New Medieval Books: Pagans in the Early Modern Baltic
A collection of ten texts, in Latin with English translation, from the 15th and 16th centuries, which relate pre-Christian religious practices in the Baltics.
How to kill a God: Christians against Pagans in the Middle Ages
To bring new lands under Roman Catholicism, the old pagan faiths had to be destroyed. Here is how this was done on the island of Rügen in the twelfth century.
How Christianity came to Medieval Europe
Nearly all the lands of Europe converted to Christianity during the Middle Ages. In this short guide, we take a look at how various lands adopted Christianity, including by means of missionary efforts, politics and warfare.
In Between Two Worlds: Jewish Women and Conversion in Late Medieval Catalonia
Blanca de Banyoles’ life is in many ways emblematic of the experiences of many Jewish women who converted to Christianity following the violence of 1391.
When Hundreds of Arabs came to Medieval France
The story of Louis IX and the Christian converts he brought to his kingdom.
The Kidnapping of Baby Bonafilla: Jewish guardianship, conversion, and mixed families in the aftermath of 1391 in Girona
In early 1417, the Jewish guardians of Bonafilla, the daughter of Nacim Roven, kidnapped the young toddler to prevent her conversa mother and stepfather from converting the child
We all eat white bread because of 7th-century missionaries to England
There are many types of bread in the world, but white bread is the most popular. The reason for this goes back to seventh-century England.
Cyril, Methodios, and the conversion of the Slavs, with Mirela Ivanova
Despite the huge importance attributed to these men and their activities in modern scholarship, national narratives, and Slavic Orthodox identity, our knowledge about them rests largely on two texts whose interests are quite different from our own. What do we really know about them?
Medieval Geopolitics: The Northern Crusades as a “Penitential War”
In this column, I look at the next phase in history of the Northern Crusades: that of “penitential war.”
Debating Agency: Women and Conversion in the Multi-Religious Society of Late Medieval Spain
The presentation examines the question of agency and gender in the social and spiritual experience of conversion to Christianity in 14th and 15th century Iberia.
Fulfilling Gregory’s goal: the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon people
The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons in the seventh century AD was a complex process that involved several stages.
How a volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity
Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in an apocalyptic medieval poem, were used to drive the island’s conversion to Christianity, new research suggests.
The Double Impact of Christianization for Women in Old Norse Culture
The question of whether Christianity resulted in an improvement, or a worsening of conditions for women in still open to debate.
The Making of a Missionary King: The Medieval Accounts of Olaf Tryggvason and the Conversion of Norway
The following article examines the oldest extant accounts of the conversion of Norway, from the Latin works of the late twelfth century until Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla from around 1230.
Who Were The Celts? The British Museum Offers Answers with New Exhibition
The British Museum just opened its latest exhibit, Celts: Art and Identity this past Thursday, covering 2,500 years of Celtic history. The exhibit explores Celtic identity and how it eveolved from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the present through art, culture, daily life, religion and politics.
How Christianity came to Europe
During the Middle Ages nearly all the lands of Europe converted to Christianity. In this short guide, we take a look at how various lands adopted Christianity, including by means of missionary efforts, politics and warfare.
Katherine of Alexandria: Decline of an Empire
According to hagiographers, (C)Katherine was a princess, the daughter of Roman governor named Constus. She was well educated, beautiful and highly intelligent. She converted to Christianity at the age of 13 or 14 and caught the eye of the Roman Emperor, Maxentius (278-318 AD).
Christianisation of the Piast Monarchy in the 10th and 11th Centuries
Which facts testify to the beginning of the Christianisation process of a given country and which ones indicate its conclusion?
‘Forget Your People and Your Father’s House’: Teresa de Cartagena and the Converso Identity
Religion is a very important factor to take into consideration in discussions about the identity of the conversos [converts] or New Christians, an emerging group in 15th-century Castile.
A Created Enemy: ‘Barbarians’ in spite of Religious Conversion. Visigoths and Byzantines in 6th-Century Iberia
This study approaches the concept of resistance as a tool for historical analysis during Roman Late Antiquity, especially with respect to the identity construction and the creation of physical or mental borders between Byzantines and Barbarians.
Fast and Feast – Christianization through the Regulation of Everyday Life
This article will illustrate that an important part of rulers’ wish to create a Christian society was the introduction of Christian legislation.
Christianity and the Latin tradition in early Medieval Ireland
The Christianity which arrived in Ireland with the fifth-century missionaries was more than just a literate religion; it was very much a religion of the book.
Hungary’s Conversion to Christianity: The Establishment of Hungarian Statehood and its Consequences to the Thirteenth Century
The Carpathian Basin occupies a peculiar place in history. It was the ground where Roman-Germanic world met that of the Slavs and mounted nomad peoples, where no group had achieved sustained unity before the state of Hungary was founded.
Conversion on the Scaffold: Italian Practices in European Context
11 January 1581 was a fine day in Rome. That morning, Michel de Montaigne, recently arrived in the city, had gone out on horseback when he encountered a procession accompanying a condemned man to execution. Montaigne stopped to watch the sight.
Saints’ Cults in Medieval Livonia
Saints’ cults played a crucial role in medieval society. Although we know very little about the beliefs and rituals of the indigenous peoples of Livonia, either before or after the thirteenth-century conquest, we may assume that the process of Christianization must have caused major changes in their religious practices.