Varieties of religious conversion in the Middle Ages

"Because conversion gets to the question of how societal change occurs not merely in individuals but in groups, these essays make a valuable contribution to a topic that has generally been treated only in a narrow context. . . . The essays on women and conversion make an especially valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion of women’s role in religion."--James M. Powell, Syracuse University

"James Muldoon has clearly identified an important, neglected area in medieval studies. . . . Well written and informative. . . . Should pique the interest of future scholars."--Julian Wasserman, Loyola University of New Orleans

Contributors describe the wide range of religious experiences characteristic of the conversion of Europe to Christianity in the Middle Ages. From St. Augustine, the model of personal experience, to the conversion of entire societies--like the Saxons in the eighth century or the Lithuanians in the thirteenth--to the role of women in conversion, they examine one of the most important aspects of the spiritual transformation of Europe during the Middle Ages.

CONTENTS
Introduction: The Conversion of Europe, by James Muldoon
Conversion as Personal Experience
1. Augustine: Conversion by the Book, by Frederick H. Russell
2. Monastic Conversion: The Case of Margaret Ebner, by Leonard P. Hindsley O.P.
Conversion, Christianization, Acculturation
3. "For Force Is Not of God?" Compulsion and Conversion from Yahweh to Charlemagne, by Lawrence G. Duggan
4. The Conversion of the Physical World: The Creation of a Christian Landscape, by John M. Howe
Women in Conversion History
5. Gender and Conversion in the Merovingian Era, by Cordula Nolte
6. God and Man in Medieval Scandinavia: Writing--and Gendering--the Conversion, by Ruth Mazo Karras
7. Marriage and Conversion in Late Medieval Romance, by Jennifer R. Goodman
Conversion on the Eastern Frontiers of Christendom
8. Bargaining for Baptism: Lithuanian Negotiations for Conversion, 1250-1358, by Rasa Mazeika
9. Conversion vs. Baptism? European Missionaries in Asia in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, by James D. Ryan
Jews, Muslims, and Christians as Converts
10. From Jew to Christian? Conversion and Perceptions of Immutability in Medieval Europe, by Jonathan M. Elukin
11. Multidirectional Conversion in the Frankish Levant, by Benjamin Z. Kedar

James Muldoon is professor of history at Camden College of Rutgers University and author of <i>The Americas in the Spanish World Order </i>(1994).