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BYZANTINE INFLUENCE IN THE BALTIC REGION?

Norway and Iceland were the first countries to be reached by Christianity, followed by Sweden (including Finland). During the period of Danish hegemony in England (under the reign of Svein Forkbeard and Canute the Great) there was a strong English mission in the North, whieh has also left traces in Scandinavian liturgy and art. There was, however, no corresponding Eastem influence in the same region during this period.

Some of the Swedish runie inscriptions mention Scandinavian expeditions to the East. Quite a number of these refer to a certain Ingvar, who was the leader of such an expedition, which may have penetrated as far as Georgia. On the other hand, there is no evidence of a Byzantine influence in the Scandinavian runie inscriptions. Some formulas have been belieyed to be of Eastem origin, but I think I have myself demonstrated convincingly that these formulas are by no means Byzantine but are reminiscent of the Latin liturgy for the dead, and are thus connected with the Western mission. The references to 'Iight and paradise' thus refer to the formulas lux perpełua luceat cis, at the beginning of the requiem Mass, and in paradisum deducant te angeli at the end of the liturgy. As far as I can judge, this view has been accepted by most Swedish scholars. The expression 'Mother of God' in some inscriptions is not an exclusively Byzantine title, but is known from England and Frisia as a translation of Latin Dci Cenetrix. There are no written texts, runie or Latin, which refer to Byzantine Christianity. Some crosses on rune-stones may have been inspired by Byzantine pendant crosses, which must have existed in great numbers.

There are some obvious Byzantine elements in Scandinavian art during the period of Christianisation, especially on baptismal fonts. One of the font-masters has even been given the modem name of Byzantius. But these influences have not reached Scandinavia over the Baltic. From about the year 1000 there was a strong Byzantine influence in the German Empire, due to the Empress Theophanou, the Greek consort of the Emperor Otto II. These impulses spread northward and are to be seen ąlso in Scandinavian art.

But the question of Byzantine influence remains, especially when we tum to the east coast of the Baltic, to Finland, Estonia and Latvia. (Lithuania was always strongly connected with Poland.) Already in the Viking age, a Swedish-speaking population was established in the south-west of Finland and had strong connec-tions with Sweden. Danish and Swedish Vikings used to ravage the Baltic coast, enterprises which were renamed as crusades, as Christianity prevailed. Thus Finland was incorporated into Sweden, and Estonia became a Danish province.

Let us also keep in mind that the southem shore of the Baltic was not in the hands of the Germans in the eleventh century. South-east of the Danish border was a little tip of Saxony, delimited by the Limes Saxoniae, the border of the Slavonic lands. The coast further east was populated by Slavonic and Baltic tribes (to which also the Old Prussians belonged). There was a constant German pres-sure towards the Baltic, which had its first success when Count Henry the Lion re-founded Liibeck in 1159. Later on the German knights penetrated along the coast all the way up to Latvia, and finally even Estonia came under German rule.