The capricious roman goddess Fortune is known for her strong power to influence or even decide the destiny of humans. In ancient Rome she was considered to be a good goddess, who brought the gifts of destiny and who also was seen as a possible ally. During the Middle Ages this position changed. Fortune was given two sides, a good and friendly one and a cruel impenetrable side. She was seen as one of God´s ministers and became an expression of divine providence.My purpose with this essay is to analyse three artworks of Fortune by Giovanni Bellini, Albrecht Dürer and Master MZ, but also some texts by the renaissance humanist Niccolò Machiavelli.

In this study I compare the donor portraits on wallpaintings in Scanian churches from the 12th and the 15th century and relate them to medieval society.I find that women were equally capable of owning and donating land during the entire period. The image of the ideal woman changed during the 14th century from a married woman to the unreachable mistress of the chivalrous culture and the holy virgin. Women had a natural place beside their husbands in 12th century donor portraits, while single male donors are more frequent in the 15th century. While 12th century donors were supposed to show their position in society by offering plentiful donations directly to God, donors in the 14th century instead strived to present themselves as humble and pious. The individualisation of late medieval society meant that people had to depend on themselves to achieve salvation..

An industry in distress was the breeding ground for a noted pricing strategy, labeled name-your-price. The industry was the music industry and the pricing strategy bears reminiscence of how medieval buskers earned their living during the dark ages; by letting the customers decide how much the good was worth, embodied by a thrown coin into a hat or similar collector. Translated into the contemporary corporate environment of today, where technical innovations provides access to the intellectual property for free, a few mighty economic actors have once again turned to the strategy were it all started; letting the customer set the price. The hat has been replaced by a box for your credit card number and the live music by a MP3 file, but the similarity is striking. The business model have been applied in other industries as well with various levels of success, thus the purpose of this thesis is to set up a framework for where the name-your-price strategy is applicable.

This essay is an analysis of the objects made of bronze found in an excavation Västergarn parish, Gotland, in 2010, conducted by the University of Gotland. The studied material presented in this essay comes from contexts inside, as well as nearby the foundation of a medieval building which purpose is still not certain. The first purpose of this study is to present the bronze-objects found inside and nearby the foundation of house 6, and to see if there are any datable objects. There is also a discussion whether there has been any bronze-crafting in the area. The second purpose is to make a contextual analysis to see if there are any differences between the material found outside and inside of the building, and what conclusions can be made regarding the function and use of the building.

I have in this essay focused on the attitude towards the medieval muslims in swedish textbooks, in the subject of history from the years between 1954 and 2012. I have made an analysis on the discourse in the books and what they says about the muslims who lived before 1500 AD. The theory I have is a Postcolonial one from the authors Edward Said, Ania Loomba and Leela Gandhi. I have also analyzed the rhetorics the authors have used in every textbook. The results I have identified is that the attitude towards the muslims have changed during the years, from a generalizing view that says that the muslims were driven by the religion and that they were different from the Christian European society that existed during the same time.

This essay deals with the relationship between the mendicant movement and the urbanization during the thirteenth century. The aim has been to explore the significance of the Dominicansand the Franciscans for the creation of an urban landscape. This was made through the study of the urbanization process in southern Halland focusing on the town of Halmstad where the friars were established. The importance of the mendicants was also studied through their absence in the towns of Laholm and Falkenberg. To achieve this investigation in a contextual perspective material from different areas was used such as archaeology, history and history of science and ideas.

 AbstractThis Master?s thesis analyses the dynamics of the medieval counterweight lever engine, ortrebuchet, a type of mechanical artillery. The purpose is to study the differences between different types of these machines, and see if computer simulations can be used to validate preserved advice on construction. Simulations include machines with a fixed counterweight, a hinged counterweight and a combination of both counterweights.Due to the almost complete lack of archaeological finds and insufficient historical source material there are still, after more than a century of research, many unanswered questions concerning the design and performance of these machines.The present study is based on an analysis by Jahsman (2004). A more detailed mathematical model employing Coulomb-friction is used.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the satellite states of the former Communist bloc immediately departed on a journey towards democracy and market capitalism. Among the many tasks of the newly elected governments, one was to transform the paternalist Communist welfare state into a social system that would decrease the oversized role of the state, at the same time as protecting the citizens from the hardships ensued from the transition.I have studied the evolution of new welfare systems in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, three countries generally agreed as the most similar and most successfull transition countries of the Eastern bloc. Gøsta Esping-Andersen's prominent typology of welfare regimes, consisting of the liberal, corporatist and social democratic regime-types, has constituted the theoretical basis of the analysis. Simultaneously, applying new cases to the typology implies an element of theory testing.The study shows that 40 years of Communism and partial isolation from the West has not prevented these three countries from developing welfare states fully compatible with those of Western Europe and the Anglo-Saxon nations and that all three of them in fact fall within the scope of the corporatist regime-type..

The aim of this work is to give a broader and more nuanced picture of the use of locks and keys during the Iron Age, in particular the late Iron Age, in the Lake Mälaren region. This has been done by comparing two buildings: the hall on Helgö and the living quarters in the garrison on Birka. Here we can see two very different areas where locks and keys were important parts of the daily life. The study also includes a typology of padlocks based on the findings from the same places as the building study and their surroundings..

This essay discusses the development of swords in the southern region of Sweden, Skåne. It attempts to locate the areas in Europe where the swords were first made and, in doing so, trace the communication routes by which people traveled. The essay deals with aperiod of a few hundred years, from the late eighth century to sometime around 1300. In that sense, it is therefore also a time study tracing the cultural changes and developments in Skåne during the era of Christianization. Does the development of swords follow the overall changes in society, from an isolated pagan district to a Catholic European community, or not? In answering this question, eight swords were selected and put under closer observation.

This essay focuses on the function and development of city harbors during the middle ages in the Scanian part of Öresund. The purpose of the survey is to take a closer look at topography, development and activities on the shores in three coastal cities along the west coast of Scania. The cities that has been part of the survey are: Skanör ? Falsterbo, Malmoe and Landskrona, three cities that follows each other chronologically and that show both similarities and differences in appearance, function and urbanization.The cities of Skanör ? Falsterbo and Malmoe were important market places for the medieval Scania market with the herring fishery in focus. The cities? birth has to be looked upon in relation to these activities.

The aim of this paper is to take a critical look at retouching of medieval mural paintings inSweden. This is done by firstly examining the different methods of retouching, including thematerials used. Secondary it tries to answer the question of which intentions have guided theconservator?s decisions dealing with the retouching. The medieval mural paintings in Swedishchurches have three major functions today.

AbstractTitle: The ?Investigator? and the ?Updater? ? new patterns of news use among young adults.Number of pages: 48Author: Anna StrinnholmTutor: Amelie HössjerCourse: Media and Communications, D- levelPeriod: Fall of 2005University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to provide an description of how daily newspaper, TV, radio and the Internet are used by young adults in order to contribute to Lennar Weibulls model ?a typology of the Swedish mediasystem from an audience perspectiv?.Method/Material: The method of gathering of empirical material has been conducted by interviewing eight people of how they use daily newspapers, TV, radio and The internet to inform themselves of the daily news. The empirical material has then been analysed by applying a two step method, of first making a summary of the interviews and secondly making a comparison with a model of Lennart Weibull ?a typology of the Swedish mediasystem from an audience perspectiv? .Main results:Two different types of ideal media users can be drawn from the empirical research, the ?Investigator? and the ?Updater?. The updater search for news to stay updated and relies on the Internet as main source of information.

AbstractTitle: The ?Investigator? and the ?Updater? ? new patterns of news use among young adults.Number of pages: 48Author: Anna StrinnholmTutor: Amelie HössjerCourse: Media and Communications, D- levelPeriod: Fall of 2005University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to provide an description of how daily newspaper, TV, radio and the Internet are used by young adults in order to contribute to Lennar Weibulls model ?a typology of the Swedish mediasystem from an audience perspectiv?.Method/Material: The method of gathering of empirical material has been conducted by interviewing eight people of how they use daily newspapers, TV, radio and The internet to inform themselves of the daily news. The empirical material has then been analysed by applying a two step method, of first making a summary of the interviews and secondly making a comparison with a model of Lennart Weibull ?a typology of the Swedish mediasystem from an audience perspectiv? .Main results:Two different types of ideal media users can be drawn from the empirical research, the ?Investigator? and the ?Updater?. The updater search for news to stay updated and relies on the Internet as main source of information.

This project concerns a new lower and mid level compulsory school in the currently developing area of Annedal, northwest of central Stockholm. According to the given program, the school should hold 500 pupils and 100 pre-school children. As an addition to the given program, my suggustion holds a sports hall and a public library.In my project, my ambition has been to investigate how to create an inspiring and exiting place for kids to inhabit and, at the same time, create an activated, central place in a developing suburb. The latter has resulted in the two program-related additions, which purposes is to extend the hours during which the area is activated and to create additional incitements for visiting the building. Both additions are chosen based on lack of service in the area. Architectually, I've been inspired by the medieval castle which has been used as an inspirational resource for the parts of the school holding classrooms.