Paganism, Christianity, Lords and Peasants in the Iberian Early Middle Ages, 4th to 8th Centuries

Addressing fundamental questions about the conversion of the West to Christianity between the 4th and 8th centuries, this book explores how and why new religions spread in societies that were previously foreign to them and examines what happens to old gods and traditional beliefs in the process.

Mário Jorge da Motta Bastos holds a PhD in Social History from Universidade de São Paulo and is a senior lecturer at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF-Brazil). He was also Brazilian Head of the Brazil-Argentina International Cooperation Program for Graduate Schools. He is the author of O Poder nos Tempos da Peste... (2009), Assim na Terra como no Céu... (2013), Filologia, História e Língua... (2018), and several other books and articles.

Introduction 1. The expansion of lordship in Iberian society 2. The church in the seigneurial society 3. Divine revelation 4. Continuity or transformation? 5. Divine power nature, relations, and fields of intervention 6. The saints and the liturgy 7. Final thoughts