This work belongs to that category of books whose coming into the world has been hindered and plagued by countless hardship and travail. At long last, it is enough along so far that the first volumes can leave my hands.
A word about the motives which have inspired my endeavors in this work. To be sure, there are books on the history of Estonia published in foreign languages. Unfortunately, because of the difficult geographical situation of the Estonians and the misfortune of having neighbors who were not more humane, the history of the Estonians is full of wars, conquests and occupations. The land has been a theater of endless conflict and struggle between power hungry neighbor-nations — an arena of ghastly battles. The history of Estonia thus becomes almost necessarily an extensive history of aggression and subjugation by foreign powers. As a result, in treatments of the history of Estonia the portrait of the people of the land, of their character, qualities, attitude towards life, life’s concern, aspirations and endeavors must suffer. Thus history books in foreign languages do not provide an adequate idea of the people themselves. That is what has concerned me — the people themselves! Conquerors and colonial powers take care of themselves and of their aggrandizements at the expense of their victims — in history as well as in the present. My concern is that of portraying the people whose lot has been to undergo all these calamities and ordeals of life, and to show how they managed to retain their dignity and to salvage and maintain their life interests and values, how they have acted under the most excruciating conditions and how they used brief breathing spells in this endless suffering. What really concerns me is the spiritual, ethical, educational, intellectual and cultural legacy of the Estonians.
Author(s): Arthur Vööbus
Series: Papers of the Estonian Theological Society in Exile, 18
Publisher: Estonian Theological Society in Exile
Year: 1969
Language: English
Pages: 240
City: Stockholm
AN EXPRESSION OF TRIBUTE ix
TABULA GRATULATORIA xi
PREFACE xxvii
I. ASPECTS OF THE INDIGENOUS RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY AND ETHOS
1. THE CULT OF ANCESTORS 1
2. IMAGERY REGARDING THE SPIRITS OF NATURE 5
3. SPIRITUALITY AND ETHOS 8
II. THE FIRST ENCOUNTERS WITH THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
1. MEMOIRS PRESERVED IN THE LANGUAGE 15
2. THE MISSION OF JOHANNES HILTINUS 20
3. PLANS FOR INCLUDING ESTONIA AMONG THE MISSION FIELDS 20
4. THE 'MERCHANT’S CHURCH' 22
5. BISHOP FULCO 27
6. OTHER VESTIGES OF THE INFILTRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 34
III. THE GERMAN INVASION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
1. DESTRUCTION AND SAVAGERY WITHOUT PRECEDENT 41
2. THE FARCE MADE OF BAPTISM 46
3. THE REAL MOTIVATION BEHIND THE INVASION 51
4. THE ROLE ASSIGNED TO CHRISTIAN MISSION IN THE CONQUEST OF THE COUNTRY 55
5. COROLLARIES 60
6. CONSEQUENCES OF THE LOSS OF FREEDOM 64
IV. ENDEAVORS OF THE POPES TO ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL OF THE COUNTRY
1. THE POLICY OF THE POPES 67
2. THE MISSION OF LEGATE WILLIAM OF MODENA 70
3. THE CATASTROPHIC RESULTS 77
V. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
1. ERECTION OF THE CHURCHES 83
2. CREATION OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION 87
3. EXPANSION OF THE NETWORK OF CHURCHES 97
VI. CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE PEOPLE
1. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 105
2. EFFECTS OF, AND THE PROSPECTS FOR, ECCLESIASTICAL WORK 106
3. SYNCRETISM 111
VII. STRUGGLES OVER THE LARGESSE BETWEEN THE ORDER AND THE CHURCH
1. THE ORIGEN OF THE CONFLICT 117
2. THE DEVELOPING FEUD 120
VIII. WAR OF LIBERATION
1. INSURRECTION OF THE PEOPLE 127
2. THE STAMPING OUT OF FREEDOM 130
3. CONSEQUENCES OF THE CATASTROPHE 132
IX. WHAT DID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OFFER TO THE PEOPLE?
1. IN THE REALM OF RELIGION 135
2. IN THE REALM OF ETHICS 138
X. MONASTIC CENTERS AND THEIR ROLE
1. THE CISTERCIANS 145
2. THE DOMINICANS 150
3. THE AUGUSTINIANS 153
4. THE FRANCISCANS 155
5. OTHERS 159
XI. SCHOOLS DURING THE MEDIEVAL TIMES
1. THE CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS 161
2. THE PARISH SCHOOLS 163
3. THE MONASTIC SCHOOLS 163
4. THE TOWN SCHOOLS 167
XII. THE CHURCH IN THE LAST PERIOD OF THE CATHOLIC ERA
1. THE ROLE OF THE MONKS 169
2. THE REFORM ATTEMPTS 178
3. CHANGES AMONG THE PEOPLE 183
ABBREVIATIONS 189
INDEX OF NAMES 195
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 198
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN ESTONIA 200
INDEX OF AUTHORS 202
CONTENTS 207
