Anglo Saxon Religion

Improved Essays
While the British Isles fell under the realms of the Christian Church, this did not mean that its practices perfectly mirrored that of the continent. In actuality, the people within the region adapted their religious practices, making it local and idiosyncratic. Much of the previous narrative of the pre-Norman, Christian religion in England related to the necessity of proving that the Anglo-Saxon’s were deficient in their religious practices. As the Norman conquest was frequently framed as one of moral duty in the restoration of the proper practices of the Church, a lack of piety became the common depiction of the British Isles. In actuality, many religious practices were still commonplace, not just within the clergy, but throughout the classes. Within “Court and Piety in Late Anglo-Saxon England,” the devotion of the population pre-conquest is illustrated. People showed their church duty, and this was seen frequently through charitable giving to local religious institutions. Whereas much scholarship has relied on the idea that the material associations were a sign of secualitation, the article argues that “the intense traffic in objects suggested herein reflects not …show more content…
In Nina Crummy’s article on a group of infant burials, she proposes that many of the items represent unique religious rituals attached to death and mourning. While not specifically tied to the Christian Church, the burials give insight into the early ways that people in Britain adapted religious practice on a local level. It is in the items, such as coins and figurines, placed in the graves that show how even in early-Roman Britain, the blend of Christian and Celtic religions were forming a unique type of religious practice. Crummy states how “one grave can reflect the differing religious beliefs and familial roles and concerns of both

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