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The history of religion in the Netherlands has been characterized by considerable diversity of religious thought and practice. Since 1600 until the second half of the 20th century, the North and West were Calvinist and the Southeast was in majority Catholic,〔see (map )〕 with Muslims and other religions concentrated in ethnic neighborhoods in the cities. Since the 1960s the Netherlands has become one of the most secularized countries in the western world. In a December 2014 survey by the VU University Amsterdam was concluded that for the first time there are more atheists (25%) than theists (17%) in the Netherlands. The majority of the population being agnostic (31%) or ietsist (27%).〔http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5091/Religie/article/detail/3830831/2015/01/16/Ongelovigen-halen-de-gelovigen-in.dhtml〕 ==Prehistory and Early Middle Ages== Before the advent of Christianity the Netherlands were populated by Celtic tribes in the South, which adhered to Celtic polytheism and Germanic tribes in the North, which adhered to Germanic paganism. After the Roman Empire occupied the later southern Netherlands, Roman mythology became important there, as well as religions from the Middle East, including relics from Egyptian mythology, Judaism, Mithraism and later Christianity. The oldest data on the profession of religion by the inhabitants of the regions that are now the "Netherlands" are passed down by the Romans. Contrary to what ancient sources seem to suggest, the Rhine, which clearly formed the boundary of the Roman Empire, did certainly not form the boundary between residential areas of Celts and Germans. There were Germans south of it (Germani Cisrhenani) and many place names and archaeological finds indicate the presence of Celts north of the Rhine. Between these "Celtic - Germanic peoples" and later the Roman conquerors (romanization) a cultural exchange took place. An adaptation of polytheistic religions and each other myths has taken place among the various tribes, coming from both the Germanic, Celtic and later Roman mythology. Gods as Nehalennia, Hludana and Sandraudiga are of indigenous (Celtic) origin, the Germanic people had gods like Wodan, Donar and Frigg/Freija (see Freya) from Scandinavia. For example Jupiter, Minerva and Venus have been introduced by the Romans. Tacitus also described the creation myth of Mannus, a primitive man from which all Germanic tribes would have emerged. The Celts and Germans in the Low Countries were also most likely to have had tree shrines, following the example of the Old Norse Yggdrasil and the Saxon Irminsul and Donar's oak. Temples were probably only build during and after the romanization, and have been preserved for example in Empel and Elst. From the 4th to the 6th century AD The Great Migration took place, in which the small Celtic-Germanic-Roman tribes in the Low Countries were gradually supplanted by three major Germanic tribes: the Franks, the Frisians and Saxons. Around 500 the Franks, initially residing between the Rhine and the Somme, adapt (forced by their king Chlodovech) to Christianity. A large part of the area south of the Meuse belonged from the early Middle Ages to 1559 to Archdeacon Kempenland, which was part of the Diocese of Tongeren-Maastricht-Liege. From the center of the diocese, successively the cities of Tongeren, Maastricht and Liege, this part of the Netherlands was probably Christianized. According to tradition, the first Bishop of Maastricht, Servatius was buried in this city in 384, though only from Bishop Domitianus (c. 535) is established that he resided in Maastricht. At the start of the 6th century, the first (Hiberno-Scottish) missionaries arrived. They were later replaced by Anglo-Saxon missionaries, who eventually succeeded in converting most of the inhabitants of the southern Netherlands by the 8th century. From the late 7th century CE missionaries coming from England and Ireland, such as Boniface, Lebuinus, Ludger, Plechelm, Willehad and especially Willibrord, sought to convert the inhabitants of the areas north of the Meuse and Rhine to Christianity with varying degrees of success, as evidenced by the (not always reliable) descriptions of their lives that have been written about them. Later, In addition to successful sermons, there are failures such as the refusal of the Frisian king Radboud to be baptized by Wulfram, because he would get to heaven by repenting; Radboud chose an afterlife with his ancestors who according Wulfram were in hell. The diligent Boniface, who also tried to convert the Frisians was killed in Dokkum in 754 CE. After the Frisian–Frankish wars (c. 600-793) and the Saxon Wars (772-804), the Low Countries all fall under the rule of the Christian Frankish kings, who wanted their the people both political and religious to subject. A major source of that time is the Old Saxon Baptismal Vow, which describes how one must renounce his old gods (described as "devils") and subdue to the Christian trinity. In the 8th century Anglo-Saxon missionaries like Boniface attempted to Christianize the land inhabited by the Frisians. The Frisians resisted: Boniface was killed in 754 near Dokkum by the Frisians for the gold they thought he carried. The missionaries gradually succeeded in the conversion of the North in the 8th century. By the beginning of the 9th century the Saxon-controlled northeastern regions were also subjugated and Christianized by Lebuinus, Plechelmus and Ludgerus. However, it will take at least until 1000 CE before all "pagan" people are actually Christianized (by force) and the Frisian and Saxon religions went extinct, although elements were incorporated into the Christian religion. The following centuries Catholic Christianity is the only mainstream religion in the Netherlands. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of religion in the Netherlands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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