International Conference in Bergen
We are happy to announce the Conference «Moster 1024 - Crossroads of religion and law in the conversion of Norway», which will take place at the University Aula in Bergen, from 17th to 18th of April 2024. The conference will celebrate the 1000-year-jubilee of the first Christian Law of Norway and aims to present new trends in research relevant to conversion and Christian legislation in Norway and elsewhere.
The conference has an interdisciplinary approach and has attracted scholars from various disciplines relevant to the theme, such as archaeology, legal history (indigenous law as well as Canon law), history, history of ideas, manuscript studies, philology, and theology. Although the conference focuses on Norway and Norwegian law, presentations with a comparative perspective drawing on areas outside Norway has also been highly welcomed. The chronological focus of the conference is on c. 900 – c. 1200.
We are pleased to announce the following program and plenary speakers for the Conference:
17th of April, 2024:
CROSSROADS OF RELIGION AND LAW
Welcome speech
09.00
Jon Askeland, County Mayor in Vestland County, M24 (TBA)
Keynote speaker 1
09.10 – 10.00
Chair: Anders Winroth, University of Oslo
- Lesley Abrams, Oxford University, Conversion Dynamics: Persuasion, Accommodation, Coercion
Coffee Break / Technical change
SESSION 1 – Early Crosses and Churches in an International Context
10.15 – 11.45
Chair: Alf Tore Hommedal, University of Bergen
- Iris Crouwers, Independent scholar, Malmö, Stone Crosses at Assembly Sites and Mounds - Their Origins and Long-term Roles.
- Kjartan Hauglid and Bjørg Agasöster, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), A New Dating of Moster Old Church
- Kristian Reinfjord, Anno Museum, Hamar, Moster and Early Romanesque Norway – Stone Technology and Conversion
Lunch
11.45 – 12.45
SESSION 2 – Strategies of Conversion
12.45 – 14.15
Chair: Torstein Jørgensen, VID Specialized University
- Timothy Bolton, Stockholm (Honorary Fellow of Bristol University), The Politics of 1024 that Lead to Moster, and was Olaf's 'Strategy of Conversion' there too bold?
- Sigrun Høgetveit Berg, The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), Northward Bound: Conversion and Integration iuxta paganos.
- Anna Elisa Tryti, Vestland County Council, and Alf Tore Hommedal, University of Bergen, Female Force and Conflicting Female Images in the Conversion of Western Norway
Coffee Break / Technical change
SESSION 3 – Paganism and Christianity in the Conversion of Norway
14.30 – 16.00
Chair: Kirsi Salonen, University of Bergen
- Anne Irene Risøy, University of South-Eastern Norway, Assemblies - Strategic Places of Conversion from Above as well as Below
- Peter Sigurdson Lunga, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Counterarguments in Norwegian Conversion Narratives: Tradition, Aesthetics, and Autonomy
- Sean Lawing, Bryn Athyn College, Folk Belief in the Earliest Christian Laws for Norway
Coffee Break / Technical change
SESSION 4 – Round Table - Religious Transformation from a Global Perspective
16.15 – 17.15
Chair: Alexandros Tsakos, University of Bergen
- Christian Bull, University of Bergen
- Eirik Hovden, University of Bergen
- Anna Elisa Tryti, Vestland County Council
18th of April, 2024:
CROSSROADS OF LAW AND RELIGION
Keynote speaker 2
09.00 – 10.00
Chair: Øystein Morten, Independent Scholar and Author, Rollag
- Torgeir Landro, NLA University College, Law and Religion: The Christian Law at Moster
Coffee Break / Technical change
SESSION 5 – Dynamics of Law and Rituals
10.15 – 11.45
Chair: Anne Irene Risøy, University of South-Eastern Norway
- Brage Thunestvedt Hatløy, University of Bergen,“The Norwegian Kings as Legislators in Relation to Christian and Canon Law after 1024”.
- Keith Ruiter, University of Suffolk, Trees Holding Hands: Comparative Historical and Analogical Approaches to Customary Law
- Eivor Oftestad, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Strategies of Conversion: The Christianization of Time, Memory and Mystery
Lunch
11.45 – 12.45
SESSION 6 – Law at Moster and in Europe
12.45 – 14.15
Chair: Kirsi Salonen, University of Bergen
- Tore Storehaug, University of Oslo, St. Olaf as a Legendary Law Giver
- John Burden, Boston College, What Law Book did Bishop Grimkjell Bring to Moster?
- Stefan Drechsler, University of Bergen, The "St Olav’s Law" on Parchment and in Literature
- Anders Winroth, University of Oslo, To Be Friends with the King, and with God
Coffee Break / Technical change
SESSION 7 – Stories, Chant, and Hagiography about Conversion
14.30 – 16.00
Chair: Oddvar J. Jensen, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
- Elizabeth Marie Walgenbach, Institute for Icelandic Studies, Reykjavík, Ari Frodi, Moster, and Micro Narratives on the Establishment and Writing of Christian Laws
- Roman Hankeln, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Reflecting and Legitimizing Mission in the Chants of the Medieval Divine Office
- Steffen Andre Birkeland Hope, University of Oslo, Stories of a Violent Triumph – The Conversion of Norway in Light of the Hagiographical Tradition
Coffee Break / Technical change
Closing summary
16.15 – 17.00
- Torstein Jørgensen, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, and Anne Irene Risøy, University of South-Eastern Norway, What Did We Learn? A Dialogue About Two Days of Conference.
19th of April, 2024:
EXCURSION TO HISTORICAL MOSTER
BERGEN – LYSEKLOSTER– MOSTER – BERGEN
08.00
Departure Bergen, Scandic Byparken Hotel
10.00
Guided tour through the cultural monument Lysekloster, Norway's oldest Cistercian monastery.
12.00
Lunch in Moster Amfi.
13.00
Moster Old Church with a local guide.
13.45
Exhibition in Moster Amfi - "From Paganism to Christianity"
14.30
Coffee break with sweets in Moster Amfi.
15.00
A walk through the marble tunnel and the mine exhibition -
«The Stone Kingdom of Bømlo»
15.30
Moster attractions: Walks to the local lime mime and/ or the old cross monument from the 900th-jubilee at Vetahaugen
16.30
Departure back to Bergen
19.00
Arrival Scandic Byparken
Excursion fee
1500 NOK (includes transportation, food and activities)
Sign up for the excursion by emailing
vilde@moster2024.no
Deadline signing up for excursion
10th of April 2024
The Conference Committee,
Alf Tore Hommedal, Oddvar Johan Jensen, Torstein Jørgensen, Øystein Morten, Torgeir Landro, Anne Irene Risøy, Kirsi Salonen, Anna Elisa Tryti and Anders Winroth.
The conference is also a part of Vestland County celebration of Landslovjubileet
You will find the registration for the conference at the top of the page. The registration will stay open until 10th of April - or until the seats are filled. Be aware of limited seating.
