ABSTRACT
Missionary activities among the Sames in northern Scandinavia, Finland and Russia began as early as the thirteenth century, if not earlier. About 1250, King Håkon Håkonsson built the churchof Sta.Maria at Tromsø, and according to a papal edict of 1308, it was apparently intended as a mission church. The Protestant Churches at the time were not actively interested in missions. Calvin opposed the idea very strongly and he derided the Catholic Church for its ambition to conquer the world; nor was Luther interested in this work. Protestant missionary activity on a large scale did not begin until the Industrial Revolution about 1800. Opinions on this subject have obviously been influenced by the manner in which various authors have evaluated the Sames. The missionaries also worked in very different regions, and as von Westen remarked, “every different region has its peculiar idols, unknown in others”.
