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 FiguresPrefacePart I: Introduction and Methodological QuestionsSaints 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. LehtonenThe Elusive Quality of Saints: Saints, Churches, and Cults by Martin Wangsgaard JürgensenMedieval Cults and Modern Inventions: Dorothy of Montau, the Teutonic Order and "Katholiken für Hitler" by Cordelia HeßFinnish Saints' Tradition and Folklore: Interpreting St. Anne, St. Katherine of Alexandria, and St. Birgitta of Sweden by Irma-Riitta JärvinenPart II: Cult of Saints in Medieval Russia and LivoniaVarangian Saints and Christ-Like Varangians in Early Rus' Christianity by John H. LindThe Cult and Visual Representation of Scandinavian Saints in Medieval Livonia by Anu MändHistory Made Sacred: Martyrdom and the Making of a Sanctified Beginning in Early Thirteenth-Century Livonia by Carsten Selch JensenPart III: Saints' Cults and the Creation of Regional and National IdentitiesSt. Canute Lavard around the Baltic Sea by Nils Holger PetersenSaints, Guilds, and Seals: From Exclusivity to Competition by Lars BisgaardSaints and Political Identities in Late Medieval Lund and Uppsala by Tracey R. SandsSaints at War in the Baltic Region by Kurt Villads JensenSaints around the Baltic: Some Remarks, Conclusions, and Further Questions by Felicitas SchmiederBibliography