The Norwegian kingdom was established in the ninth century and converted to Christianity under King Olaf (995-1030). The looters of monasteries became committed builders of splendid stone cathedrals across Europe. Norman crusaders also introduced Norman art into the Middle East.
The great importance of artistic development in Norway lay in the extensive construction of wooden stave churches throughout the country during the twelfth century. Approximately 1500 stave churches were built between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries.
Though only 31 survived (still a remarkable number, considering the wooden structures), they are highly representative in their architecture and decoration.
These remaining stave churches show doorways and ornamental details, such as carved bench-ends, chairs, caskets, animal heads, masks, and many motifs. They give a clear impression of artistic activities in this period, in particular of the Romanesque period (the heydays were between c. 1080 and c. 1210 in Norway).
The relatively late conversion to Christianity and their past of looters urged Norwegian kings and bishops to present the Normans as committed Christians. Self-representation through art and Christian symbolism was evident.
Norman bishops should play a prominent role in this process. This became apparent after the conversion at the beginning of the eleventh century and the construction of the first stone cathedral soon afterwards, the St.Olav in Trondheim. King Olav had brought Christianity to the land and created the first bishoprics in Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim.
In 1104, the Norwegian bishoprics were placed under the authority of the archbishopric of Lund (in Scania, a part of Denmark); until that time, Lund belonged to the archbishopric of Bremen. Norway became a separate bishopric in 1153, with Trondheim as the archepiscopal see.
The archbishopric included the bishoprics of Trondheim, Oslo, Hamar, Bergen and Stavanger and bishoprics in the colonised territories, the Isle of Man, Iceland, Ireland, the Hebrides and other regions.
The Norman conquests of England, Sicily and Normandy in the tenth en eleventh centuries can’t be separated from the foundation of these powerful bishoprics in the twelfth century.
The bishop was the victor of the economic, political and social changes. The rise of cities, trade, the bourgeoisie and money changed the role of the feudal nobility, and the bishop filled the political and military gap.
Norman ecclesiastical art of the eleventh and twelfth centuries shows the European migration of art and artists. The nearest parallels of Norman art can be seen in Normandy, England and Sicily.
The stave churches have plain capitals and volute capitals decorated with (fighting) animals, plants, geometric figures, volutes and other motives that are also present in the St. Étienne and La Trinité and the abbeys aux Hommes and aux Dames in Caen, all founded and built by William the Conqueror in the eleventh century.
The cathedrals in Winchester, Durham and Canterbury also prove the transfer of Norman art to England. The building activities during the rule of Norman kings in Sicily show the same Norman characteristics, though combined with Byzantine, Muslim, and regional art. Powerful Norman bishops and Norman kings were the initiators of these magnificent building activities.
Abt Suger of St. Denis in Paris was the first to challenge the Norman accomplishments in the twelfth century. Remarkably, the tradition of stone sculpture and architecture was absent from Norwegian culture until the second half of the eleventh century.
Within a few decades, Norman stone sculpture and churches should dominate large parts of Europe. Craftsmen from other European regions educated their Norman colleagues. It shows European cooperation and integration long before the EU came into being.
(Source: F. Ganshof, A History of International Relations (New York, 1971; M. Blindheim, Norwegian Romanesque Decorative Sculpture 1090-1210 (London, 1965)