A History of Anglicanism: Part 1 - Christianity in the British Isles before the Reformation

Part 1 in a Series on the History of Anglicanism. In Part goes into Christianity in the British Isles, particularly England, before the English Reformation.

[@poesravenfan]

Great presentation. I am an Episcopalian in the US. Love that you explained our history so throughly.

[@titanronnie9590]

A trick : watch series on flixzone. I've been using them for watching loads of movies recently.

[@kingstonkelvin2205]

@Titan Ronnie definitely, I've been using flixzone} for months myself :)

[@keithparr8483]

As a lover of Church history I want to say thank you for sharing the history of your Church! I truly enjoy your videos. Thanks again! SDG

[@aac6876]

Brilliant ....... thank you for the historically accurate and great work.

[@mr.coolmug3181]

This is brilliant. I am just learning the history of the English church and I always suspected we were something between catholicism and protestantism, never quite either one.

[@mikecarone7320]

Devine Right

[@MN-pu6qx]

Excellent presentation - just what I was after. Looking forward to the other parts. Thanks.

[@elizabethconkle3370]

Nice job! Thank you for this thorough overview of early Anglican history.

[@nervoussim]

Great video! A nice historical introduction. I appreciate your work and would lie to see it use in my Parish as an introduction to the History of Anglicanism.

[@MapleAnglican]

@nervoussim Thank you very much. I am hoping to have part 6, dealing with the era from the Post Restoration to the Act of Union, out next week.

[@johndicks6676]

WoW! Well done history. Loved it.

[@jaem797]

oh ok! thanks! i'd be really glad to read about it, it's a topic i really like and would like to know even more, thank you.

[@terranceyeates4600]

Very good, thank u.

[@MapleAnglican]

Thank you.

[@slohands4]

I wish you had at least recorded part 7. Any chance you can do that?

[@MapleAnglican]

You might want to watch part 2. It is a bit more complicated than that.

[@dstinnettmusic]

Wish you were still posting. There seems to be a presence of Catholics and a presence of a very…eclectic brand of Protestantism, but the via media of Anglicanism doesn’t seem to have a niche online.

[@MapleAnglican]

This video series was designed primarily to deal with the "hard facts" of Anglican history, thus a few of the stories you mentioned would have not worked very well. Also, I was limited to 15 minutes of content back then. My goal with this particular video was to give viewers a historical backdrop the the events of English Church history under Henry VIII

[@MartinJames389]

No, the Church of England is quite a small part of the worldwide Anglican communion (yes, it's called "Episcopalian" in the USA, Canada and Scotland). The Cof E is dwarfed by the AFRICAN Anglican churches in numbers and increasingly in influence.

[@MrGean43]

I really enjoyed this ,although at certain points you rushed through words i.e. where you mention the scots being... -at this point I could not understand even though I played it back many times-was it in Northern Ireland?

[@MapleAnglican]

@MrGean43 Yeah, I am getting better at not rushing words. The Scots were originally from the northern part of Ireland in what we would presently call Ulster, some of which is still part of the United Kingdom, and part in the Republic of Ireland.

[@kamenrider5887]

Tq for the info..now i know better

[@MapleAnglican]

@vivianricharddavid I'm honestly not certain. My Rector desperately wanted me to add the information on Cura Pastoralis to the video so I looked up the info and compiled. Truthfully almost anything you can find is online.

[@MIKECHENDERSON1]

IMHO and commentary of the development of Christianity in England should mention St Aiden, St Bede and St Cuthbert.

[@MapleAnglican]

I'm sorry, I don't quite understand the context of your question. If you wish please feel to send me a personal message.

[@Nilo4778]

Please, it's very necessary that all this material on the Church of England is translated into Spanish.

[@modernphilosophy1328]

If Roman Catholicism was the only Christian church in Europe, then wouldn't the saints of whom the Anglican Church would recognize be Catholic. Also, why was there a split wouldn't Roman Catholicism be the original church instead of what we see today as Anglicanism? I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head on this, if anyone could answer my question I would very much like to hear it.

[@noellee3452]

Firstly one must able to define Roman Catholic Church more accurately such as not to consider it the same as the early church, and also how it came about after Constantine ordered the entire Rome to be a Christian nation up to whatever was stamped as dogma during the Council of Trent. Essentially, Anglican and Roman Catholic Church share the same root that is traceable back to the early church.

[@KrazyKryptonian]

Noel Lee the Church of England broke off from the Roman Catholic Church. England had maintained communion with the See of Rome since the time of Pope Gregory the Great, until King Henry VIII basically held a metaphorical gun to the heads of the English bishops. As for Constantine, he did not make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire (a common misperception), but rather liberated Christianity and then privileged it. It was Theodosius the Great that outlawed Paganism and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

[@aaroncarlson1162]

Son of a Sith While you're right about all of your latter points. Roman Catholicism must not be confused with "Catholicism". After all for the first 500-1,000 years of the church, there was only the "catholic church" which was both Eastern and Western, united in recognizing each other's bishops and sharing communion… From about the sixth century developing onward until 1054 The One Church slowly evolved into two separate bodies: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Neither one pre-dated the other, they both evolved away from each other. The point of this video is that many Anglicans believe that the various bishops and Christians in England, were "proto-Anglicans under Roman captivity" - independent, but subsumed under Roman authority and then again liberated during the reformation… So "yes and no" to your statement that the Church of England broke off from the Roman Catholic Church.

[@jaem797]

sure! is it on youtube or can i find it on the internet?

[@MapleAnglican]

Actually, the name changed in 1917. William III may have been House of Orange but he (via his wife) are viewed as having reigned in the House of Stuart.

[@MapleAnglican]

You may have noticed but this video is part of a series on the history of *Anglicanism*. I had to explain that the Union didn't affect the Churches of England and Scotland. And I explained the coming switch to point out in the next video (which I will probably never make) that George I converting from Lutheranism to Anglicanism was without issue. Nothing really important in Anglicanism happened under Queen Anne, which is why I ignored her.

[@Nimo753]

If we are Missionary workers, we are oftently asked about 1.our church History 2.Doctrine.. Thanks mate got resource for Church History. very very very handy in my mission....

[@MartinJames389]

I suggest there was more to it than that, especially strong cultural factors. As independent peoples on the Atlantic periphery, they were not readily inclined to submit to the "correct line" of a distant "central committee" (to couch it in highly appropriate Stalinist terms).

[@MapleAnglican]

You might want to read some material by Fr. George Tavard, a deceased Roman Catholic Theologian.

[@TruthBeTold7]

Christianity in Britain can be traced the the third century. What source did you use supporting your claim that Christianity was in Britain as early as the first or second century?

[@MapleAnglican]

Actually, the Celts had their own method to calculate Easter that worked fine on it's own for centuries. However, their tables on lunar cycles eventually varied from the method used by the Roman Christians, and thus England was having two Easters, and more importantly Two Lents. The Synod of Whitby solved that particular issue.

[@mrmarmellow563]

LONG LIVE The SEE Of YORK! And Northumberland EASTER!!

[@adrianthomas1473]

Why is Thomas Becket so revered? He did not want abusing and criminal clergy to be tried in civil courts. It’s this attitude that has caused the current problems with abuse scandals. Abusing clergy should be reported to the police.

[@MapleAnglican]

I don't think Tavard has even written has ever been published on the internet. However, you may have heard of these things call books and you can probably get "A Review of Anglican Orders: The Problem and the Solution" (which I personally own and treasure) or "The Quest for Catholicity: A Study in Anglicanism" (which I have never read). Also, you might want to read John Jewel's Apology of the Church of England which you can find online.

[@frederickjones532]

The Wiki Article on Apostolicae Curae is a very balanced account.

[@jayveebee2095]

Dude. I've now watched several of your videos and would suggest that you learn how to pronounce words before pressing the record button. It is exceedingly distracting.

[@esterflores9650]

I was looking for this comment. I agree!

[@MartinJames389]

Eh? Two royal lines were extinguished or sacked between Elizabeth 1 and the not-dead-yet Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg-Goethe (name changed in 1914 -I wonder why). The politicians effectively hired replacements in both cases. In between the Welsh House of Tiwdwr ("Tudor"), there was the Scots House of Stuart ("Stewart"), the Dutch House of Orange and the German House of Hanover.

[@12from121]

Even though I am an Atheist I still have a soft spot for the Anglicans they are the "whatever works for you" church. Besides it was formed by King Harry:)

[@MartinJames389]

There was no such entity as England at the time of the Synod of Whitby. The dispute was between the Roman church, dominating most of what would later become England, and the Celtic church, mainly in what would later be Scotland, Ireland and parts of Wales. It had some following in Northumbria, too, and that now falls partly in England (including Whitby) and partly in Scotland. You can view it as a struggle between two ecclesiastical powers based respectively in Iona and Whitby>Rome.

[@MartinJames389]

Indeed, the virtually unique word order of the 6 Celtic languages is shared by only 3 others known in modern or ancient times. The only real dispute is about the people the OP inaccurately calls "Picts" (a Latin sneer -not what they called themselves). Were they also a Brythonic ("P-Celtic) people? Scholarship varies from "yes" to "not known". What is certain is that they were apparently absorbed into Gaeldom without apparent conquest, notwithstanding a fearsome reputation.

[@TheLingnerFamily]

I like the video... but I wish you would have moved a bit slower. A lot of info to digest. But all in all well done!

[@MapleAnglican]

Sorry, I don't know what you are referring to.

[@MapleAnglican]

Regarding King Æthelberht of Kent: by the time he converted Rome had very little temporal power.Conversely, he may have been open to converting as his wife was Christian. Regarding the Feast of Easter: I would invite you to see my video:What is Easter at watch?v=U2BqzurJ8jI.

[@jaem797]

Well, until Henry VIII, england was part of the catholic church as i understand, until the rebellion of this fat and stubborn king that rebelled and so unfortunately england was separated because of this stupidity of Henry VIII

[@amosnaftali2495]

Picts were Celts, Pict comes from Pictus/Pyktis meaning the Painted Ones since they had tattoos also they were called Prittanni or Britons

[@amosnaftali2495]

The Angles, Saxons, Franks, Rus were all Vikings/Norsemen from Scandinavia that went east and west and named many countries after themselves (England, France, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, NewFoundland etc.)

[@MapleAnglican]

Well, the Celts were the inhabitants of the British Isles at the time the Romans invaded. They were displaced by the Germanic Tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, et al) whom invaded after the Roman legions left. The brand of Christianity the Celts had was rather unique as it gave a large amount of power to Abbots and Priors of the Religious Houses.

[@MapleAnglican]

I understand what you are saying but I disagree with you. In the context of this video Roman Christianity described the particular "brand" of Christianity brought to Britain with St. Augustine. Celtic Christianity had already been present but had been displaced. Both had the same doctrines but involved different practices much like Eastern Orthodoxy does compared to Western Christianity.

[@lippertkaleb]

I am faithful to the TRUE Catholic Church NOT the monarch!

[@MartinJames389]

Henry VIII cynically rode a tide which was running ANYWAY, though as minimally as possible. Protestantism was sweeping through Scotland, remember, and was vigorous in England. It was the Protestant Scots king who succeeded to the English throne in 1603. You overlook the fact that England reverted to Catholicism under Henry's daughter, Mary I before Protestantism prevailed, albeit in the mainly Erastian / Arminian / Laudinist form, rather than the Calvinist one adopted in Scotland.

[@MartinJames389]

I know of nobody who takes such a distorted and eccentric view. Was the House of Stuart still in power after Mary died and William was the sole monarch? The politicians were well in charge by that time anyway, as settled in the Bill of Rights (England) and the Claim of Right (Scotland) in 1688/89. These set the terms on which the monarchy was subservient in all but name to Parliament.

[@jaem797]

Oh don't you worry about that, i saw all of them, but you can see what can be seen, and you can see that this king wanted a male heir, but God in turn punished him by giving him Elizabeth I and II and all the female queens england has had, it was not complicated at all, the only complication was that reformers came into the british isles and thus obviously approved what Henry did, as an arrogant king would do, but anyways, the only complication was that protestants were growing there.

[@Nimo753]

this is cool - im sharing this with m youth group .. being attached to the catholic faith realy realy sucks..

[@m253theinvader]

*Not to worry. Anglicanism is just a mutation of the virus, Catholicism.*

[@Nimo753]

i`ve seen peps like you invader - jus do your thing aye ...

[@judithmaxfield7154]

The Invader you are so unbelievibly wrong in your obvious biased slant on history. England kept its sense of English cultural norms and its celtic sense of a non hierarchical human rights that led to its Parliment at a later time. The Roman Church could never truly remake England in the Roman image and there was always trouble, something that broke open with Wycliff and the Lollards. The ground was being prepared unknowingly for the final break under Henry VIII. The Catholic Church had its own problems in meddling in the politics of nations leaving the old fudal system under the popes and their corruption. England kept its own vision of an English Church, not completely accepting the continent's style of Protestant theology. Keep reading, it may help expain this. I love the Anglican Church and my own Episcopal Church. Yes the history was thawed at times and has much to repent of. Self criticism is a part of its history.

[@mysty0]

wtf is celtic christianity? A celt is a keltios (greek for barbarian) a term not used to identify any tribal group and the term celt was popularized in the 18th century

[@alunrees313]

To our land stiff with cold, the true sun even Christ first yields his rays I mean his precepts in the last days as we know of Tiberius, that’s 37 ad , and it was Llid now Llanilid in Glamorgan wales who brought it to the Britons, the Cymry welsh, and Cornish , when Caradog was taken to Rome Christianity was taken back to Rome his son was the first bishop of Rome

[@MapleAnglican]

Not necessarily. There are some inroads right now on healing wounds that are working quite well. At the same time the Gay rights movement is slowly making head-ways in Africa. I am pretty certain though we will find something else to argue about in 50 years that will cause huge problems.

[@jjSuper1]

Sorry, this has likely been corrected before: I believe you meant to say "pla-tuh-zhuh-neh" [plɑːtəːʒəˈnɜ ]

[@MapleAnglican]

The pre-reformation Church of England was part of the greater organization which we would now refer to as the Roman Catholic Church.

[@MartinJames389]

Too semantic. The term is used to embrace the two groups of people, clearly related by philology and culture, but distinct from each other long before arrival in these islands and further diversified once here. Those were the Brythonic peoples ("P-Celts") -here before the Romans and the Gaels ("Q-Celts") who arrived around the time of the Romans withdrawal. Their common ancestry is clearly distinguishable in the 6 surviving Celtic languages, whether you use that name or not.

[@MartinJames389]

What do you mean by "reformation"? Henry VIII changed nothing except who was boss. The theology was largely unaltered (much as Cranmer tried) except for the use of English in churches. It was only after his death that Cranmer could really get busy trying to make the Cof E Protestant under Edward VI, amidst much controversy and resistance. Then Mary I changed everything back to extreme Catholicism and Cranmer was burnt as a heretic. Nothing was really fixed until 1689 -150 years after Henry..

[@MartinJames389]

Anglo-centrism is maybe forgivable in covering Anglicanism, but the title is misleading. This does not cover Christianity in the British Isles, as claimed, just in England.

[@12from121]

Oh dear! I clearly indicate I am an outsider and make an emotional link and you seem to think I care about whether it survives or not. I don't

[@MapleAnglican]

"So Jesus's definition can be ignored"? Sorry, I don't follow?

[@MartinJames389]

Surprised you haven't mentioned Anne, who took the throne in 1702 after William died. She WAS a Stuart by lineage, but that didn't matter any more for the reason above. It was in her time (1707) that the two states and Parliaments of Scotland and England became one, forming Britain (called "Great" only to distinguish it from the smaller Britain aka Brittany). That was a politicians' stitch-up and nothing to do with Anne, who was a mere spectator and the most pathetic of powerless cyphers..

[@definitelynotatroll]

Martin James Fr. James Martin, heretical Jesuit, is that you?

[@jaem797]

It was complicated because the "priests" that anglicans have had in the last 2 centuries started falling into protestant beliefs, thus creating this story of theological differences, which since the 600-1400 there had not been, it is just inventions of modern anglicans, to support and "validate" their separation and not recognizing that the main cause of this schism was this insecure king.

[@MartinJames389]

It doesn't, unfortunately. See above.

[@GregLoutsenko]

OH CANADA

[@definitelynotatroll]

Greg L God Keep Our Land

[@jasonwelle]

Your pronunciation is so bad, it's adorable, Mapes. ;-)

[@MapleAnglican]

To be fair this video is nearly 7 years old, I have a lot better equipment now, I'm partially done a MTS, and I know how to make my voice sound more professional.

[@spielmanjr]

I think you're referring to the American Episcopal church, not necessarily the Anglican church which is more the church of England. Anyway, we are ok with gay marriage not as an out right approval but rather based upon the concept that Jesus said we should love everyone, not just the people we readily agree with.

[@yohaneswahyubudiono5269]

AN ANGLICAN ORTHODOX

[@FolkBoyify]

YOHANES WAHYU BUDIONO I’m an Eastern Orthodox Christian, and the Anglican church seems very interesting to me.

[@MartinJames389]

What? Ripped apart by extremely bitter -homophobic- controversy? The concept of the "broad church" might still tenuously hold in England and a few other places, but not in Africa, for example. As a world denomination, Anglicanism is done for and the big split cannot be far off. The homophobes are intransigent!