IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 339: Bishops and Episcopal Authority in the Medieval North, II: Norway
Monday 6 July 2026, 16:30-18:00
| Sponsor: | Viking Society for Northern Research |
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| Organiser: | Davide Salmoiraghi, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge |
| Moderator/Chair: | Natasha Bradley, Faculty of English, University of Oxford |
| Paper 339-a | The Afterlives of Archbishop Eysteinn Erlendsson of Nidaros (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Religious Life |
| Paper 339-b | Hǫfðingjar of the North: Depiction of Bishops and Episcopal Governance in Ecclesia Nidrosiensis, 1280-1350 (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Ecclesiastical History, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Social History |
| Paper 339-c | Transgression, Testimony, and Sanctity in Early 14th-Century Bergen (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Ecclesiastical History, Language and Literature - Latin, Language and Literature - Scandinavian |
| Abstract | Bishops are key figures in the history of the Middle Ages: Their spiritual authority shaped and defined the mores of their regions, and their personal wealth and influence made them leading protagonists of the politics of their times. This session focuses on the representation of bishops of insular and Continental Scandinavia and its development from the time of the Conversion until the Reformation (c. 1000–1550). While the literature of medieval Scandinavia focuses primarily on kings, chieftains and legendary heroes, bishops too are often called to take up a central role in the accounts that record their deeds. Differently from secular heroes, bishops were required to enhance the honour of the Church alongside retaining their personal one. They also had to strike a balance between traditional values that celebrated strength and violence with Christian virtues (such as humility, charity, and self-sacrifice) to maintain their status in society. How was this tension between Scandinavian codes of honour and new Christian mores accounted for in literary and artistic depictions? Were these depictions successful in addressing and enforcing persuasive concepts of episcopal power in medieval Scandinavia? Is it possible to talk about ‘episcopal heroism’, and can we identify recurring features in the ‘episcopal literature’ of the medieval North? This panel explores the evolution of the representation of Scandinavian bishops in Latin and Old Norse written accounts across regions, centuries, and genres. This second session focuses on Norwegian bishops, from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. Three papers discuss the bishops’ representation and self-promotion in both in literary accounts and documentary evidence. They argue that it is the very temporal detachment from the historical events that explains the ways the bishops’ deeds are framed in these diverse sources. They also show how the seemingly secondary nature of this material is in fact pivotal for a full understanding of the importance of these figures and their reception across time. |