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IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 523: Danish Historical Writing of the 12th Century in a European Context: Personal Connections and Textual Links

Tuesday 10 July 2012, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:Danish Medieval Historiography Project
Organiser:Mia Münster-Swendsen, Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, Københavns Universitet
Moderator/Chair:Mia Münster-Swendsen, Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, Københavns Universitet
Paper 523-aThe French Connections: William of Æbelholt and His Network
(Language: English)
Thomas Heebøll-Holm, Saxo Instituttet, Københavns Universitet
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Mentalities, Politics and Diplomacy, Rhetoric
Paper 523-bThe Monastic Mission of Political Memory in Ailnoth of Canterbury
(Language: English)
Sigbjørn Olsen Sønnesyn, / Centre for Medieval Studies, Universitetet i Bergen
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Latin, Mentalities, Monasticism
Paper 523-cProse Rhythm (Cursus) in Sven Aggeson's Works
(Language: English)
Karsten Friis-Jensen, Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, Københavns Universitet
Index terms: Education, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Latin, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Abstract

This is the second session at the IMC in which the participants in the interdisciplinary project on 12th-century Danish historiography present their work-in-progress. The first paper aims at describing the connections between Danish and Northern French centres of learning, through the prism of the life and works of the French abbot William, founder of the Abbey of the Paraclete at Æbelholt in Denmark. The paper shows how, through personal networks, the Danish intellectual and political milieus were connected to and influenced by the French intellectual circles. The second paper focusses on another learned 'exile' in Denmark - the Anglo-Danish historian, Ælnoth of Canterbury. The earliest Danish historical narratives in Latin seem to originate in an environment similar to the one that produced the great wave of monastic historians of English history in the early 12th century. This paper seeks to explore these similarities in order to position the text within the broader aims and frameworks of the monastic movements within Danish society of the time. The final paper of the session presents an analysis of the use of prose rhythm (cursus) in the works of the Danish 12th-century historian, Sven Aggeson. The manuscript transmission of Sven's works is so problematic that any recurring stylistic feature that makes it possible to choose between variant readings is worthy of consideration. The result of the investigation will hopefully make it possible to place Sven in a specific school tradition of cursus. Together, the three papers reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the project, focussing on various aspects of literary and intellectual interconnectedness while seeking new ways to explore the nexus of textual links and personal networks.