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For the purposes of this article the Christianization of Scandinavia refers to the process of conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian and Nordic peoples, starting in the 8th century with the arrival of missionaries in Denmark and ending in the 18th century with the conversion of the Inuits and the Sami. St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ...
In general, conversion is the transformation of one thing into another. ...
Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ...
Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe. ...
Overview map of the region. ...
A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ...
There are other articles with similar names; see Inuit (disambiguation). ...
Sami flag The Sami People (there are other names and spellings including Sámi, Saami and Lapp) are an indigenous people of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia, covering a total area in the Nordic countries corresponding to the size of Sweden. ...
Denmark
Recorded missionary efforts in Denmark started with Willibrord, Apostle to the Frisians, who preached in Jutland around 700 with little success. A century later Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims, baptized a few men during his 823 sojourn in Denmark. A few years later, in 826, the exiled Danish king Klakk-Harald forged an alliance with Louis the Pious and was baptized along with his family and court in Ingelheim am Rhein. As Harald returned to Denmark, Louis assigned the monk Ansgar to follow him and oversee Christianity among the converts. Ansgar proved an effective missionary who extended his work to Sweden. Nevertheless Christianity had made mostly a surface impression and the majority of Danes remained pagan. In 831 the Archbishopric of Hamburg was founded and assigned responsibility for Christianity in the north. Over the following century Christianity made slow inroads in Denmark. The semi-legendary king Gorm the Old was said to be "hard and heathen" but his son, Harald Bluetooth (ca. 911 - ca. 986) boasted on the Jelling stones that he had "made the Danes Christian". Some sources report that his son, Svein Forkbeard, relapsed into paganism but in the early 11th century Denmark can be said to be a Christian country. Saint Willibrord (c. ...
Louis the Pious, contemporary depiction from 826 as a miles Christi (soldier of Christ), with a poem of Rabanus Maurus overlaid. ...
Ingelheim am Rhein is the administrative centre of the Mainz-Bingen local government district, situated on the left bank of the Rhine within the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ...
Ansgar, etching by Hugo Hamilton (1830) Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, (September 8?, 801–February 3, 865) was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. ...
Norse paganism or Nordic religion is a termed used to abbreviate the religion preferably amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries under pre-Christian period that are supported by archaeology findings and early written materials. ...
The Archbishopric of Bremen was an ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire. ...
Gorm the Old (Gorm den Gamle) was King of Denmark in the mid-900s. ...
Harold Bluetooth Gormson (Danish Harald Blåtand, Norwegian Harald Blåtann) (ca 935- November 1, 986), sometimes Harold II, succeeded his father Gorm the Old as king of Denmark in 958 (or 959) and was king of Norway for a few years, probably around 970. ...
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Sweyn I Forkbeard (Sven Otto Haraldsson; Danish: Svend Tveskæg, originally Tjugeskæg or Tyvskæg, Norwegian: Svein Tjugeskjegg) (c. ...
Norway and the west The first recorded attempts at spreading Christianity in Norway were made by King Haakon the Good (reigned 934-961), who was raised in England. His efforts were unpopular and met with little success. The subsequent King Harald Greyhide (reigned 961–976), also a Christian, was known for destroying pagan temples but not for efforts to popularize Christianity. He was followed by the staunchly pagan Jarl Haakon (reigned 971-995) who led a revival of paganism with the rebuilding of temples. In 995 King Olaf Tryggvason came to power in Norway and made it his priority to convert the country to Christianity using all means at his disposal. By destroying temples and torturing and killing pagan resisters he succeeded in making every part of Norway at least nominally Christian. Expanding his efforts to the Norse settlements in the west the kings' sagas credit him with Christianizing the Faroes, Orkney, Shetland, Iceland and Greenland. In Iceland the decision to convert was made peacefully at the Althing, following King Olaf's taking of Icelandic hostages. Haakon I (c. ...
Harald Greyhide (died 976) (Old Norse: Haraldr gráfeldr, Norwegian: Harald Gråfell. ...
Olav Tryggvason (969 - September 9, 1000) was a great-grandson of Harald Hairfair He began his meteoric career in exile as his ancestors fled from the executions of the royal family by Eric Bloodaxe. ...
The Kings sagas are Norse Sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. ...
The Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroyar, meaning Sheep Islands) are a group of islands in the north Atlantic Ocean between Scotland and Iceland. ...
The Orkney Islands form one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and are a Lieutenancy Area. ...
Shetland (formerly spelled Zetland, from etland) formerly called Hjaltland, is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ...
The Althing (Modern Icelandic Alþingi; Old Norse Alþing) is the national parliament: literally, the all-thing (or General Assembly) of Iceland. ...
After Olaf's defeat at the Battle of Svolder in 1000 there was a partial relapse to paganism in Norway under the rule of the Jarls of Lade. In the following reign of Saint Olaf, 1015-1028, pagan remnants were stamped out and Christianity entrenched. The naval Battle of Svolder or Swold took place on 9 September 1000 in the western Baltic Sea, between Norway and the other Scandinavians. ...
The Jarls of Lade (Modern Norwegian) or Hlaðir (Old Norse) were a dynasty of Norwegian rulers, influential from the 9th century to the 11th century. ...
Olav II Haraldsson ( 995 – 1030), king from 1015–1028, called during his lifetime the Fat and afterwards known as Saint Olaf, was born in the year in which Olaf Tryggvesson came to Norway. ...
Sweden and Finland The first known attempts to Christianize Sweden were made by Ansgar in 830, invited by the Swedish king Björn at Haugi. Setting up a church at Birka he met with little Swedish interest. A century later Unni, archbishop of Hamburg, made another unsuccessful attempt. In the 10th century English missionaries made inroads in Västergötland while central Sweden, with the Temple at Uppsala, was a centre of pagan resistance. The first Christian king of Sweden was Olof Skötkonung who succeeded to the throne in the 990s but conflict between Christians and pagans continued till the end of the 11th century. Ansgar, etching by Hugo Hamilton (1830) Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, (September 8?, 801–February 3, 865) was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. ...
King Björns barrow in Håga (Old Norse name: Haug)near Uppsala. ...
Björkö around 1700, from Suecia antiqua et hodierna. ...
The Temple at Uppsala was a temple in Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), near modern Uppsala, Sweden, that was created to worship the Norse gods of ancient times. ...
Coin minted for Olof Skötkonung in Sigtuna Olof of Sweden or Olof Skötkonung/Skottkonung (the meaning of the cognomen is disputed) was the son of Eric the Victorious and Sigrid the Haughty. ...
Judging by archaeological finds, Christianity gained a foothold in Finland during the 11th century. It was strengthened with growing Swedish influence in the 12th century and the Finnish "crusade" of Birger Jarl in the 13th century. Birger jarl ▶(?) (English: Earl Birger), full name Birger Magnusson of Bjälbo (1210 – October 21, 1266), was a Swedish statesman and the founder of Stockholm. ...
The last pagans In the 18th century a new Danish colony was started in Greenland with the objective of converting the inhabitants to Christianity. Around the same time efforts were made in Norway and Sweden to convert the Sami, who had remained pagan long after the conversion of their neighbours.
See also By Germanic Christianity is that phase in the history of Northern Europe understood, when the Germanic peoples of the Migration period and Viking Age adopted Christianity. ...
References - Bæksted, Anders (1986). Goð og hetjur í heiðnum sið, Eysteinn Þorvaldsson translated to Icelandic. Reykjavík: Örn og Örlygur.
- Christianization of Sweden Encyclopædia Britannica article
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