Migration and the Making of Hispanic Christianity (First–Seventh Centuries)

Understanding the Christianization of Hispania through the lens of migration presents important methodological challenges, not least because ancient sources rarely employ the concept of the “migrant”, favouring instead more specific categories such as pilgrims, exiles, refugees, or travellers. Yet this perspective also offers a valuable opportunity to reassess the formation of Hispanic Christianity as the cumulative result of successive waves of human mobility. By tracing the arrival of individuals and communities from across the Mediterranean, this article argues that migration was a fundamental driver in the introduction, dissemination, and transformation of Christianity in the westernmost provinces of the Roman Empire.