Learnings: Church Power Structure
The Church in Anglo-Saxon Britain dated back to the Roman era; centuries later, it was the sole surviving imperial institution on the island. Its structure, however, continued to change long after the Romans left.
The departure of the Romans from the territory in the 5th century upset the power structure of the Church. When Anglo-Saxon Britain became Christian, it seemed at first that each of the kingdoms would have their own bishop. This meant that some bishops ended up controlling enormous amounts of people and land—too much. Theodore of Tarsus, the Archbishop of Canterbury, managed to set things right, reorganizing the bishops and splitting the colosssal diocese of York into three parts.
When the Scandinavian "Great Heathen Army" reached the shores of Anglo-Saxon Britain, there were roughly sixteen dioceses and two archdioceses [*] on the island. They can be seen on this map.