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IMC 2017: Sessions

Session 1740: The Other Look at Early Medieval Societies: The Phenomenon of Militarisation, III - Using Early Medieval Weapons

Thursday 6 July 2017, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Fritz Thyssen Stiftung, Köln
Organisers:Guido M. Berndt, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Laury Sarti, Historisches Seminar, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Moderator/Chair:Christopher Heath, Department of History, University of Manchester
Paper 1740-aMartiality and beyond
(Language: English)
Guido M. Berndt, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Historiography - Medieval, Military History
Paper 1740-bThe Social Meaning of Weapon Burials in Early Medieval Italy
(Language: English)
Irene Barbiera, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Geografiche e dell’Antichità, Università degli Studi di Padova
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Archaeology - Sites, Military History
Paper 1740-cThe Military Force and Weapons of the Gepids in Light of the Written and Archaeological Sources
(Language: English)
Attila P. Kiss, Department of Archaeology, University of Pécs
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Historiography - Medieval, Military History
Paper 1740-dFight for Your Right!: Using Weapons as Legal Remedies in Carolingian Europe
(Language: English)
Daniel Föller, Exzellenzcluster 'Die Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen', Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main
Index terms: Law, Military History
Abstract

Although early medieval societies underwent a continual process of militarisation, this is a subject that only recently has come into the focus of modern research. These sessions collect papers dealing with different aspects of this phenomenon by using regional case studies as well as subject-related approaches. This third session explores the uses and significance of weapons. Paper (-a) focusses on historiographical and archaeological sources on Lombard armament, while paper (-b) looks at the role of weapon depositions in defining social roles like masculinity, age at death, and rank. Paper (-c) explores the example of the Gepids to argue that weapons represented warrior status, age, and financial and family situation, whereas paper (-d) discusses the use of weapons in Carolingian judicial conflicts.