Rituals, Performatives, and Political Order in Northern Europe, c. 650-1350
Edited by Wojtek Jezierski Edited by Lars Hermanson Edited by Hans Jacob Orning Edited by Thomas Smaberg
This multidisciplinary volume draws together contributions from history, archaeology, and the history of religion to offer an in-depth examination of political ritual and its performative and transformative potential across Continental Europe and Scandinavia. Covering the period between c. 650 and 1350, this work takes a theoretical, textual, and practical approach to the study of political ritual, and explores the connections between, and changing functions of, key rituals such as assemblies, feasts, and religious confrontations between pagans and Christians. Taking as a central premise the fact that rituals were not only successful political instruments used to create and maintain order, but were also a hazardous game in which intended strategies could fail, the papers within this volume demonstrate that the outcomes of feasts or court meetings were often highly unpredictable, and a friendly atmosphere could quickly change into a violent clash. By emphasising the conflict-ridden and unpredictable nature of ritual acts, the articles add crucial insights into the meanings, (ab)uses, and interpretations of performances in the Middle Ages. In doing so, they demonstrate that rituals, far from being mere representations of power, also constituted an important mechanism through which the political and religious order could be challenged and transformed.
- Edited by Wojtek Jezierski
- Edited by Lars Hermanson
- Edited by Hans Jacob Orning
- Edited by Thomas Smaberg
Other Titles in this Series
Medieval Ritual and Early Modern Music
The Devotional Practice of Lauda Singing in Late-Renaissance Italy
Volume 1
The Medieval Cathedral of Trondheim
Architectural and Ritual Constructions in their European Context
Volume 3
Music, Liturgy, and the Veneration of Saints of the Medieval Irish Church in a European Context
Volume 8
The Idea of the Gothic Cathedral
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Meanings of the Medieval Edifice in the Modern Period
Volume 9
Ritual and Art across the Danish Reformation
Changing Interiors of Village Churches, 1450-1600
Volume 6
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