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St. Olav's Shrine
St. Olav’s Shrine was the resting place of the earthly remains of St. Olav, Norway’s patron saint, behind the high altar of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, from the mid 11th century. For nearly five centuries the shrine was of major religious importance to Norway and the other Nordic countries, and also to other parts of Northern Europe. St. Olav’s Shrine opens and closes the Middle Ages as a historic period in Norway. The shrine consisted of three shrines, the one covering the other, and was the most important and by far the most valuable object in Norway in the Middle Ages. After the Lutheran reformation in 1536–1537, the valuable parts of St. Olav’s Shrine were destroyed by Danish authorities. Since 1568 St. Olav’s earthly remains have been resting in an unknown grave, in Nidaros Cathedral or in the cathedral cemetery. Background The night after King Olav II Haraldsson fell in the Battle of Stiklestad east of Trondheim on 29 July 1030, the body was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patron Saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person. The term may be applied to individuals to whom similar roles are ascribed in other religions. In Christianity Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active. However, there were cases in medieval Europe where a city which grew to prominence obtained for its cathedral the remains or some relics of a famous saint who had lived and was buried elsewhere, thus making them the city's patron saint – such a practice conferred considerable prestige on the city concerned. In Latin America and the Philippines, Spanish and Portuguese explorers often named a location for the saint on whose feast or commemoration day they first visited the place, with that saint naturally becoming the area's patron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigvatr Þórðarson
Sigvatr Þórðarson or Sighvatr Þórðarson or Sigvatr Thórðarson or Sigvat the Skald (995–1045) was an Icelandic skald. He was a court poet to King Olaf II of Norway, as well as Cnut the Great, Magnus the Good and Anund Jacob, by whose reigns his floruit can be dated to the earlier eleventh century. Sigvatr was the best known of the court skalds of King Olaf and also served as his marshal (''stallare''), even baptizing his son Magnus. Approximately 160 verses of Sigvatr's poetry have been preserved, more than from any other poet of this period. The style of Sigvat's poems is simpler and clearer than that which generally characterises older compositions. Although his verse is still dense, he uses fewer complex poetic circumlocutions than many of his predecessors, and as a Christian poet, he by and large avoids allusions to pagan mythology. Most of his surviving poems were texts that praised King Olaf. Many of the poems from St. Olaf's saga in '' Heimskringla'' are by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catholic Church In Norway
The Catholic Church in Norway () is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. , there were over 151,000 registered Catholics in Norway. It is claimed there are many Catholics who are not registered with their personal identification number and who are not reported by the local church; the full number may be as high as 230,000, 70% of whom were born abroad. That constitutes about 5% of the population, making Norway the most Catholic country in Nordic Europe. However, in early 2015, the Bishop of Oslo was charged with fraud for reporting to the government as many as 65,000 names of people claimed as members of the church who had not actually signed up. As the government gives a subsidy to religious organizations according to the number of members, the diocese was ordered to repay the government. The government reports for January 2015 that there were 95,655 registered Catholics, down from the 140,109 reported for January 2014. Structure The Catholic Church is the second largest religi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Church Of Norway
The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established as a separate church intimately integrated with the state as a result of the Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein, Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway which broke ties with the Holy See in 1536–1537; the Monarchy_of_Norway#Church_of_Norway, Norwegian monarch was the church's titular head from 1537 to 2012. Historically, the church was one of the main instruments of state authority, and an important part of the state's administration. Local government was based on the church's parishes with significant official responsibility held by the parish priest. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Church of Norway gradually ceded most administrative functions to the secular civil service. The modern Constitution of Norway describes the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coat Of Arms Of Norway
The coat of arms of Norway is the arms of dominion of King Harald V of Norway, and as such represents both the monarch and the Norway, kingdom (nation and the state). It depicts a standing Or (heraldry), golden lion (heraldry), lion on a Gules, red background, bearing a golden crown and axe with silver blade (blazoned ''Gules, a lion rampant Or, crowned Or, holding an axe Or with a blade argent''). The coat of arms is used by the king of Norway, King (including the Cabinet of Norway, King's Council), the Storting, Parliament, and the Supreme Court of Norway, Supreme Court, which are the three powers according to the Constitution of Norway, Constitution. It is also used by several national, regional, and local authorities that are subordinate to the aforementioned, for example the County Governors and both the Judiciary of Norway, district courts and the courts of appeal. Since 1905, two parallel versions exist: the more elaborate version used by the King and the simpler one used b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olsok
Olsok () is a national day of celebration on July 29 in the Nordic countries of Norway and the Faroe Islands, and also in the provinces of Härjedalen in Sweden and Savonlinna in Finland. Background King Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway is remembered as Rex perpetuus Norvegiae, the Eternal King of Norway. July 29 is traditionally the date of the death of King Olaf at the Battle of Stiklestad, north of Nidaros (Trondheim), Norway, in 1030. King Olaf's martyrdom at Stiklestad appears to have contributed decisively to establishing Christianity throughout the nation of Norway. King Olaf was subsequently canonized in Nidaros on 3 August 1031 following efforts principally of north Bishop Grimkell. Until the Lutheran Reformation in the 16th century, Olsok was a major church feast in the Nordic countries. The late 19th and the early 20th century saw a renewed interest in Olsok, particularly in Norway. The Roman Catholic Church in Norway recognizes Olsok as a major feast all over the cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae
Rex Perpetuus Norvegiæ (Latin, i.e. ''Norway's Eternal King'') is a term for King Olaf II of Norway, also known as Saint Olaf (''Olav den hellige''). Background In written sources, the term ''Perpetuus rex Norvegiæ'' appears from the second half of the 12th century in '' Historia Norvegiæ''. Olaf's great-nephew, King Magnus III of Norway and of Mann and the Isles, reportedly was the first king known to use the Norwegian lion in his standard although Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ... is the only source for this. The first instance of the lion bearing an axe is found in a seal of King Eric II of Norway (1285). The axe represents Olaf II as 'martyr and saint'. Gallery File:Olav_der_Heilige07.jpg, Silver coin of King Olav II (ca. 1023–28) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norway's Eternal King
Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'' () and canonised at Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimketel, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. His sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity by Scandinavia's Vikings/Norsemen. Pope Alexander III confirmed Olaf's local canonisation in 1164, making him a recognised saint of the Catholic Church, and Olaf started to be known as ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'' – ''eternal king of Norway''. Following the Reformation, he was a commemorated historical figure among some members of the Lutheran and Anglican Communions. The saga of Olav Haraldsson and the legend of Olaf the Saint became c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harald Hardråde
Harald Sigurdsson (; – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald III of Norway and given the epithet ''Hardrada'' in the sagas, was List of Norwegian monarchs, King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He unsuccessfully claimed the Monarchy of Denmark, Danish throne until 1064 and the List of English monarchs, English throne in 1066. Before becoming king, Harald spent 15 years in exile as a mercenary and military commander in Kievan Rus' and chief of the Varangian Guard in the Byzantine Empire. In his Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, chronicle, Adam of Bremen called him the "''Thunderbolt of the North''". In 1030, the fifteen-year-old Harald fought in the Battle of Stiklestad along-side his half-brother Saint Olaf, Olaf Haraldsson. Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to Danish king Cnut two years previously. Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced into exile to Kievan Rus'. Thereafter, he was in the army of Gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harald Hårfagre
Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Norway. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald to become kings after his death. Much of Harald's biography is uncertain. A couple of praise poems by his court poet Þorbjörn Hornklofi survive in fragments, but the extant accounts of his life come from sagas set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime. His life is described in several of the Kings' sagas, none of them older than the twelfth century. Their accounts of Harald and his life differ on many points, but it is clear that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Harald was regarded as having unified Norway into one kingdom. Since the nineteenth century, when Norway was in a personal union with Sweden, Harald has become a national icon of Norway and a symbol of ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nidaros
Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Although the capital was later moved to Oslo (around the year 1300), Nidaros remained the centre of Norway's spiritual life until the Protestant Reformation. The Archdiocese of Nidaros was separated from Lund (in Scania) by the papal legate Nicholas Breakspeare in 1152, and the shrine to Saint Olaf in Nidaros Cathedral was Northern Europe's most important pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages. Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson led Norway in its attempted resistance against the Danish Reformation, and was forced into exile by King Christian III in 1537. The archdiocese was abolished and replaced with a Lutheran diocese. Pre-Reformation The Christianization of Norway was begun by Haakon the Good (d. 961) and was continued by Olaf Trygves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
