Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 94
92 GRIPLA
city that was commonly reached by Norwegians via the aforementioned
Flemish route.58
Subsequently, proof of the renewed relations between Flanders and
Norway is evident in the circulation of the manuscript Vatican City,
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal.lat. 1963, dated 1250–65, a manu-
script that transmits the Histoire d’Outremer— also known as L’Estoire
d’Eracles—a French translation of the Latin work Historia rerum in partibus
transmarinis gestarum, which narrated the story of the crusade of William
of Tyre (d. 1186).59 The manuscript, probably produced in the eastern
Mediterranean area, had been in the possession of the Queen of Norway,
Isabella Bruce (c. 1272–1358), who had married King Eiríkr Magnússon
(1268–99) in 1293; she was the sister of the king of Scotland, Robert
Bruce (1274–1329). According to Bjørn Bandlien, Pal. lat. 1963 arrived in
Norway with some Norwegians who had left for the Seventh Crusade dur-
ing the reign of King Hákon Hákonarson (1204–63). It appears, in fact,
that Elinard of Seninghem (d. 1273), a Flemish nobleman residing in the
vicinity of Saint-Omer, had gone to Bergen in search of a ship and crew to
travel to Caesarea (Anatolia), in order to reach King Louis IX of France
(1214–70) in 1251.60 While this remains one of the possible scenarios, it
highlights how the Norwegian monarchy was strongly linked and connect-
ed with other European families, and particularly with Flemish ones. The
relationships between the Norwegian monarchy and the family of Elinard
of Seninghem subsequently intensified during the thirteenth century.61
In addition to the manuscript evidence, the relations between Norway
and Flanders are further attested by the presence in Norway of some
French artefacts: three lead crosses bearing a French inscription and a
gold ring. The lead crosses, found in Stavanger and in Hardanger, contain
inscriptions of French hymns. The two crosses found in the diocese of
Stavanger—respectively, Stavanger, Stavanger Museum, Madla 248 and
Stavanger, Stavanger Museum, Bru 263—transmit a section of the hymn
Deus pater piissime, for which Lilli Gjerløw hypothesized two possible tra-
ditions. One possibility is that the inscription may ultimately derive from
58 Myking, “French Connection,” 140–42.
59 Bjørn Bandlien, “A Manuscript of the Old French William of Tyre (Pal. Lat. 1963) in
Norway,” Studi mediolatini e volgari 62 (2016): 21–80, at 21.
60 Bandlien, “Manuscript,” 39–40.
61 Bandlien, “Manuscript,” 60.