Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery: A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries

371 pp., illustrations, bibliography. inscription on half-title page. During the medieval period, the introduction of a new belief system brought profound societal change to Scandinavia. One of the elements of this new religion was the cult of saints. This thesis examines the emergence of new cults of saints native to the region that became the ecclesiastical provinces of Lund and Uppsala in the twelfth century. The study examines the earliest, extant evidence for these cults, in particular that found in liturgical fragments. By analyzing and then comparing the relationship that each native saint’s cult had to the Christianization, the study reveals a mutually beneficial bond between these cults and a newly emerging Christian society.