Christianity was introduced among the new comers in the latter part of the sixth century by missionaries from the Christian Scotch and Irish, to the northward. and at the same time by St. Augustine, a missionary sent by Pope Greg ory L. and by his companions and successors. Augustine became the first archbishop of Can terbury: the Roman missionary movement grad ually superseded the Celtic, and before the close of the seventh century the whole of England was a Christian country under one metropolitan. Ethelbert. King of Kent. was the first sovereign who embraced the Christian religion. Bringing with them the traditions and feelings of the empire, the whole influence of the clergy was thrown into the scale of monarchy. and greatly tended to its consolidation. Their custom of hold ing councils of prelates from all over England, and of adopting regulations for the English Church at large, also exercised a strong influence on the growth of a feeling of national unity. The English clergy in general were not very sub missive to the authority of the Popes, and the connection with Rome was a very tenuous one during the whole of the Anglo-Saxon period. St. Dunstan (q.v.) was probably the most famous churchman of this period. The early English Church was distinguished for the learning and laboriousness of its clergy. Bede (q.v.) is the most eminent author whom it produced. Be tween his time and that of Alfred, a very great degeneracy had taken place both in the learning and efficiency of the clergy, which that active and enlightened sovereign labored to restore. but with only partial success. St. Bonifaee (q.v.) and many other English and Scottish mission aries labored with success in the propagation of Christianity in Germany.
The monastic system took strong hold on the Anglo-Saxons, and a number of Benedictine ab beys were founded and endowed with exten sive landed possessions. Most of the bishoprics which were to remain the permanent adminis trative divisions of the English national Church were organized, and the primacy of the two metropolitan sees of Canterbury and York was acknowledged.
The political organization of the Anglo-Saxons before they were united under one government is almost unknown, and most have been exceed ingly crude, being scarcely developed beyond tribal conditions. After the union under the West Saxon monarchy, however, they attained a considerable degree of constitutional develop ment. The most marked characteristic was the large amount of power possessed by local as semblies or mots. The township existed as an economic and administrative, hut scarcely as a political, body. The political unit of the coun try was the hundred. It was a certain stretch of country or a certain body of the populat ion whose members met from time to time for vari ous public functions, principally judicial. The significance of the numerical expression applied to it is quite unknown. There was an official known as the hundred's ealdor, who seems to hate presided at the hundred-mot and exercised certain police functions. Just as a group of townships made up the hundred, so a group of hundreds made up a shire, the later county. The
inhabitants of the shire also held a meeting, the at which judicial cases were settled as well as at the hundred-ink. but which seems to have existed more normally for fiscal and mili tary purposes. The able-bodied men of the shire when called out for fighting purposes were known as the fyrd. The administrative and military head of the shire was the ealdorman, called later, in imitation of the Danish term jarl, the earl. An equally important if not so exalted official of the shire was the shirc-reere or sheriff, the rep. resentative of the King's over and interests in the shire, as the ealdorman was the representa tive of local independence and self-government.
At the head of the whole system of govern ment was the King, although ordinarily he took no important. political action except in conjunc tion with the triton, that is to say, the great men of the country—the prelates, the ealdor men, members of the royal family, and various royal officials. The gatherings of these mag nates to determine, along with the King, on im portant affairs of the nation, was called the witcnagemot, and was the direct predecessor of the royal council of the Norman period and of the House of Lords of later times. The authority of the kingship was increasing through thewhole Anglo-Saxon period, and in the hands of a vigorous king overrode all limitations by the ?titan; although in case of inefficiency or doubt ful succession. the latter body exercised a real power of deposition and selection. The form of election and popular acceptance was always carried out.
In early times a fundamental distinction of classes existed. The ecorl class were the great body of the people; the cold class were the no bility by blood. The term earl is not to be con fused with earl, mentioned above, with which it has no historical connection. This diitinetion of classes was reflected in the amount of the money-fine imposed for murder or other vio lence, the payment to the injured person or to his relatives being greater in case he were of curl rank than if he were ceorl. Members of the royal family were known as eethelings. Below all these classes were the //wows, or slaves. An other distinction which seems to have grown up later and superseded the division into eorl and ceorl, was one dependent on military service or personal relationsnip to the king or other great man. A gesith or theyn was a personal follower of a powerful man, who usually obtained land and privileges as a result of service. Ultimately. they)/ seems to have become a general expression for any member of the class of gentry who was not known by the higher title of earl. ealdorman or Brm.TOGRAruY. Green, The Making of Eng land (London. 1SS3), and The Conquest of Eng/fred (London. 1884) ; Ramsay, The Foun dations of England (London, 1808) Stubbs, Constitutional- Ilislory of England (Oxford. 1880) : Taylor. history of the Anglo-Saxons. For a full bibliography of the Anglo-Saxons, see Gross, Soarers and Literature of English His tory (London, 1900) ; Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons (London. 1799-1805). See ENG LUND.