“Damnatio Memoriae, Bad Press, and Political Biases: The Case of Archbishop Eskil in Danish Historiography”

Beskrivelse

The paper discusses Archbishop Eskil as catalyst/agent provocateur in the (often fierce) debates about
political structures and political conflict in twelfth-century Denmark. In profound ways, the evaluation
of Eskil in the Danish academic historical tradition has reflected contemporary politics and subtly set
the tone of how High Medieval Danish history has been studied and debated. Is it possible to create a
new portrait of Eskil without such historiographical biases? And what happens to the view of twelfthcentury
Denmark (and Scandinavia) if we do? The speaker is currently finishing the first scholarly
biography of Archbishop Eskil and would also welcome a more general discussion on the genre of
historical biographies in the present historiographical context.

Periode	1 apr. 2022
Begivenhedstitel	Seminar Series: The Middle Ages Today
Begivenhedstype	Forelæsning
Placering	Aarhus, DanmarkVis på kort
Grad af anerkendelse	International