Anglo-Danish Connections and the Organisation of the Early Danish Church: Contribution to a Debate

From the late tenth century the external activities of Danish kings and magnates were focused on England. In the course of the following decades significant and wide-ranging contacts were forged. This paper will examine the role Anglo-Danish connections may have played in the formation of the Danish Church in the first half of the eleventh century. It considers the historical evidence of English presence on the ecclesiastical scene in Denmark from the late tenth century into the eleventh and suggests that the picture of English influence on early Danish church organisation is more complex than previously supposed.