Hervik, Frode

Foto: UiB

Phone: (+47) 55 58 80 88
E-mail: frode.hervik@cms.uib.no

Project title:
From European Ideas to Scandinavian Politics: Political ideology in constitutional documents in Scandinavia in the later middle ages

Project summary:
In the end of the thirteenth century and in the first part of the fourteenth century two new types of constitutional documents came into being in Scandinavia; håndfestninger (a contract containing the king’s obligations to aristocracy, church and people) and treaties of the Scandinavian union. These were developed further throughout the fifteenth century. The historical research has mainly analyzed these documents separately on the background of the political situation in each country at the time and partly Scandinavia as a whole. Political thought and comparative analysis, according to other European countries and the development of the documents over time, have in a much lesser degree been aspects of historical research in the field. Thus, by analyzing these constitutional documents according to political thought and with a comparative perspective, it is possible to shed a new light upon the constitutional development and the European political influence in Scandinavia in the later Middle Ages. My approach is to examine political ideology in håndfestninger and treaties of the Scandinavian union in the later Middle Ages, and to do this with a comparative perspective. When ideologies come into use in practical politics, a condition is that they compare to the interests of political figures. Thus, it is also necessary to focus on the connection between political ideology and practical politics.

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