Ströja kyrka – en aristokratisk medeltidskyrka
(2013) p.79-108- Abstract
- Today, Brahe Church mainly exhibits signs of the period of greatness of Visingsö island during the seventeenth century. However, there are also traces from much earlier periods. Ströja Church was built during the twelfth century, when the House of Erik and the House of Sverker contested for the title of king and the island of Visingsö had a prominent position in the new country of Sweden. We do not quite know what Ströja Church looked like during the medieval period, although it appears to have had a Romanesque floor-plan with a rectangular nave, a narrower chancel to the east and the still intact tower to the west. In size, the medieval church would have been comparable with the neighbouring church of Kumlaby. The only feature left above... (More)
- Today, Brahe Church mainly exhibits signs of the period of greatness of Visingsö island during the seventeenth century. However, there are also traces from much earlier periods. Ströja Church was built during the twelfth century, when the House of Erik and the House of Sverker contested for the title of king and the island of Visingsö had a prominent position in the new country of Sweden. We do not quite know what Ströja Church looked like during the medieval period, although it appears to have had a Romanesque floor-plan with a rectangular nave, a narrower chancel to the east and the still intact tower to the west. In size, the medieval church would have been comparable with the neighbouring church of Kumlaby. The only feature left above ground today of the medieval Ströja Church is the tower. In preparation for this book, a dendrochronological dating was made of a board from the mould that was used when the staircase to the tower was made. This showed that the tower most likely was built during the period 1135–1155. The second floor of the tower was used for specific purposes; on the eastern side of the room, there is a recess for an altar, indicating that this room probably was used as a chapel. In the eastern wall, there are doorways that once may have led to a gallery in the nave. These particular arrangements have supported the idea of the association of Ströja Church with the Swedish early medieval royalty, mainly with the House of Sverker, who owned land on the island. Previously, parallels to the tower have been pursued in the county of Östergötland;but in this article, it is emphasised that Ströja Church also shows similarities with churches in Västergötland. Further, the baptismal font of the church is reminiscent of the church art in the eastern parts of Västergötland. This is well in line with the political role of Visingsö during the early Middle Ages. The island was a node in a communication network connecting the counties around Lake Vättern. Contact between east and west is reflected in both the churches of the island, Ströja and Kumlaby. These churches indicate that the island was an important meeting place for people, but also a place for the exchange of ideas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3799365
- author
- Nilsson, Ing-Marie LU
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Visingsö, Kumlaby, Ströja, Brahekyrkan, dendrochronology, baptismal fonts, medieval history, Church archaeology, Historical archaeology
- host publication
- Grevars och bönders tempel. En bok om Brahekyrkan på Visingsö.
- editor
- Gullbrandsson, Robin
- pages
- 79 - 108
- publisher
- Jönköpings läns museum
- ISBN
- 978-91-85692-88-0
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- cde50218-91fc-4767-a2ea-fb63ba67d172 (old id 3799365)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:35:14
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:05:49
@inbook{cde50218-91fc-4767-a2ea-fb63ba67d172,
abstract = {{Today, Brahe Church mainly exhibits signs of the period of greatness of Visingsö island during the seventeenth century. However, there are also traces from much earlier periods. Ströja Church was built during the twelfth century, when the House of Erik and the House of Sverker contested for the title of king and the island of Visingsö had a prominent position in the new country of Sweden. We do not quite know what Ströja Church looked like during the medieval period, although it appears to have had a Romanesque floor-plan with a rectangular nave, a narrower chancel to the east and the still intact tower to the west. In size, the medieval church would have been comparable with the neighbouring church of Kumlaby. The only feature left above ground today of the medieval Ströja Church is the tower. In preparation for this book, a dendrochronological dating was made of a board from the mould that was used when the staircase to the tower was made. This showed that the tower most likely was built during the period 1135–1155. The second floor of the tower was used for specific purposes; on the eastern side of the room, there is a recess for an altar, indicating that this room probably was used as a chapel. In the eastern wall, there are doorways that once may have led to a gallery in the nave. These particular arrangements have supported the idea of the association of Ströja Church with the Swedish early medieval royalty, mainly with the House of Sverker, who owned land on the island. Previously, parallels to the tower have been pursued in the county of Östergötland;but in this article, it is emphasised that Ströja Church also shows similarities with churches in Västergötland. Further, the baptismal font of the church is reminiscent of the church art in the eastern parts of Västergötland. This is well in line with the political role of Visingsö during the early Middle Ages. The island was a node in a communication network connecting the counties around Lake Vättern. Contact between east and west is reflected in both the churches of the island, Ströja and Kumlaby. These churches indicate that the island was an important meeting place for people, but also a place for the exchange of ideas.}},
author = {{Nilsson, Ing-Marie}},
booktitle = {{Grevars och bönders tempel. En bok om Brahekyrkan på Visingsö.}},
editor = {{Gullbrandsson, Robin}},
isbn = {{978-91-85692-88-0}},
keywords = {{Visingsö; Kumlaby; Ströja; Brahekyrkan; dendrochronology; baptismal fonts; medieval history; Church archaeology; Historical archaeology}},
language = {{swe}},
pages = {{79--108}},
publisher = {{Jönköpings läns museum}},
title = {{Ströja kyrka – en aristokratisk medeltidskyrka}},
year = {{2013}},
}