DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6914#0040
8
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
of their worship." To his pontificate are to be ascribed the chief abuses of the
Roman church ; all which may be traced to a scheme for extending ecclesiastical
influence. Hence, in the liturgy, or ritual composed by this pope for the use of
the Latin church, we find the doctrine of purgatory is made an article of faith ;
and the invocation of saints and angels, the veneration of relics, masses for
the living and the dead, the use of images in churches, lustrations of holy
water, abstinence from meat, milk, and eggs on fast days, were all inculcated a
list of abominations, or silly ceremonies, from which we may easily perceive what
sort of Christianity was taught to the Saxons.
Several ecclesiastics were sent by the pope to the assistance of Augustine, whom
he invested with the archiepiscopal dignity, and fixed his see at Canterbury.
Among these were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus, and Rufinianus." Mellitus and
Justus were subsequently ordained by the archbishop; the former was commissioned
to preach to the East Saxons, then governed by Seberht, as viceroy under the king
of Kent; he founded the episcopal see of London, where king Ethelbert built the
church of St. Paul.'* Justus became bishop of Rochester in Kent. Paulinus
undertook the conversion of the extensive population of Northumbria, and the
marriage of Edwin, king of that nation, with the daughter of the king of Kent,
afforded him an opportunity to effect his object. He accordingly preached in
Northumbria with considerable success, and founded the see of York, where Edwin
built a church.,! But his success was interrupted by the conquest of the Mercians
and Britons, who ravaged Northumbria, killed King Edwin in battle, and almost
depopulated the country. Paulinus, with the Northumbrian queen, fled to Roches-
ter, of which see he became bishop, and died there.16 Idolatry then prevailed
again in Northumbria for a short period, but it was extirpated by the efforts of
King Oswald, assisted by Bishop Aidan, a Scottish monk, to whom the king granted
an episcopal see in the Isle of Lindisfarne. This preacher was a monk of Icolmkill
in the Hebrides, where was the chief monastery of the Northern Scots and Picts.'7
King Oswald was also instrumental in diffusing the faith among the West Saxons;
whose first bishop, Birinus, was a missionary sent by Pope Honorius I. who
" Gregory's Letter to Mellitus. Bede's Eccl. Hist. Book i. c. 30.
11 Gregorian Liturgy. 13 Bede's Eccl. Hist, book i. c. 29. 14 lb. book ii. c. 3.
" See " The History and Antiquities of the Metropolitical Church of York," p. 12, where this subject is
fully explained.
16 Bede's Eccl. Hist, book ii. c. 20. "7 lb. book iii. c. 3.
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
of their worship." To his pontificate are to be ascribed the chief abuses of the
Roman church ; all which may be traced to a scheme for extending ecclesiastical
influence. Hence, in the liturgy, or ritual composed by this pope for the use of
the Latin church, we find the doctrine of purgatory is made an article of faith ;
and the invocation of saints and angels, the veneration of relics, masses for
the living and the dead, the use of images in churches, lustrations of holy
water, abstinence from meat, milk, and eggs on fast days, were all inculcated a
list of abominations, or silly ceremonies, from which we may easily perceive what
sort of Christianity was taught to the Saxons.
Several ecclesiastics were sent by the pope to the assistance of Augustine, whom
he invested with the archiepiscopal dignity, and fixed his see at Canterbury.
Among these were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus, and Rufinianus." Mellitus and
Justus were subsequently ordained by the archbishop; the former was commissioned
to preach to the East Saxons, then governed by Seberht, as viceroy under the king
of Kent; he founded the episcopal see of London, where king Ethelbert built the
church of St. Paul.'* Justus became bishop of Rochester in Kent. Paulinus
undertook the conversion of the extensive population of Northumbria, and the
marriage of Edwin, king of that nation, with the daughter of the king of Kent,
afforded him an opportunity to effect his object. He accordingly preached in
Northumbria with considerable success, and founded the see of York, where Edwin
built a church.,! But his success was interrupted by the conquest of the Mercians
and Britons, who ravaged Northumbria, killed King Edwin in battle, and almost
depopulated the country. Paulinus, with the Northumbrian queen, fled to Roches-
ter, of which see he became bishop, and died there.16 Idolatry then prevailed
again in Northumbria for a short period, but it was extirpated by the efforts of
King Oswald, assisted by Bishop Aidan, a Scottish monk, to whom the king granted
an episcopal see in the Isle of Lindisfarne. This preacher was a monk of Icolmkill
in the Hebrides, where was the chief monastery of the Northern Scots and Picts.'7
King Oswald was also instrumental in diffusing the faith among the West Saxons;
whose first bishop, Birinus, was a missionary sent by Pope Honorius I. who
" Gregory's Letter to Mellitus. Bede's Eccl. Hist. Book i. c. 30.
11 Gregorian Liturgy. 13 Bede's Eccl. Hist, book i. c. 29. 14 lb. book ii. c. 3.
" See " The History and Antiquities of the Metropolitical Church of York," p. 12, where this subject is
fully explained.
16 Bede's Eccl. Hist, book ii. c. 20. "7 lb. book iii. c. 3.