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Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen as Vølv © Jens Lyngvild

Women in the Viking World

Imagining women’s lives and ways of thinking in another world is complicated. How do we transgress the barriers of our own cultural predispositions? These questions were recently explored at a conference focusing on “Women in the Viking World”.

How should we imagine the lives of Viking women? And in what way – if any – did their lives change with the introduction of Christianity? Did the conversion entail limitations? Or did it create new possibilities for women in terms of equality? For instance, concerning intellectual possibilities inside religious communities?

These questions have been debated in the last 40 years, since the seminal book published by Judith Jesch in 1991, which was based on her research in the 1980s.

In recent years, however, a new archaeological focus has been observed in Viking Studies research on women. This trend took off in 2013, with Gardela’s initial work on “warrior-women” culminating in his book published in 2021. His work followed the footsteps of the research published in 2017, which led to the 2019 publication in Antiquity on reassessing the Viking Warrior women in the Birka grave BJ. 581.

During the summer of 2024, scholars and graduate students gathered in Liverpool in the UK to take stock, exploring questions of identity, gender, status, migrations, settlements, emotions and consciousness, as well as the lived experience as evidenced by archaeology and anthropology.
One conclusion was that “age” appeared more critical than “gender” when mapping status as witnessed by grave goods. However, assemblies of grave goods did indeed signal gender. Another venue explored was based on studies of women’s histories as witnessed in Runic Stones, not least the story of the Danish Queen Thyra, which Danish archaeologists and runologists have recently studied. Following this, the question of how to avoid cultural myopia, for instance, when identifying male rods as “spires” or “sceptres” signalling juridic power as opposed to female rods, which are habitually identified as staffs, signalling otherworldly or religious capabilities.

Finally, the conference explored new ways of reading the Icelandic Corpus of texts to grasp women’s emotional and political realities when dealing with the everyday experience of making a living. One particular effort was represented by papers exploring the normative systems and the space allotted for emotional and practical transgressions in these texts.

“If the conference aimed to provide an arena for the exchange of ideas between disciplines about recent and currently ongoing research projects within Viking Studies, it was most definitely a success. The presenters showed the relevance of prioritizing the study of the women in the Viking world, both in their lived experiences, as evidenced by the archaeological studies, and in the literary representation and depiction of women. Whether this divide itself is possible to bridge cannot be resolved so easily, and the conference hopefully spurs further attempts to engender clarifying research into these areas”, writes Kim Bergqvist from Stockholm University in a fine overview of the conference in a recent issue of Scandia.

PHOTO:

Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, current minister for Cultur & Church posing as “Vølve”.  The Photo was taken as part of series of ten portraits by the artist Jens Lyngvild as part of an exhibition at Køge Museum , Vølver, Guld og Guder / © Jens Lyngvild

SOURCE:

Women in the Viking World. Conference report from the University of Liverpool (27. – 28. August 2024)
Ed by Kim Bergquist
In: Scandia. Journal of Medieval Norse Studies (2024) No 7

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Cover Women in the Viking Age_ Cover women and weapons gardela
 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover valkyrie women of the Viking World Cover the real Valkyrie Cover the Norse Sorceror

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Odin from Lejre? Freya? Or Völva?

The Völva – The Norse Sorceress

Magic Viking Staffs

Dedication scene from the Armorial of Gilles Le Bouvier

The Observations of Gilles le Bouvier

Gilles le Bouvier (1386 -1455) was the senior herald to the French king, Charles VII. In his lifetime he wote a geographical treatise based on his travels. New English edition offers a fascinating view of Europe in the beginning of the 15th century

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Medieval Women Poster

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words

Encounter the women of medieval Europe through their own words, visions and experiences, in an exhibition like no other.

From the courage of Joan of Arc at her trial for heresy, and the visionary experiences of Julian of Norwich, to the artistry of the London silkwoman Alice Claver, the work of female medical practitioners, and the struggles of female rulers like Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, this exhibition explores the challenges, achievements and daily lives of women in Europe from 1100 to 1500. It will tell the history of medieval women through their own words and uncover their lives through manuscripts, documents and artefacts.

Discover the rich and complex lives of women in the Middle Ages, with over 140 extraordinary items that reveal their artistry, resourcefulness, courage and struggles. Tickets are on sale now.

Must-see highlights include:

  • The Book of the Queen by Christine de Pizan: The first professional woman author in Europe
  • Sibylle of Flanders’ 12th-century ivory cross: Owned by Sibylle, countess of Flanders, who went on Crusade to the Holy Land
  • A silk textile made in al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), where Muslim women labourers were fundamental to the silk industry
  • Julian of Norwich’s The Revelations of Divine Love: the first work in English definitely authored by a woman
  • A 15th-century birthing girdle: a manuscript inscribed with prayers and charms that was used for protection during childbirth
  • Battel Hall retable, a rare surviving painting from a medieval English nunnery
  • On Women’s Cosmetics: a recipe book likely to have been composed in Southern Italy in the 12th century with recipes for hair dye remover, face creams and breath freshener
  • A lion skull that possibly came from a pet lion of Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England.

Break free from traditional narratives and encounter personalities both famous and forgotten who tell the story of medieval womanhood. And discover stories familiar to women today, from the gender pay gap and harmful stereotypes, to access to healthcare and education, as well as challenges faced by female leaders.

Hear the words of medieval women from across the centuries, speaking powerfully for the thousands whose voices have not surfaced as yet – and likely never will.

Digitisation of Charters and Manuscripts

As part of the run-up to the exhibition, the British Library has also been digitising a significant number of their charters and rolls relating to Medieval and Renaissance Women (218 charters at the last count and 25 rolls). They will make a separate announcement when all of these are online — many of them already are. However, the British Library is still working to compensate for the hacking, which took place last year. The new collection ads to the 93 manuscripts earlier digitsed, offering a substantial help to scholars and other interested in exploring the rich collections in the BL pertaining to women and gender studies.

VISIT:

Medieval Women: In their Own Voice.
The British Library, London
25.10.2+24 – 02.03.2024

READ MORE:

The Nature of Medieval Women

 

Medieval and Renaissance Women in the British Library

Bishop Braulio and isidore of Seville from: Meister des Codex 167, Kloster Einsideln. Source: Wikipedia

Isidore of Seville

Isidore of Seville was a renowned scholar, theologian, and archbishop who lived in Visigothic Iberia from around AD 560 to 636. He had a profound influence on education and scholarship in Medieval Europe.

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Natural history of plague © schousboe

The Natural History of Plague

Recent studies of aDNA have yielded new and important information concerning the natural and clinical history of plague. A new comprehensive review offers an up-to-date history

The plague is caused by a zoonotic bacterium, Yersinia pestis. First isolated in 1894, it was identified as the cause of the Hong Kong Epidemic. Later, in the 20th century, the same bacteria were shown to have caused the Black Death. Recently – due to studies of the aDNA – Yersina pestis have also been shown to have caused the Justinian plague as well as very recently epidemic events in prehistory 2800 BC. Also – which the article does not refer to – the discovery of the likely role of a plague epidemic following in the footsteps of the Yamnaia.

During its natural history, the pathogen has undergone numerous mutations at different rates, transforming it from a variant of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis to more or less virulent Yersinia Pestis, traditionally divided into three bio-variations termed the Antiqua, the Medievalis, and the Orientalis – named after three major epidemics, the Justinian Plague, The Black Death, and the Hong Kong epidemic. The three variants may still be found in reservoirs in respectively Central Asia, Siberia and Russia (the Antiqua), Central Asia (the Black Death), and China (Orientalis). However, the biotypes intermingled – also historically. To this should be added the knowledge, that the bacterium mutated while the different waves of an epidemic played out.

Transmission

Transmission to humans from carriers typically happens via flea bites, but it can also follow through direct contact with infected animals for instance by handling or eating them, or by inhaling aerosols from patients. Modern incidents tell of infections from squirrels, but also via predators infected from carcasses (Pumas in Yellowstone). Plague comes in three forms – bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. While people can survive bubonic plague, the septicemic and pneumonic forms are 90-100% deadly.

Yersinia Pestis is a highly virulent pathogen known to infect over 200 different mammals. Of these, more than 351 species of rodents can act as hosts, and 279 have been identified as plague carriers. Thus, the former focus among historians on the rat as the main vector would seem to be excessive. Marmots may have played a significant role in the northern parts of Europe, causing the epidemics known as the Sylvatic or (wild) plagues spreading among groundhogs, great gerbils, squirrels, prairie dogs, rabbits, and water voles. Although human contact may at first sight be expected to be rare, hunters and trappers in Siberia and further west into Scandinavia, would historically be daily exposed, thus explaining the heavy toll that the Black Death also had in secluded spots in Norway and Sweden (as well as during the Justinian plague in Bavaria). Today, the so-called wet markets in China and Asia are not just potential petri dishes for viruses like Covid but also plagues.

As opposed to the Sylvatic plagues, the Urban form is epidemic and relies on rats as the hosts and fleas as the vectors. However, the epidemic character of the urban plague has also to do with the fact that written documentation describes them as such. As opposed to this, the sylvatic form is only known from archaeology and paleo-genomics, leading to a more confused impression, such as the puzzlement forged by the pattern of infections and mortality in Norway (with no particular black rat population in the interior, see Benedictow).

Exactly how lethal the different plagues hit, has been debated. Currently, though, the opinion is that the plagues hit hard, albeit at different levels in different regions and types of settled areas, ranging – during the Black Death – between 30 – 50% with averages of 45%. The recurrent infections also raise questions which need to be addressed in the future. As is known, the Black Death was not just a one-off epidemic hitting Europe harshly between 1348-51. For at least 350 years, outbreaks continued. Were they sourced in natural reservoirs? Or did they take place due to the constant mutations of the bacterium and its ability to bypass the developing immune system of people?

One particular element to be considered in the future (and which the review does not consider) will be the interplay between climate deterioration and the four great plagues. The plague victims discovered in graves from 3000-2800 BC, played out during the so-called neolithic decline when a unique combination of solar activity, cosmic rays and decentering of the geomagnetic fields took place. This might be compared to the chronological correspondence between the volcanic-forced LALIA AD 536-41 and the Justinian plague. Finally, the climatic downturn took in the later Middle Ages, which ultimately leading to the Little Ice Age coincided with the eruption of the Black Death. The mechanism appears to be the increase in the number of rodents seeking food and shelter at times of famine. Also, less favourable climatic conditions may cause rodent populations to collapse, forcing the fleas to migrate to other mammals; that is people.

SOURCES:

The Natural and Clinical History of Plague: From the Ancient
Pandemics to Modern Insights
Antoni Bennasar-Figueras
In: Microorganisms, January 2024. Open Source

Yersinia pestis: the natural history of plague.
By Barbieri, r., Drancourt, M. et al.
In Clinical Microbiology Rev 34:e00044-19

READ ALSO:

Emergence and Spread of Basal Lineages of Yersina pestis during the Neolithic Decline
By Nicolas Rascovan, Karl-Goöran Sjögren, Kristian Kristiansen, Rasmus Nielsen, Eske Willerslev, Christelle Desnues, Simon Rasmussen
In: Cell 2019, vol 176, pp 295 – 305

Head of a youngster or female from Manuscript in the Universitätsbibliothek Klagenfurt: Signatur PA 109

Millstatt Abbey and its Library

Millstatt was founded c 800 by the Duke of Carinthia, who built the first church after he allegedly destroyed one thousand pagan statues by throwing them into the lake. A later Abbey housed a significant collection of texts in high medieval German literature

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Golden Torques © Medieval Histories

Identities in Galicia in Antiquity

People are increasingly obsessed with their "identity" and the process of "othering". The question, though, is: who is in charge of the labelling? People themselves? Or their surroundings? Archaeology in Galicia has a story to tell

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Four horsemen in the Apocalypse of St Sever Beatus. Source: Bnf/wikipdiea / open domain

Is the Environment a Weapon?

War belongs to a handful of crises such as environmental disasters, extreme climatic events, epidemies, and hunger. New book tells the story of the interplay

… the obstacles that made me fail did not come from men; they all came from the elements. In the south, the sea has been my undoing; in the north, the burning of Moscow and the cold of winter. Thus water, air, and fire, all of Nature, nothing but Nature-these have been the enemies of a universal regeneration which Nature herself demanded!
Napoleon Bonaparte, in exile on St. Helena, 1816 (Quoted by Charles Travis)

Environment as weapon - coverEnvironment as a Weapon
By Charles Travis
Springer Verlag 2024

The book “Environment as a Weapon” considers how the confluence of war and nature from the time of the Agricultural Revolution (10,000 BCE) to our present day has been represented in works of history, geography, and literature. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Torah,  Greco-Roman myths, and the New Testament, warfare is a trope commensurate with environmental disasters, extreme climate, and plague.

One of the more pregnant vignettes of this may be found in the motiv of the Four Apocalyptic Horsemen. However, other stories sets the scene for similar horrors. To name but a few, the Táin and Beowulf environments become allies and enemies in the Middle Ages. Somewhat later, the equestrian steppe is considered as the foundation of Genghis Khan’s Pax Mongolica, and is chronicled in The Secret History of the Mongols and The Travels of Marco Polo. The West African Griot legend of Sundiata and the Little Ice Age wreck of the Spanish Armada in 1588 speak to oceanic and atmospheric dimensions of warfare. Further up in history, the motiv become even more pronounced. Thus, during the American Revolution political pamphlets, poetry, diaries and weather logs reflect the severe weather and terrain deployed by George Washington’s early campaigns in the War of Independence. Napoleon’s midwifing of Total War is captured in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and Charles Minard’s carto-graph, Carte Figurative of the disastrous 1812 French invasion of Russia. The U.S. Civil War and the industrial-organic assemblages of its battles, arguably the first Anthropocene War, are parsed by the clarifying poetry of Emily Dickinson. Geopolitik and geo-hazards of flood and fire feature in the Global War works of Samuel Beckett, Kurt Vonnegut, and James Dickey. The literature of Vietnamese and American war combat veterans reveals how North Vietnam’s Environmental Military Complex stalled the American Military Industrial Complex in the jungles, and R&R districts of southwestern Asia. Finally, the sci-fi of H.G. Wells’ World Set Free and David Mitchell’s Cloud-Atlas frame Oppenheimer’s sub-atomic deployments at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, James Lovelock’s “Gaia,” and U.S. military discourses situating global warming as a national security threat to America.

Indeed, Environment as a Weapon ironically resonates with U.N. Secretary General António Guterres proclamation that “Seventy-five years ago, when the world emerged from a series of cataclysmic events: two successive world wars, genocide, a devastating influenza pandemic, our founders gathered in San Francisco promising to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” And yet, there we are once again, witnessing the environmental horrors which followed in the wake of the destruction of the Kakhovske Dam.

Thus, a holistic approach to studying and mitigating the human and environmental impacts of warfare would benefit from integrating approaches in the arts, humanities, and sciences, to better understand how the historical geographies of the Earth’s planetary systems have been perceived and deployed. Seemingly in the twenty-first century, these systems have emerged as agents of warfare, with the lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere transforming into the Earth’s arsenals to combat anthropogenic climate change. Geographers, historians, and scholars in environmental studies, climate change, literature, and military studies, as well as the broader environmental humanities will find this book of interest as humanity grapples with the wicked and existential question of global warming. Medieval historians of warfare may enjoy the geographer battling with Beowulf and the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

About the Author:

Charles Bartlett Travis IV, Professor at University of Texas-Arlington, Arlington, USA

Featured Photo:

Four horsemen in the Apocalypse of St Sever Beatus from the 11th century. Source: Bnf/wikipedia/open domain

 

Tournament. © Jenna Goodwin 71183546 Dreamstime

Which warhorse would you shop for if you were a Medieval knight?

Which horse would you prefer if you were a Medieval knight? A Jaguar, Volvo or Mercedes?

If your car was a horse, which one would you prefer to ride if you belonged to the Medieval elite? And why? This question is answered by a new archaeological analysis of an animal cemetery in London discovered thirty years ago. Not a locally produced, it appears. Newly published results from an archaeological analysis show how late medieval and Tudor elites imported superior animals to the UK for jousting and as status symbols.

Using advanced archaeological science techniques, including studying chemical composition, researchers have been able to identify the likely origins of several physically elite horses and the routes they took to reach British shores during the formative years of their life.

These animals – akin to modern supercars – were sourced from a variety of locations across Europe specifically for their height and strength and imported for use in jousting tournaments and as status symbols of 14th- to 16th-century life. They include three of the tallest animals known from late medieval England, standing up to 1.6 metres or 15.3 hands high, which while quite small by modern standards would have been very impressive for their day.

The skeletons of the horses were recovered from a site under the modern-day Elverton Street in the City of Westminster, which was excavated in advance of building works in the 1990s. In medieval times, the cemetery would have been located outside the walled City of London but was close to the royal palace complex at Westminster.
The research, led by the University of Exeter, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is published in the latest edition of Science Advances.

“The chemical signatures we measured in the horse’s teeth are highly distinctive and very different to anything we would expect to see in a horse that grew up in the UK,” said Dr Alex Pryor, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and lead researcher. “These results provide direct and unprecedented evidence for a variety of horse movement and trading practices in the Middle Ages. Representatives for the King and other medieval London elites were scouring horse trading markets across Europe seeking out the best quality horses they could find and bringing them to London. It’s quite possible that the horses were ridden in the jousting contests we know were held in Westminster, close to where the horses were buried.”

Strontium Analysis

Curb bit from the beginning of the 16th century, France. © The Metropolitan Museum. Open Domain
Curb bit from the beginning of the 16th century, France. © The Metropolitan Museum. Open Domain

In the first experiment of its kind to be conducted on medieval horse remains, the researchers took 22 molar teeth from 15 individual animals and drilled out portions of the enamel for isotope analysis. By measuring isotope ratios of the elements strontium, oxygen and carbon present within the teeth and comparing the results with known ranges in different geographies, the team was able to identify the potential origin of each horse — and accurately rule out others, including prime European horse-breeding centres such as Spain and southern Italy.

The scientists writes that at least half of the horses had diverse international origins, possibly Scandinavia, the Alps and other northern and eastern European locations. The results, the researchers conclude, were consistent with the breeding patterns of royal stud farms, where horses would reside until their second or third year, before they would either be broken and trained or sent elsewhere to be sold.

Physical analysis of the teeth revealed wear suggestive of heavy use of a curb bit, often employed with elite animals, especially those groomed for war and tournaments after the 14th century. Bit wear on two of the mares also suggested they were used under saddle or in harness and for breeding. And analysis of the skeletons revealed many of them to be well above average size, with several instances of fused lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae indicative of a life of riding and hard work.

“The finest medieval horses were like modern supercars — inordinately expensive and finely tuned vehicles that proclaimed their owner’s status,” added Professor Oliver Creighton, a medieval specialist at the University of Exeter and part of the research team. “And at Elverton Street, our research team seem to have found evidence for horses used in jousting – the sport of kings, in which riders showcased their fighting skills and horsemanship on elite mounts.

“The new findings provide a tangible archaeological signature of this trade, emphasising its international scale. It is apparent that the medieval London elite were explicitly targeting the highest quality horses they could find at a European scale.”

Horses from Esrum in Denmark?

Christian David Gebauer: Drawing of a "Frederiksborger" 1805. The horse is depicted in the grassland next to the royal forest. The Castle may be seen in the back. Source: Wikipedia
Christian David Gebauer: Drawing of a “Frederiksborger” 1805. The horse is depicted in the grassland next to the royal forest. The Castle may be seen in the back. Source: Wikipedia

Some of the horses excavated in London may have come from the famous stud farm at Esrum in Northern Zeeland in Denmark. 

In the Middle Ages, Esrum was famous for its horses, bred on a mixture of Frisian horses and imported horses from Andalusia providing a combination of muscle and speed. This stud farm was a major income for the Cistercians at Esrum, who achieved special permission in 1184 to breed and sell their horses if the income was sent to Citeux in France, from where it was redistributed to newer and less wealthy monasteries. After the Reformation, the King took over Esrum Monastery and its stud and moved it to Frederiksborg. Here, the ancient breeding of the “Frederiksborger” is still carried out. We know, the export of horses played a large role in the Danish economy in the Middle Ages. 

If some of the horses in London were Danish, they might have arrived as gifts from the Danish King, Erik of Pommerania, who was married to an English Princess, Phillipa in 1405. Part of her trusseaux consisted of two wagons and eight equestrian harnesses and saddles, but no horses. Apparently, even if she had a favourite pony, she might be expected to be provided for properly at her arrival in Denmark. Why bring candy to the chocolate factory?

FEATURED PHOTO:

Tournament. © Jenna Goodwin 71183546 Dreamstime

SOURCE:

Press release from University of Exeter: Original written by Andrew Merrington.

RESEARCH:

Isotopic biographies reveal horse rearing and trading networks in medieval London.
By Alexander J. E. Pryor, Carly Ameen, Robert Liddiard, Gary Baker, Katherine S. Kanne, J. Andy Milton, Christopher D. Standish, Bastian Hambach, Ludovic Orlando, Lorelei Chauvey, Stephanie Schiavinato, Laure Calvière-Tonasso, Gaetan Tressières, Stefanie Wagner, John Southon, Beth Shapiro, Alan Pipe, Oliver H. Creighton, Alan K. Outram.
In: Science Advances, 2024; 10 (12) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj5782

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The Medieval Warhorse Cover

Horse trade in tudor cover

The Medieval Warhorse

 

 

Entree of Charles VII to Rouen. © BnF Bibliothèque nationale de France, NAF 4811, fol. 70v.

Charles VII, King of France 1422-61

The French king, Charles VII is known for his long reign and his success in ending the Hundred years' War. But he also presided over the gradual employment of numerous bourgeois jurists and merchants paving the road for the shift from charismatic to bureaucratic leadership. 

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