Overview

Paganism in Europe was not defeated by Christianity: it never went away. From the fourth century to the twentieth, against the background of a largely Christian culture, people repeatedly attempted to revive various kinds of pre-Christian religion – beliefs and practices that we have come to label as ‘paganism’. Ancient paganism did not survive the Middle Ages in its original form; this book tells the story of the persistence of elements of paganism and the pagan idea through Europe’s pagan revivals, from Byzantine Greece to medieval Eastern Europe and Renaissance Florence, from eighteenth-century Norwich to revolutionary Paris and Edwardian England. While some of these revivals are well known and others are almost entirely forgotten, they reveal the rich diversity of interpretations of paganism – and how those interpretations have been conditioned by the surrounding culture. Revived paganisms ranged from the austerely rational to the earnestly romantic, from the mystical and occult to the stridently nationalistic. Paganism Persisting reveals European paganism’s long afterlife, up to and including the emergence of modern paganism as a mass movement in the twentieth century. The  authors are both historians of religion specializing, respectively, in the intellectual history of the idea of paganism and in the development of popular religion and folklore. This book has much to offer to anyone interested in European cultural history, the history of ideas and religious studies.

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9781804132418

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Reviews

Paganism Persisting is a masterful exploration of how European pagan traditions have endured and evolved... Its profound insights into the interplay of religion, culture, and history, alongside its nuanced approach, set a new benchmark for understanding the legacy of Europe’s pre-Christian past. -- Carmen M. Márquez García * Amaltea * A stimulating work -- Jean-Charles Berthet * Iris * ...this book should provoke further reflection on the field to which it offers a valuable orientation... As a diachronic narrative of distinct-yet-related ‘paganisms’, the book is a readable, intelligent account, devoid of romantic woolliness and charitable towards both past and present participants in pagan projects. -- Mattias Gassman * International Journal of the Classical Tradition * Paganism Persisting is both an overarching historical and cultural survey and a handy reference source, non-exhaustive, and written in a refreshing and engaging style by its authors. -- Stephen Miller * Folklore * ...fascinating... Paganism Persisting is an excellent work of synthesis that comes very highly recommended. -- Ethan Doyle White * Reading Religion * Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. -- A. Sheppard * CHOICE *

Author Information

Robin Douglas is a writer and researcher based in London. His work is on the history of esoteric and pagan religious traditions from antiquity to the present day. Francis Young teaches for Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education and is the author or editor of over 20 books in the fields of the history of religion and folklore.

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