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History of Christianity in England prior to the Reformation in the 1500s

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 what is now England, setting up various kingdoms such as Kent, Essex, Wessex, Northumbria and so on. Their religion was Germanic paganism, not Christianity. 

Notwithstanding the earlier Christian history, the origins of the English church go back to 597, and the mission from Rome by Augustine (not to be confused with the earlier church father Augustine) to re-evangelise what is now England, starting with the kingdom of Kent. The king of Kent, Ethelbert, was already married to a Christian, the Frankish princess Berta, so his later conversion to Christianity was not entirely a surprise. The kingdom of Kent having embraced Christianity, Augustine and his team went on to evangelise other kingdoms. Around this same time, the Irish Christians based at Iona also took an interest in evangelising from the north, starting with the kingdom of Northumbria, whose exiled royalty had embraced the Christian faith. A missionary base was set up at Lindisfarne. The two "sides" met at the Synod of Whitby in 663, and agreed to common customs and services - essentially the Irish accepted the Roman customs. The "northern saints" (those trained at Lindisfarne) were then instrumental in consolidating the conversion of kingdoms such as Wessex and Mercia. By the year 700, the whole of what is now England had been Christianised. There was even a missionary movement from England to the continent of Europe, with missionaries such as Willibrord and Wynfrith (also known as Boniface) bringing their Germanic ancestors into the fold.  

During the following century, the non-Christian Norsemen (Vikings) presented a threat across Europe and occupied half of England. By the latter part of the 1000s (11th century), England was once again a single kingdom served by a single Christian church.    

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