ANGLO-DANISH RELATIONS IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY Introduction Early medieval Scandinavia was characterised by the outward activities of maritime communities. Raiders, traders and settlers brought Scandinavian culture to mainland Europe, the British Isles and across the North Atlantic. But the contacts were never unilateral; they took place within a larger multidimensional network of relations through which goods, people and technologies flowed back to Scandinavia. This project explores, specifically, the importance of English contacts in Denmark in the eleventh century. In this period, Denmark experienced a series of changes that included, but were not limited to: Christianisation, the introduction of supra-regional institutions and the development of towns. Common to these developments were their reliance, in part, on foreign expertise for their introduction, adoption and implementation. Through an interdisciplinary method including theories on cultural transfer and social networks this project examines the possible impact of Anglo-Danish contacts on the form and development of these changes.
hypothesis and identify the form of Christianity that he is likely to have preached and how he may have chosen to organise his Church. Periods of high Anglo-Danish interaction (e.g. the reign of Cnut the Great) are well known, as are the references to the most prominent travellers (e.g. kings and bishops) between England and Denmark. But the prosopography reveals a network of Anglo-Danish contacts spanning the whole of the eleventh century as well as several layers of society. Including the lives, careers, and connections of a larger range of people may reveal new aspects of English influences in Denmark.
Example of entry from the prosopography Name Dates Origin
Gytha (Thorkelsdóttir) fl. c.1022–1068 Danish
Status Relations
Comitissa Wife of Godwine. Sister to Ulf. Mother of Swein Godwinson, Harold Godwinson, Tostig Godwinson and Gunnhild. Aunt to Swein Estridsson.
Methods and materials The basis of the study is a prosopographic collection of references to people who travelled from England to Denmark in the eleventh century attested in the written sources (including legends and inscriptions). I would argue that any such contacts may have acted as a potential channel of cultural transfer. The movement of people was accompanied by the movement of specific cultural conceptions, technologies and materials that may have been left, used or taken on in Denmark. What was transferred and how it was adopted depended on the character of the connection; both in terms of the carrier (his status and position) and the circumstances under which something was carried. The larger part of the information for the prosopography is found in chronicles and histories of English and Continental origin as no indigenous written sources exist before the late eleventh century, and the information they provide usually takes the form of a passing mention which does not go beyond the travel itself. This imbalance in the sources leaves us with an unfortunate lack of knowledge of circumstances and events upon the arrival in Denmark. Here we rely mainly on archaeological material – the ‘things’ that travelled.
Analysis The prosopography allows us to identify channels for cultural transfer, places where influence could have taken place and, potentially, the forms it might have taken. On its most basic level this analysis can tell us that a bishop is likely to have brought Christianity; including language, liturgy and Church organisation. If we look a little closer at his place of origin, his experience and his relations we might be able to qualify this
Departed from England to Flatholme in 1067and later crossed the sea. Continued to Denmark c. 1068. She had many distinguished men’s wives with her and brought with her a great store of treasure. Sources S 1236, ASC MS. D, 1067, Orderic Vitalis, Eccl. hist., 2.224–5 References Bolton, 'English Political Refuges', Williams, ‘Godwine, earl of Wessex (d. 1053)’, ODNB.
Travel
At this point, it has been possible to identify 37 named individuals, 3 unnamed, and at least 17 groups (ranging in size from three to several hundred individuals) who travelled from England to Denmark in the course of the eleventh century. Around 115 people may be added to this list when inscriptions and coin legends are included.
On the basis of these connections it is possible to take a new look at the archaeological (and in some cases linguistic) material that testifies to cultural transfer between England and Denmark in the eleventh century in order to qualify the argument for English influence. New areas of potential English influence may be identified and previous conceptions may be challenged.
Conclusions The fragmentary nature of the material does not permit any comprehensive assessment of Anglo-Danish contacts and their impact on Denmark in the eleventh century. But it is clear that they played an important part within the larger network of diverse and multidirectional cultural contacts that characterised this period. With a focus on Anglo-Danish relations this study aims to contribute to a more coherent and detailed picture of early medieval Denmark in a Scandinavian and European context and to improve our understanding of the developments spanning and underlying the transition from the Viking period to the early Middle Ages.
Marie Bønløkke Spejlborg PhD student
Aarhus University, Denmark Department of Culture and Society
hismbs@hum.au.dk
History Department
Supervisors: Bjørn Poulsen and Søren M. Sindbæk (Aarhus University)