Saints and Sainthood around the Baltic Sea

This volume addresses the history of saints and sainthood in the Middle Ages in the Baltic Region, with a special focus on the cult of saints in Russia, Prussia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, and Latvia (Livonia). Essays explore such topics as the introduction of foreign (and "old") saints into new regions, the creation of new local cults of saints in newly Christianized regions, the role of the cult of saints in the creation of political and lay identities, and the potential role of saints in times of war.



Carsten Selch Jensen is Associate Professor in Church History at the University of Copenhagen. Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen is Secretary General of the Finnish Literature Society, and Adjunct Professor (Docent) of European History at the University of Helsinki. Tracey Sands is an independent scholar of Scandinavian Studies, based in California. Nils Holger Petersen is Associate Professor emeritus of Church History, University of Copenhagen. Kurt Villads Jensen is Professor in medieval history and Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies, Stockholm University.



List of Figures Preface Part I: Introduction and Methodological Questions Saints and Sainthood around the Baltic Sea: An Introduction by Carsten S. Jensen, Tracey R. Sands, Nils Holger Petersen, Kurt V. Jensen, and Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen The Elusive Quality of Saints: Saints, Churches, and Cults by Martin Wangsgaard Jurgensen Medieval Cults and Modern Inventions: Dorothy of Montau, the Teutonic Order and "Katholiken fur Hitler" by Cordelia Hess Finnish Saints' Tradition and Folklore: Interpreting St. Anne, St. Katherine of Alexandria, and St. Birgitta of Sweden by Irma-Riitta Jarvinen Part II: Cult of Saints in Medieval Russia and Livonia Varangian Saints and Christ-Like Varangians in Early Rus' Christianity by John H. Lind The Cult and Visual Representation of Scandinavian Saints in Medieval Livonia by Anu Mand History Made Sacred: Martyrdom and the Making of a Sanctified Beginning in Early Thirteenth-Century Livonia by Carsten Selch Jensen Part III: Saints' Cults and the Creation of Regional and National Identities St. Canute Lavard around the Baltic Sea by Nils Holger Petersen Saints, Guilds, and Seals: From Exclusivity to Competition by Lars Bisgaard Saints and Political Identities in Late Medieval Lund and Uppsala by Tracey R. Sands Saints at War in the Baltic Region by Kurt Villads Jensen Saints around the Baltic: Some Remarks, Conclusions, and Further Questions by Felicitas Schmieder Bibliography