ABSTRACT
There was much that was unpleasant about politics and society and difficult about life in Britain between 800 and 1066, as studies of the material remains have made plain. 1 Responsibility for some of its unprepossessing features lay with its Christian inhabitants and in the wider context of the history of Christianity and the Church some episodes offer readers a tale of sexism, villainy, misinformation and persecution. Nevertheless, in this case their contributions to the human experience were overwhelmingly positive, though not faultless. This conclusion follows from scrutiny of the provenance, context, purpose and layers of meaning of the evidence, not merely its overt content.
