Introduction

The Introduction establishes the historiographical justification for, and contribution of, a study of kingship, society, and the church in Anglo-Saxon Yorkshire. It suggests that historians of conversion to Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England have tended to emphasize the role and agency of kings in conversion. It demonstrates that historians of the Anglo-Saxon church have debated the merits of the ‘minster hypothesis’, partly as a result of the distinctive sources for the church in northern England. It highlights that this study will challenge that emphasis on the role and agency of kings in conversion and provide a study of church organization in one region of northern England. It justifies the decision to study Yorkshire through its status as a meaningful socio-political unit in the period with a particularly helpful range of sources.

Religious Communities, Local Churches, and the Laity, 867–1066

Chapter 6 considers the development of the church at a local level from 867 to 1066. It uses Domesday Book, diplomas, the archaeology of settlements and cemeteries, the corpus of stone sculpture, and the distribution of place-names to reconstruct the fate of religious communities and the establishment of local churches. It begins by suggesting that the see of York remained wealthy and influential, and observes the material reflex of this wealth and influence in the corpus of stone sculpture. It argues that the distribution of place-names in kirkja-by(r) may reveal the survival of some religious communities with endowments during Scandinavian settlement and that the corpus of stone sculpture suggests the location of some religious communities and other churches with access to clerical expertise. It ends by highlighting the evidence that religious communities may have influenced those local kin groups who invested in local churches in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Politics, Conversion, and Christianization, 616–867

Chapter 3 investigates the impact of the formation of the ‘ecclesiastical aristocracy’ on kingship. It uses eighth-century histories, and eighth- and ninth-century annals, letters, poems, and coins, to consider transformations in kingship. It suggests that the formation of the ‘ecclesiastical aristocracy’ conditioned the chronology of official conversion: a generation or two after political centralization, kin groups began pursuing conversion as a social strategy; kings reacted first to the emergence of a political constituency of converts amongst the Deirans and then a generation later to the conversion of the majority of kin groups. It argues that the social process of conversion required powerful political arguments and public demonstrations of religious change. It observes that the socio-political context made episcopal sees and churches less attractive than religious communities, and produced enthusiastic investment in religious communities followed by instability in kingship and expropriation of religious communities.

The ‘Ecclesiastical Aristocracy’, 600–730

Chapter 2 charts the formation and dynamics of a new social fraction amongst the Deirans—the ‘ecclesiastical aristocracy’. It uses early eighth-century histories to consider the relationship between the social uncertainties faced by members of local free kin groups and the utility of conversion as a social strategy, and to explore the identity of those who entered the church. It suggests that conversion was a gradual social process, beginning before the official conversion of the Deirans and proceeding over two to three generations, as those born and brought up as Christians entered the church and made manifest the value of conversion as a social strategy. It argues that the ‘ecclesiastical aristocracy’ had a distinctive social identity, but one whose reproduction was resource intensive and fragile.

Kingship, Social Change, and the Church, 867–1066

Chapter 5 considers the relationship between kingship, social change, and the church during Scandinavian and West Saxon conquest, and incorporation into the English kingdom. It uses contemporary annals preserved in later contexts, tenth- and eleventh-century histories, coins, settlement and cemetery archaeology, and distributions of metalwork to reconstruct social and political frameworks and investigate religious patronage. It begins by establishing the outlines of Scandinavian conquest and rule 867–954. It proceeds to suggest that a Northumbrian people and kingdom continued to exist, and that political actors sought to rule the Northumbrians as a whole. It observes the instabilities faced by Scandinavian rulers thanks to their own followers, indigenous Christian society, migrants, and social change, arguing that this made alliance with the church an attractive prospect. It analyses the West Saxon conquest and the instabilities it produced for English kings and their representatives, prompting further alliance with the church.

The Kingdom of the Deirans, 450–650

Chapter 1 considers the formation and organization of the kingdom of the Deirans during the period 450–650 as a context for conversion. It reconstructs the formation of the kingdom, and the social institutions and religious beliefs of its population, from a combination of fifth- to seventh-century mortuary archaeology and early eighth-century histories. It observes that the kingdom developed from processes of migration, social stratification, political centralization, ethnogenesis, and expansion, which were still under way at the moment of conversion. It emphasizes that social organization was based on local free kin groups whose social position was uncertain, whose social status was projected through pre-Christian religious beliefs, and through whom kings operated with limited authority and power. It suggests that the social strategies of these kin groups and this political context shaped the decision to convert and the social process of conversion.

Conclusion

The Conclusion returns to the two broader historiographical contexts set out in the Introduction—the process of conversion and the organization of the Anglo-Saxon church—to bring out the contributions of this study. Though it is impossible to address the wide range of anthropological, sociological, historical, and archaeological studies of conversion across time and space, the Conclusion considers the arguments in light of those studies that have been influential in histories of Anglo-Saxon conversion and in light of two significant sociological reviews of conversion. Though the Introduction establishes that this should not be considered a defence or vindication of the ‘minster hypothesis’, the Conclusion highlights those areas where this study has offered new perspectives on the organization of the church in Anglo-Saxon England.

The ‘Ecclesiastical Aristocracy’ and the Laity, 600–867

Chapter 4 considers the potential impact of the ‘ecclesiastical aristocracy’ on lay society amongst the Deirans. It uses histories and letters, the archaeology of settlements and cemeteries, and the corpus of stone sculpture to investigate the network of religious communities founded amongst the Deirans, their pastoral responsibilities, and their possible pastoral impact. It begins by reconstructing a dense network of religious communities. It proceeds to argue that they were founded at central, accessible locations, which were also acceptable as sacred places symbolizing vocations including pastoral activity. It demonstrates a correlation between early religious communities and medieval mother churches, suggesting that this reflects an early institutional framework for pastoral care. It observes that some religious communities erected monuments with pastoral resonance. Finally, it explores diverse symptoms of Christianization amongst the Deiran laity.