Harry Norris – författare

This work offers insights into the cultural traditions that have shaped the Balkan region from pagan times, through folk culture, the medieval Christian churches, the encounter between Christianity and Islam, up to the religious and national mythologies that have proved so destructive in the modern day. With the Balkans a central focus of European concern at the beginning of the 21st century, this volume is a timely reminder of the complex cultural processes that continue to affect the modern world.

This book offers rare insights into the cultural traditions that have shaped the Balkan region - from pagan times, through folk culture, the medieval Christian churches, the encounter between Christianity and Islam, up to the religious and national mythologies that have proved so destructive in the present day.

Arriving in Europe in the 14th century, the Qipchaq Tatars are the longest surviving Muslim people in Europe. They form the historical core of the Muslim community in the Baltic States, Belarus and Poland where Muslims are few in number compared with those in other parts of the European Union and in Russia. In the first historical study of this important community, Harry Norris investigates the earliest contacts between the Baltic peoples and the world of Islam. He examines the trade routes of the Vikings and the early Slavs and Balts who had commercial relations with Arab merchants, trading in amber, furs, Middle Eastern silks and other luxury goods.Norris surveys the Qipchaq Tatars' history, their Muslim faith, their culture, their literature and their life as indigenous Europeans in New Europe today. He draws contrasts and similarities between other Muslim communities in Europe, including the diverse immigrant Muslim groups in the Nordic countries that border the Baltic Sea: Finland, Sweden and Denmark.This book is of importance to those studying the rich cultural heritage of minority groups of European Muslims and their position in Europe today, as well as those interested in the study of migration.