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Research project The Nordic Countries and the Medieval Expansion of Europe: New Interpretations of a Common Past hosted by the NCMS studies the expansion of Western Christendom to the Scandinavian countries and Estonia during the Middle Ages and its socio-political implications by focusing on
- the ecclesiastic and religious culture
- relationship between orality and literacy
- bureaucratic techniques and law
- scholastic learning
- the introduction of writing and the Latin language
- theological and chivalrous literature in the context of social change and elite formation.
The main goal of the research project is to overcome the strong national division within Nordic medieval research and exploit and develop collaborately the insights gained from more than 150 years of research in each particular country by systematic comparisons between Scandinavian countries and by placing the whole area in general European context. The project is divided in three thematic teams: state, religion and culture.
The culture team is concentrating on the interaction between orality and literacy and the construction of the past through following research questions
- routes of books, scribes, scripts and textual traditions in the early phase of Nordic scribal culture
- interaction between Latin and vernacular languages
- processes of legitimising the new Christian religion, administrative structures and jurisdiction; interaction between literate secular clergy with carriers of oral traditions
- construction of the Christian and pagan past in medieval vernacular and Latin poetry, hagiography and historical writing.
Organisation
Research group (culture team)
Leaders:
Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen, Finnish Literature Society
Lars Boje Mortensen, the University of Southern Denmark
Group members:
Pertti Anttonen, University of Helsinki
Veikko Anttonen, University of Turku
Aidan Conti, CMS, Bergen
Lauri Harvilahti, the Finnish Literature Society
Tuomas Heikkilä, University of Helsinki
Henrik Janson, University of Gothenburg
Irma-Riitta Järvinen, the Finnish Literature Society
Linda Kaljundi, University of Helsinki
Else Mundal, CMS, Bergen
Slavica Rankovic, CMS, Bergen
Ingmar Söhrman, University of Gothenburg
Leif Söndergaard, University of Southern Denmark
Senni Timonen, the Finnish Literature Society
Auslaug Åmmundsen, CMS, Bergen
Jonas Wellendorf, CMS, Bergen
Research project is carried out by the Nordic Centre for Medieval Studies (NCMS), based on a group of medievalists, historians, folklorists, saga scholars and philologists from the University of Gothenburg, the Finnish Literature Society, Helsinki, universities of Helsinki, Turku and Tampere, Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS), Bergen and the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense.
Scientific Advisory Board:
Professor Marianna Kalinke, University of Illinois
Professor Patrick J. Geary, UCLA
Professor Hans-Werner Goetz, Universität Hamburg
Financier(s): Nordforsk 2005-2010
Enquiries:
Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen, p. +358 (0)201 131 200, tuomas.lehtonen
Ilona Pikkanen, coordinator (culture team), p. +358 (0)201 131 201, ilona.pikkanen
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culture team´s activities
annual reports
publications
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tutkimus
