Irish missionaries
I can explain how Irish missionaries helped to spread Christianity in the 6th century.
Irish missionaries
I can explain how Irish missionaries helped to spread Christianity in the 6th century.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The strength of Christianity in Ireland led to its own missionary activity, and Irish missionaries travelled widely.
- St Columba was one of these, and travelled to the Scottish island of Iona in the late 6th century to set up a monastery.
- From Iona, St Columba spread Christianity through the Pictish territories of Western and Northern Scotland.
- St Columbanus went to Gaul at the end of the 6th century and founded two monasteries before travelling across Europe.
Keywords
Missionary - A missionary is a person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country
Iona - Iona is a small Scottish island
Picts - Picts were a tribe of people who lived in what is now eastern and northeastern Scotland
Gaul - Gaul was an ancient region of Western Europe which included France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy
Common misconception
The missionaries found it easy to convert people to Christianity.
The missionaries like St Columba and St Columbanus experienced resistance from kings and bishops which sometimes led to major problems and even battle.
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
the support given by a person to another person, organisation or cause
a building lived in by a community of monks who follow religious vows
a member of a community of men living under religious vows
Exit quiz
6 Questions
a small Scottish island
a tribe of people who lived in what is now northeastern Scotland
an ancient region of Western Europe