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 (more commonly referred to in the Middle Ages as Livonia). The articles cover a wide range of topics, for example 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, the adaption of the cult of saints in folk poetry, and the potential role of saints in times of war. The articles also address questions of methodology in research on the medieval cult of saints. Chronologically, the articles cover most of the Middle Ages from the Scandinavian Varangians in Rus in the tenth century to the late medieval Northern societies of the late fifteenth century.

• Carsten Selch Jensen is Associate Professor in Church History at the University of Copenhagen.
• 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.
• Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen is Secretary General of the Finnish Literature Society, and Adjunct Professor (Docent) of European History at the University of Helsinki.