source. "This is the circling course of the Divine life-process." [63] But beyond and above this eternal distinction lies "the superessential world, transcending all conditions, inaccessible to thought-- 'the measureless solitude of the Godhead, where God possesses Himself in joy.' This is the ultimate world of the mystic." [63–64] There, she continues, quoting Ruysbroeck: "[W]e can speak no more of Father, Son and Holy Spirit nor of any creature; but only of one Being, which is the very substance of the Divine Persons. There were we all one before our creation; for this is our superessence... . There the Godhead is, in simple essence, without activity; Eternal Rest, Unconditioned Dark, the Nameless Being, the Superessence of all created things, and the simple and infinite Bliss of God and of all the Saints." [64][14] "The simple light of this Being... includes and embraces the unity of the Divine Persons and the soul... ." It envelopes and irradiates the ground (movement) of human souls and the fruition of their adherence to God, finding union in the Divine life-process, the Rose. "And this is the union of God and the souls that love Him." [64–65][15] Doctrine of Humankind. For Ruysbroeck, "God is the 'Living Pattern of Creation' who has impressed His image on each soul, and in every adult spirit the character of that image must be brought from the hiddenness and realized." [66][16] The pattern is trinitarian; there are three properties of the human soul. First, resembling the Father, "the bare, still place to which consciousness retreats in introversion... ." [67] Second, following the Son, "the power of knowing Divine things by intuitive comprehension: man's fragmentary share in the character of the Logos, or Wisdom of God." [67–68] "The third property we call the spark of the soul. It is the inward and natural tendency of the soul towards its Source; and here do we receive the Holy Spirit, the Charity of God." [68].[17] So will God work within the human being; in later spiritual development we may form with God a Union, and eventually a Unity. [70–71][18] The mighty force of Love is the "very self-hood of God" in this mysterious communion. [72, 73] "As we lay hold upon the Divine Life, devour and assimilate it, so in that very act the Divine Life devours us, and knits us up into the mystical Body," she writes. "It is the nature of love," says Ruysbroeck, "ever to give and to take, to love and be loved, and these two things meet in whomsoever loves. Thus the love of Christ is both avid and generous... as He devours us, so He would feed us. If He absorbs us utterly into Himself, in return He gives us His very self again." [75–76][19] "Hungry love," "generous love," "stormy love" touches the human soul with its Divine creative energy and, once we become conscious of it, evokes in us an answering storm of love. "The whole of our human growth within the spiritual order is conditioned by the quality of this response; by the will, the industry, the courage, with which [we accept our] part in the Divine give-and-take." [74] As Ruysbroeck puts it: That measureless Love which is God Himself, dwells in the pure deeps of our spirit, like a burning brazier of coal. And it throws forth brilliant and fiery sparks which stir and enkindle heart and senses, will and desire, and all the powers of the soul, with a fire of love; a storm, a rage, a measureless fury of love. These be the weapons with which we fight against the terrible and immense Love of God, who would consume all loving spirits and swallow them in Himself. Love arms us with its own gifts, and clarifies our reason, and commands, counsels and advises us to oppose Him, to fight against Him, and to maintain against Him our right to love, so long as we may. [74–75][20] The drama of this giving and receiving Love constitutes a single act, for God is as an "ocean which ebbs and flows" or as an "inbreathing and outbreathing". [75, 76] "Love is a unifying power, manifested in motion itself, 'an outgoing attraction, which drags us out of ourselves and calls us to be melted and naughted in the Unity'; and all his deepest thoughts of it are expressed in terms of movement." [76][21] Next, the spiritual development of the soul is addressed. [76–88] Ruysbroeck adumbrates how one may progress from the Active life, to the Interior life, to the Superessential life; these correspond to the three natural orders of Becoming, Being, and God, or to the three rôles of the Servant, the Friend, and the "hidden child" of God. [77, 85] The Active life focuses on ethics, on conforming the self's daily life to the Will of God, and takes place in the world of the senses, "by means". [78] The Interior life embraces a vision of spiritual reality, where the self's contacts with the Divine take place "without means". [78] The Superessential life transcends the intellectual plane, whereby the self does not merely behold, but rather has fruition of the Godhead in life and in love, at work and at rest, in union and in bliss. [78, 86, 87][22] The analogy with the traditional threefold way of Purgation, Illumination, and Union, is not exact. The Interior life of Ruysbroeck contains aspects of the traditional Union also, while the Superessential life "takes the soul to heights of fruition which few amongst even the greatest unitive mystics have attained or described." [78–79] At the end of her chapter IV, she discusses "certain key-words frequent in Ruysbroeck's works," e.g., "Fruition" [89], "Simple" [89–90], "Bareness" or "Nudity" [90], and "the great pair of opposites, fundamental to his thought, called in the Flemish vernacular wise and onwise." [91–93][23] The wise can be understood by the "normal man [living] within the temporal order" by use of "his ordinary mental furniture". [91] Yet regarding the onwise he has "escaped alike from the tyrannies and comforts of the world" and made the "ascent into the Nought". [92][24] She comments, "This is the direct, unmediated world of spiritual intuition; where the self touches a Reality that has not been passed through the filters of sense and thought." [92] a short quote from Jalālu'ddīn Rumi, she completes her chapter by presenting 18 lines from Ruysbroeck's The Twelve Bêguines (cap. viii) which concern Contemplation: Contemplation is a knowing that is in no wise ... Never can it sink down into the Reason, And above it can the Reason never climb. ... It is not God, But it is the Light by which we see Him. Those who walk in the Divine Light of it Discover in themselves the Unwalled. That which is in no wise, is above Reason, not without it ... The contemplative life is without amazement. That which is in no wise sees, it knows not what; For it is above all, and is neither This nor That. [93] V, VI, VII, VIII. In her last four chapters, Underhill continues her discussion of Ruysbroeck, describing the Active Life [94–114], the Interior Life (Illumination and Destitution [115–135], Union and Contemplation [136–163]), and the Superessential Life [164–185].[25] Mysticism of Plotinus" (1919) essay originally published in The Quarterly Review (1919),[26] and later collected in The Essentials of Mysticism and other essays (London: J. M. Dent 1920) at pp. 116–140.[27] Underhill here addresses Plotinus (204–270) of Alexandria and later of Rome. Neoplatonist as well as a spiritual guide, Plotinus writes regarding both formal philosophy and hands-on, personal, inner experience. Underhill makes the distinction between the geographer who draws maps of the mind, and the seeker who actually travels in the realms of spirit. [page 118] She observes that usually mystics do not follow the mere maps of metaphysicians. [page 117] the Enneads Plotinus presents the Divine as an unequal triune, in descending order: (a) the One, perfection, having nothing, seeking nothing, needing nothing, yet it overflows creatively, the source of being; [121] (b) the emitted Nous or Spirit, with intelligence, wisdom, poetic intuition, the "Father and Companion" of the soul; [121–122] and, (c) the emitted Soul or Life, the vital essence of the world, which aspires to communion with the Spirit above, while also directly engaged with the physical world beneath. [123] "come forth from God" and will find happiness once re-united, first with the Nous, later with the One. [125] Such might be the merely logical outcome for the metaphysician, yet Plotinus the seeker also presents this return to the Divine as a series of moral purgations and a shedding of irrational delusions, leading eventually to entry into the intuitively beautiful. [126] This intellectual and moral path toward a life aesthetic will progressively disclose an invisible source, the Nous, the forms of Beauty. [127] Love is the prevailing inspiration, although the One is impersonal. [128] The mystic will pass through stages of purification, and of enlightenment, resulting in a shift in the center of our being "from sense to soul, from soul to spirit," in preparation for an ultimate transformation of consciousness. [125, 127] Upon our arrival, we shall know ecstasy and "no longer sing out of tune, but form a divine chorus round the One." [129] Augustine (354–430) criticizes such Neoplatonism as neglecting the needs of struggling and imperfect human beings. The One of Plotinus may act as a magnet for the human soul, but it cannot be said to show mercy, nor to help, or love, or redeem the individual on earth. [130] Other western mystics writing on the Neoplatonists mention this lack of "mutual attraction" between humanity and the unconscious, unknowable One. [130–131] In this regard Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) would write, "Our natural will is to have God, and the good-will of God is to have us." [130] leaves the problem of evil unresolved, but having no place in the blissful life; here, the social, ethical side of religion seems to be shorted. His philosophy does not include qualities comparable to the Gospel's divine "transfiguration of pain" through Jesus. [131] Plotinus "the self-sufficient sage" does not teach us charity, writes St. Augustine. [132] Underhill notes, Plotinus and Neoplatonism were very influential among the mystics of Christianity (and Islam). St. Augustine the Church Father was himself deeply affected by Plotinus, and through him the western Church. [133–135, 137] So, too, was Dionysius (5th century, Syria), whose writings would also prove very influential. [133, 135] As well were others, e.g., Erigena [135], Dante [136], Ruysbroeck [136, 138], Eckhart [138], and Boehme [139]. (1936) her preface,[28] the author disclaims being "a liturgical expert". Neither is it her purpose to offer criticism of the different approaches to worship as practiced by the various religious bodies. Rather she endeavors to show "the love that has gone to their adornment [and] the shelter they can offer to many different kinds of adoring souls." She begins chapter one by declaring that "Worship, in all its grades and kinds, is the response of the creature to the Eternal: nor need we limit this definition to the human sphere. ...we may think of the whole of the Universe, seen and unseen, conscious and unconscious, as an act of worship." chapter headings give an indication of their contents. I: 1. The Nature of Worship, 2. Ritual and Symbol, 3. Sacrament and Sacrifice, 4. The Character of Christian Worship, 5. Principles of Corporate Worship, 6. Liturgical Elements in Worship, 7. The Holy Eucharist: Its Nature, 8. The Holy Eucharist: Its Significance, 9. The Principles of Personal Worship. Part II: 10. Jewish Worship, 11. The Beginnings of Christian Worship, 12. Catholic Worship: Western and Eastern, 13. Worship in the Reformed Churches, 14. Free Church Worship, 15. The Anglican Tradition. Conclusion. life was greatly affected by her husband's resistance to her joining the Catholic Church, to which she was powerfully drawn and entered upon the year of their marriage. At first she believed it to be only a delay in her decision, but it proved to be lifelong. was a writer himself and was supportive of her writing both before and after their marriage in 1907, though he did not share her spiritual Her fiction was written in the six years of 1903–1909 and represents her four major interests of that general period: philosophy (neoplatonism), theism/mysticism, the Catholic liturgy, and human love/compassion.[29] her earlier writings Underhill often wrote using the terms "mysticism" and "mystics" but later began to adopt the terms "spirituality" and "saints" because she felt they were less threatening. She was often criticized for believing that the mystical life should be accessible to the average person. fiction was also influenced by the literary creed expounded by her close friend Arthur Machen, mainly his Hieroglyphics of 1902, summarised by his biographer: There are certain truths about the universe and its constitution – as distinct from the particular things in it that come before our observation – which cannot be grasped by human reason or expressed in precise words: but they can be apprehended by some people at least, in a semi-mystical experience, called ecstasy, and a work of art is great insofar as this experience is caught and expressed in it. Because, however, the truths concerned transcend a language attuned to the description of material objects, the expression can only be through hieroglyphics, and it is of such hieroglyphics that literature consists. Underhill's case the quest for psychological realism is subordinate to larger metaphysical considerations which she shared with Arthur Machen. Incorporating the Holy Grail into their fiction (stimulated perhaps by their association with Arthur Waite and his affiliation with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), for Machen the Holy Grail was perhaps "the" hieroglyph, "the" crystallisation in one sacred emblem of all man's transcendental yearning, "the" gateway to vision and lasting appeasement of his discontents, while for her it was the center of atonement-linked meanings as she pointed out to Margaret Robinson in a letter responding to Robinson's criticism of Underhill's last novel: Don't marvel at your own temerity in criticising. Why should you? Of course, this thing wasn't written for you – I never write for anyone at all, except in letters of direction! But, I take leave to think the doctrine contained in it is one you'll have to assimilate sooner or later and which won't do you any harm. It's not "mine" you know. You will find it all in Eckhart. ... They all know, as Richard of St Victor said, that the Fire of Love "burns." We have not fulfilled our destiny when we have sat down at a safe distance from it, purring like overfed cats, 'suffering is the ancient law of love' – and its highest pleasure into the bargain, oddly enough. ... A sponge cake and milk religion is neither true to this world nor to the next. As for the Christ being too august a word for our little hardships – I think it is truer that it is "so" august as to give our little hardships a tincture of Royalty once we try them up into it. I don't think a Pattern which was 'meek & lowly' is likely to fail of application to very humble and ordinary things. For most of us don't get a chance "but" the humble and ordinary: and He came that we might all have life more abundantly, according to our measure. There that's all![30] contemporary philosophical writers dominated Underhill's thinking at the time she wrote "Mysticism": Rudolf Eucken and Henri Bergson. While neither displayed an interest in mysticism, both seemed to their disciples to advance a spiritual explanation of the universe. Also, she describes the fashionable creed of the time as "vitalism" and the term adequately sums up the prevailing worship of life in all its exuberance, variety and limitless possibility which pervaded pre-war culture and society. For her, Eucken and Bergson confirmed the deepest intuitions of the mystics. (Armstrong, Evelyn Underhill) the mystics, Ruysbroeck was to her the most influential and satisfying of all the medieval mystics, and she found herself very much at one with him in the years when he was working as an unknown priest in Brussels, for she herself had also a hidden side. career which covers the greater part of the fourteenth century, that golden age of Christian Mysticism, seems to exhibit within the circle of a single personality, and carry up to a higher term than ever before, all the best attainments of the Middle Ages in the realm of Eternal life. The central doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, and of the soul's power to become the Son of God, it is this raised to the nth degree of intensity...and demonstrated with the exactitude of the mathematician, and the passion of a poet, which Ruysbroeck gives us...the ninth and tenth chapters of The Sparkling Stone the high water mark of mystical literature. Nowhere else do we find such a combination of soaring vision with the most delicate and intimate psychological analysis. The old Mystic sitting under his tree, seems here to be gazing at and reporting to us the final secrets of that Eternal World... (Cropper, p. 57) of her most significant influences and important collaborations was with the Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian mystic, author, and world traveler. They published a major translation of the work of Kabir (100 Poems of Kabir, calling Songs of Kabir) together in 1915, to which she wrote the introduction. He introduced her to the spiritual genius of India which she expressed enthusiastically in a letter: This is the first time I have had the privilege of being with one who is a Master in the things I care so much about but know so little of as yet: & I understand now something of what your writers mean when they insist on the necessity and value of the personal teacher and the fact that he gives something which the learner cannot get in any other way. It has been like hearing the language of which I barely know the alphabet, spoken perfectly. (Letters) did not keep up their correspondence in later years. Both suffered debilitating illnesses in the last year of life and died in the summer of 1941, greatly distressed by the outbreak of World War II. in 1921 was to all outward appearances, in an assured and enviable position. She had been asked by the University of Oxford to give the first of a new series of lectures on religion, and she was the first woman to gain such an honour. She was an authority on her own subject of mysticism and respected for her research and scholarship. Her writing was in demand, and she had an interesting and notable set of friends, devoted readers, a happy marriage and affectionate and loyal parents. At the same time she felt that her foundations were insecure and that her zeal for Reality was resting on a basis that was too fragile. 1939, she was a member of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, writing a number of important tracts expressing her anti-war sentiment. converting to Anglicanism, and perhaps overwhelmed by her knowledge of the achievements of the mystics and their perilous heights, her ten-year friendship with Catholic philosopher and writer Baron Friedrich von Hügel turned into one of spiritual direction. Charles Williams wrote in his introduction to her Letters: 'The equal swaying level of devotion and scepticism (related to the church) which is, for some souls, as much the Way as continuous simple faith is to others, was a distress to her...She wanted to be "sure." Writing to Von Hügel of the darkness she struggled with: What ought I to do?...being naturally self-indulgent and at present unfortunately professionally very prosperous and petted, nothing will get done unless I make a Rule. Neither intellectual work nor religion give me any real discipline because I have a strong attachment to both. ..it is useless advising anything people could notice or that would look pious. That is beyond me. In my lucid moments I see only too clearly that the only possible end of this road is complete, unconditional self-consecration, and for this I have not the nerve, the character or the depth. There has been some sort of mistake. My soul is too small for it and yet it is at bottom the only thing that I really want. It feels sometimes as if, whilst still a jumble of conflicting impulses and violent faults I were being pushed from behind towards an edge I dare not jump over."[31] a later letter of 12 July the Baron's practical concerns for signs of strain in Evelyn's spiritual state are expressed. His comments give insight into her struggles: I do not at all like this craving for absolute certainty that this or that experience of yours, is what it seems to yourself. And I am assuredly not going to declare that I am absolutely certain of the final and evidential worth of any of those experiences. They are not articles of faith. .. You are at times tempted to scepticism and so you long to have some, if only one direct personal experience which shall be beyond the reach of all reasonable doubt. But such an escape. ..would ...possibly be a most dangerous one, and would only weaken you, or shrivel you, or puff you up. By all means...believe them, if and when they humble and yet brace you, to be probably from God. But do not build your faith upon them; do not make them an end when they exist only to be a means...I am not sure that God does want a marked preponderance of this or that work or virtue in our life – that would feed still further your natural temperament, already too vehement. (Cropper biography) Underhill continued to struggle to the end, craving certainty that her beatific visions were purposeful, suffering as only a pacifist can from the devastating onslaught of World War II and the Church's powerlessness to affect events, she may well have played a powerful part in the survival of her country through the influence of her words and the impact of her teachings on thousands regarding the power of prayer. the London Blitz of 1940, her health disintegrated further and she died in the following year. She is buried with her husband in the churchyard extension at St John-at-Hampstead in London. than any other person, she was responsible for introducing the forgotten authors of medieval and Catholic spirituality to a largely Protestant audience and the lives of eastern mystics to the English-speaking world. As a frequent guest on radio, her 1936 work The Spiritual Life was especially influential as transcribed from a series of broadcasts given as a sequel to those by Dom Bernard Clements on the subject of prayer. Fellow theologian Charles Williams wrote the introduction to her published Letters in 1943, which reveal much about this prodigious woman. Upon her death, The Times reported that on the subject of theology, she was "unmatched by any of the professional teachers of her day." Underhill is honored on June 15th on the liturgical calendars of several Anglican churches, including those of the Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, Church of England, Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and Anglican Church in North America. The Bar-Lamb's Ballad Book (1902). Online Immanence (1916). Online Theophanies (1916). Online The Grey World (1904). Reprint Kessinger Publishing, 1942: ISBN 0-7661-0158-4. Online The Lost Word (1907). The Column of Dust (1909). Online Religion (non-fiction) The Miracles of Our Lady Saint Mary: Brought Out of Divers Tongues and Newly Set Forth in English (1906) Online Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness (1911). Twelfth edition published by E. P. Dutton in 1930. Republished by Dover Publications in 2002 (ISBN 978-0-486-42238-1). See also online editions at Christian Classics Ethereal Library and at Wikisource The Path of Eternal Wisdom. A mystical commentary on the Way of the Cross (1912) "Introduction" to her edition of the anonymous The Cloud of Unknowing (c. 1370) from the British Library manuscript [here entitled A Book of Contemplation the which is called the Cloud of Unknowing, in the which a Soul is oned with God] (London: John M. Walkins 1912); reprinted as Cloud of Unknowing (1998) [her "Introduction" at 5–37]; 2007: ISBN 1-60506-228-6; see her text at Google books The Spiral Way. Being a meditation on the fifteen mysteries of the soul's ascent (1912) The Mystic Way. A psychological study of Christian origins (1914). Online Practical Mysticism. A Little Book for Normal People (1914); reprint 1942 (ISBN 0-7661-0141-X); reprinted by Vintage Books, New York 2003 [with Abba (1940)]: ISBN 0-375-72570-9; see text at Wikisource. Ruysbroeck (London: Bell 1915). Online "Introduction" to Songs of Kabir (1915) transl. by Rabindranath Tagore; reprint 1977 Samuel Weiser (ISBN 0-87728-271-4), text at 5–43 The Essentials of Mysticism and other essays (1920); another collection of her essays with the same title 1995, reprint 1999 (ISBN 1-85168-195-7) The Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today (1920). Online The Mystics of the Church (1925) Concerning the Inner Life (1927); reprint 1999 (ISBN 1-85168-194-9) Online Man and the Supernatural. A study in theism (1927) The House of the Soul (1929) The Light of Christ (1932) The Golden Sequence. A fourfold study of the spiritual life (1933) The School of Charity. Meditations on the Christian Creed (1934); reprinted by Longmans, London 1954 [with M.of S. (1938)] Worship (1936) The Spiritual Life (1936); reprint 1999 (ISBN 1-85168-197-3); see also online edition The Mystery of Sacrifice. A study on the liturgy (1938); reprinted by Longmans, London 1954 [with S.of C. (1934)] Abba. A meditation on the Lord's Prayer (1940); reprint 2003 [with Practical Mysticism (1914)] The Letters of Evelyn Underhill (1943), as edited by Charles Williams; reprint Christian Classics 1989: ISBN 0-87061-172-0 Shrines and Cities of France and Italy (1949), as edited by Lucy Menzies Fragments from an inner life. Notebooks of Evelyn Underhill (1993), as edited by Dana Greene The Mysticism of Plotinus (2005) Kessinger offprint, 48 pages. Taken from The Essentials of Mysticism (1920) Fruits of the Spirit (1942) edited by R. L. Roberts; reprint 1982, ISBN 0-8192-1314-4 The letters of Evelyn Underhill (1943) edited with an intro. by Charles Williams Collected Papers of Evelyn Underhill (1946) edited by L. Menzies and introduced by L. Barkway Lent with Evelyn Underhill (1964) edited by G. P. Mellick Belshaw An Anthology of the Love of God. From the writings of Evelyn Underhill (1976) edited by L. Barkway and L. Menzies The Ways of the Spirit (1990) edited by G. A. Brame; reprint 1993, ISBN 0-8245-1232-4 Evelyn Underhill. Modern guide to the ancient quest for the Holy (1988) edited and introduced by D. Greene Evelyn Underhill. Essential writings (2003) edited by E. Griffin Radiance: A Spiritual Memoir (2004) edited by Bernard Bangley, ISBN 1-55725-355-2 London; EVELYN UNDERHILL, THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC (15 JUNE 1941); go up alone into the mountains and come back as an ambassador to the world, has ever been the method of humanity's best friends. windows of Christ's Mysteries split the [Light] up into many-coloured loveliness, disclose all of its hidden richness...make its beauty more accessible to us...And within this place we too are bathed in the light transmitted by the windows, a light which is yet the very radiance of Eternity. UnderhillEvelyn Underhill was born in 1875 and grew up in London. friends included Laurence Housman (poet and brother of the poet A E Housman) and Sarah Bernhardt (actress), and Baron Friedrich von Huegel, a writer on theology and mysticism. under his guidance, she embarked on a life of reading, writing, meditation, and prayer. her studies and experience she produced a series of books on contemplative prayer. The list includes the following (I have starred the ones that seem to be most widely read or highly regarded): 1902 The Bar-lamb's Ballad (poetry) 1911 Mysticism ** 1913 The Mystic Way * 1913 Immanence (poetry) 1927 Man and the Supernatural 1936 Worship *** 1938 The Mystery of Sacrifice Underhill (Mrs. Hubert Stuart Moore) that the life of contemplative prayer is not just for monks and nuns, but can be the life of any Christian who is willing to undertake it. also taught that modern psychological theory, far from being a threat to contemplation, can fruitfully be used to enhance it. her later years, she spent a great deal of time as a lecturer and retreat director. She died on June 15, 1941. by James Kiefer Besides the above, several of her older (out of copyright) books are available on Google Books and the Internet Archive.

England, 1900-1999, 20th Century Folder, Oxford Group, World Wars I and II, Queen Elizabeth

England, 1901-1944, WILLIAM TEMPLE, Archbishop of Canterbury, Dialectic, Socialist, Progressive, Ecumenical Movement
England, 1900-1944, WILLIAM TEMPLE, Archbishop of Canterbury; WILLIAM TEMPLE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (6 NOV. 1944; admirers have called him "a philosopher, theologian, social teacher, educational reformer, and the leader of the ecumenical movement of his generation," "the most significant Anglican churchman of the twentieth century," "the most renowned Primate in the Church of England since the English Reformation," "Anglican's most creative and comprehensive contribution to the theological enterprise of the West." of his biographers lists him (along with Richard Hooker, Joseph Butler, and Frederick Denison Maurice) as one of the Four Great Doctors of the (post-Reformation) Anglican Communion. Knox, in a satiric poem, described him thus: A man so broad, to some he seem'd to be Not one, but all Mankind in Effigy. Who, brisk in Term, a Whirlwind in the Long, Did everything by turns, and nothing wrong. Bill'd at each Lecture-Hall from Thames to Tyne, As Thinker, Usher, Statesman, or Divine. George Bernard Shaw called him, "a realized impossibility." Who was this remarkable person? Temple, 98th Archbishop of Canterbury, was born in 1881, the second son of Frederick Temple (born 1821, priest 1847, headmaster of Rugby 1857, Bishop of Exeter 1869, Bishop of London 1884, Archbishop of Canterbury 1897, died 1902). At the age of two, he had the first attack of the gout that would be with him throughout life and eventually kill him. His eyesight was bad, and a cataract, present from infancy, left him completely blind in the right eye when he was 40. However, he was an avid reader, with a near-photographic memory, and once he had read a book, it was his. He was a passionate lover of the music of Bach. In literature, his special enthusiasms were poetry (Browning and Shelley), drama (the Greeks and Shakespeare), and a few novels, especially The Brothers Karamazov. He believed that theological ideas were often explored most effectively by writers who were not explicitly writing theology. was at Oxford (Balliol) from 1900 to 1904, and was president of the Oxford Union (the debating society of the University). Here he developed a remarkable ability to sum up an issue, expressing the pros and cons so clearly and fairly that the original opponents often ended up agreeing with each other. This ability served him in good stead later when he moderated conferences on theological and social issues. However, it was not just a useful talent for settling disputes. It was, or developed into, an important part of his philosophy, a belief in Dialectic, derived from Hegel and from Plato. He thought that beliefs and ideas reach their full maturity through their response to opposing ideas. 1906, he applied for ordination, but the Bishop of Oxford would not ordain him because he admitted that his belief in the Virgin Birth and the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus was shaky. However, Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, after a careful examination, decided that Temple's thought was developing in a direction that would inevitably bring him into an orthodox position, and decided to take a chance on ordaining him (deacon 1909, priest 1910). He may be said to have won his bet, in that by 1913 Temple had indeed committed himself fully to the orthodox position, and could write: "I believe in the Virgin Birth...it wonderfully holds before the imagination the truth of Our Lord's Deity and so I am glad that it is in the Creed. Similarly I believe in our Lord's Bodily Resurrection." 1908 he became president of the Workers' Educational Association (founded by Frederick Denison Maurice), and in 1918 joined the British Labour Party, and worked actively for the implementing of its platform. He also became vigorously involved in movements for Christian co-operation and unity, in missions, in the British Council of Churches, in the World Council of Churches, in the Church of South India (a merger of Anglican, Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches into a single church, with provisions for safeguarding what each group thought essential). 1916 he married Frances Anson, and the night before the wedding he stayed up late to finish writing his first major theological treatise, Mens Creatrix (the Creative Mind). Eight years later he published a companion volume, expanding and clarifying the ideas of the first, called Christus Veritas (Christ the Truth). In 1921 he was made Bishop of Manchester, a heavily industrial city. In 1926 Britain experienced what was known as the General Strike, in which most workmen in all trades and industries went on strike, not against their particular employers, but against the social and economic policies of the country as a whole. In Manchester this meant primarily a coal stoppage. Temple worked extensively to mediate between the parties, and helped to bring about a settlement that both sides regarded as basically fair. excelled, it would seem, not as a scholar, but as a moderator, and above all as a teacher and preacher. In 1931, at the end of the Oxford Mission (what is known in many Protestant circles as a Revival Meeting), he led a congregation in the University Church, St Mary the Virgin, in the singing of the hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." Just before the last stanza, he stopped them and asked them to read the words to themselves. "Now," he said, if you mean them with all your heart, sing them as loud as you can. If you don't mean them at all, keep silent. If you mean them even a little and want to mean them more, sing them very softly." The organ played, and two thousand voices whispered: Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. many who participated, it was a never-forgotten experience. became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942, when a German invasion seemed likely. He worked for the relief of Jewish refugees from Naziism, and publicly supported a negotiated peace, as opposed to the unconditional surrender that the Allied leaders were demanding. gout worsened. His last public appearance was at a clergy retreat (a time spent in a secluded place, with silence, prayer, meditation, reading, and listening to sermons), where he was taken by ambulance and spoke standing on his one good foot. He died on 26 October 1944. current issue of Books in Print (American) shows the following works available by him. in St. John's Gospel, 1985, Morehouse Pub, 391 pp, paper, LC 84-62374, ISBN 0-8192-1360-8 (a bargain! Highly recommended) [currently out of print but should be avilable used] of a New World, ISBN 0-8369-1778-2 Faith and Life, Morehouse, 150pp, pap, ISBN 0-8192-1631-3 (originally delivered as the Oxford Mission addresses, first published in 1931 from shorthand notes of the addresses) [currently out of print but should be avilable used] Man, and God (the Gifford Lectures 1932-33). Ams Press. (The Gifford Lectures are an endowed annual series of lectures on Natural Theology--that is, the lecturer is to take his evidence from the observed facts of nature and not ask his listeners to accept the genuineness of any particular revelation to Moses or David or Mohammed or.... The series is prestigious. William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience and Edwyn Bevan's Symbolism and Belief were both originally Gifford's Lectures.) Works in 4 Volumes. (out of print) Other works of his, not listed as being in print, but presumably included in the Works mentioned above (although the title does not explicitly say Complete Works), include the following: Christus Veritas: An Essay, London, Macmillan, 1924. [currently out of print but should be available used] Mens Creatrix: An Essay, London, Macmillan, 1917. Christianity and the Social Order, New York, Penguin Books, 1942. by James Kiefer

England, 1901-1910, Edward VII, King of Great Britain, military modernization, peacemaker, socialism
England, 1901-1910, King of Great Britain, Edward VII ; VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed Bertie, Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political power, and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, but, despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother. king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called Peacemaker, but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism. He died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC & ECUMENIST, 30 August 1912 ; WILFRED GRENFELL, MEDICAL MISSIONARY, 9 October 1940; WILLIAM TEMPLE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (6 NOV. 1944); VEDANAYAGAM SAMUEL AZARIAH, FIRST INDIAN ANGLICAN BISHOP, DORNAKAL, 1945, Commemorated January 2 ; Charles Gore of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915 AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 ; Richard Meau Benson of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND ÂœFRIEND OF THE POORÂ IN INDIA, 1940. Commemorated February 12 ; Woodbine Willie aka GEOFFREY ANKETELL STUDDERT KENNEDY PRIEST, 1929, Commemorated March 8; Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Commemorated March 12; PANDITA MARY RAMABAI, PROPHETIC WITNESS AND EVANGELIST IN INDIA, 1922. Commemorated April 5; GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, APOLOGIST and WRITER, 1936, Commemorated June 12 ; EVELYN UNDERHILL, THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC (15 JUNE 1941);

England, 1903-1929, GEOFFREY KENNEDY, aka Woodbine Willie, priest and poet, socialist, pacifist
England, 1903-1929, GEOFFREY KENNEDY, aka Woodbine Willie, Leeds, West Yorkshire (River Aire 9), priest and poet, socialist, chapain on front WWI, Military Cross Messines Ridge, pacifist, writer, capitalism nothing but greed; Leeds; GEOFFREY ANKETELL STUDDERT KENNEDY, aka Woodbine Willie, PRIEST, 1929, Commemorated March 8 ; Anketell Studdert Kennedy (June 27, 1883 - March 8, 1929), was an Anglican priest and poet. He was nicknamed 'Woodbine Willie' during World War I for giving Woodbine cigarettes along with spiritual aid to injured and dying soldiers. in Leeds in 1883, Kennedy was the seventh of nine children born to Jeanette Anketell and William Studdert Kennedy, a vicar in Leeds. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School and Trinity College, Dublin, where he gained a degree in classics and divinity in 1904. a year's training, he became a curate in Rugby and then, in 1914, the vicar of St. Pauls, Worcester. On the outbreak of war, Kennedy volunteered as a chaplain to the armed forces on the Western Front. 1917, he won the Military Cross at Messines Ridge after running into no man's land to help the wounded during an attack on the German frontline. He wrote a number of poems about his experiences, and these appeared in the books Rough Rhymes of a Padre (1918), and More Rough Rhymes (1919). the war, Kennedy was given charge of St. Edmund King and Martyr in Lombard Street, London. been converted to Christian socialism and pacifism during the war, he wrote Lies (1919), Democracy and the Dog-Collar (1921) (featuring such chapters as "The Church Is Not a Movement but a Mob," "Capitalism is Nothing But Greed, Grab, and Profit-Mongering," and "So-Called Religious Education Worse than Useless"), Food for the Fed Up (1921), The Wicket Gate (1923), and The Word and the Work (1925). He moved to work for the Industrial Christian Fellowship, for whom he went on speaking tours of Britain. It was on one of these tours that he was taken ill, and died in Liverpool. — from Wikipedia

England, 1903-1958, Anglican Bishop, Socialist, depression workers, area bombing, atomic arms race, child sex investigation
England, 1903-1958, Canterbury, Kent, England (crossroads of 4 Roman roads, Stour River 5), Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement, World Council of Churches, commission for religious and national minorities, world churches conference, practical christianity, workers affected by depression, nazi antisemitic campaign, Confessing Church Barman declaration, condemned area bombing, inhumane treatment of East Germans, opposed atomic arms race, ongoing investigation of child abuse; Canterbury (crossraods of 4 Roman roads); GEORGE BELL BISHOP OF CHICHESTER, AND ECUMENIST, 3 October 1958 ; Kennedy Allen Bell (4 February 1883 - 3 October 1958) an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement. WW I, Bell became an outstanding initiator and promoter of the still-young ecumenical movement. 1919, at the first postwar meeting of the World Council of Churches in the Netherlands, he successfully encouraged the establishment of a commission for religious and national minorities. the world churches conference in Stockholm in 1925, he helped in the realization of the "ecumenical advice for practical Christianity (Life and Work)". 1929 Bell was appointed Bishop of Chichester. In this role he organised links between his diocese and of workers affected by the Great Depression. 1933, Bell became the most important international ally of the Confessing Church in Germany. In April 1933 he publicly expressed the international church's worries over the beginnings of the Nazis' antisemitic campaign in Germany. ... On 1 June 1934 he signed the Barmen Declaration, the foundational manifesto of the Confessing Church - it proclaimed that Christian belief and National Socialism were incompatibile and declaimed the pro-Nazi German Christians as "false teaching". World War II Bell repeatedly condemned the Allied practice of area bombing. As a member of the House of Lords, he was a consistent parliamentary critic of area bombing. ... was also one of the first British bishops to protest against the inhumane treatment of approximately 14 million Silesian, Pomeranian, East Prussian and Sudeten Germans expelled from their homes in East Germany. ... the 1950s Bell opposed the atomic arms race and supported many Christian initiatives of the time opposed to the Cold War. 1995, 37 years after Bell's death, a complaint was made to the then Bishop of Chichester, Eric Kemp, alleging that Bell had abused a child during the 1940s and 1950s. complaint was not passed on to police until a second complaint was made to the office of Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 2013. The investigation is ongoing. (more from Wikipedia)

England, 1904-1905, Welsh Revival, Swansea, Wales, Joseph Jenkins, Evan Roberts, spiritual visions not preaching, 1m converted
England, 1904-1905, Welsh Revival, Swansea, Wales, Joseph Jenkins, Evan Roberts, spiritual visions not preaching, 1m converted, newspapers; Wales, 1904-1905, Welsh Revival, Swansea, Wales ; 1904-1905 Welsh Revival; 1904–1905 Welsh revival was the largest Christian revival in Wales during the 20th century. was one of the most dramatic in terms of its effect on the population, and triggered revivals in several other countries. movement kept the churches of Wales filled for many years to come, seats being placed in the aisles in Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Swansea for twenty years or so, for example. the Awakening swept the rest of Britain, Scandinavia, parts of Europe, North America, the mission fields of India and the Orient, Africa and Latin America."[1] last previous revival in Wales was in 1859, but this followed other developments. From 1850 onwards Christianity in Wales was markedly less Calvinistic in form. A generation of powerful biblical preachers ended, as leaders such as Christmas Evans (1766–1838), John Elias (1744–1841) and Henry Rees (1798–1869) died.[citation needed] 1859 and 1904, there were local revivals in Cwmafan (1866), Rhondda (1879), Carmarthen and Blaenau Ffestiniog (1887), Dowlais (1890) and Pontnewydd (1892).[citation needed] begins[edit] Quay and Blaenannerch[edit] prominent leader of the Revival was the Methodist preacher of New Quay, Joseph Jenkins, who arranged a conference in New Quay in 1903 with the theme to deepen loyalty to Christ. After a meeting in February 1904, the regular Sunday meetings as well as the newly founded midweek meetings became lively and members of Joseph Jenkins' church went to other nearby towns and villages to 'witness' to the effects of how accepting Christ's message had influenced their lives[clarification needed]. September a conference was held at Blaenannerch. It was reported that 'massive blessing'[clarification needed] was upon this conference and the news quickly spread throughout the area and beyond. The South Wales Daily News picked up on the events and reported that "the third great revival was afoot through the nation!"—the other two being the Welsh Methodist revival and the 1859 Methodist revival. section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) November 1904 Jenkins was invited as guest preacher at meetings in Bethany, Ammanford, the church of Nantlais Williams. When the appointment was arranged, there was no news yet of the conversions in New Quay and Blaenannerch, but an extra meeting was hastily arranged on the Sunday afternoon so that Joseph Jenkins could tell about the events there. Williams is recorded to have said that he was worried that there would be no interest in such a meeting and he was sceptical what the turnout would be; but when he arrived, he could only just squeeze into the chapel to hear Jenkins. had been arranged that Jenkins was to preach on the Monday night before his return to New Quay. The church was again full with people professing their faith in Jesus. Perhaps the most dramatic turn was when one of the crowd announced, "Another meeting like this will be held here tomorrow night…" That meeting was again well attended and went on until the early hours of the morning. already having been ordained as a minister, on that weekend in November 1904 Williams had a conversion experience, on the Saturday night prior to Jenkins' arrival. Wales[edit] December 1904 Joseph Jenkins embarked on three months of preaching and professing in areas of North Wales. Many meetings were held in Amlwch, Llangefni, Llanerchymedd, Talysarn, Llanllyfni, Llanrwst, Denbigh, and Dinorwig, and some students at the University of Wales Bangor were converted. But perhaps the most conversions were seen in Bethesda; another leader of the revival, J. T. Job, described the meeting held in Jerusalem, Bethesda on 22 December 1904 as "a hurricane". Roberts and Loughor[edit] Roberts was a young man influenced by the stories and experiences that were happening in New Quay and Blaenannerch. He decided to go to Newcastle Emlyn for ministerial training, and arrived in the revival in south Ceredigion. The news of the mass conversions in New Quay and Blaenannerch had already spread to Newcastle Emlyn and were a distraction for a man who had been sent there to study. Seth Joshua, another prominent leader of the revival, came to the area to hold meetings, which Roberts attended eagerly. his three months training at Newcastle Emlyn he was to return to Loughor to start his ministry. He claimed to have direct visions from the Holy Spirit: very specific visions, such as the number 100,000 representing the souls God intended to use him to save. As the revival unfolded Roberts is said to have depended increasingly upon what he considered the guidance of the Holy Spirit. to Roberts' ministry was initially slow, but soon the crowds turned out and the meetings were carried on until the early hours of the morning. After the meeting at Loughor, Roberts assembled a team and went on a tour of the South Wales valleys to spread the revival. did not take well the decline of the revival, and the frustration of great expectations of a worldwide revival that had arisen in his team, and afterwards fell into depression. He was then housed by a friend in England at Leicester, and co-wrote a book with his friend's wife Jessie Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints, believed by some to be heretical because of its use of the term "possession" to describe demonic spirits' potential effect on believers, from which he dissociated himself[2] after he recovered from depression and the book was severely criticised. In 1913, when Roberts's mother was dying, his brother Dan tried to see him to ask him to visit his mother. Roberts refused contact. Eventually "Awstin", the reporter of the revival, gained access. There were rumours that Roberts was being held prisoner by the Penn-Lewises. Roberts spoke freely about how God was preparing him for his next great work, and sent, via "Awstin", "God's message to the churches of south Wales". Because of Roberts's treatment of his mother the message was ignored. became a major centre of the revival and the first area that Evan Roberts visited following his initial meetings at Loughor. In the Aberdare area, the revival aroused alarm among ministers for the revolutionary, even anarchistic, impact it had upon chapel congregations and denominational organization. In particular, it was seen as drawing attention away from pulpit preaching and the role of the minister.[3] The local newspaper, the Aberdare Leader, regarded the revival with suspicion from the outset, objecting to the 'abnormal heat' which it engendered.[4] Trecynon was particularly affected by the revival, and the meetings held there were said to have aroused more emotion and excitement than the more restrained meetings in Aberdare itself. The impact of the revival was significant in the short term, but in the longer term was fairly transient. of newspapers[edit] the first time, the newspapers had a role in this revival. The Western Mail and the South Wales Daily News, Wales' daily newspapers, spread news of conversions and generated an air of excitement that helped to fuel the revival. The Western Mail in particular gave extensive coverage to Roberts' meetings in Loughor. The articles were gathered together and published as a series of seven pamphlets, including copies of picture postcards of the revivalists that were published at the time. The contents of the final pamphlet are credited by some as killing the revival. Peter Price, a minister from Dowlais, wrote a letter that was very critical of Evan Roberts. Price wanted to distinguish between the genuine revival that he believed was going on and a sham revival he associated with Evan Roberts. The pamphlet contains many letters in support of Evan Roberts (the majority), and a few supporting Price. Vyrynwy Morgan gives further letters supporting Price.[citation needed] Welsh revival has been described not as an isolated religious movement, but as very much a part of Britain's modernisation.[5] The revival began in late 1904 under the leadership of Evan Roberts (1878–1951), a 26-year-old former collier and minister in training. The revival lasted less than a year, but in that time 100,000 people were converted. Begun as an effort to kindle non-denominational, non-sectarian spirituality, the Welsh revival of 1904-05 coincided with the rise of the labour movement, socialism, and a general disaffection with religion among the working class and youths. Placed in context, the short-lived revival appears as both a climax for Nonconformism and a flashpoint of change in Welsh religious life. The movement spread to Scotland and England, with estimates that a million people were converted in Britain. Missionaries subsequently carried the movement abroad; it was especially influential on the Pentecostal movement emerging in California.[6] earlier religious revivals based on powerful preaching, the revival of 1904–05 relied primarily on music and on alleged supernatural phenomena as exemplified by the visions of Evan Roberts. The intellectual emphasis of the earlier revivals had left a dearth of religious imagery that the visions supplied. The visions also challenged the denial of the spiritual and miraculous element of Scripture by opponents of the revival, who held liberal and critical theological positions. The structure and content of the visions not only repeated those of Scripture and earlier Christian mystical tradition but also illuminated the personal and social tensions that the revival addressed by juxtaposing Biblical images with scenes familiar to contemporary Welsh believers.[7] after-effects of the revival were considered by Vyrynwy Morgan in the final chapter of his book, which gives the figures for convictions for drunkenness in the county of Glamorgan for the years 1902 to 1907, supplied by the police. There is a near 50% reduction after the revival.[8] popular culture[edit] While writing his 1907 dystopian novel Lord of the World, Roman Catholic priest Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson drew upon Evan Roberts and the 1904–1905 Welsh revival as models for the reign of the Anti-Christ.[9] The novels Queen of the Rushes (1906) by Allen Raine, and The Withered Root (1927) by Rhys Davies were inspired by the 1904–1905 Welsh revival. In 2004, the BBC's Bread of Heaven series featured a programme on the 1904 Welsh revival, which was presented by Huw Edwards. In 2005 a musical was made about the 1904–1905 Welsh revival.[10] The music and lyrics were written by Mal Pope and the book is by Frank Vickery. Its first tour began at the Grand Theatre, Swansea, Wales and was directed by Michael Bogdanov with the Wales Theatre Company and included an appearance from Peter Karrie. George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1962, Commemorated January 26 ;

England, 1909-1962, George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Wales, miraculous healings, mantle to Reinhard Bonnke 1962
England, 1909-1962, George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Wales, christian at 1904-1905, Welsh Revival, Swansea, Wales, gifts of the spirit 1910, miraculous healings, 4 square savior, healer, baptiser and coming king, Elim Evangelistic Band in Belfast, Ulster 1914, churches, 1925 Bible College, mantle to Reinhard Bonnke 1962; Wales, 1904-1905, Welsh Revival, Swansea, Wales ; 1904-1905 Welsh Revival; George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1962, Commemorated January 26 ; Jeffreys (28 February 1889– 26 January 1962) was a Welsh evangelist who founded the Elim Pentecostal Church, a Pentecostal organisation.[1] a fifteen-year-old from Nantyffylon, Maesteg, Wales, George became a Christian during the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival, along with his older brother Stephen. At the time, many local Christians believed the two brothers were appointed by God to do great works for Him.[2] 1910, after becoming a very popular speaker in certain circles throughout the country, George went to the All Saints' Anglican Church in Sunderland, England. There he saw people expressing the Gifts of the Spirit, particularly speaking in tongues as in Acts chapter 2 in the Bible. George was at first opposed to this, but when his nephew, Edward, claimed to have received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and he noticed the change in his nephew, he repented of his unbelief in the All Saints' church, and subsequently, began to express such gifts himself.[3] the many churches, conventions and camp meetings where George and Stephen Jeffreys preached in the years after this, there were reports of many miraculous healings and other acts of God. Such healings brought George to his "foursquare" belief that Jesus is Saviour, Healer, Baptiser and Coming King. along with a small group of peers, became known as the Elim Evangelistic Band in Belfast and all over Ulster. This group of people brought crowds into their large tent, and later, into the Belfast hall they acquired. Out of this, George founded his first church in Belfast in 1914 followed by one in Monaghan in 1915, and the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, as it is officially known, was born. more Elim churches were soon planted all over the United Kingdom, first of all spreading through the province of Ulster to Ballymena, Moneyslane and Portadown, then on to Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, The First Elim Church in England, and Clapham in London and in Wales at Llanelli and Dowlais. In 1925, he founded the Elim Bible College in Clapham, which moved to Nantwich, Cheshire, in 1987 and later became Regents Theological College. The college moved again in 2009 to West Malvern. continued to lead the Elim Pentecostal Churches until 1939 when, due to differences in opinion on church leadership[1] and the idea of British Israelism,[4] he left Elim and went to Nottingham to found the Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship. The new denomination suffered a serious decline in numbers in the later years of the 1960s and no longer exists as a separate entity, its main church, Kensington Temple, having become the central London church of the Elim Pentecostal Church. 1962 George spoke with Reinhard Bonnke the evangelist concerning the ministry that Bonnke was about to begin in South Africa. Bonnke stumbled onto Jeffreys' home in Clapham while on vacation in London. The old evangelist invited Bonnke in for tea. Jeffreys prayed for the young 21-year-old Bonnke, passing on his "mantle".[5]

England, 1910-1936, George V, GB King, socialism, communism, fascism, Irish Republicism, Indian Indepence
England, 1910-1936, King of Great Britain, George V; V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. during the reign of his grandmother Queen Victoria, George was third in the line of succession behind his father, Prince Albert Edward, and his own elder brother, Prince Albert Victor. From 1877 to 1892, George served in the Royal Navy, until the unexpected death of his elder brother in early 1892 put him directly in line for the throne. On the death of Victoria in 1901, George's father ascended the throne as Edward VII, and George was created Prince of Wales. He became king-emperor on his father's death in 1910. V's reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape of the British Empire. The Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. As a result of the First World War (1914–1918), the empires of his first cousins Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany fell, while the British Empire expanded to its greatest effective extent. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, which he renamed from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a result of anti-German public sentiment. 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the British Commonwealth of Nations. He had smoking-related health problems throughout much of his later reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII. GEORGE BELL, BISHOP OF CHICHESTER, AND ECUMENIST, 3 October 1958; WILFRED GRENFELL, MEDICAL MISSIONARY, 9 October 1940; WILLIAM TEMPLE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (6 NOV. 1944); C S LEWIS, SCHOLAR AND SPIRITUAL WRITER (22 NOV 1963); VEDANAYAGAM SAMUEL AZARIAH, FIRST INDIAN ANGLICAN BISHOP, DORNAKAL, 1945, Commemorated January 2 ; Charles Gore of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915 AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16 ; Richard Meau Benson of RICHARD MEUX BENSON, RELIGIOUS, 1915, AND CHARLES GORE, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM & OXFORD, 1932, Commemorated January 16; George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1962, Commemorated January 26 ; ERIC LIDDELL, MISSIONARY TO CHINA, 1945, Commemorated February 22; Woodbine Willie aka GEOFFREY ANKETELL STUDDERT KENNEDY PRIEST, 1929, Commemorated March 8; Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Commemorated March 12; St Ambrose the Confessor, Commemorated on March 16; PANDITA MARY RAMABAI, PROPHETIC WITNESS AND EVANGELIST IN INDIA, 1922. Commemorated April 5; INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1945; ROLAND ALLEN, MISSION STRATEGIST, Commemorated June 8; GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, APOLOGIST and WRITER, 1936, Commemorated June 12 ; EVELYN UNDERHILL, THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC (15 JUNE 1941);

England, 1918-1963, CS Lewis, Oxford University, most popular most effective christianity defender, avoided disputes
England, , CS Lewis, Oxford University,; Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and lay theologian. held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge University (Magdalene College, 1954–1963). is best known for his works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. and fellow novelist J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends. They both served on the English faculty at Oxford University and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the Inklings. to Lewis's 1955 memoir Surprised by Joy, he was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but fell away from his faith during adolescence. returned to Anglicanism at the age of 32, owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, and he became an "ordinary layman of the Church of England". Lewis's faith profoundly affected his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim. wrote more than 30 books which have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularised on stage, TV, radio, and cinema. His philosophical writings are widely cited by Christian apologists from many denominations. 1956, Lewis married American writer Joy Davidman; she died of cancer four years later at the age of 45. Lewis died on 22 November 1963 from kidney failure, one week before his 65th birthday. In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Lewis was honoured with a memorial in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Oxford University; C S LEWIS, SCHOLAR AND SPIRITUAL WRITER (22 NOV 1963) ; Staples Lewis ("Jack" Lewis to his friends) was a tutor and lecturer at Oxford University, and later Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature at Cambridge University. the judgment of many, he is the most popular and most effective explainer and defender of the Christian faith writing in English in this century. tried to make a point of avoiding disputes on matters where Christians disagree, and defending those beliefs which they hold in common. work was valued by many Christians of widely differing backgrounds: Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, etc. BY C S LEWIS (CLIVE STAPLES LEWIS) The Irish-English writer C S Lewis (1898-1963) has written many books and essays on the Christian faith, some defending it, some meditating on it. A partial list follows 1) MERE CHRISTIANITY. This originated as a series of fifteen-minute radio talks addressed to a very general audience, undertaking to give a general account of Christian belief. It begins with a discussion of some reasons for believing that God exists, and why it matters that He does, and then continues with an account of the redeeming work of God in Christ. It includes a discussion of Christian moral standards, and Trinitarian theology. Throughout, the author undertakes to confine himself to the common Christian core of belief, and to steer clear of disagreements between denominations -- hence the word MERE in the title. 2) MIRACLES. The author defines a miracle as "an interference with Nature by a supernatural power," and proceeds to examine the question of whether we have grounds for believing that there exists something that can properly be called supernatural (this involves definitions of Nature other than just "everything that exists"), whether there are grounds for supposing that that something could not or would not interfere with the workings of Nature, and what sort of view of reality is involved in the Christian assertion of the Miracle of the Incarnation (God took human nature upon Himself in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth). A cogent discussion and analysis of fundamental questions. 3) THE PROBLEM OF PAIN. Undertakes to answer the question, "If God is good and God is omnipotent, then why is there pain and evil in the world?" or, as otherwise put, "If God loves me, why can't I get my locker open?" 4) THE GREAT DIVORCE. A dream (owing some ideas to Dante) in which the author visits Heaven and Hell. The question is not what they are like physically, but rather what it means to be in Hell or in Heaven. 5) THE ABOLITION OF MAN. Not explicitly Christian. Three lectures defending the concept of Natural Law (a moral standard known in principle to all human societies). 6) THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS. A series of letters from Screwtape, an experienced devil, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter on his first assignment. The letters deal with the psychology of temptation, and will make most readers laugh -- and wince. (NOTE: Some copies have at the end an essay, "Screwtape Proposes a Toast". This was written years later on a totally different subject. By all means read them both, but not as a single work, or in rapid succession.) 7) REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS. Problems or questions that occurred to Lewis while praying or studying the Psalms, and his thoughts thereon. 8) A PREFACE TO PARADISE LOST. A series of lectures on epic poetry and in particular on Milton's Paradise Lost. Lewis delivered these in his professional capacity as a specialist in Mediaeval and Renaissance English Literature, but they will be of interest to Christians as well as to English students, for Lewis maintains that one cannot understand or appreciate the poem without understanding (not necessarily accepting) the beliefs that the poem presupposes. 9) THE WORLD'S LAST NIGHT AND OTHER ESSAYS. Includes THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. Does it make sense to believe that prayer can change things? ON OBSTINACY IN BELIEF. Does it ever make sense to believe something "in the teeth of the evidence"? THE WORLD'S LAST NIGHT. How ought the doctrine of Christ's Second Coming to affect our lives and thoughts? AND OTHER ESSAYS. Many collections of Lewis's essays have appeared since his death, and there is an annoying lack of uniformity, so that the same essay may appear in two different books, or in one but not another collection with the same title. 10) THE WEIGHT OF GLORY AND OTHER ADDRESSES. Includes THE WEIGHT OF GLORY. On the promises concerning Heaven. TRANSPOSITION. (The title essay of the earlier editions.) On the indwelling of the higher in the lower. THE INNER RING. On the urge to "belong" as a temptation. AND OTHER ADDRESSES. 11) THE SPACE TRILOGY. Three science-fiction or fantasy novels on Christian themes. OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET, PERELANDRA, THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH 12) THE NARNIA CHRONICLES. Seven books for children, fantasies or fairy tales that introduce indirectly many Christian topics. A reader might not notice the Christian implications (and I would suggest not pointing them out to a first-time reader), but an adult faced with a serious, intellectual, adult question may sometimes recall a passage as very much to the point. (I have.) Calling them books of stories may suggest an arbitrary collection of independent tales. In fact each book is a single story, and the series is a unity and should probably be read in the order of writing (although this makes the sixth a flashback, and some would favor reading it first.) THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE; PRINCE CASPIAN; THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER; THE SILVER CHAIR; THE HORSE AND HIS BOY; THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW; THE LAST BATTLE 13) LETTERS TO MALCOLM, CHIEFLY ON PRAYER. The title explains. 14) TILL WE HAVE FACES. Novel retelling the story of Eros and Psyche from the viewpoint of one of the sisters. One listmember wrote that she disliked Lewis's work (I suspect for political reasons). I got her to read this and she loved it. She said: "I had no idea Lewis could write this sort of book!" 15) ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY EXCLUDING DRAMA, later named POETRY AND PROSE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. A standard reference work. Much of the material is of interest chiefly to the specialist, but someone already familiar with the doctrines on which Christians are in general agreed and wanting to understand the differences that gave rise to the Protestant Reformation will find much helpful material. I particularly recommend pages 32-44, 162-165, 177-180, 181-192, 438-463. 16) THE PILGRIM'S REGRESS. An account in the style of John Bunyan of how a young man, nominally reared as a Christian, abandoned his beliefs and fared forth in search of something better, and eventually arrived at a destination in one sense identical with, but in another sense very different from, his starting point. The intellectual alternatives he considers are affected by the fact that he is (a) an Englishman, living in the 1920's, and (b) a scholar largely devoted to literature and philosophy. Today's reader may therefore find some of the references irrelevant or simply baffling, but I predict that there will be a residue that hits home. [Out of print but probably available used.] 17) THE FOUR LOVES. An analysis of different kinds of love, and different uses of the word "love," taking as its starting point four Greek words for kinds of love. 18) THE ALLEGORY OF LOVE first made Lewis's reputation in his profession as a literature professor. It deals with the development of allegorical love poetry in Western Europe from Ovid to Spenser. Parts of it are of interest only to the specialist, but I do not think this is true of the book as a whole. Reading it significantly changed my views on the workings of the subconscious. [Out of print but probably available used.] 19) GOD IN THE DOCK is a collection published after Lewis's death of various essays, brief memos, letters to the editor, etc. that he had written. [Out of print but probably available used.] 20) AN EXPERIMENT IN CRITICISM deals with Art, particularly literature. Many critics have first distinguished good books from bad books, and then defined Bad Taste as a taste for Bad Books. Lewis asks what will happen if we reverse the process by distinguishing two kinds of pleasures to be gotten from books (or music, or painting) and then distinguishing books on the basis of the kind of pleasure that they offer, or the way in which they invite the reader to approach them. [Out of print but probably available used.] 21) THE DISCARDED IMAGE is an account of the view of the cosmos that was standard in medieval times, with a discussion of its effect on literature and on the imagination. 22) STUDIES IN WORDS takes several English words (and often their counterparts in Latin or Greek) and discusses changes in their meaning from century to century, and the patterns of human thought underlying the changes. **) AND MANY MORE!! by James Kiefer

England, 1921, Oxford Group, First Century Christian Fellowship
England, 1921, Oxford Group, First Century Christian Fellowship Keswick, England ; Keswik, England, home of the Oxford Group; SAMUEL SHOEMAKER, PRIEST AND EVANGELIST, 1963, Commemorated January 31 ; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20;

England, 1922-1945, ERIC LIDDELL, Tianjin, flying scotsman, Chariots of Fire, teacing wealthy chinese 1-12, Japan-China W prisoner
China, 1922-1945, ERIC LIDDELL, Tianjin, Far North China (Hai River Mouth, Five Rivers), flying scotsman, 400m Olympic Champion, Chariots of Fire, teacing wealthy chinese 1-12, China-Japan war 1941, 1943 prisoner at Weihsien, died 1945 brain tumor ; Tianjin (Hai River Source, Five Rivers); ERIC LIDDELL MISSIONARY TO CHINA, 1945, Commemorated February 22; Henry Liddell (16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945, was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international and missionary. was the winner of the Men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris. He was portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire. in China, Liddell returned there as a Protestant missionary in later life. Liddell, often called the "Flying Scotsman", was born in Tianjin (formerly transliterated as Tientsin) in North China, second son of the Rev & Mrs James Dunlop Liddell who were Scottish missionaries with the London Missionary Society. Liddell became well-known for being the fastest runner in Scotland while at Eltham College. withdrew from the 100 meter race 1924 Olympics in Paris as he refused to run on a Sunday. Liddell spent the intervening months training for the 400 metres, an event in which he had previously excelled. Even so, his success in the 400m was largely unexpected. He not only won the race, but broke the existing world record with a time of 47.6 seconds. returned to Northern China where he served as a missionary, like his parents, from 1925 to 1943 - first in Tianjin and later in the town of Xiaozhang. Liddell's first job as a missionary was as a teacher at an Anglo-Chinese College (grades 1-12) for wealthy Chinese students. It was believed that by teaching the children of the wealthy that they themselves would later become influential figures in China and promote Christian values. his first furlough in 1932, he was ordained as a minister of religion. On his return to China he married Florence Mackenzie of Canadian missionary parentage in Tianjin in 1934. 1941 life in China was becoming so dangerous that the British Government advised British nationals to leave. Florence and the children left for Canada to stay with her family when Liddell accepted a new position at a rural mission station in Shaochang, which gave service to the poor. Meanwhile, the Chinese and the Japanese were at war. When the fighting reached Shaochang the Japanese took over the mission station. In 1943, Liddell was interned at the Weihsien Internment Camp with the members of the China Inland Mission Chefoo School. He died there of a brain tumor on 21 February 1945, five months before liberation. — more at Wikipedia

England, 1925-1945, INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1925, w Englishman John M Steward
Pacific Islands, Melanisia, 1925-1945, INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1925, Maravovo, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, w John Manwaring; Maravovo; INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1945, Commemorated June 6 ; Kopuria (died 1945), a police officer from Maravovo, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands the Melanesian Brotherhood in 1925. and the Bishop of Melanesia, the Right Reverend John Manwaring Steward, realised Ini's dream by forming a band of brothers (known in the Mota language as 'Ira Reta Tasiu') to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the non-Christian areas of Melanesia. is commemorated in the calendars of the Church of the Province of Melanesia and of the Church of England. — from Wikipedia information on him and the Melanesian Brotherhood may be found on Project Canterbury.

England, 1936-1952, George VI, King of Great Britain, WWII, Empire decline after the war
England, 1936-1952, King of Great Britain, George VI; GEORGE BELL, BISHOP OF CHICHESTER, AND ECUMENIST, 3 October 1958; WILFRED GRENFELL, MEDICAL MISSIONARY, 9 October 1940; WILLIAM TEMPLE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (6 NOV. 1944); C S LEWIS, SCHOLAR AND SPIRITUAL WRITER (22 NOV 1963); VEDANAYAGAM SAMUEL AZARIAH, FIRST INDIAN ANGLICAN BISHOP, DORNAKAL, 1945, Commemorated January 2 ; ORDINATION OF FLORENCE LI TIM-OI, FIRST WOMAN PRIEST IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION, 24 JANUARY 1944; George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1962, Commemorated January 26 ; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND "ÂœFRIEND OF THE POOR"Â IN INDIA, 1940. Commemorated February 12 ; JANANI LUWUM, ARCHBISHOP OF UGANDA, MARTYR (16 FEB 1977); ERIC LIDDELL, MISSIONARY TO CHINA, 1945, Commemorated February 22; Smith Wigglesworth, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, Commemorated March 12; OSCAR ROMERO, ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR, AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR, (24 March 1980) ; INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1945; EVELYN UNDERHILL, THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC (15 JUNE 1941);

England, 1937, Lambeth Conference of 1937 (1930?) remarrige, contraception, abortion, war, Orthodox unity, women deacons
England, 1937, Lambeth Conference of 1937; Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. the Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous national and regional churches and is not a governing body, the Lambeth Conferences serve a collaborative and consultative function, expressing "the mind of the communion" on issues of the day.[1] which a Lambeth Conference may pass are without legal effect, but they are nonetheless influential. So, although the resolutions of conferences carry no legislative authority, they "do carry great moral and spiritual authority."[This quote needs a citation] "Its statements on social issues have influenced church policy in the churches."[2] conferences form one of the communion's four "Instruments of Communion".[3] 1930[edit] Presided over by: Cosmo Gordon Lang[10] 308 bishops attended.[a] had been ill prior to the Conference and had to rest the month of June to be in shape to preside over the Conference. Lang said that he weathered the five weeks without "illness" or "undue fatigue"[23] conference opened with a "day of devotion" at Fulham Palace, the residence of the Bishop of London. Holy Communion was celebrated at 8:30 am with an address by 86-year-old Edward Talbot, retired Bishop of Winchester.[19] conference's "manner of deliberations" followed the pattern used in earlier conferences. six subjects (see the list of subjects in the Resolutions section below) proposed for consideration were brought before sessions of the whole Conference for six days, from July 7 to July 12. subjects were all referred to committees. The work of the committees was aided by the essays and papers that had been prepared for them in advance. After their two-weeks of deliberations, the committees presented their reports and resolutions to the whole conference from July 28 to August 9.[24] resolutions passed The subjects on which resolutions were passed at the Conference are the following:[25] I. the Christian Doctrine of God II. the Life and Witness of the Christian Community III. the Unity of the Church IV. the Anglican Communion V. the Ministry of the Church VI. Youth and Its Vocation Sampling of Resolutions by subject The Conference adopted seventy-five Resolutions. They can all be seen at Anglican Communion Document Library: 1930 Conference. I. Christian Doctrine of God: Resolutions 1-8 Resolution 2 expressed an "urgent need in the face of many erroneous conceptions for a fresh presentation of the Christian doctrine of God". Resolution 3 admonished "Christian people" to banish "from their minds the ideas concerning the character of God which are inconsistent with the character of Jesus Christ." II. Life and Witness of the Christian Community (1) Marriage and Sex: Resolutions 9-20 Resolution 11 recommended that "the marriage of one, whose former partner is still living, should not be celebrated according to the rites of the Church," and when "an innocent person has remarried under civil sanction and desires to receive the Holy Communion," the case should be referred to the bishop. Resolution 15 allowed "in those cases where there is such a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence, the Conference agrees that other methods may be used, provided that this is done in the light of the same Christian principles." The vote for this Resolution was 193 for it, 67 against it, and 47 not voting. This was the only Resolution for which a record of the numbers voting was required.[25] The London Times of June 30, 1930, predicted that the Lambeth Conference would change the "social and moral life" of humanity. This was done by the Conference's Resolution 15 in which in contradiction to earlier Resolutions (1908 Resolution 41 and 1920 Resolution 66) allowed the use of contraception in marriage.[26] Walter Carey, Bishop of Bloemfontein, withdrew from the Conference in protest and even sent a petition to the King on the subject.[27] Resolution 16 expressed "abhorrence of the sinful practice of abortion." Resolution 18 reckoned "sexual intercourse between persons who are not legally married" to be "a grievous sin." (2) Race: Resolutions 21-24 Resolution 22 affirmed the Conference's "conviction that all communicants without distinction of race or colour should have access in any church to the Holy Table of the Lord, and that no one should be excluded from worship in any church on account of colour or race." (3) Peace and War: Resolutions 25-30 Resolution 25 affirmed that "war as a method of settling international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ." Resolution 26 noted with approval the work of the League of Nations. III. Unity of the Church: Resolutions 31-47 "The Conference encouraged the Unity of the Church in all parts of the world."[citation needed] It was primarily concerned (1) with the relations of the Churches of the Anglican Communion to the Orthodox Churches of the East, and (2) with the Proposed Scheme of Union in South India, and (3) with the problems arising in Special Areas.[25] Various Churches sent delegations to consult with the Conference, notably the Old Catholics.[25] Resolution 31 recorded, "with deep thanks to Almighty God, the signs of a growing movement towards Christian unity in all parts of the world since the issue of the "Appeal to All Christian People" by the Lambeth Conference in 1920 and reaffirmed "the principles contained in it and in the Resolutions dealing with reunion adopted by that Conference." Resolution 47 applied the call for Unity of the Church to the Anglican Communion by calling on its members "to promote the cause of union by fostering and deepening in all possible ways the fellowship of the Anglican Communion itself." IV. Anglican Communion: Resolutions 48-60 Resolution 49 approved a statement of the "nature and status of the Anglican Communion," namely that "the Anglican Communion is a fellowship, within the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted dioceses, provinces or regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury," which have three things in common: (a) "they uphold and propagate the Catholic and Apostolic faith and order as they are generally set forth in the Book of Common Prayer as authorised in their several Churches" (b) "they are particular or national Churches, and, as such, promote within each of their territories a national expression of Christian faith, life and worship" (c) they are bound together "by mutual loyalty sustained through the common counsel of the bishops in conference." This Resolution was a Lambeth Conference's first attempts at defining the Anglican Communion.[28] Resolution 50 reaffirmed Resolution 44 of the Lambeth Conference of 1920, "that the Consultative Body is of the nature of a continuation committee of the Lambeth Conference, and neither possesses nor claims any executive or administrative power" and added further directions for its operation. V. Ministry of the Church: Resolutions 61-74 (1) The Ministry of Women: Resolutions 61-72 Resolution 66 stressed the "great importance of offering to women of ability and education" a role in directing "the work of the Church." Resolution 67 reaffirmed the 1920 Conference that "the order of deaconess is for women the one and only order of the ministry which we can recommend our branch of the Catholic Church to recognise and use." The 1920 Lambeth Conference had acknowledged that the Church had "undervalued and neglected the gifts of women." Nevertheless, it still held to the "differences between women and men" and said that deaconess was the "only Order of the Ministry" with Apostolic approval. The 1930 Lambeth Conference again rejected any parity of deaconesses with deacons because a deaconess was "outside the historic Orders of the ministry."[29] Resolution 70 allowed bishops, "on the request of the parish priest" to entrust specific functions to deaconesses, namely, "a. to assist the minister in the preparation of candidates for baptism and for confirmation; b. to assist at the administration of Holy Baptism by virtue of her office; c. to baptize in church, and to officiate at the Churching of Women; d. in church to read Morning and Evening Prayer and the Litany, except such portions as are reserved to the priest, and to lead in prayer; with the license of the bishop, to instruct and preach, except in the service of Holy Communion." (2) Religious Communities: Resolution 74 Resolution 74 recognized "the growth of religious communities both of men and women in the Anglican Communion and the contribution which they have made." Cost of the Conference Traditionally the Archbishop of Canterbury bore the cost of a Lambeth Conference. For the 1930 Conference, the British Church Assembly provided £2,000. toward the cost. However, this was only a fraction of the total cost. One item, providing lunch and afternoon tea every day for five weeks, cost £1,400.[30] 1948[edit] Presided over by: Geoffrey Fisher 349 bishops attend that the ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi "would be against the tradition and order...of the Anglican Communion" and dismissed the need for further examination of women's ordination. full communion between the Anglican and Old Catholic churches. that "discrimination between men on the grounds of race alone is inconsistent with the principles of Christ's religion". 1958[edit] Presided over by: Geoffrey Fisher 310 bishops attend for respect for the "consciences" of married couples who use birth control. considering the renewal of the permanent diaconate. 1968[edit] was the first conference not to take place in Lambeth Palace. This was because of the increase in the number of bishops attending, as well as the presence of almost 100 observers and consultants. Meetings were instead held at Church House, Westminster although the bishops, with their spouses, were invited to dinner at Lambeth by rotation. over by Michael Ramsey who famously dozed off during at least one debate. bishops attended the ordination of women to the diaconate and the recognition of previously-appointed "deaconesses" as deacons. the arguments for and against women in the priesthood "inconclusive". that assent to the Thirty-Nine Articles no longer be required of clergy. open communion. 1978[edit] Presided over by Donald Coggan 440 bishops attended.[31] conference "recognised the autonomy of each of its member churches...legal right of each Church to make its own decision" about women priests. It also denounced the use of capital punishment and called for a common lectionary. was the first conference to be held on the campus of the University of Kent at Canterbury where every subsequent conference has been held.[32] 1978 Conference included forty assistant bishops.[33] 1988[edit] Presided over by Robert Runcie 518 bishops present conference dealt with the question of the inter-relations of Anglican international bodies and issues such as marriage and family, human rights, poverty and debt, environment, militarism, justice and peace. Women's ordination to the priesthood was also a major topic of discussion. Archbishop Michael Peers, Bishop Graham Leonard, Bishop Samir Kafity, and the Reverend Nan Arrington Peete spoke to the assembly on the topic.[34][35] Peete, who was ordained in the Episcopal Church USA, was the first female priest to speak at the Lambeth Conference.[36] The conference decided that "each province respect the decision of other provinces in the ordination or consecration of women to the episcopate." previous Lambeth Conferences, only bishops were invited to attend, but all members of the Anglican Consultative Council and representative bishops from the "Churches in Communion" (i.e. the Churches of Bangladesh, North and South India and Pakistan) were invited to attend.[37] 1998[edit] Presided over by: George Carey 749 bishops present including, for the first time, eleven of them women most hotly debated issue at this conference was homosexuality in the Anglican Communion. was finally decided, by a vote of 526–70, to pass a resolution (1.10) calling for a "listening process" but stating (in an amendment passed by a vote of 389–190)[38] that "homosexual practice" (not necessarily orientation) is "incompatible with Scripture".[39] subsequent public apology was issued to gay and lesbian Anglicans in a "Pastoral Statement" from 182 bishops worldwide, including eight primates (those of Brazil, Canada, Central Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales),[40] and an attempt was made at conciliation the following year in the form of the Cambridge Accord. and controversy centred on this motion and its application continued to the extent that, ten years later, in 2007, Giles Goddard of Inclusive Church suggested in published correspondence with Andrew Goddard across the liberal–evangelical divide: "It's possible to construct a perfectly coherent argument that the last 10 years have been preoccupied with undoing the damage Lambeth 1.10 caused to the Communion."[41] controversial incident occurred during the conference when Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma of Enugu, Nigeria, attempted to exorcise the "homosexual demons" from Richard Kirker, a British priest and the general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, who was passing out leaflets. Chukwuma told Kirker that he was "killing the church"; Kirker's civil response to the attempted exorcism was "May God bless you, sir, and deliver you from your prejudice against homosexuality."[42] about a mission to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by empowering the poor in developing countries using innovative savings and microcredit programs, business training and spiritual development led to the formation of Five Talents.[43] 2008[edit] The 2008 Lambeth Conference logo Presided over by Rowan Williams Around 670 bishops present[10] fourteenth conference took place from 16 July to 4 August 2008 at the University of Kent's Canterbury campus. In March 2006 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, issued a pastoral letter[44] to the 38 primates of the Anglican Communion and moderators of the united churches setting out his thinking for the next Lambeth Conference. indicated that the emphasis will be on training, "for really effective, truthful and prayerful mission". He ruled out (for the time being) reopening of the controversial resolution 1.10 on human sexuality from the previous Lambeth Conference, but emphasised the "listening process" in which diverse views and experiences of human sexuality were being collected and collated in accordance with that resolution and said it "will be important to allow time for this to be presented and reflected upon in 2008". indicated that the traditional plenary sessions and resolutions would be reduced and that "We shall be looking at a bigger number of more focused groups, some of which may bring bishops and spouses together." at the Lambeth Conference is by invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Invitations were sent to more than 880 bishops around the world for the Fourteenth Conference. Notably absent from the list of those invited are Gene Robinson and Martyn Minns. Robinson was the first Anglican bishop to exercise the office while in an acknowledged same-sex relationship, and Rowan Williams said it was "proving extremely difficult to see under what heading he might be invited to be around", drawing criticism.[45] Minns, the former rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, was the head of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a splinter group of American Anglicans; the Church of Nigeria considered him a missionary bishop to the United States, despite protest from Canterbury and the U.S. Episcopal Church. 2008, four Anglican primates announced that they intended to boycott the Lambeth conference because of their opposition to the actions of Episcopal Church in the USA (the American province of the Anglican Communion) in favour of homosexual clergy and same-sex unions.[46][47] These primates represent the Anglican provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. In addition, Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, among others announced their intentions not to attend. Global Anglican Future Conference, a meeting of conservative bishops held in Jerusalem in June 2008 (one month prior to Lambeth), was thought by some to be an "alternative Lambeth" for those who are opposed to the consecration of Robinson.[48] GAFCON involved Martyn Minns, Peter Akinola and other dissenters[49] who considered themselves to be in a state of impaired communion with the American Episcopal Church and the See of Canterbury.[citation needed] The June 2008 church blessing of Peter Cowell, an Anglican chaplain at the Royal London Hospital and priest at Westminster Abbey, and David Lord, an Anglican priest serving at a parish in Waikato, New Zealand, renewed the debate one month prior to the conference. Martin Dudley, who officiated at the ceremony at St Bartholomew-the-Great, maintained that the ceremony was a "blessing" rather than a matrimonial ceremony.[50] Icon of the Melanesian Martyrs at Canterbury Cathedral Icon of the Melanesian Martyrs at Canterbury Cathedral 2008, the seven martyred members of the Melanesian Brotherhood were honoured during the concluding Eucharist of the 2008 conference at Canterbury Cathedral. Their names were added to the book of contemporary martyrs and placed, along with an icon, on the altar of the "Chapel of the Saints and Martyrs of Our Times". When the Eucharist was over, bishops and others came to pray in front of the small altar in the chapel.[51] The icon stands in the cathedral[52] as a reminder of their witness to peace and of the multi-ethnic character of global Anglicanism. 2022[edit] ten-year cycle followed since 1948 would have suggested a Lambeth Conference in 2018. In September 2014, Katharine Jefferts Schori, primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States, advised that she had been told by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, that this conference had been cancelled, and that he would not call one until he was "reasonably certain that the vast majority of bishops would attend. It needs to be preceded by a primates meeting at which a vast majority of primates are present" (Schori's words).[53] Welby later responded to reports of cancellation by stating, "As it hasn't been called, it can’t have been cancelled", explaining that he had previously told primates he would not call a Lambeth Conference until he had visited each of them in their own countries, which when added to practical considerations relating to venues precluded a conference as soon as 2018.[54] communiqué issued after the primates' meeting in Canterbury in January 2016 said the primates had accepted Welby's proposal that the Fifteenth Conference should be held in 2020.[55][56] At the same meeting, the U.S. Episcopal Church was suspended from Anglican Communion decision-making on "issues pertaining to doctrine or polity" for three years because of its support for same-sex marriage, a suspension which would end by the time of the Lambeth Conference. In 2017 an international organising group chaired by the Archbishop of Cape Town set a date (the last week in July 2020) and announced a theme ("God’s Church for God’s world") for the conference.[57] to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, it was initially announced in March 2020 that the 15th Lambeth Conference would be rescheduled to summer 2021.[58] In July 2020 it was further announced that due to continued uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the 15th Lambeth Conference would be further delayed to 2022.[59] Lambeth; Lambeth Convention; PAUL SHINJI SASAKI AND PHILIP LENDEL TSEN, BISHOP OF TOKYO, 1946; BISHOP OF HONAN, CHINA, 1954; Oct. 31; JAMES THEODORE HOLLY, BISHOP OF HAITI AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, (13 March 1911), Commemorated November 8 ;

England and US, 1941, March 12, 1941: Joseph's Seal Date
England and US, 1941, March 12, 1941: Joseph's Seal Date ; US Policy, 1941-1945, Lend-Lease Policy;

England and US, 1941, March 12, 1941: Ephraim's Seal Date
England and US, 1941, March 12, 1941: Ephraim's Seal Date ; US Policy, 1941-1945, Lend-Lease Policy;

England, 1941-1945, Lend-Lease, England and US Policy
US Policy, 1941-1945, Lend-Lease Policy; March 12, 1941: Joseph's Seal Date;

England, 1942-1977, JANANI LUWUM, Revival, independence 1962, 1966 Obote, 1971 Idi Amin, 1974 J archbishop, killed
Africa, East Africa, 1942-1977, JANANI LUWUM, Buwalasi Theological College, Sironko District, Uganda, Revival Movement, Bishop, independent country 1962, 1966 Obote control, 1971 General Idi Amin, repression, Asians expulsion, christians killed, 1974 J archbishop, widespread terror, killed, centennial, return to christianity ; Buwalasi Theological College, Sironko District, Uganda, East Africa; JANANI LUWUM, ARCHBISHOP OF UGANDA, MARTYR (16 FEB 1977); Luwum was born in 1922. His father was a convert to Christianity. Janani was sent to school and eventually became a schoolteacher. In 1948 he was converted. He became very active in the East African revival movement, and became a lay reader, then a deacon, and then a priest in 1956. He was chosen to study for a year at St Augustine's College in Canterbury, England. He returned to Uganda, worked as a parish priest, and then taught at Buwalasi Theological College. He made a second visit to Britain to study at the London College of Divinity, returning to Uganda to become Principal of Buwalasi. In 1969 he was consecrated bishop of Northern Uganda. Church in Uganda began with the deaths of martyrs (see Martyrs of Uganda, 3 June 1886, and James Hannington and his Companions, Martyrs, 29 October 1885). Around 1900, Uganda became a British protectorate, with the chief of the Buganda tribe as nominal ruler, and with several other tribes included in the protectorate. In 1962 Uganda became an independent country within the British Commonwealth, with the Bugandan chief as president and Milton Obote, of the Lango tribe, as Prime Minister. In 1966, Obote took full control of the government. In 1971, he was overthrown by General Idi Amin, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Almost immediately, he began a policy of repression, arresting anyone suspected of not supporting him. Hundreds of soldiers from the Lango and Acholi tribes were shot down in their barracks. Amin ordered the expulsion of the Asian population of Uganda, about 55,000 persons, mostly small shopkeepers from India and Pakistan. Over the next few years, many Christians were killed for various offenses. A preacher who read over the radio a Psalm which mentioned Israel was shot for this in 1972. 1974 Janani Luwum he became Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire. As we have seen, it was a time of widespread terror. Archbishop Luwum often went personally to the office of the dreaded State Research Bureau to help secure the release of prisoners. between Church and state worsened in 1976. Religious leaders, including Archbishop Luwum, jointly approached Idi Amin to share their concern. They were rebuffed. But Archbishop Luwum continued to attend Government functions. One of his critics accused him of being on the Government side and he replied: "I face daily being picked up by the soldiers. While the opportunity is there I preach the Gospel with all my might, and my conscience is clear before God that I have not sided with the present Government which is utterly self-seeking. I have been threatened many times. Whenever I have the opportunity I have told the President the things the churches disapprove of." in 1977, there was a small army rebellion that was put down with only seven men dead. However, Amin determined to stamp out all traces of dissent. His men killed thousands, including the entire population of Milton Obote's home village. On Sunday, 30 January, Bishop Festo Kivengere preached on "The Preciousness of Life" to an audience including many high government officials. He denounced the arbitrary bloodletting, and accused the government of abusing the authority that God had entrusted to it. The government responded on the following Saturday (5 February) by an early (1:30am) raid on the home of the Archbishop, Janani Luwum, ostensibly to search for hidden stores of weapons. Archbishop called on President Amin to deliver a note of protest, signed by nearly all the bishops of Uganda, against the policies of arbitrary killings and the unexplained disappearances of many persons. Amin accused the Archbishop of treason, produced a document supposedly by former President Obote attesting his guilt, and had the Archbishop and two Cabinet members (both committed Christians) arrested and held for military trial. 16 February, the Archbishop and six bishops were tried on a charge of smuggling arms. Archbishop Luwum was not allowed to reply, but shook his head in denial. The President concluded by asking the crowd: "What shall we do with these traitors?" The soldiers replied "Kill him now". The Archbishop was separated from his bishops. As he was taken away Archbishop Luwum turned to his brother bishops and said: "Do not be afraid. I see God's hand in this." three (the Archbishop and the two Cabinet members) met briefly with four other prisoners who were awaiting execution, and were permitted to pray with them briefly. Then the three were placed in a Land Rover and not seen alive again by their friends. The government story is that one of the prisoners tried to seize control of the vehicle and that it was wrecked and the passengers killed. The story believed by the Archbishop's supporters is that he refused to sign a confession, was beaten and otherwise abused, and finally shot. His body was placed in a sealed coffin and sent to his native village for burial there. However, the villagers opened the coffin and discovered the bullet holes. In the capital city of Kampala a crowd of about 4,500 gathered for a memorial service beside the grave that had been prepared for him next to that of the martyred bishop Hannington. In Nairobi, the capital of nearby Kenya, about 10,000 gathered for another memorial service. Bishop Kivengere was informed that he was about to be arrested, and he and his family fled to Kenya, as did the widow and orphans of Archbishop Luwum. following June, about 25,000 Ugandans came to the capital to celebrate the centennial of the first preaching of the Gospel in their country, among the participants were many who had abandoned Christianity, but who had returned to their Faith as a result of seeing the courage of Archbishop Luwum and his companions in the face of death. by James Kiefer

England, 1952- , Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, decolonization, commonwealth, long reign and life
England, 1952- , Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II; GEORGE BELL, BISHOP OF CHICHESTER, AND ECUMENIST, 3 October 1958; C S LEWIS, SCHOLAR AND SPIRITUAL WRITER (22 NOV 1963); George Jeffreys, PENTECOSTAL SAINT, 1962, Commemorated January 26 ; JANANI LUWUM, ARCHBISHOP OF UGANDA, MARTYR (16 FEB 1977); OSCAR ROMERO, ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR, AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR, (24 March 1980) ;

England, General Locations Folder

England, Great North Road Folder

Great North Road

Great North Road - Shelby to York to Topcliffe

Great North Road (A1) - Smithfield

Smithfield, North London (Great North Road (AI), Smithfield)
Smithfield, North London (Great North Road (AI), Smithfield); Roger Williams of ROGER WILLIAMS and ANNE HUTCHINSON, PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1683, 1643, Commemorated February 5;

Rolls Chapel, London at Maughan Library (near Smithfield and Great North Road)
Rolls Chapel, London at Maughan Library; JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOP and THEOLOGIAN (1752), Commemorated June 16;

Great North Road (A1) - Angel, Islington

Great North Road (A1) - Alconbury
At Alconbury, the Great North Road joined the Old North Road, an older route from London which follows the Roman Ermine Street. Here a milestone records mileages to London via both routes: 65 by the Old North Road and 68 by the Great North Road.[4] From Alconbury the Great North Road follows the line of Ermine Street north, through Stilton and Stamford as far as Colsterworth (at the A151 junction).

Great North Road (A10) - Stilton

Great North Road (A1) - Stamford

Great North Road (A1) - Colsterworth
At Colsterworth the Great North Road diverges west of the Roman road and continues through Grantham, Newark, Retford and Bawtry to Doncaster. North of Doncaster the Great North Road again follows a short section of Ermine Street called Roman Rigg or Roman Ridge. Further north the Great North Road crossed the Roman Dere Street near Boroughbridge from where it went via Dishforth and Topcliffe to Northallerton and then through Darlington and Durham. A road forked off to the left at the bridge in Boroughbridge to follow Dere Street, thence from Scotch Corner to Penrith and on to Glasgow. Part of this route was used for the original A1, with a local road from Scotch Corner via Barton to Darlington making the link back to the old Great North Road.

Great North Road (A1) - Doncaster
Great North Road (A1) - Doncaster (left to Ferrybridge and Edinburgh, right to Selby and York)

Great North Road (A1) - Roman Ridge

Great North Road (A1) - Ferrybridge (to Edinburgh)

Great North Road (A1) - Boroughbridge (Overview)

Great North Road (A1) - Dishforth
Great North Road (A1) - Dishforth (right to Topcliffe and Darrington, left to Scotch Corner and Glascow or Scotch Corner, Darrington and Edinburgh)

Great North Road (A1) - Topcliffe

Great North Road (A1) - Northallerton

Great North Road (A1) - Scotch Corner (to Glasgow turn left)
Great North Road (A1) - Scotch Corner (to Glasgow, Scotland turn left; continue on A1 to Edinburg, Scotland)

Great North Road (A1) - Darlington

Great North Road (A1) - Durham

Great North Road (A1) - Selby (to York)

Great North Road (A1) - York

Great North Road (A1) - Edinburgh

Great North Road (A1) - Glasgow

England - Great Britain
Great Britain; The Island of Great Britain; Britons (historical); GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelist, 1770; St Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5 ; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain, Commemorated on March 16; Apostle Simon Zealotes, Commemorated on May 10; HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, WRITER AND PROPHETIC WITNESS, July 1, 1896; INDEPENDENCE DAY, (United States of America) (4 JULY 1776);

Britain, England - Great Britain
Great Britain; The Island of Great Britain; Britons (historical); GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Evangelist, 1770; St Oswald, king and martyr, Commemorated on August 5 ; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain, Commemorated on March 16; Apostle Simon Zealotes, Commemorated on May 10; HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, WRITER AND PROPHETIC WITNESS, July 1, 1896; INDEPENDENCE DAY, (United States of America) (4 JULY 1776);

England - United Kingdom
United Kingdom; WILLIAM LAW, WRITER, PRIEST, AND NON-JUROR (09 APR 1761; HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, WRITER AND PROPHETIC WITNESS, July 1, 1896;

England - British Empire
British Empire; CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, PRIEST AND œFRIEND OF THE POOR IN INDIA, 1940, Commemorated February 12; CHARLES SIMEON;

England - Land of the Anglo-Saxons (Southeast Britain)
Anglo-Saxons, were Germans who setteled in Southeast Britain. AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY (26 MAY 605); St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 26 ;

England - Britain
Britain; Roman Britain; ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS (26 OCT 899) ; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Commemorated October 31 ; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Commemorated on October 31; HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); Apostle Simon Zealotes, Commemorated on May 10 ; BEDE THE VENERABLE, PRIEST, MONK, SCHOLAR (25 MAY 735); St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27 ; Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ; ALBAN, FIRST MARTYR OF BRITAIN (22 JUNE 304); St Alban the Protomartyr of Britain, Commemorated on June 22; St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31;

England - Britain of the Middle Ages
Britain of the Middle Ages; DAVID (DEWI) OF WALES, (1 MAR 544) ; Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain, Commemorated on March 16; St Cuthbert, wonderworker of Britain, Commemorated on March 20;

England - Roman Britain (England)
Roman Britain; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21;

England - British Isles
British Isles; ALBAN, FIRST MARTYR OF BRITAIN (22 JUNE 304);