Willibrord and Bonifatius:


Introduction

The christianization of Northern Europe was not a peaceful affair. This text deals with the two most important missionaries that were responsible for bringing christianity to the region of the Netherlands, namely Willibrord and Bonifatius. Their stories are interwoven, and despite the propaganda we have to endure at school, this duo was not as friendly as some would like us to believe. The combination of christian urge to convert and Frankish imperialism marked the beginning of a series of heinous crimes against the native people and their belief.

 Willibrord

Willibrord was the first major Anglo-Saxon missionary to try to sell christianity on these shores. He arrived here in 690, at a time when the christian Franks had just reoccupied the land of the heathen Frisians. The Franks welcomed their companion in faith. Given the fact that the Frisians weren't too keen on their enemies' allies, Willibrord wisely didn't cross the frontline too often, and his converting activities mainly took place in the areas that had been occupied by the Franks. During one of his missionary trips, he ended up on the island Fositesland (in all likelihood Helgoland), between Friesland and Denmark. According to Alcuin, he came across sanctuaries for the god Fosite, son of Balder and Nanna. There were shrines for Fosite, and holy cattle grazed on the island. The place was of exceptional great importance to the heathens, and nothing was touched except the water from the well. This water was to be drunk only in silence. After a few days, Willibrord slew the cattle and baptized three people in the well. The Frisian king Radboud retaliated by killing one of Willibrords companions, but he let Willibrord go. A decision he would've probably regretted, should he have known the rest of history.

Except for some expeditions, Willibrord mainly operated in the wake of the advancing Franks, trying to erase all signs of heathendom. He destroyed a sacred forest in Heiloo, and built a church on a heathen open spot in the woods. The "Willibrordusputje" ("Willibrorduswell") still reminds of this desecrator. Willibrord chrisianized a lot of heathen wells, and baptized people in them afterwards. Numerous wells have been named after Willibrord, but it is unlikely he was at each and every one of them. In 695, Jesus-hooligan Willibrord was rewarded for his deeds and appointed bishop of Utrecht. He ordered a cathedral to be built there, and restored a destroyed Frankish church. In 714, the Frisian king Radboud and his armies drove a way the Frankish intruders in a bloody way. Willibrord managed to escape, but his churches were burnt and his priest were killed. The Frisians again worshipped their ancient gods, and rebuilt their "fana delubrorum", heathen temples. This was the situation Bonafatius encountered when he arrived in the Netherlands in 716.

 Bonifatius

 754, Bonifatius was killed by Frisians near Dokkum. This sentence is taught to all Dutch children in school. Winfrid Bonifatius was born in 675 in the kingdom of Wessex, as a son of a wealthy farmer. In his youth he was very influenced by traveling preachers. He was a studious child, and at the age of seven he entered the monastery of Exeter and not much later he left for the monastery of Nursling. Here, abbot Winbert became a father figure and mentor to him, and he got the best education there was in those days. Not only was he schooled in theology and ancient scriptures, but also in grammatical, metrical and rhetorical techniques of ancient writers. These techniques would later serve him well during preaches and especially converting. At the age of forty he was known as one of the most important representatives of Anglo-Saxon christianity. In the year 716 he decided to become a missionary among the heathen Frisians and Saxons on the mainland, and he crossed the sea. Here arrived in Dorestad, modern-day Wijk bij Duurstede. As noted earlier, at the time of his arrival the Frisians had reclaimed part of their land. Radboud allowed Bonifatius to spread his message amongst the Frisians. The heathen faith considered the new god as a possible addition to their pantheon, but he still had to prove himself. However, the message of this new god didn't appeal to the Frisians, their nobility and the leader. There was no interest in Bonifatius'gospel. 

He came to the conclusion that converting the heathen people couldn't be done by merely an unending power of faith and convincing, but faith had to be imposed and maintained by a form of power of the state. Christianity found this in the Franks. In the autumn of the year he arrived, Bonifatius went home because he realized under the current circumstances there were no possibilities of converting the Frisians. Early 719, Rome made it Bonifatius' task to convert "the savage people of Germania" according to his biographer Willibald, indeed hardly an example of an objective reporter. In Mainz he heard that Radboud had passed away, and Frankish troops again occupied Frisian territory. Willibrord took care of the conversion of the Frisians. After this, Bonifatius left for Utrecht to receive a three-year missionary training in practice from Willibrord, under the guidance of the state violence of the Franks. Willibrord wasn't afraid to use lowly bribery tactics. He played his missionary game not through the people, but through nobility, whom he rewarded when they cooperated. He sold them land and a new god for their old faith. Besides this corrupt method, he didn't refrain from using his old methods of destroying heathen sanctuaries. The secret of Willirbrord's success was that he managed to control the Frisians after their conversion, by creating church communities.

After an internship of three years, Bonifatius in 721 decided to continue his missionary activities in heathen Hessen. Hessen was the center of the Chatti, a people of farmers who resisted bitterly against outside influences, as the Romans found out centuries earlier. The population adhered to the ancient gods, and the central place of worship is thought to be the Gudensberg (Wodan's mountain). Bonifatius approached the Chatti with plain hostility. He began his mission from two fortresses. He capitalized on the weakness among the people due to the wars with the Saxons. According to Willibald, thousands were baptized. Bonitatius was proclaimed bishop and Rome order Charles Martel to protect him during his activities.

Assured of military support, Bonifatius could now focus his attention a quick conversion without having to fear for his life. He finished the job with a cowardly act of propaganda; under protection of Frankish armies he cut down the sacred oak of Thor in Geismar before the eyes of the believers of the elder faith. From its wood he built a church. Of course Willibald made a nice missionary story out it, honouring the tradition that the winner rewrites history. Hessen was converted. His despise of anything non-christian was matched only by his despise of chaos, and that is why Bonifatius from this moment on devoted his attention to the organization of the church.

During his work, Bonifatius had allowed Charles Martel to let Carolingian interests prevail over those of Christianity. Charles wasn't afraid to appease uncooperative nobility with possessions of the church, and only stuck to Christian values when it suited him. This was price Bonifatius was willing to pay to spread Christianity, but in doing so he contributed to the emptying of meaning of his faith by future leaders. This became clear to him during the rest of his life. The new ruler of the Franks, Pepin the Small, had no place for Bonifatius in his plans. Bonifatius was no longer of any use to the Franks. He had aided in conquering their enemies with his missionary, and now christianity within the Frankish realm in turn was made subordinate to Carolingian interest. Bonifatius had allowed him self to be used as a pawn, and was pushed aside in 747. The man who profited from a murderous Frankish regime to spread his faith, now turned out to be used himself. As his letters make clear, he became depressed and bitter. In June 753 he undertook a preaching mission in Friesland. He spent winter in Utrecht and continued his mission early 754. On Wednesday June 5th in 754, in the evening Bonifatius life came to an end on the eastern shore of the Zuiderzee, modern-day IJsselmeer. He and his party were ambushed by a band of furious Frisians. Bonifatius tried to block a sword with a bible, but to no avail. It is uncertain whether it was a robbery or a heathen payback.

The man who cowardly hid behind Frankish weapons while keeping his own hands clean during his soul winning, had been killed. His violent ending, a martyr's death in the eyes of the church, has given him a greater role in history than he would've gotten based on his merits. His death didn't end crimes against the heathen faith and its followers by the Franks. The worst was still to come. Willibrord as well as Bonifatius were and are considered examples for their strictness of faith (some have even called it heroic), and both have been canonized by the church. As the preceding shows, this is quite a one-sided view of reality.

Literature

Primairy resources