Beyond the Border. The aristocratic mobility between the kingdoms of Portugal and León (1157- 1230)

Alfonso IX of León

During the reigns of Fernando II and Alfonso IX, the kingdom of León became home to several Portuguese aristocrats. Their relations with the Galician and Leonese nobility helped them create many cross-border ties and a powerful network of family-based relationships which heavily influenced the course of the main political conflicts of this period.

Enemy and Ancestor: Viking Identities and Ethnic Boundaries in England and Normandy, c.950 – c.1015

The Bayeux Tapestry and the Vikings

This thesis is a comparison of ethnicity in Viking Age England and Normandy. It focuses on the period c.950-c.1015, which begins several generations after the initial Scandinavian settlements in both regions.

White Croatia and the arrival of the Croats: an interpretation of Constantine Porphyrogenitus on the oldest Dalmatian history

Constantine_VII_Porphyrogenitus

The article examines Constantine Porphyrogenitus’ (913–59) witness on the arrival of the Croats in Dalmatia during the seventh century. The emperor’s narrative proposes a migration from a land called White Croatia, located somewhere in central Europe, and a battle with the Avars in order to secure their new territory.

Scandinavia and the Huns: an Interdisciplinary Approach to the Migration Era

Hunnish -Set of Horse Trappings

The aim of this paper is to discuss the early Migration period as a particular period of ‘short term history’ and its formative impact on the Scandinavian longue duree in the first millenium.

Climatic Change and the North Atlantic Seaways During the Norse Expansion

Norsemen_Landing_in_Iceland - Eyrbiggia-Saga

In order to appreciate how the Norse expansion might have been influenced by climatic fluctuations it is necessary to consider in outline the mechanisms which control weather and climate in the North Atlantic area at the present day, and which also obtained in the past.

Bjarmaland and interaction in the North of Europe from the Viking Age until the Early Middle Ages

Bjarmaland

This article intends to look at interaction in the very north of early medi- eval Europe with Bjarmaland as a starting point. After a short introduction to sources and historiography about Bjarmaland, the main content of the sources will be shortly discussed in order to establish what kind of informa- tion the written sources have to offer.

Why There May Have Been Contacts between Slovenes and Jews before 1000 A.D.

Picture of Medieval Jews

The first documented evidence of a Jewish presence in Slovenia dates from the 13th century, when Yiddish- and Italian-speaking Jews migrated south from Austria to Maribor and Celje, and east from Italy into Ljubljana. This is a good three centuries after the first mention of Jews in the Austrian lands.

Dark Age Migrations and Subjective Ethnicity: The Example of the Lombards

The Dark Ages

This study is an attempt to clarify the functions and structure of the Volker- wanderungen. Peoples or warrior-bands? The basic problem is that small warrior bands as well as big migrations of peoples are characterized in the same way by the classical and early medieval writers: they used tribal names.

The Gypsies and Their Impact on Fifteenth-Century Western European Iconography

Late 15th century depiction of Gypsies

Since Gypsies had no chroniclers of their own, their history is difficult to reconstruct. The origin of the Gypsies was a complete mystery until late in the eighteenth century, when their derivation from India was proved by means of early linguistic com- parison.

Immigration and Identity in the Middle Ages : French Immigrants to Constantinople and Greece in the Thirteenth Century

Medieval Market

Immigration and Identity in the Middle Ages : French Immigrants to Constantinople and Greece in the Thirteenth Century Erica Jo Gilles Bulletin du centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre, Vol. 10 (2006) Abstract After capturing Constantinople in 1204, the Fourth Crusaders established several states in former Byzantine territory. Starting from the captured imperial center, westerners moved into […]

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