Pühajõe mäss 17. sajandil ja selle taga olevad uskumused
The Revolt of River Pühajõgi and the Beliefs Behind It

Summary/Abstract: In 1640 the landlord of Sõmerpalu in South-Estonia ordered to build anew watermill on the sacred river Pühajõgi. But in the years 1641 and1642 the weather turned extremely poor. Among the peasantry a strong belief set in that the bad weather conditions were revenge of the Pühajõgior the deity living there, who had been offended because of the dam and the mill built on the river. The peasants destroyed the dam, the watermill and purified the river. In the article perception of the nature by Estonian peasants of the 17thcentury is discussed. The main source used is the book Kurtzer Bericht und Unterricht Von der Falsch-heilig genandten Bäche in Lieffland Wöhhanda (A Short Report on and a Lesson by the River Võhandu in Livonia, Wrongly Regarded as Holy) by Johann Gutslaff (1644).

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