Medieval Scandinavia: from Conversion to Reformation, Circa 800-1500 Pdf

FREE MEDIEVAL SCANDINAVIA: FROM CONVERSION TO REFORMATION, CIRCA 800-1500 PDF

Birgit Sawyer. The study of Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation has been, and still is, deeply influenced by the interpretation of its earliest history that was developed in the 19th century by political, legal, and literary historians, archaeologists, and Circa 800-1500. Scandinavia figured prominently in discussions of early medieval Europe, not only as the homeland of the Vikings, but also as the region in which Germanic society remained uncontaminated by Christianity and other influences longer than anywhere else. In "Medieval Scandinavia", Birgit and Peter Sawyer question assumptions about early Scandinavian history, including the supposed leading role of free and equal peasants and their position in founding churches. They meticulously trace the development of Scandinavia from the early ninth century through the second and third decades of the 16th century, when rulers of Scandinavia rejected the authority of the Papacy and the attempt to establish a united Scandinavian monarchy finally collapsed. The authors include a discussion of medieval history writing and comment on the use of history in the 16th century and modern attitudes to medieval history which differ in various parts of Scandinavia. They ultimately Circa 800-1500 that historic Scandinavia held greater similarities to other European regions than has been commonly supposed. Birgit Sawyer is one of the founders of the biennial interdisciplinary conferences on women in medieval Scandinavia. Lands and Peoples. Things and Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation. Christianization and Church Organization. Landowners and Tenants. Trade and Towns. Family and Inheritance. Ideal and Reality. Uses of the Past. An Outline. Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, circa by Birgit Sawyer

To browse Academia. Skip to main content. Log In Sign Up. Download Free DOC. Download Free PDF. Medieval Scandinavia; From Conversion to Reformation circa Peter H. Birgit I L Sawyer. Introduction II. Lands and Peoples III. Sources IV. Political History: an outline V. Things and Kings VI. Family and Inheritance IX. Women: Ideal and Reality X. Trade and Towns XI. The Angers Fragment of Gesta Danorum 4. Bohus Castle 6. Model of Holmen, Bergen 7. Erik of Pomerania's Seal as Union King 8. Nidaros Cathedral 9. Ribe Cathedral Urnes Church, Sognefjord, Norway Stone house as Tjele, near Viborg, North Jutland The "Sigurd-carving" on Ramsundsberget Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland: the main physical features 2. The proportion of farms in various districts that were deserted between and 3. General Map of Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland 4. Southern Scandinavia 4 The main royal estates in south-west Norway 5. The Kingdom of Norway in 7. The Estates of Bo Jonsson Grip 9. Bishoprics Monasteries founded before b. Dominican and Franciscan houses founded before Monasteries founded - The rise of the Sturlungs Tables 1. Some marriages of Swedish Circa 800-1500 in the eleventh and twelfth centuries 2. Erik of Pomerania's claim to be king of the Union 3. The daughters and brothers of Erik Plovpenning 5. Records of the activity of merchants, missionaries, Viking raiders and royal embassies provide evidence that for the first time makes it possible to trace at least some features of developments in Scandinavia. The period we cover ends in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century when there Circa 800-1500 two fundamental changes. First, the final collapse of the attempt to maintain Circa 800-1500 united Scandinavian kingdom, and secondly, the rejection by the rulers of Scandinavia of the authority of the bishop of Rome. When referring to periods longer than a century we have used three main subdivisions; the early middle ages to c. The word 'Scandinavia' does not appear to have been used in those centuries. It has sometimes been Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation in a limited sense to describe the great peninsula now shared between Norway, Sweden and Finland. This may make geographical sense, but hardly does so historically; until a large part of what is now Sweden was in the Danish kingdom and from to Norway was ruled by the king of the Danes. Scandinavia has consequently been used for the three 'Scandinavian' kingdoms, and that in turn has led to a great enlargement of meaning, for these kingdoms included, at various times, extensive territories elsewhere around the Baltic, in the British Isles and the Atlantic islands. Nevertheless, to avoid confusion the word will here be used for the central part of these kingdoms, that is the 'Scandinavian' peninsula and the peninsula of Jutland, with the associated islands. As the extent of the kingdoms changed many times in the period, we have chosen to refer to modern countries when locating places or regions. With a few exceptions we have adopted the form of place-names used in the edition of The Times Atlas of the World. The first version of chapters 1,3,8,9,and 11 were written by Birgit, the others by Peter, but we Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation together rewrittenthem many times as the book took shape. The whole book has been extensively revised in the light of suggestions and criticisms made of the first version by Sverre Bagge, Knut Helle, Steinar Imsen, Niels Lund, and Thomas Lindkvist. We are deeply grateful to them for their encouragement and advice. They also pointed out mistakes and misunderstandings; those that remain are, of course, our responsibility. We have also profited from many discussions in various Scandinavian, American and British Universities, in particular in the Medieval Seminar of Gothenburg University's History Institute. Thanks are due, and are gladly given, to the many other friends and colleagues who have given advice, made suggestions or helped us to obtain the pictures. Scandinavia figured Circa 800-1500 in discussions of early medieval Europe not only as the homeland of the Vikings but also as the region Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation which Germanic society remained uncontaminated by Christianity and other Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation influences longer than anywhere else. Although most of the evidence for this supposedly pure Nordic stage is in texts written in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was long believed that these provided reliable information about early Scandinavian history and society. It is mainly on the basis of medieval law- codes, Icelandic sagas and Adam of Bremen's History of the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen that a picture of ancient Nordic society has been reconstructed, a picture that has answered different needs at different times and has been used for specific ideological purposes inside as well as outside Scandinavia see ch. XI - and still influences the interpretation not only of early Scandinavian society, but also its later medieval development. The concept of an original Germanic cultural unity, combined with the idea of evolution, that the simple "primitive" precedes the more complex "developed" focussed interest on Scandinavia. Since this part of Germanic Europe was the last to be Christianized and was thus the last to be affected by Roman and canon law, Scandinavian society was thought to have preserved primitive features that had once been common to all Germanic societies. A very important factor in shaping this approach was the development of social anthropology in the late nineteenth century. Although belief in a primitive Germanic law has now largely been abandoned, the legacy of nineteenth-century social anthopology and legal history still casts a shadow over medieval Scandinavia. Textbooks on history and legal history still claim that the earliest Scandinavian laws were based on customary law that was transmitted by word of mouth for centuries before being written down. Even though in the written versions, this 'old folk law' was reshaped under the influence of Roman and canon law, it is supposed to have left sufficiently clear traces to provide a secure basis for reconstructing prehistoric Scandinavian society. Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation in the history of language and literature has similarly been rooted in nineteenth-century ideas, and the Circa 800-1500 persists in some quarters that Icelandic poetry and sagas were written versions of purely native traditions that had been preserved orally for centuries. This view, once widely held, obviously gave these poems and sagas great value as sources for the early history of Scandinavia. Traditional interpretations The interpretation of Scandinavia's early history has also been influenced by the theory of evolution. The assumption that the general trend has been one of 'progress' from the simple to the complex has apparently made it possible to trace developments even when very few facts are known. Many similar developments are supposed to have taken place: from an egalitarian to an increasingly stratified society, from custom to complex laws, Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation local barter to international trade, from pagan barbarity to Christian humanity and civilization. It Circa 800-1500 been generally supposed that development has been normally from the simple to the more complicated, often with the implication that the Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation has normally been for the better. Typological development, once greatly favoured by archaeologists, and still reflected in some museums, is a good example of this assumption of progress. Such a theory of development poses many problems, not least as the changes are supposed to have taken place between A. In fact, in that period there were no clans in Scandinavia see pp. There were different types of lordship and overlordship long beforeand the royal power that eventually developed did not simply evolve from earlier overlordships, it was new and different. From the beginning of the period society was highly stratified, with slaves at the bottom, and the social evolution was towards equalization in that slaves were absorbed into the class of free tenants. Nothing is known about the hypothetical 'primitive law' see pp. It is moreover impossible to claim that development in art and literature was from the simple to the complex; early skaldic poetry is far more complicated than later verse. The void created by the rejection of Circa 800-1500 sources as a guide to the early history of Scandinavia has been filled with the help of other types of evidence, in particular the material remains that are studied by archaeologists and art historians. Attempts have been made to interpret this evidence in Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation light of what is known about 'primitive' societies in other parts of the world with some success; anthropological models have contributed to a better understanding the past. Unfortunately the Scandinavian evidence used in such comparisons, especially in discussions of religious history, has not always been well understood, and doubts about the reliability of many familiar sources are too often disregarded; even nowadays some archaeologists cite the Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation English poem Beowulf as evidence for pre-Christian Scandinavia. It is, therefore, not surprising that many non-specialists still accept as trustworthy the traditions found in the sagas and in Saxo's Gesta Danorum. It is perhaps more surprising that assumptions that are largely based on the evidence of such texts still figure prominently in discussions of early Scandinavian society, which is commonly made to appear an aggregation of extended families forming free peasant democracies that were guided by an innate sense of justice and in which all free men were equal and women were independent. These ideas about early Scandinavia have obviously affected the interpretation of later developments, such as the process of Christianization, the development of ecclesiastical organization and of kingship and the machinery of government, the evolution of law, changes in social organization, family structure, and the emergence of an aristocracy. In our attempt to interpret medieval Scandinavia we have therefore paid particular attention to this early period, for it provides the basis for what follows. In this book we have ourselves attempted to re-examine the evidence, relying as far as possible on contemporary sources rather than the retrospective interpretations offered by medieval Scandinavians who had their own assumptions, and we have not attempted to trace developments before the ninth century. Later sources are of Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation not worthless; apart from providing valuable information about the time when they were written, they Circa 800-1500 also contain archaic elements see pp. In the first place they are generally concerned with relatively small sectors of society. With the exception of late medieval urban records, most of the people who figure in the sources belonged to the higher ranks of society; members of royal and aristocratic families and higher clergy. Almost everything was written by men, and it is their attitudes that are normally reflected, a fact that calls for caution when considering the role of women. Most texts were, in fact, written by ecclesiastics, and it is their concerns and values that are most prominent. The virtual monopoly of written culture by churchmen does not, however, mean that the Church dominated daily life and oral culture to the same extent. Their works are largely about the leaders of society, not the men and women who worked in fields and farms, markets and harbors. We read most about kings, bishops and magnates, their disputes, about high politics and alliances, campaigns, victories and defeats. It is true that in this man's world we also meet women, especially in the works of Icelanders and of the Dane, Saxo Grammaticus, but they, like Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation men who figure in these texts, are made to serve the underlying purposes of the authors. The history written in medieval Scandinavia has caused great problems for modern students of the period, a matter that is discussed more fully in chapter XI. One point that needs to be emphasized here is that historians wrote with a didactic purpose, to teach useful lessons from the past. Most historians Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation an Augustinian view of the past which they saw as a fight between the kingdoms of God and the Devil, between good and evil. Sigfrid of Sweden - Wikipedia

While in Norway, Sigfrid continued to participate in the Christianization of Swedento which he devoted the remainder of his life. His feast day is February In the ninth century, Anskar'Apostle of the North', had already made a missionary journey to Sweden and found Christians among those in captivity there. Sigfrid's career, therefore, belonged to a period when neither of these goals had yet been achieved, but his success, fame, and influence on younger missionaries nevertheless sufficed to earn him recognition as the primary 'Apostle of Sweden'. That he also worked in Norway, something Circa 800-1500 at all evident Circa 800-1500 his hagiography, is stated as Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation fact by Adam of Bremen, [21] while an anonymous Historia Norvegie additionally reports that Sigfrid was transported from England to Norway, along with other bishops, by the future King and Saint, Olaf Haraldsson. This probably happened in the autumn of Statements about the life of Saint Sigfrid that can be regarded as Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation are hard to discover, either in medieval primary sources or in modern reference books; scholars agree in declaring that very little can safely be said about him. While it is well-nigh inconceivable that any important pre-Reformation mission-leader originating from England would have set about his work without papal accreditation, [27] in the case of St. Sigfrid, there are no known records of his dealings with Rome, or with the kings, or archbishops of England. The destruction by fire in of York Minster's archives [28] has left it impossible to reconstruct in any detail the history of the Scandinavian missions dispatched from England before that date. The sources which attest to the activity of Saint Sigfrid—late-medieval Vitae, king-lists of Sweden, and bishop-lists of Swedish dioceses— Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation generally dismissed today by academic historians both in Sweden and the English-speaking world as of dubious reliability. Whereas Sigfrid's earliest days in Sweden are reported by the late-medieval hagiographers in some detail, with extreme specificity as regards names and locations, most of his subsequent long missionary career in the Swedish Kingdom is sketched in the extant Vitae with infuriating vagueness, and with no mention of any journeys and sojourns that he may have made anywhere outside that country after his initial journey there from England via Denmark. This is not only because the hagiographical context in which they are presented is easy to dismiss as a tissue of lying tales: the reports themselves appear to conflict with the account of Swedish church-history supplied by Adam of Bremen, a much earlier and seemingly more reliable authority. However, Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation considerations do not necessarily amount to conclusive disproof. For chronological reasons, Saint Sigfrid of Sweden cannot possibly be identifiable with Sigefrid, a monk of Glastonbury whose work as a missionary-bishop to Norway belonged to the days of England's King Edgar regnal dates On the other hand, it seems safe to identify the Sigfrid of Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation hagiography and bishop-list traditions with Adam of Bremen's 'Sigafridus', missionary to Sweden as well as Norway. In his hagiography, Saint Sigfrid of Sweden is problematically described as having held the office of Archbishop of York. But this possibility is not capable of proof. Alternative hypotheses regarding the alleged archiepiscopal rank of Saint Sigfrid can reasonably be mooted, as they have been in the past. Adam of Bremenmaster of the schools of Bremen in the third and fourth quarter of the 11th century, wrote about missionary activity in Scandinavia in the context of a history of the archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen, the Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum. Unsurprisingly, he foregrounds the missions dispatched by the archbishops of that Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, who regarded themselves as the rightful heirs Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation St. Anskar, claiming to have been given sole responsibility for the evangelization of the Far North in papal documents of varying degrees of authenticity. But Circa 800-1500 reason could Circa 800-1500 been the favour with which 'English' missionaries, as distinct from those dispatched from Bremen, had come to be regarded by those in the population of Svealand who had by that date embraced Christianity. The evidence of runic memorial stones datable to the relevant period suggests that such people were already quite numerous. The date not supplied by Adam at which the Diocese of Skara was founded seems to have been c. This seems to have lasted more than a quarter-century, coming to an end only with Gottskalk's death in c. At first, furthermore, Osmund was successful in asserting that he had a better claim to ecclesiastical primacy in Sweden than Adalward, who had only Hamburg-Bremen's authorization for his mission, not that of Rome. Bishop Osmund is known, from Adam's account, to have been educated at the schools of Bremen under the sponsorship of Sigafridus, bishop of the Norwegians, [58] presumably, the same third bishop in Trondheim who was known also for his missions to Sweden. Another testimony of his courtesy in relation to the authorities in Bremen is the fact that he was on a visit there, reporting on his successes in Sweden, at the time of Thurgot's death and funeral. Adam, the historian of that archdiocese, was broad-minded enough to acknowledge on many occasions the important part played by missionaries dispatched from places other than Bremen in the evangelization of the Far North. He vouches specifically for the fame of Sigfrid. The general impression Adam had gained, most likely from Svein Estrithsen, was that 'among the Norwegians and Swedes, because the planting of Christianity is something new, no dioceses with fixed boundaries have so far been designated, but all of the bishops chosen by a king or the populace combine to build a church and, traveling around a region, draw as many people as they can to Christianity and govern them without rancour as long as they live'. He mentions no particular names of places in Sweden where bishops were installed in churches by common consent. The question of whether the reports of bishopric-foundation in Vita Sigfridi II had a factual basis is ripe for re-examination. Medieval primary sources are unanimous in stating that Saint Sigfrid came from England Latin: Anglia"Anglia" being a geographical term which, for Adam of Bremen, meant the whole of the large island known to the Romans as Britannia, distinct from Ireland Hibernia 'to the left of it'. At the same time, England and Denmark were being ruled by two separate kings, not by one, as was the case during the ascendency of Cnut, who ultimately gained control of Norway as well as England and Denmark. Sigfrid's main sojourn in Norway evidently belonged to the years of the ascendancy of Olaf Haraldsson, [71] who seized the throne there in Sigfrid was a 'bishop of the Norwegians' at the time when he entrusted the future bishop Osmund to the schools of Bremen. But other sequences of events, and hence different chronologies are possible to envisage. But Circa 800-1500 that, Cnut's takeover of power in Norway was followed by a radical change in church leadership which would have made Sigfrid's previous position Circa 800-1500 Trondheim untenable. Of the period prior to his retirement, Vita I merely tells us that: 'He traversed all parts of Sweden, preaching, baptizing and converting the people to the faith of Christ, and he also urged those who he had imbued with the faith by holy admonitions that they should persevere, for they would receive eternal rewards from God. In particular, he constructed churches, ordained clerics and gave them orders to gain people for the Lord by preaching and baptizing. BySigfrid may well already have reached an age appropriate for retirement from a life of such demanding activity. In the late-medieval bishop-lists of Skara, 'Saint' Sigfrid 'from England', is commemorated as the first bishop of the diocese - with no mention of Thurgot, let alone Gottskalk. This Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation is unlikely to have happened before Christianization in the vicinity of Skara had reached an advanced stage, probably in the s or early s. It is implied, later in the bishop-list, that Sigfrid never actually 'sat' as bishop at Skara. This story alleges that the bishop had become slightly forgetful about the niceties of Church discipline before his death in extreme old age. But, while it is doubtless Circa 800-1500 case that fuller accounts of the life of St Sigfrid were in circulation in the pre-Reformation era than now, a warning has already been given against trusting the reportage of this Circa 800-1500 Icelandic author. No primary source gives any precise date for Sigfrid's demise. With regard to Trondheim, Adam of Bremen names Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation and Siwardus, both Hamburg-Bremen appointees, as the successors to the earliest three bishops, all of whom had come 'from England'. Osmund is said to have succeeded him. The issue of the conflict of ecclesiastical interests between Hamburg-Bremen and England with regard to Sweden, which the success of Saint Sigfrid's had precipitated, was not finally settled until the twelfth century, when new archbishoprics were established within Scandinavia itself, successively at LundTrondheim and Uppsala As Papal Legate to Scandinavia inNicholas Breakspear, the future Pope Hadrian IVwas prominent in furthering the latter part of the process that led to the eventual settlement. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Saint Sigfrid. II, part i, pp. II, part 1, p. III, part ii,Eng. Halldorson, vol III, pp. Ii, part i, p. III, part ii, p. Talbot Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation texts relating to the careers of some earlier missionaries from England sent to the Germanic lands. II, p. Schmid, P. Vita II, p. III, part ii, pp. III, pp. II, part 1, pp. Sawyerpp. Fisher, II, part i, p. Catholic Church in Sweden. Newman Institute. Caritas Catholic Cemetery Malteser International. Clare's Priory Stockholm St. John's Priory Kalmar St. Hidden categories: Use mdy dates from August Articles containing Swedish-language text Articles containing Latin-language text Circa 800-1500 containing Icelandic-language text Articles containing Old English ca. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Sigfrid.