GEN-NORDIC-L Archives

From: Knut Bryn <>
Subject: Re: Explain "Introduceret" please
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 23:49:17 +0100

Bob Bailey wrote:

> Would someone please explain to me the Norwegian religious custom called
> "Introduceret?" For example, a kirkebok entry in the year 1745 states,
> "Introduceret Hans Christensen," plus some handwriting I cannot decipher.
> The entry ends with the words "Qvd Nom: Maria." Any help will be
> appreciated. Thank you.

Bob, as you may have guessed, "introduceret" translates to "introduced". This
refers to a short ceremony in the church at the time of your study. When a
child was born, the mother was looked upon as impure in a way. She was not
allowed to participate in the church ceremonies. After some weeks she was
then "introduced" to the congregation by this special ceremony. In the law of
Christian V from 1687 the time between the birth and the introduction is
indicated to 5-6 weeks, but I have seen much sooner introductions in the
1700s.

For genealogists the records of introduction in the churchbooks may give
important information about the names of the mothers and spouses, but also a
lot of puzzle because the name of the child or the husband is seldom recorded
in connection with this introduction ceremony. Some times the introduction
record tells nothing about the woman's name, but only states that the spouse
of NN was introduced.

In your case I feel quite sure that the introduced woman was married to Hans
Christensen. Perhaps her name is hidden in the undeciphered text. I suppose
Maria was a girl who was baptized the same day, but the connection to Hans
Christensen is impossible to have any idea about with your information.
However, I have seen that children have been baptized the same day their
mother was introduced.

Feel free to send a scan of this particular text to my email adress if you
need help for the deciphering.

Knut Bryn, Molde, Norway

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• Re: Explain "Introduceret" please by Knut Bryn <>