Migration And Conversion: The Christianisation Of Britain

The Anglo-Saxon Mappa Mundi, also known as the 'Cotton Map', is the earliest known map to contain a reasonably realistic depiction of the British Isles. No one knows who made the map, but most scholars think it was created by a monk working at Canterbury between 1025 and 1050 CE. [NB] The creator was probably working from a Roman exemplar which had been copied (and modified) repeatedly over the centuries.

Jerusalem: the birthplace of Christianity

The above map is confusing to modern eyes because, like many early maps, the East is at the top. However, the British Isles are still recognisable in the bottom left-hand corner. Jerusalem is placed in the centre of the map because early Christians thought of Jerusalem as the centre of the world.

The Anglo-Saxon Mappa Mundi, therefore, reflects important ideas circulating in Anglo-Saxon England about the theological significance of geography. The land of Israel is described in the Bible as ‘the navel of the earth’ (Ezek. 38:12) and Jerusalem as ‘the centre of the nations, with countries all around her’ (Ezek. 5:5). Jerusalem is also portrayed as the birthplace of Christianity (Acts 2:1–11), which inspired Christian authors, including Saint Jerome (d. 420 CE), to believe that Jerusalem’s spiritual centrality must mirror its geographical location. The Anglo-Saxon writer Bede (d. 735 CE) was heavily influenced by Jerome and, in a work called 'Concerning Sacred Places', Bede wrote: ‘it is thought that the centre of the earth is in [Jerusalem]’.

Britain and Ireland: the edge of the world

In light of the above, most Anglo-Saxon Christians, especially those who had studied the Bible, such as clerics, believed that Jerusalem stood at the centre of the world, while Britain and Ireland stood at the edge. This notion influenced Anglo-Saxon ideas about the end of time. Christians believe that, during the Apocalypse, Christ will return to earth to judge humankind, rewarding the righteous and punishing sinners. Bede, the best-known Anglo-Saxon eschatologist (someone who studies the end of time), interpreted Matthew 24:14 (‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’) to mean that the Apocalypse would only take place once all Anglo-Saxons had converted to Christianity. This would require the spread of Christianity from its birthplace in Israel to the furthest corner of the earth, which he believed to be Britain and Ireland. This theory had been promoted by Roman historians in order to emphasise the might of Rome. By stating that Britain and Ireland stood at the edge of the world, they were able to claim that the Roman Empire reached from the earth’s centre (Jerusalem) right to its edge (in Britain). This concept was still prominent in the early medieval period and it shaped Bede’s belief that the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons would spark the beginning of the end of time.

The image of the Anglo-Saxon Mappa Mundi has been provided courtesy of the British Library Online Gallery and can be viewed here.