Daily Life in Danish Medieval Monasteries

Daily Life in Danish Medieval Monasteries
BRIAN PATRICK McGUIRE
1 . THE SOURCES
There is no general treatment of this subject, and so references must be
gleaned from scattered sources and secondary works. The great Dagligt Liv i
Norden i det sekstende Arhundrede (Daily Life in the North in the 16th Century)
vol. 1-7, ( 1879-1901), sixth edition 1968, by Troels-Lund has only two
references to monasteries and monks. Troels-Lund says that the hospitality
shown by medieval monasteries continued to be a tradition in the countryside
after their closing, for parish priests were expected to house travellers (I: 185-6).
A recent study of a Cistercian abbey in Southern Jutland: Olga Bartholdy
Munkeliv i Lf!gumkloster (L􀅞gumkloster, 1973 and 1987) was criticized by a reviewer
in Historisk Tidsskrift (74, 1974, p. 527-528) for its title’s indication that
the contents dealt with the daily life of the monastery. The reviewer pointed
out that the account dealt not with the monks‘ lives but with the relationship of
society to the monastery. This approach is necessitated by the type of sources
available for Danish monastic life. Beginning at the Reformation , monasteries
were emptied of their movable goods, and their chronicles and books were used
for scrap paper. Some of the fragments now collected by J􀅞rgen Raasted at the
Institute for Greek and Latin Medieval Philology in Copenhagen come from
books of SorSI) monastery. These books were cut up and made use of for the
17th century registers of Copenhagen· University.
The one type of monastic sources that was preserved after the Middle
Ages was the record of the monastery’s properties. Copies of abbey charters
were often copied into collections in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
These include the Codex Esromensis (Esrom Klosters Brevbog, ed. 0. Nielsen,
Copenhagen: Selskabet for U dgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie, 1880-8 1 ,
repr. 1973) and the Sorß Book, printed in Scriptore s Rerum Dan icarum Medii
Aevi!V (Copenhagen, 1776) p. 463-531 and now commented on in an important
article by Kai H􀅞rby, „SorSI) Klosters Gavebog“, in Kongemagt og Samfund i
Middelalderen, Fest skrift til Erik Ulsig (Arhus: Arusia-Historiske Skrifter VI,
1988) p. 55-62. For the period up to 1385, the monastic charters and other
documentary materials have all been gathered into the massive Diplomatarium
Danicum [Copenhagen: Det danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab, 1938-(87)].
New volumes appear every two or three years and by using the indices one
14
can find valuable information about Danish monastic relations to other social
institutions.
Many of the Latin sources beautifully edited in M. Cl. Gertz, Scriptores
Minores Historiae Danicae Medii Aevi (Copenhagen: Selskabet for Udgivelse
af Kilder til Dansk Historie, 1918-22, repr. 1970) , shed light on monastic
life, especially the Cistercian sources in the second volume, including the 0m
Abbey Chronicle. Another: narrative source of great value, and one which at
times approaches the contents of daily life, is the Letters of Abbot William
of the Augustinian house at .!Ebelholt in Northern Zealand. These have now
been printed in the Diplomatarium Danicum (Vol. I, Rrekke 3, appendix) ed.
by C. A. Christensen and Herluf Nielsen and have been analysed in a brief,
incisive article by Nanna Damsholt „Abbed Viihelm af .!Ebelholts brevsamling“ ,
Historisk Tidsskrift 78 (1978), p. 1-22, with an English summary, „The Letters
of Ab bot Vilhelm“ .
Among foreign sources that sometimes shed light on Danish monastic conditions
is, of course, J . M . Canivez, Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis
Cisterciensis (Bibliötheque de Ia Revue d’Histoire Eccl<!siastique 9-14B; Louvain
1933-41), now commented upon as a whole by Svend E. Green-Pedersen,
„De danske cistercienserklostre og Generalkapitlet i Citeaux til ca 1340“ , Festskrift
ttl Troels Dahlerup (Arhus: Arusia- Historiske Skrifter V, 1985) p. 37-53.
Also useful is T h e Tax Book o f the Cistercian Order, eds. A. 0. Johnsen and
H . P. King (Det Norske Videnskaps Akademi II, Rist. – Filos. Klasse Avhanlinger,
Ny serie, no. 16; Oslo, 1979).
2. GE::-!ERAL TREATMENTS OF MONASTIC LIFE IN DENMARK
The dassie work, which has never been replaced and which still can be
used, though with caution, is J . B. Daugaard, Om de Danske Klostre i Middelalderen
(Copenhagen, 1830). An attempt to update Daugaard got only
a limited distance., but lvar Hertzsprung, „De danske Klostres Styrelse og
�ZSkonomiske Forhoici samt Klosterbygningerne i Tiden 1202-1319“ Historisk
Tidsskrift 7 . Rrekke, 5. Bind ( 1904-05) p. 299-364, has given much inspiration
to later studies. Viihelm Lorenzen, De danske Klosires Bygningshistorie I-IX
( 1 912-41) cannot be trusted for its historical details, and much of its archeological
information is now out of date, but it remains the only twentieth-century
treatment of all the Danish monasteries, arranged according to their orders.
H . N. Garner, Atlas over danske klostre (Copenhagen: Nyt Nordisk Forlag,
Arnold ·Busck, 1968) deserves to be reprinted (with corrections), for it is the
best brief guide to the locations and founding dates for Danish monasteries .
An early study that still influences new work on D anish monasticism, as
weil as on other aspects of Danish medieval life, is Ellen J �ZSrgensen, Fremmed
15
Indftydelse v.n. der den danske Kirkes tidligste Udvikling (Memoires de l’Academie
Royale des Seiences et des Lettres de Danemark, 7me serie, Section des
Lettres t. I , no. 2; Copenhague, 1908).
Recently there have been a few studies which have looked upon monastic
life not in terms of individual orders but in terms of its impact on Danish
ecclesiastical and social life. These include Thelma J exlev, Fra dansk senmiddelalder:
Nogle kildest v..dier (Odense University Stutlies in History and Social
Seiences 29; Odense, 1976) and Tore Nyberg, „Lists of monasteries in some
thirteenth century wills. Monastic history and historical method : a Contribution“
, M edieval Scandinavia 5 ( 1972) p. 49-74, a fascinating article with a
rich bibliography. Tore Nyberg has emerged in recent years as the DanishSwedish
historian who is broadest in studying several religious orders and in
relating the Scandinavian to the international development. For an attempt at
this same approach, see my „Anders Sunesen og klostervresenet: Kontinuitet
eller Brud?“ , in Anders Sv.n. esen – stormand, teolog, administrator, digter ed.
Sten Ebbesen (Copenhagen: K!1Sbenhavns Universitets Center for Europreiske
Middelalderstudier, G. E. C. Gad, 1985), p. 27-4 1 .
For the objects o f daily life from Danish monasteries now at the National
Museum in Copenhagen, see Tage E . Christiansen, Danmarks Middelalder
(Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 1972).
3. DANISH NUNS
Here there is the same Iack of publications that is typical for Europe
as a whole, but in recent years there has been some excellent work. Gina
Gertrud Smith, „De danske nonneklostre indtil ca. 1250“ Kirkehistoriske Samlinger
( 1 973) p . 1-45 is a pioneering work. The same can be said of Nanna
Darnsholt, Kvindebilledet i dansk hßjmiddelalder (Copenhagen: Borgen, 1985)
whose fifth chapter draws on Danish saints‘ Jives, including Cistercian sources,
but where I find a too sharp distinction between an episcopal and a monastic
view of women in Denmark.
Ingrid Nielsen, well-known for her work on Danish towns, has written
an excellent new treatment of two womens‘ houses in Roskilde, a Franciscan
and a Dominican, from the later thirteentli century, „Brude- eller nonnesl!1S
r. O m grundlreggerne af Sankt Clara og Sankt Agnes klostre i Roskilde“ ,
in Kongemagt og Samfund i Middelalderen. Festskrift til Erik Ulsig (Arhus:
Arusia – Historiske Skrifter VI, 1988) p. 101 -15. See also Thelma Jexlev,
„Nonneklostrene i Roskilde“ , Historisk Arbog fra Roskilde Amt ( 1977), p. 25-
40.
16
4. THE BENEDICTINES IN DENMARK
Except for one of Lorenzen’s volumes, as mentioned above, the Benedictines
in Denmark lack any complete treatment. Their monasteries are seen
as isolated entities, and since several of them later became Cistercian houses
( as V eng and Sor􀑩), their Benedictine phase is given short shrift. Best-known
is the house at Odense, as in Peter King „The Cathedral Priory of Odense in
the Middle Ages“ , lürkehistoriske Samfinger 7:VI (1966) p. 1-20. See also the
relevant sections in Odense bys historie: Fra boplads til bispeby. Odense til
1559 (Odense: Odense Universitetsforlag, 1982).
The Benedictine house at N restved, later moved outside the city, was
treated in H. J . Helms, Ncestved St. Peders Kloster, (Nrestved, 1940). An
edition of the late medieval account books of Nrestved that will cast valuable
light on relations between monastery and peasants is being prepared by Merete
D ahlerup.
5. THE CrsTERCIANS
Because of the relative richness of the source materials, the Cistercian
Order’s presence in Denmark has received much attention, but most of the
studies concern the relations of the monks to other groups in medieval society
and not the content of their everyday lives. A projected work on the Cistercians
in Denmark by the historian and priest Edward Ortved was never completed,
but his general volume from 1927 on the Order as a whole, Cistercieordenen
OverhovedPt, has had some infiuence on later studies (a posthumaus volume,
Sveriges Klostre, appeared in 1933), while a typescript on Herrisvad monastery
is kept in the Royal Library at Copenhagen with Ortved’s other papers.
In 1982 my book, The Cistercians in Denmark: Attitudes, Roles and Funciions
in M edieval Society (Cistercian Studies 35, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian
Public
.
ations) appeared. I approached the subject in terms of social history
and the history of mentalities, and so the question of everyday life is only dealt
with sec􀞸 1darily. My book stops in the early fifteenth century. The last century
of Danish rnonasticism is still waiting for a treatment, which might be able to
bring fort!. „“!DY surprising sides of its situation at the eve of the Reformation .
Excavations at 0m monastery in Jutland in the mid-1970s brought to light
new information about a late medieval building programme that completed
the abbey complG, which had remained unfinished after the dispute with the
bishop of Arhus in the 1260s described in my Confiict and Continuity at 0m
A b bey: A Cistercian Experience in M edieval Denmark Opuscula graecolatina
8 (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum, 1976). Unfortunately the full report of
the 0m excavations has not yet been published, but a summary is available
17
in Olaf Olsen, „Kr!l!nike og udgravning: 0m kloster i historisk og arkreologisk
belysning“ , Convivium ( 1979) p . 2-22.
The most promising work contributing to our knowledge of the monks‘
daily lives is being done by archaeologists, such as Ole Schi!l!rring: „Lregbr!l!drefl!l!
jen pä. 0m kloster. Fra de seneste arkreologiske udgravninger – The laybrother’s
wing at 0m abbey“ , L;gumklo ster Studier 2 (L!l!gumkloster, 1980),
p . 7- 34 (with an English summary). Another fruit of the excavations at 0m
is Kristian Madsen and Ole Schi!l!rring: „Tre 1400-tals ovne pä. 0m Kloster“;
Arhus Stifts Arb;ger ( 1976-79) p. 25-38. Another Jutlandic monastery excavated
in the 1970s is Tvis, reported on by Torben Skov, „Tvis kloster – en
forel!l!big orientering om pr!l!vegravningen i 1987“ , Holstebro Museum Ärssk rift
( 1978) p. 41-55.
The journal L;gumklo ster Studier (mentioned above), continues to publish
studies relevant to Cistercian life in Denmark and especially the situation
of L!l!gum abbey. L;gumklo ster Studier 4 ( 1984) includes Hanne Sanders,
„Klostret i L!l!gum og dets placering i lokalsamfundet i 1200-tallet – The abbey
of L!l!gum and its relationship to local society during the 13th century“ , p. 23-
58; Jesper Ballhorn, „L􀅞gumkloster kirkes middelalderlige udsmyknig – Mittelalterliche
Kunstwerke in Lügumkloster Kirche“ , p. 60-84; Niels Sterum, „Korsgangshvrelvinger
i L􀅞gum Kloster – ideal og virkelighed – Vaults of the cloisterwalk
at the abbey of L!l!gum – ideal and reality“ , p. 86-107; and Bent S􀅞holm
Jepsen, „Middelalderlige urter omkring klostret i L􀅞gum – Medieval herbs from
the monastery of L􀅞gum“ , p. 109-115. The „grand old man“ of L􀅞gum abbey
studies, Jürgen A. Wissing, published in 1972 a book that has now been revised
and soon will reappear, Kloster Lögum: Zistercienserabtei Locus Dei (Schriften
der Heimatkundlichen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Nordschleswig, Heft 26) .
The archaeologist Niels Sterum, now at the Randers municipal museum,
continues to research the medieval development of the monastery complex at
L􀅞gum. See his „Not on Rock, not on Sand, but on Turf: Turf foundations
under the Cistercian church in Logum, Denmark“ , Citeaux Commen tarii Cistercien
ses 34 ( 1983) p. 3 1 1-15.
Svend Erik Green-Pedersen, historian at Arhus University, has made many
contributions to the history of 0m Abbey, [including „0m Klosters grundlreggelse
og dets forhold til bisp Sven af Arhus“, Arhus Stifts Ärb;ger 57 (1964)
p. 173-246). but his most fascinating work sees Danish Cistercian delevopments
as a whole: „De danske cistercienserklostres grundlreggelse og den politiske
magtkamp i det 12. ä.rhundrede“ , in Midde lalder, metode og medier: Festkrift
til Niels Skyum Nielsen (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum, 1981) p. 41-65
and „De danske cistercienserklostre og Generalkapitlet i Citeaux til ca. 1340“ ,
Festskrift til Troels Dah lerup (Arhus: Arusia – Historische Skrifter, 1985) p. 37-
18
53.
Our knowledge of the conditions of life at 0m Abbey was greatly enlarged
by Kr. Isager, Skeletfundene ved 0m Kloster (Copenhagen, 1936), with a German
edition , Krankenfürsorge des dänischen Zisterzienserklosters 0m (Copenhagen,
1941).
Other recent studies which could contribute to an understanding of conditions
in the monasteries and in their relations to their surroundings include:
Tage E. Christiansen, „Sune Ebbesens Halve Hovedlod“ , Historisk Tidsskrift 8 1
( 1 981) p . 183-92, with surnmary, „Sune Ebbesen’s half main portion o f inheritance“,
relevant to the history of Sor􀅞 abbey, and Axel Bolvig, „Stridighederne
omkring Brede Kirke 1250-1350“ (‚The conflicts concerning the parish church
of Brede‘) , Historisk Tidsskrift 77 ( 1977) p . 85-95, illuminating for the relations
of the L􀅞gum monks to lay society. For monastic place names and their origins
see Inge Wohlert „Dobbeltnavne pa danske klostre“, Festskrift til Kristian
Hald (Copenhagen, 1974) p . 7 1-84 and Niels Haastrup, „Esrom – et kloster
nrer 􀑩demarken7“, Danske Studier ( 1985) p. 99-102.
Some of my most recent articles update or revise observations in the book
on the Cistercians in Denmark. See „Monastic and Episcopal Biography in
the Thirteenth Century: The Danish Cistercian Account of Bishop Gunner of
Viborg“, Analeeta Cisterciensia 39 (1983) p . 195-230 and „Why Scandinavia?
Bernard, Eskil and Cistercian Expansion in the North 1 1 40-80“ , Goad and
Nail: Studies in Medieval Cistercian History X, ed. E. Rozanne Eider, Cistercian
Studies Series 84 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1985) p . 251-81.
6. AUGUSTINIANS
The Augustinian canons founded nine houses in Denmark during the Middle
Ages, but as with the Benedictines, we Iack a full study, except for Lorenzen’s
work. Because of abbot William (see above) and his Ietter collection, the
house at JEbelholt. in Northern Zealand can be seen to a certain extent in terms
of everyday life. JEbelholt is also documented through the excavations led by
Viihelm M0ller-Christensen and published in /Ebelholt kloster (Copenhagen:
N ationalmuseet , 1982), with detailed descriptions of the skeletons found and
the medical evidence accumulated. A medical museum at JEbelholt, open to
the public in the summer months, provides an invaluable introduction to the
history of daily life in medieval Denmark and supplements the finds from 0m
abbey (above) .
7 . FRANC!SCANS AND DOMINICANS
The mendicants were quite successful in Denmark and founded dozens of
priories after the 1220s. The Dominicans are most fully treated in the relevant
19
sections of Jarl Gallen, La province de Dacie de /’Ordre des Freres Frecheurs
I (Institutum Historicum FF. Praedicatorum. Dissertationes historicae XII;
Helsingfors, 1964).
The Fraueiseans received a full treatment in 1914 by J ohannes Lindbcek,
(De danske Franciskanerklos tre), while in recent decades J!Zirgen Nybo Rasmussen,
archivist at the Royal Archives, has written many excellent studies,
including „Das Franziskanerkloster in Flensburg und die Ordensprovinz ‚Dacia‘
um 1500“, Flensburg 700 Jahre Stadt – eine Festschrift (1984), p. 85-104.
Forthcoming from Nybo Rasmussen, by the Institut für europäische Geschichte,
Mainz, is Die Franziskane rprovinz Dacia I. Gründung und Leben. In a Ietter
to me Nybo Rasmussen points out that the tenth chapter, „Klosterleben und
Gottesdienst“ , deals with subjects involving everyday life.
In the 1970s there were excavations at the Franciscan house in Svendborg
on the island of Fünen. A preliminary report has been published by Henrik
M. Jansen, „Svendborg franciskanerkloster- set i lyset af de arkceologiske unders!Zi
gelser 1975-80. En forel!Zibig oversigt“, Ärbog for Sv e ndbarg og Omegns
Museum 1984 (Svendborg: Museumsforeningen, 1985) p . 24-43.
We are unable to get close to the Jives of individual Fraueiseans as we
can to a Cistercian monk-bishop like Gunner of 0m, but Nybo Rasmussen has
made a bold attempt in his „Broder Esger – provincial minister for franciskanerprovinsen
Dacia 1406-32. En p ersonstudie pä grundlag of upersonlige kilder“
( a biographical study on the basis of impersonal sources) in M e nnesker i Danm
arks og Europa Middelaldered. Brian Patrick McGuire (Copenhagen: Center
for Europceiske Middelalderstudier ved K111benhavns Universitet, published by
C. A. Reitzel, 1986) p. 105-119.
8. OTHER ORDERS
The Premons tratensians were especially successful in the twelfth century
in establishing houses in the Danish province of Skäne, but their history has
not been seen as a whole. See now, however, Tore Nyberg, „Die skandinavische
Zirkarie der Prämonstratenserchorherren“ , Secundum Regulam Vivere.
Festschrift für P. Norbert Backmund, hrsg. Gert Melville (Windberg:
Foppe Verlag, 1987) p. 265-79. See Also Curt Wallin, ed. Tommarps Urkundsbok
1085-1600: Klostret. Hospitalet. Staden. Socknen I-11 (Tomelilla: Verbum,
1975-76) with an article by Tore Nyberg in II: p. 7-22 and 33-42 on
the Nordic Premonstratensians ‚ position. The Hospitallers of Saint lohn had
six houses in medieval Denmark and are treated in an attractive study by a
historian who died young and thus did not realise the promise that the book indicates:
Thomas Hatt Olsen, Dacia og Rhodos (Copenhagen, 1962). For a summary
in English, T. H . Olsen, „The Priory of Dacia in the Order of Saint John
20
of Jerusalem“ , Annales de l’Ordre de Malte 4 ( 1960) p. 20-33. See also Tore
Nyberg, „Johanniterna i Norden i äldsta tid“, Festskrift tillägnad Matts Dreijer
(Alands Folkeminnesf6rbund. Bygdserie nr. 5; Mariehamn, 1984) p. 193-225.
Also his „Zur Rolle der Johanniter in Skandinavien. Erstes Auftreten und
Aufbau der Institutionen“ , Die Rolle der Ritterorden in der mittelalterlichen
Kultur, hrsg. Zenon Hubert Nowak (Universitas Nicolai Copernici: Ordines
militares, Colloquia Torunensia Historica 111; Torun, 1985) p. 129-44.
The Carmelites did not come to Denmark until the early fifteenth century
but then founded five houses. Their house in Helsing9lr ( Elsinore) north of
Copenhagen is the best preserved monastery complex in Scandinavia and at
the Reformation housed the distinguished Copenhagen U niversity teacher Poul
Helgesen , whose Skiby Chronicle and other writings are an invaluable source
for early sixteenth-century events in Denmark. As with the other monastic and
religious orders, the Carmelites are described in the Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for
Nordisk Mtddelalder ( „Karmeliterordenen“ , Troels Dahlerup, vol. 8, col. 298).
A fuller description, which does not Iimit itself to the Elsinore house, is given by
Kaare Rübner J 9lrgensen, „De hvide br􀅞dre i Helsing􀅞r“ , Helsing!ifr Bymuseum
Arbog 1979, p. 5-63, with rich notes and bibliography.
The Bridgettine Order ( Ordo Sancti Salvatoris) has been written about extensively
and in many different connections by Tore Nyberg, usually in terms of
the rule, administration, and links among monasteries. See his doctoral thesis,
Birgi ttinische Klostergründungen des Mittelalters, Bibliotheca Historica Lundensis
(Lund-Leiden, 1965). More popular, but a good guide to one Bridgettine
house in Denmark, is Per Sloth Carlsen, M ariager Kloster: Birgittinerordenen
og bygningshistorien (Randers: Randers Amts Historiske Samfund, 1983).
S9lren Kaspersen at the Institute for Art History, Copenhagen University, has
been working on the influence of Saint Bridget and her Order on Scandinavian
church art, as :•1 „Den hudflettede Kristus pä. korset: Et birgittinsk indslag i den
sengotiske kunst i Norden?“ , (with German summary: „Der gegeisselte Christus
am Kreuz – ein birgittinischer Einschlag in der spätgotischen Kunst des
Nordens?“), in Kristus fremstillinger. 5. nordiske symposium for ikonografiske
s tudier ( Copenhagen: G. E. C. Gad, 1980) p. 127-47.
The Hospital Bro thers of the Holy Ghost, founded in Southern France in
the late twelfth century, did not come to Denmark until 1451, with the foundation
of a house at Alborg in Northern Jutland. Aside from local studies, little
work has been published on the order in Denmark since 1906, when Johannes
Lindbrek and G . Stemann issued their De danske Helligaandsklostre.
For Antonites, Augustinians, and Carthusians, the only introductions (besides
Lorenzen) are provided by the respective articles in the Kulturhistorisk
Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder.
21
9. CoNCLUS!ON
As indicated at the outset of this brief review, the Danish monasteries Iack
a modern treatment of their everyday life . Monastic history has never had a
very high priority in Denmark, perhaps partly because of the distant legacy
of the Reformation and its rejection of monastic life as an acceptable form of
Christian existence. Even among totally secularized Danish historians today,
monastic history is generally looked upon as a secondary concern ( as can be
seen by taking a glance at recent treatments of Danish medieval history) .
The foundation of a European Centre for research on monasticism (C.E .R.
C.O.R. – Centre Europeen de Recherehes sur !es Congregations et Ordres Religieux,
Maison Rhone-Alpes des Seiences de l’Homme, Saint-Etienne Cedex 2,
France) has already rnade an impact on Scandinavian monastic research. At
its first conference in 1985, Tore Nyberg appropriately presented a paper, „Les
reseaux rnonastiques en Scandinavie“ , which soon will appear in the acts of the
congress. It is to be hoped that the activities of the Saint-Etienne monastic
centre, as weil as the Krems Institute for Medieval Daily Life, will contribute
to new work on daily life in Danish medieval monasticism.
22
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
NEWSLETTER 15
QUOTIDIAN UM
SEPTENTRIONALE
ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE IN MEDIEVAL DENMARK
Edited by
GRETHE JACOBSEN
and
JENS CHR. V. JOHANSEN
KREMS 1988
Herausgeber: Mediwn Aevum Quotid.ianwn. Gesellschaft zur Erforschung der materiellen
Kultur des Mittelalters. Kömermarkt 13, A-3500 Krems, Österreich. – Für den Inhalt verantwortlich
zeichnen die Autoren, ohne deren ausdrückliche Zustimmung jeglicher Nachdruck,
auch in Auszügen, nicht gestattet ist. – Druck: HTU-Wirtschaftsbetrieb Ges. m. b. H.,
Wiedner Haupstraße 8-10, A-1050 Wien.
2
Inhaltsverzeichnis/ C ontents
Introduction 4
N anna Damsholt:
The Legencis of Danish Saints as Sources to Daily Life 7
Brian Patrick McGuire:
D aily Life in Danish Medieval Monasteries 14
Ebbe Nyborg:
Kirchliche Kunst und mittelalterliche Wirklichkeit 23
M arianne Jobansen – Ingrid Nielsen:
The Danish Medieval Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Jens E. Olesen:
In der Kanzlei des Königs.
Die Kanzlei im mittelalterlichen Dänemark 43
Jens E. Olesen:
Tolls and Toll Collectors in Medieval Denmark 60
Bj!llrn Poulsen:
Possibilites et limitations du paysan danois
dans le bas moyen age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Helle Reinholdt – Bodil M!llller Knudsen:
„Women’s Rosegarden“ and „Women’s Herbgarden“ :
Two Symposia on the Sexuality of Medieval Warnen 84
Biographies of the authors 87
Berichte – Besprechungen – Mitteilungen 92
3
Introduction
The articles in this issue all deal with current research on life in medieval Denmark.
Though comprehensive within their respective fields, they represent only
a part of the multi-faceted research currently being undertaken in Denmark, in
spite of the adverse work and job situation of many younger scholars. Due to
a very short deadline for articles, many scholars were unable to comply with
our request for a contribution but expressed interest in participating in international
communication of current research. We hope to bring more articles
on research on medieval Danish life at a later date.
In Denmark, no particular stress is laid on the topic: medieval daily life .
Yet, the by now established social and economic history as well as the renewed
interest in political history, has made historians focus on daily life and on its
material as well as mental aspects. The articles by N anna Damsholt and Brian
Patrick McGuire concern the religion and the Church of medieval Denmark
and their fusion with secular life.
With the development of the discipline of medieval archaeology, our understanding
of the material aspects as well as the physical frames for medieval life
has been greatly expanded. In contrast to the finite number of written documents,
the quantity of archaeological sources keeps increasing, adding valuable
information to our knowledge of medieval society. The challenge to historians
and archaeologists has been to combine and interpret written, artistic and material
sources as Ebbe Nyborg discusses in his article while Marianne Johansen
and Ingrid Nielsen present a project combining achaeology and written sources.
All three authors are historians as well as archaeologists. In this connection, one
might mention the periodical hikuin (published by Forlaget Hikuin, Moesgä.rd,
DK-8270 H95jberg, Denmark) which began in 1974 and appears at irregular
intervals, the latest volume being number 14 (1988). The periodical brings
articles on medieval archaeology primarily in Danish but also in Swedish and
Norwegian with resumes in English. Special issues have been devoted to church
archaeology, urban archaeology, coins and pottery. We should also like to mention
the research tool Nordic Archaeological Abstract (NAA) which indexes all
articles on medieval archaeology (see p. 95).
4
c.n
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Katlegat \
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The Bellic See …,,…-;:;:, Bor􀀡!
— _J
50 km
The Julland peninsular and the Danish islands. The borders of the core of the Medieval kingdom are mark ed with dotted
lines and the modern boundaries with broken lines. The areas in present-day Sweden were the medicval province of Skäne
(Scania), Hailand and Blekinge.
Ingrid Nielsen has also produced the map, accompanying the introduction,
which shows the medieval as weil as the present boundaries of Denmark. As
she and Marianne Jobansen point out in their article, the latter boundary also
determines the boundaries of much archaeological and historical research. In
part to make up for this, meetings have been held between Danish and Swedish
historians and archaeologists (the latter primarily from Skane) dealing with
aspects of the town-country relationship. The publications of these meetings
are mentioned in the article by Bj􀞹rn Poulsen.
The article by Jens E. Oiesen on tolls and toll collection deals with a topic,
hitherto seen as part of political or financial history; but this was, in fact, of
great importance to the common people, especially the many men and women
engaged in trade or commerce whether on international, inter-regional or lo­
cal Ievel. Similarly, his other article, describing the development of the royal
chancellery, rerninds us that bureaucracy and bureaucrats, whether viewed negatively
or positively by contemporaries, are neither modern phenomena nor
ones, appearing during Absolutism.
Bj􀅞rn Poulsen’s article makes us aware that medieval people did not live
and produce in isolation but were integrated into the European economy,
though the extent of involvement and the awareness of international connections
would vary according to time and place. Poulsen also stresses that town
and country, so often seen as mutually exclusive, were both part of the daily
life of many medieval women and men.
The contribution by Helle Reinholdt and Bodil M􀅞ller Knudsen points to
the gender aspect, so often overlooked in traditional history which has concerned
itself mainly with the action of men. We have chosen not to have an
article on “ Women and Daily Life“ which would make women merely one ingredient
in the daily life of men but have urged the authors to include the
gender aspects, making the reader aware that history, whether of daily life or
of extraordinary events, is made by women as weil as men.
September 1988 Grethe Jacobsen, Jens Christian V. Jobansen
6