Description

An edited volume studying Christianization in northern and central-eastern Europe c. 900–1200. This 2007 book offers an interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. This study of Christianization and the formation of new polities in Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus' highlights regional patterns, as well as local specificities and differences. This 2007 book offers an interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. This study of Christianization and the formation of new polities in Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus' highlights regional patterns, as well as local specificities and differences. This 2007 text is a comparative, analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. Leading scholars explore the role of the spread of Christianity and the formation of new principalities in the birth of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Rus' around the year 1000. Drawing on history, archaeology and art history, and emphasizing problems related to the sources and historiographical debates, they demonstrate the complex interdependence between the processes of religious and political change, covering conditions prior to the introduction of Christianity, the adoption of Christianity, and the development of the rulers' power. Regional patterns emerge, highlighting both the similarities in ruler-sponsored cases of Christianization, and differences in the consolidation of power and in institutions introduced by Christianity. The essays reveal how local societies adopted Christianity; medieval ideas of what constituted the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians; and the connections between Christianity and power. 1. Introduction Nora Berend; 2. From paganism to Christianity in medieval Europe Robert Bartlett; 3. The kingdom of Denmark Michael H. Gelting; 4. The kingdom of Norway Sverre Bagge and Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide; 5. The kingdom of Sweden Nils Blomkvist, Stefan Brink and Thomas Lindkvist; 6. Bohemia and Moravia Petr Sommer, Dušan Třeštík, Josef Žemlička (with additional contribution by Zoë Opačíc); 7. The kingdom of Poland, with an appendix on Polabia and Pomerania between paganism and Christianity Przemyslaw Urbańczyk and Stanislaw Rosik; 8. The kingdom of Hungary Nora Berend, József Laszlovszky and Béla Zsolt Szakács; 9. Rus' Jonathan Shepard; Index. Review of the hardback: 'This volume constitutes an invaluable resource for our understanding of a crucial period in the formation of Europe.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History