How Northern European Pagans Became Christians

Abstract

The article analyzes the course and methods of the spread of Christianity in medieval and early modern Europe, particularly the politically and ethnically fragmented areas of the northern half of the continent. Based on a study of contemporary literary sources, it presents a typology of the ways in which conversion to Christianity was achieved, or the reasons why the natives were willing to accept a change of religion. My analysis shows that missionary strategies based on theological argumentation and criticism of local polytheism usually had only a minimal effect on the Pagan natives. On the contrary, successful missionary methods on most of the European continent were based on offensive political pressure, variously combined with power and economic incentives, the attractiveness of the material culture of Christian countries, or also the religious interpretation of “signs” in favor of Christianization by the natives themselves. I suggest that any positive response to Christianity by northern European Pagans was based on associations between cult and practical prosperity that were characteristic of Pagan religious thought.