Gudbrandsdal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian fylke (county) of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Lake Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal. The large river Gudbrandsdalslågen flows through the valley, starting from Lesjaskogsvatnet and ending in lake Mjøsa.
The long valley is divided into three parts: Norddalen (the municipalities of Lesja, Dovre, Skjåk, Lom, Vågå and Sel), Midtdalen (the municipalities of Nord-Fron, Sør-Fron and Ringebu), and Sørdalen (the municipalities of Øyer, Gausdal and Lillehammer).
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[edit] History
Gudbrandsdalen is shaped by the recent ice age and rivers from the present glacial areas in Jotunheimen and Dovre.
1015 - Gudbrandsdalen is mentioned extensively in the Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorri Sturlson. The account of King Olaf's (A.D. 1015-1021) conversion of Dale-Gudbrand to Christianity is popularly recognized.
1349 to 1350 – The Black Plague halved the population in Gudbrandsdalen. This resulted in a temporary improvement for the lower classes as crofters became scarce and even the poor were able to rent the better farms in the bottom lands.
1537 - During the Reformation the Church was subordinated to the “lendmenn” or sheriff. Church property was appropriated by the Crown and the King became the biggest Gudbrandsdalen landowner.
1612 - Near Otta in Gudbrandsdalen, was the Battle of Kringen where local peasants in 1612 defeated the Scottish mercenary army. The legends of this battle live on to this day, including the story of how the peasant girl Prillar-Guri lured the Scots into an ambush by playing the traditional ram's horn.
1670 to 1725 – Most of the royal property was sold off to pay for war debts, first to established property holders, but increasingly to peasant proprietors. A freeholder’s era began and a new “upper class” of land holders was formed.
