Nordic Elites in Transformation, C. 1050-1250

343 Pages·2019·28.127 MB·English

by  Bjørn Poulsen, Helle Vogt, Jaon

Nordic Elites in Transformation,
c. 1050–1250, Volume III
This book explores the practical and symbolic resources of legitimacy
which the elites of medieval Scandinavia employed to establish, justify,
and reproduce their social and political standing between the end
of the Viking Age and the rise of kingdoms in the thirteenth century.
Geographically the chapters cover the Scandinavian realms and Free
State Iceland. Thematically the authors cover a wide palette of cultural
practices and historical sources: hagiography, historiography, spaces and
palaces, literature, and international connections, which rulers, magnates,
or ecclesiastics used to compete for status and to reserve haloing glory
for themselves. The volume is divided in three sections. The first looks
at the sacral, legal, and acclamatory means through which privilege was
conferred onto kings and ruling families. Section II explores the spaces
such as aristocratic halls, palaces, churches in which the social elevation
of elites took place. Section III explores the traditional and novel means
of domestic distinction and international cultural capital which different
orders of elites – knights, powerful clerics, ruling families, etc. – wrought
to assure their dominance and set themselves apart vis-à - vis their peers
and subjects. A concluding chapter discusses how the use of symbolic
capital in the North compared to wider European contexts.
Wojtek Jezierski is Associate Professor, History of Ideas, School of
Historical and Contemporary Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm
and the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg.
Kim Esmark is Associate Professor of Medieval History at the Department
of Communication and Arts at Roskilde University.
Hans Jacob Orning is Professor of Medieval History at the Department
of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo.
Jón Viðar Sigurðsson is Professor of Medieval History at the Department
of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo.
Routledge Research in Medieval Studies
Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050–1250, Volume I
Material Resources
Edited by Bjørn Poulsen, Helle Vogt, and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson
The Social Fabric of Fifteenth- Century Florence
Identities and Change in the World of Second- Hand Dealers
Alessia Meneghin
Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050–1250, Volume II
Social Networks
Edited by Kim Esmark, Lars Hermanson and Hans Jacob Orning
Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050–1250, Volume III
Legitimacy and Glory
Edited by Wojtek Jezierski, Kim Esmark, Hans Jacob Orning, and Jón
Viðar Sigurðsson
Previous titles to appear in Routledge Research in
Medieval Studies include:
The Generation of Identity in Late Medieval Hagiography
Speaking the Saint
Gail Ashton
Performing Virginity and Testing Chastity in the Middle Ages
Kathleen Coyne Kelly
Women Pilgrims in Late Medieval England
Susan S. Morrison
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge- Research- in- Medieval- Studies/book- series/SE0452
Nordic Elites in
Transformation,
c. 1050–1250,
Volume III
Legitimacy and Glory
Edited by Wojtek Jezierski,
Kim Esmark, Hans Jacob Orning,
and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson
First published 2021
by Routledge
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The right of Wojtek Jezierski, Kim Esmark, Hans Jacob Orning,
and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson to be identified as the authors of
the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Poulsen, Bjørn, 1955– editor. | Vogt, Helle, editor. |
Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, 1958– editor.
Title: Nordic elites in transformation, c. 1050–1250 / edited by
Bjørn Poulsen, Helle Vogt, and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson.
Other titles: Material resources.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2019– |
Series: Routledge research in medieval studies ; 14 |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019009726 (print) | LCCN 2019011560
(ebook) | ISBN 9780429262210 () | ISBN 9780367203054
(vol. 1 : hbk)
Subjects: LCSH: Elite (Social sciences)—Scandinavia—History—
To 1500. | Social classes—Scandinavia—History—To 1500. |
Scandinavia—Social conditions.
Classification: LCC HN540.Z9 (ebook) | LCC HN540.Z9 E457
2019 (print) | DDC 305.5/209368—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019009726
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 56281- 6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 09714- 3 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
Editors’ Preface x
General Editors’ Preface xi
Introduction: Nordic Elites in Transformation,
c. 1050–1250, Legitimacy and Glory 1
WOJTEK JEZIERSKI
SECTION I
Glorifying Kings 37
1 Canonizing Kings: Nordic Royal Hagiography as
Legitimation and Glorification 39
CARL PHELPSTEAD
2 Prosperity and Peace: Glorification of Rulers in Medieval
Scandinavia 61
SIMON LEBOUTEILLER
3 Kings, Gods, Poets, and Priests: Varieties and
Transformations of Circuits of Charismatic Legitimation
in Norway 83
KEVIN J. WANNER
4 Legitimising Royal Power in Medieval Scandinavian Laws 105
FREDRIK CHARPENTIER LJUNGQVIST
vi Contents
SECTION II
Spaces of Elevation 127
5 Building Glory: Elite Palaces in Early and High Medieval
Scandinavia 129
MARTIN HANSSON
6 Glory and Legitimation in the Aristocratic Hall 154
LARS KJÆR
7 Elite Soldiers of Christ: Elevating the Secular Elite on
Danish Church Walls, Twelfth to Thirteenth Centuries 175
KRISTIN B. AAVITSLAND
SECTION III
Elevating Social Orders 203
8 Moderation and Restraint During Conflict as Ideal
Behavior in High Medieval Scandinavia and Iceland 205
LOUISA TAYLOR
9 Father and Son, Brother and Friend: The Papal Curia
and the Status of the Nordic Ecclesiastical Elite 222
IBEN FONNESBERG- SCHMIDT
10 Travels, Translations, and Cultural Brokerage:
Courtly Literature as a Means of Elite Legitimation in
Thirteenth- Century Norway 245
BJØRN BANDLIEN
11 Legitimation Through Narrative: Glorious Pasts as
Arguments in Political Discourse 266
ROLAND SCHEEL
12 Legitimation and Its Problems: The Sagas and the
Icelandic Elite in the Thirteenth Century 295
TORFI H. TULINIUS
13 Postscript 312
PATRICK J. GEARY
List of Contributors 319
Index 321
Figures
5.1 The location of Dalby, Vadstena, Alsnö. The thick black
line marks the medieval border between Denmark,
Norway and Sweden. 130
5.2 The excavated building remains of the palace complex
west of the church in Dalby. 133
5.3 The location of the church in Dalby in the landscape is
quite spectacular on the spur of a ridge. The palace was
situated just west of the church tower. 134
5.4 Extract of the 1751 map of Adelsö. To the east the
surveyor has noted “Remains of an old castle.” To the
west, the parish church and the farms at Hovgården. 135
5.5 The palace complex and ancient monuments at Alsnö.
1. Parish church 2. Palace 3. Cellar 4–6. Grave mounds
9. Runic inscription. 136
5.6 The present appearance of the palace in Vadstena. 138
5.7 Extract of the 1705 map of Vadstena. The building
marked “2” is the medieval palace north of the late
medieval abbey church. North of the palace, the garden
(F); to the south, the parish church of Saint Peter (N); to
the west, Lake Vättern. 139
5.8 Schematic plan of palace complex in Vadstena, with
contemporary buildings marked. Palatset = the Palace.
A–E: ancillary buildings. “Jordhwallenom”: tentative
location of the earthen wall mentioned in the fourteenth
century. 140
7.1 Mounted knight with lance. Granite relief, Lem Church,
twelfth century. 177
7.2 Siege of a city. Fresco on the northern wall of the nave in
Hornslet Church, 1200–1225. 181
7.3 Armies in combat below scenes from the life of an
unidentified saint (St James the Elder?). Fresco on the
northern wall of the nave in Højen Church, 1250–1275. 182
viii Figures
7.4 Preserved frescoes on gallery wall of Tveje Merløse
Church, 1150–1175. Measured drawing by Jacob
Kornerup, 1894, before the restoration of the church. 187
7.5 Maiestas Domini. The Majesty of the Lord, apse fresco
in Tveje Merløse Church, 1150–1175. 188
7.6 Fragment of knight- frieze in the chancel of Lisbjerg
Church, 1150–1175. Now overpainted. Photo from 1937. 190
7.7 Central detail of the Lisbjerg altar frontal: the Virgin
and Child at the gate to Civitas Hierusalem. C. 1135.
Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen. 191
7.8 Knight- frieze in Aal Church, 1200–1225. 193
Tables
7.1 Estimated chronology, geographical distribution,
iconographic variety, and placement of the knight-
friezes in Danish churches (+ means documented,
but lost). 179
7.2 Iconographic environments of the knight- friezes in
Danish churches (+ means documented, but lost). 184
11.1 General list of terms and their numbers
in Gesta Danorum. 279