Abstract
This article researches six church sites founded in Rogaland during the early stages of Christianisation in Norway in the High Middle Ages. The areas selected for investigation are the coastal skipreider (administrative units) Time and Klepp incentral Jæren, and Jelsa and Suldal in non-coastal Ryfylke. The sites have been assessed in relation to their surroundings, to shed light on the issues of actor, time and choice of location. The investigation revealed two types of church site: siteswith proprietary churches erected by a local magnate or middle-ranking landowner, and churches built by the villagers as a collaborative enterprise, in accordance with provisions in the section on church law in Gulatingslova (the Gulating Law) –called Kristenretten (Christian Law). The location of church sites relative to older pagan cult sites was assessed, to ascertain to what extent the location of a particular church represented continuity or change. The issue of monumentality appears to have been central in determining the location of proprietary churches, while accessibility seems to have been a consideration that influenced the location of churches built collaboratively by members of the community.It is suggested that Kristenretten was instrumental in spreading Christianity in Norway, in that the provisions on church building and related regulations encouraged the building of churches by a class of middle-ranking landowners.
Highlights
No remains of the early buildings have been preserved. It is the locations per se and their designation as church sites that are central to the investigation, which focuses on differences and similarities between the church sites in the regions selected for examination
The aim is to identify patterns in the process of Christianisation: Who erected the churches? At what time were they built? What considerations may have been crucial in determining the location of the churches?
I argue in general terms that such churches likely postdate proprietary churches
Summary
Med kristendommen vart gravlegging i større grad enn før sentralisert til éin stad, slik at viktige sider ved kultutøvinga gjekk føre seg på eit avgrensa område: Kristendomsbolken i Gulatingslova gav klare påbod om at ein skulle bygge kyrkje og «setja gard um henne» (G 13), og påbaud at dei døde skulle førast til kyrkja og bli gravlagde i heilag jord (G 23). Retrospektiv metode og bruk av eldre skriftlege kjelder I forsøket på å finne ut kven – det vil seie kva for gruppe i samfunnet – som kan ha reist kyrkje, er kunnskap om gardane sin tidlegare økonomiske status i bygdelaget viktig. I den grad det let seg gjere i mine undersøkingsområde, vil namna på dei gardane som har kyrkje bli vurderte etter om dei har gjeve namn til einingar utanom garden, til dømes til bygda, skipreida, eller seinare soknet som han ligg i. Metode for meir presise dateringar er vanskeleg å finne – i dei aller fleste tilfella vil det vere eit spenn mellom ”tidlegast reist” og ”seinast reist”
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