Vox regis: Royal Communication in High Medieval Norway

David Brégaint. Ph.D. (2014), NTNU (Trondheim), is a post doctoral researcher for the Norwegian Research Council in the department for historical studies. He has published several articles on Norwegian medieval history and translations, including Le Discours contre les évêques. Politique et controverse en Norvège vers 1200 (Publications de la Sorbonne, 2013).

• ContentsAcknowledgements viiiAbbreviations ixIntroduction 11 Historiography: State-making, Communication and Consent 7Manufacturing Consent: The Norwegian HistoriographicTradition 102 Perspectives on Communication and Power 14Power, Communication and State Building 15Communication, Propaganda and Communication System 183 Method and Sources 211 The Actors of Communication 222 The Vectors of Communication 241 A Genesis under Church Control 311 Introduction 312 Rituals of Succession 33Tradition: Konungstekja 35Innovation: The Crowning of Magnus Erlingsson 37Redealing the Cards 41Appropriating Public Acclamation 45Jernbyrd: Trial by Ordeal 593 The Written Word and Royal Communication 69Royal Charters and Chanceries 70Royal Genealogies 74‘Crowned Ass’ and Learned Bishops 864 Nidaros: A Kings’ “Factory” 88Promoting Nidaros a Center of Rituals of Royal Succession 91…and it came to Nothing 995 Conclusion 1002 King Sverre and the Making of Independent Royal Communication 1031 Introduction 1032 Tala Sverris konungſ: The King’s Speeches 105Eloquence and Charisma: Portraits of Kings 106Royal Speeches and War Propaganda 109King Sverre, a Vulture Perched on High 115Great Opportunities: King Sverre’s Own Death and Burial 118Taking Matters in Hand: The Crowning of King Sverre 1233 Grýla, Political Propaganda in Religious Clothing 130The Use of History 132Grýla 133A Model Suited to Broad Reception…and Propaganda 146Conclusion 1474 Fighting Fire with Fire: Anticlerical Propaganda 148A Campaign of Propaganda 149A Speech against the Bishops 1535 Evidence of a Royal Intellectual Milieu 1676 Conclusion 1713 Monarchic Communication 1741 Introduction 1742 Communication at Court: Royal Court and Courtly Culture 175The Stakes 1763 The Court 181Sources and Terminology 183The Court, a Royal Monopoly? 1844 Monarchic Program and Aristocratic Demand 186Courtliness, the Church and the Aristocracy 187Royal Mediation and Connection to Foreign Courts 190Cultural Monopoly and Economic Power 1925 Domesticating the Body 194Securing Presence at Court 195Ritualizing Court Life 197Dress Code 200Table Code 202Control over Oral Communication at Court 203Courtiers as Means of Communication 2066 Domesticating the Mind: Kings, Courtiers and Courtly Literature 213Kings and Courtiers 214The Structures of Production of Court Literature 231Royal Ideology and Court Literature 241Diffusion and Reception 2547 The Axes of Political Rituality 262Using Rituals: Ceremonial Politics 263Controlling Rituals. Ceremonial Location 307The Means of Ritual Control 3348 The Chancery and Administrative Literacy 3449 Conclusion 360Conclusions 363Bibliography 373Index 401

"The narrative presented by Brégaint is convincing, and even though it is concerned with a much-discussed period of political state formationin Norwegian history, it foregrounds a different aspect of this process.Royal communication is here seen as a conscious political strategy, and tracing its history thus provides a new insight to our understanding of high medieval Norway". Stefka G. Eriksen, in Journal of Northern Studies 2017 (11).