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Silence of the Gods: The Untold History of Europe's Last Pagan Peoples

Francis Young

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#3223 of 3,809 books · #1009 in History

Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize (2026).

The formal conversion to Christianity in 1387 of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania seemingly marked the end of Europe's last 'pagan' peoples. But the reality was different. At the margins, often under the radar, around the dusky edgelands, pre-Christian religions endured and indeed continued to flourish for an astonishing five centuries. Silence of the Gods tells, for the first time, the remarkable story of these forgotten peoples: belated adopters of Christian belief on the outer periphery of Christendom, from the Sámi of the frozen north to the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians around the Baltic, as well as the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia's Volga-Ural Plain. These communities, Dr Young reveals, responded creatively to Christianity's challenge, but for centuries stopped short of embracing it. His book addresses why this was so, uncovering stories of fierce resistance, unlikely survival and considerable ingenuity. He revolutionises understandings of the lost religions of the last pagans.

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Publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISBN-13
9781009586573
Genre
History
Topics
Paganism in EuropeChristianizationBaltic and Finno-Ugric peoples

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