En kapitalistisk anda : kulturella förändringar i 1100-talets Danmark.
(2001) In Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology 26.- Abstract
- The Early Middle Ages, comprising the period ca. 1000-1250, is usually described as a dynamic and eventful time, when many spheres of society underwent radical changes. The aim of this dissertation is to link these processes together in an overall holistic description of medieval society. The intention is thus to provide a "total historical" account of early medieval Denmark by means of a broad interdisciplinary study. Great emphasis is placed on identifying and describing the more crucial changes in Danish society. Other important questions requiring answers are when these changes took place, who initiated them, and who they affected. It is also important to clarify the causes underlying the changes. I argue a thesis involving an overall... (More)
- The Early Middle Ages, comprising the period ca. 1000-1250, is usually described as a dynamic and eventful time, when many spheres of society underwent radical changes. The aim of this dissertation is to link these processes together in an overall holistic description of medieval society. The intention is thus to provide a "total historical" account of early medieval Denmark by means of a broad interdisciplinary study. Great emphasis is placed on identifying and describing the more crucial changes in Danish society. Other important questions requiring answers are when these changes took place, who initiated them, and who they affected. It is also important to clarify the causes underlying the changes. I argue a thesis involving an overall causal explanation. This is based on the claim that a general economization of social life took place in the Early Middle Ages. By this is meant a widespread aspiration to handle the available assets and resources in a systematic way. A direct consequence of economization was an incipient capitalization. This development was based on the emergence of a capitalist spirit which influenced the way people thought and acted, and which was expressed in both spiritual and material culture.
In the dissertation these cultural changes are described in four empirically based case studies. In the chapter "A new earthly order: Homo oeconomicus and the economized landscape" it is the changes in agrarian production that are in focus. The chapter "When the town became a town: The emergence of an urban identity" deals with the towns and the urban population. The chapter "The power and the glory: The economization of political and ideological power" deals with changes in political and ideological power. Finally, the chapter "The holy scriptures: Latin and the artificial memory" deals with the emergence of a Latin written culture in Denmark in the Early Middle Ages.
The results of the case studies show that the period ca. 1075-1150 was an introductory phase of change, whereas the period ca. 1150-1250 was the time when the changes had a broader impact on society. A particularly dynamic period came in 1150-1250. A common feature that the changes show is an increased degree of individualization, privatization, and commercialization. Since economic life did not constitute an independent ideology, being instead "embedded" in a general Christian mentality, it is therefore not relevant to view the changes as the result of an emergent capitalist social system. Yet the early medieval period was full of capitalistic actions which were steered by a new form of rational economic thinking, capitalism as an economic strategy. It is therfore possible to regard this development as the emergence of a specific capitalist spirit in twelfth-century Denmark. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
1100-talet var en mycket dynamisk och händelserik tid i dansk historia. Under detta århundrade ägde en rad samhällsförändringar rum som kom att påverka de allra flesta. På landsbygden samlades bebyggelsen i byar samtidigt som jordbruket rationaliserades och naturresurserna utnyttjades mer storskaligt. I städerna utvecklades penningekonomin och en mångfacetterad varuproduktion som i sin tur ledde till förändrade konsumtionsmönster. På det ideologiska och politiska planet genomfördes ett flertal förändringar som syftade till att slutgiltigt etablera både kungamakt och kyrka som samhällsmakter. Ett redskap för denna strävan var ett tilltagande profant bruk av den latinska skriften. I avhandlingen... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
1100-talet var en mycket dynamisk och händelserik tid i dansk historia. Under detta århundrade ägde en rad samhällsförändringar rum som kom att påverka de allra flesta. På landsbygden samlades bebyggelsen i byar samtidigt som jordbruket rationaliserades och naturresurserna utnyttjades mer storskaligt. I städerna utvecklades penningekonomin och en mångfacetterad varuproduktion som i sin tur ledde till förändrade konsumtionsmönster. På det ideologiska och politiska planet genomfördes ett flertal förändringar som syftade till att slutgiltigt etablera både kungamakt och kyrka som samhällsmakter. Ett redskap för denna strävan var ett tilltagande profant bruk av den latinska skriften. I avhandlingen presenteras och beskrivs många av de omvälvande förändringar som ägde rum i Danmark under ’det långa 1100-talet’, en period som sträckte sig från ca 1075–ca 1250. Även om dessa händelser kan tyckas disparata och olikartade sätts dessa samman i en övergripande och holistiskt präglad tolkning. Det som förenar de flesta förändringar är nämligen en successiv utveckling mot ökad individualisering, privatisering och kommersialisering. Detta tyder enligt författaren på ett tidigt genomslag av kapitalismen som ekonomisk strategi. Denna utvecklades genom en växelverkan mellan idé och praxis, mellan penningekonomins vardagliga praxis där de cirkulerande mynten fick stor spridning och mångskiftande användningsområden samt den kognitiva idérörelsens nya tankar om kritisk hållning, ifrågasättande av traditionella auktoriteter och betonande av individens betydelse. Det var i dialektiken mellan dessa förändringsprocesser som grunden helt enkelt lades för ett nytt ekonomiskt tänkande och handlande. Det nya ekonomiska livssättet tog sig bl a uttryck i en ökad strävan att rationalisera den vardagliga tillvaron och att planera framtiden. Detta möjliggjordes genom ett medvetet och systematiskt hushållande med de givna tillgångarna. Hela detta förändringsskede kan beskrivas som framväxten av en specifikt kapitalistisk anda. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/20041
- author
- Carelli, Peter LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Christophersen, Axel, Trondheim
- organization
- alternative title
- A Capitalist Spirit : Cultural Changes in Twelfth-Century Denmark
- publishing date
- 2001
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Medieval history, inscriptions, Denmark, Twelfth century, cultural changes, capitalistic spirit, individualization, privatization, commercialization, mentality, material culture, agrarian production, urban identity, written culture, political & ideological power, Medeltidens historia, Archaeology, Arkeologi
- in
- Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology
- volume
- 26
- pages
- 464 pages
- publisher
- Almqvist & Wiksell International
- defense location
- Carolinasalen, Lund
- defense date
- 2001-05-18 10:15:00
- ISSN
- 0283-6874
- ISBN
- 91-22-01912-X
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ef3c34e7-c6d5-4f03-a024-5e7def730a6d (old id 20041)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:31:07
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 20:08:40
@phdthesis{ef3c34e7-c6d5-4f03-a024-5e7def730a6d,
abstract = {{The Early Middle Ages, comprising the period ca. 1000-1250, is usually described as a dynamic and eventful time, when many spheres of society underwent radical changes. The aim of this dissertation is to link these processes together in an overall holistic description of medieval society. The intention is thus to provide a "total historical" account of early medieval Denmark by means of a broad interdisciplinary study. Great emphasis is placed on identifying and describing the more crucial changes in Danish society. Other important questions requiring answers are when these changes took place, who initiated them, and who they affected. It is also important to clarify the causes underlying the changes. I argue a thesis involving an overall causal explanation. This is based on the claim that a general economization of social life took place in the Early Middle Ages. By this is meant a widespread aspiration to handle the available assets and resources in a systematic way. A direct consequence of economization was an incipient capitalization. This development was based on the emergence of a capitalist spirit which influenced the way people thought and acted, and which was expressed in both spiritual and material culture.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the dissertation these cultural changes are described in four empirically based case studies. In the chapter "A new earthly order: Homo oeconomicus and the economized landscape" it is the changes in agrarian production that are in focus. The chapter "When the town became a town: The emergence of an urban identity" deals with the towns and the urban population. The chapter "The power and the glory: The economization of political and ideological power" deals with changes in political and ideological power. Finally, the chapter "The holy scriptures: Latin and the artificial memory" deals with the emergence of a Latin written culture in Denmark in the Early Middle Ages.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The results of the case studies show that the period ca. 1075-1150 was an introductory phase of change, whereas the period ca. 1150-1250 was the time when the changes had a broader impact on society. A particularly dynamic period came in 1150-1250. A common feature that the changes show is an increased degree of individualization, privatization, and commercialization. Since economic life did not constitute an independent ideology, being instead "embedded" in a general Christian mentality, it is therefore not relevant to view the changes as the result of an emergent capitalist social system. Yet the early medieval period was full of capitalistic actions which were steered by a new form of rational economic thinking, capitalism as an economic strategy. It is therfore possible to regard this development as the emergence of a specific capitalist spirit in twelfth-century Denmark.}},
author = {{Carelli, Peter}},
isbn = {{91-22-01912-X}},
issn = {{0283-6874}},
keywords = {{Medieval history; inscriptions; Denmark; Twelfth century; cultural changes; capitalistic spirit; individualization; privatization; commercialization; mentality; material culture; agrarian production; urban identity; written culture; political & ideological power; Medeltidens historia; Archaeology; Arkeologi}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Almqvist & Wiksell International}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology}},
title = {{En kapitalistisk anda : kulturella förändringar i 1100-talets Danmark.}},
volume = {{26}},
year = {{2001}},
}