The Slavic Religion in the Light of 11th- and 12th-Century German Chronicles (Thietmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold of Bosau): Studies on the Christian Interpretation of pre-Christian Cults and Beliefs in the Middle Ages

453 Pages·2020·3.04 MB·English

by  Stanisław Rosik

The Slavic Religion in the Light of 11th- and 12th-Century German Chronicles
(Thietmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold of Bosau)
East Central and Eastern Europe
in the Middle Ages, 450–1450
General Editors
Florin Curta and Dušan Zupka
volume 60
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ecee
The Slavic Religion in the Light of
11th- and 12th-Century German
Chronicles (Thietmar of
Merseburg, Adam of Bremen,
Helmold of Bosau)
Studies on the Christian Interpretation of
Pre-Christian Cults and Beliefs in the Middle Ages
By
Stanisław Rosik
Translated by
Anna Tyszkiewicz
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Preparation and translation of the publication financed under the
program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education in Poland under
the name “National Program for the Development of Humanities” in
2012–2014.
Cover illustration: The so-called “bear”, ancient sculpture from around Strzegomiany near Mount Slęża
(now at the top of the mountain), Stanisław Rosik.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rosik, Stanisław, author.
Title: The Slavic religion in the light of 11th- and 12th-century German
 chronicles (Thietmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold of Bosau) : studies on the
 Christian Interpretation of Pre-Christian cults and beliefs in the Middle Ages / by Stanisław Rosik.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020. | Series: East central and eastern Europe in the Middle
 Ages, 1450-1450, 1872-8103 ; volume 60 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019056276 (print) | LCCN 2019056277 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9789004278882 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004331488 (nook edition)
Subjects: LCSH: Slavs—Religion--Sources. | Paganism—Europe,
 Eastern—History—Sources. | Europe, Eastern—Church history—Sources. |
 Thietmar, von Merseburg, Bishop of Merseburg, 975–1018. | Adam, von
 Bremen, active 11th century. | Helmold, approximately 1120-approximately 1177.
Classification: LCC BL930 .R674 2020 (print) | LCC BL930 (ebook) |
 DDC 299/.18—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056276
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056277
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1872-8103
ISBN 978-90-04-27888-2 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-33148-8 (e-book)
Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided
that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
List of Figures and Map ix
Introduction 1
1 Interpretatio Christiana of Old Slavic Religion as a Problem in Scholarly
Reflection 10
1 Interpretatio Christiana of Slavic Religion in Scholarly Opinions 10
1.1 Aleksander Brückner 10
1.2 Erwin von Wienecke 13
1.3 Stanisław Urbańczyk 17
1.4 Henryk Łowmiański 19
1.5 Leszek Moszyński 23
1.6 On Interpretatio Christiana: Discussion Addendum and
Summary 25
1.6.1 Christian Interpretation versus the Credibility of
Sources on Slavic Religion 28
1.6.2 Interpretatio Christiana: the Essence of the
Phenomenon and Its Constituent Procedures 31
2 Further Research Perspectives 32
2 The Religion of the Slavs in Thietmar’s Chronicle 39
1 Introduction: Thietmar of Merseburg and His Work 39
Excursus: Saturn at the Wagrians (Widukind of Corvey, Res gestae
Saxonicae libri tres III, 68) 54
2 The Religion of the Slavs in Thietmar’s Chronicle – Historiographical
Analysis 56
2.1 The Holy Spring of the Tribe Glomače 56
2.2 On Afterlife 59
2.3 Slavic Religiousness in View of Bishop Boso’s Mission 72
2.4 Uprising of the Polabian Slavs (983) 76
2.5 The regnum ablatum War between Mieszko I and Boleslav the
Pious 91
2.6 Radogošč 93
2.6.1 Urbs tricornis, silva et mare – Location of the
Phanum 94
2.6.2 Dii manu facti 99
2.6.3 Svarožic – deorum primus 106
vi Contents
2.6.4 Ministri 125
2.6.5 The Oracle, Divinations and Auguries 128
2.6.6 Principalis monarchia 133
2.6.7 Oath of Peace 142
2.6.8 Echo of the 983 Rebellion 144
2.7 Wigbert and Zutibure 145
2.8 The Third War between Henry II and Boleslav the Brave: Ślęża
Mountain and the Liutici Goddesses 149
2.9 Hennil 161
2.10 Reinbern and the Religion of Sea-Side Communities under
Boleslav the Brave’s Rule 164
2.11 On Funeral Customs of the Slavs 176
2.12 The Obodrite Pagan Reaction (1018) 183
3 The Religion of the Slavs in Thietmar’s Chronicle – Closing
Remarks 187
3 Adam of Bremen on Slavic Religion 197
1 Introduction: Adam of Bremen and His Work 197
2 The Religion of the Slavs in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae
pontificum – Historiographical Analysis 212
2.1 Rethra 212
2.2 Iumne 226
2.3 The Revolt during the Pontificate of Libentius 235
2.4 Gottschalks’ Times and the Slavic Rebellion of 1066 240
2.5 Rügen 247
3 The Religion of the Slavs in the Historical and Theological Vision of
Adam of Bremen 249
4 Helmoldi Cronica Slavorum on Slavic Religion 256
1 Helmold and His Chronicle of the Slavs 256
2 The Religion of the Slavs in Helmold’s Chronicle (Text Analysis) 265
2.1 Slavdom on the Threshold of the Oeuvre 265
2.2 The First Wave of Christianization 270
2.2.1 Charlemagne, Anskar, and the Slavs 270
2.2.2 The Rugians, Svantevit and the Legend of Corvey 273
2.3 The Second Revolution of the Wheel of History 285
2.4 From Gottschalk Time Success to the 1066 Rebellion 294
2.5 The Fourth High and Low Tide of Christianization 299
2.5.1 The Rans’ Religion in the Description of Their Struggle
with Henry the Obodrite Prince 300
Contents vii
2.5.2 Vicelin – Difficult Beginnings of the Mission 303
2.5.3 On Slavic Rituals: Helmold I, 52 306
2.6 The Last Ascent and Fall of the Polabian Mission 323
2.7 Towards Lasting Success of the Missionary Action 326
2.7.1 Vicelin and Prove’s Cult in Starigard 327
2.7.2 Count Adolf II and the Struggle with Idolatry 328
2.7.3 Helmold on a Journey with Gerold – a Treasury of
Knowledge on Polabian Religion 330
2.8 Epilogue: the Final Tackling of Rans and Their Cult 355
3 The Slavic Religion in the “World” of Helmold’s Work 368
Conclusions 383
1 On the Historical Stage 383
2 The Perspective of Theology and Culture Confrontation 386
3 Argumentum ex interpretatione … 389
Bibliography 391
Index of Ancient Historical, Biblical and Mythical Figures 428
Index of Modern Authors 435

Figures and Map
Figures
1 Reconstruction of the Slavonic temple from Gross Raden (11th c.), Stanisław
Rosik 101
2 The small bronze figure of a horse from Wolin (11th c.), Muzeum Regionalne im.
Andrzeja Kaubego w Wolinie / The Regional Andrzej Kaube Museum in
Wolin. 130
3 Mount Ślęża, Stanisław Rosik 150
4 The so called “bear”, ancient sculpture from around Strzegomiany near Mount
Slęża (now at the top of the mountain), Stanisław Rosik 156
5 The so called “sviatovid” from Wolin (9th c.), The Institute of Archaeology
and Ethnology PAS, Centre for Medieval Archaeology of the Baltic Region in
Szczecin, Stanisław Rosik 340
6 Cape of Arkona, Stanisław Rosik 362
Map
“Slavic tribes between Oder and Elbe in 10th–12th c.”, Krzysztof Wachowiak
(University of Wrocław) x