‎Wojtek Jezierski, Hans Jacob Orning, Grzegorz Pac‎
‎Legitimation of the Elites in High Medieval Poland and Norway Comparative Studies‎

‎, Brepols - Harvey Miller, 2025 Hardback, Pages: 483 pages, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:8 b/w, 34 col, 1 tables b/w., 3 maps b/w, Language:English, *new. ISBN 9782503611617.‎

Reference : 67365

‎Between the years 1000 and 1300, the two developing polities of Norway and Poland often followed similar trends. Both realms were located on what was considered the periphery of Europe, both joined Latin Christendom ? and with it, the wider sphere of European cultural influence ? at the turn of the first millennium, and both, by the end of the thirteenth century, had largely coalesced as stable kingdoms. Yet while the histories of these two countries have long been studied along national lines, it remains rarer for them to be considered outside of their traditional geographical context, and studied via comparison with events elsewhere. This innovative volume seeks to explore the means and uses of symbolic power that were employed by religiopolitical elites in order to assert their legitimacy and dominance by taking an explicitly comparative approach and dual perspective on these two polities. What stories did elites tell themselves and others about their deservedness to rule, what spaces and objects did they utilize in order to project their elevated status, and how did struggle and rivalry form part of their societal dominance? Formed from chapters co-written by experts in Polish and Norwegian history, this unique volume not only reflects on the similarities and differences between events in these two polities, but also more broadly offers conceptual tools and comparative frameworks that can enhance our wider understanding of the conditions and factors that shaped religiopolitical behaviour on the peripheries. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Editors? Preface 1. Introduction. Comparing Elite Legitimation in Poland and Norway in the High Middle Ages Wojtek Jezierski, Grzegorz Pac, and Hans Jacob Orning Part I: Stories of Legitimation 2. Ancient Pasts and Traditions as Elite Legitimation in Poland and Norway. Peripheral Senses of Belonging and Non-Belonging Grzegorz Bartusik, Rafa? Rutkowski, and Wojtek Jezierski 3. Missionary Rulers and Holy Men. Christianization as Elite Legitimization and Political Ideology in Poland and Norway, 1000?1300 Wojtek Jezierski and Roman Micha?owski 4. When the Knight Won His Spurs. Elite Military Ideology in Poland and Norway, c. 965?1300 Benjamin Allport and Pawe? ?mudzki Part II: Spaces of Legitimation 5. Sacral Strongholds. Nunneries as Sources of Legitimacy in Twelfth-Century Poland and Norway Anna Agnieszka Dryblak and Steffen Hope 6. Saints and Legitimization of Bishoprics in Poland and Norway until c. 1200 Grzegorz Pac and Steffen Hope 7. Legitimization and Consolidation of Rulership in Norway and Poland c. 990?1140 as Indicated through Coinage Mika Viktoria Boros 8. Coinage, the Cult of Saints, and the Legitimization of Elites in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Poland and Norway Steffen Hope, Mateusz Bogucki, and Svein Harald Gullbekk Part III: Struggles for Legitimation 9. The Contrast Between the Ideology and and the Practice of Rulership in Medieval Poland and Norway Zbigniew Dalewski and Hans Jacob Orning 10. Struggles for Episcopal Legitimation during the Gregorian Reform in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Norway and Poland Jerzy Pysiak and Krzysztof Skwierczy?ski 11. Dynastic Conflicts. Civil Wars or Constant Struggles? Hans Jacob Orning and Marcin Rafa? Pauk 12. Queens and Duchesses in the High Middle Ages. The Role of Elite Women in Shaping Dynastic Legitimation during Periods of Political Change Anna Agnieszka Dryblak and Benjamin Husvik Afterword 13. Is Legitimation Reducible Only to a ?Will to Power?? State Formation and Values in the Comparative History of the European Periphery during the High Middle Ages Alice Taylor General Index‎