The Medieval Church · c. 796
The Life of Willibrord
Alcuin of York · c. 735 – 804
What it is
A prose life and a verse one of the Northumbrian who evangelised Frisia, written by his kinsman. Willibrord baptises in a spring on Heligoland, an island sacred to a god whose cattle nobody dared touch, and kills some of the cattle for food.
Why it lasted
Mission described by a man at the centre of Charlemagne's court, and useful for what it takes for granted: converting the north meant demonstrating in public that the old holy places could be violated without consequence.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next