Why did the Merovingians and Pippinids adopt Christianity so fervently?
Upvote:33
Colin McEvedy argued in his Penguin Atlas of Medieval History that conversion was a good political move for the Franks.
The thing you have to realize about France is that even though it was essentially conquered by the Franks (Germans), they were never much more than a ruling class. The common people continued to speak Latin, which over the millennium slowly became the language we today call French. We can assume they would have been inclined to keep other aspects of their culture too, and that includes their religious beliefs.
At this time most of the larger German tribes had converted too, but they generally would convert to the heretical version called Arianism*. This conveniently allowed them to call themselves Christian, but without acknowledging the authority of the Pope. Colin's argument was that by converting to the standard version of the faith, the Franks were able to better appeal to their subjects, the common people of France, as their protectors. This would have strengthened their grassroots political support.
* - No this has nothing to do with Nazi "Aryiansim". It was a minor difference over the mechanics of the Trinity, which ended up being far more important politically than theologically.
More post
- 📝 What is the death toll attributed to US internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII?
- 📝 Was the 1852 Richard/Bolcoff divorce the first one in California?
- 📝 What caused scientific and cultural decline of East Roman (Byzantine) Empire?
- 📝 Contracted Trade in the 18th century
- 📝 Was Germany responsible for WW1?
- 📝 How many rapes did the Wehrmacht commit in the Soviet Union during World War II?
- 📝 Popularity of knight-robbery in the 15th century in Germany, Poland and Silesia
- 📝 What percentage of the Nazis were highly educated men?
- 📝 What was the first book translated from Japanese to any of the European languages?
- 📝 How close would a peasant from middle ages England ever come to interacting with the king?
- 📝 Was the de Havilland Mosquito ever deployed on an aircraft carrier?
- 📝 How were the cities of Milan and Bruges spared by the Black Death?
- 📝 Did Watt or another inventor have a dream about ball bearings?
- 📝 "Year without a summer" 1816 effects on Africa
- 📝 What's the origin of the legend that this rock formation in America had a 12th century Welsh Origin?
- 📝 How common was the German desire for revenge for the humiliation of 1918 armistice?
- 📝 Was the reign of Galba covered in the missing books of Tacitus' Annals?
- 📝 Did the Allies' attacks on Germany's heavy water supply lead to any reevaluation of its nuclear goals?
- 📝 Where can I find digitised versions of Japanese war documents in original Japanese?
- 📝 Why did the Irish Free State suppress news of the Holocaust in 1945? Reaction once it became known?
- 📝 How can I research multiple raids at the Somnath Temple?
- 📝 Meaning of 19th-century American parlour games
- 📝 How much (area) territory did Chinese dynasties control?
- 📝 Authenticity of the Russian birch bark manuscripts
- 📝 What led Extremadurans to take a leading role in the conquest of Spain's territories in the Americas?
- 📝 Why did few French and no Dutch pilots (but many Poles and Czechs) take part in the Battle of Britain?
- 📝 African Clicking Language
- 📝 Is this Brzezinski quote real?
- 📝 Ports with ships in the commercial Halifax trade, late 18th Century
- 📝 How effective were archers/ slingers / skirmishers in Greek, Roman and Medieval Period?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why did the Merovingians and Pippinids adopt Christianity so fervently?
- 📝 Why did the states that were born out of the Louisiana purchase adopt a common law system, and not a civil law system?
- 📝 Why did Britain and France not declare war against the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland in WW2?
- 📝 Why did LBJ, a staunch segregationist, champion and sign the 1964 Civil Rights Bill?
- 📝 Why did Bayer lose aspirin and heroin trademarks under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles?
- 📝 Why did only the English adopt, evolve and use the longbow en masse in war?
- 📝 When and why did the use of the lifespans of royalty to limit clauses in contracts come about?
- 📝 Why did Italy abandon its alliance with Germany in WW1 and join the Allied side?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union close its borders and restrict travel abroad?
- 📝 Why did Persia adopt the movable-type printing so late?
- 📝 Why did Stalin and the Soviet leadership have Leon Trotsky assassinated?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for Europeans to adopt the moldboard plow?
- 📝 Why did England consistently adopt red as their primary colour for insignia and uniform?
- 📝 Why did the Chinese Nationalist party members go to the island of Taiwan and not to any other island?
- 📝 Why did the Monitor and Merrimac (aka Virginia) have such radically different designs?
- 📝 Why did the Germans not encircle and besiege Stalingrad?
- 📝 Why did piracy thrive in the late 17th and early 18th centuries?
- 📝 Why did Canada, Australia and New Zealand separate from the UK?
- 📝 Why did the Arabs start the 1973 War during Ramadan, and did it affect their performance?
- 📝 Why did the Turks adopt the Latin alphabet after WWI?
- 📝 Why did few French and no Dutch pilots (but many Poles and Czechs) take part in the Battle of Britain?
- 📝 When and why did smiling at strangers and in photos become customary in the United States?
- 📝 Why did the French nobility adopt Calvinism?
- 📝 Why did Kabila discard the name and flag of Zaire?
- 📝 Why did the negotiations between Henry V of England and France fail?
- 📝 Why did the kingdoms of Scotland and England merge?
- 📝 How and why did Polish rule over the Ukraine "downwardly deviate" from Lithuanian rule?
- 📝 Did anyone warn about the potential for stock market crashes in 1929, and if so why were their warnings ignored?
- 📝 Why did Japan not withdraw from China as its pacific front was crumbling and the threat of US invasion imminent?
- 📝 Why did the Romans incorporate and rename the Greek pantheon?