Embodied Faith : A study of medieval church choirs in Gotland

The purpose of this study is to answer the questions: What are the reasons for building a church choir with, or without, an apse? Were the two choir forms used in parallel or sequentially in Gotland? The primary material used includes "Sveriges kyrkor – Konsthistoriskt inventarium" and existing theories about the design of medieval choirs. The method employes Panofsky's iconology. Previous research has shown that apse and flat-ended choirs have coexisted in medieval Sweden. Regional preferences for either choir type have been found, but no preference has been demonstrated for Gotland. However, this thesis shows that the preference for apse choirs in Gotland was very strong during the 12th century, but a turning point occurred around the year 1200, after which almost no apses were built, and many existing apses were removed. These results are relevant for understanding the regional differences why apsidal or flat-ended choirs were chosen. Apsidal choirs have existed since the early Christian basilica, theories explaining why they stopped being built includes liturgical changes. Perhaps the need of changing the liturgy stemmed from the much challenging times, the Christianity lost Jerusalem to the Arabs and faced the rise of Islam.