670-1340: The Medieval period.

670-1340: The Medieval period.

The Anglican church is essentially independent of foreign bishops, and remains heavily involved in foreign missionary work.

670 Caedmon, shepherd and first British poet, is singing the glories of God's creation at Whitby.

690 Willibrord, an Englishman, begins the English mission to the Netherlands. (Became Archbishop of Utrecht, 695). Forged ties between churches of England and Utrecht that remain to this day.

716 Boniface (Wynfrid), an Englishman, begins his career as missionary. He is the most effective evangelist in Germany.

731 Bede ("the Venerable"), historian and doctor of the church, completes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Incidentally, this is the work that popularized the Anno Domini system for dating events.

750 "Beowulf" and "Dream of the Rood". Both poems display the Anglo-Saxon theme of gaining permanent respect by accepting a lonely defeat.

755 Boniface is martyred by outraged pagans. (He is stabbed through his prayer-book).

790 King Offa of Mercia founds St. Alban's Abbey (as penance for murdering St. Ethelbert).

793 Vikings sack Lindisfarne.

796 Alcuin, English deacon and agent of Charlemagne, becomes Abbot of Tours. Alcuin introduces Collect for Purity and the organized copying of manuscripts.

800 (Rome) Charlemagne sets precedents as Christian king.

826 Anskar, an Englishman, launches mission to Denmark. (Scandinavia is never effectively Christianized.)

871 Alfred the Great, warrior-scholar, becomes king of "West Saxons" and proceeds to unite the English people.

878 Alfred is godfather to Guthrum, the Danish (Viking) general. The Vikings are allowed to settle in England.

890 Formosus, bishop of Rome, writes irate letter to the English bishops for not trying harder to Christianize the Vikings.

960 Dunstan, metal-working saint, becomes archbishop of Canterbury

973 Dunstan crowns King Edgar ("of all England") at Bath, preaching at length on the idea of the Christian king.

964 King Ethelwald storms Winchester Cathedral and requires the lax clergy there to become Benedictine monks. Very soon, the cathedrals are Benedictine operations.

1012 Alphege, archbishop of Canterbury, is "martyred" at Greenwich by the Vikings. (They are holding him hostage but like him. So Alphege tries to preach while they are partying....)

1014 One Wulfstan (the saint) repeats Gildas's condemnation of his countrymen in a famous sermon at York.

1060 King Edward the Confessor dies. (His reputation as a saint is promoted for political reasons by William the Conqueror.)

1062 Another Wulfstan (the bishop) made bishop of Worcester. He is an effective opponent of slavery.

1066 Norman conquest. William the Conqueror becomes king. In the next few months, most of the important churches in England "accidentally" burn down.

1070 Lanfranc, an Italian lawyer, becomes William's formidable archbishop of Canterbury. Lanfranc rebuilds Canterbury Cathedral and establishes the primacy of the see of Canterbury, but fails to enforce clerical celibacy.

1080 William, in a letter, reminds the bishop of Rome that the king of England owes him no allegiance.

1090 "Anonymous" in Rouen writes a long dissertation on the divine right of kings, arguing that the bishop of Rome has no authority over kings.

1070 Margaret, an English princess, marries Malcolm and becomes Queen of Scotland. She leads a revival of piety in Scotland. (Malcolm appears in Shakespeare's "Macbeth".)

1154 Nicholas Breakspear becomes the only English bishop of Rome (Adrian IV).

1093 Anselm becomes archbishop of Canterbury. This pleasant, otherworldly saint develops the ontological argument, thus proving the existence of God (at least to his own satisfaction).

1161 Thomas Becket, Henry II's low-born, clean-living best friend, becomes archbishop of Canterbury. Becket's subsequent behavior is unexpected.

1171 Becket "martyred" in Canterbury cathedral by four knights. He is soon regarded as a saint and miracle-worker.

1186 Hugh becomes bishop of Lincoln, resists King Richard I.

1205 The bishop of Rome appoints Stephen Langton archbishop of Canterbury. King John will not allow him to enter England. (Langton is the man who made today's division of the books of the Bible into chapters.)

1208 The bishop of Rome places England under an interdict.

1212 King John resigns his kingship to the bishop of Rome and receives it back as a holding from the Roman legate. This ends the interdict. A few years later, Parliament declares John resigned his crown illegally. The English do notice that the four-year interdict did not really cause anything bad to happen to them....

1215 King John is forced to sign the Magna Carta.

1210 (Italy) John "Francesco" (Frenchy) Bernadone, an Italian, gets the bishop of Rome's support for his group of teenaged "little brothers", who become the First Order Franciscans. They function much as Wesley's circuit-riders will during the Great Awakening. The Dominicans, or "Friars Preachers", are doing the same thing in France.

1212 Francis and his friend, Claire, found the Second Order Franciscans, cloistered nuns.

1221 Dominicans reach England.

1221 Third Order Franciscans founded for laymen who would have become friars but had a family or career. (All three orders of Franciscans are active today in the Anglican communion.)

1224 First-order Franciscans reach England. Since the regular clergy seldom or never preaches, the friars are important in promoting the building and life of local churches.

1220 Salisbury Cathedral begun. The order of service here will be the model for Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer.

1235 Robert Grosseteste, poor boy, scholar, and scientist, becomes bishop of Lincoln. (Never canonized, but name repeated by the bird's call: "Bob-o'-Linc".)

1244 Richard elected bishop of Crichester. This is opposed by King Henry III, who locks him out of the episcopal house.

1269 Rebuilding of Westminster Abbey begun by Henry III.

1255 Roger Bacon, inventor of the telescope, microscope, and thermometer, becomes a Franciscan.

1324 William of Ockham, an English Franciscan friar, defends his philosophy at the bishop of Rome's court (in Avignon). His views will develop into "nominalism" and dominate European thought until the Reformation.

670-1340: The Medieval period.

The Anglican church is essentially independent of foreign bishops, and remains heavily involved in foreign missionary work.
670	Caedmon, shepherd and first British poet, is singing the glories of God's creation at Whitby.
690	Willibrord, an Englishman, begins the English mission to the Netherlands. (Became Archbishop of Utrecht, 695). Forged ties between churches of England and Utrecht that remain to this day.
716	Boniface (Wynfrid), an Englishman, begins his career as missionary. He is the most effective evangelist in Germany.
731	Bede ("the Venerable"), historian and doctor of the church, completes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Incidentally, this is the work that popularized the Anno Domini system for dating events.
750	"Beowulf" and "Dream of the Rood". Both poems display the Anglo-Saxon theme of gaining permanent respect by accepting a lonely defeat.
755	Boniface is martyred by outraged pagans. (He is stabbed through his prayer-book).
790	King Offa of Mercia founds St. Alban's Abbey (as penance for murdering St. Ethelbert).
793	Vikings sack Lindisfarne.
796	Alcuin, English deacon and agent of Charlemagne, becomes Abbot of Tours. Alcuin introduces Collect for Purity and the organized copying of manuscripts.
800	(Rome) Charlemagne sets precedents as Christian king.
826	Anskar, an Englishman, launches mission to Denmark. (Scandinavia is never effectively Christianized.)
871	Alfred the Great, warrior-scholar, becomes king of "West Saxons" and proceeds to unite the English people.
878	Alfred is godfather to Guthrum, the Danish (Viking) general. The Vikings are allowed to settle in England.
890	Formosus, bishop of Rome, writes irate letter to the English bishops for not trying harder to Christianize the Vikings.
960	Dunstan, metal-working saint, becomes archbishop of Canterbury
973	Dunstan crowns King Edgar ("of all England") at Bath, preaching at length on the idea of the Christian king.
964	King Ethelwald storms Winchester Cathedral and requires the lax clergy there to become Benedictine monks. Very soon, the cathedrals are Benedictine operations.
1012	Alphege, archbishop of Canterbury, is "martyred" at Greenwich by the Vikings. (They are holding him hostage but like him. So Alphege tries to preach while they are partying....)
1014	One Wulfstan (the saint) repeats Gildas's condemnation of his countrymen in a famous sermon at York.
1060	King Edward the Confessor dies. (His reputation as a saint is promoted for political reasons by William the Conqueror.)
1062	Another Wulfstan (the bishop) made bishop of Worcester. He is an effective opponent of slavery.
1066	Norman conquest. William the Conqueror becomes king. In the next few months, most of the important churches in England "accidentally" burn down.
1070	Lanfranc, an Italian lawyer, becomes William's formidable archbishop of Canterbury. Lanfranc rebuilds Canterbury Cathedral and establishes the primacy of the see of Canterbury, but fails to enforce clerical celibacy.
1080	William, in a letter, reminds the bishop of Rome that the king of England owes him no allegiance.
1090	"Anonymous" in Rouen writes a long dissertation on the divine right of kings, arguing that the bishop of Rome has no authority over kings.
1070	Margaret, an English princess, marries Malcolm and becomes Queen of Scotland. She leads a revival of piety in Scotland. (Malcolm appears in Shakespeare's "Macbeth".)
1154	Nicholas Breakspear becomes the only English bishop of Rome (Adrian IV).
1093	Anselm becomes archbishop of Canterbury. This pleasant, otherworldly saint develops the ontological argument, thus proving the existence of God (at least to his own satisfaction).
1161	Thomas Becket, Henry II's low-born, clean-living best friend, becomes archbishop of Canterbury. Becket's subsequent behavior is unexpected.
1171	Becket "martyred" in Canterbury cathedral by four knights. He is soon regarded as a saint and miracle-worker.
1186	Hugh becomes bishop of Lincoln, resists King Richard I.
1205	The bishop of Rome appoints Stephen Langton archbishop of Canterbury. King John will not allow him to enter England. (Langton is the man who made today's division of the books of the Bible into chapters.)
1208	The bishop of Rome places England under an interdict.
1212	King John resigns his kingship to the bishop of Rome and receives it back as a holding from the Roman legate. This ends the interdict. A few years later, Parliament declares John resigned his crown illegally. The English do notice that the four-year interdict did not really cause anything bad to happen to them....
1215	King John is forced to sign the Magna Carta.
1210	(Italy) John "Francesco" (Frenchy) Bernadone, an Italian, gets the bishop of Rome's support for his group of teenaged "little brothers", who become the First Order Franciscans. They function much as Wesley's circuit-riders will during the Great Awakening. The Dominicans, or "Friars Preachers", are doing the same thing in France.
1212	Francis and his friend, Claire, found the Second Order Franciscans, cloistered nuns.
1221	Dominicans reach England.
1221	Third Order Franciscans founded for laymen who would have become friars but had a family or career. (All three orders of Franciscans are active today in the Anglican communion.)
1224	First-order Franciscans reach England. Since the regular clergy seldom or never preaches, the friars are important in promoting the building and life of local churches.
1220	Salisbury Cathedral begun. The order of service here will be the model for Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer.
1235	Robert Grosseteste, poor boy, scholar, and scientist, becomes bishop of Lincoln. (Never canonized, but name repeated by the bird's call: "Bob-o'-Linc".)
1244	Richard elected bishop of Crichester. This is opposed by King Henry III, who locks him out of the episcopal house.
1269	Rebuilding of Westminster Abbey begun by Henry III.
1255	Roger Bacon, inventor of the telescope, microscope, and thermometer, becomes a Franciscan.
1324	William of Ockham, an English Franciscan friar, defends his philosophy at the bishop of Rome's court (in Avignon). His views will develop into "nominalism" and dominate European thought until the Reformation.

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