Boniface cut down a great oak at a shrine to the pagan god Thor

"Wynfryth," as Boniface was originally known, undertook his first, unsuccessful missionary journey to Germany in 716. With the support of the pope he returned three years later and conversions followed. In one famed confrontation with paganism, Boniface hewed down a great oak at a shrine to the pagan god Thor. Boniface later played a role in the reforming and reorganizing of the Frankish church. He was instrumental in spreading allegiance to the papacy north of the Alps. Boniface died as a martyr on the mission field.