The evangelisation of the peoples of western Europe to Christianity was arguably the single most important historical development of the early Middle Ages, shaping not only the beliefs and religious practices but also the social, political, cultural and intellectual landscape of the last 1,500 years. Although much has been written on the conversion period, little has been done to understand the development of the Christian impulse to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. When and why did Christians develop the idea of the evangelisation of all peoples? When and why did they begin to express this idea by deliberately setting out to evangelise pagan peoples? How did the conception or expression of the idea of evangelisation change over time? How did authors interpret key scriptural texts to justify or explain their views on evangelisation? This book offers the first book-length, diachronic study of these questions. Through contextualised close readings of authors writing mostly in Latin between the fourth and the eighth centuries (including Augustine, Patrick, Gregory and Bede), it argues for a gradual but fundamental transformation in Christian thinking about evangelisation. This in turn provides new insights into the origins of Christian mission.
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Is Mission the Right Word?
Defining Evangelisation
Historiography and Methodology
Chapter Outline and Scope
From the Early Church to Augustine The Pre-Constantinian Church Tempora
Christiana Missionaries without a Mission Augustine Conclusion
Prosper, Palladius and Patrick Prosper, Leo and Palladius Patrick Patrick,
Scripture and Evangelisation Patrick, Paul and Apostleship Conclusion
Gregory and his Successors Gregory the Great Gregorys Idea of
Evangelisation England and the Seventh-Century Papacy Conclusion
The Peregrini, Irish and Frankish Columba, Aidan and Fursa Columbanus and
his Successors Conclusion
How the English Interpreted Their Own Evangelisation Gregory our Apostle
The Sin of Failing to Evangelise Evangelisation and Exegesis in Bedes
Commentaries on Acts The Work of the Word Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography Index
Samuel Cardwell is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Nottingham, where he is working on the history of biblical interpretation in the early medieval kingdom of Northumbria. He received his PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto in 2023 and was awarded the Governor-Generals Gold Academic Medal. He holds an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic as well as undergraduate degrees from Monash University and the University of Melbourne.
