Why Did The Barbarian People Convert To Christianity The conversion of the barbarian people was an important event in history to unite the kingdoms in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Many of the primary sources show the way that conversions took place, but not why. This piece will examine why the barbarians converted. The two most well documented conversions are the conversion of Kent, and the conversion of Clovis. In his book , Bede writes about the conversion of Kent. Gregory of Tours writes about the conversion of Clovis . Both of these primary sources contain little information about why the subjects converted. They both include small inconsistencies. In Bede’s book he mentions two points the first being that Ethelbert’s wife Bertha had brought a personal bishop with her, to allow her to practise Christianity in the court of her pagan husband. The bishop is not mentioned again throughout the book. Questions arise, would it not be the Bishop’s Christian duty to convert Ethelbert, and, what role did this bishop play during the Augustine mission. In the conversion of Clovis, Clovis has a Christian wife, Clotilda. Gregory says that Clotilda baptised two of her children, behind her husband’s back. Both children died …show more content…
Most of the well documented conversions had a king convert before his people did. After Clovis’s conversion, 10,000 of his men were said to have converted . Following Ethelbert’s conversion 1000 men converted in the first year, followed by 6000 the next year, as well as Saebert, the king of Essex. Most conversions due to missionaries showed that missionaries first ‘targeted’ the king of the land they were converting . This can show an attitude that a leader’s religion was an endorsement of the suitability of the religion for his people and his kingdom . It therefore implies that some barbarians converted due to influence from their