Concepts
This concept was born out of an ideological combination of just war with pilgrimage and equals a (Christian) holy war.
What is crusade?
The protagonists of Bocaccio's 'Decameron' fled this city to escape the arrival of the Black Death.
What is Florence?
This legendary British king later came to be associated with the Knights of the Round Table.
Who is King Arthur?
This anonymous rhyme chronicle, written in Old Swedish in the 1320s/30s, recounts political events from 1229-1319, ending in the election of Magnus Eriksson as King of Sweden.
What is Eric's Chronicle (Erikskrönikan)/the Chronicle of Duke Erik?
These carved and inscribed monuments, particularly common to Viking-Age Sweden, usually commemorate a deceased relative.
What are runestones?
This concept or literary fiction, also known as fin'amor or amour courtois, originated in France and was perhaps baffling to Swedish nobility in the Middle Ages.
What is courtly love?
What is Kalmar?
This Swedish king was killed in Uppsala on May 18, 1160, and later venerated as a saint.
Who is Saint Eric?
This didactic text in Old Norse from around 1250, in the form of a dialogue between father and son, was originally intended for the education of King Magnus the Lawmender.
What is the King's Mirror (Konungs skuggjsá)?
This object, worn over the face, could hold aromatic items intended to keep away bad smells (especially miasma, 'bad air') to prevent the spread of disease.
What is plague (doctor) mask?
This concept denotes someone who was killed for maintaining a religious belief, knowing that this would almost certainly result in imminent death.
What is Gotland?
This queen, daughter of King Valdemar of Denmark, wife and widow of King Haakon of Norway, has been seen as the instigator of the Nordic Union of 1397.
The story of a saint's life is usually called by this term.
What is legend or vita (Lat. life)?
These are the physical remains or personal effects of a saint preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial.
What is a relic?
This concept, coined by Susan Reynolds, is similar to nationalism but takes the kingdom rather than the nation as starting point for its definition.
What is regnalism?
In this town, nearly 100 people were executed over the course of a few days in November of 1520, following the coronation of the Union king Christian II as King of Sweden.
What is Stockholm?
This Anglo-French poet was the author of short narrative rhyming tales of love and chivalry (lais) which would come to be translated into Old Norse as the Strengleikar.
Who is Marie de France?
What are the Eufemiavisor?
This statue in Stockholm Cathedral, created by Bernt Notke, celebrates Swedish victory over the Danes at Brunkeberg in 1471.
What is Saint George and the Dragon?
This concept denotes the amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought, e.g. the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions.
What is syncretism?
At this site, King Harald Bluetooth raised his runestones celebrating his unification of Denmark, conquest of Norway, and conversion of the Danes to Christianity.
What is Jelling?
This man, convicted in 1311, is the only person known to have been executed for heresy in medieval Sweden.
Who is Botulf?
These texts, detailing the visions of St. Birgitta (Bridget) of Sweden, were collected between 1344 and 1373.
This sought-after treasure first appeared in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, guarded by the Fisher King, but became a central motif in later legends.