Lars Hermanson

Friendship, Love, and Brotherhood in Medieval Northern Europe, C. 1000-1200

Hans Jacob Orning

Kim Esmark

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050-1250, Volume II explores the structures and workings of social networks within the elites of medieval Scandinavia to reveal the intricate relationship between power and status. Section one of this volume categorizes basic types of personal bonds, both vertical and horizontal, while section two charts patterns of local, regional and transnational elite networks from wide-scope, longitudinal perspectives. Finally, the third section turns to case-studies of networks in action, analyzing strategies and transactions implied by uses of social resources in specific micro-political settings. A concluding chapter discusses how social power in the North compared to wider European experiences. A wide range of sources and methodologies is applied to reveal how networks were established, maintained, and put to use – and how they transformed in processes of centralizing power and formalizing hierarchies. The engagement with and analysis of intriguing primary source material has produced a key teaching tool for instructors and essential reading for students interested in the workings of medieval Scandinavia, elite class structures, and Social and Political History more generally.

Social Networks

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050–1250, Volume II

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050-1250, Volume II explores the structures and workings of social networks within the elites of medieval Scandinavia to reveal the intricate relationship between power and status. Section one of this volume categorizes basic types of personal bonds, both vertical and horizontal, while section two charts patterns of local, regional and transnational elite networks from wide-scope, longitudinal perspectives. Finally, the third section turns to case-studies of networks in action, analyzing strategies and transactions implied by uses of social resources in specific micro-political settings. A concluding chapter discusses how social power in the North compared to wider European experiences. A wide range of sources and methodologies is applied to reveal how networks were established, maintained, and put to use - and how they transformed in processes of centralizing power and formalizing hierarchies. The engagement with and analysis of intriguing primary source material has produced a key teaching tool for instructors and essential reading for students interested in the workings of medieval Scandinavia, elite class structures, and Social and Political History more generally.

Nordic Elites in Transformation C. 1050¿1250 Volume II

I det högmedeltida Europa vilade de sociala och politiska systemen på personliga förbindelser. Det hade ännu inte utvecklats starka stater där makten var beroende av ett styrande centrum. Vänskap var alltså inte enbart en förtrolig relation mellan två personer utan ett viktigt pragmatiskt instrument för att upprätta social ordning och för att nå framgång inom det politiska spelet. I boken Bärande band diskuterar Lars Hermansson hur religiösa föreställningar och normer relaterade till uppfattningar om vänskap och kärlek. Hur påverkade dessa tankesätt de medeltida människornas sociala identitet och politiska handlande? Med exempel hämtade från 1000- och 1100-talets Nordeuropa söker författaren svar på varför vänskapen lovsjöngs hos såväl de aristokratiska krigarnas brödraskap som inom klostrens murar. Vänskapsbanden var grundpelare på vilken hela samhällsbyggnaden vilade. De symboliserade det rättfärdiga handlandet och själens förening med Gud, och hyllades som såväl politiskt som andligt ideal. Lars Hermanson driver därför tesen att de politiska och andliga aspekterna på fenomenet vänskap inte kan åtskiljas i två olika sfärer, det vore helt främmande för medeltida tänkande

vänskap, kärlek och brödraskap i det medeltida Nordeuropa, ca 1000-1200

Bärande band

In this book Lars Hermanson discusses how religious beliefs and norms steered attitudes to friendship and love, and how these ways of thinking also affected people’s social identity and political action behaviour in medieval Northern Europe, c. 1000-1200.

Lars Hermanson

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