ABSTRACT
In the foundation process of three monasteries for men in Sweden and two in Norway, a pattern of competition between secular and ecclesiastical power has been detected, with regard to which of the two powers was best fitted to understand the monks in their struggle for the purity of the monastic alternative. After the murder of Cnut Lavard in 1131 and the violent revenge of Erik Emune 1134-37 - with parallel phenomena in Norway - such an outlook was shaken. Christianity, severely under pressure from civil wars in Denmark and Norway, and by non-Christian resistance in Sweden, found new leadership under Archbishop Eskil. According to Arne Odd Johnsen's careful analysis, the struggle for royal power and authority in Norway after the death of Sigurd the Jerusalem-farer in 1130 was no less dramatic and cruel than the civil war in Denmark, characterized by unhindered crime and oppression against ecclesiastical institutions.
