Catholic Influence and Magic in Finland

Abstract

It once was widely held that the veneer of Christianity in medieval Finland was rather thin, and therefore it was possible for the Reformation to take place without much opposition. This has been proven to be a misconception.¹ Rather, there was a vivid and strong Christian culture in Finland, as in the rest of the Nordic countries, prior to the Reformation. While the source materials showing the influence of Christianity are rather scarce, material archaeological evidence reveals evidence of an ample visual culture, both within churches and without, including the veneration of saints and pilgrimage. Current historiography holds that the Reformation slowly wiped out this culture, even though it ultimately failed to replace Catholicism with a proper, modern faith. Historians note isolated remnants of medieval Catholicism as evidence of the failure of the Lutheran Reformation. The consideration that these records could have represented anything other than the quality of Lutheranism has been, in the grand narrative of the national Lutheran identity, impractical.