Letter 11

From: Brunhild, Queen of Austrasia To: Pope Gregory the Great Date: ~601 AD Context: Brunhild corresponds with Gregory about his mission to England — asking about its progress and expressing support for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Brunhild to the most blessed Pope Gregory. The reports reaching us about the mission to Britain are followed here with great interest. That the Anglo-Saxons — who raid our coasts and whom our merchants encounter in trade — are now hearing the Gospel is something I find genuinely moving. I want to ask you about the mission's progress, and I want to offer whatever assistance the Frankish church and the Frankish court can provide. The route to Britain runs through Frankish territory. Any missionaries who travel there pass through our lands. If there is hospitality, safe passage, logistical support, that we can offer to the men Augustine is sending, we are willing to provide it. I also want to ask a more general question, if you will permit it. How do you think about the pacing of conversion — how quickly to baptize, how much to insist on before baptism, how to handle the persistence of old practices alongside the new faith? These are questions that matter enormously in the territories under my governance, where Christianity is established in the cities and still contested in the countryside. The answer I have found most practically workable is patience, gradual instruction, and the slow replacement of old rituals with new ones that serve similar functions. I suspect your missionaries are finding similar things. With great respect, Brunhild