About the project
The ‘civil wars’ started around 1130 in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In Denmark they ended c. 1160, whereas in Norway and Sweden they continued until the middle of the 13th century, when strife reappeared in Denmark. In Iceland, ‘civil wars’ raged in the period 1220-1262/64. Similar conflicts occurred in other European kingdoms. In order to gain new perspectives on the ‘civil wars’ in the Nordic Middle Ages, we want to use some of the ideas and theories that have been put forward regarding the ‘civil wars’ in Europe in the Middle Ages and ‘civil wars’ fought in different places across the world in the last 50 years.
Objectives
The social elite will be the focus of our enquiry, because its members possessed the most important positions in society, and their decisions and networks affected the political development decisively. Some key questions we raises are:
- To what extent were conflicts a part of stabilizing the society?
- How strong was the rivalry within the elites affected by the introduction of new career opportunities within the royal and ecclesiastical administration?
- In what way did the conflicts under the ‘civil wars’ differ from conflict in more peaceful times?
We will adopt a cross-disciplinary and comparative perspective. By co-operating with medieval scholars working on English, French and German medieval history, we will gain a deeper understanding of how the Nordic ‘civil wars’ can be situated in a broader contemporary European context. This perspective has been almost completely lacking in earlier Nordic medieval scholarship. By involving political scientists and anthropologists working on ‘civil wars’ in a more contemporary setting, we will obtain insight into new approaches and theoretical perspectives on the nature of ‘civil wars’.
Financing
The Project is financed by The Research Council of Norway.
Cooperation
University of Gothenburg, Roskilde University, University of Copenhagen, Danish Institute for International Studies, Emory University, University of Münster, Cardiff University
Duration
September 2016 - July 2020
Events
Conflict and (dis)order
Conflict is normally associated with disorder. A society ridden by conflicts is a society in crisis. But is this necessarily so? Are all conflicts destructive? And is it possible to envisage a societal order without conflicts?
Time and place: Oct. 5, 2017 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM, Centre for Advanced Studies
This seminar will bring together scholars who have worked with conflicts in medieval and modern societies. Our goal is to illuminate and discuss the role of conflicts in a variety of settings, and to ask whether medieval and modern conflicts – and societies – share some common characteristics.
Preliminary program
Session one: Conflict and (dis)order
- Introduction by professor Jon Vidar Sigurdsson (chair)
- Professor John Comaroff, Harvard: Conflict and (dis)order among the Tswana, past and present
- Professor Gerd Althoff, Münster: Conflict and (dis)order in medieval Germany
- Discussion
Session two: What is war? What is peace? (chair professor Hans Jacob Orning)
- Professor Øyvind Østerud, Oslo: What is war?
- Ass. Professor Jenny Benham, Cardiff: What is peace?
- Discussion and summing up
Participants will have to register in advance, information about registration will be sent out later.
The Lecture Series: Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective
This series of lectures are part of the project Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective, funded by Research Council of Norway and Centre for Advanced Studies.
Conflict resolution and its discontents
By Sita Steckel, professor of history at Universität Münster and adjunct professor at University of Oslo.
Time and place: Oct. 5, 2017 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM, Centre for Advanced Studies
Steckel will talk about thirteenth-century secular-mendicant conflicts between ecclesiastical conflict settlement and public debate.
The Lecture Series: Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective
This series of lectures are part of the project Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective, funded by Research Council of Norway and Centre for Advanced Studies.
Are there “good” civil wars?
How does conflict create and destroy communities? Can conflicts play a more constructive role than we often believe?
Time and place: Oct. 5, 2017 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM, Centre for Advanced Studies
We hear about civil wars around the world on a daily basis. They cause damage and loss of lives. Some civil wars are undoubtedly very destructive, but all conflicts we call civil wars are not equally devastating. Perhaps it can be misleading to call some of them civil wars?
During this seminar, we will discuss whether there are similarities between the civil wars of the Middle Ages and today. More generally we will thematize the role of conflicts in creating and destroying communities, working from a thesis that conflicts play a more constructive role than one often believes.
The seminar is based on the research project The Nordic “Civil Wars” in the High Middle Ages in a Comparative Perspective, led by Jón Viðar Sigurðsson and Hans Jacob Orning, professors of medieval history at UiO.
Øyvind Østerud, professor of political science, UiO, and Henrik Vigh, professor of social anthropology, University of Copenhagen, will participate in the seminar, along with Hans Jacob Orning. Jón Viðar Sigurðsson will be chairman.
The Lecture Series: Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective
This series of lectures are part of the project Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective, funded by Research Council of Norway and Centre for Advanced Studies.
Open Lecture: Peacemaking in Scandinavia in the High Middle Ages
Louisa Taylor and Simon Lebouteiller present their work within the Civil War-project.
Time and place: Sep. 5, 2017 2:15 PM – 4:00 PM, P.A. Munchs hus, Seminar room 11
Lectures
- Louisa Taylor, postdoc in history, University of Oslo
- Simon Lebouteiller, Associate Prof in history, University of Oslo
- Taylor and Lebouteiller have both submitted phd-theses in 2016, on the topic of peacemaking in Scandinavia in the High Middle ages.
- Taylor on moderation and restraint among northern European elites in the Middle Ages.
- Lebouteiller on peacemaking in the Scandinavian world from the 8th to the 13th century.
They are participating in the Civil War-project, and will here present their ideas on the subject.
There will be refreshments after the presentation. Open for all.
The Lecture Series: Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective
This series of lectures are part of the project Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective, funded by Research Council of Norway and Centre for Advanced Studies.
Conflict and feud in the Middle Ages
By John Hudson, professor in legal history at the University of St. Andrews. Open for all.
Time and place: May 18, 2017 2:15 PM – 4:00 PM, Torsdag 1 P.A. Munchs building, room 11
Organizer
Professor Jon Vidar Sigurdsson and professor Hans Jacob Orning, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, UiO.
This series of lectures is part of the project: Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective, supportet by The Research Council of Norway and Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Political Advisor, Diplomat and Publicist
The roles of the royal court skald during the fight for Norwegian and Danish overlordship in eleventh-century Scandinavia. Open for all.
Time and place: Mar. 16, 2017 2:15 PM – 4:00 PM, P.A. Munchs building, room 6
By Timothy Bolton, researcher and director, Stockholm
Organizer
Professor Jon Vidar Sigurdsson and professor Hans Jacob Orning, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, UiO.
This series of lectures is part of the project: Civil Wars in a Comparative Perspective, supportet by The Research Council of Norway and Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.