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2 - The Viking-Age Town

Context and Academic Debate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2024

Sven Kalmring
Affiliation:
Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie (ZBSA), Schleswig, Germany
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Summary

One of the primary proto-urban centres of the early medieval world in Northern Europe was without a doubt Hedeby. Hedeby was situated on the border between Scandinavia and Continental Europe, connecting the North Sea with the Baltic Sea by a portage. Its success as a trading hub is inseparably connected to the destruction of the emporium Reric – situated in an area controlled by the West Slavic Obotrites – by the Danish king Godfred in 808 (Tummuscheit 2003). In order to control and tax the ongoing trade, Reric’s merchants were relocated to Hedeby. However, while in the contemporary historical sources Reric was addressed as an emporium, Hedeby was rather referred to as a portus (Kalmring 2010a: 42–7).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • The Viking-Age Town
  • Sven Kalmring, Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie (ZBSA), Schleswig, Germany
  • Book: Towns and Commerce in Viking-Age Scandinavia
  • Online publication: 04 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009298070.003
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  • The Viking-Age Town
  • Sven Kalmring, Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie (ZBSA), Schleswig, Germany
  • Book: Towns and Commerce in Viking-Age Scandinavia
  • Online publication: 04 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009298070.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Viking-Age Town
  • Sven Kalmring, Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie (ZBSA), Schleswig, Germany
  • Book: Towns and Commerce in Viking-Age Scandinavia
  • Online publication: 04 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009298070.003
Available formats
×