[8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT.]
Ecclesiastic: connected with the Church. For many centuries Rome was the centre of Christian influence, and is so still to all Roman Catholics.
ritual: the customs and ceremonies employed in performing service in a church.
Gregory I. or the Great was Pope from 590-604 A.D. He it was who sent Augustine to attempt the conversion of the English in the year 597.
kinglet: a petty king. England was then divided among many kings, so that the realm of each was necessarily very small.
crucifix: a figure of Christ fixed to the cross.
Bede: a monk and Church historian who lived and died at Jarrow in county Durham in 735 A.D.
Lindesfarne, or Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland.
Northumbrians: the men of Northumbria—that is, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland.