Donations, Inheritance and Property in the Nordic and Western World from Late Antiquity Until Today

Donations, Inheritance and Property in the Nordic and Western World from Late Antiquity until Today presents an examination of Nordic donation and gift-giving practices in the Nordic and Western world, beginning in late Antiquity and extending through to the present day. Through chapters contributed by leading international researchers, this book explores the changing legal, social and religious frameworks that shape how donations and gifts are given.

In addition to donations to ecclesiastical, charitable and cultural institutions, this books also highlights the sociolegal challenges and the tensions that can occur as a result of transferring property, including answering key questions such as who has a right to what. It also presents, for the first time, an insight into the dynamics of donations and the interplay between individual motivations, strategic behaviour and the legal setting of inheritance law.

Offering a broad chronological and European perspective and including a wide range of illuminating case studies Donations, Inheritance and Property in the Nordic and Western World from Late Antiquity until Today is ideal for students of Nordic and European legal and social history.

Ole-Albert Rønning is a historian and PhD candidate at the University of Oslo, Norway, studying oaths of compurgation in medieval Norwegian law and society, in a comparative perspective.

Helle Møller Sigh is a curator at the Strandingsmuseum St. George, Thorsminde, Demark.

Helle Vogt is an associate professor at the Centre for Studies in Legal Culture at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her previous publications include The Danish Medieval Laws: The laws of Scania, Zealand and Jutland (2016).