Christian Conquest: Crosses on Summits

Christianity's arrival transformed but didn't erase earlier mountain spirituality. The Benedictine monks who established Chamonix Priory in the 11th century faced the challenge of converting populations whose spiritual lives intertwined with mountain cycles. Their strategy involved appropriation rather than elimination—blessed springs replaced pagan sources, Saint Bernard protected travelers where Mercury once presided, and the Virgin Mary assumed attributes of mountain goddesses.

Summit crosses represent Christianity's most visible mountain claim. The practice began in the medieval period but accelerated during the 19th-century Catholic revival. Today, crosses crown most major peaks around Chamonix, from simple iron constructions to elaborate monuments. The cross atop the Aiguille du Midi, installed in 1955, required helicopter transport and engineering ingenuity.

"Summit crosses served multiple purposes," notes religious historian Dr. Marie-Claude Bassetti. "They claimed territory for Christianity, provided navigation aids, and offered thanksgiving for safe ascents. But they also acknowledged something climbers felt—summits as naturally sacred spaces deserving marking."

Mountain chapels proliferated during the Counter-Reformation. The Notre-Dame de la Guérison above Chamonix, accessible only by steep paths, provided pilgrimage destinations for communities seeking healing or giving thanks for survival. These chapels, often built at sites of earlier reverence, created Christian frameworks for persistent mountain devotion.

Yet Christianity never fully tamed mountain wildness. Priests blessed climbing ropes and ice axes, but couldn't prevent accidents. Mountain deaths raised theological questions—why did God allow avalanches to take the faithful? Folk Catholicism developed answers involving divine will, human hubris, and mountain spirits barely Christianized.