« Le Moyen Age scandinave, que les historiens du nord de l'Europe font débuter vers 1100, est relativement méconnu en France. Les royaumes qui se constituèrent alors sont encore tenus pour des mondes marginaux, plus soumis à un héritage et à des coutumes propres qu'influencés par les modèles sociaux, politiques et culturels de l'Europe occidentale. Les communications, présentées lors du colloque qui a réuni en juin 2005 à Paris des médiévistes nordiques et français, et rassemblées dans ce volume, apportent un regard nouveau sur les relations que les royaumes nordiques ont entretenues avec le reste de l'Occident, en prenant comme fil conducteur l'histoire de leurs élites, clercs et laïcs. Deux approches ont été privilégiées, l'analyse des formes et des lieux d'échanges et celle des systèmes de reproduction de la domination sociale. Que ce soit par les voyages, la diplomatie, ou par la confrontation violente, qu'elles aient fréquenté les cours royales et princières, la Curie romaine, les monastères ou les universités, ces élites ont parcouru l'espace européen et se sont approprié les outils de domination sociale et culturelle, comme l'écrit, les livres, les pratiques intellectuelles, les valeurs symboliques... Leur diffusion a été aussi assurée par les Occidentaux venus dans le Nord, prélats, chevaliers et marchands. Pour exercer le pouvoir politique, les aristocraties nordiques ont largement puisé dans des usages et des normes partagés par l'ensemble des élites européennes. Elles se sont appuyées sur des réseaux similaires de consanguinité et d'alliance. Elles ont adopté les modes de vie, les idéaux, les codes du paraître et de l'honneur des noblesses occidentales. Du XIIe au XVe siècle, sans nier les particularismes éventuels, l'histoire des élites et celle du pouvoir politique ont donc connu des développements synchrones : renforcement de la loi, émergence des juristes, essor d'une élite de conseil, ambitieuse et souvent frondeuse, inflexions idéologiques de la fonction royale. »--Quatrième de couverture

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050-1250, Volume II explores the structures and workings of social networks within the elites of medieval Scandinavia to reveal the intricate relationship between power and status. Section one of this volume categorizes basic types of personal bonds, both vertical and horizontal, while section two charts patterns of local, regional and transnational elite networks from wide-scope, longitudinal perspectives. Finally, the third section turns to case-studies of networks in action, analyzing strategies and transactions implied by uses of social resources in specific micro-political settings. A concluding chapter discusses how social power in the North compared to wider European experiences. A wide range of sources and methodologies is applied to reveal how networks were established, maintained, and put to use – and how they transformed in processes of centralizing power and formalizing hierarchies. The engagement with and analysis of intriguing primary source material has produced a key teaching tool for instructors and essential reading for students interested in the workings of medieval Scandinavia, elite class structures, and Social and Political History more generally.

This book provides an analysis of the ideology of power in Norway and Iceland as reflected in sources written during the period 1150-1250. The main focus is explaining the way that Kings’ power in Norway, and that of chieftains in Iceland, was idealised in important texts from the 12th and 13th centuries (Sverris saga, Konungs skuggsjá, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, Íslendingabók, Egils saga, Laxdæla saga and Þórðar saga kakala). The originality of this work consists in the fact that it is the first monograph to comparatively analyse the ideology of power in Iceland, looking specifically at representations of king(s) and chieftains during the Civil Wars period, and compare the findings to those pertaining to Norway.

The Västgöta Laws contains the translation of the oldest of the Swedish provincial law codes and other texts of great relevance to the legal history. The first version, the Older Västgöta Law, is from the first half of the thirteenth century and the earliest example of an indigenous vernacular literacy with the Latin script from Sweden. A second and highly revised version of the law is preserved in a manuscript from the middle of the fourteenth century. This volume also contains a translation of the annotations and proposals made during the complicated negotiations between representatives of the church, the kingdom, and the community of the province. Together, the two versions of the law and the annotations offer a unique possibility to understand the making and transformation of a medieval law. The importance of the regional leaders, the lawmen, is evident from the earliest example of history writing in Sweden, illustrating the legal and political history of Västergötland. With an Introduction that places the province of Västergötland and its law into its political setting, this translation is invaluable for all students and scholars of medieval Swedish legal and political history.

Donations, Inheritance and Property in the Nordic and Western World from Late Antiquity until Today presents an examination of Nordic donation and gift-giving practices in the Nordic and Western world, beginning in late Antiquity and extending through to the present day. Through chapters contributed by leading international researchers, this book explores the changing legal, social and religious frameworks that shape how donations and gifts are given. In addition to donations to ecclesiastical, charitable and cultural institutions, this books also highlights the sociolegal challenges and the tensions that can occur as a result of transferring property, including answering key questions such as who has a right to what. It also presents, for the first time, an insight into the dynamics of donations and the interplay between individual motivations, strategic behaviour and the legal setting of inheritance law. Offering a broad chronological and European perspective and including a wide range of illuminating case studies Donations, Inheritance and Property in the Nordic and Western World from Late Antiquity until Today is ideal for students of Nordic and European legal and social history.