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IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 311: Changing Climates in Later Medieval Iceland, II

Monday 5 July 2021, 16.30-18.00

Organiser:Bernadette McCooey, Independent Scholar, Birmingham
Moderator/Chair:Bernadette McCooey, Independent Scholar, Birmingham
Paper 311-aClimate, Society, Economy, and Scholarship: Environmental Writings in Iceland, c. 1400-1700
(Language: English)
Jón Haukur Ingimundarson, Stefansson Arctic Institute, Háskólinn á Akureyri
Astrid Elisabeth Ogilvie, Stefansson Arctic Institute Akureyri Iceland
Index terms: Economics - Rural, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Social History
Paper 311-bConsequences of the Plague for Early 15th-Century Icelandic Society
(Language: English)
Yoav Tirosh, Faculty of Icelandic & Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Iceland, Reykjavík
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Demography, Law
Paper 311-cFamines in Iceland: The Early Modern Evidence versus the Medieval Evidence
(Language: English)
Árni Daníel Júlíusson, National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík
Index terms: Demography, Social History
Abstract

In Iceland, medieval characteristics continued beyond what is conventionally regarded as the medieval period. This session, the second of two, examines the changing ideological climate of later medieval scholarship about Iceland, and so fits well into the IMC's thematic scope.

The later medieval period in Iceland has been viewed as a time of hardship, and even decline. The session presentations take a fresh look at the extant sources regarding climate, environment, famines and pestilence; areas often used as providing evidence for hard times. The first paper, based on a large international project, is co-authored to reflect expertise.