Lesson video

Hello, everyone, how are you today?

I hope you're feeling really good.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling pleased about that because we have an interesting topic ahead.

We're looking at The conversion of the British Isles.

That is the title of our lesson.

I wonder if you've heard of conversion before, if you know what that means.

Don't worry, if you have or not, we're gonna be getting into it in our lesson today, The conversion of the British Isles.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons: what changed after the Romans left?

So, I hope you're feeling curious about this lesson.

I hope you've got some focus, energy, and enthusiasm.

And if you are ready to get into our topic of the conversion of the British Isles, we'll begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can describe how Christianity returned to the British Isles.

I hope that sounds interesting to you and that you're ready to get into this topic.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time saying them out loud.

My turn, your turn.

Pagan.

Practices.

Convert.

Missionary.

It's good to hear those keywords out loud.

Let's find out what they mean.

Pagan religious beliefs and practices are those that are different from the main or recognized religions.

Practices are ways of doing something such as religious rituals like prayer.

To convert someone to a new religion means to change their religious beliefs to that of your own.

And a missionary is a person sent on a religious mission, especially to promote Christianity in foreign countries.

So, these are our keywords, pagan, practices, convert, and missionary.

Tell someone nearby, had you already heard of any of these keywords?

Did you have an idea about what any of these words mean?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

So, let's be on a lookout for these keywords.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about our keywords, pagan, practices, convert, and missionary.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called The conversion of the British Isles, and it has three learning cycles, Christianity's decline and the rise of paganism, Augustine and the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, and Scots, Irish missionaries, and the Synod of Whitby.

So, these are our learning cycles.

Let's begin by exploring Christianity's decline and the rise of paganism.

Christianity was popular in Britain, but it declined when the Romans left.

Here's a fact from Lucas, "Archeologists know this because they found evidence in Romano-British villas of artworks with Christian symbols on.

" And here, can see an illustration of a Roman mural with Christian symbols.

Pause here and share with someone any details that you notice in this Roman mural with Christian symbols.

Thanks for sharing the details that you noticed.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false?

Christianity was popular in Britain after the Romans left.

Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false?

Well done if you selected false.

Now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, "The popularity of Christianity declined in Britain after the Romans left.

" Well done if you answered in this way.

The popularity of Christianity declined because the Anglo-Saxons brought their own pagan religious beliefs and practices with them when they came to Britain.

The Anglo-Saxons believed in many gods and goddesses, but the Roman Christians believed in only one.

And here, we can see an illustration of some Anglo-Saxon gods.

Pause here and share with someone any details you notice in this illustration.

Thanks for sharing what you noticed.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why did Christianity decline in Britain after the Romans left?

Choose from this selection.

a, the Anglo-Saxons destroyed all the Christian churches.

b, the Romans took the Christian texts back to Rome with them.

c, the Anglo-Saxons brought their own pagan religious beliefs to Britain with them.

Pause here while you decide, why did Christianity decline in Britain after the Romans left?

Well done if you selected answer c.

Indeed, the Anglo-Saxons brought their own pagan religious beliefs to Britain with them.

This is why Christianity declined in Britain after the Romans left.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to write one sentence to describe one difference between the Anglo-Saxon pagan religion and Christianity.

So, pause here while you have a go at this task.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of writing one sentence to describe one difference between the Anglo-Saxon pagan religion and Christianity?

Your answer might look something like this, "The Anglo-Saxons believed in many Gods, whereas Christians only believed in one.

" Well done if you answered in this way.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, Augustine and the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons.

The Pope had noticed the decline of Christianity in Britain, and decided to do something about it.

In 597 CE, he sent a monk called Augustine to make the people of the British Isles Christian again.

And here, we can see an illustration of Augustine meeting with King Aethelbert of Kent in 597 CE.

Pause here and share with someone any details you notice in this illustration of Augustine meeting King Aethelbert of Kent.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you noticed something about Augustine's gesture that he's making, what he's wearing, the cross behind him.

Or perhaps you noticed something about King Aethelbert.

Well done for sharing what you noticed.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false?

Augustine came to Britain in 597 CE to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.

Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false?

Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, "He was sent by the Pope to convert the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.

" Well done if you answered in this way.

Augustine's mission to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxon kings back to Christianity began with King Aethelbert of Kent.

Soon after, other Anglo-Saxon kings and ordinary people also wanted to be Christian again, so the Pope's plan and Augustine's mission was working.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Match the keywords to the correct definition.

Here are our keywords, pagan and convert.

And here are the definitions, religious beliefs and practices that are different from the main religions, and to change someone's religious beliefs to your own.

So, pause here while you match the keywords, pagan and convert, to their correct definitions.

The correct definition for pagan is religious beliefs and practices that are different from the main religions.

And the correct definition for convert is to change someone's religious beliefs to your own.

Well done if you matched the keywords and the definitions in this way.

And now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to write a short letter to Augustine from the Pope to explain what his mission is.

You might want to use these words to help you, mission, pagan, Christianity, convert, kings.

And you can begin your letter, "Dear Augustine.

" So, pause here while you have a go at this task, writing a short letter to Augustine from the Pope to explain what his mission is.

And remember to use the words mission, pagan, Christianity, convert, and kings if you'd like.

Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did he get on with that task of writing a letter from the Pope to Augustine explaining his mission?

You answer might look like this, "Dear Augustine, the Anglo-Saxons have arrived in Britain and have brought their pagan practices with them.

This means Christianity is declining.

I'm sending you on a mission to convert the Anglo-Saxon kings back to Christianity, starting with King Aethelbert of Kent.

I trust you because you are very faithful and loyal to Christianity.

Yours, The Pope.

" If there was a date on this letter, what year would this letter have been dated?

Pause here and share with someone.

Can you remember when Augustine went to Britain to convert the Anglo-Saxon kings?

Pause here and share with someone if you remember what the year was.

Well done If you said 597 CE.

This was the year that Augustine went to Britain to convert the Anglo-Saxon kings, and King Aethelbert of Kent was his first successful conversion in that year.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, Scots, Irish missionaries, and the synod of Whitby.

From around 400 CE, the Scots, a tribe from Ireland, had begun to settle in Western Scotland.

They also began Christian practices from around the 500 CE, thanks to Irish missionaries like Columbanus.

Here, we can see an illustration of Columbanus.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Who had converted the Scots to Christianity around the 500 CE?

Choose from this selection.

a, King Aethelbert.

b, Columbanus.

c, Augustine.

Pause here while you decide, who converted the Scots to Christianity around the 500 CE?

Well done if you selected answer b, Columbanus.

This is the name of the Irish missionary who converted the Scots to Christianity around the 500 CE.

This meant there were two different forms of Christianity in Britain, Roman and Celtic.

The Roman Christianity had been brought by Augustine and followed the instructions of the Pope.

The Celtic Christianity had been introduced to Britain by Irish missionaries like Columbanus.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Match the missionary to the type of Christianity they brought to Britain.

So, the missionaries are Columbanus and Augustine, and the types of Christianity they brought to Britain are Roman Christianity and Celtic Christianity.

Pause here while you match the missionary to the type of Christianity they brought to Britain.

The missionary Columbanus brought Celtic Christianity to Britain, and the missionary Augustine brought Roman Christianity to Britain.

Well done if you matched the missionaries to their types of Christianity in this way.

Celtic and Roman Christians disagreed over some practices.

These included the date to celebrate Easter, the way of shaving their monks' heads, the language when worshiping.

So, these are some practices that they disagreed over.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false?

Celtic Christianity and Roman Christianity were exactly the same.

Pause while you decide, is this statement true or false?

Well done if you selected false.

Now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, "They disagreed over some practices, such as the date they celebrated Easter.

" You might also have said, "They disagreed over the way they shaved their monk's heads and the language they used when worshiping.

" In 664 CE, a meeting called the Synod of Whitby was set up by Hilda of Whitby to decide which form of Christianity all Christians in Britain should follow.

It was decided there that Roman Christianity would be followed in Britain.

And here, we can see a photo of a statue of Hilda at Whitby Abbey.

Let's have a check for understanding.

It was decided at the Synod of Whitby that people in Britain would follow, choose from this selection, a, Celtic Christianity, b, Roman Christianity, c, a mix of Celtic and Roman Christianity.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer b, Roman Christianity.

Indeed, this is the form of Christianity that was decided at the Synod of Whitby that people in Britain would follow.

And now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to list three differences between Roman Christianity and Celtic Christianity.

You could use these words to help you, dates, languages, monks.

Pause here while you have a go at listing three differences between Roman Christianity and Celtic Christianity.

Let's see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get with that task, listing three differences between Roman Christianity and Celtic Christianity?

Your answers should look something like this.

One, they disagreed on the date to celebrate Easter.

Two, Roman Christianity had church services in Latin, but Celtic Christianity had church services in local languages.

And three, they disagreed on how monks should shave their heads.

Well done if your answers looked something like this.

Well done for having a go at this task.

In our lesson, The conversion of the British Isles, we've covered the following.

When the Romans left Britain, the Anglo-Saxons brought their pagan beliefs, leading to Christianity's decline.

Augustine was sent by the Pope to convert the Anglo-Saxon kings to Christianity.

The Scots from Ireland settled in Scotland while Irish missionaries spread Christianity across Scotland and northern England.

The Synod of Whitby in 664 CE decided that Roman practices would be the standard form of Christianity across the British Isles.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

I thought it was so interesting to cover this topic of the conversion of the British Isles, learning about the different missionaries that hoped to convert people, first of all, missionary Augustine converting people to Roman Christianity, and then the missionary Columbanus from Ireland converting people to Christianity, and then ending up with that big meeting where they decided which form of Christianity would prevail across the British Isles.

I hope you've learned lots of new things in this lesson, and I hope you've found it really interesting.

I certainly enjoyed teaching you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Bye for now.