Medieval

Registers and Databases

The Main Catalogue of Diplomatarium Suecanum (SDHK)

Information about Swedish letters or letters related to Sweden is collected in the Main Catalogue of Diplomatarium Suecanum (SDHK). The digital register contains details about more than 44,000 letters and offers a variety of search options, including searches by personal names, place names, dates, and key details. Additionally, it is possible to search through all letter texts that have been published so far in the main series of Diplomatarium Suecanum and in the supplementary series for the years 1401–1420. SDHK provides detailed information about the transmission of the letters – that is, how and in what form they have been preserved – and, in many cases, references to literature.

Read more about SDHK and Svenskt Diplomatarium (in Swedish)
Search in SDHK
SDHK is also available as a downloadable dataset (in Swedish).

Old Swedish bibliography and the Swedish runic bibliography

The Old Swedish bibliography contains information about secondary literature/literary aids to the Old Swedish texts. The Swedish runic bibliography records literature dealing with runic inscriptions from the present Swedish area. The databases are available via a website administered by Diplomatarium Suecanum.

Search in Old Swedish bibliography

Database of medieval book fragments (MPO)

The Swedish National Archives holds a collection of thousands of medieval book fragments. These fragments are the remnants of up to 11,000 different books, the oldest dating back to the 11th century and the most recent to the 16th century. Many of the books have come to Sweden from other countries, others have been written in this country. Most of them are books of worship, but there are also many pages from legal and theological works. These book leaves were repurposed as covers for the Swedish administration's account records from the 1530s to around 1630. The total number of such parchment covers amounts to approximately 23,000, most of which are still bound around the same account records they were paired with in the 16th century.

Search in the Database of medieval book fragments

Archives, collections and manuscripts

Medieval material can be found at several of the National Archives' locations. One way to find lists of the collections is to start by searching on pergament*. One digitized collection is Pergament- och pappersbrevsamlingen (the Parchment and Paper Letter Collection) in Härnösand.

Skoklostersamlingen contains numerous medieval manuscripts, including the Revelations of Saint Birgitta (E 8902) and Country Law of Magnus Eriksson. Several of the manuscripts have been digitized, for example:

• Kon. Magni Erikssons Allmänna Lag E 9046 (N:o 143)
• Kon. Magni Erikssons Allmänna Lag E 9047 (N:o 144)
• Kon. Magni Erikssons Allmänna Lag E 9048 (N:o 145)
• Heliga Elisabeth av Ungerns leverne
• Stora och Lilla rimkrönikan The Large and Small Rhymed Chronicles in a later transcription.

Other Collections with Scanned Manuscript Volumes

• Codices A Medieval copybooks (all digitized)
• Codices B Post-medieval copybooks and transcriptions of medieval letters (partially digitized)
• Codices C Medieval secular land registers and accounts (partially digitized)
• Codices D Medieval ecclesiastical land registers and accounts (partially digitized)

Miscellaneous

Det medeltida Sverige is a book series that maps medieval settlements in Sweden, showing the locations of medieval farms, towns, crofts, and manorial complexes, along with their ownership. Entire regions or parts of several provinces have already been published and are available as searchable and downloadable PDFs in our webshop

Svenskt Diplomatarium is a book series publishing Swedish medieval letters in chronological order.

Databasen Jämtlands och Härjedalens diplomatarium is also accessible on the computers in our reading rooms.