The Medieval Household - Daily Life in Castles and Farmsteads: Scandinavian Examples in their European Context (The Medieval Countryside)

With the contribution of Emma Bentz. Recent archaeological excavations in Scandinavia provide us with a fascinating insight into the household and its function as a social focus for people of different medieval social estates. This book investigates four excavated Swedish sites - the castles of Saxholmen and Edsholm, and the rural settlements of Skramle and Skinnerud - in order to juxtapose the daily life of nobles and peasants. The author argues that the practices of everyday life revealed by these sites offer new insights into social traditions, mentalities, and cultural patterns. In particular, she asserts that notwithstanding the huge social gulf between the peasantry and the nobility in medieval Scandinavia, the two social groups shared some fundamental experiences which point to a common cultural milieu. In turn, the author uses daily life as a prism for addressing the formation of common European cultural traits during the medieval period by comparing these excavations with material from comparable sites in Central and Western Europe. By means of this comparison, the author questions the degree to which we may talk about a process of 'Europeanization' taking place in this era. "Recent archaeological excavations in Scandinavia provide us with a fascinating insight into the household and its function as a social focus for people of different medieval social estates. This book investigates four excavated Swedish sites -- the castles of Saxholmen and Edsholm, and the rural settlements of Skramle and Skinnerud - in order to juxtapose the daily life of nobles and peasants. The author argues that the practices of everyday life revealed by these sites offer new insights into social traditions, mentalities, and cultural patterns. In particular, she asserts that notwithstanding the huge social gulf between the peasantry and nobility in medieval Scandinavia, the two social groups shared some fundamental experiences which point to a common cultural milieu. In turn, the author uses daily life as a prism for addressing the formation of common European cultural traits during the medieval period by comparing these excavations with material from comparable sites in Central and Western Europe. By means of this comparison, the author questions the degree to which we may talk about a process of 'Europeanization' taking place in this era."--BOOK JACKET List of Illustrations vii Preface xv Part I. Introducing Everyday Life in Castles and Farmsteads Background 3 Everyday Life 5 Social Collective 18 'Europeanization' 43 Starting Point 48 Part II. Landscape and Settlements Landscape and Sites 55 Dalby (Skinnerud) – the Landscape of Outland Use 61 Gunnarskog (Skramle) – a Mixed Landscape 97 Saxholmen – Myth and Reality 119 Edsholm – the History of a Bailiwick, Bailiffs, and Revolt 138 Different Landscapes and Dwellings 148 Part III. Artefacts, People, and Space Introducing the Method 153 Artefacts in Categories and on the Distribution Maps 159 From Handicraft to Popular Belief in Farmstead, Hamlet, and Castle 260 Structures, Strategies, and Changes 267 People, Households, and Spaces 271 Part IV. In Other Parts of Europe Comparing Everyday Life 277 Rural Settlements 283 Castles 307 Comparing Rural Settlements and Castles 327 In the Shadow of a European Cultural Heritage? 339 Part V. Summing Up Human Practice Everyday Life, Households, and the Social Collective 347 Everyday Life in Practice 349 New Behaviour, Old Habits 355 The Construction and Reproduction of Social Identities 358 Bibliography 361