Harley Botham
Supervisors
Prof Stefan Brink (INS, 杏吧原创), Dr Shane McLeod (INS, 杏吧原创) and Dr Irene García Losquiño (USC).
Research title
Diplomatic relations between the Norse and the Southern Diaspora.
Research abstract
The Viking Age has traditionally been interpreted through narratives of violence, raiding and conquest, with such behaviours considered the primary drivers of social and political change (Raffield, 2019, p. 813). Consequently, scholarship has often overlooked the complex social, political and cultural interactions that shaped the Viking world. This is particularly evident in Iberia and the wider southern diaspora, where a lack of archaeological evidence has contributed to interpretations of Viking presence as ‘epidermic’, focused primarily upon violence and historically insignificant (Sánchez Albornoz, 1969, pp. 407-408).
Although recent scholarship has demonstrated the complexity of Norse-Iberian relations in Galicia and Portugal, including evidence of trade networks, mercenary activity and cultural exchange (Pires, 2012; García Losquiño, 2022), diplomatic and cultural interactions across al-Andalus, the Balearic Islands and North Africa remain underexplored. This thesis addresses this gap by examining the nature, extent and significance of diplomatic contact across the shores of the western Mediterranean within the wider context of the Viking diaspora.
This thesis employs a largely transdisciplinary methodology, combining close textual analysis of Arabic, Latin and Old Norse sources and translations with comparative historical analysis. Integrating approaches from diplomacy studies, social anthropology, identity theory, communication theory and sociolinguistics, this research examines how diplomatic relationships were negotiated between culturally distinct groups through communication, identity construction, landscape and practices of exchange.
The findings demonstrate that Viking activity in the Southern Diaspora extended beyond conflict to include diplomatic negotiation, trade, cultural exchange and other forms of peaceful interaction. Communication relied upon multiple ‘languages of exchange’ (Braudel, 1972, p. 231), extending beyond spoken language, while social identities were negotiated and adapted to facilitate engagement between culturally distinct communities. Furthermore, geography and landscape significantly influenced where and how contact occurred, producing patterns of interaction that both reflected and diverged from other Viking diaspora contexts.
This thesis argues that non-violent interaction constituted an important, though overlooked, dimension of Viking mobility, expansion and identity. By challenging narratives of sporadic raiding and violence-centred interpretations of Viking activity, this research contributes to broader understandings of Viking diplomacy, intercultural communication and identity formation, while offering new perspectives on the cultural heritage of al-Andalus and the wider Mediterranean.
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