#english_history 

## First appearance
Christianity had reached Britain well before it was accepted by the [[Roman Emperor Constantine]], who made it a state religion. 
After the [[Saxon Invaders|Saxon invasion]], Christians, the [[The Celts in Britain|Celts]], were pushed from Britain's heartland, spreading Christianity. which is proved by a large amount of place-names beginning or ending with **llan** (double el), meaning the site of a small Celtic monastery around which a village or town grew.

## Reintegration
In **597** Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk, **Augistine**, to re-establish Christianity in England. He went to [[Canterbury]], the capital of the King of [[Saxon Invaders#^d19f00|Kent]], because his wife was Christian. He became the first **Archbishop of Canterbury** in **601**, with several ruling families in England accepting Christianity. 
However, ordinary people had little interest in accepting this new bizarre faith. It was the **Celtic Church** which brought Christianity to the ordinary people.  Thus, the Celtic Church was interested in the people's hearts, while the Roman one was after authority and organisation.
This competition reached a crisis because they disagreed over the date of Easter. Only in **663** at the Synod of Whitby the king Northumbria decided to support the Roman Church, as the Celtic one retreated. Overall, English had become Christian very quickly, soon sending its own missionaries back into Germany. ^a2960c

## Power
Saxon kings helped the Church to grow, but the Church also increased the power of kings by supporting their decisions. There other ways in which the Church increased the power of the English state. It established monasteries, or **minsters**, e.g. Westminster, which were places of education and learning, as they trained the men who could read and write and serve the king. 
This was used by the great king of Wessex, **Alfred the Great** (871-899 CE), who, with the help of these literate monks, created a system of law, as well as starting the **Anglo-Saxon Chronicle**, the most important source, together with Bede's works, for understanding the period. The introduction of law gave power into the hands of those who could read and write, exacerbating [[Class system|class division]].

## Economy
The Anglo-Saxons also preferred the Roman Church to the Celtic for economic reasons, as villages and towns grew around the monasteries and increased trade. Plus, monks and bishops were invited from the Frankish lands, who helped trade grow. 
Because of such improvement in trading, England became well known in Europe for its exports of wool, cheese, hunting dogs, pottery and metal goods. It imported wine, fish, jewellery.