Hilde Inntjore: Eternal Life in this Life on Earth?

To donate for one’s soul’s salvation and thus ensure one’s afterlife was a well-known practice in the Middle Ages. Large sums of money and valuable property were transferred from individuals and families to churches and monasteries, in return for remembering the givers annually with prayers and Mass on the day they died.

A material gift, given in this world, thus triggered a reciprocal gift that would be fulfilled in the next life. These gifts, intended for the souls’ salvation, could also greatly influence the deceased’s reputation after death, and consequently consolidate the family’s position in society.
Who donated for the sake of their souls, what was given, and what were the return services? How could gifts to save the soul, with an afterlife purpose, also secure an eternal life in this world?

Fragments of the Past

The lecture takes as a point of departure the exhibition Fragments of the Past, which is a collaborative project between the Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS) and the University Museum of Bergen, and a part of one of UiB’s focus areas within medieval research.  
The project Fragments of the Past will extend over two years and consists of themed exhibitions that will change every 6 months and a lecture series which will explore the themes of the exhibition.  
This is the third part of the exhibition project.

Themed Lectures Spring 2012

•    Wednesday 29 February at 19.00: Hilde Inntjore: “Evig liv i denne verden?”  
•    Wednesday 14 March at 18.00 (Please note time change): Torstein Jørgensen: “Bot og bedring – pilegrimer på vandring”
•    |Wednesday 28 March at 19.00: Jonas Wellendorf: "En nyttig norrøn litteratur”
•     Wednesday 11 April at 19.00: Else Mundal: "Sagaskrivarane og Bergen"