Joseph the Smith and the Salvational Transformation of Matter in Early Medieval Europe

Zubin Mistry’s Abortion in the Early Middle Ages, c.500–900 seeks to uncover the cultural significance of abortion in early medieval societies. While evidence about pre-modern attitudes to abortion in early medieval Western Europe is fragmentary, Mistry manages to summon a range of sources, all condemning the practice. In excerpts of canon laws, penitentials, sermons, saints’ lives, and biblical commentaries, he reads deeply into the context that occasioned authoritative statements on abortion. The resulting monograph is the first to comprehensively gather all of the authoritative fragments on abortion in continental Western Europe from the period and to consider their cumulative effects, addressing how they relate to one another to reflect, if not a cohesive discourse on abortion, then at least the “thought-worlds” of their authors. Abortion in the Early Middle Ages firmly establishes that reactions to the practice of abortion were situational, rooted in specific historical circumstances, and unrepresentative of contemporary abstract concerns about fetal “life.”

Notes on Contributors. PART I THE MIDDLE AGES. 1 The Idea of a Middle Ages (Edward D. English and Carol Lansing). PART II EARLY MEDIEVAL FOUNDATIONS. 2 Economies and Societies in Early Medieval Western Europe (Matthew Innes). 3 Politics and Power (Hans Hummer). 4 Religious Culture and the Power of Tradition in the Early Medieval West (Yitzhak Hen). PART III POPULATIONS AND THE ECONOMY. 5 Economic Takeoff and the Rise of Markets (James Paul Masschaele). 6 Rural Families in Medieval Europe (Phillipp R. Schofield). 7 Marriage in Medieval Latin Christendom (Martha Howell). 8 Gender and Sexuality (John Arnold). 9 Society, Elite Families, and Politics in Late Medieval Italian Cities (Edward D. English). PART IV RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 10 New Religious Movements and Reform (Maureen C. Miller). 11 Monastic and Mendicant Communities (Constance H. Berman). 12 Hospitals in the Middle Ages (James W. Brodman). 13 Popular Belief and Heresy (Carol Lansing). 14 Jews in the Middle Ages (Kenneth R. Stow). 15 Muslims in Medieval Europe (Olivia Remie Constable). PART V POLITICS AND POWER. 16 Confl ict Resolution and Legal Systems (Thomas Kuehn). 17 Medieval Rulers and Political Ideology (Robert W. Dyson). 18 Papal Monarchy (Andreas Meyer). 19 Urban Historical Geography and the Writing of Late Medieval Urban History (Teofi lo F. Ruiz). 20 Bureaucracy and Literacy (Richard Britnell). 21 The Practice of War (Clifford J. Rogers). 22 Expansion and the Crusades (Christopher Tyerman). PART VI TECHNOLOGIES AND CULTURE. 23 Romanesque and Gothic Church Architecture (Stephen Murray). 24 Aristocratic Culture: Kinship, Chivalry, and Court Culture (Richard E. Barton). 25 Philosophy and Humanism (Stephen Gersh). 26 Philosophy and Theology in the Universities (Philipp W. Rosemann). PART VII THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES. 27 Medieval Europe in World History (R. I. Moore). Index.

Historians of the early Middle Ages (c. 600–c. 1050) have long used material remains and archeological evidence to learn about that era. Over the last four decades, material culture studies have become a prominent area of historical research, particularly for cultural historians. Recent early medieval studies have followed this trend. In addition, religious and economic studies of the so‐called “Dark Ages” have drawn from material sources. Object‐driven social history has been less popular, but recent work, especially on Francia and Anglo‐Saxon England, demonstrates that such projects offer new findings on a period whose texts rarely address social relations and everyday life directly. Material culture therefore offers rich research possibilities for early medieval social history.

Gender & History the thought of the Anglo-Saxon monastic theorist Aldhelm (c.639-709), for example, religious men and women partook, in Emma Pettit's words, of a 'shared invisible spiritual identity heavily indebted to masculinity'. Monks and nuns alike were enjoined to contend 'manfully ' (viriliter) in the battle against vices. The visible dimensions of religious life, however, from dress to demeanour, retained clear gender distinctions, and for Aldhelm the transition to religious life entailed a more dramatic break for men than for women. Elsewhere, hagiographers drew on different models of sanctity in characterising the transition to female religious life, from the transcending of gender through virile asceticism to the transformation of gender through spiritualised motherhood. Often, as Simon Coates has shown in his study of the vitae of the sixth-century abbess Radegund of Poitiers, hagiographers blended elements from these models. cross the diversity of early medieval models of sanctity (and their modern interpretations), chastity was a crucial sign of religious distinction. But chastity was also fragile, an 'unstable condition and easily lost among the pitfalls of the world'. From early Christianity onwards, sexual lapses were rude reminders to individuals and communities of the gender roles which religious orientation sought to reconfigure. When, in the early third century, Tertullian critiqued an emergent custom in Carthage for virgins who had renounced marriage to stand unveiled in church, he noted acerbically that after uncovering their heads many ended up covering their bellies in shame or resorting to abortion to prevent public disclosure of sexual sin. 9 From punitive retribution to the remedy of penance, responses to such lapses endeavoured to recover the communal experience of chastity and to contain the turbulence of sexual sin in communities of the chaste.

Reviewed by: The origin legends of early medieval Britain and Ireland by Lindy Brady Donato Sitaro (bio) Lindy Brady, The origin legends of early medieval Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. ISBN 9781009225618 (hardback), 9781009225670 (ebook). x + 272 pages. $99.00. Origin myths and legends are prominent features of early medieval writings and mentalities. They became a popular genre, an ever-growing corpus of traditions and pseudo-histories, and eventually a late-antique/early medieval 'scholarly preoccupation', as underlined by Brady & Wadden in the foreword to their edited volume Origin legends in early medieval Western Europe (2022: 4). Despite not being the first recorded origines gentium, the Insular origin myths stand out as precious hermeneutic objects for scholars of early medieval culture, as part of a genre 'that has shaped national identity and collective history from the early medieval period to the present day', as we read in the synopsis. The variety of their approach and their richness in contents and traditions make the British, Irish, Pictish, and Anglo-Saxon origin narratives a perfect subject for a dedicated volume. Discussing these apparently divergent narratives in comparative terms was not an easy task, but Brady bravely attempts it in a relatively compact and easily readable book. Divided into five main chapters, the book is prefaced by a 27-page introductory section, eloquently titled 'The anachronism of nationalism', where modern scholarly debate around the contested concepts of ethnicity, post-Roman identities, and early medieval writers' agendas is summarized and discussed. Brady's approach consciously differs from the two major historiographical standpoints on ethnic identities, as it neither gives excessive weight to the influence of Classical ethnography (as Goffart did), [End Page 156] nor does it look too far forward by extending the effects of enduring ethnic identities from the Migration Period deep into the Middle Ages (as in certain readings by Wolfram and Pohl). Brady decides to look 'sideways' (21) to explore the textual and conceptual interrelations between the origin legends of the British Isles without attempting to construct from the texts a straightforward idea of the development of ethnic identities. She looks at the development of origin stories within and among the texts surveyed, more than outside and beyond them. For this reason, the interpretative keywords for Brady's analysis of the sources are 'discourse' and 'development' (3). Her assessment that the concepts enshrined in early medieval origin narratives were communicating and were part of a shared intellectual milieu is repeated throughout the introduction and beyond (1, 4, 16, 21, 63, 227, 229). This assumption finds support in the first chapter through a survey of the textual history of the Insular works containing origin stories: Gildas's De excidio, Bede's Historia ecclesiastica, the ninth-century Historia Brittonum, and the later Irish Lebor Bretnach and Lebor gabála Érenn. While the first two works are referred to in cursory fashion as embryonic nuclei of traditions that would develop later, the latter three pseudo-histories are discussed in depth throughout the book. The Historia Brittonum is given a justified pre-eminence as 'a valuable microcosm of the intellectual connections which form the focus of the study' (16). After the presentation of the sources, the proper narratological analysis begins: chapters 2, 3, and 4 focus on exile, kin-slaying, and intermarriage and incest, respectively. Having established the interrelated nature of the Insular writings in chapter 1, Brady is able to conduct a comparative survey of shared concepts and their development within three concentric levels of investigation corresponding to the three-part structure of these chapters: (i) first she explores the wider conceptual resonance of the motif in literature, usually through comparison with biblical and classical archetypes; (ii) then she outlines the recurrence of historical episodes involving the motif (cases of exiles or kin-slayers in the early medieval Insular context); and finally (iii) she considers the meaning of the motif within the Insular origin narratives. The second part of these themed chapters, the attempt to show 'resonances of these topics in [historical] early insular society' (138), could have been the trickiest. However, Brady addresses the eventual collision between literary motifs and the 'hard facts' drawn from legal and historical records through...

Why did commercial cities begin to emerge in Western Europe as they did after 1100 CE? In this chapter, I review and synthesize important thinking about the evolution of commercial cities as a market economy took hold. After discussing ideas about the state in prehistory, I trace thinking about the economic functioning of communities in the ancient world, Roman World, early medieval Western Europe, and into the rise of commercial cities. I integrate the work of Abu-Lughod, Bairoch, Braudel, Cooley, Heaton, Hurd, Mann, Marshall, Power, Smith, Tawney, Tilly, and Weber. I am not so much interested in the historical accuracy of their thinking as I am in how these writers each conceptualized a process based on purposeful behavior. Of particular interest to me is the how the notion and practice of the state changed and how this affected the formation of cities. I build this review around seven themes. Continuing from Chap. 1, I see these as follows: the importance of the governance of a nation to the urban economy; occupational division of labor, command and control, and power; decentralization and entitlement within governance; the functioning of a community as settlement, trading city, or commercial city; the significance of transportation costs, the spatial division of labor, and trade; importance of networks, routes, and nodes in circuits of trade ; and the conflicted role of the city.

Reviewed by: Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe ed. by John Baker, Stuart Brookes, and Andrew Reynolds Roger Vella Bonavita Baker, John, Stuart Brookes, and Andrew Reynolds, eds, Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe (Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 28), Turnhout, Brepols, 2013; hardback; pp. xviii, 384; 65 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. €100.00; ISBN 9782503529561. This is a well-produced volume of thirteen papers following a conference at University College, London, in 2007 supported by the British Academy, which in turn arose from Beyond the Burghal Hidage, a three-year project sponsored by the Leverhulme Fund. Participants and contributors sought to consider defensive networks (rather than just individual strongholds) during England’s Viking Age (especially the times of Alfred the Great) and to compare and contrast them with contemporary defensive networks in early medieval mainland Europe using the interdisciplinary approaches offered by landscape and placename evidence and analysis. Though the main thrust of the collection of papers is Anglo-Saxon England, the editors stress that the book will interest students in various fields of early medieval European history. The papers provide bridges connecting those working on Southern Europe (Spain) and Northern Europe (Scandinavia), as well as Eastern Europe and the Low Countries. Italy and most of France are not covered. Quite apart from their interest to students of systems of defence and fortification, the papers will be relevant therefore to historians generally, and more specifically to archaeologists, historical geographers, experts on place names, and the like. The papers fall into three categories. The first covers the objectives of the Beyond the Burghal Hidage project and its attempt to draw together all fields relevant to the study of Anglo-Saxon defences including archaeology (Andrew Reynolds), mapping (Stuart Brookes), and vocabulary (John Baker). The next section consists of five papers that consider various topics of Anglo-Saxon defence: the manuscript sources for West Saxon fortifications (Barbara Yorke); Wallingford in Oxfordshire – a case history (Neil Christie, with Oliver Creighton and Matt Edgeworth); the function of the Anglo-Saxon Burh (Gareth Williams); suburban settlements in late Anglo-Saxon England (Andrew Gate); and the costs and development of civil defence 878–1066 (Richard Abels). The final section, also of five essays, looks at the ringwallburgen in Holland (Letty Ten Harkel), Frankish and Slavic fortifications in Germany (Peter Ettel), fortifications in Eastern Scandinavia (Charlotte Hedenstierna-Johnson, Lena Holmquist, and Michael Olausson), defensive sites in Northwest Spain (Juan [End Page 222] Antonio Quirós Castillo), and the evolution of defences in the County of Castille in the tenth century (Julio Escalona). The book is a most worthy addition to the series of Studies in the Early Middle Ages edited under the auspices of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York. Roger Vella Bonavita The University of Western Australia Copyright © 2014 Roger Vella Bonavita

There is surprisingly little early medieval social history being written. In recent years, more specifically economic history has had a remarkable rebirth, thanks to the (largely unconnected) efforts of archaeologists on the one side and Belgian and German historians on the other; but the study of society in general, outside the restricted spheres of the aristocracy and the church, has been neglected. I speak schematically; obviously, there are notable exceptions. But it is significant that noone, in any country, has thought it worthwhile to attempt a synthesis of early medieval European socio-economic history as a whole that could replace those of Alfons Dopsch or, maybe, André Déléage. It would be hard; but people have tried it for the centuries after 900, with interesting (even if inevitably controversial) results. Why not earlier? Richard Sullivan recently lamented the conservatism of most Carolingian scholarship; in the arena of social history, he could easily have extended his complaints back to 500.

Suicide and other suicidal behaviours are markedly (though differently) patterned by gender. The increase in young male suicide rates in many countries has heightened interest in whether suicidal behaviours and ideation (thoughts) are related to masculinity. Relatively little research has explored the relationship between gender role attitudes and orientation and suicidal behaviours and ideation. Most research in this area has been conducted with young people. We investigated whether gender role orientation (masculinity and femininity scores) and gender role attitudes were related to the reporting of serious suicidal thoughts in three generations (early adulthood, and early and late middle age) in a community sample. Subjects (653 men and women aged around 23 years, 754 aged around 43 years, 722 aged around 63 years) completed home interviews with nurses as part of an ongoing longitudinal community-based study of social factors and health. These included measures of suicidal ideation (thoughts), attitudes to traditional gender roles, and a validated measure of gender role orientation (masculinity and femininity scores). The prevalence of serious suicidal thoughts was higher in early adulthood (10% men, 15% women) than in early (4% men, 8% women) and late (6% men, 5% women) middle age. In early adulthood only sex was significantly related to suicidal thoughts, with women at higher risk (adjusted OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.01-3.00). In early middle age masculinity scores were negatively related to suicidal thoughts (adjusted OR for each unit increase in score 0.65: 95% CI 0.46-0.93), and more traditional views on gender roles were positively associated with suicidal thoughts (adjusted OR 1.48: 95% CI 1.07-2.04). In late middle age trends were in the same direction as in early middle age, but were not statistically significant. Femininity scores were unrelated to serious suicidal thoughts at any age. The high rates of suicidal thoughts amongst men and women in early adulthood point to the importance of understanding mental health problems at this age. The results raise a number of questions and suggest that suicide researchers should pay more attention to gender roles and attitudes in older adults.

Origin legends in early medieval Western Europe. Edited by Lindy Brady and Patrick Wadden. (Reading Medieval Sources, 6.) Pp. xii + 474 incl. 19 colour and black- and-white ills. Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2023. €198. 978 90 04 40036 8; 2589 2509 - Volume 76 Issue 2

This article explores the architectural features of the High Castle in Lviv in comparison with European fortifications from different historical periods, spanning from the “motte and bailey” castles of the X–XII centuries to the Gothic strongholds of the XIII–XIV centuries and the Renaissance bastion systems of the XVI century. The study aims to identify both similarities and distinctions between the High Castle and its European counterparts by examining aspects such as the use of natural topography for defense, functional zoning, and material evolution in fortification architecture. A key aspect of this comparison lies in the “motte and bailey” castles, a prevalent fortification type in early medieval Western Europe. These castles typically featured an artificial or natural mound (motte) crowned with a wooden or stone keep, along with an enclosed courtyard (bailey) serving economic and residential functions. The High Castle shares structural similarities with these fortifications due to its elevated location and strategic division into upper and lower courtyards. However, unlike many “motte and bailey” castles, which were predominantly wooden, the High Castle incorporated a combination of wooden and stone structures from the outset, a characteristic more typical of later fortifications such as Carcassonne in France and Windsor Castle in England. The study further examines the impact of Gothic fortifications on the architectural evolution of the High Castle. Gothic castles such as Carcassonne and Hohenzollern prioritized tall stone walls, rounded towers, and complex defensive systems, which allowed for improved visibility and protection. While the High Castle in Lviv incorporated some of these elements, it lacked the double curtain walls and advanced moats typical of fully developed Gothic strongholds. This difference suggests a more localized approach to defensive architecture, integrating Western influences with regional construction traditions.

The purpose of this article is to compare E. Gudavičius' conception of feudalism with the Russian orientalist L. Vasilyev's attitude to this issue. Both historians treat themselves as Marxists (in the Western meaning of it, i.e. supporters of the Asian mode of production). Consequently, their views on the development of the history of mankind are similar but not equal. In this article, feudalism is treated as a historical and socioeconomic formation and some stage of human development during which the feudal mode of production was dominating. L. Vasilyev describes the stage of feudalism in Western Europe as the age of orientalisation of social structure, i.e. as a regress. Only the rebirth of Antiquity bore capitalism. E. Gudavičius stresses that feudalism created an individual producer (peasant) farm and consequently it was an essential progress in the social development of the societies of Western Europe. The character of the social structure of Germanic kingdoms in the early Middle Ages differed essentially from oriental societies in the stage of early politogenesis. The reason for that was the alodization of Germanic society. So the prefeudal stage (the term of E. Gudavičius) as well as the feudal stage was unique in both chronological and geographical senses (as for this aspect, Western Europe is comparable maybe only with medieval Japan). In the early Middle Ages, a necessary condition of the feudalisation of the periphery of Western Europe was the influence of the neighbouring (already feudal) countries. Otherwise, the social structure of peripheral societies would have been developing like in the Orient. L. Vasilyev affirms convincingly that market relations in Germanic society in the early Middle Ages were suppressed by vertical (subordinating) and corporative connections. In this sense, Western Europe became similar to the Orient. Nevertheless, the main difference was that private property remained in Western Europe. Private property enabled the development of market relations when civilization and technologies were restored. Medieval cities and burghers undermined feudalism and were the first sprouts of the capitalist structure. L. Vasilyev's statement that capitalism is the consequence of a structural rebirth of Antiquity is not very convincing. The structural heritage of Antiquity was a primary stimulus during the process of the genesis of feudalism. Later, feudalism developed spontaneously and the part of the heritage of Antiquity was only auxiliary. It is very doubtful that the historical experiment of the structural synthesis took place in medieval Western Europe (according to L. Vasilyev's conception it also took place in the Hellenistic Orient and in the Byzantine Empire). Already, during the stage of the genesis of feudalism, a social mutation (i.e. qualitative change) took place in Western Europe. So, in general, there was no more structural synthesis but spontaneous development. On the other hand, the mentioned L. Vasilyev's conception was not adapted to much more prospective cases like the Philippines and especially Latin America.

Clerics in the Early Middle Ages Hierarchy and Image. By Roger E. Reynolds. [Variorum Collected Studies Series.] (Brookfield, Vermont: Variorum, Ashgate. 1999. Pp. x, 334. $110.95.) Clerical Orders in the Early Middle Ages- Duties and Ordination. By Roger E. Reynolds. [Variorum Collected Studies Series. I (Brookfield,Vermont: Variorum,Ashgate. 1999. PP. x, 334,$106.95.) The last thirty or so years have witnessed a growing fascination on the part of medievalists and social historians with lay and religious movements in the Middle Ages. Popes, cardinals, bishops, and monks, on the other hand, have all enjoyed a perennial appeal among scholars. Amazingly little research, however, has focused on priests and on the clerical grades preceding ordination to the priesthood. This is particularly ironic in view of the vast number of men and boys who were tonsured and admitted to various degrees of clerical status throughout the medieval period and beyond. These companion volumes bring together some twenty-three articles of varying length on clerics and clerical orders as reflected in patristic and medieval texts. Roger Reynolds draws upon a wide spectrum of sources, including letters, sermons, treatises, liturgical commentaries, ordination instructions, and canon law materials from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. Most of the articles have appeared elsewhere over the past three decades and hence Ashgate/Variorum has maintained their original pagination wherever possible, assigning to each a Roman numeral in order of appearance, as listed in the table of contents. Some articles have been so thoroughly revised or else now appear in much lengthier, unabridged form that any attempt to retain their original pagination would have proven impossible. Clerics in the Early Middle Ages: Hierarchy and Image contains four studies which appear for the first time; one of the articles in Clerical Orders in the Early Middle Ages: Duties and Ordination is likewise a first publication. Reynolds begins the first volume by mapping out as it were the clerical landscape of the early Middle Ages, describing the clerical grades and their functions in the various western European systems: Roman, Spanish, Irish, and Gallo-Frankish. Another study, entitled Christ as Cleric: The Ordinals of examines the widespread phenomenon of identifying Christ, through his words or actions, with each of the clerical grades. In an essay on the mathematics of sacred orders, the author shows that the 'traditional' seven ecclesiastical grades were by no means as fixed or as consistent in the patristic and early medieval periods as later scholastic theologians would have preferred. Several medieval systems of sacred orders in fact ran as low as six and as high as eight or nine clerical grades. A fourth article discusses the status of the subdiaconate as a sacred or `major' order. Patristic Presbyterianism explores the relationship of the priesthood to the episcopate in the writings of theologians from Jerome and Ambrosiaster to the Master of the Sentences, Peter Lombard. The highest of the ecclesiastical orders, Peter maintained, is the priesthood. Indeed, Lombard cited Isidore of Seville to the effect that, according to ancient authorities, bishops and presbyters were originally the same. This equation of the priesthood with the order of bishop naturally would give rise to 'presbyterian' consequences in the Reformation period. In discussing the origins, duties, conferral, and arrangement of sacred orders, Reynolds does a good job of linking text with image, as in the case of the Raganaldus Sacramentary, the Landulf Pontifical Roll, and the Drogo Sacramentary. These studies feature clear, attractive black and white reproductions of the manuscript sources. Again juxtaposing medieval accounts and a generous selection of artistic depictions of clerics arrayed in attendance at church councils, Reynolds analyzes rites and signs of conciliar decisions in the Middle Ages. …

TamdrupRoyal residence and memorial church in a new light
 Tamdrup has been shrouded in a degree of mystery in recent times. The solitary church located on a moraine hill west of Horsens is visible from afar and has attracted attention for centuries. On the face of it, it resembles an ordinary parish church, but on closer examination it is found to be unusually large, and on entering one discovers that hidden beneath one roof is a three-aisled construction, which originally was a Romanesque basilica. Why was such a large church built in this particular place? What were the prevailing circumstances in the Early Middle Ages when the foundation stone was laid?
 The mystery of Tamdrup has been addressed and discussed before. In the 1980s and 1990s, archaeological excavations were carried out which revealed traces of a magnate’s farm or a royal residence from the Late Viking Age or Early Middle Ages located on the field to the west of the church (fig. 4), and in 1991, the book Tamdrup – Kirke og gård was published.
 Now, by way of metal-detector finds, new information has been added. These new finds provide several answers, but also give rise to several new questions and problems. In recent years, a considerable number of metal finds recovered by metal detector at Tamdrup have been submitted to Horsens Museum. Since 2012, 207 artefacts have been recorded, primarily coins, brooches, weights and fittings from such as harness, dating from the Late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. Further to these, a coin hoard dating from the time of Svein Estridson was excavated in 2013.
 The museum has processed the submitted finds, which have been recorded and passed on for treasure trove evaluation. As resources were not available for a more detailed assessment of the artefacts, in 2014 the museum formulated a research project that received funding from the Danish Agency for Culture, enabling the finds to be examined in greater depth.
 The aim of the research project was to study the metal-detector finds and the excavation findings, partly through an analysis of the total finds assemblage, partly by digitalisation of the earlier excavation plans so these could be compared with each other and with the new excavation data. This was intended to lead on to a new analysis, new interpretations and a new, overall evaluation of Tamdrup’s function, role and significance in the Late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages.Old excavations – new interpretationsIn 1983, on the eastern part of the field, a trial excavation trench was laid out running north-south (d). This resulted in two trenches (a, b) and a further three trial trenches being opened up in 1984 (fig. 6). In the northern trench, a longhouse, a fence and a pit-house were discovered (fig. 8). The interpretation of the longhouse (fig. 4) still stands, in so far as we are dealing with a longhouse with curved walls. The western end of the house appears unequivocal, but there could be some doubt about its eastern end. An alternative interpretation is a 17.5 m long building (fig. 8), from which the easternmost set of roof-bearing posts are excluded. Instead, another posthole is included as the northernmost post in the gable to the east. This gives a house with regularly curved walls, though with the eastern gable (4.3 m) narrower than the western (5.3 m).
 North of the trench (a) containing the longhouse, a trial trench (c) was also laid out, revealing a number of features. Similarly, there were also several features in the northern part of the middle trial trench (e). A pit in trial trench c was found to contain both a fragment of a bit branch and a bronze key. There was neither time nor resources to permit the excavation of these areas in 1984, but it seems very likely that there are traces of one or more houses here (fig. 9). Here we have a potential site for a possible main dwelling house or hall.
 In August 1990, on the basis of an evaluation, an excavation trench (h) was opened up to the west of the 1984 excavation (fig. 7). Here, traces were found of two buildings, which lay parallel to each other, oriented east-west. These were interpreted as small auxiliary buildings associated with the same magnate’s farm as the longhouse found in the 1984 excavation. The northern building was 4 m wide and the southern building was 5.5 m. Both buildings were considered to be c. 7 m long and with an open eastern gable. The southern building had one set of internal roof-bearing posts.
 The excavation of the two buildings in 1990 represented the art of the possible, as no great resources were available. Aerial photos from the time show that the trial trench from the evaluation was back-filled when the excavation was completed. Today, we have a comprehensive understanding of the trial trenches and excavation trenches thanks to the digitalised plans. Here, it becomes apparent that some postholes recorded during the evaluation belong to the southernmost of the two buildings, but these were unfortunately not relocated during the actual excavation. As these postholes, accordingly, did not form part of the interpretation, it was assumed that the building was 7 m in length (fig. 10). When these postholes from the evaluation are included, a ground plan emerges that can be interpreted as the remains of a Trelleborg house (fig. 11). The original 7 m long building constitutes the western end of this characteristic house, while the remainder of the south wall was found in the trial trench. Part of the north wall is apparently missing, but the rest of the building appears so convincing that the missing postholes must be attributed to poor conditions for preservation and observation. The northeastern part of the house has not been uncovered, which means that it is not possible to say with certainty whether the house was 19 or 25 m in length, minus its buttress posts.
 On the basis of the excavations undertaken in 1984 and 1990, it was assumed that the site represented a magnate’s farm from the Late Viking Age. It was presumed that the excavated buildings stood furthest to the north on the toft and that the farm’s main dwelling – in the best-case scenario the royal residence – should be sought in the area to the south between the excavated buildings. Six north-south-oriented trial trenches were therefore laid out in this area (figs. 6, 7 and 13 – trial trenches o, p, q, r, s and t). The results were, according to the excavation report, disappointing: No trace was found of Harold Bluetooth’s hall. It was concluded that there were no structures and features that could be linked together to give a larger entity such as the presumed magnate’s farm.
 After digitalisation of the excavation plans from 1991, we now have an overview of the trial trenches to a degree that was not possible previously (fig. 13). It is clear that there is a remarkable concentration of structures in the central and northern parts of the two middle trial trenches (q, r) and in part also in the second (p) and fourth (s) trial trenches from the west, as well as in the northern parts of the two easternmost trial trenches (s, t). An actual archaeological excavation would definitely be recommended here if a corresponding intensity of structures were to be encountered in an evaluation today (anno 2016).
 Now that all the plans have been digitalised, it is obvious to look at the trial trenches from 1990 and 1991 together. Although some account has to be taken of uncertainties in the digitalisation, this nevertheless confirms the picture of a high density of structures, especially in the middle of the 1991 trial trenches. The collective interpretation from the 1990 and 1991 investigations is that there are strong indications of settlement in the area of the middle 1991 trial trenches. It is also definitely a possibility that these represent the remains of a longhouse, which could constitute the main dwelling house. It can therefore be concluded that it is apparently possible to confirm the interpretation of the site as a potential royal residence, even though this is still subject to some uncertainty in the absence of new excavations. The archaeologists were disappointed following the evaluation undertaken in 1991, but the overview which modern technology is able to provide means that the interpretation is now rather more encouraging. There are strong indications of the presence of a royal residence.
 FindsThe perception of the area by Tamdrup church gained a completely new dimension when the first metal finds recovered by metal detector arrived at Horsens Museum in the autumn of 2011. With time, as the finds were submitted, considerations of the significance and function of the locality in the Late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages were subjected to revision. The interpretation as a magnate’s farm was, of course, common knowledge, but at Horsens Museum there was an awareness that this interpretation was in some doubt following the results of the 1991 investigations. The many new finds removed any trace of this doubt while, at the same time, giving cause to attribute yet further functions to the site. Was it also a trading place or a central place in conjunction with the farm? And was it active earlier than previously assumed?
 The 207 metal finds comprise 52 coins (whole, hack and fragments), 34 fittings (harness, belt fittings etc.), 28 brooches (enamelled disc brooches, Urnes fibulas and bird brooches), 21 weights, 15 pieces of silver (bars, hack and casting dead heads), 12 figures (pendants, small horses), nine distaff whorls, eight bronze keys, four lead amulets, three bronze bars, two fragments of folding scales and a number of other artefacts, the most spectacular of which included a gold ring and a bronze seal ring. In dating terms, most of the finds can be assigned to the Late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages.
 The largest artefact group consists of the coins, of which

We aimed to investigate the association of self-reported leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) over a 45-years from adolescence to late middle age mediated by LTPA in early middle age. We also explored whether LTPA in adolescence and early middle age was associated with change in LTPA during the COVID-19 pandemic. We constructed a path model employing questionnaire data from three LTPA measurements (1976, 2001, 2021) including duplicated assessment for pre- and during COVID-19 in 2021. The direct and indirect associations between LTPA in adolescence, early middle and late middle age were investigated, as well as the impact of previous LTPA on change in late middle age LTPA due to the pandemic. The number of participants per assessment was: n = 2083; n = 1468 (71% of the original); n = 878 (42%) and n = 867 (42%), respectively. However, the number varied depending on the path examined. LTPA in adolescence was associated with LTPA in late middle age, although the association was not strong. LTPA decreased significantly during the pandemic. Earlier LTPA was associated with change in LTPA between before and during COVID-19 among males. This study is the first to demonstrate an association between adolescent and late middle age LTPA. However, the association across the 45-years was low.