Fjenneslev og Gørlev Kirker – to sjællandske slægtsmausoleer fra 11–1200-tallet

Abstract

Title: The Churches of Fjenneslev and Gørlev – Danish Family Mausoleums in two Parish Churches from the 12th-13th centuries

It is well known that leading powerful and aristocratic families could turn cathedrals and monastic churches into what could be viewed as their own mausoleums in the High Middle Ages. Less known is the fact that this phenomenon also occurred in smaller parish churches. The article presents two examples of such churches in detail: the rural churches in Fjenneslev and Gørlev (on the main Danish island of Zealand). In Fjenneslev the dominant Hvide family already had both its collective burial place and extensive commemorative murals across the triumphal wall in place by about 1150. These family memorials were preserved and maintained until at least about 1300. In Gørlev, no less than two sets of donor images were installed during the 13th century, one painted and one sculpted in polychrome wood, inspired by German-French models.