slavic church slavic church architecture in scandinaviaarchitecture in scandinavia - rotundas

8/18/2019 Slavic Church Slavic Church Architecture in ScandinaviaArchitecture in Scandinavia - Rotundas

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debate has been plagued for several decades by %riters %ho love and serve the 34nights Templar

-ndustry3 as if they %ere part of a cult. This disorder began in these parts after (565 %hen a

historical yearbook published an article in %hich the author claimed that a church on 0ornholm

could be inspired by a building in !ortugal and that () round churches %ere built by the 4nights

Templar. To put it shortly the building in !ortugal %as finished many years after the church it %ascompared to it %as a bad comparison and at least (( of the () churches %ere raised by different

organisations and persons unconnected %ith the 4nights Templar 7 of the remaining one of

%hich is 8uestionable are not circular.7

The result of my perennial study is published in the article Killing of a Myth4 %hich is a summary

of a chapter of my book in /anish Bornholm og Østersøen 1!"114 90ornholm and the

0altic:. The conclusion %hich is not only mine but has also been made by others is that circular

churches came to 2edieval /enmark in the first third of the (&th century. A historiographicalstudy sho%s that key persons may have played a decisive role and the tracks to their origins lead

to the countries south of the 0altic Sea.

2any rotundas %ere built in European countries both before and after the First Crusade but even

if it could be called a medieval matter of fashion it %ould be interesting to find the original or

first builders of the churches in the Eastern part of Scandinavia. Several scholars have presented

their ideas pointing to !oland and other Slavic countries as the closest sources of inspiration. -n

tracing rotundas through Europe from -taly during the 2iddle and Eastern European countries to

the island 0ornholm %here - live - have studied literature on dynastic family relationships as -

have also researched on the relations bet%een /enmark and !oland and published some of the

results in the forementioned books and several articles.

Christianization of Europe, Scandinavia

-n /enmark you learn only about the ,oman Catholic church and their missionaries Ebo and

Ansgar+s mission during 5th century and the later bapti"ing of ;arald 0luetooth 9c.5)67). 1ld sources %ere %ritten by Catholic %riters and %ords like heatens and pagans %ere used

to describe those %ho %ere not Christians 3in the right %ay3 %hich could mean that they %ere in

some sense East 1rthodox Christians that they had misunderstood some prayers or that they

simply %ere pagans maybe %orshippers of the ancient orse #ods 1din and Thor. According to

3 E.am(ert 195519/; W."öt& 19. M.4ntermann 199; H. S%tter 199199/.

.E+kild+en 2!12, 2!1. S%mmarie+ in Engli+$ Killing of a Myth, in "erman Der Tod eines Mythos, are

(ot$ a6aila(le at a#ademia.ed% 7 ti$+ i+ al+o t$e #a+e 8or t$e later, original #$ater 8rom m: (ook .

5 M."elting 2!1!.

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C"ech and !olish history the !olish ruler 2ies"ko - 957&7.>

Follo%ing theirmission churches %ere built in 2oravia according to several scholars including them also

rotundas=. The Croats %ere the first Slavic people %ho accepted Christianity bet%een the =th and

6th century A/. Areas of countries and also their borders %ere then completely different from

today. Some churches in the area called 2oravia %ere influenced from the east and in the same

period Christianity spread in the areas %e kno% today as Slovakia and the C"ech ,epublic as a

result of the brothers Cyril and 2ethodius+ mission %ork.

At that time there %as no Slavic %ritten language and Cyril contrived therefore the #lagoliticalphabet %hich %as a precursor to the Cyrillic %hich is named after him but probably %as

constructed by another. $sing the #lagolitic alphabet they could not only spread the religious

message but also laid the foundation for the Slavic literature. @hile the #lagolitic alphabet has

almost been forgotten the Cyrillic is today used by 0ulgarians ugoslavs ,ussians and

$krainians and others. The priests in 2oravia %ere trained by people from the 0y"antine Empire.

Some elements of eastern church architecture spread such as the form of small central churches

and clover shaped churches %ith several apses but also round churches %ith a single apse but

%ithout a chancel. As the area became Christian both rectangular and round churches %ere built

some of the last %ith several apses others %ith interior niches each %ith four apses so they got

the shape of a cross %ith round center. 1ne of the churches in 2oravia had four apses and

measured externally little more than () meters at its %idest point. Several of the churches sho%ed

in their elevation striking similarities %ith contemporary /almatian and Austrian churches.6

First rotundas in the Czech areas

As a result of the mission t%o 0ulgarians %ere bapti"ed khan 0oris 2ichael in 6>B and the first

!r"emyslid duke 0oivo* - in 6=6 by 2ethodius. evy ;radec is probably the first rotunda in

C"ech areas and the place %here Christianity began in 0ohemia. The first kno%n C"ech !rince

0oivo* ruled there and shortly after he %as bapti"ed by 4ing Svatopluk of #reat 2oravia

6ornik 19/!,


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founded the oldest local church the pre


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9octagonal nave: and SborgH SkJne Sankt 2ikael in ;elsingborg and DallebergaH 0ornholm

ykirke ylars 1ls and Ksterlars churches. -n the medieval S%eden is kno%n (7 round

churchesI in SmJland ;agby and DoxtorpH Lland 0orgholmH i DastergMtland Agnestad /imbo and

SkMrstorpH in LstergMtland 4losterstad T*Nrstad and DJrdsbergH in $ppland 0romma 2unsM and

Solna and on #otland ;oly Spirit 9octagonal nave: in Disby. -n medieval or%ay t%o roundchurches are kno%n namely Destfold St. 1lav in Tnsberg and the 1rkney -slands 1rphir.

The rotundaOs original floor plans are not al%ays kno%n in their entirety because of the changing

conditions of preservation but like churches %ith elongated nave could be %ith or %ithout apse

round churches could also be %ith or %ithout the apse as a separate part of the building. Thus (&

round churches are kno%n to have had the apse and chancelPchoirI Thorsager 0*ernede ;rve

Sels Dalleberga ykirke ylars 1ls Ksterlars Doxtorp SkMrstorp and St. 1lav in Tnsberg.

And (' round churches are kno%n to have had a apse


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to 4ing 0ela of ;ungary and thier son %as bapti"ed ambertH his son Casimir %as bapti"ed

ambertH 2ies"ko -- ambert married ,ichi"a and also one of their sons %ere bapti"ed

ambert.(7

As - %rote some rotundas %ere rather large and most of the parish churches %ere smaller. The

same is true on 0ornholm %here Ksterlars Church has an inner diameter of (7 meter 9the same asSt.Ditus at ;radceny in !rague: 1lsker 9St. 1lof+s: is high but narro%er and ylars and yker

are smaller the last %ith an inner diameter of 5 meters.

With apse but without chancel

Among the churches %ith apse but %ithout the chancel or choir there is the no% vanished All

Saints Church in ,oskilde ;agby Church close to 4almar St.2ichael in ;elsingborg as %ell as

churches in 4losterstad DJrdsberg 2unsM and 1rphir on 2ainland 1rkney. The churches do nothave a chancel %hich is the norm in @estern churches. -n a %ay they might point to 0y"antine

and Slavic churches that have no chancel either. 9See illustrations:. Several Scandinavian

historians have mentioned 0olesla% --- 4r"y%ousty as participating in the 4almar Crusade in

((&7 and it has also been mentioned(B that he could have been a former. temporary ruler on the

island Lland.() The crusade %as initiated by the /anish 4ing iels and the or%egian 4ing

Sigurd Gorsalfar but the details are still being discussed. 4ing iels+ son 2agnus %as by his

mother 2argrethe Fredkulla heir to %est #Mtaland and should have been 4ing of #Mtaland(> but

something had to be done in the 4almar area because as is told in the saga some had fallen from

the faith. 2aybe they had gone back to be pagans but if another Christian identity such as

1rthodox Christianity %as represented that %ould also have been a problem. - have not been able

to trace 0olesla% --- %hereabouts that year but %e kno% that he %as allied %ith 4ing iels

because 4r"y%oustys+ daughter ,iche"a %as married to 2agnus some years later.

Could it be that the idea of circular churches some of %hich %ere fortified %as brought to

13 Canute the #reat %as bapti"ed ambert %hich can be seen in these sourcesI a. Adam of 0remen %roteI 3Chnut filius Suein

regis abiecto nomine gentilitatis in baptismo ambertus nomen accepit. $nde scriptum est in ibro fraternitas nostraeI 3ambrechtrex /anorum et -mma regina et Chnut filius eorum devote se commendaverunt orationibus fratrum 0remensium.3 9Steenstrup ormannerne --- p.B'&: 9;aving put a%ay his pagan name Cnut the son of 4ing Svein received the name ambert in baptism.;ence it is %ritten in our fraternity bookI 3ambert the king of /anes and ueen Emma and their son Cnut 9;ardeknud: devoutlycommended themselves to the prayers of the brethren of 0remen:. b. -n the calendar eofric 2issal a note for ((. november tellsI31bitus andberti piissimi regis3 9!faff p.&6:. 9 the most pious king ambert is dead:. The date of his death is uncertain sourceshave ((. (& and (7. ovember.

1 =.'lomk6i+t 2!!, 2!!.

15 .ind, *.


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Scandinavia by 0olesla% and his entourage? And could it be that some of the rotundas namely

those %ithout chancels %ere built by people %ith another Christian identity? @hen %e look at the

ruins in Agnestad and /imbo they look similar to excavated remains from rotundas in #nie"no

4rako% ekno !o"nan as sho%n by 0uko(= and similar to the remains in /ucove !ohansko and

!r"emysl. They have the same floor plan %ithout chancel as %e can still see in Cies"yn but alsoin the forementioned churches.

Literature:

U 2arit AnglertI #$em fors$arede h$ad% 30ornholmske Samlinger3 ,nne (565.

U 4nud 0anningI & 'atalogue of (all")aintings in the 'hurches of Medie$al Denmark 11"1!

* +cania, #alland, Blekinge- &kademisk .orlag- 1/0!-

U ,obert 0artlettI he 'on$ersion of a )agan +ociety in the Middle &ges- -nI 3;istory3 Dolume=' p.(6)


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ils 0lomkvist. #otland &'(&.

U Francis /vornikI By2antine Missions &mong the +la$s- 3utgers =ni$ersity )ress- e% Gersey.

(5='.

U Gan EskildsenI Bornholmske rundkirker i europ?isk perspekti$. -n 0ornholmske Samlinger

0ornholms ;istoriske Samfund &'(&.U Gan EskildsenI Bornholm og Østersøen 1!"114 &'(B summary in EnglishI Killing of a

Myth, in #ermanI Der od eines Mythos, 9Chapter as %ell as summaries available at

academia.edu:.

U @ladysla% Filipo%iakI (olin " Joms>org- En :ikingetids #andels>y i )olen- ,oskilde 2useums

Forlag (55(.

U 2ichael #eltingI )oppo &'('.U $lla ;aastrupI By2antinsk kl?dte ?rkeengle i danske fresker- Kom>inationen af ?rkeengle med

Ma@estas Domini i 1- hal$del af 11"tallet- -nI -conographisk !ost. ordisk tidskrift fMr

bildtolkning U ordic ,evie% of -conography r ( &'(B pp. xx


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SindbQk 9ed.: From #oths to Darangians. Communication and Cultural Exchange bet%een the

0altic and the 0lack Sea. Aarhus $niversity !ress &'(&.

U $lla und ;ansen Z Anna 0itner

academia.edu.

U 2agdalena aumI &''6H #omelands lost and gained- +la$ic migration and settlement on

Bornholm in the early Middle &ges- und &''6.

U Tore ybergI Kong 6iels- +kitse til en >iografi- -nI ;istorisk Tidsskrift ('= p.7)7


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,econstruction /ucove appr. 6>). St. Adalbert in 4rako% appr. ('''.

Castle @a%el ca. ('''. Dysehradc.(')' !rague Castel @a%el appr. ('''.

1!


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Stara !l"enec ('.c. #r"egor"o%iche (&''? Cies"yn ((. century

yker 0ornholm 9(&''?:. ylars 0ornholm 9(()'?:.

Ksterlars 0ornholm 9((&' or ((>'?: The church St.Ditus !rague 957':. has the same inner diameter as the St.Ditusrotunda 9beside: in !rague originally had.

;agby Church near 4almar.

'ori6oAB+ rot%nda in e6: Hrade#. Same +$ae #an (e +een in"nie&no, ekno , o$an+ko and o&nan; Do+kilde in enmark, and0gne+tad, im(o and *lo+ter+tad, Sweden.

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The red dots mark churches %ithout chancel.

2apI Ges @ienberg 4$2 &'(B

0(o6e lan o80gne+tad r%in.

e8tSkör+tad, #. 115!.

Dig$t Ol+ker,'orn$olm. 11

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slavic church slavic church architecture in scandinaviaarchitecture in scandinavia - rotundas

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