page_title: Christianity in the 9th century
section_title: Scandinavia
hierarchical_section_title: Christianity in the 9th century / Spread of Christianity / Scandinavia
context_page_description: In 9th-century Christianity, Charlemagne was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor, which continued the Photian schism.
context_section_description: Early evangelisation in Scandinavia was begun by Ansgar, Archbishop of Bremen, "Apostle of the North". Ansgar, a native of Amiens, was sent with a group of monks to Jutland Denmark around 820, at the time of the pro-Christian Jutland King Harald Klak. The mission was only partially successful, and Ansgar returned two years later to Germany, after Harald had been driven out of his kingdom. In 829 Ansgar went to Birka on Lake Mälaren, Sweden, with his aide friar Witmar, and a small congregation was formed in 831 which included the king's steward Hergeir. Conversion was slow, however, and most Scandinavian lands were only completely Christianised at the time of rulers such as Saint Canute IV of Denmark and Olaf I of Norway in the years following 1000.
  The Roman emperor encouraged missionary expeditions to nearby nations including the Muslim caliphate, the Turkic Khazars, and Slavic Moravia.
  Though by 800 Western Europe was ruled entirely by Christian kings, Eastern Europe remained an area of missionary activity. The First Bulgarian Empire was the first of the Eastern European nations to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 868. It declared independence of Constantinople and Rome soon after. The Bulgarian alphabet was introduced in the late 9th century, and numerous Bulgarian missionaries introduced the Bulgarian script to Serbs, Russians, Vlachs and the rest of Eastern European peoples. The Baptism of Kiev in 988 helped spread Christianity throughout Kievan Rus', establishing Christianity among the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
caption: Orthodox churches in Vologda, Russia
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