The Christianisation of Scandinavia in the tenth and eleventh centuries had a profound cultural and societal impact on the region. Connections with other parts of Western Europe, especially across the North Sea, played an important role in the establishment and shaping of the new religion and its practices. Due to a scarcity of sources, much remains unknown about this period, especially concerning the earliest history of churches, bishoprics, and monasteries.    

Among the earliest material witnesses to Christianity in Scandinavia are fragments of missals and other liturgical books. These fragments provide unique evidence of the transmission of texts and rites, as well as the craft of book production. Some of the earliest fragments come from  Benedictine books, illuminating the earliest phases of monastic culture in the North, in certain cases even predating the establishment of permanent monastic institutions. 

This conference will explore how the earliest books and book fragments can shed light on the ecclesiastical history of Scandinavia.  Seeing manuscript fragments in relation to historical, liturgical, and textual sources, we will examine how ideas, books, people, and practices moved between the North Sea kingdoms, with a particular emphasis on Scandinavia, England, Northern France and the Low Countries. 

Particular questions to be addressed during the conference include: 

• How international were the first Scandinavian bishop’s sees and monasteries, and which European centres can be identified as important points of influence for the formation of Scandinavian religious institutions, on the basis of scribal practices and manuscript production?  

• To what extent do the earliest surviving fragments from Scandinavia indicate close ties between cathedrals and monastic communities, comparable to patterns known from England? 

• How do manuscript fragments complement other historical sources, and what networks emerge when fragment evidence is considered alongside documentary, archaeological, and liturgical evidence? 

The conference, organised by the ERC-funded CODICUM project,  aims to bring together scholars working in manuscript and fragment studies, monastic and church history, philology, liturgy, and related disciplines. By examining the evidence from multiple perspectives, we hope to develop a fuller understanding of the ecclesiastical and monastic networks that connected the North Sea world during the first centuries of Christianity in Scandinavia. 

The conference will be the starting point for a collaborative publication. Invited participants will be invited to contribute chapters to a peer-reviewed volume, with publication planned for 2028.