Why did Lithuania remain Pagan long after the rest of Europe became Christian?

As the title says. Why did other parts of Europe give up their old religion, while Lithuania resisted Christianity for centuries? Some regions became Christian by conquest, while others, like e.g. Scandinavia, became Christian after their monarchs converted.
 
Two geographic reasons. One, they were "Last in Line" of the Baltic tribes in the Christian intimation/conquest/cultural revolution campaign of the Northern Crusades that started (not under that name) way back with Charlemagne wacking the Saxons. Secondly they were next to the Orthodox Russians and basically play both sides off against each other/take bribes, so the pagan status benefited them.
 

yoyo

Banned
As the title says. Why did other parts of Europe give up their old religion, while Lithuania resisted Christianity for centuries? Some regions became Christian by conquest, while others, like e.g. Scandinavia, became Christian after their monarchs converted.
1. Very isolated
2. No pressure
3. Stronger(relatively) base
4. No political consolidation reason(lithuania already existed not formed like Poland)
 
As the title says. Why did other parts of Europe give up their old religion, while Lithuania resisted Christianity for centuries? Some regions became Christian by conquest, while others, like e.g. Scandinavia, became Christian after their monarchs converted.

Lithuania did not have strong monarchs and even the most successful ones had a marginal control over some pieces of a territory ( if we are talking about Lithuania proper). Some parts, like Samogitia, retained tribal structure all the way to the late XIV and were not really controlled either by the Great Duke or by the Order. Then, of course, there were physical problems of enforcing anything in the area filled by swamps and deep forests. On a greater scale, Christianity was not sitting well with the people living by raiding and slave trading (slaves would be Christians) and a geopolitical situation in the region was not putting too much pressure on the Lithuanian rulers in the terms of picking religion: their Catholic and Orthodox neighbors had been relatively weak and fighting with each other (including fighting within the same creed) and then the Mongols made Russian Principalities even weaker. In an absense of a strong pressure, the Duchy was combining the pagans, Orthodox and Catholic population without serious problems and religion of its princes meant little.
 
Being inland and in the correct place helped Lithuania stay untouched by the Northern Crusades. After Russia went into quarelling ztates, it did not push west, while the Polish were jusy with Prussians to their north.
 
Because in that part of Europe state need to appear first, then that state is baptized (by decision of ruler). Lithuanian state appeared relatively late, thus was christianized late. And the fact, that Mongols weakened Ruthenian principalities further delayed christianization-Lithuanians came to conclusion, that gods of Christians must be weak, because Christian Ruthenians are so easy to conquer.
 
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