page_title: English people
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: English people / Culture / Religion
caption_attribution_description: The crowd seemed to enjoy the St George's Day festival. I'd estimate the crowd at about 2,000, with many coming and going all day.
context_page_description: The English people are an ethnic group and a nation native to England, who speak the English language of the Indo-European language family and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Angelcynn. Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Great Britain around the 5th century AD. England is the largest and most populous country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
  The English largely descend from two main historical population groups – the Germanic tribes who settled in southern Britain following the withdrawal of the Romans, and the Romanized Britons and Brythonic Celts who had been living there already. Collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons, they founded what was to become the Kingdom of England by the early 10th century, in response to the invasion and minor settlement of Danes beginning in the late 9th century. This was followed by the Norman Conquest and limited settlement of Anglo-Normans in England in the latter 11th century.
context_section_description: The established religion of the realm is the Church of England, whose titular head is Queen Elizabeth II although the worldwide Anglican Communion is overseen by the General Synod of its bishops under the authority of Parliament. 26 of the church's 42 bishops are Lords Spiritual, representing the church in the House of Lords. In 2010, the Church of England counted 25 million baptised members out of the 41 million Christians in Great Britain's population of about 60 million; around the same time, it also claimed to baptise one in eight newborn children. Generally, anyone in England may marry or be buried at their local parish church, whether or not they have been baptised in the church. Actual attendance has declined steadily since 1890, with around one million, or 10% of the baptised population attending Sunday services on a regular basis (defined as once a month or more) and three million -roughly 15%- joining Christmas Eve and Christmas services.
  Saint George is recognised as the patron saint of England, and the flag of England consists of his cross. Before Edward III, the patron saint was St Edmund; and St Alban is also honoured as England's first martyr.
  A survey carried out in the end of 2008 by Ipsos MORI on behalf of The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development found the population of England and Wales to be 47.0% affiliated with the Church of England, which is also the state church, 9.6% with the Roman Catholic Church and 8.7% were other Christians, mainly Free church Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians. 4.8% were Muslim, 3.4% were members of other religions, 5.3% were agnostics, 6.8% were atheists and 15.0% were not sure about their religious affiliation or refused to answer to the question.
  Religious observance of St George's Day (23 April) changes when it is too close to Easter.  According to the Church of England's calendar, when St George's Day falls between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter inclusive, it is moved to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter.
caption: A crowd celebrates Saint George's Day at an event in Trafalgar Square in 2010.
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