Chapter 4 - Christianization, Ethics, and Identities

Summary

So Far Our analysis has been dedicated to the events directly connected to the Christianization of the Slavs and Scandinavians, beginning in the first chapter with an overview of Adam’s construction of the paganism practised in those regions. The second chapter looked at the question of when Christianization began and who conducted it, while the third explored Adam’s understanding of Christianization as an ongoing process. All of this can be understood, more or less, as a straightforward history of the missionary activities and of religious change in the northern regions of medieval Europe. In this fourth chapter, we turn to two things that are directly connected to the chronicler’s ideas concerning the legatio gentium but are not specifically seen as actions or conditions for Christianization. Ethics and identities are constantly present in Adam’s narrative of Christianity’s expansion beyond the River Elbe, and both help his readers understand how the incorporation of new peoples within the Christian fold connects with his concept of history.

Ethics: Adam and the Ideal Archbishop

Adam’s use of ethical evaluations throughout the Gesta has already been investigated, especially in connection with Archbishop Adalbert, whom he discusses extensively in the third book. However, most of these studies are not concerned with the relationship between the ethical dimension and Adam’s historical narrative per se, or his ideas regarding history. Sverre Bagge looks into the description of Adalbert’s traits mainly in order to define the notion of character and personality—that is, of individual psychology and consciousness of self. His main concern is whether people living in the Middle Ages considered the possibility of evolution and change of character in a deep, psychologically referenced manner, which could be contrasted with the notion of the self that emerged only during the modern era. Consequently, ethical elements that characterize Adam’s narrative concerning Adalbert are central to Bagge’s study and point to some awareness on Adam’s part of the singularity of the subject. For Bagge, “Adam […] presents Adalbert’s deterioration of character as the main theme of the book.” Despite this, Bagge does not follow up on the apparently logical connection between the ethics in Adalbert’s characterization and what this progressive deterioration means from a theoretical perspective.