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ELEMENTS OF PUBLIC RELATION CAMPAIGNS IN THE EASTERN BALTIC CRISTANIZATION PROCESS IN THE SECOND HALF OF 12TH CENTURY AND IN THE 13TH CENTURY
Abstract
Christianity reached the territories inhabited by Baltic and Baltic Finnic peoples (the present-day Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) considerably later than the rest of Europe. The centralization (and thereby also Christianization) process of Lithuania took a different turn, whereas the ethnic groups living in the territory of Latvia and Estonia were baptized in the result of crusades (during the years 1195/1196–1290). Subsequently, a set of feudal lands was established there, known as the medieval Livonia. In the 11th century, Eastern Baltics became a space where two main branches of Christianity clashed – Eastern (Byzantine Orthodox) and Western (Roman Catholic). Even though the inhabitants of Eastern Baltics were baptized in the result of crusades and the Roman Catholic version of Christianity was introduced there by force, the written sources (most notably the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia) show that the Western Christian mission also contained certain elements of a PR campaign. In order to erase the previous set of beliefs and to build a new one, the superiority of the Christian way of life was actively promoted. The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia (written during 1224–1227) is the best documentary narrative of the time, aiming to record the succesful course of the mission. The Christian missionaries living among the local people also used personal communication as an effective PR method. Other communication tools included religious theatrical performances, miraculous healings, and information about these events. Meanwhile, the data about the Orthodox mission in the territory are very scarce. Its impact is only testified by some artefacts (Orthodox crosses), some elements of Byzantine origin borrowed in the local jewelry, and many Christian terms in the Latvian language that are loanwords from Russian.
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