Thor's Oak: Encyclopedia II - Thor's Oak - History

Thor's Oak - History

In 723, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid -- later called St. Boniface, Apostle of the Germans -- arrived in the area in his quest to convert the northern German tribes to Christianity, using as his base the Frankish fortified settlement of Büraburg on the opposite side of the Eder river. He had the oak felled in an attempt to convey superiority of the Christian god over Thor and the native Germanic religion. According to surviving texts, when Thor did not respond by hurling a lightning bolt at him, an amount of the assembled local people agreed to be baptized.

Boniface used the wood of the oak to build a chapel in Fritzlar, founded a Benedictine monastery, and established the first bishopric in Germany outside the boundaries of the old Roman Empire at Büraburg, with his disciple Witta as bishop. The first abbot of the monastery, St. Wigbert, built a stone basilica at the site of the wooden chapel which was, after its destruction by Saxon rebels in 1079, replaced in 1180-1200 by the large Romanesque-Gothic cathedral of St. Peter that today dominates the town. The bishopric of Büraburg was abolished after Witta's death by Lullus and incorporated into that of Mainz.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki