Arian Franks

The conversion of the Franks to Catholic Christianity influenced the stability of their rule over the Gallo-Romans, and their assimilation into the culture of Gaul, or so I've read. They shared the religion of the majority.

What if an earlier Arian mission converted the Franks? Would Frankish rule last? Because of cultural differentiation, would the border of Germanic-speaking people be further west?
 
It might have improved the cultural interchange with the Gallo-romans, but I'm not sure it mattered much for their hold on the realm. The Arian Visigoths and Burgundians managed to control their realms well enough. The Ostrogoths had a harder time, but they had the vestiges of the (Nicene) Roman senate and ofcourse the (Nicene) Byzantine Empire itself to deal with, which was their eventual downfall.

Ultimately, what made the current French language still Romance (albeit with not insignificant Frankish elements) is the relatively small amount of Frankish settlers; like in so many cases throughout history, the Franks only managed to significantly displace the ruling class, not the rest of the population; at least, for most of the area. So, their religion wouldn't impact the language much either way.
 
Would they be able to hold out though? Because all the other Arian nations converted to Catholicism eventually.
If the Franks turn Arian, they would probably manage to hold out in the west. The Ostrogoths, Vandals and Lombards were vanquished by Justinian, the Visigoths in Gaul were conquered by the Franks, the Sueves converted so the could get more allies (read: Franks) against the Visigoths and the Visigoths in Spain converted because everybody else had by that point. The last three were all because the Franks converted to 'Catholicism'.

If the Franks convert it wouldn't be too implausible for Arianism to remain significant in the west, provided more effort is put into converting the peasants.
 
If the Franks turn Arian, they would probably manage to hold out in the west. The Ostrogoths, Vandals and Lombards were vanquished by Justinian, the Visigoths in Gaul were conquered by the Franks, the Sueves converted so the could get more allies (read: Franks) against the Visigoths and the Visigoths in Spain converted because everybody else had by that point. The last three were all because the Franks converted to 'Catholicism'.

If the Franks convert it wouldn't be too implausible for Arianism to remain significant in the west, provided more effort is put into converting the peasants.
So then basically, all of western Europe except for Italy would end up Arian, while Trinitarianism would be restricted to Italy and Eastern Europe (and presumably North Africa and parts of the Middle East, as the Franks' non-conversion would butterfly Islam away)
 
So then basically, all of western Europe except for Italy would end up Arian, while Trinitarianism would be restricted to Italy and Eastern Europe (and presumably North Africa and parts of the Middle East, as the Franks' non-conversion would butterfly Islam away)
And the British Isles would remain Trinitarian as well, or at least Ireland and 'Scotland'. The Anglo-Saxons might be a different matter; with most of Western Europe stably Arian the Gregorian Mission to convert them (or something comparable) would be butterflied away, though influences from the Celtic regions and the Arian continent shouldn't be ignored.

Anyway, the Franks 'going Arian' would be an interesting event, with many indirect consequences.
 
Top