DIARIUM VADSTENENSE AND VADSTENA ABBEY

Diarium Vadstenense, the chronicle of Vadstena Abbey (the principal cloister of the Birgittine order) is one of the most interesting narrative sources of medieval Scandinavia. The present article focuses on the types of entries, their aims and their data. I pay attention to individual cases, to data concerning the health and the diseases of the Birgittines, as well as their age and death. I demonstrate that life expectancy of the Birgittines was high enough. Special attention in my article is paid to the question of the character of Vadstena Abbey. Can we regard Vadstena Abbey as a mixed community of men and women, a so-called double cloister? Or should we treat it as two separate monasteries behind one fence? I demonstrate that Vadstena Abbey must be regarded as a single mixed congregation. The brethren and the sisters lived in proximity. Both communities were subject to Mother Superior. The economy was common. Both parts of the monastery interacted constantly. The usual definitions – brethren (fratres) and sisters (sorores) were of the same type. Both communities are frequently called the same name – a convent, and often the expression “both convents” is used. The level of integration of the two parts of Vadstena Abbey was high; the monastery mentioned must be regarded as a single institution.