St. Olaf Monastery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Map of the eastern settlement. The nunnery is centrally monastery now located
One of the thermal springs on Uunartoq island owned by the monastery

The monastery of St. Olaf (today also: Monastery Narsarsuaq ) was a Benedictine monastery in the eastern settlement of Grænlendingar in Uunartoq Fjord in district Nanortalik to Greenland .

history

In addition to the Benedictine monastery, there was also an Augustinian monastery during the Nordic settlement period in Greenland . The exact founding circumstances of both convents are not known. However, they must have already existed at the beginning of the 14th century, as they were mentioned in a letter from Bishop Arne von Bergen in 1308 to Bishop Thord von Gardar. Possibly there were connections to the nearest Benedictine monasteries in Iceland , the Kirkjubæjarklaustur founded in 1186 and the Reynistaðarklaustur founded in 1295.

The monastery was probably dedicated to Saint Olaf . The patronage is controversial. Based on the report by Ívar Bárðarson, Grayburn assigns this patronage to the Benedictine monastery, while McCullough assigns it to the parish church of Vagar on the east bank of the fjord. The other monastery in Greenland at the time bore the dual patronage of St. Olaf and Augustine . In any case, it cannot be ruled out that the Benedictine monastery was also dedicated to this popular Nordic saint.

Ívar Bárðarson was from 1349 vacancy manager at the cathedral of Garðar . In 1350 he drew up a report, which probably served mainly to determine tithing , and mentioned in it the rich estates of the convent, including some islands in the fjord itself. This included the island of Uunartoq , which is still known today for its thermal springs . Bárðarson mentioned that the Grænlendingar went to these sources to alleviate diseases. Presumably these sources belonged to the sources of income of the monastery. The end of the monastery, like the fall of the Grænlendingar culture, is in the dark.

excavation

The monastery grounds were excavated between 1945 and 1948 by the Danish archaeologist CL Vebæk and the finds were later examined. The archaeological excavations revealed the convent as a large enclosed area with at least 21 structures. The monastery grounds were on the west bank of the Uunartoq Fjord. The foundation walls of the Romanesque monastery church were found in the center of the site, which correspond to the type of rectangular sacral buildings that were erected in Greenland around 1300, such as the best-preserved Grænlendingar Church in Greenland, the Church of Hvalsey . During the excavations, no west wall of the monastery church was detectable, a finding that can be found in seven other churches in Greenland, including the cathedral of Garðar. The west wall was probably made of wood. The portal must also have been in the west, as no entrances could be detected on the other walls. The remains of skeletons found in and around the foundation walls of the monastery church indicate that burials began around 1290 and ended around 1399. The remains of 20 burials were found inside the monastery church, including a children's grave. Fragments of a bronze bell were also found during the excavations.

literature

  • Jennifer Grayburn: Monasteries in the Archdiocese of Nidaros. Monasticism in Iceland Report. July 2015.
  • Jess Angus McCullough: Death in a Dread Place: Belief, Practice, and Marginality in Norse Greenland, ca.9851450 . School of Archeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester 2016, especially pp. 118f.
  • Laurence M. Larson: The Church in North America (Greenland) in the Middle Ages . In: The Catholic Historical Review , Vol. 5, No. 2/3 (Jul-Oct 1919), pp. 175-194.
  • CL Vebæk: The Church Topography of the Eastern Settlement and the Excavation of the Benedictine convent in Uunartoq fjord , Copenhagen: Danish Polar Center 1991.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Medeltida klostergrunder on Iceland
  2. ↑ Jennifer Grayburn: Monasteries in the Archdiocese of Nidaros. Monasticism in Iceland Report. July 2015, p. 12
  3. ↑ Jess Angus McCullough: Death in a Dread Place: Belief, Practice, and Marginality in Norse Greenland, ca.9851450. School of Archeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester 2016, p. 43

Coordinates: 60 ° 33 ′ 0.7 ″  N , 45 ° 17 ′ 23 ″  W.