St. Mary's Church (Norwegian: Mariakirken i Oslo) was a medieval church located in Oslo, Norway. The church ruins are located in Middelalderparken near the neighborhood of Sørenga in the borough of Gamlebyen.
St. Mary's Church (Norwegian: Mariakirken i Oslo) was a medieval church located in Oslo, Norway. The church ruins are located in Middelalderparken near the neighborhood of Sørenga in the borough of Gamlebyen.
The royal clergy (Norwegian: Den kongelige kapellgeistlighet) was the clergy in the service of the King of Norway in the Middle Ages. It refers to the priests of the 14 royal "chapels" throughout Norway, and is a modern term used by historians. From 1308, during the reign of Haakon V of Norway, the royal clergy became a separate institution, largely independent of the church hierarchy in Norway. They were granted vast privileges by the king and were also large land-owners. The royal clergy played its most central role during the Late Middle Ages, when they effectively formed the Norwegian state administration.
The provost of the royal chapel of Oslo, St Mary's Church, was independent of the Bishop of Oslo as the "chapel" (which was one of the largest and most impressive churches of Norway) had its own cathedral chapter. In 1300, King Haakon granted St Mary's Church numerous privileges and decreed that the provost would have the rank of a lendman, the canons would have the rank of a Knight, the vicars and deacons would have the rank of a hirdmann, and other clerics would have the rank of a kjertesvein; the clergy of this church thus received extraordinarily high aristocratic ranks, according to Sverre Bagge. In 1314, King Haakon decreed that the provost of St Mary's Church should "for eternity" also hold the office of Chancellor of Norway and Keeper of the Great Seal. Another priest of St Mary's would serve as Vice-Chancellor.
The Paus family (pronounced [ˈpæʉs]), also styled de Paus or von Paus, is a Norwegian family that emerged as an aristocratic priestly family from Medieval Oslo in the 16th century. For centuries, it belonged to the "aristocracy of officials," especially in the clergy and legal professions in Upper Telemark. Later generations entered shipping, steel, and banking, becoming steel magnates in Oslo. The family's best-known members are Henrik Ibsen and Ole Paus. The name is recorded in Oslo from the 14th century and likely derives from a metaphorical use of the Middle Low German word for pope—perhaps meaning "the pious one"—reflecting foreign influence and name satire in medieval Oslo.
The priest brothers Hans (1587–1648) and Peder Povelsson Paus (1590–1653) from Oslo have long been known as the family's earliest certain ancestors. In Slekten Paus, Finne-Grønn identified their grandfather as Hans Olufsson (d. 1570), a canon at St Mary's Church who held noble rank and served as a royal priest both before and after the Reformation. Peder Povelsson Paus came to Upper Telemark as parish priest of Vinje in 1618, became provost of Upper Telemark in 1633, and was the ancestor of the extant family; in the 17th century the family also used the name Vind (Wind) after the parish of Vinje. From the 17th to the 19th century, the family were among the foremost of the regional elite, the "aristocracy of officials" in Upper Telemark, where family members served as priests, judges and other officials, often across generations. The family held the district judgeship—the region's chief governmental and judicial office—for 106 years (1668–1774). It was a meritocratic elite defined by education, priesthood, and service to the state, and the apex of the social order of Upper Telemark.
Sir Hans Olufsson (c. 1495–1500 – 18 September 1570, in Oslo) was a Norwegian high-ranking cleric and nobleman during the 16th century.
He was a member of the royal clergy, the clergy in the personal service of the King of Norway and the effective state administration in the Middle Ages, and was one of the six canons at St Mary's Church, the royal chapel in Oslo and the seat of government of Norway. Together with the other canons and the provost, he was a member of the cathedral chapter of St Mary's Church. The provost ex officio also held the office of Chancellor of Norway, with one of the canons serving as Vice-Chancellor; it is unknown if Hans Olufsson served as Vice-Chancellor. As decreed by Haakon V of Norway in a 1300 royal proclamation, the canons of St Mary's Church held the rank and privileges of a Knight, the highest rank of nobility in Norway since 1308 and typically reserved for noblemen with a significant national political role.
The Old Town of Oslo (Norwegian: Gamlebyen, pronounced [ˈɡɑmɽəˌby̌ːn] ) is a neighbourhood in the inner city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo and is the oldest urban area within the current capital. This part of the capital of Norway was simply called Oslo until 1925 while the city as a whole was called Kristiania. Oslo's old town was established with the urban structure around the year 1000 and was the capital of Norway's dominion in 1314. The main Old Town area (i.e. the southern and central parts of Old Town) has several ruins of stone and brick lying above ground, and large amounts of protected culture underground. The core area also has listed 1700s buildings. Towards Ekeberg slope and further up are some 17th and 18th-century wooden houses that are zoned for conservation under the Planning and Building Act, though there exist in the Old Town many four-storey brick houses, built at the end of the 1800s, and some heritage railway buildings from different eras.
The Chancellor of Norway (modern Norwegian: Norges rikes kansler, "Chancellor of Norway's Realm") was the most important aide of the King of Norway during the Middle Ages, and during the Union with Denmark. He issued laws and regulations, and was responsible for day-to-day administration of the kingdom. From 1270, the Chancellor resided in Bergen. Haakon V of Norway moved the Chancellor's residence to Oslo; on 31 August 1314 the provost of St Mary's Church became Chancellor on a permanent basis. He was given the Great Seal of the Realm "for eternity." The Chancellors were originally chosen from the clergy but after 1542 the position was given to people from the nobility. The position lost its importance after Jens Bjelke's tenure, and was abolished in 1679.
The Medieval Park (Norwegian: Middelalderparken) is located in the borough of Gamle Oslo in Oslo, Norway. The park was opened in the year 2000 at Sørenga in what was once the southern part of the medieval city of Oslo. The park is located within an area which also included the Minneparken and Ladegården on the north side of Bispegata. Development in the area is prohibited due to ruins and cultural layers above and below ground.
In the park are the ruins of St. Clement's Church, St. Mary's Church and the former royal estate (Oslo Kongsgård). In the west the shoreline meets the park's land area approximately where Oslofjord met Oslo during the Middle Ages (about the year 1300). The part of the park located at the lake is 43 acres in addition to the water on 22 acres. The park facility at the ruins of St. Clement's Church is also considered for the park and this area is 4.7 acres, of the park that total is 70 acres.