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Book (editor)2014

Medeltida storgårdar : 15 uppsatser om ett tvärvetenskapligt forskningsproblem


Karsvall, Olof (ed.); Jupiter, Kristofer (ed.)

Abstract

This book explores an old complex of issues that has attracted new attention in Swedish historical research: To what extent was rural settlement organised under storgårdar, or (approximately) manorial demesnes? What did medieval agriculture look like? What settlement structures characterised the agricultural landscape and what regional differences existed? In what ways did Sweden resemble or differ from other countries? In the 1950s and 1960s, several empirical studies were undertaken which gave rise to new hypotheses about settlement in the Middle Ages. The questions surrounding manorial demesnes remain topical today, but are being considered from new angles and using new methods. This volume summarises the present state of knowledge in fifteen free-standing chapters, written by authors active in various disciplines, including history, historical geography, archaeology, agrarian history and onomastics. With its coverage of a number of different fields of research, the book paints a broad picture of the issues surrounding storgårdar, demonstrating the importance of interdisciplinary research projects. Medieval society is difficult to study, making it necessary to use a range of sources and methods: traces in the landscape, rune stones and other archaeological remains, written sources, place-names, historical maps and so on. This book draws attention to methodological possibilities and difficulties when it comes to identifying medieval manorial demesnes and their significance in the society of that period. Examples of such settlement structures are analysed - larger settlements that have been identified archaeologically and in written sources.

Published in

Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi
2014, number: 131
Publisher: Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur