History of Anglicanism

Anglicanism claims continuity with the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ. Christianity first appeared in Britain in antiquity, during the Roman period. The Church of England became the independent established church in England and Wales in 1534 as a result of the English Reformation. From the apostles to the Celts, from Augustine to Cranmer, and from the English Reformation to the present, the same Gospel endures: one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Roman Britain

Tradition holds that the Gospel reached the British Isles in the first century, brought by early disciples such as Joseph of Arimathea or Aristobulus, counted among the Seventy. According to St. Gildas, the "Light of Christ" shone in Britain in the last year of Emperor Tiberius, which either refers to Tiberius Julius Caesar (AD 37) or to Tiberius Claudius Caesar (AD 54). Tertullian attests in Adversus Judaeos (written in AD 198) that Christianity had already been well-established in Britain by then. The early British Christians maintained episcopal order and orthodoxy independent of Rome, establishing a national church rooted in Scripture, liturgy, and the Creeds.

In the mid-3rd century, there was an intensification of the persecution of Christians, particularly under the Emperors Decius (r. 249–251) and Valerian (r. 253–260). These waves of persecution may have impacted the Christian community in Britain. It is possible that Saints Alban, Julius, and Aaron were killed at this time. In 260, the Emperor Gallienus issued an edict that decriminalized Christianity, allowing the church to own property as a corporate body.

The most severe persecution of Christians by the empire began in 303 under Diocletian (r. 284–305). Nevertheless, it appears that British Christians suffered less during the Diocletianic Persecution than Christians elsewhere. In 313, the Western Roman Emperor Constantine and Eastern Roman Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, putting an end to the persecution of Christians in the empire.

In 314, Constantine called the Council of Arles, the first church council summoned by a Roman emperor. The council condemned Donatism and agreed to follow the Roman church's method of calculating the date for Easter. The British bishops in attendance were Eborius from York, Restitutus from London, and Adelfius possibly from Lincoln. These cities were provincial capitals, and the bishops were likely archbishops with authority over the other bishops in their provinces.

According to St. Athanasius, British bishops attended the Council of Serdica in 343. However, the council records do not indicate any British bishops were present; for this reason, historian Richard Sharpe argued that Athanasius was inaccurate. The Gallo-Roman chronicler Sulpicius Severus claimed that at least three bishops from Britain were in attendance at the Council of Ariminum in 359. Emperor Constantius II offered lodging at public expense, but most bishops refused, except for the British. This suggests that the British church was either poor or numerically small.

The Celtic Church

In the Early Middle Ages, the faith blossomed among the Celtic peoples of Britain and Ireland. Saints such as **Patrick**, **Brigid**, **Columba**, and **David** nurtured a form of Christianity that emphasized holiness, missionary zeal, and Scriptural devotion. Monastic communities became centers of learning and evangelism, sending missionaries across northern Europe. The Celtic Church maintained apostolic succession and orthodox faith, yet exhibited a local, pastoral character distinct from Roman uniformity.

In AD 449, Vortigern, king of Britain, invited Germanic Pagan mercenaries from the tribes of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, led by the brothers Hengist and Horsa, to help him in a war against the Picts. While the pagan English mercenaries initially helped the British Christians, they later turned on them and, joining the Picts, overran Britain. While efforts by such kings as Vortimer, Ambrosius Aurelius, and Arthur initially proved effective against the Germanic Pagans, Britain was then wasted by civil wars, permitting the English to return. The British Christians also refused to evangelize the English pagans, thus making Germanic Paganism replace Christianity as the predominant religion in Britain.

The Church of England before the Reformation

When **St. Augustine of Canterbury** arrived in 597 under papal commission to convert the English, he found an already ancient Celtic Church in England. The bishops in England accepted fraternal communion with Rome but preserved their national identity. The Celtic Church (now the English Church) possessed its own liturgies, synods, and pastoral customs. The **Synod of Whitby (664)** brought the English Church into closer administrative alignment with Rome, but its spirit of Scriptural purity and native freedom endured.

Throughout the Middle Ages, reform movements such as those of **John Wycliffe** and the **Lollards** called for a return to the authority of Scripture and the example of the primitive Church. Thus, when the Reformation arrived, it was a restoration rather than a revolution.

The English Reformation

The sixteenth-century Reformation under **King Henry VIII**, **Edward VI**, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer sought to restore the Church of England to the purity of apostolic faith. The Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1552, 1559, 1662), the **Thirty-Nine Articles**, and the **Ordinal** enshrined a theology both catholic and reformed—rooted in the Scriptures, the Creeds, and the witness of the Fathers.

For the Reformed Episcopal tradition, the Reformation represents the English Church’s renewal, not its creation. It was a return to the faith of the apostles and the fathers, stripped of medieval excess and centered again upon Christ and His Word.

The American and Episcopal Church

The Church of England took root in the American colonies, and after the Revolution (1789), it was organized as the **Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America**. This Church inherited the episcopate through the consecration of **Samuel Seabury** in 1784 and **William White** and **Samuel Provoost** in 1787, maintaining apostolic succession within an independent national church.

See also

• Reformed Episcopal Church
• Thomas Cranmer
• Book of Common Prayer
• Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion
• Church of England
• Anglican Church in North America
• Saint Patrick
• Synod of Whitby