Another attack on Britain’s Christian heritage: Don’t say ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Catholic

In case you hadn’t heard, the term “Anglo-Saxon” is now racist. It’s another sign, among a long list, of why we must resist the erasure of Britain’s Christian heritage. This was brought home to me when I spent this summer doing something rather enjoyably nerdy – studying the Anglo-Saxons. Aside from it being fun, it The post Another attack on Britain’s Christian heritage: Don’t say ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Catholic appeared first on Catholic Herald.

Oct 9, 2024 - 16:00

Another attack on Britain’s Christian heritage: Don’t say ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Catholic

In case you hadn’t heard, the term “Anglo-Saxon” is now racist. It’s another sign, among a long list, of why we must resist the erasure of Britain’s Christian heritage.

This was brought home to me when I spent this summer doing something rather enjoyably nerdy – studying the Anglo-Saxons.

Aside from it being fun, it was eye-opening. The Britons, scared and weak after the withdrawal of the Romans, were invaded by the people they thought would help them – the Frisians, Angles, Saxon and Jutes, or simply “Anglo-Saxons”.

Romano-Celtic Christianity was pushed out by their arrival; through slaughter, marriage and migration, the Christianity that had emerged under Roman rule was stamped out or pushed to Celtic lands. These Celtic strongholds then maintained the faith of their founders, SS. Patrick, Columba and David, and eventually returned it to England.

The Anglo-Saxons were pagans, but saints such as St Aiden brought the distinctly Celtic faith to Northumbria, whilst St Augustine and others brought a Latinised Catholicism to the Southern Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.

Over the course of several centuries, through overcoming great difficulty, the martyrs and prayer, Britain became a Christian nation. By the time of the Viking invasions in the mid-8th century, most Anglo-Saxons were baptised.

The saints that emerged in these decades were Anglo-Saxon too: SS. Wilfrid, Æthelthryth, Edmund and St Bede, with the last being the first to term the people of this land – a people of Brittonic, Celtic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon descent – “gens Anglorum” or “English”.

So why am I telling this story? Well, there are some who would like to see it erased or rebranded – see “Anglo-Saxon” being deemed racist, and increasingly being sidelined in favour of a new term, “Early English”. As such, we therefore must all fall in line if we do not wish to be termed white supremacists.

In itself, “Early English” is not particularly problematic. As mentioned, St Bede in c.730 refers to them in a similar way. However, it is the motive that causes concern here.

Recently, Cambridge University Press changed the name of its Anglo-Saxon Journal to “Early Medieval England and its Neighbours” with much self-righteous virtue signalling.

Nottingham university proudly announced it was removing the term “Anglo-Saxon” from its English curriculum in an effort to “decolonise it”. It is now seeking, according to reports, to “emphasise black communities” instead – presumably because acknowledging the existence of historically distinct ethnic groups is only positive if they aren’t white.

In 2020, Jack Durand wrote in Cambridge University’s Varsity student yearbook that the university’s prestigious ASNC (Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic) Department must change its name in an effort to make the university less racist. His point is summarised in the final lines of his article:

“Just as women’s or African American studies courses inevitably attract students from corresponding backgrounds, so too will the study of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. However, while the former seeks to recover the institutionally suppressed voices of their respective communities, the latter perpetuates an image of early medieval studies as a field of racial and ethnic exclusivity.”

The message is clear. If the study is white, it’s exclusivist racist oppression. If it’s non-white, it’s an inclusivist celebration of the oppressed.

This is all part of the neo-liberal Marxist drivel of measuring everything, including the study of history, in terms of power. These Marxists-types cannot help but measure everything this way, even joy!

I study Anglo-Saxon history because it is part of my history, but I feel joy at seeing the work of God in it. Many others find joy in studying their own histories.

It is hard to imagine an academic re-educating an Egyptian for celebrating his country’s history; even though it enslaved and oppressed people. Or maligning a Mongolian who enjoys the study of Genghis Khan, based on how the latter conquered and subjugated a sizeable portion of Asia, pillaging and raping as he went. Or castigating a Comanche for studying his history because his ancestors scalped and slaughtered neighbouring tribes.

We, as Brits, whether white or black, recent arrival or native, can find intrigue, joy and lessons in our past. This doesn’t mean it can’t be criticised, but we shouldn’t erase it either.

Erasing parts of British history erases parts of our identity. To be specific here, by using “our”, I don’t mean white; I mean British.

There were not likely any black Anglo-Saxons (despite what Disney or Netflix may wish to reimagine), but that does not stop someone who is not white sharing in this heritage. While if we remove parts of our history because they upset a small number of academics, we remove the opportunity for understanding, and ultimately unity, between the different elements comprising what it means to be British.

This summer, British society saw during the riots what many already knew. Under the façade of boosting Gross Domestic Product and the likes of “Clap for the NHS” and “Diversity is our Strength”, our country is crumbling. Why? Because we have lost the unity of our shared history, culture and values.

This isn’t just because of uncontrolled immigration and lack of integration, although these certainly play a role. But even those calling themselves British, whose families have lived here for centuries, are not sure what this means anymore.

This is the result of a long line of attacks on the British soul – not a “white” soul, but a British one – with the removal of the term “Anglo-Saxon” the latest attack.

What is the purpose of this erasure? I think the answer is twofold, the first being related to so-called “white culture”, with the term “Anglo-Saxon” being seen to promote a racist white culture of supremacy.

However, I remember whilst growing up being told by both black and Asian peers that white people have no culture. This has been further emphasised by neo-liberal types that don’t want white people to have cultures.

So, which is it? Either “whites” can be mocked for not having a culture, or they do have a culture; but then it’s racist if they have one?

The problem is that, for many centuries, British “white culture” was Christian. This is the truth that sends them into a screeching rabid rage, which is the second reason for the erasure of the Anglo-Saxons. Denying Anglo-Saxon history allows the denial of our Christian origins.

As a nation, our shared values were once rooted in the Christian heritage beginning in Anglo-Saxon times. We once shared the common ideals found in the Scripture that was first brought to those people.

Initially a pagan peoples, the Anglo Saxons of this land became a deeply Catholic nation. Out of Anglo-Saxon England emerged a core national identity which was Christian. A nation over which God, not virtue signalling, was supreme.

Now we chase neo-liberal ideals and self-centredness and wonder why we cannot define Britishness beyond the likes of drinking tea, queueing, or our historic evils.

By removing the Anglo-Saxons from history, you remove our Christian origins. You remove the powerful stories of God’s providence in shaping our land to conform to his will. Most of the time Britain was not perfect, often it wasn’t even good, but at its heart was Christian life.

The Anglo-Saxons are the origin of our national Christian identity, the origin of our now forgotten values. This part of our history is one of our few remaining vestiges of Christianity.

If the likes of neo-liberals and “anti-racist” activists can hack these off through accusations of racism, they will be able to proceed more easily with other agendas – ones which are in blatant opposition to our formerly Catholic Anglo-Saxon values.

Photo: Image of King Egbert of Wessex (775 – 839), and of the West Saxons, who in 829 was recognised as the supreme ruler of all Anglo-Saxon kings and the first monarch of all England. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images.)

Thomas Casemore teaches RS and is pursuing a master’s degree in divinity, researching St Bede and early British ecclesiastical history and spirituality.