En analyse af de sønderjyske middelalderkirkers placering i forhold til den samtidige landbebyggelse.

Abstract

Already in the mid-1980s, Ebbe Nyborg
states that the uncovering of the early
interaction between church and settlement
in the early Medieval Period ought
to be analysed archaeologically (Nyborg
1986, 18). Thirty-five years later, such an
analysis is still lacking. It is an extensive
task. Perhaps the thoughts presented in
this paper can inspire a more in-depth
analysis of the large and comprehensive
material which Museum Sønderjylland's
excavations of the rural medieval settlements
have produced over the past twenty-
five years.
The point of departure for this analysis
is the area overseen by Museum Sønderjylland.
The study can be characterised as
a random sample analysis with a significance
level of approximately 5 %.
In analyses based on written sources,
one often comes across the term »farm
church«. Based on a review of the rural
settlement of southern Jutland, it is argued
that a »farm church« is hardly a concrete
building, but rather a special room which
may be furnished with a consecrated altar,
presumably in the main house of the farm.
One should therefore not expect to find a
»farm church« during an archaeological
excavation of a rural settlement.
It is argued here that the primary consideration
for the location of the parish churches
has been accessibility for the users of the
churches – for the congregation. It has not
been a consideration that the church should
be built in an existing village. Nor has it been
a consideration that the churches should be
built on the manor estates.