===Anglo-Saxon England and Britain===
When Pope Gregory I sent Augustine to England in 596, he started to convert the far southern kingdoms to Catholicism. Gradually all of England was Catholic. The Vikings attacked in 793 and were a constant threat. But King Alfred of Wessex conquered all of England and allowed the Vikings to rule the east (called the Danelaw). He encouraged education, especially for priests and monks. In 1017, when the kingdom was weak, it was conquered by the Danes, who integrated into the English population. Yet in 1042 King Edward reconquered it. In 1066, William the Conqueror took over.
===The Italian Peninsula and the Papacy===