Making Christian Landscapes in Atlantic Europe

Landscapes across Europe were transformed, both physically and conceptually, during the early medieval period (c AD 400-1200), and these changes were bound up with the conversion to Christianity and the development of ecclesiastical power structures. Whilst Christianity represented a more or less common set of beliefs and ideas, early medieval societies were characterised by vibrant diversity: much can potentially be learned about these societies by comparing and contrasting how they adapted Christianity to suit local circumstances. This is the first book to adopt a comparative landscape approach to this crucial subject. It considers the imprint of early medieval Christianity on landscapes along the continent's western shore from Galicia to Norway, and across the northern islands from Britain and Ireland to Iceland. Christianity was associated with many such changes including new ways of seeing the land that directly affected how landscapes were inhabited and managed. By examining how people chose to shape their landscapes, this book provides fresh perspectives on the Christianisation of Atlantic Europe. ------------------------------------------ Contents 1.Tomás Ó Carragáin and Sam Turner Introduction: making Christian landscapes in the early medieval Atlantic world 2.Paul MacCotter, University College Cork Reconstructing the territorial framework for ecclesiastical and secular power structures: a case study of the kingdom of Uí Fáeláin 3.Patrick Gleeson and Tomás Ó Carragáin, University College Cork Conversion and Consolidation in Leinster s Royal Heartland 4.Gill Boazman, University College Cork Hallowed by saints, coveted by kings: Christianity and early medieval social organisation in Rathdown, Co Dublin 5.Ann Connon, Ohio Dominican University Territoriality and the Cult of Saint Ciarán of Saigir 6.Colm O Brien and Max Adams, University of Sunderland Early ecclesiastical precints and landscapes of Inishowen, Co. Donegal 7.Nancy Edwards, University of Wales, Bangor Christianising the landscape in early medieval Wales: the island of Anglesey 8.Rhiannon Comeau, University College London Feeding the body and claiming the spirit(s): early Christian landscapes in West Wales 9.Adrián Maldonado, University of Glasgow Death and the formation of Early Christian Scotland 10.Derek Alexander, National Trust for Scotland, Glasgow Across Christian seascapes: Early Christian landscapes along the west coast of Scotland 11.Anne Lunven, University of Rennes Christianisation and parish formation in early medieval France: a case study of the dioceses of Rennes, Dol and St Malo 12.Elisabeth Zadora-Rio CNRS-University of Tours The fabric of parish boundaries: evidence from Touraine 13.Elisabeth Lorans, University of Rouen Funerary patterns in towns in France and England between the fourth and the tenth centuries: a comparative approach 14.José Carlos Sánchez Pardo, University of Santiago de Compostela The creation of ecclesiastical landscapes in early medieval Galicia (northwest Spain, fifth to tenth centuries) 15.Sam Turner and Chris Fowler, Newcastle University The bones of the Northumbrian landscape 16.John Moreland, University of Sheffield The Conversion of the Peak District? 17.Thomas Pickles, Birkbeck College, London Straenaeshalh (Whitby), its satellite churches and lands 18.John Henry Clay, University of Durham From conversion to consolidation in eighth-century Hessia 19.Jan Kolen, Leiden University The religious transformation of a landscape: Drenthe (the Netherlands) 20.Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide, University of Bergen Introducing Christianity to a challenging environment: the example of Norway 21.Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir, University of Iceland Alternative histories on the making of the early Christian landscape of Iceland

Tomas O Carragain lectures in the Archaeology Department, University College Cork. He is the author of Inishmurray: Monks and Pilgrims in an Atlantic Landscape (2008) and Churches in Early Medieval Ireland: Architecture, Ritual and Memory (2010)Sam Turner lecturers in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University. He is the author of Making a Christian Landscape (2006); Medieval Devon and Cornwall (ed., 2006); Ancient Country: the Historic Character of Rural Devon (2007); Early Medieval Northumbria (ed. with David Petts, 2011); Life in Medieval Landscapes (ed. with Bob Silvester, 2012);Wearmouth and Jarrow: Northumbrian monasteries in an historic landscape (with Sarah Semple and Alex Turner, 2013)