Between 500 and 1000 AD, Aker farm was one of the most important power centres in Norway, located just a few kilometres away from today's Hamar. Three coins found in Ringerike in 1895 have been dated to the time of Harald Hardr�de and are inscribed Olafr a Hamri.
Middle Ages
At some point, presumably after 1030 but clearly before 1152, the centre was moved from Aker to the peninsula near Rosenlundvika, what we today know as Domkirkeodden. There are some indications Harald Hardr�de initiated this move because he had property at the new site.
Much of the information about medieval Hamar is derived from the Hamar Chronicles, dated to about 1550. The town is said to have reached its apex in the early 14th century, dominated by the Hamar cathedral, bishop�s manor, and fortress, and surrounding urbanization. The town was known for its fragrant apple orchards, but there were also merchants, craftsmen, and fishermen in the town.
After the Christianization of Norway in 1030, Hamar began to gain influence as a centre for trade and religion, until the episcopal representative Nikolaus Breakspear in 1152 founded Hamar Kaupangen as one of five dioceses in medieval Norway. This diocese included Hedemarken and Christians Amt, being separated in 1152 from the formerdiocese of Oslo. The first bishop of Hamar was Arnold, Bishop of Gardar, Greenland (1124�1152). He began to build the now ruined cathedral of Christ Church, which was completed about the time of Bishop Paul (1232�1252). Bishop Thorfinn (1278�1282) was exiled and died at Ter Doest abbey in Flanders. Bishop J�rund (1285�1286) was transferred to Trondheim. A provincial council was held in 1380. Hamar remained an important religious and political centre in Norway, organized around the cathedral and the bishop's manor until the Reformation in 1536, when it lost its status as a bishopric after the last Catholic bishop, Mogens Lauritsson (1513�1537), was taken prisoner in his castle at Hamar
