Europe's Last Pagans: A Historical Overview

00:00 - Introduction
00:51 - Who were the last Greco-Roman pagans?
07:49 - What was Europe's last pagan state?
14:15 - Who were the very last pagans in Europe?
21:50 - Conclusion

Who were the last polytheists in Europe, who clung on latest to worshipping the old gods before Christianity conquered the continent?

I approach this question in three different ways.

First we explore the first Greco-Roman pagans, the last worshippers of those gods who so deeply defined classical civilization. The last of these pagans were incredibly late, and far later than I had anticipated.

Then we go to the dark forests and frozen lakes of the Baltic to investigate Europe's last pagan state, a sprawling medieval empire which ultimately triumphed over its Christian foes.

Finally we investigate the last polytheists of all, a journey which will take us to a frozen land of craggy peaks and reindeer herds, punctuated by chanting under the midnight sun.

This video is a great starting point for exploring the forgotten religious diversity of the great European continent.

Sources


Classical paganism

Catherine Nixey, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World

Mani pagans - Romily J H. Jenkins (trans.), Constantine VII, De administrando imperio , p. 50, https://archive.org/details/deadministrandoi0000cons/page/236/mode/2up

Neoplatonism - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neoplatonism/ and Olympiodorus the Younger - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/olympiodorus/


Lithuania

Eric Christiansen, The Northern Crusades, 1997

S. Rowell, Lithuanian Ascending: A Pagan Empire within East-Central Europe, 1994, https://prussia.online/Data/Book/li/lithuania-ascending/Rowell%20S.%20Lithuania%20ascending.%20A%20pagan%20empire%20within%20east-central%20Europe,%201295-1345%20(1995),%20OCR.pdf

William Urban, The Teutonic Knights: A Military History, 2003


Sami

Alan Holloway, The Decline of the Sámi People’s Indigenous Religion, https://www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/diehtu/siida/christian/decline.htm

Alison Owen, Sámi, Land and Faith in Viking Age Scandinavia, https://www.epoch-magazine.com/post/non-attempts-at-converting-the-s%C3%A1mi

#history #pagan #religion #ancienthistory #medievalhistory