Anglo-Saxon Religion

1. The first Anglo-Saxons were pagans.

2. They worshipped gods such as Tiw, Woden, Thor and Friya, after whom the days of the week are named.

3. The main gods were female, the most important being Nerthus, the earth mother.

4. Nerthus was responsible for everything that lived and grew on the Earth.

5. Eostre was also important, she was goddess of spring and new beginnings and gave her name to Easter.

6. In AD 597 the Pope sent a monk, called Augustine, to Britain to try to persuade the Anglo-Saxons to become Christians.

7. Many Anglo-Saxons decided to convert and churches were built in Saxon villages all over England.

8. Anglo-Saxon churches were usually quite small and were built of stone.

9. Church doors were very simple and there was little decoration.

10. Church windows were narrow slit openings with rounded tops.

11. Towers were common in Saxon churches, which were used for protection when villages were being attacked.

12. Anglo-Saxon stone crosses were used as religious gathering places, put up at sites that were sacred in pagan worship.

13. The circle cross was the most common design used.

14. The first Saxon monastery was set up by St Augustine in Canterbury.

15. Monasteries had lots of small buildings for monks or nuns to live in.

16. There would also be a kitchen, workshops and a church, surrounded by a wall.

17. Monasteries were built in stone with plain and coloured glass windows.

18. Monasteries were centres of learning.

19. The monks and nuns studied the Bible, spent time in prayer, copied out manuscripts and wrote books.

20. Many of the monasteries had big libraries including important ancient texts.

21. Bede wrote the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’, which he completed in AD 731.

22. Bede was born in AD 673 and spent most of his life in a monastery, writing about the Bible and nature.