During the Anglo-Saxon period, was subscribing to a religion (be it Christianity/Paganism) necessary?

by hayleymello

Necessary in a sense that it was a social norm and that if you did not, you're outcasted or looked at weirdly.

Steelcan909

Yes. Christianity was non-negotiable in Anglo-Saxon England following the final conversions in the later 7th century, and the penalties could be far worse than just a few askance looks or ostracism. Exile and perhaps even execution would certainly be within the realm of possibility (Bede tells us that the last pagan Anglo-Saxon kingdom was completely destroyed in warfare with Wessex), however it was in many ways a moot point. Anglo-Saxon kingdoms converted to Christianity relatively quickly (in the grand scheme of the Middle Ages) and even the later Viking new comers did not maintain their religious beliefs for an extended period of time in the face of the overwhelmingly Christian populace.

This was of course not always the case, and in the conversion period there were undoubtedly times of relative coexistence, East Anglia is a fascinating example of this being represented in both literary sources as well as archaeology. However this situation and the ad-hoc systems of tolerance that perhaps sprung up did not, and it is hard to see how they could, last. However there are not many law codes that are unambiguously traced to pagan realms and their own tolerance of Christianity is unkown, but given that eventually all of the kingdoms converted its doubtful that any bans existed that were successful at clamping down on Christianity's spread.

Following the start of the Viking period (and really even a little before) and the consolidation of England out of the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex Christianity became a part of the legal codes that were established. For example, King Edmund I's law codes includes the stipulation that shedding the blood of a Christian man forbid you from entering the King's presence. Other law codes from the same rough time frame take Christianity as an assumption and instead regulate things like church tithes, attendance, and other minutiae of that variety. The existence of a pagan as a part of the community is not even entertained and there seems to have been no need to spell that out in the law codes. This was also due in part to the relationship depicted between the Saxons and their Scandinavian harassers. Asser's biography of Alfred the Great is rife with references to pagans and heathens as the enemies of the Christian Anglo-Saxons. When peace was established between Guthrum and Alfred it was a necessary pre-condition that Guthrum receive Christian baptism.

Law codes privileging the Church are even found in the earliest surviving incarnation of Anglo-Saxon laws, Æhelberht of Kent's from the end of the 6th Century. Indeed in these early documents the penalties for stealing property from the higher echelons of the Church hierarchy are among the most severe in the document, and are placed quite prominently coming before all others. Other law codes even place the word or oath of bishops on par with that of kings. While these law codes do not explicitly outlaw paganism, and the one law code I have seen that does it reportedly a forgery from much later, there is clearly very little wiggle room for religious affiliation in them. This is not unexpected though. As a part of Alfred's efforts at revitalizing English culture and religion he strongly supported the Church and while there is some anecdotal evidence of pagans in his court it is highly unlikely that it was common or even all that tolerated.