Editing Alemanni (section)

===Religion===
{{further|Germanic Christianity|Religion in Switzerland#History|Pre-Christian Alpine traditions|Continental Germanic mythology}}
[[File:Reiterscheibe von Pliezhausen v2.jpg|thumb|The gold bracteate of [[Pliezhausen]] (sixth or seventh century) shows typical iconography of the pagan period. The bracteate depicts the "horse-stabber underhoof" scene, a supine warrior stabbing a horse while it runs over him. The scene is adapted from [[Germania Superior|Roman era]] gravestones of the region.<ref>Michael Speidel, ''Ancient Germanic warriors: warrior styles from Trajan's column to Icelandic sagas'', Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0415311991}}, p. 162.
Harald Kleinschmidt, ''People on the move: attitudes toward and perceptions of migration in medieval and modern Europe'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003,
{{ISBN|978-0275974176}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yOuIvdMqzzAC&pg=PA66 p. 66.]
</ref>]]
[[File:Gutenstein warrior.jpg|thumb|The seventh-century [[:de:Schwertscheide von Gutenstein|Gutenstein scabbard]], found near [[Sigmaringen]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], is a late testimony of pagan ritual in Alemannia,  showing a warrior in ritual wolf costume, holding a [[ring-spatha]].]]
The [[Christianization]] of the Alemanni took place during [[Merovingian]] times (sixth to eighth centuries). We know that in the sixth century, the Alemanni were predominantly pagan, and in the eighth century, they were predominantly Christian. The intervening seventh century was a period of genuine [[syncretism]] during which Christian symbolism and doctrine gradually grew in influence.

Some scholars have speculated that members of the Alemannic elite such as king [[Gibuld]] due to [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic]] influence may have been converted to [[Arianism]] even in the later fifth century.<ref>Schubert, Hans (1909). ''Das älteste germanische Christentum oder der Sogenannte "Arianismus" der Germanen''. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr. p. 32. Cf. also Bossert, G. "Alemanni" in: Jackson, S.M. (Ed.). ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', Vol. 1, p. 114: "[the Alamannic] prince, Gibuld, was an Arian, probably converted by Goths".</ref>

In the mid-6th century, the Byzantine historian [[Agathias]] records, in the context of the wars of the Goths and Franks against Byzantium, that the Alemanni fighting among the troops of Frankish king [[Theudebald]] were like the Franks in all respects except religion, since
{{blockquote|text=they worship certain trees, the waters of rivers, hills and mountain valleys, in whose honour they sacrifice horses, cattle and countless other animals by beheading them, and imagine that they are performing an act of piety thereby.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PqsJZcQR7oIC |title=trans. Joseph D. Frendo (1975) |access-date=2012-01-02|isbn=978-3110033571 |year=1975 |last1=Murinaeus |first1=Agathias |last2=Scholasticus |first2=Agathias |author3=Agathias |publisher=Walter de Gruyter }}</ref>}}

He also spoke of the particular ruthlessness of the Alemanni in destroying Christian sanctuaries and plundering churches while the genuine Franks were respectful towards those sanctuaries. Agathias expresses his hope that the Alemanni would assume better manners through prolonged contact with the Franks, which is by all appearances, in a manner of speaking, what eventually happened.<ref>R. Keydell, ''Agathiae Myrinaei historiarum libri quinque'' Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae. Series Berolinensis 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1967, p. 18f.
{{lang|grc|7. Νόμιμα δὲ αὐτοῖς [τῶν Ἀλαμανῶν ἔθνος] εἰσι μέν που καὶ πάτρια, τὸ δέ γε ἐν κοινῷ ἐπικρατοῦν τε καὶ ἄρχον τῇ Φραγγικῇ ἕπονται πολιτείᾳ, μόνα δέ γε τὰ ἐς (5) θεὸν αὐτοῖς οὐ ταὐτὰ ξυνδοκεῖ. δένδρα τε γάρ τινα ἱλάσκονται καὶ ῥεῖθρα ποταμῶν καὶ λόφους καὶ φάραγγας, καὶ τούτοις, ὥσπερ ὅσια δρῶντες, ἵππους τε καὶ βόας καὶ ἄλλα ἄττα μυρία καρατομοῦντες ἐπιθειάζουσιν. 2 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἡ τῶν Φράγγων αὐτοὺς ἐπιμιξία, εnὖ ποιοῦσα, καὶ ἐς τόδε μετακοσμεῖ καὶ ἤδη ἐφέλκεται τοὺς εὐφρονεστέρους, οὐ πολλοῦ δὲ οἶμαι (10) χρόνου καὶ ἅπασιν ἐκνικήσει. 3 τὸ γὰρ τῆς δόξης παράλογόν τε καὶ ἔμπληκτον καὶ αὐτοῖς οἶμαι τοῖς χρωμένοις, εἰ μὴ πάμπαν εἶεν ἠλίθιοι, γνώριμόν τέ ἐστι καὶ εὐφώρατον καὶ οἶον ἀποσβῆναι ῥᾳδίως. ἐλεεῖσθαι μὲν οὖν μᾶλλον ἢ χαλεπαίνεσθαι δίκαιοι ἂν εἶεν καὶ πλείστης μεταλαγχάνειν συγγνώμης ἅπαντες, ὅσοι δὴ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἁμαρτάνουσιν. οὐ γὰρ  (15) δήπου ἑκόντες εἶναι ἀλῶνται καὶ ὀλισθαίνουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐφιέμενοι, ἔπειτα σφαλέντες τῇ κρίσει τὸ λοιπὸν ἔχονται τῶν δοκηθέντων ἀπρίξ, ὁποῖα ἄττα καὶ τύχοιεν ὄντα. 4 τήν γε μὴν τῶν θυσιῶν ὠμότητα καὶ κακοδαιμονίαν οὐκ οἶδα εἰ οἷόν τε λόγῳ ἀκέσασθαι, εἴτε ἄλσεσιν ἐπιτελοῖντο ὥσπερ ἀμέλει παρὰ βαρβάροις, εἴτε τοῖς πάλαι νενομισμέ-(20)νοις θεοῖς, ὁποῖα αἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐθέλουσιν ἁγιστεῖαι.}}</ref>

Apostles of the Alemanni were [[Columbanus]] and his disciple [[Saint Gall]]. [[Jonas of Bobbio]] records that Columbanus was active in [[Bregenz]], where he disrupted a beer sacrifice to [[Wodan]]. Despite these activities, for some time, the Alemanni seem to have continued their pagan cult activities, with only superficial or [[Syncretism|syncretistic]] Christian elements. In particular, there was no change in burial practice, and tumulus warrior graves continued to be erected throughout Merovingian times. Syncretism of traditional Germanic animal style with Christian symbolism is also present in artwork, but Christian symbolism became more and more prevalent during the seventh century. Unlike the later Christianization of the Saxons and of the Slavs, the Alemanni seem to have adopted Christianity gradually, and voluntarily, spread in emulation of the Merovingian elite.

From c. the 520s to the 620s, there was a surge of [[Alemannic Elder Futhark inscriptions]]. About 70 specimens have survived, roughly half of them on [[fibula (brooch)|fibulae]], others on belt buckles (see [[Pforzen buckle]], [[Bülach fibula]]) and other jewellery and weapon parts. The use of runes subsides with the advance of Christianity.
The [[Nordendorf fibula]] (early seventh century) clearly records pagan theonyms, ''logaþorewodanwigiþonar '' read as  "Wodan and Donar are magicians/sorcerers", but this may be interpreted as either a pagan invocation of the powers of these deities, or a Christian protective charm against them.<ref name="Düwel">{{Cite book |last=Düwel |first=Klaus |editor-last=Kamp |editor-first=Norbert |editor2-last=Wollasch |editor2-first=Joachim |contribution=Runen und Interpretatio Christiana: Zur Religioneschichtlichen Stellung der Bügelfidel von Nordendorf I |title=Tradition als Historische Kraft |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1982 |pages=78–86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQ_Mmjx5hSIC  |isbn=3110082373}}</ref>
A runic inscription on a fibula found at [[Bad Ems]] reflects Christian pious sentiment (and is also explicitly marked with a Christian cross), reading ''god fura dih deofile ᛭'' ("God for/before you, Theophilus!", or alternatively "God before you, Devil!"). Dated to between AD 660 and 690, it marks the end of the native Alemannic tradition of runic literacy. Bad Ems is in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], on the northwestern boundary of Alemannic settlement, where Frankish influence would have been strongest.<ref>Wolfgang Jungandreas, 'God fura dih, deofile †' in: Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, 101, 1972, pp. 84–85.</ref>

The establishment of the bishopric of [[Konstanz]] cannot be dated exactly and was possibly undertaken by Columbanus himself (before 612). In any case, it existed by 635, when [[Gunzo]] appointed [[John of Grab]] bishop. Constance was a missionary bishopric in newly converted lands, and did not look back on late Roman church history unlike the Raetian bishopric of [[Chur]] (established 451) and [[Basel]] (an episcopal seat from 740, and which continued the line of Bishops of [[Augusta Raurica]], see [[Bishop of Basel]]). The establishment of the church as an institution recognized by worldly rulers is also visible in legal history. In the early seventh century ''[[Pactus Alamannorum]]'' hardly ever mentions the special privileges of the church, while [[Lantfrid]]'s ''[[Lex Alamannorum]]'' of 720 has an entire chapter reserved for ecclesial matters alone.