---
license: cc-by-4.0
language:
  - la
  - sv
  - de
  - da
  - "no"
  - fr
tags:
  - medieval
  - manuscripts
  - diplomatics
  - archives
  - riksarkivet
  - lance
  - lancedb
  - htr
  - handwritten-text-recognition
  - iiif
size_categories:
  - 10K<n<100K
---

# Diplomatics Lance — Medieval Documents from the Swedish National Archives

Two [LanceDB](https://lancedb.com/) tables with metadata for medieval documents held by [Riksarkivet](https://riksarkivet.se/) (the Swedish National Archives). Queryable remotely — no download required.

## Quick start

```python
import lancedb

db = lancedb.connect("hf://datasets/Riksarkivet/diplomatics-lance")

# List tables
db.list_tables()  # ['mpo', 'sdhk']

# Full-text search
sdhk = db.open_table("sdhk")
results = sdhk.search("kung Magnus", query_type="fts").limit(10).to_arrow()

mpo = db.open_table("mpo")
results = mpo.search("Missale", query_type="fts").limit(10).to_arrow()
```

---

## Tables

### `mpo` — Medeltida PergamentOmslag (22,909 records)

A database of medieval book fragments (*Medeltida PergamentOmslag*, MPO).

The Swedish National Archives houses a collection of many thousand medieval book fragments. The fragments were used as wrappers for the accounts of the Swedish administration from the 1530s until around 1630. The books came from medieval churches and monasteries and became useless after the Reformation. At the same time the bailiffs of King Gustav Vasa needed strong wrappers for their tax records, and for that purpose the leaves of the medieval books were suitable. The number of the medieval book fragments amount to c. 23,000, most of which are still placed as wrappers for the same accounts as in the 16th century.

The fragments are the remains of around 11,000 different books. The oldest date to the 11th century, the youngest to the 16th century. Many of the books have come to Sweden from abroad, others have been produced here. Most of them are service-books, but there are also leaves from theological and law manuscripts.

The collection was catalogued in the years 1995–2004 in a project called the MPO project. Half of the fragments had been catalogued earlier in a card catalogue called the *Catalogus Codicum Mutilorum* (CCM). The text of the database is mainly written in German as German guidelines of manuscript description were followed.

**Fields:** `id`, `bildvisning_url`, `institution`, `institution_detail`, `ra_number`, `ccm_signum`, `collection`, `volume_signature`, `decoration`, `material`, `leaf_count`, `column_count`, `line_count`, `format_size`, `writing_space`, `damage`, `quire_notes`, `script`, `rubrication`, `notation`, `staff_lines`, `notes`, `manuscript_type`, `category`, `title`, `author`, `origin_place`, `use_place`, `dating`, `incunabulum`, `codex`, `literature`, `content`, `iiif_manifest`, `searchable_text`, `manifest_url`

**Literature:**
- Jan Brunius, *From Manuscripts to Wrappers. Medieval Book Fragments in the Swedish National Archives*, 2013.
- Kerstin Abukhanfusa, Jan Brunius & Solbritt Benneth (eds.), *Helgerånet. Från mässböcker till munkepärmar*, 1993.
- Kerstin Abukhanfusa, *Stympade böcker. Märkvärdiga blad ur svensk bokhistoria*, 2004 (also available in English: *Mutilated books. Wondrous leaves from Swedish bibliographical history*).

---

### `sdhk` — Svenskt Diplomatariums Huvudkartotek (44,264 records)

The main index of medieval Swedish charters (*Svenskt Diplomatariums Huvudkartotek*, SDHK). The register contains information about over 44,000 letters concerning Sweden up to 1540, with searchable fields including persons, places, dates, and document summaries (*regests*).

For many entries it is possible to search the full text of the charters as printed in the main series of *Svenskt Diplomatarium* (up to 1381), the supplementary series for 1401–1420, and large parts of the appendix series *Acta Pontificum Svecica*.

SDHK always contains detailed information about the sources and transmission of the letters — how and in what form they have been preserved — and in many cases references to scholarly literature.

Of the 44,264 records:
- **15,034** have digitised images accessible via IIIF (`has_manifest = true`)
- **6,131** have full scholarly transcriptions (`has_transcription = true`)

**Fields:** `id`, `title`, `author`, `date`, `place`, `language`, `summary`, `comments`, `edition`, `seals`, `original`, `medieval_copy`, `postmedieval_copy`, `medieval_reg`, `postmedieval_reg`, `photocopy`, `printed`, `print_reg`, `facsimile`, `translation`, `additional`, `has_manifest`, `has_transcription`, `searchable_text`, `manifest_url`

**Languages:** Swedish (~47%), Latin (~33%), German (~6%), Danish (~2%), Norwegian (~2%), and others.

---

## IIIF Access

Documents with images can be viewed via Riksarkivet's IIIF viewer:

- **SDHK:** `https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/SDHK_{id}` or via `manifest_url`
- **MPO:** via `bildvisning_url` or `manifest_url`

IIIF manifests follow the pattern:
- SDHK: `https://lbiiif.riksarkivet.se/sdhk!{id}/manifest`
- MPO: `https://lbiiif.riksarkivet.se/arkis!{bildvisning_id}/manifest`

---

## License

The data is provided under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: Riksarkivet (Swedish National Archives).