The Anglo-Saxon monk Wynfrith, after deciding to dedicate his life to missions on the continent, made a pilgrimage to Rome in 722. There, Pope Gregory II gave him the name Boniface, appointed him bishop, and tasked him with evangelizing the Germanic peoples settled east of the Rhine. Boniface ventured into Germany, using a Frankish military outpost located in Buraburg, on the western bank of the Eder River, as his operational base. His mission to evangelize Germany aligned with the Kingdom of the Franks' desire to expand their influence eastward. On the opposite bank of the river was the village of Geismar, inhabited by the Germanic tribe of the Chatti. In the village stood a large oak tree, where rituals and sacrifices were held, considered sacred to the god Donar, better known as Thor and referred to as Jupiter in Latin chronicles of that time. While in Geismar, Boniface, following the advice of already converted Germans, cut down the oak tree with an axe. What might have seemed a reckless and risky act was, in fact, a well-calculated move: the Franks, stationed on the other side of the river, were ready to protect the missionaries, and Boniface knew that the Germans believed the god himself would punish anyone who destroyed his symbols. Knowing that nothing would happen, the monk aimed to demonstrate the falsity of pagan beliefs and the superiority of the Christian God. According to Christian chronicles, after this event, many Germans, previously resistant, embraced the new faith and accepted baptism en masse. Boniface and his companions then used the oak wood to build a chapel dedicated to St. Peter, which would later become the foundation of Fritzlar Abbey. Willibald, a monk and biographer of Boniface, added miraculous details to the account: immediately after the first axe strikes, a powerful wind reportedly caused the entire oak to fall, splitting into four pieces of equal length and size, clear signs of divine intervention in the conversion of the pagans.