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When describing the transition from Old Norse religion to Christianity in recent studies, the concept of "Christianization" is often applied. To a large extent this historiography focuses on the outcome of the encounter, namely the description of early Medieval Christianity and the new Christian society. The purpose of the present study is to concentrate more exclusively on the Old Norse religion during this period of change and to analyze the processes behind its disappearance on an official level of the society. More specifically this study concentrates on the role of Viking kings and indigenous agency in the winding up of the old religion. An actor-oriented perspective will thus be established, which focuses on the actions, methods and strategies applied by the early Christian Viking kings when dismantling the religious tradition that had previously formed their lives. In addition, the resistance that some pagan chieftains offered against these Christian kings is discussed as well as the question why they defended the old religious tradition.
In medieval society and culture, memory occupied a unique position. It was central to intellectual life and the medieval understanding of the human mind. Commemoration of the dead was also a fundamental Christian activity. Above all, the past - and the memory of it - occupied a central position in medieval thinking, from ideas concerning the family unit to those shaping political institutions. Focusing on France but incorporating studies from further afield, this collection of essays marks an important new contribution to the study of medieval memory and commemoration. Arranged thematically, each part highlights how memory cannot be studied in isolation, but instead intersects with many other areas of medieval scholarship, including art history, historiography, intellectual history, and the study of religious culture. Key themes in the study of memory are explored, such as collective memory, the links between memory and identity, the fallibility of memory, and the linking of memory to the future, as an anticipation of what is to come.
Prayer reflected a network of relationships that bound together the intercessor, the dead, and the divine.
The several thousand names recorded here cast light on how the church in Northumbria interacted with contemporary lay and ecclesiastical society over six hundred years.
This book shows how a set of great stories changed the political playing field in an early medieval society.
Whereas modern societies tend to banish the dead from the world of the living, medieval men and women accorded them a vital role in the community. The saints counted most prominently as potential intercessors before God, but the ordinary dead as well were called upon to aid the living, and even to participate in the negotiation of political disputes. In this book, the distinguished medievalist Patrick J. Geary shows how exploring the complex relations between the living and dead can broaden our understanding of the political, economic, and cultural history of medieval Europe. Geary has brought together for this volume twelve of his most influential essays. They address such topics as the dev...
Karl Valentin once asked: "How can it be that only as much happens as fits into the newspaper the next day?" He focussed on the problem that information of the past has to be organised, arranged and above all: selected and put into form in order to be perceived as a whole. In this sense, the process of selection must be seen as the fundamental moment – the “Urszene” – of making History. This book shows selection as highly creative act. With the richness of early medieval material it can be demonstrated that creative selection was omnipresent and took place even in unexpected text genres. The book demonstrates the variety how premodern authors dealt with "unimportant", unpleasant or unwanted past. It provides a general overview for regions and text genres in early medieval Europe.
The passage from Antiquity to the Middle Ages has been largely studied in the light of the thesis of a gradual transformation, which is in contradiction of the previous assumption of an abrupt break due to war and general calamity. Perceiving War and the Military reassesses this historical period of transition by an investigation of the contemporary world of thought that examines the impact and significance of a permanently increasing contact with warfare and armed violence. Her studies confirm the assumption of a gradual shift, but they most of all show that the irrevocable end of the Roman Peace was a crucial factor in the late Roman world becoming gradually “medieval”.
In dit 'Jaarboek' worden diverse interessante thema's uit de middeleeuwse geschiedenis van de Nederlanden behandeld. Nicolas Mazeure onderzoekt de omgang van monnik Folcuin met de archivalia van de Vlaamse abdij van Sint-Bertijns. J.A. (Hans) Mol biedt een nieuwe kijk op de eind elfde eeuw op gang gekomen veenontginningen in het huidige Noordwest-Overijssel en Zuid-Friesland. Aan de hand van de door de dertiendeeeuwse Vlaams-Henegouwse gravin Johanna van Constantinopel uitgevaardigde oorkonden belicht Els De Paermentier het bestuur en de machtsuitoefening door vrouwen. Jaap van Moolenbroek ontrafelt het ontstaan van de mythe rond de inname van Damietta door Haarlemse kruisvaarders. Ellen Wurtzel laat zien hoe de stedelijke verdedigingswerken in het vijftiende- en zestiende-eeuwse Lille in toenemende mate werden beschouwd als collectief bezit. Truus van Bueren, Kim Ragetli en Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld belichten de mogelijkheden en uitdagingen van het brede onderzoeksterrein van middeleeuwse 'memoria', in het bijzonder van het Utrechtse MeMo-project.
Offers new perspectives on the fascinating but neglected history of ninth-century Italy and the impact of Carolingian culture.