The rise of Christianity
It was in the ancient Roman cities and along the Roman trade routes that Christianity first spread in Switzerland. A further Christianisation took place with the wandering monks in the 7th century when they founded various monasteries.
The role of Christianity
Christianity first came to Switzerland with the Roman soldiers. The oldest written evidence for this dates from the 4th century.In 381, Christianity was declared to be the only religion of the Roman Empire. Small churches were built in the fortified towns and dioceses were established in the main administrative centres.
After the departure of the Romans, Western Switzerland remained Christian under the Burgundians, while the Alemanni stayed pagan until the 7th century. It was only St. Gall, who accompanied the Irish monk Columbanus to Zurich and Lake Constance, who succeeded in winning the population over to Christianity. While Columbanus moved on to Italy, St. Gall remained in what is now eastern Switzerland (the city of St. Gallen is named after him) and founded the Abbey of St. Gall. During this period, many other monasteries were founded and these developed into important centres of learning and culture.
Both the dioceses and monasteries owned many estates and hence they also played an important role in the development of agriculture.
The Church also played an important role in politics. In order to strengthen their power against the local nobles, the German kings often gifted estates to monasteries and dioceses to ensure that these remained favourably disposed toward them and, because of their properties, be able to exercise greater authority.
Monasteries were often built at strategic locations – e.g. on roads that led to Alpine passes.
Related links
info box More about Swiss history