Throughout its trajectory, the Christian Church played a large role in the dissemination and expansion of Christianity throughout the vast territories dominated by the Roman population. Initially, as we well know, Christians preached Christianity, even with the persecutions carried out by the Romans who were fiercely opposed to the content of beliefs disseminated. With the growth of religion, the Roman Empire ended up reversing this situation by making Christianity official, and from that In this way, we observe the configuration of a hierarchy that would later consolidate the presence of the Church as an institution. acting.
Between the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Christian Church carried out the dissemination of Christianity with the support of the Empire Romano, who offered enormous facilities for whole populations to gradually turn to the new religion. However, this situation was transformed with the advent of barbarian invasions, which brought a variety of peoples, cultures and beliefs to the former imperial domains. From then on, different strategies should be devised so that Christian clergy could penetrate into the newly formed barbarian kingdoms and, in such a way, ensure the survival of the religion.
Initially, we see that the action of the Church focused on the formation of monasteries in rural regions, on the promotion of strategies that bring clerics closer to monarchs and improve the formation of Christian members who would promote dialogue with the populations. pagans. However, we must emphasize that this process of dialogue with the barbarian peoples happened much more as a result of practices that not only presented a new religion, but also put into vogue various habits, institutions and models from the very classical culture that showed itself to be alive, despite the crisis Roman.
In no way, we cannot point out that such an experience was decisive for the culture of barbarian peoples to disappear or the Church to have its efforts radically focused on this objective. At the same time that the conversions took place, the process of unification of tribes into unified kingdoms, the new experienced rivalries and the modification of barbaric social structures also acted in the formation of a new mosaic cultural. With this, we realize that the Christianization or Westernization of the barbarians was far from configuring a type of historical transformation imposed from above.
Over time, we can see that the forms of representation of Christian belief, the organization of calendars, the recognition of holiness of some individuals and the formation of heretical movements indicated to us a movement of penetration of the barbarian culture towards the Christianity. On the other hand, the consolidation of the hierarchy, the maintenance of important traces of the Greco-Roman culture and the power of mobilization of the Church indicated the opposite direction of this relationship. With this, we realize that the negotiations and cultural exchanges are much more effective for us to see the world formed by barbarians and Christians throughout the Middle Ages.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
