- Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
- Early Modern History, Reformation Studies, Reformation History, Radical Reformation, Anabaptism, Cultural History, and 33 moreMicrohistory, Early Modern Europe, Social History, Historical Anthropology, Pietism, Early Modern German History, Enlightenment, Book History, History of Science, Church History, Medieval Church History, Early Modern Church History, Anabaptist Studies, 16th Century (History), Religious History, History of Everyday Life, Martyrdom, Religious Toleration, History of Reading and Writing, Gender History, Jesuit history, History Of Emotions, Religious Dissent, History of Medicine, Social History of Medicine, History of Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Scandinavian history, Religion and medicine, Anabaptist Theology, History of Christian Missions, Lived Religion and Religious Practice in Everyday Life, Lived Religion, and Autobiography and life writing studiesedit
- I am a Finnish Academy research fellow and adjunct professor (Privatdozent) at the University of Helsinki, Department... moreI am a Finnish Academy research fellow and adjunct professor (Privatdozent) at the University of Helsinki, Department for Church History. My research interests encompass early modern religious history (including religious dissent), gender, emotions, life-writing and book history across confessional borders. My current research project, funded by the Academy of Finland, investigates emotions and religion in 16th-century Germany.edit
Ulinka Rublack: Crimes of Women in Early Modern Germany. Oxford Studies in Social History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001 (new edition)
Brendan Dooley & Sabrina Baron (eds.), The Politics of Information in Early Modern Europe. Routledge Studies in Cultural History. London & New York: Routledge, 2001. 310 sivua.
Kirjallisuusarvostel
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Kirjallisuusarvostel
Research Interests: Kirjahistoria and Ruotsi
Kirjallisuusarvostel
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Using "lived religion" as its conceptual tool, this book explores how the Reformation showed itself in and was influenced by lay people's everyday lives. It reinvestigates the character of the Reformation in what later... more
Using "lived religion" as its conceptual tool, this book explores how the Reformation showed itself in and was influenced by lay people's everyday lives. It reinvestigates the character of the Reformation in what later became the heartlands of Lutheranism.
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Austausch und Diskussion. Alle Übersetzungen aus dem Finnischen sind, wenn nicht anders vermerkt, meine eigenen. 2 Angesichts des ‚Streifzug-Charakters‘ dieses Aufsatzes sei es mir verziehen, dass die wichtigste schwedischsprachige... more
Austausch und Diskussion. Alle Übersetzungen aus dem Finnischen sind, wenn nicht anders vermerkt, meine eigenen. 2 Angesichts des ‚Streifzug-Charakters‘ dieses Aufsatzes sei es mir verziehen, dass die wichtigste schwedischsprachige historische Zeitschrift im Land, „Historisk Tidskrift för Finland“, in diesem Zusammenhang aus Zeitgründen nicht berücksichtigt werden konnte. 3 Allerdings wurde der Ansatz nicht theoretisch debattiert, sondern es wurden einzelne finnische Forschungen vorgestellt, die (implizit) unter diesen Deckmantel passten. Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 93 (1995). 4 Siehe z. B. Merja-Liisa Hinkkanen, „Carlo Ginzburg – johtolankoja näkymättömään“, („Carlo Ginzburg – Spurensuche im Unsichtbaren“), in: Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 95 (1997), 51–59; Marjatta Rahikainen, „Natalie Zemon Davis löytöretkellä menneisyydessä“, („Natalie Zemon Davis auf Entdeckungsreise in der Vergangenheit“), in: Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 95 (1997), 358– 362. 5 Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 à 1324, Paris 1975. 6 Giovanni Levi, L’eredità immateriale: carriera di un esorcista nel Piemonte del Seicento, Torino 1985. 7 Natalie Zemon Davis, Women on the Margins: three Seventeenth-Century Lives, Cambridge/ Mass. 1995. 8 Freilich stehen viele Übersetzungen noch aus oder sind erst mit erheblicher Verzögerung durchgeführt worden. So ist beispielsweise die finnische Übersetzung von Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre, Cambridge/Mass. 1983, erst im Jahre 2001 erschienen. Die wohl bekannteste mikrohistorische Arbeit von Carlo Ginzburg, Il formaggio e i vermi: il cosmo di un mugnaio del’500, Torino 1976, ist bis heute noch nicht übersetzt worden. Streifzüge durch die finnische Mikrogeschichte1
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Research Interests: Sociology, Early Modern History, Gender History, Book History, Narrative, and 14 moreHistory Of Emotions, Autobiography, Masculinity, History Of Rare Book Libraries, Masculinities, Church History, Scandinavian history, Memoir and Autobiography, Egodocuments of the Long Eighteenth Century, Finnish History, Memoir, Historical Studies, History of Emotions, and History of Clergy - Early Modern History
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Present in both everyday life and festive rituals, saints—both officially canonized and unofficially venerated—provide a prime example of lived religion in early modern Catholicism. To early modern Catholics, religious experience was a... more
Present in both everyday life and festive rituals, saints—both officially canonized and unofficially venerated—provide a prime example of lived religion in early modern Catholicism. To early modern Catholics, religious experience was a dynamic interaction between believers, God and the saints. In this chapter, we argue that the study of lived religion, understood as individual and communal participation in religious rituals, performances and other practices, allows us to gain new insights into the experiences and expressions of early modern religiosity, without lapsing into simplifying dichotomies or essentialist interpretations of the past. Rather, the concept of lived religion helps us link individual or communal experience to a larger societal framework. Considering the dramatic rise in hagiographic material in the wake of the Catholic Reformation and its reinforcement of the cult of saints, and supported by the invention of the printing press, we further propose that hagiographic material is ideally suited for the study of lived religious experience both on an individual and communal level. By hagiography, we refer to a multitude of material related to saints’ cults and canonisations, such as vitae (or saints’ lives), spiritual biographies, miracle narratives, canonisation processes, iconography, and drama. It is outright perplexing, how little use early modern scholars have, in comparison to medievalists, hitherto made of this abundant genre. Taking into account the changes and continuities in canonization procedures and their interaction with hagiographic material, the chapter introduces a sample of case studies from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century that illustrate how the veneration of saints helped early modern Catholics to give meaning and shape to their various mundane and religious experiences.
Research Interests: History and Iconography
Kirjallisuusarvostel
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This article investigates the gendered expressions of emotions in regard to experienced material hardship and professional aspirations in the memoirs of a Lutheran clergyman in 18th-century Finland, Johan Frosterus (1720–1809). In his... more
This article investigates the gendered expressions of emotions in regard to experienced material hardship and professional aspirations in the memoirs of a Lutheran clergyman in 18th-century Finland, Johan Frosterus (1720–1809). In his narrative, Frosterus links the material hardship of his parents during the Great Northern War with the material difficulties he himself experienced during his young adulthood. In retrospect, he underlines the lack of books and appropriate clothing that stood in the way of his aspirations to establish himself socially and professionally as a clergyman, eligible both for a clerical position and marriage. Patronage and the emotional and material help through family members, especially Frosterus’ mother, are discussed as central parts of this process. The narrative describes both the emotions linked to the lack of these objects and the social relationships surrounding these status symbols, offering valuable insights into how materiality and emotions interact with constructions of masculinity – and in particular, clerical masculinity – in early modern life writing.
Research Interests: Early Modern History, Gender History, Book History, History Of Emotions, Autobiography, and 9 moreMasculinities, Church History, Scandinavian history, Book History (History), Memoir and Autobiography, 18th Century, Egodocuments of the Long Eighteenth Century, Finnish History, and History of Clergy - Early Modern History
The article explores gendered ideals of death and suffering in martyr stories mainly in 16th century Germany. Two case studies illustrate common and distinguishing features within the heterogeneous “evangelical” movement, that only later... more
The article explores gendered ideals of death and suffering in martyr stories mainly in 16th century Germany. Two case studies illustrate common and distinguishing features within the heterogeneous “evangelical” movement, that only later developed into Protestant confessions. All evangelicals considered the Bible as the sole authority of religious truth that was worth defending with one’s life. The first case focuses on the martyrology of the Lutheran theologian Ludwig Rabus. The second one analyzes Anabaptist martyr songs in the “Ausbund” song collection. In both cases, martyr deaths, although violent, are depicted as “good deaths”. Generally, martyr stories were intended to strengthen the faith, identity and mutual bond in one’s own religious group, and to draw lines to other groups, whose martyrs were labeled as heretics. Whereas Anabaptists emphasized physical pain and persecution as imitation of Christ’s sufferings, Lutheran martyrs were essentially witnesses of the Gospel. Thus even Luther, who died a natural death, could be honored as a martyr. Based on contemporary notions of women as the “weaker vessel”, women martyrs were considered as higher proof of God’s power than male martyrs, who were seen as more resistant to pain. Therefore, the evangelical martyr stories both idealized female martyrdom and reinforced traditional gender stereotypes.
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Warum ging Barbara Halt, Bäuerin und sechsfache Mutter aus dem Dorf Urbach, nicht in die Kirche? War sie eine gefährliche Täuferin, die als Ketzerin zu verfolgen war, oder nur ein eigensinniges Weib, dem die Predigten des örtlichen... more
Warum ging Barbara Halt, Bäuerin und sechsfache Mutter aus dem Dorf Urbach, nicht in die Kirche? War sie eine gefährliche Täuferin, die als Ketzerin zu verfolgen war, oder nur ein eigensinniges Weib, dem die Predigten des örtlichen Pfarrers nicht zusagten?
Am Beispiel des Herzogtums Württemberg im 16. und frühen 17. Jahrhundert geht die Studie den Täuferbildern, der obrigkeitlichen Täuferpolitik sowie den lokalen Formen des Umgangs mit Täufern nach und analysiert die Handlungs- und Legitimationsmuster der als Täufer verdächtigten. Im Fokus steht das Verfahren der Kirchenvisitation, welches Möglichkeiten zu vielfältigen Verhandlungen über die Grenzen des religiös und sozial Erlaubten eröffnete.
Am Beispiel des Herzogtums Württemberg im 16. und frühen 17. Jahrhundert geht die Studie den Täuferbildern, der obrigkeitlichen Täuferpolitik sowie den lokalen Formen des Umgangs mit Täufern nach und analysiert die Handlungs- und Legitimationsmuster der als Täufer verdächtigten. Im Fokus steht das Verfahren der Kirchenvisitation, welches Möglichkeiten zu vielfältigen Verhandlungen über die Grenzen des religiös und sozial Erlaubten eröffnete.
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Scholarly focus is increasingly shifting to the lived experiences of religion in the past. For the Reformation era, Anabaptists form an important, yet often overlooked, group of lay religious expression, which differed from many of the... more
Scholarly focus is increasingly shifting to the lived experiences of religion in the past. For the Reformation era, Anabaptists form an important, yet often overlooked, group of lay religious expression, which differed from many of the mainstream Reformation teachings, norms and practices. As Protestants, Anabaptists shared the emphasis on preaching, hearing and reading the Word of God. From this starting point, my paper will explore two central elements of Anabaptist lived religion in the 16th century, reading and singing, both practices with strong identity and community building dimensions.
The history of especially early modern laity’s reading is methodologically challenging, but I argue that the sources available, if read carefully, do allow at least some glimpses into what books and texts the people suspected of forbidden Anabaptism owned, borrowed, distributed, read and discussed. I will present preliminary findings from the duchy of Württemberg with its persistent Anabaptist minority as a case study and discuss the importance and uses of books, especially songbooks, among rank-and-file Anabaptists in the late 16th century. Anabaptist songbooks are especially fruitful to study, as they point to the communal character of early modern reading in general – far more than nowadays, reading was a social activity and the lines between reading, praying, preaching, discussing and, indeed, singing are sometimes hard to draw. These practices were deeply embedded in the Anabaptists’ lived experiences, which have been studied far less than the doctrinal teachings of their leaders.
The history of especially early modern laity’s reading is methodologically challenging, but I argue that the sources available, if read carefully, do allow at least some glimpses into what books and texts the people suspected of forbidden Anabaptism owned, borrowed, distributed, read and discussed. I will present preliminary findings from the duchy of Württemberg with its persistent Anabaptist minority as a case study and discuss the importance and uses of books, especially songbooks, among rank-and-file Anabaptists in the late 16th century. Anabaptist songbooks are especially fruitful to study, as they point to the communal character of early modern reading in general – far more than nowadays, reading was a social activity and the lines between reading, praying, preaching, discussing and, indeed, singing are sometimes hard to draw. These practices were deeply embedded in the Anabaptists’ lived experiences, which have been studied far less than the doctrinal teachings of their leaders.
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The clergyman Johan Frosterus is known in Finnish literary history as the eloquent author of the first vernacular book on natural history (1791). Less well-known is his autobiography that yields extraordinary book-historical insights into... more
The clergyman Johan Frosterus is known in Finnish literary history as the eloquent author of the first vernacular book on natural history (1791). Less well-known is his autobiography that yields extraordinary book-historical insights into one 18th century individual’s life with books on the Northern fringes of Europe. The paper analyzes Frosterus’ descriptions on the specific contexts of reading in his life, thus contributing to the history and practices of reading in early modernity. The most spectacular setting for his reading were the long months in the summer of 1741, when Finland as a part of Sweden was at war with Russia: Frosterus lay seriously ill in the manor of his employer that had been deserted in fear of invading enemy troops. He spent his time reading, preparing for his funeral and discussing his life with God.
The paper asks how the different contexts of reading relate to the reading experiences and emotions that Frosterus describes (e.g. reading as a religious or healing experience). Attention is paid, among other things, to the social setting of reading (reading alone vs. reading with friends or family), and to the stages of life/social roles while reading (reading as a child, a student, a Pietist, a professional cleric, and a man of science). While the autobiography describes reading ex post, it can be analyzed fruitfully in regard to the meanings Frosterus as an old man gave books, reading and religion when narrating his life.
The paper asks how the different contexts of reading relate to the reading experiences and emotions that Frosterus describes (e.g. reading as a religious or healing experience). Attention is paid, among other things, to the social setting of reading (reading alone vs. reading with friends or family), and to the stages of life/social roles while reading (reading as a child, a student, a Pietist, a professional cleric, and a man of science). While the autobiography describes reading ex post, it can be analyzed fruitfully in regard to the meanings Frosterus as an old man gave books, reading and religion when narrating his life.
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The experiences of lay men and women labelled as “radicals” or “heretics” in the 16th century offer largely unexplored opportunities to broaden our picture of the Reformation(s) “from below”. Among such people the Anabaptists stand out as... more
The experiences of lay men and women labelled as “radicals” or “heretics” in the 16th century offer largely unexplored opportunities to broaden our picture of the Reformation(s) “from below”. Among such people the Anabaptists stand out as the most important and most feared group. My paper explores the potential of Anabaptist history to the larger Reformation and early modern historical scholarship. I will focus on issues of gender, family and local networks, drawing from my doctoral dissertation.
I argue that although these people have, firstly, long been banned to the margins of Reformation historiography and, secondly, Anabaptist scholarship has emphasized their withdrawal from the world, many of them actually continued to live and work in their home villages even after joining a forbidden religious group. As the basic social unit, the family was crucial to the survival of Anabaptists and their possibility to pursue their religious practices. This was known also to the authorities, who laid down detailed instructions on how to track down, admonish and re-convert Anabaptists sheltered by their family members. Württemberg ordinances also discuss how the authorities should treat families torn apart by Anabaptism and those where Anabaptists were protected by family. I will outline the authorities’ main concerns, but the main focus will be placed on the statements of the Anabaptist men and women who were questioned for their own or their relatives’ religious activities. These interrogations yield insights into how these rank-and-file people understood themselves as wives and husbands, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. It also becomes clear that both men and women could act very actively and self-consciously in spreading Anabaptists ideas and texts, organizing meetings and sheltering fellow believers. This they did largely in the course of their everyday life in the village.
I argue that although these people have, firstly, long been banned to the margins of Reformation historiography and, secondly, Anabaptist scholarship has emphasized their withdrawal from the world, many of them actually continued to live and work in their home villages even after joining a forbidden religious group. As the basic social unit, the family was crucial to the survival of Anabaptists and their possibility to pursue their religious practices. This was known also to the authorities, who laid down detailed instructions on how to track down, admonish and re-convert Anabaptists sheltered by their family members. Württemberg ordinances also discuss how the authorities should treat families torn apart by Anabaptism and those where Anabaptists were protected by family. I will outline the authorities’ main concerns, but the main focus will be placed on the statements of the Anabaptist men and women who were questioned for their own or their relatives’ religious activities. These interrogations yield insights into how these rank-and-file people understood themselves as wives and husbands, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. It also becomes clear that both men and women could act very actively and self-consciously in spreading Anabaptists ideas and texts, organizing meetings and sheltering fellow believers. This they did largely in the course of their everyday life in the village.
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The paper examines the chronicle by the Catholic schoolmaster Hermann von Kerssenbrock about one of the most shocking and discussed events in 16th century Germany: the Anabaptist kingdom in Münster 1534/35, where adult baptism, community... more
The paper examines the chronicle by the Catholic schoolmaster Hermann von Kerssenbrock about one of the most shocking and discussed events in 16th century Germany: the Anabaptist kingdom in Münster 1534/35, where adult baptism, community of goods and polygamy were established as new social and religious norms. Kerssenbrock's narrative, describing sinful sexuality in the besieged city, is here understood as a process of negotiating moral, sexual and religious norms within the own, emerging ‘confessional identity’ or culture. The focus is thus less on the Anabaptist ‘insider’ view of the events than on the ‘outside’ contemporaries discussing and denouncing Münsterite practices.
Call for contributions ends: February 28th, 2017 Workshop: Villa Lante, Rome, May 2018 Final submission of articles: Autumn 2018 Studies on medieval social and cultural history have already for several decades demonstrated the rich... more
Call for contributions ends: February 28th, 2017
Workshop: Villa Lante, Rome, May 2018
Final submission of articles: Autumn 2018
Studies on medieval social and cultural history have already for several decades demonstrated the rich possibilities hagiographic material can offer the historian interested in everyday life, lived religion and society. Since the late fifteenth century, this material has experienced an unprecedented growth in volume. Nevertheless, there is still a great need for studies on lived religion and everyday life portrayed through early modern catholic hagiographic material.
To address this need, we invite abstracts for contributions on the subject from scholars working with early modern (ca. 15th–18th centuries) hagiographic material, such as beatification and canonisation processes, other miracle accounts, art, vitae, and other spiritual (auto)biographies. The aim is to produce a high-quality collection of articles, which offers cutting-edge and fruitful insights into early modern social and cultural history, using hagiographic texts and art as sources. We especially welcome contributions, which have a sensitive approach to gender, age, health and social status.
The deadline for submitting abstracts is the end of February 2017. Twelve most promising abstracts will be selected. If funding can be secured, the article drafts will be discussed in May 2018 in a workshop organised at the Finnish Institute in Rome (Villa Lante). The collection of articles will be submitted to an international publisher following the peer-review process soon after the meeting, in autumn 2018.
Suitable article topics for the collection will include, but are not limited to:
● family and household, gender roles
● health, body, dis/ability, illness, and cure
● death and salvation
● religious practices and materiality of religion
● identity and community
Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words for an English article and a short biography including name, affiliation and the most important publications, to earlymodernhagiography@gmail.com by Tuesday February 28th, 2017.
Editors and contact information:
Jenni Kuuliala
PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher (Academy of Finland)
Faculty of Social Sciences / History
FI-33014 University of Tampere
tel. +358 50 3313 929
e-mail jenni.kuuliala@uta.fi
Päivi Räisänen-Schröder
PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher (Academy of Finland)
Faculty of Theology
P.O. Box 4, 00014 University of Helsinki
FINLAND
tel +358 02941 23053
e-mail paivi.raisanen@helsinki.fi
Rose-Marie Peake
PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Helsinki
Office: Meritullinkatu 29 A 25, 00170 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 44 3771745
rosemarie.peake@gmail.com
Workshop: Villa Lante, Rome, May 2018
Final submission of articles: Autumn 2018
Studies on medieval social and cultural history have already for several decades demonstrated the rich possibilities hagiographic material can offer the historian interested in everyday life, lived religion and society. Since the late fifteenth century, this material has experienced an unprecedented growth in volume. Nevertheless, there is still a great need for studies on lived religion and everyday life portrayed through early modern catholic hagiographic material.
To address this need, we invite abstracts for contributions on the subject from scholars working with early modern (ca. 15th–18th centuries) hagiographic material, such as beatification and canonisation processes, other miracle accounts, art, vitae, and other spiritual (auto)biographies. The aim is to produce a high-quality collection of articles, which offers cutting-edge and fruitful insights into early modern social and cultural history, using hagiographic texts and art as sources. We especially welcome contributions, which have a sensitive approach to gender, age, health and social status.
The deadline for submitting abstracts is the end of February 2017. Twelve most promising abstracts will be selected. If funding can be secured, the article drafts will be discussed in May 2018 in a workshop organised at the Finnish Institute in Rome (Villa Lante). The collection of articles will be submitted to an international publisher following the peer-review process soon after the meeting, in autumn 2018.
Suitable article topics for the collection will include, but are not limited to:
● family and household, gender roles
● health, body, dis/ability, illness, and cure
● death and salvation
● religious practices and materiality of religion
● identity and community
Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words for an English article and a short biography including name, affiliation and the most important publications, to earlymodernhagiography@gmail.com by Tuesday February 28th, 2017.
Editors and contact information:
Jenni Kuuliala
PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher (Academy of Finland)
Faculty of Social Sciences / History
FI-33014 University of Tampere
tel. +358 50 3313 929
e-mail jenni.kuuliala@uta.fi
Päivi Räisänen-Schröder
PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher (Academy of Finland)
Faculty of Theology
P.O. Box 4, 00014 University of Helsinki
FINLAND
tel +358 02941 23053
e-mail paivi.raisanen@helsinki.fi
Rose-Marie Peake
PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Helsinki
Office: Meritullinkatu 29 A 25, 00170 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 44 3771745
rosemarie.peake@gmail.com