Editing Stavanger (section)

===City development===
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Stavanger is one of [[Norway]]'s [[List of towns and cities in Norway|oldest cities]]. It emerged in the 12th century during a period of population growth and increasing urbanisation throughout [[northern Europe]]. The [[archaeological]] and historical sources about the first city development are sparse. Therefore, there is much we do not know about the first city development. It stands out as an important area from early times, as a desirable foothold for the [[monarchy]] and the church, as both needed a strong foothold in the [[Western Norway|South West coast]] area. In North [[Jæren]], rich archaeological material suggests that the chiefs held considerable power from the early [[Iron Age]]. Stavanger had a natural harbor and was, with Jæren in the south, strategically important to the county of the East as well as to the shipping route along the western coast and the fertile [[Ryfylke]] Islands in the north.

The earliest [[Christianity|Christian]] impulses in [[Norway]] came to Stavanger region through trade connections with Continental Europe and [[Norse activity in the British Isles|Great Britain]]. This flourished during the [[Viking]] era. In the mid 10th century, traditional Norse burial customs ceased in the Stavanger area, at the same time as the first Christian [[priests]] began their work. Big stone crosses are visible memorials of this early Christian age (including the Tjora and Kvitsøy). On the overland approach to Stavanger, a memorial cross of HERS and [[lendmann]] [[Erling Skjalgsson]] was erected after his fall in 1028. Erling controlled power over the South West coast, and the location of the cross indicates that he had a special connection to Stavanger. The inscription on the cross shows a priest was responsible for the inscription, and he may have performed an early service at a church on site.

Archaeological investigations in the current downtown and in the crypt of the [[Stavanger Cathedral|Cathedral]] show that the great fire of 1272 probably left large parts of the city and the cathedral in ruins, including the Romanesque chancel of the cathedral. The reconstruction after the fire led to the cathedral's Western Front being replaced with a vestibule, as well as to the construction (or reconstruction) of [[St. Mary]]'s Church, Bishop's Chapel, the Gothic cathedral and the expansion of the stone cellar at [[Kongsberg]].

Stavanger has a long history of education in [[Western Europe]]. It was the monastery here that first saw the need to train new employees through education. The first organized teaching in the city probably took place at a Benedictine monastery in the town, either Olav's Monastery or Monastery of people from the mid-12th century.

One of the most important events in Stavanger's city history was the gift letter that King [[Magnus Erlingsson]] gave to Stavanger Bishop Eirik Ivarsson in the second half of the 1100s. Exactly when the king made this gift letter, and under what circumstances it happened, is unknown. It may have been in 1163–1164, in connection with the King Magnus's coronation, but could also have been around 1181–1184, in connection with the support Stavanger Bishop Erik gave King Magnus at the end of the king's fight against the late [[King Sverre]].

It is undoubtedly correct to characterize Stavanger as a church city throughout the [[Middle Ages]], up to the [[Reformation]]. The Reformation, however, dealt a hard blow to the Church in specific and Stavanger in general. The cathedral, the bishop and canons of the monastery had been large landowners. Recession of the city began with the loss of people in rural areas, as a result of which the revenues of the cathedral and the bishop fell dramatically due to reduced rental income. In 1537 the bishop's and the monastery's estate and property was confiscated by the king. Kongsberg was plundered by Christoffer Trondsen in 1539, at which time St. Swithun's casket disappeared and Bishop Hoskuld Hoskuldsson may have been executed.