Intentional ethics and hermeneutics in the Libellus de symoniacis: Bruno of Segni as a papal polemicist

The Investiture Contest has at regular intervals been considered as a ‘revolution’, largely because it contributed forcefully to the reorganisation of the Church in the centuries to come. But the Contest has also been seen as heralding a new and more critical way of thinking, in which the traditional reliance on authorities was giving way to new approaches to the textual past. These new approaches are best evident in an extensive polemical literature that accompanied the struggle. From the 1030s and until the end of the Contest with the Concordat of Worms in 1122, a number of contending issues were discussed by contemporary churchmen. One issue scrutinised was that of simony and the validity of sacraments of simoniacs. In the following, the Libellus de symoniacis of Bruno of Segni will be analysed in order to address several aspects. First, the Libellus shows a new and more critical approach to the textual past, foreshadowing the juggling with auctoritas of the twelfth century. Second, Bruno's analysis is a witness to the efforts taken to justify papal reform in the last decades of the eleventh century.publishedVersio

'The revolt of the medievalists'. Directions in recent research on the twelfth-century renaissance

This historiographical article contains two basic parts. First, it discusses recent approaches to the twelfth-century renaissance in the last two decades by focusing on some selected themes. These themes basically derive from Charles Homer Haskins' notion of the renaissance and include individualism, rationality, secularisation, and the question of the emergence of a ‘critical mentality.’ From this point of departure, the article addresses the question of thematic innovation with regard to the twelfth-century renaissance. The second part of the article discusses the effect of the so-called linguistic turn on renaissance studies in general and on the twelfth-century renaissance in particular. In conclusion, some suggestions for further research are singled out.publishedVersio

Norwegian Journal of History 1945–2020: Between the conservative and the innovative

Artikkelen kartlegg og analyserer utviklinga av Historisk tidsskrift frå det første nummeret etter krigen og fram til og med 2020. Dei 782 hovudartiklane i tidsskriftet blir handsama gjennom ei kvantitativ analyse knytt til eit knippe kategoriar: kjønn, historisk periode for undersøkinga, den romlege plasseringa av undersøkinga og saksområde eller tema. Tendensar og vendepunkt blir diskuterte i ljos av den overordna historiografiske utviklinga i etterkrigstida, og dessutan redaksjonelle føreord i tidsskriftet. The article presents and discusses historiographical tendencies in Historisk tidsskrift (Norwegian Journal of History) from the first volume after 1945 up until 2020. The tendencies are presented according to gender, historical period, geographical situation and thematic orientation, and are discussed partly by drawing on historiographical currents and partly by viewing them in relation to editorial statements of intention.publishedVersio

History, Reading and Enlightenment: Local Historiographical Culture in Norway in the 18th Century

Artikkelen drøftar antikvarisk medvit, historiesyn og opplysningstankar i Noreg midt på 1700-talet. Perspektivet er lokalt, sidan kjeldematerialet er norske embetsmenn sine svar på det store dansk-norske kartleggingsprosjektet i 1743. I tillegg til å diskutere den historieforståinga som målber seg i dette materialet, er artikkelen eit bidrag til bokhistorie og lesehistorie – i kraft av ei kartlegging av kva historisk-topografiske verk embetsmennene hadde tilgang til, og korleis denne litteraturen blei lest.publishedVersio

Hovedtendenser i norsk historievitenskap 1969–2015 belyst gjennom doktoravhandlinger

An analysis of 361 doctoral dissertations in history, accepted at the universities of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Tromsø in the years 1969–2015, shows that the discipline of history has become increasingly diverse. This is particularly evident regarding what from the past is studied, and the theoretical perspectives applied to the study of the past. Historians have also become much more reflected regarding theories and methods, and national history is less dominant than one might expect. However, when it comes to the periods historians prefer to study, and the historian’s gender, the diversity is considerably narrower: Most historians – the majority of whom are male – prefer to study modern history.publishedVersio

Komparativ historie: ei utfordring for historiefaget?

Artikkelen diskuterer ulike sider ved bruken av komparasjon i historiefaget med ei særleg vekt på metodiske spørsmål. Desse inkluderer spørsmålet om abstraksjonsnivå, talet på undersøkingseiningar og valet mellom synkron eller diakron jamføring på den eine sida og meir praktiske utfordringar knytt til bruk av primærkjelder og historiografi på den andre. I siste instans har artikkelen eit praktisk siktemål: å illustrera at det ikkje er noko naudsynt motsetnad mellom den forma for makro-kausal jamføring som delar av den historiske sosiologien har gjort seg til talsmenn for og det individualiserande og kontekstualiserande blikket som gjerne historikarar forfektar når det gjeld samanlikning

'The revolt of the medievalists'. Directions in recent research on the twelfth-century renaissance

This historiographical article contains two basic parts. First, it discusses recent approaches to the twelfth-century renaissance in the last two decades by focusing on some selected themes. These themes basically derive from Charles Homer Haskins' notion of the renaissance and include individualism, rationality, secularisation, and the question of the emergence of a ‘critical mentality.’ From this point of departure, the article addresses the question of thematic innovation with regard to the twelfth-century renaissance. The second part of the article discusses the effect of the so-called linguistic turn on renaissance studies in general and on the twelfth-century renaissance in particular. In conclusion, some suggestions for further research are singled out

Har staten vendt attende, og i tilfellet: kvar er den? : utfordringar for studiar av stat og statsdanning i mellomalderen og tidleg moderne tid

Artikkelen diskuterer nyare forsking kring stat og statsdanning i mellomalderen og tidleg moderne tid. Den fyrste og hovudsakleg teoretiske delen av artikkelen tek til med ein kort gjennomgang av dei klassiske sosiologiske tilnærmingane til statsdanning, for dernest å gå over i ein diskusjon av nyare freistnader på å forklare komplekset. Her står teoriane til Charles Tilly og Michael Mann sentralt. Medan desse teoriane gjerne er kalla statssentrerte, har ei meir kulturorientert tilnærming til tematikken gjort seg gjeldande i det siste tiåret. Artikkelen drøftar tilhøvet mellom desse to tilnærmingane. I ein freistnad på å konkretisere somme sentrale problemstillingar tek den neste delen av artikkelen føre seg omgrepsproblematikk på den eine sida, og bruken av ulike tilnærmingar til statsdanning i mellomalderen på den andre. Siste del av artikkelen er meir empirisk i form, då den presenterer sju sentrale område som har vore sterkt framme i nyare forsking på stat og statsdanning. Denne siste delen tek utgangspunkt i eit utval empiriske arbeid kring statsdanning i mellomalderen og tidleg moderne tid

Intentional ethics and hermeneutics in the Libellus de symoniacis: Bruno of Segni as a papal polemicist

The Investiture Contest has at regular intervals been considered as a ‘revolution’, largely because it contributed forcefully to the reorganisation of the Church in the centuries to come. But the Contest has also been seen as heralding a new and more critical way of thinking, in which the traditional reliance on authorities was giving way to new approaches to the textual past. These new approaches are best evident in an extensive polemical literature that accompanied the struggle. From the 1030s and until the end of the Contest with the Concordat of Worms in 1122, a number of contending issues were discussed by contemporary churchmen. One issue scrutinised was that of simony and the validity of sacraments of simoniacs. In the following, the Libellus de symoniacis of Bruno of Segni will be analysed in order to address several aspects. First, the Libellus shows a new and more critical approach to the textual past, foreshadowing the juggling with auctoritas of the twelfth century. Second, Bruno's analysis is a witness to the efforts taken to justify papal reform in the last decades of the eleventh century

Ecclesiastical reform in historiographical context

The article initially discusses recent approaches to ecclesiastical reform and the Investiture Contest. In particular, it discusses the extent to which recent scholarship's concern with “power,” “local units,” “social aspects,” “discourse,” and “gender” has undermined earlier master narratives – accentuating as these did the unity of reform. The last part of the article argues for the need to establish new master narratives and puts forward a few suggestions in that respect