Opus Anglicanum embroideries in Trondheim, Norway

Upper part of two boots or stockings, opus anglicanum, Archbishop’s Palace Museum, at the Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway. Upper part of two boots or stockings, opus anglicanum, Archbishop’s Palace Museum, at the Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway.

The upper part of two boots or stockings to be worn by a bishop, and worked in Opus Anglicanum with gold and silver thread embroidery, are preserved in the Archbishop’s Palace Museum, at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. They probably date to the late twelfth century. Nidaros is the medieval name of Trondheim.

These fragments, and in particular its scrolling decoration, have been compared to the fragments of pontifical stockings or boots recovered from a tomb in Worcester cathedral. One of these fragments is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Opus anglicanum vestments were an important and prestigious item emphasising the role of the clergy. It has been suggested that the pair of stockings/boots, fragments of which have been preserved in Trondheim, were acquired by Archbishop Eysteinn Erlendsson during his exile in England in 1180-1183. He was the archbishop of Nidaros, and died in 1188. He was a reformer, who also had been in contact with Thomas Becket. During his exile, he was apparently briefly Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey.

Source: Blog article by NØDSETH, Ingrid Lunnan (2016). Embroidery in the Norse World. Download here.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 30 October 2016).

WV

Last modified on Sunday, 08 January 2017 14:50
Published in Religious vestments and other textiles
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