No abstract

Northeim. This paper argues that these men reinforced each other's decision to do so; it further argues that a key, but previously overlooked, aspect of these cases is that three of these women (Bertha, Adelaide and Immilla) were closely related to one another. The first section focuses narrowly on Henry IV's attempt to repudiate his wife, Bertha, and the rich documentation this produced. Then Henry's actions are compared and contrasted with the contemporaneous attempts of Rudolf, Eckbert, and Welf to end their own marriages. Given the kinship between Bertha, Adelaide and Immilla, this paper argues that Henry, Rudolf and Eckbert wished not only to dissolve their marriages, but also to sever their ties with their wives' natal dynasty, and specifically with Adelaide of Turin, sister of Immilla, mother of Bertha and Adelaide, and ruler of the mark of Turin. Yet, partly due to the actions of Adelaide of Turin, it was hard for these men to 'break up' with their wives. In contrast with Ethelinde's kin, who failed to stop her repudiation, Adelaide mobilised diplomatic and military support to ensure that her daughters' marriages were not dissolved.

Book reviewse med_292 92..133 Two Decades of Discovery. Edited by Tony Abramson. Studies in Early Medieval Coinage 1. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. 2006. viii + 202 pp. £40. ISSN 1756 4840.The title does not say so, but this book is mostly about sceattas, those tiny late seventh-and early eighth-century coins that were produced in England and parts of the continent, and which may with varying degrees of success be attributed to series (Stuart Rigold receives much praise for this), types, imitations of types and forgeries of types, from which it may be possible to establish dates of issue and the place of manufacture. This, as Michael Metcalf says in his review of two decades of achievement (much of it, as others later say, by himself ) is the work of numismatists; economic historians work out the consequences. Some people interested in sceattas are not even proper numismatists, however; the third part of this book -the first is conference papers, the second subsequent contributions -lists coins sold to collectors which were selected for quality and aesthetics rather than because they were historically significant. They are also potential investments, and it is sobering to see that 527 were sold for nearly £190,000, many acquired from metal-detector users whose interest in them was not enough to lead to responsible reporting and declaration of find-spot. As has been said by others, how would historians feel if they were taken into an archive only to discover that some of the most useful manuscripts had been taken out, all evidence of their source removed, and then sold in secrecy, so that their very existence may never be publicly known?Still, we can be thankful that at least a proportion of the coins (and other finds) are being declared, as this book and others like it would not have been possible otherwise. New evidence allows several numismatists, among them the editor, to add new data, some of which comes from controlled excavations, such as those in Ribe, Denmark, very usefully summarized by Claus Feveile; the extraordinary build-up of stratified layers would reduce anyone who studies the English wic sites to jealous tears. Unfortunately, only the earliest phases are dated by dendrochronogy, but that is enough to show that at first the 'Wodan/Monster' sceatta types were in a minority, but from c.725 are the overwhelming majority;Early Medieval Europe 2010 18 (1) 92-133

No abstract

No abstract