Huge Swedish Treasure from ca. AD 1200

Weighing more than six kilograms, a remarkable treasure from the reign of Knut Eriksson was discovered near Stockholm in September

The find weighs a total of about six kilograms. The treasure consists of perhaps 20,000 silver coins, together with silver rings, pendants, and beads, all placed in a copper cauldron. The discovery was made when the finder was digging near his summer house in the Swedish archipelago close to Stockholm. As of now, the exact location of the find remains confidential.

Probably one of the largest silver treasures from the early Middle Ages in Sweden, the coins date to the 12th century, based on a preliminary study of pieces issued during the reign of King Knut Eriksson (ca. 1145–1195). King Knut began minting coins around 1180 with the inscription KANVTUS REX, or simply KANVTUS. These were inspired by German coins issued by Henry the Lion of Saxony, with whom Knut entered into a treaty. While relations with the Norwegians were peaceful—the Norwegian king had married the king’s sister—the Danes remained a threat.

Knut Eriksson was the son of Eric the Holy, Sweden’s national saint, and the Danish princess Kristina Björnsdottir. The assemblage of coins is likely to shed new light on the tumultuous period of Early Medieval Sweden, when rival clans and factions fought for power and influence. After Knut Eriksson’s death in 1195 (or 1196), his three sons were defeated by the Sverkers at the Battle of Älgarås (1205). In 1208, however, the Ericssons regained the throne.

“Most of the objects are well preserved, but the copper cauldron is unfortunately not intact,” says Sofia Andersson, antiquarian at the County Administrative Board of Stockholm. “Ongoing surveys at the location aim to uncover coins that might have spilled over,” she says to the press.

Although impressive in size, the treasure does not compare to the great Viking-age hoards found on Gotland. For instance, the Spilling Treasure, dating to the 9th century, weighed 87 kilograms and was discovered beneath a floorboard on the Spilling Farm in northern Gotland.

PHOTO:

Silver Treasure from the reign of Knut Eriksson ca. 1180-1200 © Länsstyrelsen Stockholm

Further Reading

Kingship and State Formation in Sweden 1130–1290 (Northern World)
By Philip Line
Brill, 2007

Kingship and State Formation in Sweden tells the story of a key period in the consolidation of the Swedish state. The book begins with an overview of Sweden prior to the twelfth century and a reign-by-reign history of the period 1130-1290. Thereafter issues related to kingship and state formation are treated thematically, with sections on royal administration and taxation, legal and military institutions, relations between king and Church, the development of Christian kingship ideology and expansion into Finland. Extensive appendices are included on the genealogy and landholdings of powerful families and on fortifications. The book is well furnished with over forty maps and genealogical tables.

Sanctity in the North. Saints, Lives and Cults in Medieval Scandinavia.
Ed. by Thomas A. Dubois
University of Toronto Press 2008

With original translations of primary texts and articles by leading researchers in the field, Sanctity in the North gives an introduction to the literary production associated with the cult of the saints in medieval Scandinavia.

For more than five hundred years, Nordic clerics and laity venerated a host of saints through liturgical celebrations, written manuscripts, visual arts, and oral traditions. Textual evidence of this widespread and important aspect of medieval spirituality abounds. Written biographies (or vitae), compendia of witnessed miracles, mass propers, homilies, sagas and chronicles, dramatic scripts, hymns, and ballads are among the region’s surviving medieval manuscripts and early published books.

Sanctity in the North features English translations of texts from Latin or vernacular Nordic languages, in many cases for the first time. The accompanying essays concerning the texts, saints, cults, and history of the period complement the translations and reflect the contributors’ own disciplinary groundings in folklore, philology, medieval, and religious studies.

The Cult of St Erik in Medieval Sweden: Veneration of a Royal Saint, twelfth – sixteenth centuries
By Christian Oertel
Series: Acta Scandinavica)
Brepols Publishers 2016

In this first comprehensive monograph on St Erik, the author follows the cult of the Swedish royal saint from its obscure beginnings in the twelfth century up to its climax in the time of the Kalmar Union (1397-1523). The focus of the book lies on the interaction of the cult with different groups within medieval Swedish society and the cult’s attempts to utilize the prestige of the saint to further its political aims. From the middle of the thirteenth century the cult was particularly connected to the archbishopric of Uppsala and the royal dynasty of Bjälbo. During the fifteenth century the Swedish royal saint symbolized (together with St Olaf of Norway and St Knut of Denmark) the three kingdoms of the Kalmar Union. At the same time his prestige was successfully used in the propaganda of King Karl Knutsson (Bonde) and the three Sture-riksförestandare to legitimate their anti-Union politics. In order to reach a broad perspective the author uses a wide variety of sources. This includes a number texts which contain information about the cult of the saint (legend, miracle collection, offices, sermons, chronicles, charters). In addition different sorts of depictions showing St Erik on wall paintings, altar pieces, seals, and coins are used in order to give a comprehensive account of the multifaceted veneration of this saint.