medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Chris Daniell wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I suspect the nearest in English religious studies to this term is the
> Anglo-Saxon period where Christianity came in contact with paganism. I have
> never heard of the term 'double-belief' or 'dual faith' though one example
> would be Raedwald, King of the East Angles who set up altars to the
> Christian god and his pagan gods (see Bede for the reference). In such
> cases it would be helpful to have some term.
>
The term 'syncretism' is used rather freely (and I am guilty of this) to refer
to the presence of both
pagan and Christian elements within the same context, although this has been
criticised by William Kilbride who
writes:
'The term is used to distinguish that state between any two given canons of
knowledge, such as Raedwald's unwitting compromise. It is driven by its own
internal logic, assuming a movement or compromise between two pristine states
of
faith: that any point between these two states is not only untenable but
irrational'. ('Why I feel cheated by the term 'Christianisation'', in
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 17, 2, (2000) p. 8.).
I wouldn't go as far as William - I think the term is useful as an analytical
tool for highlighting contexts which contain
examples of both Christian and non-Christian cosmological understanding. So for
example, the Thorvald and Gosforth crosses. This doesn't necessarily assume
that both are pristine, but that examples of both paradigms are present in the
same context - which is the interesting bit! Closer to Russia, the work of
Heiki Valk may be of interest. The most accessible example is probably his
paper in The Cross Goes North: Processes of Conversion in Northern Europe, AD
300-1300 (edited by Martin Carver, Boydell, 2002) which is entitled
'Christianisation in Estonia: a process of dual-faith and syncretism'. Here
Valk argues that that since the thirteenth century three different beliefs
systems co-existed: 'Christian, local non-Christian and semi-Christian of mixed
character' and that 'syncretism' persisted beyond the Reformation. I've come
across similar conclusions for Lithuania, Latvia and Finland but off the top of
my head can't recall the exact references. For a full list of Valk's
publications which include a number on the process of conversion see
http://www.history.ee/arheo/Heiki_kirjandus.htm
> Later, after the country became Christian (in name at least), the Vikings
> introduced their gods. Thereafter there was latent paganism, but a
> difficulty is know how much was believed and how much was custom and
> tradition without a belief structure (for example Mumming).
>
> In English terms an interesting question is not so much about latent
> paganism but when did the country become 'Christian' (whatever that means).
> In Yorkshire - which I know best - I would argue for a late 12th / early
> 13th century date.
>
On the question of survival of paganism in Britain, including the
reintroduction of pagan elements by Scandinavian settlers, see Ronald Hutton's
chapter entitled 'Legacy of Shadows' in The Pagan Religions of the Ancient
British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy (Blackwell 1991, reprinted many times
since).
Aleks Pluskowski
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