This essay deals with the relationship between the mendicant movement and the urbanization during the thirteenth century. The aim has been to explore the significance of the Dominicansand the Franciscans for the creation of an urban landscape. This was made through the study of the urbanization process in southern Halland focusing on the town of Halmstad where the friars were established. The importance of the mendicants was also studied through their absence in the towns of Laholm and Falkenberg. To achieve this investigation in a contextual perspective material from different areas was used such as archaeology, history and history of science and ideas.

 AbstractThis Master?s thesis analyses the dynamics of the medieval counterweight lever engine, ortrebuchet, a type of mechanical artillery. The purpose is to study the differences between different types of these machines, and see if computer simulations can be used to validate preserved advice on construction. Simulations include machines with a fixed counterweight, a hinged counterweight and a combination of both counterweights.Due to the almost complete lack of archaeological finds and insufficient historical source material there are still, after more than a century of research, many unanswered questions concerning the design and performance of these machines.The present study is based on an analysis by Jahsman (2004). A more detailed mathematical model employing Coulomb-friction is used.

This essay discusses the development of swords in the southern region of Sweden, Skåne. It attempts to locate the areas in Europe where the swords were first made and, in doing so, trace the communication routes by which people traveled. The essay deals with aperiod of a few hundred years, from the late eighth century to sometime around 1300. In that sense, it is therefore also a time study tracing the cultural changes and developments in Skåne during the era of Christianization. Does the development of swords follow the overall changes in society, from an isolated pagan district to a Catholic European community, or not? In answering this question, eight swords were selected and put under closer observation.

A part of the Swedish TV-show Levande livet that aired between 1983 and 1984 was devoted to wine. This was the first time a wine tasting was being broadcasted in Sweden. Terms as ?sweaty horse? and ?moulded pile of leaves? ? that the wine connoisseurs Carl Jan Granqvist and Knut-Christian Gröntoft used to describe the wines ? became objects of both appreciation and ridicule. Their way of talking about wine reminds of Robert Parker?s wine language, which grew of importance from the 1970s and onwards.                      The purpose of this thesis is to try to write a history of taste.

Title: Similarities or differences within the centre-right? A study of the potential for party fusions within in the Swedish centre-rightAuthor: Charlie WeimersAim: The thesis seeks to find the potential for party fusions within the Swedish centre-right by analyzing the ideological similarities and differences between the parties.Method/Material: In the thesis, four dimensions of the parties? ideologies are analyzed: view of man, theory for societal structures, fiscal theory and moral values. The results of the study of the ideologies are then compared. The investigation is done with the party manifestos as starting point and with the analysis of ideas as theoretical tool.Main Results: The comparative analysis, based on the parties? ideological views, shows specific party constellations are more probable than others.

This essay focuses on the function and development of city harbors during the middle ages in the Scanian part of Öresund. The purpose of the survey is to take a closer look at topography, development and activities on the shores in three coastal cities along the west coast of Scania. The cities that has been part of the survey are: Skanör ? Falsterbo, Malmoe and Landskrona, three cities that follows each other chronologically and that show both similarities and differences in appearance, function and urbanization.The cities of Skanör ? Falsterbo and Malmoe were important market places for the medieval Scania market with the herring fishery in focus. The cities? birth has to be looked upon in relation to these activities.

Within this essay a study is made of an LGBTQ-orientated Christian service in Stockholm called Queer Service. The following questions seek to be answered: What reasons does an individual set for his/hers participation in Queer Service? Which aspects of a queer service highlight the participants as important to them?As a method to answer these questions, the author has observed a number of queer church services in autumn of 2012. Moreover communication within the group of the assembly on the social media page Facebook has been followed and five individuals from the Queer Service congregation have been interviewed. As a background to the study, the European religious climate seen from Grace Davies eyes is depicted.  The reader also learns of how the Swedish church has handled questions about homosexuality and bisexuality and what liberation theology is.

This project concerns a new lower and mid level compulsory school in the currently developing area of Annedal, northwest of central Stockholm. According to the given program, the school should hold 500 pupils and 100 pre-school children. As an addition to the given program, my suggustion holds a sports hall and a public library.In my project, my ambition has been to investigate how to create an inspiring and exiting place for kids to inhabit and, at the same time, create an activated, central place in a developing suburb. The latter has resulted in the two program-related additions, which purposes is to extend the hours during which the area is activated and to create additional incitements for visiting the building. Both additions are chosen based on lack of service in the area. Architectually, I've been inspired by the medieval castle which has been used as an inspirational resource for the parts of the school holding classrooms.

This essay is about a deserted medieval habitation called Skyttsie Hage which is located in the south of Sweden in the Scania province where it lies on a moor on the Falsterbopeninsula. Remains of five to six larger buildings have been found here with a surrounding earthwork, although it's not known for sure what kind of habitation they have been part of. Local folklore from the 17:th century states the area as a place where pirates lived, and that this was the reason for it's devastation. Another says that there once stood a breedingfarm belonging to the danish crown. Archaeologists have made several speculations which includes a deer park, a royal estate, an isolated farm or a smaller village.

The written sources concerning the process of christianization in Sweden has for a long time been limited to two main texts, Rimberts vita of St. Ansgarius and Adam of Bremen´s History of the bishops of Hamburg. This is due to a rigid source criticism in the beginning of the 20th century, which put other material ? in particular the norse sagas ? out of consideration. The last twenty years however, new questions have been raised concerning the christianization, partly because of new archaeological findings, new interpretations of the significance of runic stones and the recent debate about the formation of the Swedish medieval kingdom.

Jag har genomfört en studieresa till A.C.E.-Tabor, Danmark, där jag studerat en annorlunda pedagogik, A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education), som bygger på individualiserad undervisning med eleven i centrum och där eleven själv sätter sina studiemål.Det som särskilt väckt mitt intresse är att man utgår från bibeln i undervisningen och försöker lära eleverna efterfölja Jesu karaktärsdrag, som avspeglas i undervisningsmaterialet och lärarnas förhållningssätt. Jag har försökt finna idéer och tankar inom pedagogiken som skulle kunna berika vår religionsundervisning. För att få en bild av hur religionsundervisningen bedrivs i dagens svenska skolor, har jag använt mig av en enkät, som låg- och mellanstadielärare fått besvara.Av enkäten framgår det att så gott som alla lärare använder sig av bibeln i undervisningen, främst som uppslagsbok för egen förberedelse och för att visa omfång och uppläggning. Etik och moral anses viktigt, men många skulle gärna ha mer kunskap i ?ämnet?..

Is it possible to convey spirituality through art and material culture? Is it possible to renew art within the traditional church so that it appeals and is understandable for the modern man? These are the fundamental questions of my master´s work, which has it´s starting point in a public commission for an artistic contribution to the new Pentecostal church in Kalmar. The work also addresses the question whether there is a need for symbolism, art and sacred objects also within the Pentecostal movement, a traditionally strong image hosting environment. If so, how is it possible to bring this in to the church without completely breaking with the tradition and ideology of the movement? I want to communicate the Christian message in a renewed way, and in this particular project also highlight the importance of using images also within the Pentecostal movement.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the writings of Hayashi Ichiz?, a Christian from southern Japan who on the 30th of May 1945 died while carrying out a kamikaze attack against Allied ships outside Okinawa. Hayashi?s writings, most notably his diary and some of the letters he sent to his mother, have been published posthumously by his sister in a volume called Hi nari tate nari. In this thesis, I conduct an in-depth analysis of these writings in an attempt to understand for what Hayashi died.In the two parts of the thesis, divided by two major themes in Hayashi?s writings ? faith/family and nation/emperor, I discuss his thoughts around these issues.

The purpose of this work is to map what musical praise and worship means to different church members. What do they think of today's worship? Are there music styles or any instruments that are not suitable? What do the members think of contemporary Christian music and the regular traditional music in church? Do we need to make changes or not? How does the Christian Music affect their spiritual lives? Finally, what do the members think of what the Bible has to say about praise and worship? My method has been to interview four persons, who all are members in the Seventh-day Adventist church in Malmö. Beside literature and magazines, I have also listened to DVD sermons and searched on the Internet and in the Bible, to find out what others have to say about praise and worship.Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga vad lovsång betyder för olika församlingsmedlemmar. Vad anser de om dagens tillbedjan? Finns det musikstilar som inte bör finnas med i gudstjänsten? Eller finns det instrument som inte är passande i gudstjänsten? Vad tycker församlingsmedlemmar om den moderna lovsången kontra den traditionella? Behöver vi göra några förändringar eller inte? Hur påverkar den kristna musiken deras andliga liv? Och till sist, vad har de för syn på Bibelns lovsång? Min metod har varit att intervjua fyra personer som alla är medlemmar i Adventkyrkan i Malmö.

The Swedish government ratified on May 1 2009 an amendment of marital law, resulting in same-sex marriage becoming legalized. With the rights of the Christian Swedish state church to officiate weddings originating from the same law, the church was thereby faced with two options: Either officially include same-sex couples in the Christian concept of holy matrimony and keep the right to officiate weddings; or give up the right to officiate weddings altogether. An official decision to accept the terms was reached on October 22 2009, but not without being preceded by an agitated medial debate.This research attempts to analyze the arguments of the debate in three stages: In the first stage the arguments are categorized according to their respective ideological standpoint. In the second stage these categories are examined from post-modern, social constructivist and socialization theory perspectives. Based on this, the third stage sees the arguments analyzed from a viewpoint based in the Copenhagen school concept of securization.The research concludes that the debate does not only simply feature two sides with differences of opinion; but rather that the arguments of the two opposing sides are founded in a common view of the other side as a fundamental threat to ones conception of a sound society..