Download or read book The Conversion of Scandinavia written by Anders Winroth and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-24 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book a MacArthur Award-winning scholar argues for a radically new interpretation of the conversion of Scandinavia from paganism to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Overturning the received narrative of Europe's military and religious conquest and colonization of the region, Anders Winroth contends that rather than acting as passive recipients, Scandinavians converted to Christianity because it was in individual chieftains' political, economic, and cultural interests to do so. Through a painstaking analysis and historical reconstruction of both archeological and literary sources, and drawing on scholarly work that has been unavailable in English, Winroth opens up new avenues for studying European ascendency and the expansion of Christianity in the medieval period.
Download or read book The Conversion of Scandinavia written by Anders Winroth and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-24 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book a MacArthur Award-winning scholar argues for a radically new interpretation of the conversion of Scandinavia from paganism to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Overturning the received narrative of Europe's military and religious conquest and colonization of the region, Anders Winroth contends that rather than acting as passive recipients, Scandinavians converted to Christianity because it was in individual chieftains' political, economic, and cultural interests to do so. Through a painstaking analysis and historical reconstruction of both archeological and literary sources, and drawing on scholarly work that has been unavailable in English, Winroth opens up new avenues for studying European ascendency and the expansion of Christianity in the medieval period.
Download or read book The Conversion of Scandinavia written by Anders Winroth and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book a MacArthur Award-winning scholar argues for a radically new interpretation of the conversion of Scandinavia from paganism to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Overturning the received narrative of Europe's military and religious conquest and colonization of the region, Anders Winroth contends that rather than acting as passive recipients, Scandinavians converted to Christianity because it was in individual chieftains' political, economic, and cultural interests to do so. Through a painstaking analysis and historical reconstruction of both archeological and literary sources, and drawing on scholarly work that has been unavailable in English, Winroth opens up new avenues for studying European ascendency and the expansion of Christianity in the medieval period.
Download or read book Medieval Scandinavia written by Birgit Sawyer and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of Scandinavia 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 anthropologists. 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 conclude 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. Peter Sawyer's previous books include "Kings and Vikings" and "The Age of the Vikings".
Download or read book Conversion and Identity in the Viking Age written by Ildar H. Garipzanov and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents a state-of-the-art collection of essays on the socio-cultural aspects of the conversion to Christianity in Viking-Age Scandinavia and the Scandinavian colonies of the North Atlantic. The nine scholars, drawn from the disciplines of history, archaeology, and literary studies, have been brought together to address the overarching topic of how conversion affected peoples' identities - both as individuals, and as members of broader religious, political, and social groups - on either side of the 'divide' between paganism and Christianity. Central to this exploration is the question of how existing and changing identities shaped the progress of conversion as a process of societal, and more specifically cultural, change. Each of the papers in this volume provides examples of the complicated patterns of interaction, influence, and identity-modification that were characteristic of the transition from paganism to Christianity in the Viking world. The authors look for new ways of understanding and describing this gradual intermingling between the two fuzzy-edged religious communities, and they provide a challenging redefinition of the nature of conversion in the Viking Age that will be of interest both to a wide variety of medievalists and to all those who work on conversion in its theoretical and historical aspects.
Download or read book The Cross Goes North written by Martin Carver and published by Boydell Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 37 studies of the adoption of Christianity across northern Europe over1000 years, and the diverse reasons that drove the process. In Europe, the cross went north and east as the centuries unrolled: from the Dingle Peninsula to Estonia, and from the Alps to Lapland, ranging in time from Roman Britain and Gaul in the third and fourth centuries to the conversion of peoples in the Baltic area a thousand years later. These episodes of conversion form the basic narrative here. History encourages the belief that the adoption of Christianity was somehow irresistible, but specialists show theunderside of the process by turning the spotlight from the missionaries, who recorded their triumphs, to the converted, exploring their local situations and motives. What were the reactions of the northern peoples to the Christian message? Why would they wish to adopt it for the sake of its alliances? In what way did they adapt the Christian ethos and infrastructure to suit their own community? How did conversion affect the status of farmers, of smiths, of princes and of women? Was society wholly changed, or only in marginal matters of devotion and superstition? These are the issues discussed here by thirty-eight experts from across northern Europe; some answers come from astute re-readings of the texts alone, but most are owed to a combination of history, art history and archaeology working together. MARTIN CARVER is Professor of Archaeology, University of York.
Download or read book Cross and Scepter written by Sverre Bagge and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-09 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise history of medieval Scandinavia Christianity and European-style monarchy—the cross and the scepter—were introduced to Scandinavia in the tenth century, a development that was to have profound implications for all of Europe. Cross and Scepter is a concise history of the Scandinavian kingdoms from the age of the Vikings to the Reformation, written by Scandinavia's leading medieval historian. Sverre Bagge shows how the rise of the three kingdoms not only changed the face of Scandinavia, but also helped make the territorial state the standard political unit in Western Europe. He describes Scandinavia’s momentous conversion to Christianity and the creation of church and monarchy there, and traces how these events transformed Scandinavian law and justice, military and administrative organization, social structure, political culture, and the division of power among the king, aristocracy, and common people. Bagge sheds important new light on the reception of Christianity and European learning in Scandinavia, and on Scandinavian history writing, philosophy, political thought, and courtly culture. He looks at the reception of European impulses and their adaptation to Scandinavian conditions, and examines the relationship of the three kingdoms to each other and the rest of Europe, paying special attention to the inter-Scandinavian unions and their consequences for the concept of government and the division of power. Cross and Scepter provides an essential introduction to Scandinavian medieval history for scholars and general readers alike, offering vital new insights into state formation and cultural change in Europe.
Download or read book Scandinavia since 1500 written by Byron J. Nordstrom and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2023-06-27 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An updated edition of the definitive history of Scandinavia over the past five centuries Despite certain distinctions and differences, the lands of Scandinavia, or Norden—Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands—are united by bonds of culture, language, and geography, and by a shared history that comes richly to life in this landmark work. Now in an expanded, updated edition, this authoritative chronicle of five centuries of Scandinavian history incorporates the geopolitical developments and momentous events that have marked the Nordic world in recent decades. Scandinavia since 1500 situates the region’s political history within the traditional European chronology—in which the long “modern” period is subdivided into the Renaissance, early modern, modern, and contemporary. Within this framework, Byron J. Nordstrom traces the various ways in which economic, social, and cultural ideas and practices have come to Scandinavia from abroad, only to be modified and recast in a uniquely Nordic character. Long-unquestioned national mythologies come under Nordstrom's scrutiny, along with historical blind spots and erasures, as he ranges from canonical figures like Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and Christian IV of Denmark to the constitutions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the resistance movements in World War II, and the Scandinavian welfare states, literary culture, and modern design. Expanded to include the nature and realities of the increasingly postindustrial economies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries—including environmental concerns, integration with Europe, globalization, and immigration—Scandinavia since 1500 offers a comprehensive yet nuanced portrait of this unique region in all its political, diplomatic, social, economic, and cultural complexity. Cover alt text: Bold white title and author name across breathtaking snowy landscape of sun-touched cliffs beside a waterway and scattering of homes.
Download or read book Nordic Religions in the Viking Age written by Thomas Andrew DuBois and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 1999-08-03 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas DuBois unravels for the first time the history of the Nordic religions in the Viking Age. "A seminal study of Nordic religions that future scholars will not be able to avoid."—Church History
Download or read book The Age of the Vikings written by Anders Winroth and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-09-07 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major reassessment of the vikings and their legacy The Vikings maintain their grip on our imagination, but their image is too often distorted by myth. It is true that they pillaged, looted, and enslaved. But they also settled peacefully and traveled far from their homelands in swift and sturdy ships to explore. The Age of the Vikings tells the full story of this exciting period in history. Drawing on a wealth of written, visual, and archaeological evidence, Anders Winroth captures the innovation and pure daring of the Vikings without glossing over their destructive heritage. He not only explains the Viking attacks, but also looks at Viking endeavors in commerce, politics, discovery, and colonization, and reveals how Viking arts, literature, and religious thought evolved in ways unequaled in the rest of Europe. The Age of the Vikings sheds new light on the complex society, culture, and legacy of these legendary seafarers.
Download or read book Snorri Sturluson and the Edda written by Kevin J. Wanner and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wanner brings us a new account of the interests that motivated the production of the Edda, and resolves the mystery of its genesis by demonstrating the intersection of Snorri's political and cultural concerns and practices.
Download or read book The Vikings written by Martyn Whittock and published by Lion Books. This book was released on 2018-06-22 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The popular image of the Vikings is of tall red-headed men, raping and pillaging their way around the coast of Europe, stopping only to ransack monasteries and burn longships. But the violent Vikings of the 8th century became the pious Christians of the 11th century, who gave gold crosses to Christian churches and in whose areas of rule pagan idols were destroyed and churches were built. So how did this radical transformation happen, and why? What difference did it make to the Vikings, and to those around them, and what is their legacy today? This book takes a "global" look at this key period in Viking history, exploring all the major areas of Viking settlement. Written to be an accessible and engaging overview for the general reader.
Download or read book The Conversion of the Scandinavian Vikings from Paganism to Christianity written by Hope Westmoreland and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper seeks to address more systematically the causes of the conversion of Scandinavian Vikings. To complete this task, this paper will explore the answers to four questions pertaining to the Christianization of the Scandinavian Vikings that populated Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland between the ninth and thirteenth centuries: What did the process of Viking conversion in Scandinavia look like? How was this conversion received, was it welcomed or opposed, and by whom and for what reasons? After the “conversion”, did pagan rituals still survive in practice; if so, to what extent? And finally, what were the lasting repercussions of the conversion? These questions strive to grasp the fundamental events of the conversion and to help explain more convincingly why the Vikings converted from paganism to Christianity. The surviving evidence will suggest, however, that, even though most Vikings did convert to become a part of an elite group within European society, the main reason for the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia can be attributed to the sociocultural relationship between the King and his warriors.
Download or read book New Muslims in the European Context written by Anne Sofie Roald and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This material on Scandinavian converts tells the unique story of how Europeans embrace a new religion and their tendency to adjust and modify the social message of their new religion to the social values handled by the society they live in.
Download or read book The Viking age Rune stones written by Birgit Sawyer and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2000 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are over 3000 runic inscriptions on stone made in Scandinavia in the late Viking Age. This book is the first attempt by a historian to study the material as a whole. The analysis reveals significant regional variations that reflect different stages in the process of conversion, and thegrowth of royal power. Many monuments were declarations of faith or manifestations of status; but virtually all reflect inheritance claims, and cast unexpected light on the prehistory of the inheritance customs found in later Scandinavian law codes. The results of this analysis make a significantcontribution to understanding developments in other parts of the Germanic world, as well as Scandinavia. The inclusion of a digest of the data-base on which this book is based will facilitate further study of this rich vein of evidence.
Download or read book The Christianization of Scandinavia written by Birgit Sawyer and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Cambridge History of Scandinavia written by Knut Helle and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-09-04 with total page 942 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents a comprehensive exposition of both the prehistory and medieval history of the whole of Scandinavia. The first part of the volume surveys the prehistoric and historic Scandinavian landscape and its natural resources, and tells how man took possession of this landscape, adapting culturally to changing natural conditions and developing various types of community throughout the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. The rest - and most substantial part of the volume - deals with the history of Scandinavia from the Viking Age to the end of the Scandinavian Middle Ages (c. 1520). The external Viking expansion opened Scandinavia to European influence to a hitherto unknown degree. A Christian church organisation was established, the first towns came into being, and the unification of the three medieval kingdoms of Scandinavia began, coinciding with the formation of the unique Icelandic 'Free State'.
