Identities in Early Modern English Writing
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Book Series
Early European Research, vol. 17
Risk, Emotions, and Hospitality in the Christianization of the Baltic Rim, 1000-1300
Wojtek Jezierski
- Pages: 356 p.
- Size:156 x 234 mm
- Illustrations:6 b/w, 2 tables b/w.
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2022
- € 50,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-60039-0
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- ISBN: 978-2-503-60099-4
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This book explores emotional bonding and hospitality as uncertain means of conversion, interaction, and socialization within and across cultural divides, particularly between the local populations and missionary communities as well as crusader frontier societies on the Baltic Rim, c. 1000-1300.
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Review(s)
“Risk, Emotions, and Hospitality in the Christianization of the Baltic Rim is a must-read for any scholar interested in the wide variety of topics discussed in this work. Jezierski not only makes convincing arguments, but continuously lays out new methodologies for future research. (…) Whether such works explore this question in the Baltic or in other locations such as Iberia or the Latin-East, they will be heavily indebted to Jezierski’s highly innovative book.” (Patrick Eickman, in DE RE MILITARI, 23/05/2023)
‘In conclusion, Wojtek Jezierski delivers a though-provoking study of the Christianization of the Baltic Sea area.’ (Mihkel Mäesalu, in Journal of Baltic Studies, 11/10/2023)
“Für die Bewertung der Ereignisse, die zu Beginn des zweiten Millenniums christlicher Zeitrechnung die Ausweitung europäischer Zivilisation auf den gesamten Ostseeraum bewirkten, bildet sie eine wertvolle Ergänzung.” (Christian Lübke, in H-SOZ-KULT, 14/02/2024)
“Insgesamt liegt ein Buch vor, das auch über die Mediävistik hinaus Anknüpfungspunkte bietet” (Christina Antenhofern, in in der Historischen Zeitschrift, 318/2, 2024, p. 442)
“The innovative research by Jezierski is, first and foremost, a pioneering study which can provoke discussions and challenge some established imaginations about the medieval past. At the same time, the monograph itself will undoubtedly be an object of critical discussion as well.” (Anti Selart, in Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, 99/3, 2024, p. 919)
BIO
Wojtek Jezierski (PhD) is Associate Professor at the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies, Södertörn University and at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg. His research includes historiography, history and semantics of emotions and hospitality in the Middle Ages, early medieval continental monasticism, Christianization and crusading on the Baltic Rim, cults of saints in Scandinavia and East-Central Europe, and emergence of political elites in Scandinavia.
Summary
What anxieties did medieval missionaries and crusaders face and what role did the sense of risk play in their community-building? To what extent did crusaders and Christian colonists empathize with the local populations they set out to conquer? Who were the hosts and who were the guests during the confrontations with the pagan societies on the Baltic Rim? And how were the uncertainties of the conversion process addressed in concrete encounters and in the accounts of Christian authors?
This book explores emotional bonding as well as practices and discourses of hospitality as uncertain means of evangelization, interaction, and socialization across cultural divides on the Baltic Rim, c. 1000–1300. It focuses on interactions between local populations and missionary communities, as well as crusader frontier societies. By applying tools of historical anthropology to the study of host-guest relations, spaces of hospitality, emotional communities, and empathy on the fronts of Christianization, this book offers fresh insights and approaches to the manner in which missionaries and crusaders reflexively engaged with the groups targeted by Christianization in terms of practice, ethics, and identity.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface, Acknowledgments, List of Figures and Tables
Chapter One. Introduction
Chapter Two. Baltic Frontier Societies, Peripheral Visions, and Emotional Palimpsests
Chapter Three. Fear in Missionary and Crusader Risk Societies, 10th-13th Centuries
Chapter Four. Pagan Hosts, Missionary Guests, Spaces of Hospitality, 10th-12th Centuries
Chapter Five. Hospitality and Its Discontents in Helmold of Bosau’s Chronica Slavorum, 12th Century
Chapter Six. Emotional Bonding and Trust during Sieges, 12th-13th Centuries
Chapter Seven.
Politics of Emotions and Empathy Walls in Livonia, 13th Century
Chapter Eight. Hospitality and Formation of Identities in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, 13th Century
Chapter Nine. Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
