Christian Description of Baltic Paganism From 1400's

(April 17, 2025, updated May 1, 2025) A famous Christian hermit by the name of Jerome of Prague was one of the first Catholic Christians working in Samogitia under royal protection from the newly converted Catholic King  Jagaila. He seems to have started his Christian work during the 1420s. In 1458 he told his story to a visiting church official named Enea Silvio Piccolomini who later became Pope Pius II.

Jerome of Prague belonged to a Christian Catholic order called the Premonstratensians. They led the Pagan persecution in lands controlled by Christian authorities. They were like monks except they did not isolate themselves from the outside world. Instead they engaged with it by doing missionary and pastoral work. They were also known as Norbertines and White Canons. They were founded in 1120 and played a predominant part in the conversion of the Wends (of Codex Runicus fame) and the bringing Christianity to the territories around the Elbe and the Oder. They continued that work in the Baltic lands.

In a section entitled by Piccolomini as: "Others Worshipped a Forest" Jerome of Prague says:

• Afterwards he went to another people who worshipped forests consecrated to demons. And among other he thought one cult more worthy. He preached for many days to this people, opening the sacraments of our faith. Finally ordered the forest to be set on fire, since the people were plentiful in axes but no one dared touch the sacred wood with iron. Therefore, Jerome took up a double-edged axe first and cut the branches from a certain excellent tree. Then the crowd following, in a quick contest, cut down the forest - some with iron axes, some with pick-axes, some with axes. They came to the middle of the grove, where for some time no-one presumed to cut a very ancient oak, sacred above all were the trees in their religion, which they thought to be a most powerful habitation. At last, one was more daring than the others, rebuking his fellows who feared to cut wood, an inanimate thing. Lifting up his double edged-axe, he decided to cut down the tree with a great blow; he hit his shin and fell down on the ground half dead. The surrounding crowd, astonish, wept, and were overcome, accusing Jerome who had persuaded hem to violate the sacred house of a god, and there was now no-one who dared make use of iron. Then Jerome affirmed these things to be the illusion of demons, who enchanted and deceived the eyes of the people. He commanded the man whom we have said fell wounded to rise up. And showing no injury in any part soon put iron to the tree, with the crowd helping, its great burden brought down with a great crack, and he cut down the whole grove. (PEMB pages 41-43)

As late as the early 1700's sacred trees were still a problem for Christian authorities. In 1725 a group of Jeuits cut down cut down no fewer than 37 sacred oak and lime trees and buried the stumps. But locals brought branches from other trees, poured libations on the sites where the stumps were buried and asked permission from the spirit of the tree to infuse the branches with its powers so they could consecrate other trees by touching them with the branches (BRMR 323-324)

References

BRMR: Alisauskas Vytautas (2016) Remains of Baltic Religion and Mythology in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 14th-18th centuries: A collection of sources. Vilnius

Vykintas Vaitkevičius (2016) Sacred Sites. In, A Hundred Years of Archaeological Discoveries in Lithuania.  edited by Gintautas Zabiela, Zenonas Baubonis, Eglė Marcinkevičiūtė. Translated by Jeffrey Arthur Bakanauskas. Published by Society of Lithuanian Archaeology. Online at: https://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Vaitkevicius_Vykintas/Vaitkevicius_Sacred_Sites_2016.pdf

(May 2, 2025)  In a section entitled by Piccolomini as: "Narrative About the Lithuanians by the Hermit Jerome of Prague. They Worshiped Serpents. Others Worshiped Fire," Jerome of Prague reported:

• First of all, the Lithuanians to whom I wnt used to worship snakes. Their head of household had a snake in a certain corner of the house, to whom he gave food and made sacrifices to it lying in the straw. Jerome ordered them all to be killed and, having been brought into the marketplaces, to be publicly burnt. .... After these things he found a people who worshipped a sacred fire, and they called it perpetual. The priests of the temple supplied maaterial lest it should run out, and the friends of sick people consulted them about their life. They used to come to the fire at night, and in the morning thre was a response for those consulting them. (PEMB pages 39-41)

The common element in the above report is the celestial light goddess Selu/Selene whose epithet found in runic texts is "Celestial healer." As the goddess of the heavenly bodies she also represented the fate powers. Also considered to be celestial light is the light and heat from glowing coals. Because of this the Romans had their Vestal Virgins who also tended an eternal fire for the protection and health of the state.

The correspondence of snakes with fate is due to their correspondence with meteors as the snakes of heaven.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiery_serpents

(May 2, 2025) In a section entitled by Piccolomini as: "Others the Sun and Moon."

• Having set out into the interior he found another people who worshipped the Sun, and venerated an iron hammer of rare size in a singular cult. Asking the priests why it wanted such veneration, they replied that once, for many months, the Sun had not been seen. A most powerful king, having captured it, had shut it in a prision in a very will defended tower. The signs of the zodiac then helped the Sun, and with a huger hammer broke down the tower, and restored the liberated Sun to men. Therefore, this tool which had brought back light for mortals was worthy of venerations. (PEMB page 41)

This local shrine was involved in the passing of the seasons. Here the hammer was associated with the life giving powers of summer when the sun was free. During the winter the sun was considered to have been imprisoned. 

Reference