The early Anglo-Saxons followed a pagan belief system. They belived in different gods and goddesses based on nature and mythology. The names of some of these gods are remembered in  the English names for the days of the week: Tuesday - Tiw (god of war), Wednesday - Woden (god of the dead), Thursday – Thor (god of thunder) and Friday - Fréo (goddess of love).

In AD 597, Augustine was sent to England by Pope Gregory (the head of the Roman Christian church) to convert the Saxons to Christianity. Augustine landed in Kent. He converted King Aethelbert of Kent and his court to Christianity and founded a monastery at Canterbury. Christianity then gradually spread across England.