Why did the Anglo-Saxons convert to Christianity? Why did they abandon the old pagan gods? Let’s go back to the late 6th and early 7th centuries and take a look.

There wasn’t an England at this time.

There were Angles in the north and east of England, Saxon kingdoms in the south of England and Britons in the west in what is now Cornwall and Wales. A unified England only emerged in the 10th century and it was the result of the conversion to Christianity of the Angles, Saxons and Danes and the conquest of all of these other kingdoms by King Alfred and the West Saxons.

Christianity had a number of things going for it. It created a common identity and culture that helped unify the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms especially during the struggle with the heathen Vikings. It also put the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms on better terms with the continent where the Franks had converted to Christianity.