Elite Networks and Courtly Culture in Medieval Denmark Denmark in Europe, 1St to 14Th Centuries
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ELITE NETWORKS AND COURTLY CULTURE IN MEDIEVAL DENMARK DENMARK IN EUROPE, 1ST TO 14TH CENTURIES _______________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Maria R. D. Corsi May, 2014 . ELITE NETWORKS AND COURTLY CULTURE IN MEDIEVAL DENMARK DENMARK IN EUROPE, 1ST TO 14TH CENTURIES _________________________ Maria R. D. Corsi APPROVED: _________________________ Sally N. Vaughn, Ph.D. Committee Chair _________________________ Frank L. Holt, Ph.D. _________________________ Kairn A. Klieman, Ph.D. _________________________ Michael H. Gelting, Ph.D. University of Aberdeen _________________________ John W. Roberts, Ph.D. Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department of English ii ELITE NETWORKS AND COURTLY CULTURE IN MEDIEVAL DENMARK DENMARK IN EUROPE, 1ST TO 14TH CENTURIES _______________ An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Maria R.D. Corsi May, 2014 ABSTRACT This dissertation advances the study of the cultural integration of Denmark with continental Europe in the Middle Ages. By approaching the question with a view to the longue durée, it argues that Danish aristocratic culture had been heavily influenced by trends on the Continent since at least the Roman Iron Age, so that when Denmark adopted European courtly culture, it did so simultaneously to its development in the rest of Europe. Because elite culture as it manifested itself in the Middle Ages was an amalgamation of that of Ancient Rome and the Germanic tribes, its origins in Denmark is sought in the interactions between the Danish territory and the Roman Empire. Elites in Denmark sought to emulate Roman culture as a marker of status, with pan-European elite networks facilitating the incorporation of Roman material items and social norms in Denmark, thus setting the pattern for later periods. These types of networks continued to play an important role in the interactions between Denmark and the successor kingdoms to the Roman Empire in the Early Middle Ages, leading to the development of an increasingly homogenized elite culture in Denmark and on the Continent. Danish elites drew on the material and ideological cultural models of their southern neighbors, using Frankish imports to signify status and power, much as Roman imports had been used earlier. The economic, diplomatic, and military ties that developed in the Early Middle Ages remained important conduits for the adoption of European aristocratic culture into the High Middle Ages, while the conversion to Christianity by the Danes enabled Danish elites to take part in the new educational networks associated with the rise of universities across Europe. All of these long-standing ties meant that the Danish aristocracy actively iv participated in the development of medieval courtly culture, including cavalry warfare and knighthood, courtly food consumption and feasting, and courtly dress and ornamentation, resulting in increased social differentiation between those who could take part in the new courtly culture and those who could not. Thus, Denmark was never outside of Europe, and when Danish elites adopted medieval chivalric and courtly culture, they did so contemporaneously with their counterparts in other parts of Europe. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Iron Age Connections (c. 1 – 500 AD) ………...……………………............33 Chapter 3: Viking Age Networks (c. 500 – 1050 AD)………..........................................72 Chapter 4: The Adoption of Courtly Culture in Denmark (c. 1050 – 1300 AD) ............124 Chapter 5: Knights and Knighthood (c. 1050 – 1300 AD)..............................................158 Chapter 6: Luxury Food Consumption and Elite Status (c. 700 – 1350 AD) ...…….….204 Chapter 7: Dress and Ornamentation (c. 900 – 1350 AD)……………………………...244 Chapter 8: Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..283 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................293 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Svein Estridsen and his family………………………………………………..165 LIST OF MAPS Map 1. The Roman Empire and Magna Germania…...…………………………………34 Map 2. Danish Iron Age sites mentioned in the text...…………………………………..37 Map 3. Village and magnate sites mentioned in the text………………………………..75 Map 4. North European emporia………………………………………………………..93 Map 5. Distribution of Sceattas………………………………………………………..101 Map 6. Towns in Denmark founded before 1350……………………………………...126 Map 7. Medieval trade routes………………………………………………………….128 Map 8. Map showing locations of sites related to the civil war……………………….167 Map 9. Map showing locations of sites mentioned in the text…………………………207 Map 10. Royal hunting parks…………………………………………………………..239 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Hemmoor bucket from Warstade, Germany, second to third century………..49 Figure 2. C-bracteate with long braided hair combined with the ends of a diadem band from Funen, Denmark ………..………………………………………………………….51 Figure 3. The Elder Futhark……………………………………………………………..55 Figure 4. Nydam Boat……………………………………...……………………………63 Figure 5. Ribe Series X Sceat of Woden-Monster Type, c. 710-720………………….102 Figure 6. Norman knights fight Anglo-Saxon footsoldiers at the Battle of Hastings. Bayeux Tapestry (late 11th century)……………………………………………………180 Figure 7. Illustration of round, embossed Viking shields ……………………………..181 vii Figure 8. Cavalry battle frieze. Mural from Ål Church in southern Jutland (late 12th century)…………………………………………………………………………………182 Figure 9. The Battle of Gilboa. Winchester Bible (c. 1160-1180)…...……………….182 Figure 10. Cavalry battle frieze. Mural from Ål Church in southern Jutland (late 12th century)…………………………………………………………………………………183 Figure 11. Cavalry battle frieze. Mural from Ål Church in southern Jutland (late 12th century)…………………………………………………………………………………183 Figure 12. Cavalry battle frieze. Mural from Ål Church in southern Jutland (late 12th century)…………………………………………………………………………………184 Figure 13. Armored knights on horseback. Mural from Vellev Church in eastern Jutland (1175-1200)……………………………………………………………………………..185 Figure 14. Cavalry frieze from Højen Church in eastern Jutland (c. 1200…………….186 Figure 15. Detail of Cnut the Great from the New Minster, Winchester, Liber Vitae, c. 1031…………………………………………………………………………………..252 Figure 16. Duke Henry II the Quarrelsome of Bavaria, c. 990………………………...253 Figure 17. The three wise men. Mural from Råsted Church in eastern Jutland (c. 1100- 1125)……………………………………………………………………………………263 Figure 18. Woman in courtly dress. Mural from Sønder Nærå Church on Funen (c. 1175- 1200)……………………………………………………………………………………266 Figure 19. Cain’s offering……………………………………………………………...276 Figure 20. Abel’s offering……………………………………………………………...276 Figure 21. Man in Parti-Colored Tunic. Mural from Ørslev Church on Zealand (c. 1325)………………………………………………………………………………...277 Figure 22. Courtly Scene. Mural from Ørslev Church on Zealand (c. 1325)…………278 viii Chapter 1 Introduction This dissertation will advance the study of the cultural integration of Denmark with continental Europe. Elite culture, particularly as it developed in the Early and High Middle Ages, offers a particularly useful perspective on this process. An investigation of the adoption of courtly culture in the medieval Danish kingdom forms the bulk of the work, as this is usually the period in which Denmark is considered to have become “Europeanized.” This idea is somewhat misleading, however, as it is based on the belief that there was a common culture that could be called European prior to the High Middle Ages. Denmark did not necessarily develop in the same way as other kingdoms in Europe, but elite contacts and networks ensured a continual Danish economic, political, and military presence in the wider European sphere. Because elite culture as it manifested itself in the Middle Ages was an amalgamation of that of Ancient Rome and the Germanic tribes, its origins in Denmark should also be sought in the interactions between the Danish territory and the Roman Empire. This dissertation will seek to understand just how influential Roman culture was on Denmark and follow the interactions between elites in Denmark and abroad from the Roman period to the High Middle Ages. It will endeavor to trace the kinds of elite networks that were put into place, and determine what role they had in the development of elite culture in Denmark and on the Continent. 1 Previous Scholarship Despite an interest in Denmark developing European-style institutions, historians have paid very little attention to the actual European cultural influences on Danish society and how and why they were incorporated. While historians have generally acknowledged that there was some European influence on Danish history, they have not attempted to fully examine that influence. In his section on the Middle Ages in volume two of Dansk Socialhistorie (Danish Social History), Kai Hørby argues that in the last half of the twelfth century, the Danish kingdom under the Valdemars was created based on a European pattern.1 Nevertheless, his discussion of this process focuses almost exclusively on internal factors for change. He states that an early factor