The First
Christian In Our Family, Wessex King Ceawlin
Compiled
by D. A. Sharpe
The passion for history in pursuing
my ancestry includes a focus in learning the documentation and the extent of
Christian experience that was present in my family lines. This report covers the person whom I
believe was the very first Christian convert out of our originally pagan
ancestry.
In 591, Scottish King Ceawlin
received Christian Baptism. He
is the earliest member of this ancestry which claimed Christianity, over 1,400 years ago. Pope Gregory had sent a
missionary circa 590, named Father
Columba. King Ceawlin is the 18th great grandfather of the 14th great grand uncle of the Edward
Southworth, the first husband of my 7th great grandmother, Alice Carpenter. My descending from Alice was through her
second husband, Plymouth Colony Government William Bradford.
Not
only was my 7th great grandfather William Bradford a leader of the early Pilgrims to the New World in
1620, but he was the principal composer of the Mayflower Compact, that revolutionary document of self-governance
agreed upon by the 41 men out of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower prior to
their stepping onto their new land.
BradfordÕs Christian leadership of the Pilgrims became legendary and was
truly a Christian witness.
King Ceawlin (also spelled Ceaulin and Caelin) was born at
an estimated 547 AD. His death was
593, presumed from injuries incurred in battle, and he was interred in Wessex,
England.
Caledonia (pronounced kal ih DOH nee uh) is the ancient Roman
name for northern Scotland. It later became a poetic name for all
Scotland. The Roman general, Gnaeus
Julius Agricolo, invaded Caledonia
in 83 AD. The first Caledonians
were the Picts. The Caledonians of
early English history were Picts and Scotts. Their
raids forced the Britons to seek the help of the Anglos and the Saxons.
Father
ColumbaÕs ministry was to the
Picts (pronounced pihkts) who were an ancient people of northern Scotland. The Picts were given this name by the
Romans, because the Picts painted or tattooed their skin. The Latin word for painter is pictor. The first historical reference to the
Picts occurs in a speech made by a Roman orator in A.D. 297. The
Pictish tribes fought the Romans for many years. The Romans built two long walls to
keep the Picts out of the province of Britain. Later, the Picts fought the Teutonic conquerors of Britain,
the Anglos and Saxons. They
disappeared as a people about A.D. 900.
Contributor:
Robert S. Hoyt, Ph.D., Author, Europe in the Middle Ages.
In 593, there was a great slaughter
of Britons at Wanborough. King
Ceawlin was driven from his Kingdom.
This was the year ye died, at the young age of 46. The Picts have long
been regarded as enigmatic savages who fought off RomeÕs legions before
mysteriously disappearing from history.
They were considered wild tribesmen who refused to sacrifice their
freedom in exchange for the benefits of civilization. Far from the primitive warriors of
popular imagination, they did build a sophisticated culture in northern
Scotland in the latter half of the first millennium AD, which surpassed their
Anglo-Saxon rivals in many respects.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-the-picts-886098.html
However, King Ceawlin is revered in
our minds as a fellow Christian in our family lines. The very first Christian we have
identified as having that faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Father.
Praise be to God!
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Albert Sharpe