Altar Foundations in the Nidaros Province: The Enduring Elite Influence on Ecclesiastical Networks in the Late Middle Ages

Altar foundation, also called chantry foundation, was practised by elite benefactors within the Nidaros province, but has yet to receive much scholarly attention. The practice is documented in this church province from the late thirteenth century onward and remained significant until the Reformation in the early sixteenth century. This article explores the practice as it appears in the surviving source material and considers its role as a means for elites to influence ecclesiastical networks and local communities, and finds that the often-claimed jus praesentandi allowed members of the nobility to appoint altar priests from within their own kin groups. Furthermore, the patrons’ ability to define the altar priests’ duties granted them agency to shape both the liturgy and everyday life within carefully chosen churches, chapels, and cathedrals.