Germanic peoples began entering the Roman Empire in large numbers at the same time that
Christianity was spreading there. The connection of Christianity to the Roman Empire was both a factor in encouraging conversion as well as, at times, a motive for persecuting Christians. Until
the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, the
Germanic tribes who had migrated there (with the exceptions of the
Saxons,
Franks and
Lombards, see below) had converted to Christianity. Many of them, notably the
Goths and
Vandals, adopted
Arianism instead of the
Trinitarian (a.k.a.
Nicene or
orthodox) beliefs that were
dogmatically defined by the
church in the
Nicene Creed. Many Goths converted to Christianity as individuals outside the Roman Empire. Most members of other tribes converted to Christianity when their respective tribes settled within the Empire, and most Franks and Anglo-Saxons converted a few generations later. During the centuries following the fall of Rome, as the
East–West Schism between the
dioceses loyal to the
Pope of Rome in the
West and those loyal to the other
Patriarchs in the
East grew, most of the Germanic peoples (excepting the
Crimean Goths and a few other eastern groups) would gradually become strongly allied with the Catholic Church in the West, particularly as a result of the reign of
Charlemagne.
East Germanic peoples Most of the East Germanic peoples, such as the Goths,
Gepids and Vandals, along with the
Langobards and the
Suevi in Spain, converted to
Arian Christianity, a form of Christianity that claimed that Jesus was created by God and rejected the
Trinity. The first Germanic people to convert to Arianism were the Visigoths, at the latest in 376 when they entered the Roman Empire. This followed a longer period of missionary work by both
Orthodox Christians and Arians, such as the Arian
Wulfila, who was made missionary bishop of the Goths in 341 and translated the
Bible into Gothic. Initially, Gothic Christians had also faced some persecution under the Gothic King
Athanaric, from 363 to 372. The
Vandals appear to have converted following their entry into the Empire in 405; for other east Germanic peoples it is possible that Visigothic missionaries played a role in their conversion, although this is unclear. Each Germanic people in the Arian faith had their own ecclesiastical organisation that was controlled by the king, while the
liturgy was performed in the Germanic vernacular and a vernacular bible (probably Wulfila's) was used. The Arian Germanic peoples all eventually converted to Nicene Christianity, which had become the dominant form of Christianity within the Roman Empire; the last to convert were the Visigoths in Spain under
Reccared I in 587.
Franks and Alemanni , the earliest material witness of Christian presence in the German
Rhineland. It presumably depicts Christ as a heroic warrior wielding a lance, with a halo or crown of rays emanating from his head. There is little evidence for any Roman missionary activity in
Germania prior to the conversion of the
Franks. The areas of the Roman Empire conquered by the Franks,
Alemanni and
Baiuvarii were mostly Christian already, and while some bishoprics continued to operate, others were abandoned, showing a reduction in the influence of Christianity in these areas. In 496 the Frankish king
Clovis I converted to
Nicene Christianity. This began a period of
missionary work within Frankish territory and the re-establishment of church provinces that had been abandoned within former Roman territory. The
Anglo-Saxons gradually converted following a mission sent by Pope
Gregory the Great in 595. In the 7th century the
Hiberno-Scottish mission resulted in the establishment of many monasteries in Frankish territory. At the same time, Frankish-supported missionary activity spread across the Rhine, led by figures of the
Anglo-Saxon mission such as
Saint Boniface. This affected peoples such as the
Thuringians, Alemanni, Bavarians,
Frisians and
Saxons.
Continental Saxons The Saxons rejected Christianisation, likely in part because doing so would have involved giving up their independence and becoming part of the Frankish realm. They were eventually forcibly converted by
Charlemagne as a result of their conquest in the
Saxon Wars in 776/777: Charlemagne thereby combined religious conversion with political loyalty to his empire. Continued resistance to conversion seems to have played a role in Saxon rebellions between 782 and 785, then again from 792 to 804, and during the
Stellinga rebellion in 844.
England The
Anglo-Saxons gradually converted following the
Gregorian mission sent by
Pope Gregory I in 595, as well as the
Hiberno-Scottish mission from the north-west.
Pope Gregory I sent the first
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Augustine of Canterbury, to southern England in 597. The process of conversion usually proceeded from the top of the social hierarchy downwards, generally peacefully, with a local ruler choosing to convert, whereupon his subjects then also nominally became Christian. This process was often only partial, perhaps due to confusion as to the nature of the new religion, or for a desire to take the best of both traditions. A famous case of this was king
Rædwald of East Anglia of
East Anglia, who had a Christian altar erected within his pagan temple. His
suspected burial place at Sutton Hoo shows definite influences of both Christian and pagan burial rites. The last pagan Anglo-Saxon king, the
Jutish king
Arwald of the
Isle of Wight, was killed in battle in 686 fighting against the imposition of Christianity in his kingdom. During the prolonged period of Viking incursions and settlement of Anglo-Saxon England pagan ideas and religious rites made something of a comeback, mainly in the
Danelaw during the 9th century and particularly in the
Kingdom of Northumbria, whose last king to rule it as an independent state was
Eric Bloodaxe, a Viking, probably pagan and ruler until 954.
Scandinavia Attempts to Christianise Scandinavia were first systematically undertaken by Frankish Emperor
Louis the Pious. In 831 he made the missionary
Ansgar archbishop of the newly created
Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen to undertake a mission to Scandinavia, which, however, mostly failed. Missionary activity resumed under the
Ottonian dynasty. The Danish king
Harald Bluetooth was baptised in the late 900s, but most Danes appear to have remained pagan and converted later under English influence during the reign of
Canute the Great. Norway was converted mostly by the activity of its kings. Despite resistance such as the rule of the pagan
Haakon Sigurdsson, Christianisation was largely achieved by Olaf II of Norway (died 1030), later venerated as
Saint Olaf, who had converted in England. The
settlement of Iceland included some Christians, but full conversion there did not occur until a decision of the
Althing in 1000. The last Germanic people to convert were the Swedes, although the
Geats had converted earlier. The pagan
Temple at Uppsala seems to have continued to exist into the early 1100s. ==Characteristics==