Arnved Nedkvitne
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Professor Dr Arnved Nedkvitne | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 21, 1947 |
| Alma mater | University of Bergen |
| Awards | Member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (1993) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | mediaeval Norwegian history |
| Institutions | University of Trondheim University of Oslo |
Arnved Nedkvitne (born 21 May 1947) is a Norwegian historian of the Middle Ages and Professor Emeritus of mediaeval history. He held the chair of Norwegian mediaeval history at the University of Trondheim from 1991 to 1993 and at the University of Oslo from 1993 to 2009. He is a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, and was elected in 1993. Nedkvitne is regarded as "one of Norway's preeminent commercial historians"[1] and as Norway's foremost mediaeval historian. His research has focused on Norwegian urban history, foreign trade, the economy of coastal communities and pre-modern social organisation. He is the foremost scholar of the relations between the Hanseatic League and Norway; his research has also explored topics such as honour, law and religious ethics in Scandinavia, the social consequences of literacy in the Middle Ages, lay beliefs of mediaeval Scandinavia, and the Norse settlement of Arctic Greenland.
Born in Haugesund, Nedkvitne obtained his cand.philol. degree in history at the University of Bergen in 1975 with a dissertation on Handelssjøfarten mellom England og Norge i høymiddelalderen (Sea-based trade between England and Norway in the High Middle Ages).[2] He earned his dr. philos. degree in 1983 on the thesis Utenrikshandelen fra det vestafjelske Norge (The Foreign Trade of Western Norway). He was employed as a research fellow and senior researcher at the University of Bergen until 1991. He was professor of mediaeval history at the University of Trondheim from 1991 to 1993, and was appointed as professor of mediaeval history at the University of Oslo in 1993.
Scholarly work
Nedkvitne's research focuses on Norwegian urban history, foreign trade, the economy of coastal communities and pre-modern social organisation. He has written several books, especially on Scandinavia's foreign trade relations in the Middle Ages, on literacy and beliefs in mediaeval Scandinavia and on the Norse settlement of Greenland.[3] A major research focus of Nedkvitne is also relations between the Hanseatic League and Norway.
According to historian Kåre Lunden, Nedkvitne has "authored several major works of Norwegian economic history. In recent years, he has been an important innovator, linked to the 'cultural turn' in the discipline".[4] Ian Peter Grohse notes that "Nedkvitne's extensive work on the history of Norwegian fishing, shipping, and foreign trade has duly affirmed his place as one of Norway's preeminent commercial historians and a leading scholar in the field of Norwegian–Hanseatic relations."[1]
The book Norse Greenland: Viking Peasants in the Arctic (Routledge, 2018) discusses how a community of 2000–3000 Viking peasants survived in Arctic Greenland for 430 years (ca. 985–1415), and why they finally disappeared.
Honours
He was elected as a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters in 1993.[5]
