The Retinue and the Ship - An Archaeo-sociological Study of Scandinavia at the Turn of the East Millennium and the Following Centuries

Abstract

This paper argues that the ledungen organization, known from medieval provincial laws in Scandinavia, was an attempt to introduce and/or enhance central influence on local and regional administration. Ledungen was organized as a royal seaborne retinue, and used the idea of the ship and the ship's crew to establish a territorial division with the ultimate purpose of taxation. Individual farms were assigned to ship's teams. with the right and duty to serve the king. A prerequisite for the outcome of this system was the existence of similar structures, and it is assumed that the ledungen was intended to replace older, privately controlled warparties. By way of referring to naval expeditions, led by himself, the king sought to (1) transmit incomes from landowners to the crown, (2) monopolize the use of force, and (3) explain and legitimize central organization.