IMC 2013: Sessions

Session 806: Law, Violence, and Social Bonds, IV: Places of Power: Location and the Exercise of Authority

Sponsor:	St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Organiser:	Matthew McHaffie, School of History, University of St Andrews
Moderator/Chair:	Warren Brown, Faculty of Humanities, California Institute of Technology
Paper 806-a	Faithful, Good, and Wise: The Role of the Community in Creating, Maintaining, and Policing Land Grants, 11th-13th-Century Britain (Language: English) Linsey F. Hunter, Independent Scholar, Stonehaven Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Law, Social History
Paper 806-b	One Ring to Rule Them All: The Symbolic Geography of Later-Viking Age Warfare (Language: English) Tom J. T. Williams, British Museum, London Index terms: Geography and Settlement Studies, Military History, Pagan Religions, Political Thought
Abstract	Location could be just as important as the time and the manner of rituals and statements of authority. Whether inaugurating kings, emperors, or popes in traditional seats of power or doing homage to a local noble or clergyman, the site of the action could weigh heavily on the acceptance of its legitimacy by those present and the population at large. The importance of place will be discussed throughout this session with the intention of highlighting the impact of the environment on claims to authority and power.