1.
Medieval Latin
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Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors, medieval Latin should not be confused with Ecclesiastical Latin. There is no consensus on the exact boundary where Late Latin ends. Medieval Latin had a vocabulary, which freely borrowed from other sources. Greek provided much of the vocabulary of Christianity. The various Germanic languages spoken by the Germanic tribes, who invaded southern Europe, were major sources of new words. Germanic leaders became the rulers of parts of the Roman Empire that they conquered, other more ordinary words were replaced by coinages from Vulgar Latin or Germanic sources because the classical words had fallen into disuse. Latin was also spread to such as Ireland and Germany. Works written in the lands, where Latin was a language with no relation to the local vernacular, also influenced the vocabulary. English words like abstract, subject, communicate, matter, probable, the high point of the development of medieval Latin as a literary language came with the Carolingian renaissance, a rebirth of learning kindled under the patronage of Charlemagne, king of the Franks. On the other hand, strictly speaking there was no form of medieval Latin. Every Latin author in the period spoke Latin as a second language, with varying degrees of fluency, and syntax, grammar. For instance, rather than following the classical Latin practice of placing the verb at the end. Unlike classical Latin, where esse was the auxiliary verb, medieval Latin writers might use habere as an auxiliary, similar to constructions in Germanic. The accusative and infinitive construction in classical Latin was often replaced by a clause introduced by quod or quia. This is almost identical, for example, to the use of que in similar constructions in French. In every age from the late 8th century onwards, there were learned writers who were familiar enough with classical syntax to be aware that these forms and usages were wrong, however the use of quod to introduce subordinate clauses was especially pervasive and is found at all levels. That resulted in two features of Medieval Latin compared with Classical Latin. First, many attempted to show off their knowledge of Classical Latin by using rare or archaic constructions
2.
Adam of Bremen
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Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles. He is believed to have come from Meissen in Saxony, the dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he was probably born before 1050 and died on 12 October of an unknown year. From his chronicles it is apparent that he was familiar with a number of authors, the honorary name of Magister Adam shows that he had passed through all the stages of a higher education. It is probable that he was taught at the Magdeburger Domschule, in 1066 or 1067 he was invited by archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg to join the Church of Bremen. Adam was accepted among the capitulars of Bremen, and by 1069 he appeared as director of the cathedrals school, soon thereafter he began to write the history of Bremen/Hamburg and of the northern lands in his Gesta. His position and the activity of the church of Bremen allowed him to gather information on the history. A stay at the court of Svend Estridson gave him the opportunity to find information about the history and geography of Denmark, among other things he wrote about in Scandinavia, includes the sailing passages across Øresund such as todays Elsinore to Helsingborg route Chłopacka Hanna, Adam Bremeński. Literature by and about Adam of Bremen in the German National Library catalogue Adamus Bremensis, repertorium Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages
3.
Northern Europe
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Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. However, narrower definitions may also be used based on geographical factors, such as climate. Greenland, geographically a part of North America, is politically a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, while Northern Europe overlaps with most of Northwestern Europe, north-Central Europe, and Northeastern Europe, it does not border Southern Europe. Countries which are central-western, central-central, or central-eastern are generally considered part of neither Northern Europe or Southern Europe. Historically, when Europe was dominated by the Mediterranean region, everything not near this sea was termed Northern Europe, including southern Germany, all of the Low Countries and this meaning is still used today in some contexts, such as in discussions of the Northern Renaissance. In medieval times, the term Thule was used to mean a place in the extreme northern reaches of the continent. The region has a south west extreme of around 50 degrees north, the entire regions climate is mildly affected by the Gulf Stream. From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates, in the north and central climates are generally subarctic or Arctic and to the east climates are mostly subarctic and temperate/continental. With the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, Northern European countries are known for harsh winters with temperatures reaching as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius in some parts. Countries in Northern Europe have large, developed economies and some of the highest standards of living in the world and they often score highly on surveys measuring quality of life, such as the Human Development Index
4.
Norse colonization of North America
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The Norse colonization of North America began as early as the 10th century AD when Norsemen explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic including the northeastern fringes of North America. Viking houses were found at L’Anse aux Meadows near the tip of Newfoundland in 1960. This discovery aided the reignition of archaeological exploration for the Vikings in the north Atlantic, the Norse colony in Greenland lasted for almost 500 years. Continental North American settlements were small and did not develop into permanent colonies, while voyages, for example to collect timber, are likely to have occurred for some time, there is no evidence of any lasting Norse settlements on mainland North America. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, Norsemen from Iceland first settled Greenland in the 980s, Erik the Red, having been banished from Iceland for manslaughter, allegedly explored the uninhabited southwestern coast of Greenland during the three years of his banishment. The inner reaches of one long fjord, named Eiriksfjord after him, was where he established his estate Brattahlid. He issued tracts of land to his followers, at its peak the colony consisted of two settlements. The Eastern was at the tip of Greenland, while the Western Settlement was about 500 km up the west coast. A smaller settlement near the Eastern Settlement is sometimes considered the Middle Settlement, the combined population was around 2, 000–3,000. At least 400 farms have been identified by archaeologists, Norse Greenland had a bishopric and exported walrus ivory, furs, rope, sheep, whale or seal blubber, live animals such as polar bears, and cattle hides. In 1126, the population requested a Bishop, and in 1261 and they continued to have their own law and became almost completely independent after 1349, the time of the Black Death. In 1380, the Norwegian Kingdom entered into a union with the Kingdom of Denmark. There is evidence of Norse trade with the natives, the Norse would have encountered both Native Americans and the Thule, the ancestors of the Inuit. The Dorset had withdrawn from Greenland before the Norse settlement of the island, a small ivory statue that appears to represent a European has also been found among the ruins of an Inuit community house. The colony began to decline in the 14th century, the Western Settlement was abandoned around 1350, and the last bishop at Garðar died in 1377. After a marriage was recorded in 1408, no written records mention the settlers and it is probable that the Eastern Settlement was defunct by the late 15th century. The most recent radiocarbon date found in Norse settlements as of 2002 was 1430, several theories have been advanced to explain the decline. In addition, Greenlandic ivory may have been supplanted in European markets by cheaper ivory from Africa, despite the loss of contact with the Greenlanders, the Norwegian-Danish crown continued to consider Greenland a possession
5.
Viking Age
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The Viking Age is the period from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation and conquest. Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier, the Viking devastation of Northumbrias Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York, who wrote, Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared. Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. The chronicles of medieval England portrayed them as rapacious wolves among sheep, the first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached a readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britains Viking past, linguistics traced the Viking-Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled more Victorians to read the Icelandic Sagas, the Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly pagans from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland, Greenland and their North Germanic language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a central authority appears to have been established in Jutland. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries, communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway, the sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war, the North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers and explorers as well as plunderers. There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions, for people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, the Franks, however, had well-defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor, a reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron, or a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide. Although another cause could well have been caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence, There is ongoing debate among scholars as to why the Scandinavians began to expand during the 8th through 11th centuries
6.
Willehad
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Willehad or Willihad, c.745 AD –8 November 789 AD) was a Christian missionary and the Bishop of Bremen from 787 AD. Willehad was born in Northumbria and probably received his education at York under Ecgbert, at an assembly in Paderborn in 777, Saxony was divided into missionary zones. The zone between the Weser and the Elbe, called Wigmodia, was given to Willehad, from 780 he preached in the region of the lower Weser River on commission from Charlemagne. He barely escaped with his life when the Frisians wanted to him as well. Once again he and his fellow missionaries barely escaped with their lives when the local pagans wanted to kill them for destroying some temples, finally, in 780, Charlemagne sent him to evangelize the Saxons. He preached to them for two years but, in 782, the Saxons under Widukind, rebelled against Charlemagne and Willehad was forced to flee to Frisia and he took the opportunity to travel to Rome where he reported to Pope Adrian I on his work. Upon his return from Rome, Willehad retired for a time to the monastery of Echternach and he spent two years there reassembling his missionary team. After Charlemagnes conquest of the Saxons, Willehad preached in the region about the lower Elbe, in 787 Willehad was consecrated bishop, and that part of Saxony and Friesland about the mouth of the Weser assigned him for his diocese. He chose as his see the city of Bremen, which is mentioned for the first time in documents of 782, praised for its beauty by Anschar, it was dedicated in 789. Willehad died in Blexen upon Weser, today a part of Nordenham and he is buried in the citys cathedral, which he consecrated shortly before his death on 8 November 789. Anschar compiled a life of Willehad, and the preface which he wrote was considered a masterpiece for that age, in 860, a sick girl from Wege travelled to his grave. There, she was cured by a miracle. This was the first time the village was mentioned in any historical documents. The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, 751–987, Willehad 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England Saint of the Day, November 8, Willehad of Bremen at SaintPatrickDC. org Willehad at Patron Saints Index Bishopric of Bremen
7.
Adalbert of Bremen
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Adalbert was Archbishop of Hamburg and Bishop of Bremen from 1043 until his death. Called Vikar des Nordens, he was an important political figure of the Holy Roman Empire, papal legate, and one of the regents for Emperor Henry IV. Adalbert was possibly born at Goseck Castle in Hassegau, Saxony, the son of Count Frederick of Goseck, who served as Saxon Count palatine from 1038, after his fathers death in 1042, his office was assumed by Adalberts elder brothers Dedo and Frederick II. Having accompanied the Emperor Henry III on a campaign in 1045. Adam of Bremen rumours Adalbert to have refused a candidacy as pope, resulting in the election of Clement II, the whole discussion was cut short by the death of both Pope and Emperor. Subsequently, Adalbert lost his hold on the court. However, Adalbert gained control of Henrys education, eventually superseding Anno in his confidence and esteem and he died at Goslar in 1072
8.
Archbishopric of Bremen
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The Archdiocese of Bremen is a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state, named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire. The prince-archbishopric consisted of about a third of the diocesan territory, the city of Bremen was de facto and de jure not part of the prince-archbishopric but belonged to the archdiocese. Most of the prince-archbishopric lay rather in the area to the north of the city of Bremen, between the Weser and Elbe rivers, even more confusingly, parts of the prince-archbishopric belonged in religious respect to the neighbouring diocese of Verden, making up 10% of its diocesan territory. Verden itself had a double identity too—as the diocese of Verden, each prince-bishopric had the status of an Imperial Estate, each of which were represented in the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1500 on the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen belonged to the Saxon Circle, the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, on the other hand, belonged to the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle and sent its own representative to the Diet. Even when the two prince-bishoprics were ruled in union, in order to maintain the two seats in the Diet they were never formally united in a real union. The same is true for the collectively governed Duchies of Bremen and Verden which emerged in 1648 from the secularised two prince-bishoprics and these forgeries have drawn a veil before the early history of the Hamburg-Bremen. The foundation of the diocese belongs to the period of the activity of Willehad on the lower Weser. The diocese was conceivably at that time a suffragan of the archbishops of Cologne, when, after the death of Bishop Leuderich, the see was given to Ansgar, it lost its independence, and from that time on was permanently united with the Archdiocese of Hamburg. The new combined see was regarded as the headquarters for work in the Nordic countries. Ansgars successor, Rimbert, the apostle of the north, was troubled by onslaughts first by Normans and then by Wends. Sergius prohibited the chapter at Hamburgs Concathedral to found suffragan dioceses of its own, after the Obodrite destruction of Hamburg in 983 the Hamburg chapter was dispersed. So Archbishop Unwan appointed a new chapter with twelve canons, with three taken from Bremen Cathedral chapter, and the three colleges of Bücken, Harsefeld and Ramelsloh. The see of Hamburg-Bremen attained its greatest prosperity and later had its deepest troubles under Archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg and he was after Hamburg-Bremens upgrade to the rank of a Patriarchate of the North and failed completely. Hamburg stopped being used as part of the diocese’s name, the next two archbishops, Liemar and Humbert, were determined opponents of Pope Gregory VII. At the stripping of the Duchy of Saxony in 1180 all of these suffragan bishops achieved for parts of their territories the status of imperially immediate prince-bishoprics. The Bishopric of Livonia was a suffragan of Bremen in the years 1186-1255, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and his allies, many of them vassals and former supporters of his paternal cousin Duke Henry III, the Lion, had defeated the Duke of Saxony and Bavaria. In 1180 Frederick I Barbarossa stripped Henry the Lion of his duchies, in 1168 the Saxon clan of the Ascanians, allies of Frederick I Barbarossa, had failed to install their family member Count Siegfried of Anhalt, on the see of Bremen
9.
Christianization of Scandinavia
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The Christianization of Scandinavia took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Scandinavia proper, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly to the Pope, in 1104,1154 and 1164, respectively. The conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian people required more time, the Sami remained unconverted until the 18th century. Although the Scandinavians became nominally Christian, it took longer for actual Christian beliefs to establish themselves among the people. The old indigenous traditions that had provided security and structure were challenged by ideas that were unfamiliar, such as sin, the Incarnation. Thirteenth-century runic inscriptions from the merchant town of Bergen in Norway show little Christian influence, during the early Middle Ages the papacy had not yet manifested itself as the central Roman Catholic authority, so that regional variants of Christianity could develop. Recorded missionary efforts in Denmark started with Willibrord, Apostle to the Frisians, who preached in Schleswig and he went north from Frisia sometime between 710 and 718 during the reign of King Ongendus. Willibrord and his companions had little success, the king was respectful but had no interest in changing his beliefs, agantyr did permit 30 young men to return to Frisia with Willibrord. Perhaps Willibrords intent was to them and recruit some of them to join his efforts to bring Christianity to the Danes. A century later Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims and Willerich, later Bishop of Bremen and he returned to Denmark twice to proselytize but without any recorded success. In 826, the King of Jutland Harald Klak was forced to flee from Denmark by Horik I, Harald went to Emperor Louis I of Germany to seek help getting his lands in Jutland back. Louis I offered to make Harald Duke of Frisia if he would give up the old gods, Harald agreed, and his family and the 400 Danes with him were baptized in Ingelheim am Rhein. When Harald returned to Jutland, Emperor Louis and Ebbo of Rheims assigned the monk Ansgar to accompany Harald, when Harald Klak was forced from Denmark by King Horik I again, Ansgar left Denmark and focused his efforts on the Swedes. Ansgar traveled to Birka in 829 and established a small Christian community there and his most important convert was Herigar, described as a prefect of the town and a counselor to the king. In 831 the Archdiocese of Hamburg was founded and assigned responsibility for proselytizing Scandinavia, Horik I sacked Hamburg in 845 where Ansgar had become the archbishop. The seat of the archdiocese was transferred to Bremen, in the same year there was a pagan uprising in Birka that resulted in the martyrdom of Nithard and forced the resident missionary Bishop Gautbert to flee. Ansgar returned to Birka in 854 and Denmark in 860 to reestablish some of the gains of his first visits, in Denmark he won over the trust of then-King Horik II who gave him land in Hedeby for the first Christian chapel. A second church was founded a few years later in Ribe on Denmarks west coast, a significant step in this direction was the foundation of an archbishopric for the whole of Scandinavia at Lund in 1103-04
