Popular Religion in the Periphery. Church Attendance in 17th Century Eastern Finland
Kuha, M. (2015). Popular Religion in the Periphery. Church Attendance in 17th Century Eastern Finland. Perichoresis, 13(2), 17-33. https://doi.org/10.1515/perc-2015-0008
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2015Copyright
© Emanuel University of Oradea, 2015. Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.
On the fringes of post-Reformation Europe, church and state authorities faced problems
in enforcing church attendance. In the Swedish kingdom, religious uniformity was seen as vital for the
success of the state after the Lutheran confession had been established, and absences from church were
punishable by law. The seventeenth century saw significant tightening of legislation relating to church
absences and other breaches of the Sabbath, and severe punishments were introduced. Despite considerable
deterrents, it was sometimes difficult to control local inhabitants: absence cases were regularly
brought before the local courts in Eastern Finland, where authorities were hampered by a combination
of geographical distance and a highly mobile population. In this article, popular church-going practices
are studied with an approach inspired by historical anthropology. In popular practice church
attendance was required only on the most important holy days of the year, whereas on Sundays and
prayer days, work or leisure were considered socially acceptable pursuits. Explanations of nonattendance
should not only make reference to trying conditions: in certain situations people would
travel long distances to church, despite the obvious difficulties they faced. Popular religious traditions
and old conceptions of sacred time also affected behaviour among peasants. The great holy days of the
year formed a ritual cycle, the aim of which was the maintenance of good relations with the supernatural.
For the success of oneself and one’s household, it was more important to follow the norms of popular
culture than the orders of the authorities.
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