Europe's last pagans

Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. Christianity came to dominate Europe in the Middle Ages. However, some parts of the continent remained pagan until very recently. So how did non-Christian peoples survive and prosper in parts of Europe for centuries after most of their neighbours had adopted the church?

Francis Young, author of a new book, Silence of the Gods, explains all to David Musgrove. Your new book is Silence of the Gods, the untold history of Europe's last pagan peoples. Now that is a pretty exciting title. Tell me, what gods and what peoples? So Silence of the Gods is about a group of peoples who have really been rather forgotten in the religious history of Europe.

Peoples living at the geographical margins of the European continent, in the very far north, and also in the east of the continent, who clung on to their pre-Christian religious traditions to a late date that may surprise many people. Talk us through the dates that we're examining here. So the book begins in 1387. That was the year that Lithuania, the last officially pagan country in Europe, officially became Christian. But after that date, there are still lots of people in Europe who cling on to their pre-Christian traditions.

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