Christianity in what is now England probably goes back before the year 200. There is a church in London, St Peter upon Cornhill, which traces its origins back to the conversion of King Lucius and the year 179, although these facts are disputed. Church fathers Tertullian and Origen both reference Christians in Britain. The first British martyrs, who died sometime in the 200s or early 300s, were Julius, Aaron and Alban. Shortly after Constantine came to power, in 314, three British bishops attended a church council at Arles (now France). At the start of the 400s, the western Roman Empire collapsed and the Roman legions withdrew from the areas of Britain that had previously been under Roman control. This made these areas vulnerable to attack from the Irish. It would seem that the Romano-Britons called on the assistance of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. In the end, these peoples came over to Britain from what is now the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark and settled the eastern half of w...