Kyrkan vid Värends ände: En studie av Åseda kyrkas medeltida historia

Sammanfattning: Engdahl, E. 2023. The church at the end of Värend: A study of Åseda church’s medieval history. Within the forests of Swedish Småland, on the edge of Kronobergs county, lies the village of Åseda. This location has been sparsely studied by various scholars. The parish church in Åseda was subjected to a restoration during 1936-37, led by architect Paul Boberg. This restoration resulted in a lot of archaeological findings, for example previous architecture and artifacts, dated to the Swedish medieval period. The aim of this thesis is to examine and discuss the findings that Boberg made and how the material reflects the socio-economic situation in the Åseda parish, during the late medieval period. The study is aided with the use of old maps, analogies to hall-churches and references to scholars who worked with the findings Boberg made. Towards the later half of the 15th century, or at the latest the 16th century, the previous parish church was rebuilt to an hall-church. This is likely the result of a population increase that took place between the founding of Åseda and the year 1545. The construction of a newer and bigger parish church was necessary. Out of all hall-churches in the historical region, Uppvidinge härad, Åseda parish church had by far the largest nave. Due to taxes from the large peasant population and the presence of nobility, the parish could both afford a large and embellished church. The discovered material proves that Åseda was not as isolated as it might seem at first glance. Still, questions remain about the first church in Åseda, how the sacristy was connected to the nave and the age of the hall-church.