sverre bagge

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Norwegian historian on medieval history

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Papers by sverre bagge

Cross & scepter: the rise of the Scandinavian kingdoms from the Vikings to the Reformation

Choice Reviews Online, 2014

Aims and Means in the Inter‐Nordic Conflicts 1302–1319

Scandinavian Journal of History, 2007

... A negative attitude to the dukes is also expressed in the survey of Danish and Swedish histor... more

God's Scribe: The Historiographical Art of Galbert of Bruges (review)

The Catholic Historical Review, 2003

Anne A. Latowsky, Emperor of the World: Charlemagne and the Construction of Imperial Authority, 800-1229

Cahiers De Civilisation Medievale, Sep 1, 2020

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Tronfølge og borgerkrig i Skandinavia i middelalderen

Collegium medievale: interdisciplinary journal of medieval research, 2019

The article discusses the decline in regicide and conflicts over the succession in Scandinavia fr... more The article discusses the decline in regicide and conflicts over the succession in Scandinavia from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, expressed in the contrast between 22 cases of regicide before 1200 and one after. Whereas this development has often been regarded as a symptom of more fundamental social change, it is here largely regarded as the real cause: new rules for the succession made conflict less likely. Nevertheless, rules are not sufficient in themselves, they have to be respected, which to some extent will be the result of social change. The transition to peaceful succession according to clear rules is then traced through three stages: (1) hereditary kingship in which all descendants of a king have equal rights without any central institution to choose between them, (2) reduction of the number of heirs with priority for the previous king's eldest legitimate sons, combined with a reduction of the number of institutions involved in the election and (3) similar rules as in 2, combined with one, central elective institution, the council of the realm, which expresses the consolidation of the aristocracy around the king. Ther kom konungin gangande nidher, stirnande öghom, hardla vreder. «Minnes ider nakot aff Hatuna leek? Fulgörla minnes han mik!» 1 Nyköpings gjestebud er det mest velkjente og dramatiske eksempelet på tronstrid i Skandinavia i middelalderen, og den anonyme forfatteren av Erikskrönikan gjør også sitt beste -og det sier ikke så lite -for å få episoden til å fremstå i all sin gru. Kong 1 «Der kom kongen gående nedover/ med stirrende øyne, full av vrede:/ Minnes dere noe av Håtuna lek?/ Jeg minnes den helt og fullt» (Erikskrönikan, 157).

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Social and Geographic Mobility in Medieval Norway

European Review, Apr 28, 2020

The kings' travel patterns in thirteenth-century Norway raise the question of the relationship be... more The kings' travel patterns in thirteenth-century Norway raise the question of the relationship between geographic and social mobility. A clearer social hierarchy would reduce the king's need for travelling and the introduction of permanent and professional administrators would mean that these people would visit the king rather than vice versa. Moreover, the king did not travel exclusively for political reasons, but also for hunting and other entertainments and on pilgrimages. The changes in this field form a significant part of the development of European monarchy.

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Nature and society in the King`s mirror

Arkiv för nordisk filologi, 1994

Naturerkenntnis und politiches Handeln im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1967); W. Stürner, Natur und Ge... more Naturerkenntnis und politiches Handeln im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1967); W. Stürner, Natur und Gesellschaft im Denken des Hoch-und Spätmittelalters (Stuttgart, 1975)-See also the very important and thorough investigation o f one particular aspect of the connection between nature and society, the analogy between the state and the human body, by T. Struve, Die Entwicklung der organologischen Staatsauffassung im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1978). John o f Salisbury's use of this analogy has been further analysed by M. Kerner, "Natur und Gesellschaft bei Johannes von Salisbury'1, Miscellanea Medievalia 12.1 (Berlin, 1979), pp. 179-202. 2 The attitude of traditional German historiography is expressed in the extremely unfavourable reviews by E. Pitz, Historische Zeitschrift 209 (1969), pp. 390-94 (on Nitschke) and J. Ehlers, Historische Zeitschrift 225 (1977), pp. 690-gi (on Stürner). 3 This applies above all to works on the Twelfth Century Renaissance, e.g. W. Berges, Die Fürstenspiegel des hohen und späten Mittelalters, Monumenta Germaniae Historica.

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Carlos Steel, John Marenbon, and Werner Verbeke, eds.,Paganism in the Middle Ages: Threat and Fascination. (Mediaevalia Lovaniensia, Series 1, Studia 43.) Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2012. Paper. Pp. xiii, 250; 4 black-and-white figures. €59.50. ISBN: 978-90-5867-933-8

Speculum, 2015

«När sägen och dikt sopats bort …» Den weibullske kildekritikk etter 100 år

Historisk tidsskrift, 2014

Autour des rois germaniques et leur historiographie (Xe-XIIe s.)

Cahiers De Civilisation Medievale, 2008

Caractères et fondements du pouvoir en Norvège au Moyen Âge

L’article présente les points de vue qui divisent les historiens norvégiens sur le partage du pou... more L’article présente les points de vue qui divisent les historiens norvégiens sur le partage du pouvoir en Norvège au haut Moyen Âge (ca 1100-1300). La tradition libérale du xixe siècle regardait l’émergence du royaume et le développement d’un gouvernement placé sous l’autorité du roi comme une réponse à l’intérêt général, notamment à celui des paysans. En revanche, la tradition marxiste de la première moitié du xixe siècle regardait cette évolution principalement comme le résultat d’un déficit croissant des terres qui favorisa les grands propriétaires fonciers – l’Église et l’aristocratie laïque –, lesquels utilisèrent l’État pour protéger leurs intérêts aux dépens des paysans. Les vues des historiens de la seconde moitié du xxe siècle ont été considérées comme une réaction à la vision marxiste et reprirent quelque peu celle du xixe siècle, bien que les opinions soient toujours très divisées. La présente contribution se situe dans une voie médiane entre ces deux points de vue. Reconnaissant l’importance des recherches considérables que les historiens influencés par l’école marxiste ont entreprises sur les conditions agraires, l’auteur accepte leurs conclusions sur le rôle joué par la concentration des terres entre les mains de quelques-uns et par la richesse croissante des grands propriétaires dans la formation de l’État. D’un autre côté, il attire l’attention sur une certaine convergence des intérêts du pouvoir royal et ceux des paysans, issue du fait que le roi avait besoin de leurs aptitudes militaires et leur offait en retour justice et protection. Avant tout, l’auteur insiste sur les aspects culturels, religieux et symboliques, négligés jusqu’à présent par les historiens, de la formation de l’État : ils ont été le plus clairement exprimés à travers les nombreuses donations de terres effectuées en faveur de l’Église, qui résultaient de la croyance au paradis, à l’enfer et au purgatoire.This paper addresses the discussion among Norwegian historians about the division of power in the country in the High Middle Ages (c. 1100–1300). The liberal tradition of the nineteenth century regarded the emergence of the kingdom and the expansion of governmental power under the king’s leadership as in the general interest of the population, notably the peasants. By contrast, the Marxist tradition from the first half of the twentieth century regarded it mainly as the result of increasing shortage of land which favoured the great landowners, i. e. the Church and the lay aristocracy, who used the state to protect their interests at the cost of the peasants. The second half of the twentieth century has seen a reaction against the Marxist view and some return to that of the nineteenth century, although opinions are still greatly divided. The present contribution strikes a middle way between these two views. Acknowledging the importance of the extensive research on agrarian conditions conducted by historians influenced by the Marxist school, it accepts this school’s conclusions about the importance of the concentration of land in fewer hands and the increased wealth of the great landowners in the formation of the state. On the other hand, it also points to a certain community of interest between the royal government and the peasants, expressed in the fact that the king needed the peasants as warriors and gave justice and protection in return. Above all, it is pointed out that historians have hitherto neglected the cultural, religious and symbolic aspects of state formation, which are most clearly expressed in the great amount of land given to the Church as the result of belief in heaven, hell and purgatory

Division and Unity in Medieval Norway

Europa tar form : år 300 til 1300

Old Norse Theories of Society. From RígsÞula til konungs skuggsiá

publishedVersio

Theodoricus Monachus: The Kingdom of Norway and the History of Salvation

Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, 2011

History, Archaeology and Cultural Comparison

European Review, 2020

Ian Morris’s Why the West Rules – for Now (2010) is a brilliant book, dealing with Eurasian histo... more Ian Morris’s Why the West Rules – for Now (2010) is a brilliant book, dealing with Eurasian history from the first civilisations to the present. It takes an intermediate position in the famous debate about Europe and the rest of the world and European dominance during the last few centuries. Morris uses all kinds of sources. However, his general approach is staunchly materialistic: the motors of history are fear, sloth and greed. Cultural differences do exist, but can be explained by the former factors. This is an attitude not confined to archaeologists, nor necessarily shared by all of them, but may nevertheless have something to do with Morris’s background in this field. One objection is that Morris may have underestimated the importance of institutional factors; he does not discuss the division of Europe into separate states, which has often been regarded as a central factor in ‘the Rise of the West’. This in turn raises the question of the ‘two hand-maidens’ and their relationsh...

The Scandinavian Election Charters in the Later Middle Ages

Des chartes aux constitutions, 2019

When Rudolf of Swabia was elected to replace Henry IV as king of Germany in 1077, a number of nob... more When Rudolf of Swabia was elected to replace Henry IV as king of Germany in 1077, a number of nobles approached him, demanding specific promises or privileges. The papal legate who was present rejected this: Rudolf was to be the king of all; it was therefore sufficient that he promised to act justly towards everybody. To an ecclesiastic belonging to the Gregorian Reform Movement, precise conditions for receiving an office would seem close to simony. Nevertheless, although the legate apparentl..

State Formation in Europe, 843–1789

State Formation in Europe, 843–1789, 2019

The Old Norse Kings’ Sagas and European Latin Historiography

The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2016

In this way, W. P. Ker highlights the radical differences between the sagas and Latin contemporar... more In this way, W. P. Ker highlights the radical differences between the sagas and Latin contemporary literature, in accordance with scholarly opinion of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Ker’s perspective was in turn connected to the idea put forward by the Norwegian Historical School (Munch and Keyser) in the mid-nineteenth century that the sagas were based on oral tradition and contained trustworthy information about events in the distant past. this idea often had a background in the various national revivals of the nineteenth century, according to which the sagas formed part of a Scandinavian, Norwegian, or Icelandic heritage. the understanding of the sagas as products of oral tradition was gradually weakened during the second half of the nineteenth century, before being rejected in its entirety by Lauritz Weibull in 1911.2 According to Weibull, the sagas, far from representing oral tradition, were in fact literary products that reflected their time of composition and were consequently useless as source material for events that had occurred several hundred years earlier. Weibull was mainly concerned with the use of the sagas as historical sources; but he also referred to literary loans as a way of explaining the origins of certain episodes in the sagas that had previously been understood as deriving from oral evidence. the rejection of the idea of an oral origin for the sagas provided scope for scholars to attempt to trace literary influence from abroad. One ex-

Kings' Sagas and Norwegian History (review)

Jegp Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2013

present Old Norse myths within the context of the conversion of the Scandinavians to Christianity... more present Old Norse myths within the context of the conversion of the Scandinavians to Christianity. Each of these ideas has been the subject of a considerable scholarly literature, both older and more recent, but Dronke makes only sporadic attempts to locate her interpretations within recent scholarly dialogues on these subjects. Regrettably, Ursula Dronke died on 8 March 2012, after this review had been written. Margaret Clunies Ross University of Sydney