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Religion in Medieval England includes all forms of religious organisation, practice and belief in England, between the end of Roman authority in the fifth century and the advent of Tudor dynasty in the late fifteenth century. The collapse of Roman authority brought about the end of formal Christian religion in the east of what is now England as Anglo-Saxon invaders took control of large sections of the island. The movement towards Christianity began again in the late sixth and seventh centuries. Pope Gregory I sent a team of missionaries who gradually converted most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, while Scots-Irish monks were active in the north of England. The process was largely complete by the end of the seventh century, but left a confusing and disparate array of local practices and religious ceremonies. The Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries reintroduced paganism to North-East England, leading in turn to another wave of conversions. The process of conversions led to an explosion of local church buildings and monasteries formed the main basis for the church. Cathedrals were also constructed. These institutions were badly affected in the ninth century by Viking raids and predatory annexations by the nobility. Reforms followed under the kings of Wessex who promoted the Benedictine rule then popular on the Continent. The 1066 Norman conquest brought a new set of Norman and French churchmen to power; some adopted and embraced aspects of the former Anglo-Saxon religious system, while others introduced practices from Normandy. The French Cluniac order became fashionable and the Augustinians spread quickly from the beginning of the twelfth century, while later in the century the Cistercians reached England. The Dominican and Franciscan friars arrived in England during the 1220s. The religious military orders that became popular across Europe from the twelfth century. The Church had a close relationship with the English state throughout the Middle Ages. The bishops and major monastic leaders played an important part in national government. After the Norman Conquest kings and archbishops clashed over rights of appointment and religious policy. By the early thirteenth century the church had largely won its argument for independence. Pilgrimages were a popular religious practice throughout the Middle Ages in England. Participation in the Crusades was also seen as a form of pilgrimage, and England played a prominent part in the Second, Third and Fifth Crusades. In the 1380s, several challenges emerged to the traditional theology of the Church, resulting from the teachings of John Wycliffe. ==Christianisation== Christianity had been the official imperial religion of the Roman Empire, and the first churches were built in England in the second half of the fourth century, overseen by a hierarchy of bishops and priests. Many existing pagan shrines were converted to Christian use and few pagan sites still operated by the fifth century. The collapse of the Roman system in the late fifth century, however, brought about the end of formal Christian religion in the east of England, and the new Germanic immigrants arrived with their own polytheistic gods, including Woden, Thunor and Tiw, still reflected in various English place names.〔; 〕 Despite the resurgence of paganism in England, Christian communities still survived in more western areas such as Gloucestershire and Somerset. The movement towards Christianity began again in the late sixth and seventh centuries, helped by the conversion of the Franks in Northern France, who carried considerable influence in England. Pope Gregory I sent a team of missionaries to convert King Æthelberht of Kent and his household, starting the process of converting Kent. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and started to build new churches across the South-East, reusing existing pagan shrines. Oswald and Oswiu, kings of Northumbria, were converted in the 630s and 640s by Scottish missionaries, and the wave of change carried on through the middle of the seventh century across the kingdoms of Mercia, the South Saxons and the Isle of Wight. The process was largely complete by the end of the seventh century, but left a confusing and disparate array of local practices and religious ceremonies. This new Christianity reflected the existing military culture of the Anglo-Saxons: as kings began to convert in the sixth and seventh centuries, conversion began to be used as a justification for war against the remaining pagan kingdoms, for example, while Christian saints were imbued with martial properties. The Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries reintroduced paganism to North-East England, leading in turn to another wave of conversion. Indigenous Scandinavian beliefs were very similar to other Germanic groups, with a pantheon of gods including Odin, Thor and Ullr, combined with a belief in a final, apocalyptic battle called Ragnarok. The Norse settlers in England were converted relatively quickly, assimilating their beliefs into Christianity in the decades following the occupation of York, of which the Archbishop had survived. The process was largely complete by the early tenth century and enabled England's leading Churchmen to negotiate with the warlords.〔; 〕 As the Norse in mainland Scandinavia started to convert, many mainland rulers recruited missionaries from England to assist in the process. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Religion in Medieval England」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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