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Special Issue. Cistercians and Regular Canons in Medieval Western Europe.

This article discusses the foundation process of the Cistercian monasteries in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway from the perspective of the contemporary cultural landscape, focusing on the location of the buildings in connection with communication routes, settlements, and power centres. Contrary to what has often been assumed, isolation and solitude were not the factors that determined the choice of location of the abbeys. The relationships between Cistercians and local authorities reflected in the material culture are also discussed. From the period in question, the number of preserved visual sources is considerably larger than that of remaining written records, thus providing valuable additional information about the early expansion of the White Monks on the edge of Europe.