Anders Leegaard Knudsen: Interessen for den danske fortid omkring 1300. En middelalderlig dansk nationalisme

Danish Interest in the Past c. 1300: Mediaeval Danish NationalismThe object of this study is to clarify two questions: When did nationalism clearly manifest itself in Mediaeval Denmark? And where was it sited? In the debate on whether the concept of nationalism is appropriate in Mediaeval studies the present author sides with the Mediaevalists who accept its viability. Following widespread usage the term nationalism is used here to designate a self-aggrandising and xenophobic feeling of national identity.There are no extant Mediaeval literary sources, whether personal letters and notes, or pamphlets, that cast light on the subject. The only available sources are historical works: chronicles, annals, and royal genealogies. Nationalism is reflected mainly in the sources that treat Danish history from the origins of the people, i.e., not merely from the beginnings of Christendom, but also back to the heathen kings. This phenomenon begins in the 1260s, when the so-called Chronicon Lethrense was incorporated into the Annales Lundenses. The Chronicon Lethrense may have been written about that time, but more probably it originates from the 1170s. In any case, it seems to have been generally unknown before appearing in the Annales Lundenses. Subsequently, however, it was widely used as source material in historical writing. The Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus (around 1200) was nevertheless the work that left an enduring mark on the ensuing Middle Ages. Interest in this work was so great in the last quarter of the Thirteenth Century that it may rightly be designated as the period of Saxo's breakthrough. Interest centered not only on the original work, to which extant manuscript fragments bear witness, but also on various abridged editions, which were copied into annals, chronicles and royal genealogies, often woven into material from the Chronicon Lethrense. Most of these sources date from the end of the Thirteenth Century and the first quarter of the Fourteenth.However, not all Danish historical writing in the High Middle Ages or Late Mediaeval times was nationalistic, and this supports the view that nationalistic historical writing was a conscious choice. Nationalism was self-conscious rather than an unreflected prolongation of the Chronicon Lethrense and Gesta Danorum tradition. These works, whose original diffusion and impact are unknown to us, had their breakthrough long after they were written. There can be little doubt that the nationalist works were produ