This dataset was compiled for the PhD dissertation "Quantifying Devotion: A Mixed-Methods Study of Pious Donation in the Nidaros Province, c. 1160–1540". It contains observations representing all known charters of pious donation published in various source editions (Diplomatarium Norvegicum, the Akershus register, and others). Lubish benefactors are also included (Bruns's Bergenfahrer, Meyer's Lübecker Testamente, and others). (2024-05-07)
Abstract:
"Just as time slips away and diminishes, so too do temporal actions fade from the memory of humankind, unless fortified by writings. Therefore, in the wise custom of foresight, one pre-empts the indeterminate hour of death and unpredictable outcomes of events through the arrangement of one’s goods and the testimony of written wills."1
King Magnus Lagabøte, emblematic of his era, was articulating sentiments that resonated widely during his time. Alongside the introduction of Christianity to what would later become the Nidaros province, a rise of book-and-parchment literacy using the Latin script had occurred. This had enabled detailed documentation of acts of piety, which could secure commemoration across generations. In adopting these practices, the benefactors of this province were continuing a tradition already upheld by their southern coreligionists for centuries.
This dissertation presents a quantitative analysis of pious donations documented in charters from the Nidaros province during the Middle Ages. As these documents have yet to be collected and researched as a distinct document category, the present project represents a pioneering work. Through a mixed methods research model, supplementing the quantitative results with more traditional, qualitative research methods, the study explores how the practice spread through elite society, and across time and space.
Furthermore, this dissertation examines the motivations behind the involvement in the practice of making and documenting pious donations. Throughout the dissertation, a comparative perspective is employed, in which the donations found in the wills of Lubish merchants residing in the town of Bergen are compared to those of the native text witnesses issued across the province. This comparative perspective enables the elucidation of the local peculiarities, as well as the universal traditions of pious donation practised in the Nidaros province. Among its many findings, the research identifies an increase in laypeople’s involvement in pious donations by the last quarter of the thirteenth century and participation across a wider segment of society by c. 1300, marking a diversification of the practice which has been debated in previous scholarship.
Additionally, it demonstrates the ways in which the practice of pious donation not only expressed piety and a desire for salvation, but also served as a means to gain prestige and maintain social bonds and obligations. Among the latter, this study has noted a connection between inheritance, especially of land, and commemoration obtained through donations. The study thus sheds light on the significance of spiritual aid within medieval society and the complex social and interpersonal dynamics it fostered.
1. "Quoniam sicut tempus labile labendo deficit, sic cum fuga temporis temporales deficiunt actiones a memoria hominum, nisi vigorem recipiant a testimonio litterarum: ideoque mortis incertum tempus dubiosque rerum eventus certa bonorum suorum ordinacione ac litterarum testamentalium testimonio, discretorum solet providencia prevenire." From the will of King Magnus VI Håkonsson Lagabøte. Diplomatarium Norvegicum IV, 3 (1277). Own translation. (2024-05-22) |
