Course content

This course provides an in-depth understanding of selected topics from Nordic history from c. 800 to 1550. The Nordic region is understood as the present-day Norden and adjoining regions with strong connections to the Norden in the Middle Ages, e.g. the former Norse communities in the British Isles, the North-German duchies and the Hanse towns. The course premise is that the Nordic region can be understood as one separate region with common political, social and cultural characteristics in the Middle Ages. Special Nordic phenomena and institutions as, e.g. the Viking Age expansion, the cult of St Olaf, inter-Scandinavian politics and the foreign trade from the coast of Norway and the Baltic Sea, will be observed and analysed in order to identify essential differences and similarities between the Nordic countries and landscapes in the Middle Ages. The political development covers the period from the formation of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in the Early Middle Ages to the attempts at creating a unified Nordic region in the later Middle Ages. The region's history is viewed against a broader European background. Although it is possible to emphasise the special features of the political, religious, social and cultural developments in the Nordic region, these developments were influenced by concurring European processes, e.g. emerging commercialisation, state development, plague epidemics and religious reform. Hence, the course aims at uncovering the distinctly Nordic against the general European background. Examples of topics examined in this course include:

• The political, religious and cultural consequences of the Viking Age expansion
• The Scandinavian kingdoms' consolidation and further development in the High Middle Ages.
• The influence of European courtly life on Nordic elite culture.
• Nordic unification in the Late Middle Ages
• The Church as administrative, political and cultural actor and its role as a European connection.
• Inter-Scandinavian politics
• From resource crisis or growth in the Early and High Middle Ages to crisis and recovery in the Late Middle Ages.

The course will introduce theoretical and methodological questions relevant for the given topic. The topics on offer will vary from each academic year depending on the department's teaching resources as well as the lecturer's field of expertise and current research focus.

Information on topics for the academic year is found under studies on the webpage for the department with academic responsibility.

Learning outcome

A candidate who passes this course is expected to have the following learning outcome

Knowledge

The candidate is expected to have attained

• in-depth knowledge of the most important developments within the specific field and historical period the course focuses on
• a thematic understanding providing a special knowledge within the field the course focuses on
• a deeper understanding of historiography, theory and method within the specific field the course focuses on
• develop a solid understanding of the different methods and perspectives used by historians.

Skills

The candidate is expected to be able to

• reason, argue and orient on chosen topics within the courses theme
• discuss the meaning of medieval history as a field of scholarly inquiry and education
• reflect orally and in writing on how different sources, theories and methods can be used to acquire an understanding of the specific field

Learning methods and activities

Lectures and/or seminars. Written assignment

Compulsory assignments

• Assignment

Recommended previous knowledge

HIST1300/1350

Required previous knowledge

None

Course materials

See curriculum published at the start of the semester, and other materials (reading and lecture lists and other relevant information) published on Blackboard.

Credit reductions