Ezana of Aksum, the First Christian King in Africa, with Aaron Butts
A conversation with Aaron Butts on the conversion to Christianity of Ezana, the fourth-century king of Aksum (in modern Ethiopia and Eritrea). “Conversion” is a conventional term, but what Ezana’s inscriptions and coins reveals is a complicated process of appealing to different groups and the coexistence of religions in his realm and the royal monuments.
New Medieval Books: Barbarian Queens and the Conversion of Europe
Queens played a pivotal role in bringing Christianity to new parts of Europe – or at least that’s how the story goes. This book explores eight cases in which women married pagan rulers and worked to introduce and establish the Christian faith among their husbands and the people they ruled.
The Tale of Bygone Years: Volodymyr Sviatoslavych and the Christianization of Rus′
The Tale of Bygone Years preserves one of the most detailed accounts of a ruler’s conversion in medieval Europe — the baptism of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych, ruler of Rus′. His path to Christianity, set against the backdrop of 10th-century royal conversions, reveals a complex interplay of politics, religion, and diplomacy.
Christianity before Conversion
How did people convert to Christianity in early medieval England? What happens if we prioritise archaeological and art historical sources?
How Did Danish Vikings Become Christian European?
The lecture presents some of the most significant archaeological finds in Denmark from the transition from the pre-Christian period into the Early Middle Ages.
The Queens Who Shaped Medieval Christianity: Gregory the Great’s Forgotten Allies
While Gregory’s influence is well known, the role of several powerful queens in promoting Catholic Christianity during his time is a fascinating but often overlooked aspect of this period.
New Medieval Books: Letters from the North
Eleven short documents, in Latin with an English translation, that report on efforts to convert pagan peoples in northern Germany and Scandinavia.
New Medieval Books: The Book of Icelanders
The Book of Icelanders (Íslendingabók) by Ari Thorligsson is a twelfth-century history of Iceland, including its settlement, Christianization and its first bishops. This book includes the Old Norse text and two kinds of translation: a literal one and a regular English translation.
New Medieval Books: Pagans in the Early Modern Baltic
A collection of ten texts, in Latin with English translation, from the 15th and 16th centuries, which relate pre-Christian religious practices in the Baltics.
How to kill a God: Christians against Pagans in the Middle Ages
To bring new lands under Roman Catholicism, the old pagan faiths had to be destroyed. Here is how this was done on the island of Rügen in the twelfth century.
How Christianity came to Medieval Europe
Nearly all the lands of Europe converted to Christianity during the Middle Ages. In this short guide, we take a look at how various lands adopted Christianity, including by means of missionary efforts, politics and warfare.
In Between Two Worlds: Jewish Women and Conversion in Late Medieval Catalonia
Blanca de Banyoles’ life is in many ways emblematic of the experiences of many Jewish women who converted to Christianity following the violence of 1391.
When Hundreds of Arabs came to Medieval France
The story of Louis IX and the Christian converts he brought to his kingdom.
The Kidnapping of Baby Bonafilla: Jewish guardianship, conversion, and mixed families in the aftermath of 1391 in Girona
In early 1417, the Jewish guardians of Bonafilla, the daughter of Nacim Roven, kidnapped the young toddler to prevent her conversa mother and stepfather from converting the child
We all eat white bread because of 7th-century missionaries to England
There are many types of bread in the world, but white bread is the most popular. The reason for this goes back to seventh-century England.
Cyril, Methodios, and the conversion of the Slavs, with Mirela Ivanova
Despite the huge importance attributed to these men and their activities in modern scholarship, national narratives, and Slavic Orthodox identity, our knowledge about them rests largely on two texts whose interests are quite different from our own. What do we really know about them?
Medieval Geopolitics: The Northern Crusades as a “Penitential War”
In this column, I look at the next phase in history of the Northern Crusades: that of “penitential war.”
Debating Agency: Women and Conversion in the Multi-Religious Society of Late Medieval Spain
The presentation examines the question of agency and gender in the social and spiritual experience of conversion to Christianity in 14th and 15th century Iberia.
Fulfilling Gregory’s goal: the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon people
The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons in the seventh century AD was a complex process that involved several stages.
How a volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity
Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in an apocalyptic medieval poem, were used to drive the island’s conversion to Christianity, new research suggests.
The Double Impact of Christianization for Women in Old Norse Culture
The question of whether Christianity resulted in an improvement, or a worsening of conditions for women in still open to debate.
The Making of a Missionary King: The Medieval Accounts of Olaf Tryggvason and the Conversion of Norway
The following article examines the oldest extant accounts of the conversion of Norway, from the Latin works of the late twelfth century until Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla from around 1230.
Who Were The Celts? The British Museum Offers Answers with New Exhibition
The British Museum just opened its latest exhibit, Celts: Art and Identity this past Thursday, covering 2,500 years of Celtic history. The exhibit explores Celtic identity and how it eveolved from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the present through art, culture, daily life, religion and politics.
How Christianity came to Europe
During the Middle Ages nearly all the lands of Europe converted to Christianity. In this short guide, we take a look at how various lands adopted Christianity, including by means of missionary efforts, politics and warfare.
