> On a recent, and first visit to look at the medieval glass in Lincoln
>Cathedral, I was told by one of those always knowledgeable and helpful
>local guides that when St Hugh's Choir (b.1191) was built a number of
>Norwegians worked on the structure and vault. The most obvious source,
>Architectural History 34, 1991 is not of great help. Does any learned
>member of the list know anything about these Norwegian builders and what
>work they did and can anyone suggest a documentary source about their
>participation? Many thanks for any help, John Hall
Dear John,
I'm not sure about the Norwegian builders working at Lincoln, but I am
pretty sure the reverse happened, i.e that masons who had worked on Lincoln
went to work on Trondheim Cathedral, at least for the Gothic part. Despite
the 19th-century restorations this building looks very odd and English, and
is reminiscent of Lincoln in many stylistic ways.
i haven't got my reference books currently available which may tell more
about the Lincs/Trond. connection, but it would be interesting to know if
these do go back so far. Trondheim (anciently Nidaros) became the shrine of
St Olav after his body was relocated there following the battle of
Stiklestad (1030) and became also the traditional place for the coronations
of the Norwegian kings, hence the allocation of resources to build a
splendid cathedral.
There have been ongoing excavations in the city since the 1970s and a great
deal has been learned about the medieval situation. There is also a huge
2-volume history of the city (in Norwegian) which may say something about
the building of the cathedral and those connected with it. If I dig any
more out I'll post it up--meanwhile, I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Brian Donaghey
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