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The Historical Themes
Christianity and the Roman Empire
Eighty years before the birth of Patrick, at the time of the last persecution of Christians in Rome, Constantine the Great was declared Emperor by troops in Britain. Toleration of Christianity and other religions was soon established, but the Arian controversy and Constantine's summoning of the Council of Nicea led, eventually, to the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.
The Arian heresy persisted as a cause of friction and schism within the Eastern and Western Churches, and between them. The Empire's frontiers were so extended that defence was impossible without mercenaries recruited from the barbarian tribes. The establishment of Constantinople as Constantine's new, Christian, base effectively removed Rome as centre of Empire. All of these factors weakened the West. Religious and political differences between East and West diverted the attention and legions of Rome from northern and western frontiers and eased the incursions of tribes from beyond the borders. Over the next 130 years the massive administrative structure of Empire was placed under enormous pressure by internal political and religious strife, at a time when concerted action was required to resist barbarian invasions. Consistent concerted action was lacking and the northern tribes gained ground. The Western Empire ended in 476, within a few years of the birth of David and the death of Patrick. Although the Eastern Empire was to survive for centuries, Western Europe was on the cusp of fundamental structural change.
Barbarians at the Gates [TOP]
Germanic tribes had long been settled beyond the Danube and the Rhine, but these natural defensive features were not necessarily boundaries to cultural influence. Some tribal groupings began to adopt Roman institutions. Barbarian contingents served with Roman legions. Raiding across the borders was frequent, but we also see incursions by groups who were seduced by the attractions of a higher civilisation. Barbarian enclaves were settled within the frontier provinces. Revolts there were, but assimilation and cultural diffusion was in process.
This process was disrupted by the arrival of the Huns on the eastern horizon. Massive disturbance was caused by constant raiding, and by the displacement of peoples and the movements, conflicts and alliances which resulted. There was increasing Frankish settlement in Gaul. Visigoths invade Thrace and, as Patrick is captured into slavery, carry the invasion into Italy. At around the time that Patrick escapes from slavery, Rome is sacked by Visigoths under their general Alaric.
As Patrick embarks on his mission to Ireland, Attila becomes king of the Huns. Gaul is threatened and Italy invaded. Rome is saved by the intervention of Pope Leo the Great. With the death of Attila the Hunnish threat disappears, but the west is changed beyond all recognition. Germanic peoples are now firmly ensconced in the Roman provinces and in Italy itself, and play an increasing role in political life. Ironically, it is the barbarian invaders, confident and dynamic, who will assimilate and perpetuate the institutions and structures of the Western Roman Empire and lay the political foundations for Europe in later years.
The Decline of Roman Britain [TOP]
Britain had been a Roman province for almost four hundred years, and had not been without influence on political and religious events. Constantine the Great was declared Emperor in Britain, and as the last legions were withdrawn from Britain in the first decade of the 5th Century a succession of three usurpers were proclaimed in the province and contributed to the tumult of those times. And the Pelagian heresy originated in the British Isles and was to persist for many years - St. Bernard of Auxerre, Bishop of the monastery in which St. Patrick was ordained, was dispatched to Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy in 429, and again in 447.
Whilst not immune from the internal disputes and strife of the wider Empire, England and Wales enjoyed the benefits of Roman civilisation. But all this was to change within a very short space of time, leaving the population isolated, undefended and at the mercy of alien forces to east, north and west. As Roman troops were withdrawn from Britain, Hadrian's Wall was overrun. Around the time of Patrick's capture Irish raids and settlement in Wales were increasing. Following the sack of Rome by Alaric, the Britons were told that they must look to their own defenses.
We must imagine a settled and cultured society, secure in its institutions and within its borders, but now abandoned by the power that had protected it and assailed by Irish, Scots, Picts and Northern European marauders. The Romano-British population fight a rearguard action against the advance of barbarism and in 449, as Attila attacked the Roman Empire, the Saxons Hengist and Horsa are invited to settle in Kent and assist in the struggle against Picts and Scots.
Saxon Advent was soon followed by Saxon revolt. Fortunes fluctuated. Towards the end of the 5th Century began the campaigns of the man, war leader or king, who is known to legend and history as Arthur. Saxon expansion is halted for a time. During these times the ruling dynasty of Gwynedd and Powys was founded, and the Red Dragon of the Roman emperors adopted as the battle standard. It was during this tumultuous period that St. David lived and worked.
Aftermath - The Light in the West [TOP]
St. Patrick and his companions brought Ireland into the Christian fold. St. David and other holy men sustained the Christian faith in mainland Britain. The British-Celtic Church was consolidated in the west of the British Isles. The Church retained characteristics, tenets and rites that were older than those of the Roman Church. But the Church of Rome was growing in power and influence.
Around 563 St. Columba founded a monastery on Iona and introduced Celtic Christian influence into the north of Britain. But in 596 St. Augustine of Canterbury was despatched from Rome to convert the pagan settlers in Kent and within a very few years much of South East England was Christianised and brought under Roman influence. From the South East the powerful kingdom of Northumbria is converted and, after a brief lapse into paganism, the work is revived by Aidan of Iona, who founds Lindisfarne and supplants the Roman Christianity of Kent with the Celtic variant. With increasing contact between Celtic and Roman Churches frictions develop. In 664, at the Synod of Whitby, Northumbria and England adopt the Roman Catholic Creed and ritual. Northumbria emerges as a powerhouse of the Christian faith and Lindisfarne and Jarrow are the greatest centres of learning in England.
In the 7th and 8th centuries Britain is sending missionaries to work amongst the Frisians and other pagan tribes of northern Europe. The British Benedictine monk St. Boniface is appointed Metropolitan of Germany. The Frankish monarchy is in decline, and when Pepin the Short, father of Charlemagne, deposes the last king of the old line this first Carolingian monarch is crowned by the British monk.
Under Charlemagne the Frankish Court became a centre of scholarship and learning. In 782 Alcuin of York began a major contribution to the Carolingian cultural revival. On Christmas Day 800, not least through the instigation of Alcuin of York, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, echoing the ceremonies of the Western Empire which fell in 476 AD. The Holy Roman Empire was born and through its various transformations provided the template for the political map of Europe for centuries to come.
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