The effects of Christianization

By the time they formed an alliance with the Avars to destroy the Gepids, the Lombards seem to have already been converted to Christianity, albeit Arian Christianity. The Franks, on the other hand, converted to Roman Catholicism. Yet the fully Christian Merovingians have one of the most brutal and bloodthirsty histories in the Middle Ages. When the originally Visigothic princess Brunhildis, who had married into the Frankish royal house, fell, at the age of 70, into the hands of her enemies, they put her to death by tying her by her hair and one arm to the tail of an unbroken horse, then whipping it into a frenzy. Brunhildis was dragged and kicked to death at the hands of her fellow Christians.



On the other hand, the Christianization of both the Irish and the Russians seems to have positively impacted their cultures. Olav the stout (Later called Olav the Holy or St. Olav, patron saint of Norway) forcibly Christianized Norway when he became king. He forbade Viking raids, saying to his subjects, "You will not do this to your even (i.e. "fellow") Christians." While the Viking Age was already waining, this Christian act certainly had a civilizing, gentling effect.



I don't know what the pattern of Christian conversion has been outside of the barbarian conversion in Europe. I would be interested to hear if its effects were good, bad or inconsequential.

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