Collegium Medievale

Alf Tore Hommedal, Åslaug Ommundsen og Alexander O’Hara (red.), "St. Sunniva – irsk dronning, norsk vernehelgen".

2022-12-07T12:01:07+00:00

Denne boka inneheld Sunniva-legenda i omsetjing, ein introduksjon, og tolv artiklar som dekkjer viktige aspekt ved Sunniva-kulten i mellomalderen og i moderne tid. Boka har oppstått som ein respons på den betydelege merksemda Sunniva-figuren har fått i seinare år, ein respons som kulminerte med Sunniva-festivalen i Bergen i 2020, og som i sin tur var ei markering av at det var 850 år sidan relikviane til Sunniva vart flytta frå Selja til Bergen. Festivalen tente også som ei god påminning om at mellomalderske helgenar framleis spelar viktige roller i det moderne samfunnet, til dømes som identitetsskapande figurar eller som historiske referansepunkt. Boka sitt føremål om å «formidle rikdomen i dette materialet» knytt til Sunniva-figuren gjennom tidene er derfor svært aktuelt (s. 48), og dette formidlingsføremålet vert oppnådd ved at artiklane set fokus på fleire viktige tema innanfor den historiske og samtidige Sunniva-kulten. Artiklane dekkjer også eit veldig breitt kronologisk spekter, frå 1000-talet til i dag, og det vert derfor mogeleg å få ei betre forståing for både brot og kontinuitet i Sunniva-figuren si historiske utvikling. At boka også er rikt illustrert og dessutan med norsk og engelsk tekst i alle artiklane gjer at innhaldet vert tilgjengeleg for eit publikum både i og utanfor akademia, noko som er eit stort demokratisk pluss.

Radoslaw Kotecki, Carsten Selch Jensen, Stephen Bennett (red.), "Christianity and War in Medieval East Cenral Europe and Scandinavia"

2022-12-07T12:03:25+00:00

Problemer knyttet til forholdet krig og kristendom i middelalderen har blitt undersøkt særlig i kontekst av korstogene. Denne gode antologien skifter fokuset fra en korstogs-sentrisme til en bredere problemstilling rundt kristendommen og kirkens innflytelse på krigens kultur. Det geografiske fokuset retter seg mot en region som har blitt betegnet som «Younger Europe» eller «New Christianity» (s. 2) og behandler denne i tiden fra 1000-tallet til 1200-tallet.

Annette Lassen, "Oldtidssagaernes verden"

2022-12-07T12:08:25+00:00

Med Oldtidssagaernes verden har Lassen skrivit en lättläst och balanserad introduktion till fornaldarsagorna. Boken börjar med en diskussion av genrens bakgrund, och Lassen noterar att forskare idag inte längre menar att fornaldarsagorna är en sen genre (s. 10). Detta är en viktig poäng, även om det mest förvånande i sammanhanget snarast är att forskare tidigare har påstått detta. Lassen diskuterar därefter mötet mellan germansk poesi och annan europeisk litteratur, tradering, undergrupper och datering.

Francesco D’Angelo, "Il primo re crociato: La spedizione di Sigurd in Terrasanta"

2022-12-07T12:10:11+00:00

The first king to go a crusade to the Holy Land was Sigurd Jorsalfare of Norway (1089?–1130). The crusaders’ bloody conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 had been led by very high-ranking nobles from Western Europe, but kings only afterwards recognized the potentialities of crusading and began investing time and money in defending religion and gaining political prestige.

Den tidlige kirkeorganisasjonen i Bergen bispedømme

2022-12-07T11:27:21+00:00

In the article, we have examined the emergence of a public church organization in the diocese of Bergen in Norway 950–1250. We argue that three organizational levels of county churches, quarter churches and eighth churches were in place as early as the eleventh century.

Public local churches were established in collaboration with the thing. As early as the eleventh century, a third of the churches in western Norway were public. It makes a significant difference from the feudal societies on the continent and the British Isles. The proprietary church-system was dominant there until the Gregorian church reform spread from the second half of the 1000s. We find support to define six counties within the Bergen diocese. The church organization expanded in line with the secular division into counties, quarters and ship districts (associated with the eights). The oldest version of Bergen diocese, Selja diocese, was divided in the early twelfth century. New areas were added to the new units. The landscapes of Voss and Hardanger were added to the new diocese of Bergen 1160/70–1274 in the north, and Valdres and Hallingdal around 1170 to the diocese of Stavanger in the south. We find that the older large Selja diocese originally included the counties Sunnmøre, Romsdal and Nordmøre furthest north. These were later transferred to the diocese of Nidaros, probably around the time when the Norwegian church province was established in 1152/53. The remains of St. Sunniva, the patron saint of Western Norway, were moved from Selja to Bergen around 1170.

The high number of public churches, as we have shown in this article, suggests that there were other, more egalitarian social structures in Norway than elsewhere in Europe. Not least, the thing institution was an important driver for the development of the church organization, especially at the local level. Negotiations on the establishment of the Norwegian Church Province were at the forefront of developments in Europe. The negotiations went in the Church’s favour and weakened private church owners’ rights over their churches. This was perhaps possible because there was already a more than 150-year-old tradition for public churches in Norway.

Images and Inscriptions

2022-12-07T11:33:50+00:00

Kviteseid Old Church in Telemark, Norway, is a medieval stone church with murals of a seemingly informal character. These depictions consist of ships, figures, individual letters, and longer inscriptions, apparently randomly placed on the interior chancel walls. By studying the painting techniques, the stratigraphic structure and the motifs of the paintings, the authors explore the intentions behind these motifs. They argue that, although of simple manufacture and unprogrammatic, they were an important part of the late-medieval and post-Reformational church experience. Several of the images and inscriptions may have had a memorial intention. This study provides a new understanding of a type of murals found in several medieval churches in Norway and abroad that has often been (mis)interpreted as graffiti.

Pain, Fear, and the Emotional Regime of Hell

2022-12-07T11:51:54+00:00

The period between c. 1170 and 1300 saw the most intense political conflict and change in Iceland’s history as bishops, chieftains, and the Norwegian king vied for control. In their campaign to secure a dominant and autonomous position, the Church used Christian vision literature to address the sinfulness of the male elite and to attack the foundation of their power, threatening them with the ultimate punishment – everlasting pain in Hell. This message of pain and terror worked to shape an emotional regime of fear, providing the Church with a persuasive tool to use in their struggle against Iceland’s chieftains.

The Dynamics behind the Spread of the Cistercians in Galicia (North-Western Spain), 1142–1250

2022-12-07T11:54:52+00:00

Galicia saw the first Cistercian foundation in the Iberian Peninsula. This essay explores the dynamics behind the introduction of the White Monks to this region. Consequently, the following lines are intended to address the current state of things in which there is such a traditional issue in medieval Spanish historiography, as monastic dominions. In order to achieve this, I have proceeded not only to examine the first Cistercian foundation charter in the Iberian Peninsula, but also to select, gather, and analyse the most relevant bibliography that has been written on the development of the Cistercian Order in Galicia. As nearly all the monasteries were existing houses which were incorporated into the Order it is necessary to begin with an examination of the context into which the Cistercians came. This is followed by an analysis of their spread and accumulation of endowments, and an examination of the consequences of this growth.

The Weathervane from Heggen

2022-12-07T11:57:56+00:00

The small-scale images executed on the weathervane from Heggen represent the culminations of battles of real and fantastic beasts. The historical action of engraving the metal plate once changed this structure permanently, creating a unit which transgresses our modern contrasting notions of dead material and live animal body. This article examines the presentation of the material object in the museum exhibition today in relation to the ways of displaying it in the Middle Ages. Influenced by the material and sensorial turns and theories of artworks’ “mythopoetic” efficacy as outlined by Didi-Huberman, it lays forth a new layer of understanding Scandinavian weathervanes concerning the capacity for apotropaic protection.