Oslo

325 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impacts of the Renaissance in Europe

Oslo

History

The founding of Oslo took place in the turbulent period between the Viking Age and Norway's Catholic Middle Ages. Many remnants and ruins can be found from Ancient Oslo in Memorial Park. The city has a fascinating, interesting, and dramatic history.

Oslo's population was substantially reduced during the time of the Black Death in 1348, which claimed over fifty percent of the inhabitants. This epidemic also had political consequences for Norway, which was reduced to a province of Denmark. During this period, Copenhagen was the actual capital of Norway. Oslo was also greatly affected by the Lutheran-Protestant Reformation of 1537, with religious conflicts, political separation from the Catholic Church and the foundation of a Protestant National Church. Many ruins of churches and monasteries bear witness to this process.

Oslo was completely destroyed by fire in 1624. Following intense renewal and advanced city planning in the spirit of the Renaissance, a completely new city was created and named Christiania. In 1814 Norway was united with Sweden and Christiania experienced strong economic and political growth. In 1905 the union with Sweden was dissolved and Norway gained its independence. The original name of Oslo was reinstated in 1924.

Population

Oslo is the capital of Norway and has in excess of 500,000 inhabitants. Approximately 900,000 people live in the Greater Oslo area representing twenty percent of the total population of Norway.

Commerce and Industry

The working population of Oslo distributed according to occupation includes: Industry, 16%; building and construction, 6%; transport, 9%, and trade, services, and tourism, 69%.

Climate

Oslo's climate is temperate in the autumn and warm in spring and summer. Snow falls three to five months in the winter. Skiing conditions are good in the hills around Oslo between December and April. From May to July, the weather can be quite warm with long periods of sunshine. Drought can also occur from time to time. Statistically speaking, Oslo is Scandinavia's sunniest capital.

Show More
Related

  • Geographical Information on Sandikhola

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sandikhola has a subtropical climate and receives on average 1400-2000mm of rain per year and has an average of 26oC. Sandikhola has a two-season year made up of the dry and wet seasons. The dry season runs from October to May and the wet season from June to September.

    Read More

  • The Black Plague and Its Impact on Medicine in Medieval Society

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death struck Europe in a time of great despair. "Although a `Great Famine' struck northern Europe between 1315 and 1322, nothing prepared Europeans for the horrendous onslaught of the Black Death" (Aberth, 2). The famine had caused a massive hunger shortage from which Europe had yet to recove...

    Read More

  • The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe The Black Death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of labor hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts; in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely reduced the intellectual vigor of the church.

    Read More

  • Leif Erikson: How He Discovered America

    3062 Words  | 7 Pages

    Leif Erikson’s grandfather, Thorvald Asvaldsson slaughtered a man in Jæren, Norway in 960 CE. This was the age of the Vikings, but Thorvald was still banished from the land (Mandia, n.d.). So he brought his ten year old son Erik, later to be named as Erik the Red because of his scarlet hair, to Drangar in northwestern Iceland on a farm with rather appalling soil (Where is Vinland?, n.d.).

    Read More

  • Scandinavia: Viking Paganism

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    Vikings were a Norse-speaking, seafaring people who lived from the 8th to 11th centuries, mainly in Scandinavia. They were expert sailors who, starting in late 700s, looted and burned civilizations along rivers and coasts of Europe and Asia. They traded, sailed and explored across the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, opening trade routes that connected Europe to the Mediterranean lands. During this time, some of the population settled in the kingdoms that they were exploring; namely England, Ireland, northern France and Russia. One of the main influences that the surrounding cultures had on them was through religion. As the Vikings came in contact with Christianity through their raids, it began to form a unique fusion of Christian influence, while still holding on to many aspects of their pagan lifestyle. Not many primary sources remain from pre-Christian Viking society as much of their culture was destroyed during the Christianization process. The extremely strong oral tradition and the artifacts that remain are what the knowledge of the culture is based on. The pagan culture interests me, as I can still examine influences of it on my Scandinavian family today.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Black Death On Society

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to learn how societies were impacted by the Black Death, it is significant to note the situation prior to the epidemic. Britain and France had been at war since 1337, by August 1347 France was devastated. Many of the French people were left without homes, food or livestock, they were about to face a harsh winter and were unsure if they had enough seeds to plant crops the following year. The climatic changes that occurred over Europe had drastic consequences for agriculture, resulting in malnutrition which pre-disposed the populaces to disease. Inflation increased and famine soon spread across Europe, resulting in many deaths. Around 1339, Europe’s population began to increase, this growth began to surpass the capacity of the land to feed its populace. Therefore a severe economic...

    Read More

  • Norse Conversion

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Christianization of the Norse took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. It was a gradual process that took considerable effort converting the Norse, as they did not wish to convert and in many cases conversion was by force. The traditional religion of the Norse people wasn't just a form of worship, it was apart of their culture and way of life. A belief system that was deeply rooted that made the concept of the original sin and other Christian beliefs just too hard for the Norse people to understand or believe.

    Read More

  • The Truth about the Vikings

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most Vikings lived in Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden. But also started settling in, in other countries such as Iceland; the Vikings discovered Iceland in the ninth century, a country with volcanoes and lots of snow. They also settled in Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Normandy, England, Scotland, Iceland and Canada. Normandy was one of the largest and main settlements for the Vikings and was founded by Rollo, a Viking leader after conquering England in 1066. In the tenth century the Vikings founded the first European settlement in Greenland. The Vikings also destroyed France in 855. Just recently, archeologists and historians discovered that from 989 to 1020 Vikings lived in Newfoundland Canada and had huts for different activities such as weaving, ironworking and ship repair. This is the first evidence of Viking existence in North America. Since the Vikings attacked and plundered so many countries, they had the option of settling into those countries.

    Read More

  • Vikings

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    1) From “Disorder and Destruction: The Annals of Xanten” (in the Week 12 Charlemagne source you used last week) and from the other sources you have read, what is your impression of the Norse? How are they described? Please answer this question in your own words, but with quotations from the text to support your answer.

    Read More

  • Collapse of Norse Greenland

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    Analyzing the Norse Collapse from Diamond’s view, the first factor that he examines is the environmental damage aspect. He states that “The Greenland Norse damaged their environment in at least three ways: by destroying the natural vegetation, by causing soil erosion, and by cutting turf” (Diamond, p.248). Diamond believes that when the Vikings arrived, they began burning woodlands to clear areas for their livestock, and cut many trees down for shelter and firewood. When the Greenlanders began raising animals such as cows, sheep and goats, the amount of fodder for the animals increased, which in turn increased the amount of farming they had to do to maint...

    Read More

  • Norway

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Norway, one of the "three fingers" of Scandinavia, is just larger than New Mexico, covering 125,181 square miles. It is located in Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, with a coastline stretching 21,925 km. The population of Norway is 4.3 million and growing, predominantly of Nordic (Scandinavian) descent, with a small minority (20,000) of native Sámis (Laplanders) living mostly in the North. Many aspects of business and management in Norway are very similar to those of America, including language and communication, power structures/politics, work ethics, food and eating habits, dress, and religious beliefs. General facts about Norway include an age structure of 0-14 years=19% (390,344 female; 444,570 male), 15-64 years=65% (1,375,493 female; 1,424,027 male), 65 years and over=16% (408,675 female; 287,842 male); a birth rate of 12.86 births/1,000 population; a death rate of 10.35 deaths/1,000 population; a net migration rate of 1.15 migrants/1,000 population; an infant mortality rate of 6.1 deaths/1,000 live births; and a life expectancy at birth of Total Population: 77.61 years, Male: 74.26 years, Female: 81.15 years.

    Read More

  • The Norse Viking Age

    4398 Words  | 9 Pages

    The most accepted official start of the Viking Age is recorded to have begun on June 8th, 793 AD when Norse raiders landed on the island of Lindisfarne and attacked the Christian Monastery located there, killing the monks and seizing the valuables. Viking raids by op...

    Read More

  • History and Mechanics of Viking Warfare

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the earliest years of the Vikings, there was little history recorded due to the polytheistic views that they followed. After the Vikings converted to Christianity, there were eventually written documents created pertaining to their existence. In Viking Warfare, I.P. Stephenson states that the Vikings “first described attack took place in AD 789”(11). The Vikings were also known as Norsemen. They were great storytellers, and that is perhaps how society knows so much about them today. The stories that the Norsemen told were called Sagas. Today, Vikings are often depicted as murderous savages, but while they were not pillaging villages they were actually quite a peaceful civilization. There were three countries that Vikings evolved from; Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Although it may seem that all Vikings were on the same side, they quarreled with each other as well. Despite the fact that Viking battles were bloody and gruesome they were also known to be the most hygienic out of many of the earlier civilizations. There was not a huge percentage of Vikings that went out and raided but when they did they made a huge impact on what Vikings are now known for. The success of Viking warfare and raids relied primarily on the uses of armor, weapons, long ships, and battle tactics.

    Read More

  • Copenhagen’s Urban Planning

    1927 Words  | 4 Pages

    Copenhagen’s history, along with Denmark’s, leading up to the early 1900’s was in some ways similar to other european countries in terms of being conquered “1807 Bombing of Copenhagen by the English navy” (Denmark.dk, 2014) and conquering “1666-1917 Danish colonies in Caribbean” (Denmark.dk, 2014). Up until the 1800’s the layout and land use of Copenhagen wasn’t really as vast as other european cities of the time.

    Read More

  • The Vikings: The History Of Vikings

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    What was the history behind these men called vikings? Around A.D. 800 to the 11th century, a large amount Scandinavians left their homes in search of riches. These men eventually gained the name Vikings or Norsemen which come from North Man, a homage to their homeland. Viking raids started small, pillaging structures around the coast, particularly undefended monasteries, in the British Isles. Over the next three hundred years, they would be known far and wide as pirates, raiders, traders and settlers. Contrary to popular belief, Vikings were not a race, linked by ties of common ancestry or patriotism, and could not be defined by any single definition.  Most of the Vikings, whose accomplishments are best known to come from Denmark, Norway and

    Read More

More about Oslo

Open Document