FREE MEDIEVAL SCANDINAVIA: FROM CONVERSION TO REFORMATION, CIRCA 800-1500 PDF Birgit Sawyer,P.H. Sawyer | 272 pages | 01 Dec 1993 | University of Minnesota Press | 9780816617395 | English | Minneapolis, United States Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, Circa - Birgit Sawyer - Google книги Birgit Sawyer. The study of Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation has been, and still is, deeply influenced by the interpretation of its earliest history that was developed in the 19th century by political, legal, and literary historians, archaeologists, and Circa 800-1500. Scandinavia figured prominently in discussions of early medieval Europe, not only as the homeland of the Vikings, but also as the region in which Germanic society remained uncontaminated by Christianity and other influences longer than anywhere else. In "Medieval Scandinavia", Birgit and Peter Sawyer question assumptions about early Scandinavian history, including the supposed leading role of free and equal peasants and their position in founding churches. They meticulously trace the development of Scandinavia from the early ninth century through the second and third decades of the 16th century, when rulers of Scandinavia rejected the authority of the Papacy and the attempt to establish a united Scandinavian monarchy finally collapsed. The authors include a discussion of medieval history writing and comment on the use of history in the 16th century and modern attitudes to medieval history which differ in various parts of Scandinavia. They ultimately Circa 800-1500 that historic Scandinavia held greater similarities to other European regions than has been commonly supposed. Birgit Sawyer is one of the founders of the biennial interdisciplinary conferences on women in medieval Scandinavia. Lands and Peoples. Things and Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation. Christianization and Church Organization. Landowners and Tenants. Trade and Towns. Family and Inheritance. Ideal and Reality. Uses of the Past. An Outline. Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, circa by Birgit Sawyer To browse Academia. Skip to main content. Log In Sign Up. Download Free DOC. Download Free PDF. Medieval Scandinavia; From Conversion to Reformation circa Peter H. Birgit I L Sawyer. Introduction II. Lands and Peoples III. Sources IV. Political History: an outline V. Things and Kings VI. Family and Inheritance IX. Women: Ideal and Reality X. Trade and Towns XI. The Angers Fragment of Gesta Danorum 4. Bohus Castle 6. Model of Holmen, Bergen 7. Erik of Pomerania's Seal as Union King 8. Nidaros Cathedral 9. Ribe Cathedral Urnes Church, Sognefjord, Norway Stone house as Tjele, near Viborg, North Jutland The "Sigurd-carving" on Ramsundsberget Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland: the main physical features 2. The proportion of farms in various districts that were deserted between and 3. General Map of Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland 4. Southern Scandinavia 4 The main royal estates in south-west Norway 5. The Kingdom of Norway in 7. The Estates of Bo Jonsson Grip 9. Bishoprics Monasteries founded before b. Dominican and Franciscan houses founded before Monasteries founded - The rise of the Sturlungs Tables 1. Some marriages of Swedish Circa 800-1500 in the eleventh and twelfth centuries 2. Erik of Pomerania's claim to be king of the Union 3. The daughters and brothers of Erik Plovpenning 5. Records of the activity of merchants, missionaries, Viking raiders and royal embassies provide evidence that for the first time makes it possible to trace at least some features of developments in Scandinavia. The period we cover ends in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century when there Circa 800-1500 two fundamental changes. First, the final collapse of the attempt to maintain Circa 800-1500 united Scandinavian kingdom, and secondly, the rejection by the rulers of Scandinavia of the authority of the bishop of Rome. When referring to periods longer than a century we have used three main subdivisions; the early middle ages to c. The word 'Scandinavia' does not appear to have been used in those centuries. It has sometimes been Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation in a limited sense to describe the great peninsula now shared between Norway, Sweden and Finland. This may make geographical sense, but hardly does so historically; until a large part of what is now Sweden was in the Danish kingdom and from to Norway was ruled by the king of the Danes. Scandinavia has consequently been used for the three 'Scandinavian' kingdoms, and that in turn has led to a great enlargement of meaning, for these kingdoms included, at various times, extensive territories elsewhere around the Baltic, in the British Isles and the Atlantic islands. Nevertheless, to avoid confusion the word will here be used for the central part of these kingdoms, that is the 'Scandinavian' peninsula and the peninsula of Jutland, with the associated islands. As the extent of the kingdoms changed many times in the period, we have chosen to refer to modern countries when locating places or regions. With a few exceptions we have adopted the form of place-names used in the edition of The Times Atlas of the World. The first version of chapters 1,3,8,9,and 11 were written by Birgit, the others by Peter, but we Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation together rewrittenthem many times as the book took shape. The whole book has been extensively revised in the light of suggestions and criticisms made of the first version by Sverre Bagge, Knut Helle, Steinar Imsen, Niels Lund, and Thomas Lindkvist. We are deeply grateful to them for their encouragement and advice. They also pointed out mistakes and misunderstandings; those that remain are, of course, our responsibility. We have also profited from many discussions in various Scandinavian, American and British Universities, in particular in the Medieval Seminar of Gothenburg University's History Institute. Thanks are due, and are gladly given, to the many other friends and colleagues who have given advice, made suggestions or helped us to obtain the pictures. Scandinavia figured Circa 800-1500 in discussions of early medieval Europe not only as the homeland of the Vikings but also as the region Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation which Germanic society remained uncontaminated by Christianity and other Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation influences longer than anywhere else. Although most of the evidence for this supposedly pure Nordic stage is in texts written in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was long believed that these provided reliable information about early Scandinavian history and society. It is mainly on the basis of medieval law- codes, Icelandic sagas and Adam of Bremen's History of the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen that a picture of ancient Nordic society has been reconstructed, a picture that has answered different needs at different times and has been used for specific ideological purposes inside as well as outside Scandinavia see ch. XI - and still influences the interpretation not only of early Scandinavian society, but also its later medieval development. The concept of an original Germanic cultural unity, combined with the idea of evolution, that the simple "primitive" precedes the more complex "developed" focussed interest on Scandinavia. Since this part of Germanic Europe was the last to be Christianized and was thus the last to be affected by Roman and canon law, Scandinavian society was thought to have preserved primitive features that had once been common to all Germanic societies. A very important factor in shaping this approach was the development of social anthropology in the late nineteenth century. Although belief in a primitive Germanic law has now largely been abandoned, the legacy of nineteenth-century social anthopology and legal history still casts a shadow over medieval Scandinavia. Textbooks on history and legal history still claim that the earliest Scandinavian laws were based on customary law that was transmitted by word of mouth for centuries before being written down. Even though in the written versions, this 'old folk law' was reshaped under the influence of Roman and canon law, it is supposed to have left sufficiently clear traces to provide a secure basis for reconstructing prehistoric Scandinavian society. Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation in the history of language and literature has similarly been rooted in nineteenth-century ideas, and the Circa 800-1500 persists in some quarters that Icelandic poetry and sagas were written versions of purely native traditions that had been preserved orally for centuries. This view, once widely held, obviously gave these poems and sagas great value as sources for the early history of Scandinavia. Traditional interpretations The interpretation of Scandinavia's early history has also been influenced by the theory of evolution. The assumption that the general trend has been one of 'progress' from the simple to the complex has apparently made it possible to trace developments even when very few facts are known. Many similar developments are supposed to have taken place: from an egalitarian to an increasingly stratified society, from custom to complex laws, Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation local barter to international trade, from pagan barbarity to Christian humanity and civilization. It Circa 800-1500 been generally supposed that development has been normally from the simple to the more complicated, often with the implication that the Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation has normally been for the better. Typological development, once greatly favoured by archaeologists, and still reflected in some museums, is a good example of this assumption of progress. Such a theory of development poses many problems, not least as the changes are supposed to have taken place between A. In fact, in that period there were no clans in Scandinavia see pp. There were different types of lordship and overlordship long beforeand the royal power that eventually developed did not simply evolve from earlier overlordships, it was new and different.