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IMC 2010: Sessions

Session 807: The Formation and Renewal of the Nobility of Medieval Scotland, Norway, and Denmark, II: Locality and Change

Tuesday 13 July 2010, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:Department of History, University of Aberdeen
Organiser:Jackson Armstrong, Department of History, University of Aberdeen
Moderator/Chair:Jackson Armstrong, Department of History, University of Aberdeen
Paper 807-aLords and Peasants in Scotland 1170-1250: The Mearns as a Case Study
(Language: English)
Alice Taylor, King's College, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Social History
Paper 807-bAn Age of Transition: The Norwegian Aristocracy in the 14th Century
(Language: English)
Erik Opsahl, Faculty of Social Science, Vestfold University College, Tønsberg
Index terms: Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 807-cThe Danish Nobility Facing Germany and the Germans, c.1250-1375
(Language: English)
Michael H. Gelting, Centre for Scandinavian Studies King's College University of Aberdeen 24 High Street OLD ABERDEEN AB24 3EB
Index terms: Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Abstract

From the 11th to the 14th century the kingdoms of the 'northern fringe' of Europe became integrated in European civilization. Usually these processes have been studied separately in the national historical traditions of each of the countries concerned. However, important themes recur in each of these national interpretations: the presumably paramount role of kinship in traditional societies; national antagonism between traditional culture and influences from abroad; and the relative importance of immigration and local recruitment in the crystallization of a new nobility from the more fluid structures of traditional society. The aim of the two sessions is to take a critical and comparative look at these problems from the vantage point of three 'peripheral' kingdoms around the North Sea.