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Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345
From 1250 to 1795 Lithuania covered a vast area of eastern and central Europe. Until 1387 the country was pagan. How this huge state came to expand, defend itself against western European crusaders and play a conspicuous part in European life are the main subjects of this book. Chapters are devoted to the types of sources used, to the religion of the ancient Balts (and the discovery of a pagan temple in Vilnius in the late 1980s), and to Lithuanian relations and wars with Poland and the Germans. Under Grand Duke Gediminas, Lithuania came to control more of Russia than the prince of Moscow.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 6, 2022
Medieval Baltic history is always something to be fascinated at, since the region was the last to convert fully to Christianity, as late as the period covered here, and then only in part and patchwork with scads of interesting holdovers lasting up until our own time.
There's not much scholarship on this period, the height of Lithuanian political might in the age before Rus grew powerful enough to dominate its eastern Marches and the various Empires to the west arose there. Rowell's volume nicely fills in the gap, though it is so specific as to merit a warning to the lay-reader: the details do get rather nichey and elemental, so if you're looking for just a casual history of medieval northeastern Europe, you might want to pass this on.
Surprisingly, the meat of this work is not Lithuania's shadowy existence on the fringes of an ever more Christian Europe, but how Lithuania fit into papal and Imperial scheming, its relations with early Rus, the Poles, proto-Prussians and the Teutonic Knights. Pressed in on all sides, pagan Lithuanian leaders, most especially Gediminas, the focus here, and his descendants deftly negotiated the precarious waters of conversion, apostasy, conversion again, and keeping their pagan constituents happy through a calculated balance of all of those things.
Overall, if you're into this region (I was reading this to learn more about pre-Christian beliefs, etc) or how a non-Christian power fared in an increasingly all-encompassing Christian sea, you can't go wrong here.
There's not much scholarship on this period, the height of Lithuanian political might in the age before Rus grew powerful enough to dominate its eastern Marches and the various Empires to the west arose there. Rowell's volume nicely fills in the gap, though it is so specific as to merit a warning to the lay-reader: the details do get rather nichey and elemental, so if you're looking for just a casual history of medieval northeastern Europe, you might want to pass this on.
Surprisingly, the meat of this work is not Lithuania's shadowy existence on the fringes of an ever more Christian Europe, but how Lithuania fit into papal and Imperial scheming, its relations with early Rus, the Poles, proto-Prussians and the Teutonic Knights. Pressed in on all sides, pagan Lithuanian leaders, most especially Gediminas, the focus here, and his descendants deftly negotiated the precarious waters of conversion, apostasy, conversion again, and keeping their pagan constituents happy through a calculated balance of all of those things.
Overall, if you're into this region (I was reading this to learn more about pre-Christian beliefs, etc) or how a non-Christian power fared in an increasingly all-encompassing Christian sea, you can't go wrong here.
November 15, 2012
11/9 - finally growing on me. getting really interesting in the parts about how Gediminas saw his baptism as his trump card against the Teutonic Knights.
The premise of the book was intriguing. Almost 100 years before the Protestant Reformation and the fall of Constantinople there was a pagan power in Europe that not only avoided becoming Christianized for several centuries longer than any other European society, but in fact thrived. It is a great what-if moment in history - had the Pagan empire held out for another mere 100 years (after resisting Christianization for almost a millennium) it might have found a way to survive with its ways in tact. To understand these developments in the moment where western Christianity was supposed to be at is strongest from a Lithuanian perspective is an unparalleled and promising approach.
Generally a well argued book but it still leans very heavily on non-Lithuanian perspectives and sources. This is to some extent understandable given the paucity of sources. Still, social history particularly the political ramifications of the pagan cult was a bit weak. The author's chapter on Lithuanian religion seemed lacking, especially given that it was what truly sets Lithuania apart. But again, the lack of source material does make it hard, even if the author leaves a lot of blank holes that might have been filled by archaeology and comparative ethnography and linguistics. Some other points are well presented: the author's claim about how Christianity was a presence at least among the ruling elite (but not the Grand Duke) in Lithuania is convincing. I was very impressed by the focus on diplomacy as a strategy, which is an exciting way to present history. The author's comparisons to other medieval societies is somewhat less illuminating, and the author had a tough job of writing both for the European medievalist and a non-specialist audience. Untranslated Latin reproduced verbatim, and the considerable namedropping of researchers many non-historians have never heard of in the main text are just a few of the distractions for the non-specialist reader.
The premise of the book was intriguing. Almost 100 years before the Protestant Reformation and the fall of Constantinople there was a pagan power in Europe that not only avoided becoming Christianized for several centuries longer than any other European society, but in fact thrived. It is a great what-if moment in history - had the Pagan empire held out for another mere 100 years (after resisting Christianization for almost a millennium) it might have found a way to survive with its ways in tact. To understand these developments in the moment where western Christianity was supposed to be at is strongest from a Lithuanian perspective is an unparalleled and promising approach.
Generally a well argued book but it still leans very heavily on non-Lithuanian perspectives and sources. This is to some extent understandable given the paucity of sources. Still, social history particularly the political ramifications of the pagan cult was a bit weak. The author's chapter on Lithuanian religion seemed lacking, especially given that it was what truly sets Lithuania apart. But again, the lack of source material does make it hard, even if the author leaves a lot of blank holes that might have been filled by archaeology and comparative ethnography and linguistics. Some other points are well presented: the author's claim about how Christianity was a presence at least among the ruling elite (but not the Grand Duke) in Lithuania is convincing. I was very impressed by the focus on diplomacy as a strategy, which is an exciting way to present history. The author's comparisons to other medieval societies is somewhat less illuminating, and the author had a tough job of writing both for the European medievalist and a non-specialist audience. Untranslated Latin reproduced verbatim, and the considerable namedropping of researchers many non-historians have never heard of in the main text are just a few of the distractions for the non-specialist reader.
September 4, 2025
Lithuania Ascending is a phenomenal account on the early history of Lithuania, which sadly isn’t a well-known topic. The appendix comes with primary sources on some of the events described.
The book does an excellent job at positioning Lithuania into 13th and 14th century contexts and shows how, rather than being isolated from Christian Europe, its pagan elites skilfully navigated the intricate diplomatic network of the time; both inside and outside their areas of control. Pagan Lithuania was not isolated from Europe, it played an essential role inside of it.
This book is especially valuable to those interested in the origins of a state, the politics of religion, diplomacy of a multicultural state and those interested in the history of Eastern Europe between the Kievan Rus and Moscow's hegemony.
The book does an excellent job at positioning Lithuania into 13th and 14th century contexts and shows how, rather than being isolated from Christian Europe, its pagan elites skilfully navigated the intricate diplomatic network of the time; both inside and outside their areas of control. Pagan Lithuania was not isolated from Europe, it played an essential role inside of it.
This book is especially valuable to those interested in the origins of a state, the politics of religion, diplomacy of a multicultural state and those interested in the history of Eastern Europe between the Kievan Rus and Moscow's hegemony.
July 16, 2013
This is the best book on medieval Lithuania I've read. This is the only book on medieval Lithuania I've read. Good start? I think so.
S. C. Rowell works with what he has, so this is mainly a political synopsis of Lithuania's rise to power under Gediminas and his predecessors. This means it's a linear telling of the battles and maneuverings of its Grand Duke and his armies, with an emphasis on his foreign policy with the Papacy and Catholics to his West, and the Orthodox to his east.
Because of what I would assume is the dearth of ready information, it doesn't go in to any social or economic analysis. If you're looking for information about the everyday medieval Lithuanian, or their way of life, this may not be the best place to look.
What the book excels in is in explaining what the Lithuanian state was and wasn't, dispelling certain myths. A lengthy chapter critically assesses Lithuanian paganism as a monolithic construct (it probably wasn't). While this was one of the defining, if not *the* defining, characteristics of Lithuania, the book goes to great lengths to show the pragmatic stance the state took in accommodating and living with non-Lithuanians, and fostering (and actively meddling in the affairs of) foreign faiths so long as they did not threaten the status quo. Case in point: in the early 1300's there were probably more Orthodox within Lithuania's borders at the time than there were Lithuanians themselves.
It's not too long, nor is it too dense (the author displays an extensive fondness for latin phrases and terms). It's worth the read if you're interested in Lithuania's history as a Grand Duchy.
S. C. Rowell works with what he has, so this is mainly a political synopsis of Lithuania's rise to power under Gediminas and his predecessors. This means it's a linear telling of the battles and maneuverings of its Grand Duke and his armies, with an emphasis on his foreign policy with the Papacy and Catholics to his West, and the Orthodox to his east.
Because of what I would assume is the dearth of ready information, it doesn't go in to any social or economic analysis. If you're looking for information about the everyday medieval Lithuanian, or their way of life, this may not be the best place to look.
What the book excels in is in explaining what the Lithuanian state was and wasn't, dispelling certain myths. A lengthy chapter critically assesses Lithuanian paganism as a monolithic construct (it probably wasn't). While this was one of the defining, if not *the* defining, characteristics of Lithuania, the book goes to great lengths to show the pragmatic stance the state took in accommodating and living with non-Lithuanians, and fostering (and actively meddling in the affairs of) foreign faiths so long as they did not threaten the status quo. Case in point: in the early 1300's there were probably more Orthodox within Lithuania's borders at the time than there were Lithuanians themselves.
It's not too long, nor is it too dense (the author displays an extensive fondness for latin phrases and terms). It's worth the read if you're interested in Lithuania's history as a Grand Duchy.
June 6, 2014
Well it is written with the least amount of flourish and panache possible, but despite this it is chock full of primary-sourced facts and pretty much the only english language treatment you are going to get on this topic as it is. It also has alot of thorough detail i don't think you are likely to get anywhere else so, it comes recommended for anyone interested in the crusades of the Baltic region and state formation. There is even some details about what little we know about Lithuanian paganism and how it was organized at the time.
February 2, 2023
Lithuania Ascending is the type of book I would recommend to any history nerd who takes their studies seriously. It is a very thorough book in looking at its topic. What I really loved about it was the way it treated its sources, as I love any book that really goes over all the sources available (especially important in the case of Lithuania, this book taught me, because of how few sources there are), what information they present, the way they present it and why the author believes they are reliable or not.
However, this book requires quite a bit of previous knowledge about Lithuania, Poland and Rus, as well as some basic knowledge about the Mongols, so this is not a book to introduce yourself to the topic with (it was my introduction to Lithuanian history and it took me a very long time to get through because I had to do tangent research to understand some parts).
Recommended for people who know their Eastern European history and for people interested in methodology in examining sources.
However, this book requires quite a bit of previous knowledge about Lithuania, Poland and Rus, as well as some basic knowledge about the Mongols, so this is not a book to introduce yourself to the topic with (it was my introduction to Lithuanian history and it took me a very long time to get through because I had to do tangent research to understand some parts).
Recommended for people who know their Eastern European history and for people interested in methodology in examining sources.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews