My studies of Europe after the fall of Rome continue, and my Western Civ course has focused on how Christianity was spread throughout this ever-changing continent. Seemingly out of nowhere, Ireland, thanks to the work of St. Patrick, began to play a big part in the conversion of Europe through missionary work. This, however, is not the topic of today’s essay, but I felt it was important to include this fact somehow. The focus for today is more on England, and how the peoples within, like the Anglo-Saxons, were converted. I have two assignments once again, so let us begin with something a bit unexpected.
The first assignment: “What was the Carolingian Renaissance, and why was it significant?” I know, this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with England, but please bare with me since it is, after all, my assignment. The Carolingian Renaissance occurred during the late 8th century and was unwittingly begun by a well known figure named Charlemagne. He wanted to in a way create a civilization that had a resemblance to the ancient form of Rome. This meant having a capital that stood in one place, since the ‘capital’ at the time was moved every week, and having a government that carried out the duties that an emperor would’ve had back in the day. Apart from this, he had another goal that is probably the most important achievement this renaissance had. Charlemagne gets monks in what was know as Tours to create translations and copies of ancient works like the Vulgate. To further this, along with some educational goals he had, he imports teachers from Ireland and modern day Britain, whom were the results of my second assignment.
Here it is: “Describe the process by which Christianity was spread in England.” These events occurred a couple centuries before the previously discussed topic. The figure we first need to look at is Gregory the Great. You see, a lot of problems arose for Europe, be it famine, plagues, or leagues of incoming people known as the Lombards. Gregory sought to fix these problems by first making peace with the invaders. He then begins evangelizing to The Who Western half in a very systematic fashion. in the northern parts, he comes across the Anglo-Saxons, a people who had committed violence against the now spiteful Celts in this region. This place, by the way, is what we know now as England. It wasn’t Gregory, but Augustine, who would ultimately convert this people through adaptation of the original Christian message. The disdain between the two is never fully resolved, but substantial conversion took place nonetheless.
AS time goes on, changes occur. I understand this has become common knowledge by now, but it doesn’t hurt to reiterate. However, some people would seem to want to undo some of those changes, not drastically, but enough to be noticeable. In the case of the Carolingian Renaissance, this was never truly achieved, but some good came out of it. Some people encouraged change, and still, good came out of it. To me, it’s a strange plan that God has played out, but it somehow works. Next week I look at a new religion that arose during this time, so look forward to that in the next essay.
Redman Essays 