TRN198H: Viking Phenomenon
TRN198H: The Viking Phenomenon: Commerce, Conflict, and Communication along Europe’s Frontiers, 7th – 15th Century
Course Description
Scholars and scientists are revising long-held ideas regarding the early medieval people popularly known as “vikings.” Until recently, most focused on their role as marauding warriors; now, researchers present more nuanced interpretations of the impact that “viking activity” had on the social, economic, and political life of early medieval Scandinavians and those with whom they came in contact. This seminar explores the “Viking Phenomenon” within and along the frontiers of early medieval Europe and reassesses the historical significance of “vikings” not only as warriors, but also as technologists, agents of commerce, explorers, pioneers, and rulers.
Seminar participants read and discuss selected historical sources and recent multidisciplinary scholarship concerning “the Viking Age” in order to better understand the activities of “vikings” and how they lived. Evaluation is based upon productive engagement in seminar discussions and four short written assignments; in addition, students will propose, compile, and submit a short annotated bibliography focusing on a topic of their choice related to the “Viking Phenomenon.”
2023-2024 Course Instructor
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Jonathan Herold BA, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; MA and PhD, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto I study pragmatic aspects of early medieval literate culture, particularly early record-keeping practices and artifacts of ephemeral, epigraphic, and numismatic writing in Northwestern Europe and the North Atlantic region. My interests focus on investigating how issues of trust were negotiated and established among people who lived and travelled along the frontiers of early medieval Europe. In addition to the “viking-themed” undergraduate seminars that I direct for Trinity College, I also teach courses on medieval European history at York University’s Glendon campus, and have conducted several continuing education workshops focusing on aspects of medieval European history and archaeology offered through the Royal Ontario Museum. My publications include contributions to Early Peoples of Britain and Ireland: an encyclopedia (ed. C. Snyder; Greenwood, 2008), Great Events in Religion: an encyclopedia of pivotal events in Religious History (A. Holt and F. Curta, eds.; ABC-CLIO, 2016), and Constructing History across the Norman Conquest: Worcester, c. 1050 – c. 1150 (F. Tinti and D. A. Woodman, eds.; Boydell and Brewer, 2022). |
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