In the wake of a heightened interest in the Swedish Middle Ages, the need for knowledge has increased as well. The Swedish Middle Ages was an era when the country truly began to grow closer to the European sphere of culture. The forces behind this transformation are largely to be sought among the social elite, the budding aristocracy of Sweden. The process of becoming “Europeans” brought with it great changes to Sweden, not the least in terms of the political arena. What was it that was so sought after by the Swedish aristocracy? What ideals and values lay behind the feudally inspired system of government and the chivalric code of conduct among the elite? In a general sense, the object of this investigation has been to try to understand and explore the ideological underpinnings of the new system of government and the new social order. In order to achieve this, I have used the Swedish chivalric chronicle known as Erikskrönikan as the source material for the investigation. It is believed to have been a propaganda piece for the Swedish aristocracy of the early 1300 hundreds and is, as such, a phenomenal source for researching the ideals and values of the Swedish aristocracy of that time. Thus, the purpose of this essay has been to investigate ideological underpinnings of the Swedish power elite of the first half of the 14th century by analysing their idealized self image and conception of society, as they appear in Erikskrönikan’s depiction of duke Erik and a few other key characters. Included in this is also an ambition to contextualize the results of the investigation by attempting to reconstruct the ideology for which Erikskrönikan is an expression. The intention has been to contribute a new perspective to the already extant research concerning the understanding of the new type of society brought forth in medieval Sweden.  The theoretical premise of this investigation has been a functional understanding of the concept of ideology. In this essay ideology is regarded as a system of ideas which expresses a given groups world views and norms, which reflects the social conditions of the group, and which is a declaration of that group’s interests and aspirations. The methodological basis has been a qualitative analysis of the text, where the depiction of selected characters from the text has been the main object of investigation. The focus has been on identifying which characteristics are portrayed as ideal and which are portrayed as are anti ideal within the text. On an analytical level this investigation has included the use of the concepts “manifest ideology” and “latent ideology” as tools of analysis. In this way it has been possible to uncover the ideals and values of the aristocracy, as expressed in Erikskrönikan, both in terms of what is articulated explicitly and what is implied. In terms of results this investigation has rendered them in abundance. Among the most revealing and relevant findings are: the emphasis put on the vassal system, the chivalrous virtues and the staunch declaration about the superiority of elective kingship. These are all examples of recurring themes which are communicated with a clear didactic intent. Furthermore, I have also been able to show that the code of chivalry was not considered a varnish to cover the blemishes of an imperfect society, but a way of relating to reality and to the surrounding world. The tangible functions of the code of chivalry in society can be understood as having been of two kinds: on the one hand, the code of chivalry was a way of reigning in and channelling the destructive potential of the use of violence; and on the other hand, the code of chivalry was a way for the aristocracy, indeed the Swedish chivalry, to communicate and reaffirm their social standing, both internally and externally.

A partir de l'étude approfondie des registres angevins de Naples, l'objet de cette thèse est d'analyser les caractéristiques du pouvoir angevin établi dans la principauté de Morée, depuis sa cession par le prince Guillaume de Villehardouin au roi Charles Ier d'Anjou en 1267, jusqu'à la mort de Charles II d'Anjou en 1309. Seigneurs supérieurs de toute la principauté durant toute cette période, et même princes effectifs de la Morée entre 1278 et 1289, les rois de Sicile ont eu le souci de gouverner ce territoire en mettant en place une administration efficace et centralisée, s'appuyant à la fois sur les ressources humaines de leur royaume et sur les élites moréotes, menant leurs politiques dans le respect des coutumes locales. Ils ne remirent pas en cause les structures féodales et religieuses de la principauté, et encouragèrent les échanges commerciaux avec la Morée. Imposant leur autorité aux princes et à la princesse Isabelle de Villehardouin, les angevins ont su gérer plusieurs conflits, y compris celui opposant le prince au duc d'Athènes. Ils n'ont pu cependant reprendre les territoires conquis par les Byzantins : si Charles Ier a mené plusieurs opérations militaires dans le Péloponnèse, sans réel succès, la crise de Vêpres Siciliennes a mis un terme à ses ambitions militaires, Charles II laissant la défense de la péninsule aux mains des princes. Devenue dépendante du Royaume de Sicile, notamment avec la destitution de la princesse Isabelle en 1304, la principauté de Morée devint alors une simple province périphérique du royaume Angevin / Based on the thorought study of the Angevins registers of Naples, this doctoral thesis aims at analysing the caracteristics of the Angevin power established in the principality of Morea, from its transfer by prince William of Villehardouin to the king Charles Ist of Anjou in 1309, until the death of Charles II of Anjou in 1309. Superior lords of the principality during this period, and effective princes of Morea between 1278 and 1289, the kings of Sicily cared about governing this territory, installing an efficient and centralized administration, leaning both on the human resources of their kingdom and on the Moreotes elites, leading their politics in the respect of the local customs. They didn't change the feodal and religious structures of the principality, and they stimulated commercial exchanges with Morea. They imposed their authority to the princes and the princess Isabelle of Villehardouin. The angevins succed in managing several conflicts, even the one between the prince and the duke of Athens. But they couldn't retake the territories capures by the Byzantins : if Charles Ist lead several military operations in the Peloponese without real success, the Sicilian Vespers crisis put an end to his military ambitions. Charles II let the defense of the principality to the prince hands. The principilaty of Morea became dependant on the kingdom of Sicily, especially with the deposition of the princess Isabelle in 1304, and became then a mere peripheral province of the kingdom of Sicily