Raymond Van Dam

Bio: Raymond Van Dam is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Monarchy & Bishops. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 95 citations.

Merovingian Gaul and the Frankish conquests

Abstract: From the later third century, Germans whom the literary sources called Franks had joined with other barbarians to challenge Roman rule in Gaul. This chapter acknowledges the importance of the Bishop Gregory's extensive writings in the discussions of the formation of Frankish kingdoms, the working of kingship, the roles of aristocrats and bishops, and the limits of Merovingian rule. The kingdom in north-eastern Gaul was sometimes known simply as 'Francia'. It also came to be known as Austria or Austrasia. Although by the fifth century Orthodox Christianity provided a dominant world-view among the Roman population in Gaul, as the Franks expanded into Gaul they nevertheless retained their pagan cults, and even into the sixth century they continued to worship at pagan shrines, especially in northern Gaul. In the kingdom of Austrasia various combinations of Frankish aristocrats, Roman aristocrats and bishops competed for influence at the royal court.

Money and Its Use in Medieval Europe.

Abstract: This is a full-scale study of the history of money, not merely of coinage, to have been written for medieval Europe. The book is not limited to one country, or to any one period or theme, but extracts the most important elements for the historian across the broadest possible canvas. Its scope extends from the mining of precious metals on the one hand, to banking, including the use of cheques and bills of exchange, on the other. Chapters are arranged chronologically, rather than regionally or thematically, and offer a detailed picture of the many and changing roles played by money, in all its forms, in all parts of Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Thus money is seen as having differing values for differing parts of individual societies. The book shows money moving and changing as a result of war and trade and other political, economic and ecclesiastical activities without regard for national barriers or the supposed separation between 'East' and 'West'.

History and the Historians of Medieval Spain

Abstract: Abbreviations Philip II and Hermenegild III Toledo and its legacy King Wamba and XII Toledo The chronicle of Alfonso III The reign of Ordono II: from Oviedo to Leon Leon and Castile in the eleventh century The reconquest of Toledo 1085 1147 Toledo and the political fragmentation of the peninsula Toledo after 1182 The history of Spain according to De rebus Hispaniae D. Rodrigo and D. Lucas The later thirteenth century Yet again the coronation of 1135 Toledo after 1295 Alvarus Pelagius his Speculum regum The chronicle of Alfonso XI and its author Epilogue Bibliography Index.

Ancient landscapes and the dead: the reuse of prehistoric and Roman monuments as early anglo-saxon burial sites: the reuse of prehistoric and Roman monuments as early anglo-saxon burial sites

Abstract: THE MANY HUNDREDS of known early medieval cemeteries dated between the late 5th and early 8th centuries A.D. from southern and eastern England have largely been studied in terms of artefacts and human remains. The reuse of prehistoric and Roman structures by these burial sites has received much less attention and discussion. It is suggested that the landscape context of early Anglo-Saxon burial rites provides considerable evidence for the social and ideological significance of the dead in early Anglo-Saxon society.

Early Irish and Welsh Kinship.

Abstract: List of maps List of genealogical tables Note on terminology Part I. Irish Kinship: The structure of Irish kinship Irish ruling kindreds Part II. Welsh Kinship: The shape of Welsh kinship The Gwely and the Gafael Part III. Claims to Land by Virtue of Kinship: Irish Tellach Welsh Dadannudd Part IV. Kin and Lord The half-free in Ireland Irish clientship Kinship and lordship in Wales Part V. Kinsman and Neighbour: Kinship and neighbourhood in Ireland Kinship and neighbourhood in Wales Conclusion and further reflections Appendices Bibliography Glossary Index.