In this guide you can find a summary of the history, concepts and objects in the exhibition. After the Introduction, it begins in the first, dimly lit room called Dawn. Take the left exit to move onward to The Town. From there you will enter The Church and the King. As you walk through the vaulted corridor, continue past the doorway to your right to view the Lily Stones. From there, walk back to the doorway and turn left to see Trade and Crafts. Continue past the cabinet and partition wall to The Black Death.
Go to Section
Introduction
In the European history, the period between classical antiquity and the Renaissance is known as the Middle Ages, spanning from the 5th century, after Rome fell, to the 15th century. In Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia, however, the Middle Ages began later, as the Viking Age lasted into the early 11th century. In Scandinavie, the medieval period is typically dated from around 1050 to 1500.
The early Middle Ages was a period of economic and population growth. Royal authority strengthened, and political power became more centralized. However, by the mid-14th century this positive trend was disrupted by famine, climate changes, and epidemics, leading to economic stagnation and political unrest.
Towns became centres of power, trade, and craftmanship, fuelling economic and cultural development. A lot of modern-day cities in Europe began to grow during the Middle Ages thanks to a rising bourgeois class. Since the towns held a large concentration of people, power, and money, it led to new ideas which also gave way to cultural development. The towns were totally dependent on the countryside for access to food and other resources leading to agricultural intensification and trade expansion.
With this exhibition we want to show you what life was like for the people who lived in a town like Skara many centuries ago.
1. Dawn
A thousand years ago, during the Viking-age, the society was undergoing a transformation. The foundation was being laid to what would soon become Sweden—a kingdom modelled after Western Europe. Pre-Christian Västergötland disappeared and was replaced by a new Christian society with churches, towns, fortifications, coins, taxes, and laws.
The introduction of Christianity is a prerequisite for the transformation from the old society. Within the church were models of organization, economy, and distribution of power. Whoever wanted to be king and wanted to reign over other local chiefs, needed support from the church to gain and maintain power.
The church and Christianity played a key role for Skara in terms of becoming a town. There were really no buildings in the area before the first Virgin Mary church was built on the highest point in the to-be town. In Götala, just east of Skara, there were once a pagan cult centre which indicates that the area was populated during the Iron and Viking-ages.
During the 11th century Skara became an ecclesiastical and administrative centre and the seat of the bishop in the Skara diocese – which is Sweden’s oldest, from the year 1014. It was likely a royal land donation that placed the bishop’s seat here.
Christian influence in Västergötland came from two directions – England and Germany. Around 1070, Adam of Bremen wrote about the history of the German archdiocese. He highlighted how the German missionaries were the most successful in terms of Christianizing pagans from the Nordic countries, while at the same time downplaying the English missionary contribution. Due to the lack of written sources, Adam of Bremen’s version has had a big impact in the historiography. Adam did however note in the marginals that English bishops also preached in Sweden during this time.
Evidence for strong English influence in Sweden are the cults of the Saints. Fragments of the 11th- and 12th century missals show that certain masses in Sweden celebrated around 50 quite unknown English saints. This suggests a significant probably Anglo-Saxon impact on the Christianization of the region.
The woman looking out from the house is the Mistress of the large farm in Varnhem. Her name was Kata, was married to Kättil and had a brother named Torgil. We know this thanks to the carved runes on the gravestone placed on her grave.
Kata’s remains give us some information about who she was and when she lived. She was 160 centimetres tall which was the average height of Viking-age women. DNA analysis shows that Kata had blue eyes and fair hair. Her teeth were even, with no signs of caries or other issues. She died when she was about 30 years old. By dating her skeleton, we know that she died around the year 1040 which means that she was born in the very beginning of the 11th century.
The reconstruction of Kata is wearing clothes that were typical formal wear for a middle-class woman during the 11th century at formal occasions. The blue colour and the high-quality wool, linen and silk shows she belonged to a wealthy family.
2. The Town
Beneath the streets of Skara lie traces of a town with over a thousand years of history. Each archaeological excavation adds new pieces to the puzzle. The finds reveal a town in constant change. In this exhibition, you can explore a model of Skara at its medieval peak and follow the monks’ path between the monastery and the royal estate in the year 1288.
Medieval towns across Europe were inspired by ancient Rome, The Eternal City. Many towns were built on old Roman sites and became centres for trade, taxes, and power. The same ideas spread to Sweden, where towns were founded to serve kings and bishops. Coins replaced bartering, and rules regulated trade.
Towns were full of life and crowded. People and animals shared tight spaces. Homes, sheds, and workshops stood side by side. Waste piled up in the streets, and without sewers, disease spread quickly. Fires were common and deadly. Many people died young, and towns needed a steady flow of newcomers from the countryside.
Skara became one of Sweden’s first towns. Here, the Church and royal power shaped society. Around the year 1000, King Olof Skötkonung introduced Christianity, coinage, and new systems of power, inspired by what he had seen abroad.
The area around Skara was important politically, economically, and spiritually. It became Sweden’s first bishopric, making Skara a key town in the early kingdom. Towns had special rights: they held markets, collected customs, and controlled trade. Goods had to be brought to town to be sold and taxed.
Most townspeople were craftsmen. In Skara, metalworking and textiles were common. Near the cathedral, a group of skilled stonemasons and builders worked for the Church. They helped shape one of Sweden’s first stone cathedrals using tools and knowledge brought from Europe.
Skara’s garbage heaps tell us much about daily life. People ate mainly grain-based food, with some fish and meat. Bone remains show what they ate and what animals lived in town. The garbage also holds broken pottery, lost tools, and personal items which are clues to everyday routines.
One of Skara’s oldest streets, Hindsbogatan, lay in the shadow of the cathedral. Archaeologists found layers of activity here: house remains, fire-damaged walls, and traces of markets and crafts. The street was busy for centuries before it was abandoned and forgotten, until rediscovered by archaeologists. Skara was shaped by Christianity. Churches dominated the skyline, and monks and priests guided both faith and learning. Excavations have uncovered altarpieces, glass windows, sculptures, and communion vessels, all objects that tell of rich church life and skilled craftsmanship.
3. The Church and the King
The Romanesque portal you just passed through is a reconstruction from Härja Church, illustrating the consecration of the church. At the top centre sits the bishop, next to Christ and Peter, blessing the church’s founder. The portal also includes jesters and bear tamers. Perhaps they entertained at the opening of the church.
Skara Cathedral, with origins in the 11th century, was a symbol of both religious and royal power. The oldest part is the crypt, linked to Bishop Adalvard the Elder. In 1304, a relic, said to be a thorn from Christ’s crown, was brought to Skara by Bishop Brynolf Algotsson, turning the cathedral into a pilgrimage site. Brynolf also initiated the Gothic transformation of the Romanesque cathedral, funded by noble donations.
The bishops of Skara played key roles in both church and politics. The diocese’s history spans over 1,000 years. Skara Missal, Sweden’s oldest book, once lay on the altar of the cathedral, guiding the liturgy. A copy of Bishop Brynolf’s richly decorated chasuble is displayed here, while the original is preserved in the museum’s archives.
The reliquary from Jäla Church is one of the largest preserved in Sweden. It allegedly holds a piece of John the Baptist’s skull. Shaped like a church, it reflects the reverence for saints’ relics in medieval Christianity.
Royal estates like Gällkvist Castle, built in the 13th century outside Skara, hosted the traveling court. Kings and the Church collaborated in building the first stone churches, employing foreign craftsmen. Their power play is symbolized in this room through a game of chess pieces representing kings, bishops, and even farmers, like the ploughshare from Husaby.
Medieval art and architecture reflected shifts in ideology. The transition to Gothic style included lifelike stone portraits of donors. Birger Jarl and his sons were among the first Swedes depicted this way. Their carved heads once adorned Skara Cathedral. One of the sons’ portraits, Bengt’s, is now preserved here.
Displayed as well is a Gothic sculpture of Peter the Apostle standing over evil shaped as a demon. Known as “The Corn God of Norra Vånga,” it was used in pagan fertility rites well into the 1800s. Alongside it, a wooden statue of Mary reflects the strong veneration of the Virgin in medieval Västergötland.
Together, these objects and stories reveal how the Church and the Crown shaped medieval society, with faith, power, artistry, and ritual woven into everyday life.
4. Lily Stones
Lily stones are exclusive for Sweden, a large concentration of them found in Skara. By many of the medieval churches in Västergötland we can find grave slabs that seem specific for just this part of the country. During a short period, probably just a few centuries, trapezium shaped slabs of sandstone was made. The pattern on the relief shows the tree of life with heart-shaped palmettes, leaves and vines, or crosses on long staffs. Today we call the slabs lily stones or staff cross slabs.
There have been a few different interpretations about the sandstone slabs through the years. Some believe that they are inspired by the Byzantine Empire in the east, where similar examples dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries have been found. Others believed that the inspiration comes from the west and can be linked to the Romanesque art from the 12th and 13th centuries. They are often interpreted as laying grave slabs.
The symbolism in the motives had been used for a long time in the Christian church. The tree of life works as a symbol for Christ. Some stones have inscriptions of runes or Latin letters where the texts indicate their use as grave slabs.
An inventory done in 2007 documented 529 slabs. It shows a clear concentration of these type of slabs in the area around Kinnekulle and south of the lake Vänern. Some slabs are occasionally found in the regions of Värmland, Dalsland and Bohuslän.
Technique and skills in the work of the stonemasons have varied. Some slabs show a great skill with patterns of vines. Other slabs have naïve patterns, almost sloppy, that could be the work of a less skilled stonemason.
5. Trade and Crafts
The area where Skara is located has long served as a natural meeting place. Long before the town itself was founded, people gathered here to trade goods and settle disputes. It is no coincidence that the cathedral was built in this very location. The establishment of both the church and the town created new demands for goods and services, attracting merchants and artisans to the area.
During the 1200s, towns began to develop, specializing in crafts and trade under royal privileges. Skara had its own set of laws, the most important of which regulated trade in the countryside. Among the dominant crafts were comb-making and shoemaking. Gold- and silversmiths were also active, likely working in close connection with the royal court.
Scales played a vital role in determining the value of goods and ensuring fair trade. In addition to combs, artisans produced and sold a wide variety of items such as needles, dice, knives, chess pieces, and other small bone objects. Dice are a frequent find in archaeological excavations and suggest that games of chance were part of daily life.
Combs were primarily made from bone, requiring not only skilled craftsmanship but also access to metal tools. Many combs were decorated with simple geometric patterns like lines and circles.
Shoemaking began once the tanning process was complete, and it is likely that the same individual handled both. Although medieval shoes may seem uniform to us today, there was actually great variety in style and decoration. Some shoes and boots were adorned with colourful threads and patterns. The many worn and hole-ridden shoes found during excavations suggest that footwear wore out quickly on Skara’s uneven streets. Shoemakers also crafted belts, hats, and gauntlets.
Few people in medieval Skara could read or write. Instead, personal items were marked with house marks-symbols often derived from runes. The use of runes persisted throughout the Middle Ages, both for writing names and casting spells. The Latin alphabet was mostly reserved for the church, the nobility, and the royal court. Merchants, however, needed to read, write, and count, and used styluses to inscribe notes, typically in Latin.
Objects made of bronze, brass, and lead were not only used in churches but also in everyday life. A few household utensils made of bronze or brass have been found in Skara, likely owned by wealthier families. These materials were also commonly used for making buckles, which served a more practical function than decorative jewellery. Some buckles bear religious inscriptions, with “Ave Maria” being the most common.
Household items were also made from wood, metal, and stone. When archaeologists find them today, they are often in fragmented condition. Wooden objects, such as plates, buckets, and other utensils, were frequently used for food preparation and storage.
The oldest ceramics found in Skara are known as black ware, a simple, dark pottery fired in a low-oxygen environment. While some black ware pieces were imported from Western Europe, most were made locally and used for cooking and storing food. These vessels often feature decorative patterns such as lines, stamped motifs, or faces. From the later Middle Ages, red ware appears. so named for the reddish colour it took on in the kiln. This type was mostly imported from Denmark, England, and France. By the 1200s, a clear distinction had developed between cooking pots and serving dishes.
Inside the now-destroyed church at Södra Råda, a painted inscription once read:
“A thousand years after Christ was born, and then four hundred more, then ninety and the fourth, when Brynolf III was bishop, this was painted by Amund and written.”
This tells us that Master Amund completed the painting during the 1490s. Other confirmed works by Amund can be found in the churches of Gökhem, Västra and Östra Gerum, Korsberga, and Kungslena. He and his workshop likely painted several more. Another notable artist from the 1400s was Nils Håkansson, whose paintings survive in the churches of Skalunda, Strö, Götene, and Hammarö. Painting a church interior took about 200 hours, meaning a workshop could complete two or three for one summer season.
Locks and keys were essential for protecting houses and storerooms from thieves. Families needed to secure their food, and artisans wanted to keep their tools safe. The housewife typically held the keys, which became a symbol of authority and responsibility. Iron keys were most common, but some were made of bronze.
In the late Middle Ages, Skara and the surrounding region were drawn into conflict. Tensions within the Kalmar Union between Denmark and Sweden escalated into war. Local people rose in rebellion, and nearly all fortresses, except for Älvsborg Fortress and Axevalla House, were burned down. Axevalla House was one of the king’s most important strongholds in the 1400s.
The church bell on display here is one of three from the medieval church in Synnerby, which was demolished in 1905. Church bells have been an important part of Christian worship since the earliest churches. While their main purpose was to call the faithful to service, they were also used for various other signals, such as the death bell, which called for prayer after a person’s passing.
The large painting at the end of the room depicts the market in Skara on October 12, 1288, during the feast of Saint Luke. Bishop Brynolf Algotsson can be seen walking in the procession. Farmers came to sell livestock and crops, while artisans manned permanent stalls with their goods. Traveling merchants sold items brought from distant lands.
The painting is a visual reconstruction of the medieval market in what is now Stortorget, the town square of Skara.
Several of the items shown in the artwork are part of this exhibition and can be found in the display case beside the painting, created by Göte Göransson in 1994.
6. The Black Death
The Black Death swept across Europe in the mid-1300s, arriving from Asia via trading. The disease reached Sweden in 1350, likely through the west coast town of Lödöse. Within months, it struck hard in Västergötland. Skara, like many towns, was severely affected. An estimated 300–600 people in Skara may have died.
The plague was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, spread primarily by fleas from black rats, but also through human contact. There were three main types: bubonic, which caused swollen lymph nodes, septicemic, which turned the skin dark through infected blood, and pneumonic, which affected the lungs and spread easily from person to person. All were deadly, some with mortality rates as high as 100%.
The social and economic effects were devastating. The sudden population loss created shortage of workers, allowing surviving farmers more freedom. Wealthy families struggled to maintain control, and trade declined significantly. Artisans in towns like Skara had fewer customers, and many urban plots were left vacant or converted into small-scale gardens.
Skara lost much of its former importance as a centre of crafts and trade. It became more self-sufficient, but never fully recovered. While the town had been prominent in earlier centuries, it now faced strong competition from nearby towns that began to grow during the 1400s, like Lidköping, Falköping, and Skövde. These smaller towns were granted trading rights and gained influence, while Skara entered a period of stagnation.
The mental impact of the plague was also profound. People lived with constant fear and uncertainty. With no scientific understanding of disease, many believed the plague was a punishment from God. Some responded with prayer, fasting, and religious processions, often worsening the spread. Others believed poisonous winds carried the disease and attempted to seal off homes from dangerous air. Many saw the plague as a sign that the world was ending. Some prepared for judgment, while others embraced the idea of living life to the fullest.
Despite later outbreaks, none matched the devastation of the 14th century. The plague returned many times over the centuries, with the last major outbreak in Sweden occurring in 1710. With the discovery of the Yersinia pestis bacterium and the advent of antibiotics in the 20th century, the disease is now treatable.
