In this paper I have tried to find out the reason the Medieval town of Vä was created. I have studied several different areas in witch all, in one way or another, have had an effect on the making of Vä. This areas includes topography, iron production, mill handling, religious effects, royal affliction and also if the name Vä could tell something about Väs history as a religious cult. I have also looked at two other places not far from Vä, the Medieval harbour town Åhus and the big village of Fjälkinge. By comparing these three places I tried to find out what Vä had that the other places did not, which made Vä turn in to a town.

This thesis rewievs present day research on the settlement of Östra Aros in central Sweden. The thesis deals with the period from late Iron age to about 1270 AD, when the Swedish archdiocese moved to the already existing early-Medieval settlement of Östra Aros, thus becoming the Medieval town of Uppsala. The basis of the thesis is the study of a variety of source materials, such as artefact studies, runestones, topography and the prehistoric and early Medieval hinterland. The thesis centers on archaeological excavation data and dating of settlement structures, particularly focusing on the settlements establishment. Through a critical review of primarily the written record and the archaeological data, the settlements characteristics and functions are discussed, emphasising when and if the settlement could be described as a town, central- or trading place..

Glimmingehus is one of the most well preserved Medieval castles in Sweden. This essay examines why it was built ? what were the intentions of the Lord, Jens Holgersen? Even though we?ll never be able to ask him, the answer to the question ?why?? can give us aninsight of how a man of his position thought in the Late Medieval time. To answer the question the castle are explored through three different angles ? the Lord of the castle and thesocial context the castle was built in, the landscape surrounding Glimmingehus ? has Jens Holgersen left any structural clues there, and finally the castle itself ? how has a potential visitor experienced Glimmingehus? The methods are greatly influenced by Gunhild Eriksdotter, who in her book Bakom fasaderna explores the possibilities of an analysis ofexperience together with an analysis of function in the archaeology of buildings.

The subject of this master level thesis in historical osteology, is a study of waste management in the Medieval town of Lund. The aims of the study is achieved through looking at the taphonomic aspects of bonefragments from the quarter Blekhagen. The study is divided in two separate sections, one that is a litterature study of what is known about waste management, and another one that contains a taphonomic and spatial analysis. Through examination of the taphonomic variables weathering, average weight and trampling and a spatial analysis, I am able to deduce that there are signs of controlled waste management in the material. It is not possible to draw any general conclusions about waste management in the Medieval town however.

The Middle Ages in contemporary time ? Salve City; a reconstruction in the Between Land is an essay dealing with the reconstruction of Medieval Kalmar. The Salve City is a melting pot of such diverse fields as archaeology, pedagogies, reconstruction, historical tourism, regional development policy et cetera. Together, these parts form a space for research and mediation, business and pleasure, a place where commercialism and historical tourism can function alongside with history enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Both pros and cons of the use of a reconstructed part of Medieval Kalmar are debated..

In February 2005, a collection predominantly containing Medieval ballads was found in the library of Växjö. The collectors were mainly George Stephens, originally from Scotland, and Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius, both active in Småland in the nineteenth century. In connection with an intital inventory of the material, Magnus Gustafsson, ethnomusicologist at Smålands Musikarkiv, marked ballads of uncertain origin with a question mark.The purpose of this essay is to investigate 22 of these marked ballads. To be able to compare them with other material we have developed a method to identify differences. By means of the method both the text and the melody are compared and in addition the differences in terms of quality and quantity are assessed.

In the Medieval ruling catholic time the church walls was swarmed with programs of pictures with religious motives there the animal figures rich symbolics was significant first and foremost for the illiterate. Principally the inspiration comes from the antiquitys pagan world of fables and bestiary Christian world of symbols with the bible as the essential source. The essay describes six of the most common animal symbols who occur; dragon, the sneak in the Paradise, mouth of hell, lion, the fox as a preacher and the devil.To attain to a discussion about why just animals are used as symbols for human characteristics in the Medieval church art instead for human beings as it's actually be about, I have studied bestiary and other literature about Medieval churchpainting to get an understanding about the history of ideas about the thoughts of the time and about symbolics of animals, worth and how the Christianity have had an influence on the pictures.I have used Johannes Rosenrods church pictures from Tensta church in Uppland from 1437 as an exemplification but also mentioned other unknown painters who used similar animal codes and motives.It's plausible that the purpose of the animal figures was both religious and political, which was used by both the spiritual and the worldly authority so they could keep their dominance over the peasant. The figures was simple to read and remember and they made a deep impression on the people together with the sermon. The churchgoer get so to speak a sound- and image experience, a Medieval reality who impress their world of ideas.When it's about the artistic formation of religious expression and characteristics it was undoubtedly a great advantage for the artists to use an animal code like a schemata.

The aim of this paper is to illuminate and discuss the political and ideological aspects of Early Medieval Nordic music. Due to shortage of sources, this issue has been overlooked until now. Did Early Medieval Nordic music meet the requirements for political and ideological use? In what ways could music potentially be used politically and ideologically? Was music used as a political and ideological tool? This is examined by a contextual analysis combining music history and historical archaeology. The survey consists of a background account, focusing on the potential of music and some requests for political use, and three case studies, where musical reflections of societal tensions is investigated in folk music lyrics, Icelandic sagas and church art.

The main purpose of this essay is to analyze the late Medieval shirt found in the cathedral of Lund. It has been preserved in the church and later on exhibited in the museum of Lunds cathedral. The most interesting thing about this shirt is probably its close connection to the secular world, as well as to the church. At first sight it appears to be a liturgical garment, it seams to be far too big for a regular, profane smock or shirt, but in a letter received by the church of Lund from Christian I of Denmark this shirt is mentioned as a chemise, or smock. The questions I aim to answer on the following pages goes, what characterizes the chemise or smock? What characterizes the mass shirt or alba? How can you use this type of analyse to examine the shirt from the cathedral of Lund?.

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.