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England, Church of. The proper designation of this church since the Act of Union in 1801 is " The United Church of England and Ireland." The Re^ formed Church of England dates from the IGth cen- tury ; but it is convenient to treat in this article of the rise of Christianity in England, and of its growth under the protection of the State. (The free churches of England are given under their several titles in this work.)
I. History. — (I.) Early Period (to the mission of Augustine, A.D. o9G). 1. To the Saxon Invasion, A.D. 449. It is generally believed that Christianity was introduced into Britain before the end of the 2d centurj'. Tertullian (f about 220) speaks of places in Britain not reached b}' the Romans, but j'et subject to Christ (Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita). Eusebius, indeed, declares that some of the apostles preached in Britain {Bern. Evanrj. iii, 7) ; Stillingfleet {Origines Britanniccp, c. i), Cave (^Lives of the Apostles), and others, insist that St. Paul was the founder of British Christianity. Clemens Roma- nus (A.D. 101) saj's that Paul went to the limits of the West (ro Tf n/(o rijg Cvatciif;, I Epist. ad Cor.") ; and Thcodoret (f 457) saj'S that Paul brought salva- tion to the isles of the ocean (rcuQ tv t<ii TrtXciyn cta- K(ii.iivaiQ vi'iffoig, in Psalm cxvi). But none of these hints amount to proof. Other traditions use the names of St. James, of Simon Zelotes, and of Joseph of Arimathea; asserting that the latter came over A.D. 35, or about the twenty-first year of Tiberius, and died in England. Of all this there is no proof (Fuller, CL Hist, of Britain, i, 13 ; Stillingfleet, Oriff. c. iv ; Short, Ck. Ilistorii of England, i, § 2). Another legend is that an English king, Lucius, sent messen- gers to Eleutherius (f 192), bishop of Rome, asking for Christian instruction ; that the messengers were con- verted and ordained, one a bishop and the other a teacher ; and that on their return king Lucius and hi-s chief men were baptized, and a regular Church order established (Collier, Eccl. History, vol. i, ch. i; Smith, Religion of Ancient Britain, ch. v). But it is very doubtful whether there ever was a king Lucius, and the whole story is now gencrallj' discredited.
The Gospel having been introduced into Britain, a Christian C'hurch subsisted there, though not always in an equal degree of vigor, till the persecution of Di- ocletian. It then acquired new strength from the for- titude of its martyrs. Though the names of only three have been recorded (St. Alban, Aaron, and Julius), j'et all historians agree that numbers suffered in Britain with the greatest constancj' and courage (compare Gildas, § 8 ; Bede, i, 6, 7). The first martj'r is said to have been St. Alban, who lived in the town of Verulam, which had a Roman colony ; he had been converted from paganism by a teacher to whom he had afforded protection from the general persecution. Though Constantius, the Roman governor of Britain, had an inclination to favor the Christians, yet it was not in his power to dispense with the edicts of the em- perors, and he complied so far with them as to demol- ish the churches. Though he died a pagan, yet he granted to the Christians the free exercise of their religion, and protected them from injury or insult. This emperor died at York, and was succeeded by his son Constantino, A.D. 306 (Carwithen, Hist, of Chris- tian Church, chap. xvi). The best illustration of the early organization of Ciiristianity in Britain is the fact that three British bishops attended the council at Aries, A.D. 314, the canons of which have among their sign- ers Eborius episcopus, de civitate El)oracensi, provin- cia Britannia ; Restitutiis episcopus, de civitate Londi- nensi, provincia suprascripta ; Adelfius episcopus, de civitate colonia Londinensium (perhaps Colonia Lindi, i. e. Lincoln') ; compare Jac. Usserii Brit, eccles. antiq. (Lond. 16S7) ; Bingham, Orig. Eccl. iii, 557 sq. British bishops also attended the councils of Sardica (A.D 347) and of Ariminum (A.D. 359).
ENGLAND, CHURCH OF 193 ENGLAND, CHURCH OF
Little is accurately known of the real state of Chris- tianity in this period. Pelagiiinism toolt root in Brit- ain (^the native countr_v of I'elaijius), and tlie British bishops called in Gernianus and Lupus from Gaul, v.-ho refuted Pelagius at the conference of Verulani (A.D. 446). They also founded a cathedral at Llan- daff, making Dubricius bishop, with extensive juris- diction. The monastery of Banchor (Bangor), near Chester, was founded at about the same time.
2. From the Saxon Invasion, 449, to the Invasion of Augustine, 596. — Hengist and Horsa, retained by Vorti- gern, A.D. 449, to aid him with 5000 men in expelling the Scots and Picts from Britain, remained in the isl- and as conquerors. The greater part of Britain was again plunged into barbarism, and Christianity kept its ground only in Wales and Cornwall. (Its history in Ireland and Scotland is given in separate articles.) The patron saint of Wales, St. David (6th century), is said to have been consecrated a bishop at Jerusalem ; he held a sj-nod against Pelagianism at Brevy, and be- came archbishop of Caerleon (see David, St.). In Cornwall the British rites and usages were preserved until near the end of the 7th century. lona, where Columba (q. v.) established his foundations about 565, was a centre of light not only for Scotland, but also for north Britain (see Ioxa).