the heathen English. The king of Kent, already well disposed toward the Christian faith, greeted the missionaries kindly and told them that they were free to convert whom they would. Before long he and his court embraced Christianity, and the people of Kent soon followed the royal example. The monks were assigned a residence in Canterbury, a city which has ever since remained the religious capital of England. From Kent Christianity in its Ro ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, CANTERBURY The present church, dating from the thirteenth century, occupies the site of a chapel built before the arrival of Augustine. The walls still contain some of the Roman bricks used in the original structure. St. Martin's Church was the scene of the earliest work of Augustine in Canterbury. the famous St. Patrick had carried Christianity to the heathen Irish. The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain drove many Christians to Ireland, and that island in the sixth and seventh centuries became a center from which devoted monks went forth to labor in western Scotland and northern Britain.1 Here they came in contact with the Roman missionaries. The Celtic Christians followed some customs which differed from those observed by Roman Christians. They computed the date on which Easter fell according to a Differences system unlike that of the Romans. They permitted their priests to marry; the Romans forbade the practice. Their monks shaved the front of the head from ear to ear as a tonsure, while Roman monks between Roman 1 The enthusiasm of the Celtic Christians reached such proportions that it swept back upon the Continent. In the seventh and eighth centuries Irish mission shaved the top of the head, leaving a "crown of thorns." These differences may not seem very important, but they were enough to prevent the coöperation of Celtic and Roman missionaries for the conversion of the heathen. The choir dates from the twelfth century, the nave, transepts, and central tower, from the fifteenth century. One of the two towers at the west front was built in 1834-1840 A.D. The beautiful stained glass in the windows of the choir belongs to the thirteenth century. The rivalry between Celtic and Roman Christians was finally settled at a church gathering, or synod, called by the Synod of Whitby, 664 A.D. king of Northumbria at Whitby. The main controversy at this synod concerned the proper date. for Easter. In the course of the debate it was asserted that the Roman custom had the sanction of St. Peter, to whom Christ had intrusted the keys of heaven. This statement was enough for the Northumbrian king, who thereupon decided in favor of the Roman claim, declaring that he would aries worked among the heathen Germans and founded monasteries in Burgundy, Lombardy, and southern Germany (now Switzerland). not oppose St. Peter, "lest when I come before the gates of the kingdom of heaven, he who holds the keys should not open to me." The representatives of the Celtic Church then withdrew from England, leaving the field clear for Roman missionaries. The decision of the Synod of Whitby in favor of Rome meant that all England henceforth would recognize the pope's authority in religious matters. It remained a Roman Catholic country until the time of the Reformation, Isles become The Celtic nearly nine hundred years later.2 The British Roman Christians in Ireland and Scotland also in the course of time became the devoted children of the Roman Church. 113. The Fusion of Germans and Romans kingdoms We have now followed the fortunes of the Germans for five centuries from the end of the Roman Empire in the West. Most of their kingdoms, it has been seen, were not The permanent. The Visigothic and Burgundian do- Germanic minions in Gaul yielded to the Franks, and those of the Visigoths in Spain, to the Mohammedan Arabs. The Vandal possessions in North Africa were regained by the emperors at Constantinople. The rule of the Ostrogoths in Italy endured for only sixty years and that of the Lombards passed away after two centuries. The kingdoms established by the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons alone developed into lasting states. Hindrances to the But even where the Germans did not found permanent kingdoms, they mingled with the subject provincials and adopted much of the old Roman civilization. The fusion of the two peoples naturally required a long time, being scarcely completed before the middle of the fusion of tenth century. It was hindered, in the first place, by the desire of the Germans to secure the lands of the Romans. Wherever the barbarians settled, they appropri 1 Bede, Historia ecclesiastica, iii, 25. Germans 2 The separation from Rome occurred in 1534 A.D., during the reign of Henry VIII. See page 378. See page 330. ated a large part of the agricultural soil. How much they took varied in different countries. The Ostrogoths seem to have seized one-third of the land in Italy; the Visigoths, two-thirds of that in Gaul and Spain; the Anglo-Saxons, perhaps all the tillable soil of Britain. It could not but be galling to the Romans to surrender their farms to the barbarians. In the second place, the Germans often assessed heavy taxes on the Romans, which they themselves refused to pay. Tax-paying seemed to the Germans a mark of servitude. In the third place, a barrier between the two peoples arose from the circumstance that each had its particular law. For several centuries following the invasions there was one law for the Romans-that which they had enjoyed under the empire and another law for the Germans their old tribal customs. After the Germans had lived for some time in contact with the Romans they wrote out their laws in the Latin language: These "Laws of the Barbarians" still survive and throw much light on their early beliefs and manners. Conditions favoring fusion In spite of the hindrances to fusion, it seems true that the Germans and the Romans felt no great dislike for each other and that, as a rule, they freely intermingled. Certain conditions directly favored this result. First, many Germans had found their way within the empire as hired soldiers, colonists, and slaves, long before the invasions began. Second, the Germanic invaders came in relatively small numbers. Third, the Germans entered the Roman world not as destroyers, but as homeseekers. They felt a real reverence for Roman civilization. And fourth, some of the principal Germanic nations, including the Visigoths, Burgundians, and Vandals, were already Christians at the time of their invasions, while other nations, such as the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, were afterwards converted to Christianity. As long, however, as most of the Germans remained Arian Christians their belief stood in the way of friendly intercourse with the Roman provincials, who had accepted the Catholic faith. 1 See page 236. |