Chronological Map

In the following board we tried to include only the data we considered to be absolutely necessary in order to create a substantial and spherical image. That is to say, we do not examine details that, even though important, do not concern the reader of this book.

5 th cent. B.C.: The Celts appear in central Europe, nomadic bellicose tribes, who spread and settle to the West (today's Spain, France, England, Ireland, etc.) and to the East (as far as Asia Minor) and promoted a significant civilization.

43 A.D.: The Romans begin the conquest of Britain. The native Celtic population is subdued, except for the residents of its North (Scots, Picts). In the beginning of the 2 nd century A.D. the emperor Adrian begins the construction of a wall in order to protect the roman part of Britain from the undisciplined northerners. His heir, Antoninus Pius, builds another one, even further up north.

209: (During the persecution of the Christians of Septimius Severus) or 305 (during the persecution of Diocletianus). The British Albans, "protomartyr Anglorum", suffers martyrdom and dies in a region near London, which was later named after him.

Circa 397: Saint Ninian (a brit, who met Christianity in Rome and France) realizes the first known Holy Mission to the Scots.

4 th century: The Celtic Church has already been constituted and represented in synods of the western Church.

409: The roman domination in Britain comes to an end.

Circa 431: The British saint Patrick begins the evangelism of Ireland.

Circa 450: the domination of the invading pagan Saxons is established. The Celtic civilization is oppressed, the Celtic Church is shrinking and isolating from the Christian centers of Europe.

6 th century: two uncoordinated currents, the Celtic Church of Ireland on one side and the Church of Rome on the other, attempt an evangelism of the country. Those two currents were led to a composition after conflicts that lasted nearly half a century.

Namely:

563: The Irish monk, Saint Columba, disembarks on the Scottish island Iona and dedicates himself to missionary work.

596-597: Augustine, an Italian Reverend father in Rome, is sent to the southeastern part of England as a missionary by the Pope of Rome, Gregory the Great.

603: Augustine, as the now Arch Bishop of Canterbury, asks from the representatives of the Celtic Church to abandon their customs and embrace the order of the roman church (e.g. the time for the celebration of Easter, etc.) Agitation occurs, as well as various conversations and reactions.

635: The Irish monk and missionary, saint Aidan, goes from Iona to the island of Lindisfarne, after a request from Oswald, king of pagan Anglo-Saxons.

664: In the synod of Whitby an agreement between the Celtic and Roman side is achieved. The Celtic reaction is bent and simmers down gradually.

664: The English monk and missionary saint Cuthbert settles in Lindisfarne and becomes the Reverend father. He supported the acceptance of the roman order.

793: The Vikings begin the hardship of the country, which lasted nearly eighty years.

1066: The (Christian) Normans, led by William the Conqueror, conquer Britain and link it more intensely to European Christianity.

1536-1539: The King of England, Henry 8 th orders the annulment of all monasteries for mixed reasons (personal arguments, antimonastical spirit according to the Reformation, cases of monastical decadence, etc.). During the 16 th century, Protestantism spreads over the country and is consolidated in Scotland.

In the drawing of the map references were taken from the following books: Peter Salway-John Blair, Roman and Anglo-Saxon Britain (The Oxford History of Britain, I), Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 1992 and Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom. Triumph and Diversity, AD 200-1000, Blackwell, Massachusetts-Oxford 1996.