Religion throughout the history of Great Britain

The history of religion in Britain is a long and complex one, with many different faiths and beliefs
coming and going over the centuries. The earliest known religions in Britain were those practiced
by the pre-Roman inhabitants of the island, which included various forms of ancestor worship and
paganism 1.

After the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, Christianity began to spread throughout the
country, and by the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions in the 5th and 6th centuries, it had become
the dominant religion 1.

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the most powerful religious institution in Britain,
and it played a central role in the lives of most people 2. However, there were also many other
religious movements and sects that emerged during this time, including the Lollards and the
Waldensians 2.

By the end of the 14th century, the Church was facing increasing criticism and opposition from
various quarters, including the followers of John Wycliffe, who challenged many of the Church’s
teachings and practices 2.

Religion in Britain’s history is a vast topic, and I’ll try to provide a brief overview from the
foundation stones until the Wars of the Roses.

The earliest known religion in Britain was practiced by the Celts, who were polytheistic and
believed in a variety of gods and goddesses. The Romans, who invaded Britain in 43 AD, brought
with them their own religion, which was a form of polytheism that included the worship of many
gods and goddesses. Christianity was introduced to Britain during the Roman period, and the first
Briton to be considered a saint was Alban, a Roman soldier who was martyred around 303 1.

After the eclipse of Roman rule, English-speaking pagans came to dominate southern and eastern
Britain, but communities of Romano-British Christians survived, especially in the West. They
included St Patrick, who was born in South-West Britain in the late fourth or early fifth century,
and Gildas, who probably wrote The Ruin of Britain in the sixth century. According to Gildas, the
Britons had been defeated by the Anglo-Saxons because their leaders were not sufficiently devout
1.
The Germanic migrants who settled in Britain in the fifth century were pagans. From the end of the
sixth century, missionaries from Rome and Ireland converted the rulers of the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms to Christianity, which had originated in the Middle East. The conversion to Christianity
had an enormous social and cultural impact on Anglo-Saxon England. With this religion arrived
literacy and the writing of books and documents. The vast majority of the manuscripts which
survive from this period were made by churchmen and women, and they were kept in the libraries
of monasteries and cathedrals 1.

The Vikings, who began raiding Britain in the late eighth century, were also pagans. However, they
began to convert to Christianity in the tenth century, and by the time of the Norman Conquest in
1066, most of the Viking settlers in England had become Christians 1.

The Wars of the Roses, which took place between 1455 and 1485, were a series of civil wars
fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York for control of the English throne.
Religion played a role in the conflict, as the Lancastrians were associated with the Catholic Church,
while the Yorkists were associated with the Protestant Reformation 1.