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IMC 2017: Sessions

Session 1613: Interaction, Identity, and Space in the Irish Sea, 700-1100, II: Interactions and Spaces

Thursday 6 July 2017, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Irish Sea in the Middle Ages Research Network (ISMARN)
Organiser:Charles Insley, School of Arts, Languages & Cultures, University of Manchester
Moderator/Chair:Chris Lewis, Institute of Historical Research, University of London / Department of History, King's College London
Paper 1613-aBetween the Ribble and the Mersey: An Irish Sea Frontier Space, c. 890-950
(Language: English)
Charles Insley, School of Arts, Languages & Cultures, University of Manchester
Index terms: Administration, Charters and Diplomatics, Geography and Settlement Studies
Paper 1613-b'Misfit' Castle Forms of the Irish Sea: The Welsh Perspective
(Language: English)
Rachel Elizabeth Swallow, Independent Scholar, Altrincham
Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Geography and Settlement Studies, Local History
Paper 1613-cMapping Maritime Cultures: The Early Medieval Irish Sea Region
(Language: English)
David Griffiths, Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Computing in Medieval Studies, Geography and Settlement Studies, Maritime and Naval Studies
Abstract

These two sessions seek to show case new work on interaction in the Irish Sea during what might be termed the 'Viking Age'; this research identifies the Irish Sea itself as a central place and as a space for a range of interactions cross the period 700-1100, but also a space which was connected to a much wider world. This second session focusses on space and territorial organisation in the eastern Irish Sea zone with papers that look at: the organisation of the Mercian/Welsh/Northumbrian frontier in the early 10th century, in particular the way in which that frontier was configured reflected a rapidly shifting political landscape across the Irish Sea between 910 and 920; a discussion of the forms of castle building in the eastern Irish Sea zone in the 11th and 12th century and the extent to which so-called ‘misfit’ castle forms reflected connections and intersections around the Irish Sea littoral; a discussion of the problems and possibilities of mapping the Irish Sea world in the early Middle Ages.