scholarly journals ‘Conversion’ to Islam in Early Medieval Europe: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives on Arab and Northern Eurasian Interactions

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 544
Author(s):  
Sara Ann Knutson ◽  
Caitlin Ellis
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Conversion To Islam ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Economic Exchanges ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

In recent years, the influence of Muslims and Islam on developments in medieval Europe has captured the attention of scholars and the general public alike. Nevertheless, ‘conversion’ to Islam remains a challenging subject for historical research and demands more transdisciplinary collaborations. This article examines early medieval interactions between Muslim Arabs and Northern and Eastern Europeans as a case study for whether some individuals in Northern Eurasia ‘converted’ to Islam. More importantly, we address some key examples and lines of evidence that demonstrate why the process of ‘conversion’ to Islam is not more visible in the historical and archaeological records of Northern Eurasia. We find that, despite the well-established evidence for economic exchanges between the Islamic World and Northern Eurasia, the historical and material records are much more complex, but not entirely silent, on the issue of religious change. We also conclude that religious connectivity and exchanges, including with Islam, were common in early medieval Northern Eurasia, even if it is difficult in most cases to identify conclusive instances of ‘conversion’ to Islam.

scholarly journals Tackling Early Medieval Dietary Transitions Using a Hierarchical and Multi-isotope Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Leggett
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Environmental Transitions ◽  
First Millennium

Socio-environmental transitions during the first millennium AD had wide-ranging impacts across Europe which have interesting archaeological and palaeoecological implications. This paper uses published and new multi-tissue, multi-isotope data from across Europe to look at changing resource use from c. 350-1200 AD. It highlights cross-cultural interaction at a broad scale as well as focussing on these patterns with Early Medieval England as a regional case study. By using a hierarchical approach, it teases apart human-environment interactions with significant implications for changing foodways in Early Medieval Europe. It highlights how more integrated methodologies allow for better models of human ecology in the Early Middle Ages.

Elites and Baptism: Religious ‘Strategies of Distinction’ in Visigothic Spain

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Wood
Keyword(s):  
Seventh Century ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Important Method ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
And Control

The political connotations of godparenthood and baptismal sponsorship in creating both vertical and horizontal bonds between individuals and groups in early medieval Europe have long been recognized. What follows offers a case study of sixth- and early seventh-century Visigothic Spain, asking whether the baptismal process could also serve to bring elite and popular together. Elites sought to mobilize those lower down the scale than themselves in opposition to other elites at the same time as having constantly to negotiate the elite position from which they gained their authority. In sixth-century Spain the definition and redefinition of baptismal practice in church council legislation by both Catholics and Arians was an important method for achieving this dual aim of distinction and control.

Land, People and Power in Early Medieval Wales: The cantref of Cemais in comparative perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhiannon Comeau
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Seasonal Activity ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Habitual Activity ◽  
Activity Cycles

A study of seasonal activity cycles in a pre-urban society, examined through the lens of an early medieval Welsh case study. It examines how these cycles shaped patterns of power and habitual activity, defining spaces and structuring lives. Its multidisciplinary, comparative analysis identifies focal zones and challenges commonly applied interpretations.

Disability and Work During the Industrial Revolution in Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Blackie
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Coal Industry ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Industrial Sites ◽  
The Past ◽  
Paid Employment

A common claim in disability studies is that industrialization has marginalized disabled people by limiting their access to paid employment. This claim is empirically weak and rests on simplified accounts of industrialization. Use of the British coal industry during the period 1780–1880 as a case study shows that reassessment of the effect of the Industrial Revolution is in order. The Industrial Revolution was not as detrimental to the lives of disabled people as has often been assumed. While utopian workplaces for disabled people hardly existed, industrial sites of work did accommodate quite a large number of workers with impairments. More attention therefore needs to be paid to neglected or marginalized features of industrial development in the theorization of disability. Drawing on historical research on disability in the industrial workplace will help scholars better understand the significance of industrialization to the lives of disabled people, both in the past and the present.

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