REL 34 Christianity and Conversion in the Northern World: Vikings, Celts, and Anglo-Saxons

This course explores the transformation of Christianity in the early medieval period. The conversion of ‘barbarian’ peoples in northwest Europe between the years 400 and 1000 meant Christianity had to adapt to a different environment than the Roman and Mediterranean one in which the religion developed. The northern world was without the Roman Empire, without cities, with different languages, cultures and notions of relations between the human and divine worlds. This course explores the impact the conversion of Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Nordic communities had on Christianity, as well as why communities of the northern world voluntarily chose to adopt this new religion. Open to all classes.