This page details a self-made ship I love dearly, Norway x the Papal States, now known as the Vatican City. NorVat means a lot to me, they are quite literally my sunshines and I have done lots of work on them. <3

• Ras and Amarenzo met in 1079 after Pope Gregory VII penned a letter to Olaf III suggesting he send young men to be trained “under the wings of Peter and Paul” in Rome. Rasmus was sent because he already had some understanding of Latin and it was best he, as the Norway, go to set an example for other Norwegians. He spent nearly a whole year in Rome studying Latin and faith, and in the process ended up developing a massive crush on Amare.

• At first Amare’s interest in Rasmus was...shallow. He found Ras nice to look at and be around, and Ras quickly became his favorite of all the Norwegian boys who had come to study, but it wasn’t until much later that he started to warm up to him. He was used to being sucked up to by people looking for something in return, be it wealth or titles, and had no way of knowing how genuine Ras was. He was wary of his intentions until Rasmus proved himself in little ways, like kneeling at Amare’s feet in the presence of others – something a noble would never do – and asking to stay longer to work for him and study more. Amare would give him only seemingly difficult tasks but with no obvious reward, and Ras never complained.

• Day by day every time Rasmus came to Rome or wrote to him, Amare would get softer for him. Eventually he was given rewards and wasn’t just a favorite, but was obviously someone he cared for. Ras would be invited to eat breakfast with him, ride his horse with him, read for leisure with him...and slowly but surely, he was given titles. After his first year in Rome he was made a bishop, and in 1157, became Norway’s first archbishop. (Amarenzo, as second to the Pope, is often referred to as “Your Eminence”; when Ras become archbishop, he was also referred to as “Your Excellency”, but would insist Amare never use the title when addressing him. He prefers to hear Amare say his name.)

• That being said...Amare is actually why his name is Rasmus. Before his christening, his name was Hári (Old Norwegian for rabbit), and after studying to be ordained as a bishop Amare gave him the name Rasmus. It is taken from the Latin word erasmus and means “worthy of love”. He wanted Ras to have a name in the language his name at the time was also in. It helps Ras to think when he’s melancholy that Amare doesn’t lie and wouldn’t name him that for no reason.

• One of the special privileges that came with Amare warming up to him was touching his armor and sword. In the early medieval ages, only those considered holy or otherwise worthy could handle the equipment of knights, and before he left for battle Amare would get dressed and put on his armor with Rasmus’ help. It would sometimes be months before they saw each other again, so before he left Rasmus would tie one of his hair ribbons around Amare’s sword hilt or forearm.

• In return, Amare once gifted Rasmus a piece of Saint George’s banner. Saint George was the patron saint of knights and soldiers. He kept the banner piece at Stavanger cathedral, but they’ve actually exchanged lots of relics that were kept on their persons. In 1300 when Nidaros cathedral was completed, Amare had a silver reliquary necklace made for Ras, and in the 1400s they cut locks of each other’s hair to be kept in matching boxes.

• It was Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy that made Amare realize his feelings for Rasmus — and with those feelings came a change in his beliefs as an individual. Before the 1200s the church taught that there would come a day of judgment and only the very few who were righteous in life would make it into God’s realm, with no exception. Around the time Ras began studying in Rome, however, the idea began to circulate that there were multiple avenues into Heaven, and that there was even an in-between where one could be purged of sin and made right with God. Shortly after the Second Council of Lyon in 1247, Dante published the Comedy, which popularized these ideas.

A particular quote from Inferno stuck out to him: “Amor, ch’a nullo amato amar perdona”, or Love, which does not exempt the beloved from loving in return. This is understood as a sort of law of the universe stating that love from a gentle – educated and kind – heart rendered no choice but to be reciprocated. The affection Rasmus had for him was naturally beginning to change him, and for the better; not only was this the law of pure love, but as exemplified by Beatrice leading Dante into paradise, Rasmus’ love was enough to lead him into Heaven. Whereas Amare had begun to feel guilt that his sins would bring Ras to hell with him, the truth was Ras was his salvation.

• Literature has always been important to them. They read together often, and Rasmus used to carry around an incunable of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica given to him by Amare in a silver chained protective cover. Ras even wrote a book about them; it was a fairytale he titled Enhjørningen og Ridderen, the Unicorn and the Knight. It was about a unicorn who could temporarily transform himself as a human but could only truly become one if asked to stay by a human who loved him. The unicorn met a knight who fell in love with him and asked him to stay at the end. Of course, he is supposed to be the unicorn and Amare the knight. He illuminated the whole book and gifted it to Amare, who keeps it in his personal library. It’s his favorite book.

• They can’t remember the exact day they met, so they consider December 15th their “anniversary”. This is the day Pope Gregory’s letter to Norway was dated in 1078.