Ingela Hedström – författare

Reformationen i Sverige var en kulturrevolution som genomfördes gradvis och mot folkflertalets önskan, en kulturrevolution i bemärkelsen att många centrala aspekter i tidigare generationers liv förändrades i grunden. Bokens titel Doften av rykande vekar antyder att det som tilldrog sig fick vittgående konsekvenser: gillenas, klostrens och den äldre vardagsfromhetens lågor släcktes. Det sinnliga och kroppsliga trängdes undan till förmån för en mer abstrakt religiös tro. Pilgrimsvandringar blev olagliga och utbildningsväsendet nedprioriterades. Hur upplevde folket i socknar och städer allt det nya? Men lågan slocknade inte för alltid. Mycket av det som då förbjöds ses i dag som något självklart över hela kristenheten, varför det är motiverat att tala om en »katolsk återkomst« i vår tid.

This volume contains three essays presenting investigations on various aspects of previously unedited texts or text fragments in Old Swedish. In the first contribution, Ingela Hedström presents a medieval manuscript kept in the library of Vasaskolan in Gävle. The manuscript contains a large number of prayers and has perhaps been in the possession of a guild devoted to the cult of Our Lady’s Psalter. As well as an edition of the text, Hedström gives a historical introduction to this particular type of devotion. The second essay presents a previously very little known manuscript, containing accounts for the province of Uppsala in the year 1433. Dag Retsö provides the historical and political context while Ingela Hedström gives a critical edition of the text. Thirdly, Roger Andersson studies the coexistence of, and language change between, Latin and Old Swedish in a number of unedited religious manuscripts from the fifteenth century. Andersson discusses the causes for the language change and the discussion actualizes questions about the varying status of the vernacular in relation to the omnipresent Latin, and about to what extent the texts were communicated orally or in writing. Keywords: Old Swedish, manuscripts, philology, medieval prayers, medieval accounts, medieval sermons, bilingualism. Språk i boken: svenska

Birgittine Circles. People and Saints in the Medieval World is the proceedings of the Fourth International Birgitta Conference held in Stockholm and Vadstena in 2021. The concept of “circles” is applied to Birgittine networks, the importance of individuals, places, and objects associated with the Birgittine Order, as well as to ideas, physical objects, travels, and exchange between different orders. The ten contributions collected in this volume reflect the interdisciplinary research on Birgitta’s influence on late medieval culture and the Birgittine Order. Some studies focus on material sources from Vadstena, emphasizing the social significance and value of objects and material culture, whereas other studies focus on literary sources and the reception of Birgitta and her Revelationes. The spread of the Birgittine Order and Birgittine spirituality linked to objects and texts is explored in places as widely separated as southern Europe and northern Sweden.