As such things are wont to do, my master’s thesis has evolved quite considerably over the past year into something rather far removed from what it was originally. I went into the program knowing that I wanted to write about religion, in one way or another, but my ideas were no more concrete than that. A couple of months in, I had decided to write about the religious aspects of the Reformation in Sweden, but that turned out to be next to impossible due to a significant lack of source material. I moved then to an idea about priest recruitment in the post-Reformation period, but that seemed somewhat dry and maybe a little difficult to work into a cohesive paper. Finally early in the spring, I settled, with some encouragement from my professors, on a study of consumer practices among clergy and their families.

I had initially hoped to put particular emphasis on vicars’ wives, but these women proved to be nearly invisible in the primary sources. It’s not uncommon for them not even to be listed by their given names, but rather as “vicar so-and-so’s wife.” Again, all but impossible.

I decided in June that a case study might be the thing for me, and what little attention I paid my thesis work over the summer involved finding a suitable parish for my study. I wanted a parish in the Uppland region of Sweden, due mostly to the good availability of source material. I also wanted a poorer parish, with the idea in mind that the tensions between limited financial means and upper-class status consumption might be more readily apparent. I then went through the database of estate inventories for the region, making a list of those that had a number of inventories available from the 18th century. From that list of a dozen or so, I picked, mostly at random, a small parish called Teda.

I don’t quite know if I’d call it serendipity, but from where I sit now, it seems that I couldn’t have chosen better. I’ve got a fascinating “main character” in a vicar whose spending was out of control, particularly considering that he came from a small, fairly insignificant parish. I’ve got a lovely medieval church with a number of additions and improvements that were made during my priest’s tenure as vicar. And I’ve got a wealth of knowledge and information available to me from current locals who are more than willing to help me in my research.

It was one of these locals — a priest in the parish who is also a Ph.D. in theological history — who offered to take me for a tour around the place this fall, and last Wednesday was the day. I took the bus out there from Uppsala and arrived at ten in the morning. We met up, had a little fika and chatted some, then set out for Teda.

We visited quite a while at the church, which is truly spectacular. Nearly all of the interior is the same as it was when “my” priest was vicar there, and it gave me such a thrill to stand at the pulpit from which he preached, looking down on the very same pews that his parishioners had filled. Outside the church is a bell tower that was erected during his time as vicar, and it was used for the first time at his ten-year-old daughter’s funeral. To stand next to it after having read of it in my research was both exhilarating and humbling. Sometimes I get so caught up in my research that I lose sight of the fact that the names in the documents represent actual people. This visit served as a powerful reminder.

After seeing the church and the surrounding area, we went back to town for lunch, then I was on my own at the public library for about an hour while my host went to a meeting of the church sewing society. I uncovered a few more tidbits there, then at three o’clock we were back on the road, as we’d been invited out to Strömsta estate, where my priest had been a private chaplain before becoming vicar at Teda. The current owners of the estate — “newcomers” whose family have been in residence for a scant one hundred years — were welcoming and gracious. We were served coffee and cake, and had a long discussion about the history of the place. Afterward we were given a little tour of the house and left with an open invitation to return ringing in our ears. Again I was humbled.

I am so excited about my research and my head is fairly spinning with the possibilities. I only hope that I’m able to do justice to this inviting little place.