Journal of World History

Book Review

The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity

The author's objective was to write a book for the general public rather than for his specialized colleagues in medieval studies. In keeping with this goal, the author's thesis is very clearly stated in the first sentence of his Preface--"This book is an investigation of the process by which large parts of Europe accepted the Christian faith between the fourth and the fourteenth centuries and some of the cultural consequences that flowed therefrom." In short, this volume is a descriptive survey of a very broad and complex topic. Since the last attempt at such an undertaking was by the Reverend C. H. Robinson (The Conversion of Europe) in 1917, it is time for a new study and the synthesis of this topic.

Richard Fletcher wisely points out that religious conversion is not only limited to an abstract change in dogma and doctrine, but it also entails significant cultural consequences that flow from such major shifts in belief. In the case of most of Western, Northern, and Central Europe, this meant a rejection of Celtic, German, Slavic, and other peoples' paganism and culture, and a general acceptance of most elements of Mediterranean culture as embodied in the late Roman Empire--of Greco-Roman books and literature, of food and dress, of urban life and commerce, of Roman law and property rights, of the written Latin language, and so on. The conversion of barbarian [End Page 367] Europe to Christianity represented the acceptance of most aspects of the advanced civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin as well.

In most cases, this conversion did not represent a sudden and abrupt shift in belief and daily life styles, but rather more of a slow and gradual transformation spread over generations and centuries. Early Western Christianity found it necessary to be flexible and adaptable to successfully attract converts. Pope Gregory I (590-604) pushed this type of syncretism--this type of fusion of different beliefs and practices that grew out of compromise, adaptation, dilution, and transference. Pagan idols and shrines were replaced by Christian statues and relics, sometimes in a Christian church on the site of a former pagan holy place. Rituals for the sick and dying were also Christianized, as were funeral practices and marriages. While Latin was the official language of the Western Christian Church and the educated clergy, the gospel was preached in the vernacular languages to the people. In this way, over the medieval centuries, Europe slowly and gradually became truly Christian by internal and individual conviction rather than the earlier surface Christians who participated in external church rituals but were basically ignorant of Christian doctrine and dogma.

In his survey of the spread of Western Christianity or Roman Catholicism into Western, Northern, and Central Europe, Fletcher jumps around in his geographical and chronological coverage. However, his primary focus is on the British Isles and those parts of Europe that were once part of the Carolingian Empire, as most of his frequent quotations come from sources written in these areas. Fletcher correctly states that the conversion of Europe to Western Christianity was not inevitable (Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, and Judaism were other viable alternatives and/or rival belief systems). Rather, he stresses how and why the Europeans, especially the Celts, Germans, and Slavs, accepted Roman Catholicism. The "how" was sometimes implemented through predatory warfare in which a conquered society was forced into accepting Christianity--most students remember Charlemagne giving the defeated Saxons the choice of baptism or the sword. However, the goal of most Christian missionaries was to convert the leader and his powerful nobles; once this was achieved, the rest of society would become Christians via the "trickle down" theory.

Fletcher characterizes the medieval church in Germanic Europe as an "adelskirche"--as a church of the nobility. The early church was funded and supported by rich gifts from the king and aristocracy who could, and frequently would, force their beliefs and practices on all those politically, economically, and socially dependent on them. The early church (from the seventh century to eleventh-century Gregorian [End Page 368] Reform) was managed for and by the German aristocracy. Church leaders were recruited from the secular aristocratic elite--from the nobility that endowed and led the church and ruled the rest of their society. Christianity soon was an inseparable part of the German aristocratic identity, as they adopted Christianity to their values and behavior patterns. Fletcher calls this process the merger of the Christian chalice and pagan German drinking horn. Aristocratic church establishments were considered to be the property of the founder and his/her heirs; they were allowed to name the abbot and/or priest and received part of the church revenue. These proprietary churches continued until the Gregorian Reform (the reforming monk Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII, 1073-1085) took control of the church from the local aristocracy and placed it firmly in clerical ecclesiastical hands. From this point onward, the reformed church became clerical, bureaucratic, and rigid under papal leadership.

"Why" the barbarians converted to Christianity is closely related to the "how," as in most cases material rewards associated with Christianity--better Mediterranean technology, victory in battle, better political organization, power, security, and more. The more advanced Christian societies were better organized and wealthier, and thus frequently were able to conquer their pagan neighbors. The conquered barbarians accepted Christianity as part of their expectations for material gains and earthly rewards, as well as for acceptance and integration into the wealthier and more powerful Christian civilization that emerged in Europe during the medieval period. There is little evidence, outside of miracles over nature in some hagiographies, of individual and/or personal conviction as the reason for accepting early Christianity.

While the focus of this volume is specifically Europe's acceptance of Christianity during the medieval period, there are parts of the study that do have a broader and more universal application. Fletcher's stress on the "process of conversion" and the cultural impact of Mediterranean Greco-Roman civilization on the barbarians of Europe do have a parallel in the spread of almost any civilized society over a less advanced one. The spread of Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism-Taoism, among others, and the accompanying advanced cultures, went through closely parallel, if not many of the same, stages--the religious belief system initially associated only with members of the civilization; the spread of that religion into neighboring barbarians via cultural, political, economic, and social contact; acceptance into the advanced civilization by forced conversion after military conquest; conversion first of royal and aristocratic leaders; integration and synthesis between traditional pagan beliefs and the new theology; expectancy of material [End Page 369] rewards on the part of the new converts as they associated the new religion with better technology, power, and security, and so on. While the particular beliefs, individuals, and tribal units are specific to the Christian conversion of Europe's barbarians, the coverage of the "process of conversion" is applicable to how this volume is a good supplement, for in-depth coverage of Europe's conversion to Christianity, to Jerry Bentley's recent Old World Encounters: Cross Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (1993) which discusses the same process in the broader Eurasian-African context.

As one would expect of a volume written for the general public, the scholarly apparatus tends to be weak. A new synthesis and overview like that presented here needs a more solid base than nine pages of "Further Readings," mostly in English. Indeed, the statement in the Preface--". . . in a work of this character a formal bibliography would be out of order"--tends to erode the author's credibility. A long study (524 pages), presenting a new synthesis, needs a more scholarly base than only sixteen pages of Notes, many of which are source citations for the numerous long quotations. The ten maps and twenty-four plates prove to be very helpful and informative, especially for the general reader.

While the intended audience of this volume was the general reader, Fletcher and his publisher seemed to needlessly go out of their way to antagonize the scholarly specialists and thus to alienate the academic community. Even the dust jacket proudly proclaims that this book "...often reads like a detective story and owes much to keen intuition as to a firm mastery of difficult sources." It is unfortunate that this volume contains such statements and has such a weak scholarly base that most academic experts will tend to either ignore or overlook it. Unfortunate because Fletcher's new synthesis is well organized, is convincing (even if the existing scholarly sources are not adequately presented to support his conclusions), and is well written. Even though Fletcher is not a professionally trained historian or theologian, he has authored a broad and worthy synthesis that, while less systematically anchored to the original sources than most experts would like, ought to be read by medieval specialists and ought to be in most academic libraries. A volume that is openly "popular" need not automatically be "incorrect or useless." Despite its stated objective, this popularized study does make a worthwhile contribution to medieval scholarship.

GREGORY G. GUZMAN
Bradley University