Medieval Alvastra: an interdisciplinary study of organization, economy and social structure

The project started in 1992 with the full title “Medieval Alvastra: an interdisciplinary study of organization, economy and social structure”. Three disciplines were brought together within the project, namely historic environment, art history and medieval archaeology. Alvastra is located on Lake Vättern in the province Östergötland in the middle of Sweden. This place has been the object of archaeological research since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1916, the archaeologist Otto Frödin started his excavations of medieval structures in the Alvastra area, which continued up to his death in 1953. For the most part, he was occupied with the investigation of the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra, founded in 1143.

The research project of the 1990s had its focus not on the monastic structure itself but on relations between the priory and the social hinterland. How did the monastery interact – socially, religiously and economically with this society? The project focused on the following problems:

1• The older spatial structure in the countryside around Alvastra.
2• The Cistercian monastery and the development of the medieval, ecclesiastical architecture in the province of Östergötland.
3• The monastic landscape especially concerning its social and economic organization
4• Social and political conditions in the province of Östergötland at the time of establishment of the monastery