Northern Europe

===Religion===
{{See also|Reformation#Reformation outside Germany|label1=§ Reformation outside Germany}}
During the [[Early Middle Ages]], the [[Roman Catholic Church]] expanded into Northern Europe and spread [[Christianity]] among the [[Germanic peoples]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Norman |title=New Short History of the Catholic Church |page=41}}</ref> Christianity reached the peoples of [[Scandinavia]] and the [[Baltic region]] in later centuries. The [[Latin alphabet]] <!-- replacing the [[runic alphabet]] in parts of [[Scandinavia]] and [[England]] -->along with the influence of [[Western Christianity]] spread northward from [[Rome]], leading to written [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Sami languages]]. The [[Sámi]] were the last peoples to be converted in the 18th century.<ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''A history of expansion of Christianity. Vol 2. The thousand years of uncertainty: AD 500–AD 1500'' (1938) pp. 106–43.</ref>