Gallery


One of my majors in university is history, and so im taking this class on how to work in an archive, and how to work with historical documents. Last unit we were let into their basement where they keep all of their cool medieval documents:) (from top left to bottom right) 1. Letter from King Frederick III(1661) detailing new privledges granted to citizens of copenhagen. These special privledges were granted as a thanks from the king, in the context that for the last two years (1658-1660) the entirety of the Kingdom of Denmark had been under Swedish occupation and the last remaining city under siege was copenhagen. The Copenhageners had bascially managed to resist the siege and eventually expel the swedish army from the city, effectively saving the kings butt. one of the ways he thanked the people, was by adding a bunch of lions, cannons, and helmets to the cities official coat of arms, because he thought it looked cool (pictured). About four years later the Kongelov(King Law) was signed, officially changing Denmark from a feudal to despotic monarchy(the king now had absolute power by divine decree) and many of the privledges would later be rolled back. 2. kollegiebøger(litteraly college books), were basically compendiums with copies of signed letters and decrees from the king, as a way of keeping a track of internal affairs. The particular books here i believe were from Christian VII who ruled from 1766 to 1808 3. A letter from Peder Bang(yes that was his actual name) the then bishop of roskilde(1275) asserting the laws of the city. This letter is being sent after the bishop had been in exile for 15 years (1259-1274) for opposing the king, the letter was sent out after the bishops return to the city, basically to affirm that the same rules were in place as before he left. Mr. Bang unfortunately died in 1277, only two years after his return to the city, having only been in the country for 7 of the 23 years he was bishop.(1254-1277) 4. A letter from the King(1443) Christoffer III officially making copenhagen the capital of the Kingdom. The city had initially been founded and managed by the bishops of Roskilde(Mr. Bang and the like) and had grown quite big over the centuries, but had since 1419 been siezed by the previous king, Erik of Pommerania. Whats cool about this one in particular to me is honestlty not even the content of the text but rather the little medieval pillow next to it thats been preserved for 582 years along with the parchment None of the pictured documents have ever been "unearthed" or excavated but have continuously been meticulously maintained and taken care of by people for 750 years(in the case of the oldest one) because even then people though of them as being historicaly significant and worth preserving for future generation to look at. the older documents here survived a fire in 1728 that destroyed about a third of Copenhagen but were deliberately rescoued from the fire. The fact that we STILL have the originals to look at, even after almost a millennia is honestly kind of magical. closeup of some moss on a fencepost some cute fungi and cows in the woods :3 Abandoned Scrap in field. can u spot the fawn? o: Skovelm/wych elm (Ulmus glabra) fallen tree growing up a cliff cool bug, a little scary looking (Ophion obscuratus) tiny ice formations more snow, the colours in this pic are so beautiful c: snow pretty fungi. idk what species though. found groving in dead leaves. closeup of flora in local swamp. Macrolepiota procera, also known as parasol mushroom o: supposedly very tasty, though i didn't eat any. overgrown abandoned building in the counrtyside. horses next to the sea(: do you think they appreciate the view?. starflower or hjulkrone in my language (wheel-crown). closeup of garden snail. If you zoom in u can see his little eyes :)

One of my majors in university is history, and so im taking this class on how to work in an archive, and how to work with historical documents. Last unit we were let into their basement where they keep all of their cool medieval documents:)

(from top left to bottom right)

1. Letter from King Frederick III(1661) detailing new privledges granted to citizens of copenhagen. These special privledges were granted as a thanks from the king, in the context that for the last two years (1658-1660) the entirety of the Kingdom of Denmark had been under Swedish occupation and the last remaining city under siege was copenhagen. The Copenhageners had bascially managed to resist the siege and eventually expel the swedish army from the city, effectively saving the kings butt. one of the ways he thanked the people, was by adding a bunch of lions, cannons, and helmets to the cities official coat of arms, because he thought it looked cool (pictured). About four years later the Kongelov(King Law) was signed, officially changing Denmark from a feudal to despotic monarchy(the king now had absolute power by divine decree) and many of the privledges would later be rolled back.

2. kollegiebøger(litteraly college books), were basically compendiums with copies of signed letters and decrees from the king, as a way of keeping a track of internal affairs. The particular books here i believe were from Christian VII who ruled from 1766 to 1808

3. A letter from Peder Bang(yes that was his actual name) the then bishop of roskilde(1275) asserting the laws of the city. This letter is being sent after the bishop had been in exile for 15 years (1259-1274) for opposing the king, the letter was sent out after the bishops return to the city, basically to affirm that the same rules were in place as before he left. Mr. Bang unfortunately died in 1277, only two years after his return to the city, having only been in the country for 7 of the 23 years he was bishop.(1254-1277)

4. A letter from the King(1443) Christoffer III officially making copenhagen the capital of the Kingdom. The city had initially been founded and managed by the bishops of Roskilde(Mr. Bang and the like) and had grown quite big over the centuries, but had since 1419 been siezed by the previous king, Erik of Pommerania. Whats cool about this one in particular to me is honestlty not even the content of the text but rather the little medieval pillow next to it thats been preserved for 582 years along with the parchment

None of the pictured documents have ever been "unearthed" or excavated but have continuously been meticulously maintained and taken care of by people for 750 years(in the case of the oldest one) because even then people though of them as being historicaly significant and worth preserving for future generation to look at. the older documents here survived a fire in 1728 that destroyed about a third of Copenhagen but were deliberately rescoued from the fire. The fact that we STILL have the originals to look at, even after almost a millennia is honestly kind of magical.