Title Žemaitijos christianizacija ir pagonybės veiksnys (XV-XVI a.) /
Translation of Title Samogitia's Christianisation and the paganism factor (15-16th c.).
Authors Bumblauskas, Mangirdas
Full Text Download
Pages 263
Keywords [eng] Samogitia ; christianisation ; conversion ; paganism ; depaganisation
Abstract [eng] The work is devoted to elucidating the process of Christianisation of the last pagan region in Europe – Samogitia as a process of overcoming paganism or depaganisation in the 15th – 16th centuries. The main problem is a chronological difference in the conceptions that has existed in historiography for 500 years between what is considered to be the end of Samogitia’s Christianisation. This problem is solved, first of all, at a theoretical level taking over the conception of “conversion” from Western historiography applied to both political changes during the Christianisation period (the “official conversion”) and to the epoch of the society’s transformation from a pagan society into a Christian one (“conversion” in a broad sense). Attempts are made in the thesis to show the main phases of Samogitia’s early Christianisation beginning with the stage of mission Christianisation whose main historical fact is Jeronimas Prahiškis’ mission in 1401–1404 that ended in the last victory of paganism. During the period of the “official conversion”, which encompasses baptising campaigns and the establishment of a diocese, the factor of paganism manifested itself in the pagan reaction – in the 1418 revolt, which failed to terminate the processes supervised by the international forum of that time – the Council of Constance. The end of the conversion in a broad sense is assessed according to the following indicators: the density of the network of parishes, the facts of the last baptisms of adults, facts of a social control system of attending churches, testimonies of the lists of gods and pagan practices. All these indicators allow the statement to be made that the beginning of the 17th century can be regarded as the end of Samogitia’s conversion.
Type Doctoral thesis
Language Lithuanian
Publication date 2014