Key learning points

1. As the Romans were leaving Britain c.410CE, groups of people called the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began to migrate there.
2. These Anglo-Saxons were pagan and polytheistic: they were not Christian.
3. As they began to dominate Britain, Christianity declined in areas where they settled.
4. This process was probably helped by the fact that many Britons had not fully embraced Christianity under Roman rule.
5. For example, at Lullingstone, a pagan shrine built before the chapel was still being used after the chapel was built.

Keywords

• Anglo-Saxons - the Anglo-Saxons are a group of people formed of the Angle, Saxon and Jutes tribes

• Pagan - pagan means a religion other than one of the main world religions

• Polytheistic - to be polytheistic means to believe in many different gods and goddesses

• Shrine - a shrine is a place regarded as holy

Common misconception