Medieval Iconography in the Digital Age: Creating a Database of the Cult of Saints in Medieval Sweden and Finland

Abstract

This article describes Mapping Lived Religion, an ongoing research and digitization project based at Linnaeus University and in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg. The project members are building an open access, online database of objects and texts connected to the cults of saints in medieval Sweden and Finland. The database is connected to a digital map and includes a register of medieval places. As part of its work, the project has enabled the digitization and digital publication of the Iconographic Index, housed by the Swedish National Heritage Board. Additionally, the photographs from The World of Medieval Images have been re-digitized as high-resolution images in collaboration with the Swedish National History Museums. By the end of the project, the database will be a major research and educational resource for those working on and teaching this period. As an open access portal published in both Swedish and English, it will offer data on the cults of saints to anyone with an interest in the field in Sweden, Finland, and internationally.