Silence of the Gods: The Untold History of Europe’s Last Pagan Peoples
By Francis Young
Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 978-1-009-58657-3
By the end of the Middle Ages, the last predominantly pagan regions of Europe were undergoing conversion to Christianity. This book traces that transition and explores how older pagan beliefs and practices continued to endure for centuries afterward.
Excerpt:
This book is a religious history of the last five centuries of Europe’s unchristianised peoples, who included the Sámi, the Estonians, the Old Prussians, the Latvians, the Lithuanians, the Mordvins, the Maris, the Chuvashes, and the Udmurts. It spans the period from the official conversion of Lithuania in 1387 to the dawn of the twentieth century: a period when these peoples lived under Christian rule and were often deemed Christians for political purposes, in spite of resolutely following their own religious traditions. Silence of the Gods adopts a novel approach to this history in three ways: firstly, by considering Europe’s unchristianised peoples together, as part of a continental story rather than just separate national stories; secondly, by making the peoples its focus, rather than their belief systems (which can rarely be reliably constructed); and thirdly, by setting aside the problematic concept of ‘paganism’ for understanding pre-Christian religions.
The book argues that, in spite of their diversity – ranging from shamanist Sámi to the tree- and stone-worshipping Balts and the Finno-Ugric forest animists – unchristianised peoples in northern and eastern Europe shared a common experience of encounter with Christian missionaries, whose methods ranged from violent crusade and forced baptism to non-violent efforts at persuasion. That common experience of contact with Christianity produced creative religious and spiritual responses that changed unchristianised peoples forever, but did not always result in the adoption of Christianity itself.
Who is this book for?
Focusing on northern and eastern Europe, this book opens by examining several peoples and the efforts made by Christians to convert them. The later chapters then trace their stories after conversion, century by century, down to around 1900, revealing how elements of their pre-Christian identities continued to survive.
This is an important contribution for those studying the history of religion. It will also be valuable to scholars interested in particular regions of Europe, especially the Baltics, Scandinavia, and northern Russia.
“The argument at which Young arrives is both consistent and plausible; that the “pagan” religions of Europe, faced with Christianity’s aggressive expansion, entered a third, “creolised” state. New ideas grew out of, or alongside, Christianity, without being convincingly Christian – an active, “creative response” to the new, confessional faith’s incursion.” ~ review by Minoo Dinshaw in The Telegraph
The Author
Francis Young is a British historian and folklorist. He specialises in the history of religion and belief. On his website, Francis explains why he wrote this book:
My aim in Silence of the Gods is to add a new dimension to the historiography of European religion, whose focus is usually on Christianity, Judaism and Islam (in their several varieties) as the religions of the continent since the end of antiquity. Pre-Christian religion seldom receives much attention; it is either treated as an ‘ethnic’ phenomenon highly specific to one particular country or region (like Sápmi or the Baltic states), or portrayed as a swiftly vanishing relic whose demise was inevitable in the face of the expanding and centralising claims of late medieval and early modern states.
Silence of the Gods: The Untold History of Europe’s Last Pagan Peoples
By Francis Young
Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 978-1-009-58657-3
By the end of the Middle Ages, the last predominantly pagan regions of Europe were undergoing conversion to Christianity. This book traces that transition and explores how older pagan beliefs and practices continued to endure for centuries afterward.
Excerpt:
This book is a religious history of the last five centuries of Europe’s unchristianised peoples, who included the Sámi, the Estonians, the Old Prussians, the Latvians, the Lithuanians, the Mordvins, the Maris, the Chuvashes, and the Udmurts. It spans the period from the official conversion of Lithuania in 1387 to the dawn of the twentieth century: a period when these peoples lived under Christian rule and were often deemed Christians for political purposes, in spite of resolutely following their own religious traditions. Silence of the Gods adopts a novel approach to this history in three ways: firstly, by considering Europe’s unchristianised peoples together, as part of a continental story rather than just separate national stories; secondly, by making the peoples its focus, rather than their belief systems (which can rarely be reliably constructed); and thirdly, by setting aside the problematic concept of ‘paganism’ for understanding pre-Christian religions.
The book argues that, in spite of their diversity – ranging from shamanist Sámi to the tree- and stone-worshipping Balts and the Finno-Ugric forest animists – unchristianised peoples in northern and eastern Europe shared a common experience of encounter with Christian missionaries, whose methods ranged from violent crusade and forced baptism to non-violent efforts at persuasion. That common experience of contact with Christianity produced creative religious and spiritual responses that changed unchristianised peoples forever, but did not always result in the adoption of Christianity itself.
Who is this book for?
Focusing on northern and eastern Europe, this book opens by examining several peoples and the efforts made by Christians to convert them. The later chapters then trace their stories after conversion, century by century, down to around 1900, revealing how elements of their pre-Christian identities continued to survive.
This is an important contribution for those studying the history of religion. It will also be valuable to scholars interested in particular regions of Europe, especially the Baltics, Scandinavia, and northern Russia.
“The argument at which Young arrives is both consistent and plausible; that the “pagan” religions of Europe, faced with Christianity’s aggressive expansion, entered a third, “creolised” state. New ideas grew out of, or alongside, Christianity, without being convincingly Christian – an active, “creative response” to the new, confessional faith’s incursion.” ~ review by Minoo Dinshaw in The Telegraph
The Author
Francis Young is a British historian and folklorist. He specialises in the history of religion and belief. On his website, Francis explains why he wrote this book:
My aim in Silence of the Gods is to add a new dimension to the historiography of European religion, whose focus is usually on Christianity, Judaism and Islam (in their several varieties) as the religions of the continent since the end of antiquity. Pre-Christian religion seldom receives much attention; it is either treated as an ‘ethnic’ phenomenon highly specific to one particular country or region (like Sápmi or the Baltic states), or portrayed as a swiftly vanishing relic whose demise was inevitable in the face of the expanding and centralising claims of late medieval and early modern states.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
Subscribe to Medievalverse
Related Posts