Settlement and Lordship in Viking and Early Medieval Scandinavia

Settlement and Lordship in Viking and Early Medieval Scandinavia
Author: Bjørn Poulsen
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Cities and towns, Viking
ISBN: 9782503531311

This volume aims to define the changing nature of lordship in Viking and early medieval Scandinavia. Advances in settlement archaeology and cultural geography have revealed new aspects of social power in Viking Age and early medieval Scandinavia. The organization of settlement is increasingly well understood and gives evidence of strong social differentiation in rural settlement. Historical research, however, increasingly portrays these societies as characterized by elementary social networks at a personal level rather than at the level of formal institutions. Can these representations be reconciled? When did the possession of land, in the form of manors or large demesne farms, become an important source of power and authority? This question has generated intense debate internationally in recent years, but there is no comprehensive overview for Scandinavia. New sources and approaches allow us to question the traditional view that Scandinavian aristocrats developed from Viking raiders into Christian landlords. Seventeen thematic chapters by leading scholars survey and assess the state of research and provide a new baseline for interdisciplinary discussions. How were social ties structured? How did lordship and dependency materialize in modes of agriculture, settlement, landscape, and monuments? The book traces the power of tributary relations, forged through personal ties, gifts, duties, and feasting in great halls, and their gradual transformation into the feudal bonds of levies and land-rent.

Scandinavia in the Age of Vikings

Scandinavia in the Age of Vikings
Author: Jon Vidar Sigurdsson
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2022-03-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501760491

In Scandinavia in the Age of Vikings, Jón Viðar Sigurðsson returns to the Viking homeland, Scandinavia, highlighting such key aspects of Viking life as power and politics, social and kinship networks, gifts and feasting, religious beliefs, women's roles, social classes, and the Viking economy, which included farming, iron mining and metalworking, and trade. Drawing of the latest archeological research and on literary sources, namely the sagas, Sigurðsson depicts a complex and surprisingly peaceful society that belies the popular image of Norsemen as bloodthirsty barbarians. Instead, Vikings often acted out power struggles symbolically, with local chieftains competing with each other through displays of wealth in the form of great feasts and gifts, rather than arms. At home, conspicuous consumption was a Viking leader's most important virtue; the brutality associated with them was largely wreaked abroad. Sigurðsson's engaging history of the Vikings at home begins by highlighting political developments in the region, detailing how Danish kings assumed ascendency over the region and the ways in which Viking friendship reinforced regional peace. Scandinavia in the Age of Vikings then discusses the importance of religion, first pagan and (beginning around 1000 A.D.) Christianity; the central role that women played in politics and war; and how the enormous wealth brought back to Scandinavia affected the social fabric—shedding new light on Viking society.

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050-1250, Volume I

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050-1250, Volume I
Author: Bjørn Poulsen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2019-03-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0429557280

This book, first in a series of three, examines the social elites in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, and which social, political, and cultural resources went into their creation. The elite controlled enormous economic resources and exercised power over people. Power over agrarian production was essential to the elites during this period, although mobile capital was becoming increasingly important. The book focuses on the material resources of the elites, through questions such as: Which types of resources were at play? How did the elites acquire and exchange resources?

The Various Models of Lordship in Europe between the Ninth and Fifteenth Centuries

The Various Models of Lordship in Europe between the Ninth and Fifteenth Centuries
Author: Antonio Antonetti
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2023-10-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1527529096

The status of lord represented one of the most original solutions to the political and social transitions of the Medieval period. Questions still remain unanswered and require further investigation, thus many scholars have collaborated to produce this collection which offers a synthesis of the most recent scholarship. This book relates the workings of seigneurial systems in different areas of Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from Castile to Pontus. In this way, the perspective remains the same, institutional and material. This book emphasises both the institutional and informal forms of lordship identified and crystallised by social and political actors (for example, communities, sovereigns, nobles, bishops, and abbots). It offers a general framework for those approaching the subject for the first time and a useful in-depth tool with numerous regional cases for long-term scholars.

Architecture, Society, and Ritual in Viking Age Scandinavia

Architecture, Society, and Ritual in Viking Age Scandinavia
Author: Marianne Hem Eriksen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2019-02-28
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1108497225

This book explores households, social organization, and rituals in Viking Age Scandinavia through a study of dwellings and their doorways.

Fortified Settlements in Early Medieval Europe

Fortified Settlements in Early Medieval Europe
Author: Neil Christie
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 970
Release: 2016-08-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 178570236X

Twenty-three contributions by leading archaeologists from across Europe explore the varied forms, functions and significances of fortified settlements in the 8th to 10th centuries AD. These could be sites of strongly martial nature, upland retreats, monastic enclosures, rural seats, island bases, or urban nuclei. But they were all expressions of control - of states, frontiers, lands, materials, communities - and ones defined by walls, ramparts or enclosing banks. Papers run from Irish cashels to Welsh and Pictish strongholds, Saxon burhs, Viking fortresses, Byzantine castra, Carolingian creations, Venetian barricades, Slavic strongholds, and Bulgarian central places, and coverage extends fully from northwest Europe, to central Europe, the northern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Strongly informed by recent fieldwork and excavations, but drawing also where available on the documentary record, this important collection provides fully up-to-date reviews and analyses of the archaeology of the distinctive settlement forms that characterized Europe in the Early Middle Ages.

Money and the Church in Medieval Europe, 1000-1200

Money and the Church in Medieval Europe, 1000-1200
Author: Giles E. M. Gasper
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2016-03-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317094360

Bringing together essays from experts in a variety of disciplines, this collection explores two of the most important facets of life within the medieval Europe: money and the church. By focusing on the interactions between these subjects, the volume addresses four key themes. Firstly it offers new perspectives on the role of churchmen in providing conceptual frameworks, from outright condemnation, to sophisticated economic theory, for the use and purpose of money within medieval society. Secondly it discusses the dichotomy of money for the church and its officers: on one hand voices emphasise the moral difficulties in engaging with money, on the other the reality of the ubiquitous use of money in the church at all levels and in places within Christendom. Thirdly it places in dialogue interdisciplinary perspectives and approaches, and evidence from philosophy, history, literature and material culture, to the issues of money and church. Lastly, the volume provides new perspectives on the role of the church in the process of monetization in the High Middle Ages. Concentrating on northern Europe, from the early eleventh century to the beginning of the thirteenth century, the collection is able to explore the profound changes in the use of money and the rise of a money-economy that this period and region witnessed. By adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, the collection challenges current understanding of how money was perceived, understood and used by medieval clergy in a range of different contexts. It furthermore provides wide-ranging contributions to the broader economic and ethical issues of the period, demonstrating how the church became a major force in the process of monetization.

Medieval Europe

Medieval Europe
Author: Chris Wickham
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2016-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300208340

Chapter nine 1204: the failure of alternatives -- chapter ten Defining society: gender and community in late medieval Europe -- chapter eleven Money, war and death, 1350-1500 -- chapter twelve Rethinking politics, 1350-1500 -- chapter thirteen Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Polity Consolidation and Military Transformation in Medieval Scandinavia

Polity Consolidation and Military Transformation in Medieval Scandinavia
Author: Beñat Elortza Larrea
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2023-03-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 900454349X

In this book, Beñat Elortza Larrea analyses the processes of polity consolidation and military transformation in Scandinavia between the early eleventh and early fourteenth centuries. Based on a plethora of administrative, legal, and narrative sources, this study examines the development of governance and warfare in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and evaluates to which degree European ideas and institutions shaped the budding medieval Scandinavian realms. In other words – did the formation of these kingdoms stem mostly from European influence, were they a by-product of a purely Scandinavian ethos, or did they largely develop due to historical and geographical circumstances unique to each realm

Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500

Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500
Author: Wim Blockmans
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 542
Release: 2017-11-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351598449

Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500 provides a comprehensive survey of this complex and varied formative period of European history, covering themes as diverse as barbarian migrations, the impact of Christianisation, the formation of nations and states, the emergence of an expansionist commercial economy, the growth of cities, the Crusades, the effects of plague, and the intellectual and cultural life of the Middle Ages. The book explores the driving forces behind the formation of medieval society and the directions in which it developed and changed. In doing this, the authors cover a wide geographic expanse, including Western interactions with the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic World. This third edition contains a wealth of new features that help to bring this fascinating era to life, including: In the book: A number of new maps and images to further understanding of the period Clear signposting and extended discussions of key topics such as feudalism and gender Expanded geographic coverage into Eastern Europe and the Middle East On the companion website: An updated, comparative and interactive timeline, highlighting surprising synchronicities in medieval history, and annotated links to useful websites A list of movies, television series and novels related to the Middle Ages, accompanied by introductions and commentaries Assignable discussion questions and the maps, plates, figures and tables from the book available to download and use in the classroom Clear and stimulating, the third edition of Introduction to Medieval Europe is the ideal companion to studying Europe in the Middle Ages at undergraduate level.