Gribshunden (1495), a Royal Medieval Danish Flagship in the Baltic Sea

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The royal Danish-Norwegian flagship Gribshunden (or Gryffen) was launched in 1485 as one of the earliest purpose-built warships in northern Europe. King Hans uniquely employed the vessel as his “floating castle”, combining hard and soft power functions into a mobile seat of government. After a decade in active service, the ship was lost in 1495 while Hans sailed to a political summit in Sweden. Recent and ongoing excavations have revealed the ship's carvel hull and clinker superstructure, while hinting at the seagoing redoubt’s social division of space. Martial artifacts including handguns, nine crossbows, and the artillery battery illustrate its military purpose. Soft power is reflected in coins, artwork, exotic imported spices, and other prestigious consumables. Combined with archival material, scientific analyses of the artifact assemblage deliver deep insight into the king and the people aboard the ship, and the late medieval world through which they traveled.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow