ANST - re: Paganism after 600 A.D.

[I. Marc Carlson]

<"Kendall Johnson" <avalon at netjava.com>>
>...Roman Christianity in 664 Christianity was dominate. However It is recorded
>that King Edwin was killed shortly after converting to Christianity in the
>early 600's by King Penda of Mercia who was pagan. I have no idea how long
>Penda reigned and if he later converted or not, but this shows that after
>600 A.D. there were pagans on the Brittish Isles.

But, as you suggest elsewhere, they wouldn't have been practicing a
"Celtic" paganism (and definately not in Mercia... )

>I agree that paganism on the Brittish Isles was on the decline, but for
>several more centuries there were outcrops of paganism such as the invading
>Norse (though they were not celtic).

This may seem overly pedantic, but I am not sure that "outcrop" is the 
correct metaphor for referring to the Norse invasion.  An outcrop is an
underlying stratum suddenly emerging onto the surface (and is a good
metaphor for any paleo-Pagan survivals in hiding, but suddenly emerging --
for example, many of those quaint rural festivals could be argued to be
outcroppings (I am not doing so, mind you)).  The Norse invasion, assuming
they were all Pagan (I am unqualified to make any such assertion), would
be like a layering of Pagan snow on the previously lain soil of other 
religions.

(Beyond that, mind you, your statement is, as I understand it, correct) 

>>I suspect it wasn't strictly enforced because well-nigh
>>everyone was Christian or thought themselves so;
>>you don't have to enforce a universal.
>A seperate point, but why were laws being made by the monarchs in England
>until the 1700's requiring people to go to church or face a fine.

Because after the Henrician reformation, it became a crime to not practice
the same form of Christianity that the Crown demanded.  This meant that to
be a recusant or an atheist (which meant something different in olden times)
was a crime.

I submit that if one WERE a Pagan survival into the later centuries, then
it is likely that such laws would not be needed to keep one attending 
church, just like everyone else -- since to do otherwise would leave
one open to threats from neighbors.  The Government needn't be involved.

You might take a look at _The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles_
by Ronald Hutton (a devout worshipper of documentation if I've ever seen
one).

Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn
LIB_IMC at Centum.utulsa.edu
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