The Octagonal Shrine Chapel of St Olav at Nidaros Cathedral: An Investigation of its Fabric, Architecture and International Context

Abstract

Summary of the doctoral thesis: \nThe Octagon – the eight-sided eastern termination of Nidaros Cathedral – was built c.1200-1210 as the architectural frame around the grave and golden shrine of St Olav, the most prominent medieval Scandinavian saint. As early as c.1070 St Olav’s shrine was well established as a place of pilgrimage, and when the Norwegian archbishopric was established in 1153 Nidaros became its seat due to the high prestige of St Olav. After 1153 the single-nave Christchurch of King Olav the Peaceful was replaced by a new cathedral in the Anglo-Norman style. The octagon was the completion of the Romanesque cathedral, but its architecture and decoration heralds the transition from the Romanesque to the new Gothic style in Norway.\nIn Northern Europe, the octagon stands out as a unique building. Recent English research in tandem with my Ph.D. project has demonstrated that an important inspiration for the design of the octagon was ‘St Hugh’s Choir’ from c.1193-1205 in Lincoln Cathedral, especially its lost eastern polygonal end which was replaced by the ‘Angel Choir’ already c.1250-60. The Nidaros octagon preserves important architectural elements which has helped understand and reconstruct the lost part of St Hugh’s Choir.\nThe octagon’s religious function as the physical frame around the grave and shrine of St Olav, is a physical expression of St Olav’s contemporary status c.1200 as king and martyr (rex et martiris) and the eternal king of Norway (rex perpetuus Norvegiae). The octagon was designed as a martyr church (martyrion) in the Early Christian mould, i.e. as a centralized building with the grave site and the shrine in its central room surrounded by an arcade wall and an ambulatory for the pilgrims. The most important inspiration for the octagon as a martyrion was probably the Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem as rebuilt by the Crusaders c.1150. The octagon’s external diameter measured across the chapels is identical to the outer diameter of the Holy Sepulcher’s arcade wall, and the external diameter of the ambulatory wall is identical to the inner diameter of this wall.\nOlder authors have claimed that the octagon was built in two separate phases separated by a decade-long pause. However, my analysis of the masons marks demonstrates that many of the masons were active not just on all parts of the octagon, but also during the construction work preceding and succeeding the work on the octagon. The octagon was therefore built in a single phase during a relatively short period, perhaps ten to twelve years.\nAfter the 1328 fire, the screen wall dividing the octagon and the choir and its two adjoining sides was demolished and rebuilt in the English Decorated Style. Its closest parallels are found in the London area, and an important inspiration for its design was probably St Stephen’s Chapel in Westminster Palace, the royal chapel which was the most prestigious building project at the time in England.\nThe greatest and most unexpected result of my investigation of the octagon was the discovery that during the reign of Archbishop Erik Walkendorf (1510-22) five of the eight sides of the central room were marked and numbered, dismantled and subsequently rebuilt in the same design. This large work was probably caused by the instability of the central vault, pressing the walls outwards. The work was so well executed that its full extent was not realized until my survey of the octagon in 2011. But instead of executing this complicated rebuilding work, why was not the whole octagon just demolished and replaced with a larger, brighter and more modern high choir?\nMy theory is that the octagon was consciously rebuilt as it had looked before in order to preserve its impression of antiquity, and this would enhance the prestige of the royal martyr. This period witnessed the dawn of the Nordic Renaissance, and the interest for national history was growing. Archbishop Walkendorf was an important representative for this movement. Age and history now gave legitimacy to royal families and kingdoms alike. The cult of St Olav enjoyed a great rejuvenation during this period, and new churches, chapels and altars dedicated to him were established from Amsterdam in the west to Tallinn in the east. The archbishopric of Nidaros played a much larger role in this than previously realized.

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