Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The question implies they didn't – but they absolutely did. From Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages, missionaries systematically Christianized Northern Europe:
| Period | Region | Key Missionaries | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4th–6th C | Goths (Balkans/Italy/Spain) | Ulfilas (Wulfila) | Arian Christianity; Gothic Bible translation |
| 6th–7th C | Franks, Anglo-Saxons | St. Martin of Tours, St. Augustine of Canterbury (597) | Royal conversion → mass baptism; monastic centers |
| 7th–8th C | Frisia, Saxony, Bavaria | St. Willibrord, St. Boniface (Apostle of Germans) | Monasteries (Fulda, Echternach), papal alliance, oak-felling |
| 9th–11th C | Scandinavia | Ansgar (Hamburg-Bremen), Olaf Tryggvason, Olaf Haraldsson | Royal patronage, church-building, law codes |
| 12th–13th C | Baltics (Livonia, Prussia) | Teutonic Knights, Sword Brothers, Meinhard | Crusades (Northern Crusades), military orders, forced conversion |
Result: By 1400, Latin Christendom covered virtually all of Europe. Indigenous traditions syncretized (Yule→Christmas, spring rites→Easter) or suppressed.