In The Last chapter, we explored the way Adam of Bremen represented the beginning of the process of northern Christianization as part of his central argument regarding the pre-eminence of the archdiocese of Hamburg–Bremen. He saw Christianization as a complicated matter that involved many steps and characteristics—things that modern research has treated as opposites rather than complementary. Adam seems to acknowledge both the powerful message of the conversion of a political leader—such as the prefect of Birka under the influence of Ansgar, or Harald, the heir to the Danish throne, by Unni—and also the slow spread of the Christian faith through the piety of sainted bishops, as in the case of Rimbert and his everyday work among the Christian slaves in Denmark. Christianization was, thus, a process that involved not only expansion, but also the establishment of an ecclesiastical structure over the newly converted regions. The first book of the Gesta deals with roughly the first century of the history of Hamburg and presents the beginning of the missionary effort in the north. Despite pointing to the foundation of churches and Christian communities during the first phase of the legatio gentium, Adam holds off exploring the theme of ecclesiastical organization here. This is very significant: it shows how Adam conceived his historiographical work in relation to the theme of the legatio, and that he reflected on contemporary issues while doing so.

The history of the archbishopric and its attachment to the legatio gentium had to emphasize the Church’s claims of primacy and thus present a narrative of success, while at the same time maintaining the need to keep the status quo of the ecclesiastical organization in the north. The Gesta does so by putting forth the idea that the Slavs and Scandinavians were still not completely Christianized and so should not be allowed to develop an organization of their own, thus countering plans for an independent archbishopric for Scandinavia. Adam used the concept of legatio gentium to achieve this delicate narrative balance. By extending its meaning to comprise not only missionary preaching but also the spread of a more substantial teaching on orthodoxy and the formation of ecclesiastical structures, he provided his Gesta with its own Schrödinger’s cat: it allowed the northern communities to be both Christian and non-Christian at the same time. Adam of Bremen conceived of the legatio as an ongoing process.