Roskilde

Will the current discovery in Poland force us to reevaluate what we think about the Viking Age outside of nowadays Scandinavia? The death and possible burial site of the Danish king Harald Gormson Bluetooth till now was one of history’s most enduring mysteries. We live in an era in which the use of satellite technology is bringing astonishing results, though. The space-based reconnaissance allowed us to look at large swaths of landscape and find archaeological disturbances within the land, some as small as 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) long.

Book chapter appeared in 'Cultural Memories of Nonviolent Struggles: Powerful Times', Anna Reading & Tamar Katriel (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan (2015). Investigates the so called 'Russell Tribunal', an independent tribunal which accused the US and its allies for crimes against humanity in the war in Vietnam in 1967. It has since been relegated to the peripheries of history.

[On the Dominican Friars Preachers and their priory in Roskilde]

This is an article on the convent of Friars Preachers in Roskilde, Denmark, founded in 1231-34, and dissolved in 1536-37. During this period of about 300 years, the convent constituted one of the leading houses of the Dominican province of Dacia.

The article is written in Danish and published in "Historisk Årbog for Roskilde Amt" 2006, pp. 59-92. An English version, published in "Dominican History Newsletter" vol. 14 (2005), is available for download here: https://www.academia.edu/8486473/The_Dominican_priory_and_convent_of_medieval_Roskilde_Denmark .

This is an abbreviated English translation of an article written in Danish: ‘Digitalisering af Roskilde Skt. Clara Klosters Arkiv’, published in 'Historisk Årbog for Roskilde Amt 2017' (Roskilde: Historisk Samfund for Roskilde Amt), pp. 21-28. The translation has subsequently been published online in 2017 at: www.jggj.dk/StClare.pdf.

Se intenta analizar el museo de los cinco barcos vikingos encontrados en el fiordo de Roskilde. Igualmente, se hace un análisis de los trabajos que se están llevando a cabo con motivo de la reproducción del barco vikingo de guerra, el Skuldelev 2. Además, se exponen las actividades que el museo ofrece tanto para el público infantil como el adulto y las publicaciones e investigaciones que el propio museo realiza.

[Friar Johannes Nyborg - Focus on the Dominican bishop of Roskilde and his possible local background]

This is an article written in Danish and published in "Historisk Årbog for Roskilde Amt 2007", pp. 151-164.

In the article, I present the biography of one of the few Dominican bishops in medieval Denmark, Johannes (or Jens) Nyborg, who was appointed by papal provision for the important episcopal see of Roskilde in 1330 and held this office until his death in 1344.  Before his appointment, Fr. Johannes had served as minor penitentiary for the church province af Dacia (i.e. Scandinavia) at the papal curia in Avignon since 1324. This penitential office was almost exclusively held by Dominican friars from Scandinavia (and particularly Denmark) throughout the fourteenth century, and all of them were eventually sent back to Scandinavia as bishops appointed by papal provision.

Bishop Johannes Nyborg OP was, however, the first of his kind in Roskilde, and whereas it has often been claimed that his installment happened to the annoyance of the cathedral chapter, no evidence of such a grievance can be read out of extant sources. In fact, since the appointment took place at a time when Denmark was marked by political chaos, the papacy would have had little chance to force through its claimed right of reservation if the election had not been amicably met by the cathedral chapter (who, by the way, chose the two following bishops from their own ranks). Indeed, extant sources show that relations between the local Dominican convent in Roskilde and the cathedral chapter was never as good at any other time in history as they were during the office of Bishop Johannes - apart from a short period before 1324.

I believe that Bishop Johannes Nyborg OP was no unfamiliar person to the cathedral chapter of Roskilde. On the contrary, I argue, that he most likely served as prior for the Dominican convent in Roskilde before being sent by his order to Avignon in 1324, and that he already at that time had amicable relations to the canons at the cathedral chapter - a background that would obviously ease his return to Roskilde six years later as their new bishop by papal provision.