Palvehelmed ja isiklik vagadus keskaegsel Liivimaal
Rosaries and Private Devotion in Medieval Livonia

Summary/Abstract: This article examines rosaries (prayer beads) as material objects related to private devotion from the perspective of social history and art history, by integrating written evidence, visual sources and archaeological finds. Most of the source materials originate from the Hanse town of Tallinn. The focus is on the materiality of rosaries: the aim was to find out how many of these were owned by different social groups, what they were made of, what kind of pendants were attached to them, how and where they were obtained, what the material and symbolic value of these objects was, and whether they continued to be used, or at least kept as valuables, after the Reformation. Thus far, rosaries and devotional pendants have been regarded in studies of visual and material culture as marginal; however, their study will cast new light on medieval religious practices and values.

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