Western Europe went from a paganistic patchwork of Germanic tribes to a completely Christianized region from 500-1000CE because of King

Clovis conversion of the Franks to Christianity in 496 CE and the defeat of the Muslims at Tours in 732 CE. However, the Roman Catholic Church is a constant active presence throughout Western Europe. In 500 CE Western Europe is a patchwork of Germanic tribes. The religion of these tribes is crudely paganistic, meaning basically polytheistic and animistic. There is no central authority in Europe; therefore it is not very organized. The Church in the past has not been actively seeking converts, but is just starting to direct its energy into conversion. Also, missionary activity begins in Western Europe. There were many reasons for change in Western Europe. The establishment of monasteries allowed the church to gain economic and political power, and therefore monasticism developed. Some of the main reasons for having monasteries was for refuge for those in trouble, Communication to the central church hierarchy, and as centers of scholarship, education, and libraries where monks very often were the only people in Europe that could read and write, and they spent large amounts of time copying ancient manuscripts that otherwise might have been lost in the various invasions, and this intrigued Europe helping convert pagans to Christianity. The power of the church was promoted by an unlikely Germanic group known as the Franks. They controlled much of what is now France by the 5th century C.E. when their leader Clovis led his forces on a campaign that wiped out the remains of Roman authority a few years after Rome's fall in 476. Clovis converted to Christianity, under some pressure from his wife, and from then, the Franks' conquests were done in the name of Jesus. One of his descendants, Charlemagne, ruled a kingdom that spread across a huge part of Europe, including both modern day France and Germany. Charlemagne was able to rescue the Roman Pope from captivity, and

the Pope returned the favor by crowning Charlemagne as the new "Holy Roman Emperor," uniting church and state. Still, the Pope was the one controlling the crown, and the ceremony took place in Rome. His crowning created an alliance between church and secular authority and Charlemagne becomes muscle for the church as he executes those who will not convert. The church hierarchy was also developed, and the Pope came to be the head of the church. Another reason is land becoming the main source of wealth in Western Europe These controlling land allowed the church to have a great deal of influence on local lords. Missionaries were a big part in the conversion of people to Christianity because the actively syncretized Christian faith with Germanic traditions making conversion smoother and more rapid. They often linked Catholic saints to Germanic deities, making the religion seem appealing the most all people. One last event that changed the course of Christianity in Europe was the defeating of the Muslims who were a constant threat, this was does by Charles Martel in 732, and it allowed Christianity to grow and prosper. There were many results of all these events in Western Europe that changed a lot of things; however a few things stayed the same. As a result of these events Europe was basically completely Christianized by 1000CE as it began to actively seek converts and became influenced by its rulers. Alliances between secular authority (the Holy Roman Emperor) and the church are firmly established as Charlemagne was crowned in about 800 CE. Church theology (Nicene Creed adopted at Council of Nicea) and methods of conversion were firmly established which basically affirms the divinity of Jesus and the Christian faith. However the Roman Catholic church is constantly active in present throughout Western Europe and it is almost always a dominant religion throughout this period. The Christian church during the period 500-1000 CE was always seeking converts, maybe sometimes more than others, but they were always

expanding. So in the end, Western Europe converted from its paganistic religion to Christianity with the help of many people and events.