page_title: Christianisation of Scotland
section_title: Early spread and missions
hierarchical_section_title: Christianisation of Scotland / Early spread and missions
caption_attribution_description: English: Columba banging on the gate of Bridei, son of Maelchon, King of Fortriu.
context_page_description: The Christianisation of Scotland was the process by which Christianity spread in what is now Scotland, which took place principally between the fifth and tenth centuries.
  Christianity was probably introduced to what is now Lowland Scotland by Roman soldiers stationed in the north of the province of Britannia. After the collapse of Roman authority in 410 CE/AD, Christianity is presumed to have survived among the British enclaves in the south of what is now Scotland, but retreated as the pagan Anglo-Saxons advanced.
  Traditional narratives depict Scotland as largely converted by Irish missions associated with figures such as St. Columba, from the fifth to the seventh centuries, but many of these figures were later constructs or founded monasteries and collegiate churches in areas to which Christianity had already spread.
context_section_description: The traditional view of the Christianisation of Scotland has seen it as carried out by Irish-Scots missionaries and to a lesser extent those from Rome and England. Historian Richard Fletcher argued that motivations for these missions may have included the example of St. Patrick, the idea of Peregrinatio and a growing interest in evangelism. Missionaries from Ireland were operating on the British mainland from at least the sixth century. This movement is traditionally associated with the figures of St. Ninian, St. Kentigern and St. Columba. However, historian Gilbert Markus highlights the fact that most of these figures were not church-founders, but were usually were active in areas where Christianity had already become established, probably through gradual diffusion that is almost invisible in the historical record. This would have included trade, conquest and intermarriage.
caption: A nineteenth-century painting, showing the traditional, dramatic role of St. Columba in the conversion
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