Editing Devon (section)

==Religion==
===Ancient and medieval history===
The region of Devon was the dominion of the pre-Roman Dumnonii [[List of Celtic tribes|Celtic tribe]], known as the "Deep Valley Dwellers". The region to the west of Exeter was less Romanised than the rest of Roman Britain since it was considered a remote part of the province. After the formal Roman withdrawal from Britain in AD 410, one of the leading Dumnonii families attempted to create a dynasty and rule over Devon as the new Kings of Dumnonii.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.britannia.com/history/devon/devon.html |title=Britannia History: Overview of Devon |website=britannia.com |access-date=4 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203034354/http://www.britannia.com/history/devon/devon.html |archive-date=3 February 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Celtic polytheism|Celtic paganism]] and [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman practice]]s were the first known religions in Devon, although in the mid-fourth century AD, Christianity was introduced to Devon.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/fs28_-_anglo_saxon_devon.pdf |title=Devon Libraries: Sources for Anglo-Saxon Devon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000320/http://www.devon.gov.uk/fs28_-_anglo_saxon_devon.pdf |archive-date=2 February 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} In the [[Sub-Roman Britain|Sub-Roman period]] the church in the [[British Isles]] was characterised by some differences in practice from the [[Latin Church|Latin Christianity]] of the continent of Europe and is known as [[Celtic Christianity]];<ref>Bowen, E. G. (1977) ''Saints, Seaways and Settlements in the Celtic Lands''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press {{ISBN|0-900768-30-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-60/patrick-and-celtic-christianity-did-you-know.html |title=St. Patrick and Celtic Christianity: Did You Know? |work=Christian History {{!}} Learn the History of Christianity & the Church |access-date=4 July 2017 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612083814/http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-60/patrick-and-celtic-christianity-did-you-know.html |archive-date=12 June 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/articles/monasticism-the-heart-of-celtic-christianity/ |title=Monasticism – The Heart of Celtic Christianity – Northumbria Community |work=Northumbria Community |access-date=4 July 2017 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117005904/http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/articles/monasticism-the-heart-of-celtic-christianity/ |archive-date=17 January 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> however it was always in communion with the wider [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]]. Many [[list of Cornish saints|Cornish saints]] are commemorated also in Devon in legends, churches and place-names. [[Western Christianity]] came to Devon when it was over a long period incorporated into the [[Wessex|kingdom of Wessex]] and the jurisdiction of the bishop of Wessex. [[Saint Petroc]] is said to have passed through Devon, where ancient dedications to him are even more numerous than in Cornwall: a probable seventeen (plus [[Timberscombe]] just over the border in Somerset), compared to Cornwall's five. The position of churches bearing his name, including one within the old Roman walls of Exeter, are nearly always near the coast, as in those days travelling was done mainly by sea. The Devonian villages of [[Petrockstowe]] and [[Newton St Petroc]] are also named after Saint Petroc and the [[flag of Devon]] is dedicated to him.

The history of Christianity in the South West of England remains to some degree obscure. Parts of the historic county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex, while nothing is known of the church organisation of the Celtic areas. About 703 Devon and Cornwall were included in the separate diocese of Sherborne and in 900 this was again divided into two, the Devon bishop having from 905 his seat at Tawton (now [[Bishop's Tawton]]) and from 912 at [[Crediton]], birthplace of St Boniface. [[Lyfing, Abbot of Tavistock|Lyfing]] became [[Bishop of Crediton]] in 1027 and shortly afterwards became [[Bishop of Cornwall]].

The two dioceses of Crediton and Cornwall, covering Devon and Cornwall, were united under [[Edward the Confessor]] by Lyfing's successor [[Leofric, Bishop of Exeter|Bishop Leofric]], hitherto Bishop of Crediton, who became first Bishop of Exeter under Edward the Confessor, which was established as his cathedral city in 1050. At first, the abbey church of St Mary and St Peter, founded by Athelstan in 932 and rebuilt in 1019, served as the cathedral.

Devon came under the political influence of several different nobles during the Middle Ages, especially the Courtenays [[Earl of Devon]]. During the Wars of the Roses, important magnates included the Earl of Devon, [[William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville]], and [[Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon|Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon]] whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, one of the county's influential figures included Henry VII's courtier [[Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stansfield-Cudworth |first=R. E. |title=Political Elites in South-West England, 1450–1500: Politics, Governance, and the Wars of the Roses |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-77344-714-1 |location=[[Lewiston, New York|Lewiston]], New York |pages=165–73, 206–13, 321–29}}</ref>

===Later history===
In 1549, the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] caused the deaths of thousands of people from Devon and Cornwall. During the [[English Reformation]], churches in Devon officially became affiliated with the [[Church of England]]. From the late sixteenth century onwards, zealous Protestantism – or 'puritanism' – became increasingly well-entrenched in some parts of Devon, while other districts of the county remained much more conservative. These divisions would become starkly apparent during the English Civil War of 1642–46, when the county split apart along religious and cultural lines.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stoyle |first1=Mark |date=1994 |title=Loyalty and Locality: Popular Allegiance in Devon During the English Civil War |location=Exeter, UK |publisher=University of Exeter Press |isbn=978-0-85989-428-9 |page=passim |language=en}}</ref> The [[Methodism]] of [[John Wesley]] proved to be very popular with the working classes in Devon in the 19th century. Methodist chapels became important social centres, with male voice choirs and other church-affiliated groups playing a central role in the social lives of working class Devonians. Methodism still plays a large part in the religious life of Devon today, although the county has shared in the post-World War II decline in British religious feeling.

The [[Diocese of Exeter]] remains the Anglican diocese including the whole of Devon. The [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth]] was established in the mid 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/ |title=Home |website=Plymouth-diocese.org.uk |date=15 February 2015 |access-date=13 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021130930/http://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/ |archive-date=21 October 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>