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Thursday, July 4, 2024

Synod

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A synod (/ˈsɪnəd/) is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod comes from the Ancient Greek σύνοδος (synodos) 'assembly, meeting'; the term is analogous with the Latin word concilium 'council'. Originally, synods were meetings of bishops, and the word is still used in that sense in Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not. It is also sometimes used to refer to a church that is governed by a synod.

Sometimes the phrase "general synod" or "general council" refers to an ecumenical council. The word synod also refers to the standing council of high-ranking bishops governing some of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. Similarly, the day-to-day governance of patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Eastern Catholic Churches is entrusted to a permanent synod.

Usages in different Communions

Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox

In Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, synods of bishops are meetings of bishops within each autonomous Church and are the primary vehicle for the election of bishops and the establishment of inter-diocesan ecclesiastical laws.

A sobor (Church Slavonic: съборъ, romanized: sŭborŭ, lit. 'assembly') is a formal gathering or council of bishops together with other clerical and lay delegates representing the church to deal with matters of faith, morality, rite, and canonical and cultural life. The synod in the Western churches is similar, but it is distinguished by being usually limited to an assembly of bishops.

The term is found among those Eastern Orthodox Churches that use Slavic languages (the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches), along with the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Assembly

The presence of clerical and lay delegates is for the purpose of discerning the consensus of the church on important matters; however, the bishops form an upper house of the sobor, and the laity cannot overrule their decisions.

Kievan Rus' chronicles record the first known East Slavic church sobor as having taken place in Kiev in 1051. Sobors were convened periodically from then on; one notable assembly held in 1415 formed a separate metropoly for the church in the Grand Duchy of Lithuanian lands.

Important sobors in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church are:

Vladimir's Sobor in 1276
The Stoglavy Sobor (Sobor of a Hundred Chapters) in 1551
The Moscow Sobor of 1666–1667, to deal with disputes surrounding the ecclesiastical reforms of Patriarch Nikon
The All-Russian Sobor of 1917, which restored the Moscow Patriarchate and elected Saint Tikhon as the first modern Patriarch of Moscow
The All-Russian Sobor of 1988, called on the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' to guide the church in the wake of glasnost and the loosening of the Soviet grip over the church

A bishop may also call a sobor for his diocese, which again would have delegates from the clergy, monasteries and parishes of his diocese, to discuss important matters. Such diocesan sobors may be held annually or only occasionally.

Catholic

In Roman Catholic usage, synod and council are theoretically synonymous as they are of Greek and Latin origins, respectively, both meaning an authoritative meeting of bishops for the purpose of church administration in the areas of teaching (faith and morals) or governance (church discipline or law). However, in modern use, synod and council are applied to specific categories of such meetings and so do not really overlap. A synod generally meets every three years and is thus designated an "Ordinary General Assembly". However, "Extraordinary" synods can be called to deal with specific situations. There are also "Special" synods for the Church in a specific geographic area such as the one held November 16-December 12, 1997, for the Church in America.

Synod of Bishops

While the words "synod" and "council" usually refer to a transitory meeting, the term "Synod of Bishops" or "Synod of the Bishops", is also applied to a permanent body established in 1965 as an advisory body of the pope. It holds assemblies at which bishops and religious superiors, elected by bishops conferences or the Union of Superiors General or appointed by the Pope vote on proposals ("propositiones") to present for the pope's consideration, and which in practice the pope uses as the basis of "post-synodal apostolic exhortations" on the themes discussed. While an assembly of the Synod of Bishops thus expresses its collective wishes, it does not issue decrees, unless in certain cases the pope authorizes it to do so, and even then an assembly's decision requires ratification by the pope. The pope serves as president of an assembly or appoints the president, determines the agenda, and summons, suspends, and dissolves the assembly.

Modern Catholic synod themes:

X "The Bishop: Servant of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST for the hope of the world" 1998
XI "The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church 2005
XII "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church" 2008
XIII "New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith" 2012
Extraordinary General "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization" 2014

Councils

Meetings of bishops in the Roman empire are known from the mid-third century and already numbered twenty by the time of the First Council of Nicaea (325). Thereafter they continued by the hundreds into the sixth century. Those authorized by an emperor and often attended by him came to be called ecumenical, meaning throughout the world (as the world was thought of in Western terms). Today, Council in Roman Catholic canon law typically refers to an irregular meeting of the entire episcopate of a nation, region, or the world for the purpose of legislation with binding force. Those contemplated in canon law are the following:

An ecumenical council is an irregular meeting of the entire episcopate in communion with the pope and is, along with the pope, the highest legislative authority of the universal Church (can. 336). The pope alone has the right to convoke, suspend, and dissolve an ecumenical council; he also presides over it or chooses someone else to do so and determines the agenda (can. 338). The vacancy of the Holy See automatically suspends an ecumenical council. Laws or teachings issued by an ecumenical council require the confirmation of the pope, who alone has the right to promulgate them (can. 341). The role of the pope in an ecumenical council is a distinct feature of the Catholic Church.
Plenary councils, which are meetings of the entire episcopate of a nation (including a nation that is only one ecclesiastical province), are convoked by the national episcopal conference.
Provincial councils, which consist of the bishops of an ecclesiastical province smaller than a nation, are convoked by the metropolitan with consent of a majority of the suffragan bishops.

Plenary and provincial councils are categorized as particular councils. A particular council is composed of all the bishops of the territory (including coadjutors and auxiliaries) as well as other ecclesiastical ordinaries who head particular churches in the territory (such as territorial abbots and vicars apostolic). Each of these members has a vote on council legislation. Additionally, the following persons by law are part of particular councils but only participate in an advisory capacity: vicars general and episcopal, presidents of Catholic universities, deans of Catholic departments of theology and canon law, some major superiors elected by all the major superiors in the territory, some rectors of seminaries elected by the rectors of seminaries in the territory, and two members from each cathedral chapter, presbyterial council, or pastoral council in the territory (can. 443). The convoking authority can also select other members of the faithful (including the laity) to participate in the council in an advisory capacity.

Meetings of the entire episcopate of a supra-national region have historically been called councils as well, such as the various Councils of Carthage in which all the bishops of North Africa were to attend.

During the Middle Ages, some councils were legatine, called by a papal legate rather than the pope or bishop.

Synods

Synods in Eastern Catholic Churches are similar to synods in Orthodox churches in that they are the primary vehicle for election of bishops and establishment of inter-diocesan ecclesiastical laws. The term synod in Latin Church canon law, however, refers to meetings of a representative, thematic, non-legislative (advisory) or mixed nature or in some other way do not meet the qualifications of a "council". There are various types.

Diocesan synods are irregular meetings of the clergy and laity of a particular church summoned by the diocesan bishop (or other prelate if the particular church is not a diocese) to deliberate on legislative matters. Only the diocesan bishop holds legislative authority; the other members of the diocesan synod act only in an advisory capacity. Those who must be invited to a diocesan synod by law are any coadjutor or auxiliary bishops, the vicars general and episcopal, the officialis, the vicars forane plus an additional priest from each vicariate forane, the presbyterial council, canons of the cathedral chapter (if there is one), the rector of the seminary, some of the superiors of religious houses in the diocese, and members of the laity chosen by the diocesan pastoral council, though the diocesan bishop can invite others to attend at his own initiative. (can. 463)

Episcopal conferences

National episcopal conferences are another development of the Second Vatican Council. They are permanent bodies consisting of all the Latin Church bishops of a nation and those equivalent to diocesan bishops in law (i.e. territorial abbots). Bishops of other sui juris churches and papal nuncios are not members of episcopal conferences by law, though the conference itself may invite them in an advisory or voting capacity (can. 450).

While councils (can. 445) and diocesan synods (can. 391 & 466) have full legislative powers in their areas of competence, national episcopal conferences may only issue supplementary legislation when authorized to do so in canon law or by decree of the Holy See. Additionally, any such supplemental legislation requires a two-thirds vote of the conference and review by the Holy See (can. 455) to have the force of law. Without such authorization and review, episcopal conferences are deliberative only and exercise no authority over their member bishops or dioceses.

Anglican

In the Anglican Communion, synods are elected by clergy and laity. In most Anglican churches, there is a geographical hierarchy of synods, with General Synod at the top; bishops, clergy and laity meet as "houses" within the synod.

Diocesan synods are convened by a bishop in his or her diocese, and consist of elected clergy and lay members.

Deanery synods are convened by the Rural Dean (or Area Dean) and consist of all clergy licensed to a benefice within the deanery, plus elected lay members.

Lutheran

In North America, a synod can be a local administrative region similar to a diocese in other denominations. An example of this is the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. However, for some denominations such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, it denotes an entire church body. The usage of synod as an administrative ecclesiastical region is also reflected by the German term Synodalverband (i.e. synodal federation), such as the Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig.

In Europe, a synod can be a legislature comprising deputies elected by all enfranchised members of a church and competent for the entire church. It is similar to a general assembly in Presbyterianism, and found, in regional Protestant church bodies (Landeskirche) in Germany; examples include Landessynode (i.e. regional or land synod) or Generalsynode (general synod). A synod can also be used by an administrative subunit of a church body, such as a city synod (Stadtsynode; comprising synodal deputies of congregations of one denomination within one city) or provincial synod (Provinzialsynode; comprising synodal deputies of congregations within an ecclesiastical province). The use of the term synod to describe a small gathering is now obsolete, the term used instead is Kirchenkreis.

Presbyterian

In the Presbyterian system of church governance the synod is a level of administration between the local presbytery and the national general assembly. Some denominations use the synod, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Uniting Church in Australia, and the Presbyterian Church USA. However some other churches do not use the synod at all, and the Church of Scotland dissolved its synods in 1993, see List of Church of Scotland synods and presbyteries. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is considered a Synod since there is no national church in the United States. (see establishment principle)

Reformed

In Swiss and southern German Reformed churches, where the Reformed churches are organized as regionally defined independent churches (such as Evangelical Reformed Church of Zurich or Reformed Church of Berne), the synod corresponds to the general assembly of Presbyterian churches. In Reformed churches, the synod can denote a regional meeting of representatives of various classes (regional synod), or the general denominational meeting of representatives from the regional synods (general or national synod). Some churches, especially the smaller denominations, do not have the regional synod tier (for example, the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS)). Historically, these were meetings such as the Synod of Homberg.

Church of Christ in Congo

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the vast majority of Protestant denominations have regrouped under a religious institution named the Church of Christ in Congo or CCC, often referred to – within the Congo – simply as The Protestant Church. In the CCC structure, the national synod is the general assembly of the various churches that constitutes the CCC. From the Synod is drawn an executive committee, and a secretariat. There are also synods of the CCC in every province of the Congo, known appropriately as provincial synods. The CCC regroups 62 Protestant denominations.

Thing (assembly)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(assembly)

A thing, also known as a folkmoot, assembly, tribal council, and by other names, was a governing assembly in early Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by a lawspeaker. Things took place at regular intervals, usually at prominent places that were accessible by travel. They provided legislative functions, as well as being social events and opportunities for trade. In modern usage, the meaning of this word in English and other languages has shifted to mean not just an assemblage of some sort but simply an object of any sort.

Etymology

The word appears in Old Norse, Old English, and modern Icelandic as þing, in Middle English (as in modern English), Old Saxon, Old Dutch, and Old Frisian as thing (the difference between þing and thing is purely orthographical), in German as Ding, in Dutch and Afrikaans as ding, and in modern Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Faroese, Gutnish, and Norn as ting. The place where a thing was held was called a "thingstead" (Old English þingstede, Old Norse þingstaðr) or "thingstow" (Old English þingstōw). An alternative Proto-Germanic form of the word 'thing' was *þingsō, whence Gothic þeihs 'time'. All of these terms derive from *þingą meaning "appointed time", possibly originating in Proto-Indo-European *ten-, "stretch", as in a "stretch of time for an assembly".

In English, the term is attested from 685 to 686 CE in the older meaning "assembly"; later it referred to a being, entity or matter (sometime before 899), and then also an act, deed, or event (from about 1000). The original sense of "meeting, assembly" did not survive the shift to Middle English. The meaning of personal possessions, commonly in the plural, first appears in Middle English around 1300, and eventually led to the modern sense of "object". This semantic development from "assembly" to "object" is mirrored in the evolution of the Latin causa ("judicial lawsuit", "case") to modern French chose, Spanish/Italian/Catalan cosa, and Portuguese coisa (all meaning "object" or "thing") and the cognate to English sake (purpose), sak in Norwegian and Swedish, sag in Danish, zaak in Dutch, saak in Afrikaans, and Sache in German, which in languages like Old Norse meant "accusation, lawsuit", but today also carries the sense "thing, object".

Today the term lives on in the English term hustings and in the names of national legislatures and political and judicial institutions of some Nordic countries (e.g. the Icelandic parliament, the Alþing) and of the Isle of Man (the Tynwald). In modern German and Dutch the day Tuesday is named after the thing, namely 'Dienstag' and 'dinsdag'.

Early attestations

The first detailed description of a thing was made by Tacitus in 98 CE. Tacitus suggested that the things were annual delegate-based meetings that served legal and military functions.

The oldest written reference of the thing is on a stone pillar found along Hadrian's Wall at Housestead in the UK. It is dated 43–410 CE and reads:

DEO MARTI THINCSO ET DUABUS ALAISIAGIS BEDE ET FIMMILENE ET N AUG GERM CIVES TUIHANTI VSLM

To the god Mars Thincsus and the two Alaisiagae, Beda and Fimmilena, and to the Divinity of the Emperor the Germanics, being tribesmen of Tuihanti, willingly and deservedly fulfilled their vow.

The pillar was raised by a Frisian auxiliary unit of the Roman army deployed at Hadrian's Wall. The name Tuihanti refers to the current region Twente in the east of the Netherlands. However, these Tuihanti tribesmen have been interpreted by different historians as Frisians. Deo Mars Thincsus means 'god Mars of the Thing'. "Mars of the Thing" may be interpreted in analogy with the week-day name (the Germanic Tuesday corresponding to Latin Martis dies 'the day of Mars'; cf. Interpretatio germanica) as Tīwaz of the Thing. The god Tīwaz (Old English Tíw, Old Norse Týr) was likely an important god in early Germanic times, and has numerous places in England and Denmark named after him. The possible theonyms Beda and Fimmilena in the same inscription seem to relate to the bodthing and fimelthing, two specific types of assemblies recorded in Old Frisian codices from around 1100 onward. These were specific types of assemblies. Perhaps the distinction was: the 'fixed thing' protected by the god Thincsus, the 'extra-ordinary thing' protected by the god Beda, and the 'informative or non-decision-making thing' protected by the god Fimmilena.

The Anglo-Saxon folkmoot (Old English folcgemōt, "folk meeting"; Middle English folkesmōt; modern Norwegian folkemøte) was analogous, the forerunner to the witenagemōt and a precursor of the modern Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Use in Germanic society

In the Viking Age, things were the public assemblies of the free men of a country, province, or a hundred (Swedish: härad, hundare, Danish: herred). They functioned as both parliaments and courts at different levels of society—local, regional, and supra-regional. Their purpose was to solve disputes and make political decisions, and thing sites were also often the place for public religious rites. According to Norway's Law of the Gulathing, only free men of full age could participate in the assembly. According to written sources, women were clearly present at some things despite being left out of the decision making bodies, such as the Icelandic Althing.

In the pre-Christian clan-culture of Scandinavia, the members of a clan were obliged to avenge injuries against their dead and mutilated relatives. As a result, feuding is often seen as the most common form of conflict resolution used in Viking society. However, things are in a more general sense balancing structures used to reduce tribal feuds and avoid social disorder in North-Germanic cultures. They played an important role in Viking society as forums for conflict resolution, marriage alliances, power display, honor, and inheritance settlements.

In Sweden, assemblies were held both at natural and man-made mounds, often burial mounds. Specifically in Scandinavia, unusually large rune-stones and inscriptions suggesting a local family's attempt to claim supremacy are common features of thing sites. It is common for assembly sites to be located close to communication routes, such as navigable water routes and clear land routes.

The thing met at regular intervals, legislated, elected chieftains and kings, and judged according to the law, which was memorized and recited by the "lawspeaker" (the judge). The thing's negotiations were presided over by the lawspeaker and the chieftain or the king. More and more scholarly discussions center around the things being forerunners to democratic institutions as we know them today. The Icelandic Althing is considered to be the oldest surviving parliament in the world, the Norwegian Gulathing also dating back to 900-1300 CE. While the things were not democratic assemblies in the modern sense of an elected body, they were built around ideas of neutrality and representation, effectively representing the interests of larger numbers of people. In Norway, the thing was a space where free men and elected officials met and discussed matters of collective interest, such as taxation. Though some scholars say that the things were dominated by the most influential members of the community, the heads of clans and wealthy families, other scholars describe how every free man could put forward his case for deliberation and share his opinions. History professor Torgrim Titlestad describes how Norway, with the thing sites, displayed an advanced political system over a thousand years ago, one that was characterized by high participation and democratic ideologies. These things also served as courts of law, and if one of the smaller things could not reach agreement, the matter at hand would be brought to one of the bigger things, which encompassed larger areas. The legislature of Norway is still known as the Storting (Big Thing) today.

Towards the end of the Viking age, royal power became centralized and the kings began to consolidate power and control over the assemblies. As a result, things lost most of their political role and began to function largely as courts in the later Middle Ages.

Norway

In the period between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, Norway went through a state-formation process that elevated the control and power of the king. On the regional level, it has been assumed that the king would have taken control of the organization of assemblies via local representatives. Today, few thing sites from Norway are known for certain, and as new assembly sites are found, scholars question whether these are old jurisdiction districts which the king used as a foundation for his organization or whether he created new administrative units. In southeast Norway in particular, one hypothesis for why the king would have established new thing sites might be that they were a "strategic geopolitical response to the threat from the Danish king in the beginning of the 11th century." Since the record of Norwegian thing sites is not comprehensive, it is not favorable to rely on archeological and topographical characteristics to determine whether they were established prior to the state-formation period.

In northern and southwestern Norway, there appears to have been a close association between chieftains' farms and sites interpreted to be assemblies or court sites. These areas were considered neutral ground where the landowning elite could meet for political and religious activities. This view is based partly on Saga narratives of Viking chieftains as well as the distribution of large grave mounds. Ultimately, this neutrality was important for thing participants' cooperation; royal officials required cooperation in order to look after the king's interests in local areas. In this regard, Norwegian things became an arena for cooperation between the royal representatives and the farmers.

Based on what is known from later medieval documents, one deep-rooted custom of Norwegian law areas was the bearing of arms coming from the old tradition of the "weapon-take", which refers to the rattling of weapons at meetings to express agreement. The Law of the Gulathing provides that the handling of these weapons should be controlled and regulated.

This is seen at Haugating, the thing for Vestfold in Norway, which was located in Tønsberg at Haugar (from the Old Norse haugr meaning hill or mound). This site was one of Norway's most important places for the proclamation of kings. In 1130, Harald Gille called together a meeting at the Haugating at which he was declared to be King of Norway. Sigurd Magnusson was proclaimed king in 1193 at Haugating. Magnus VII was acclaimed hereditary King of Norway and Sweden at the Haugating in August 1319.

Sweden

Similar to Norway, thing sites in Sweden experienced changes in administrative organization beginning in the late tenth and eleventh century. This was a result of the power struggle between the rising Christian royal power in the process of establishing itself and the old, local magnate families attempting to maintain power. The battle for power between the king and local magnates is most visible through runic inscriptions at thing sites, which were used to make important power statements. Swedish assembly sites could be characterized by a number of typical features: large mounds, rune-stones, and crossings between roads by land or water to allow for greater accessibility.

A famous incident took place when Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker told the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung (c. 980–1022) that the people, not the king, held power in Sweden; the king realized that he was powerless against the thing and gave in. Main things in Sweden were the Thing of all Swedes, the Thing of all Geats and the Lionga thing.

The island of Gotland had twenty things in late medieval times, each represented at the island-thing called landsting by its elected judge. New laws were decided at the landsting, which also took other decisions regarding the island as a whole. The landsting's authority was successively eroded after the island was occupied by the Teutonic Order in 1398. In late medieval times the thing was made up of twelve representatives for the farmers, free-holders or tenants.

Iceland

As a representative legislative body, the things in Iceland were similar to those in greater Scandinavia, but they had a very clear organizational structure. Iceland was divided into four administrative quarters during the Viking Age with a fixed number of thirty-nine lawmakers (goðis): twelve goðis in the northern quarter and nine each in the eastern, southern, and western quarters.

The main distinction between Iceland and greater Scandinavia lies in the organization of the Icelandic Althing (Alþingi), the main assembly during the Viking period and the Middle Ages. Unlike other European societies in the Middle Ages, Iceland was unique for relying on the Althing's legislative and judicial institutions at the national level rather than an executive branch of government. Þingvellir was the site of the Althing, and it was a place where people came together once a year to bring cases to court, render judgments, and discuss laws and politics. At the annual Althing, the thirty-nine goðis along with nine others served as voting members of the Law Council (Lögrétta), a legislative assembly. The Lögrétta reviewed the laws which the lawspeaker recited, made new laws, set fines and punishments and were informed of sentences of outlawry and banishment that were passed by the courts in local spring assemblies.

Besides the Althing, there were local assembly districts in each of the four quarters of Iceland, and each year a Spring Assembly (vorþing) was brought together by three goðis who lived in each local assembly district (samþingsgoðar). The four quarters also had courts (fjórðungsdómar) that met at the Althing after a constitutional reform around 965. The goðis appointed the judges for these courts from the farmers in their districts.

Greenland

In the early twentieth century, scholars identified two potential Greenlandic thing sites at Brattahlíð in Eiríksfjörður and Garðar in Einarsfjörður; both are located in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. These two sites were located through a combination of written sources and archeological evidence. Between these two Greenlandic sites, there are a number of overlapping characteristics that support the hypothesis that these booth sites are assemblies. However, not all "assembly features" previously seen in Scandinavia appear at every assembly site, and there are also characteristics that have either not been recorded in Greenland or are unique to Greenland.

The temporary turf structures of the Greenlandic booths have only been recorded in Iceland and would not have been seen at the assembly sites of Viking Age Sweden. Further, the booth sites at Brattahlíð and Garðar were located close to high-status farms. Taken together, it indicates that trade would have taken place at these sites, and given the sparse nature of the Greenlandic settlement, it is reasonable that the participants of the thing would have taken the opportunity for social interaction or trade when gathered with others.

British Isles

In England, there is Thingwall on the Wirral. In the Yorkshire and former Danelaw areas of England, wapentakes—another name for the same institution—were used in public records. Several places ending in the -by ('village') place name suffix originally possessed their own laws, by-laws, and jurisdiction subject to the wapentake in which they served, which often extended over a surrounding ground called a thorpe ("hamlet"). If there was a riding surrounding the wapentake, the wapentake would merely be a local assembly coordinating the power of the riding. In Scandinavian York's case, it would be under the king's command at what is now King's Square in York.

The Kingdom of East Anglia was in control of the Danelaw which had been organised as the Five Boroughs. The Five were fortifications defending land against Wessex, or against the Vikings, depending on who ruled there; together with Lindsey, Lincolnshire, which was divided into three ridings like Yorkshire. Again, the naming of the two roads named Inner and Outer Ting Tong on a hill-top in Devon between Budleigh Salterton, Woodbury and Exmouth is widely derided as fanciful, but may be derived from Thing-Tun, a dun (hill fort) or tun (settlement) around the place where the Thing used to meet.

Thynghowe was an important Danelaw meeting place, or thing, located in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. It was lost to history until its rediscovery in 2005–06 by local history enthusiasts Lynda Mallett and Stuart Reddish. The site lies amidst the old oaks of an area known as the Birklands in Sherwood Forest. Experts believe it may also yield clues as to the boundary of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. English Heritage has recently inspected the site, and has confirmed it was known as "Thynghowe" in 1334 and 1609. It functioned as a place where people came to resolve disputes and settle issues. Thynghowe is an Old Norse name, although the site may be older than the Danelaw, perhaps even Bronze Age. The word "howe" is derived from the Old Norse word haugr meaning 'mound'. This often indicates the presence of a prehistoric burial mound.

Frisia

Early-medieval Frisia knew three levels thing assemblies: the highest level of the civitas, the middle level of the pagus, and the lowest level of the centena. The pagi are being considered the oldest building block, and probably took place three times a year and attended by all freemen. Early-medieval Frisia consisted of about 16 pagi. The other thing levels only became relevant during the Middle Ages. The thing was led by law-speakers called asega, with the component -a meaning 'law' and the component -sega meaning 'to say/speak'. Every pagus had its own thing but due to lack of written sources it is difficult to establish where the thing sites were. Thing sites are being presumed by historians at Naaldwijk in the pagus Maasland (Land of the River Meuse), at Katwijk in the pagus Rijnland (Land of the River Rhine), at Heemskerk in the pagus Kennemerland, at De Waal in the pagus Texel, at Franeker in the pagus Westergo and at Dokkum in the pagus Oostergo. From the 12th century the thing called Upstalsboom took place on the level of the civitas. At Upstalsboom, near the current town of Aurich in the East Frisia region, Germany, delegates and judges from all seven Frisian Sealands used to gather once a year.

Place names

The assembly of things were typically held at a specially designated place, often a field or common, like Þingvellir, the old location of the Icelandic thing (Alþingi). The parliament of the Isle of Man is still named after the meeting place of the thing, Tynwald, which etymologically is the same word as "þingvellir" (there is still an annual public assembly at Tynwald Hill each July 5, where the new Manx laws are read out and petitions delivered). Other equivalent place names can be found across northern Europe: in Scotland, there is Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands and Tingwall, occurring both in Orkney and Shetland, and further south there is Tinwald, in Dumfries and Galloway and – in England – Thingwall, a village on the Wirral Peninsula. In Sweden, there are several places named Tingvalla, which is the modern Swedish form of "Þingvellir", and the Norwegian equivalent is found in the place name Tingvoll. In Dublin, Ireland, the Thingmote was a raised mound, 40 foot high and 240 foot in circumference, where the Norsemen assembled and made their laws. It stood on the south of the river, where Saint Andrew's Church now stands, until 1685.

Unanswered questions

It is contested between scholars to what extent things were sites of economic transactions and commerce as well as arenas for political and legal decisions. In Norway, it is clear that the assemblies functioned as an administrative level for economic transactions and taxes to the king. The role of commerce at the thing is more undetermined in Iceland in particular because of the role of saga literature in influencing conclusions about things. Þingvellir was thought of as a trading place as a result of saga passages and law texts that refer to trade:

Intended to keep the peace in the region, the excursion was made every third summer, according to the law. An assembly of chieftains was called to choose the cases in which the kings were to pass judgment. Attending the assembly was regarded as an entertainment, as men attended from all the lands of which we have reports…

The assembly attracted a gathering of traders. People attended in large numbers, and there was plenty of entertainment, drinking and games, and festivities of all sorts. Nothing especially newsworthy occurred.

As shown in the Laxdæla saga, meetings at Þingvellir required people to travel from long distances and gather together for an extended period of time, thus it was inevitable that entertainment, food, tools, and other goods would have played a role in the gatherings. The main question lies in whether trade was conducted in the assembly or on the margins of the gathering. Similarly, there are unanswered questions about the connection between trade and assembly in Greenland. Research on Scandinavian trade and assembly is burgeoning, and thus far evidence has mostly been found in written sources, such as the sagas, and place names, "such as the 'Disting' market that is said to have been held during the thing meetings at Gamla Uppsala in Sweden."

National legislatures, current institutions and legal terms

The national legislatures of Iceland, Norway and Denmark all have names that incorporate thing:

Alþingi – The Icelandic "General Thing"
Folketing – The Danish "People's Thing"
Storting – The Norwegian "Great Thing"

The legislatures of the self-governing territories of Åland, Faroe Islands, Greenland and Isle of Man also have names that refer to thing:

Lagting – The Ålandic "Law Thing"
Løgting – The Faeroese "Law Thing"; also, the Faeroes are divided into six várting (administrative districts)
Landsting – The Greenlandic "Land Thing"
Tynwald – The Manx "Thing Meadow" on the Isle of Man, formerly called "Ting"

In addition, thing can be found in the name of the Swedish Assembly of Finland (Svenska Finlands folkting), a semi-official body representing the Finland Swedish, and those of the three distinct elected Sámi assemblies which are all called Sameting in Norwegian and Swedish (Northern Sami Sámediggi).

The Swedish national legislature, since medieval times, has borne a different style, Riksdag, which is cognate to the old name of the German national assembly, Reichstag. In Sweden, however, ting is used to name the subnational county councils, which are called Landsting. That name was also used in medieval times for the tings that governed the historical Landskap provinces, that were superseded by the counties in the 17th century. The name ting is also found in the names of the first level instances of the Swedish and Finnish court system, which are called tingsrätt (Finnish: käräjäoikeus), the 'court of the thing'.

Similarly, prior to 1953, the Danish legislature was known as Rigsdagen, which comprised the two houses of the Folketing "People's Thing" and Landsting "Land Thing". The latter, which was reserved for people of means, was abolished by the constitution of 1953.

The Norwegian parliament, the Storting, has historically been divided into two chambers named the Lagting and the Odelsting, which translates loosely into the "Thing of the Law" and the "Thing of the Allodial rights". However, for much of the Storting's recent history, the division into Lagting and Odelsting has been mostly ceremonial, and the Storting has generally operated as a unicameral parliament. A constitutional amendment passed in February 2007 abolished the Lagting and Odelsting, making this de facto unicameralism official following the 2009 election.

On the lower administrative level the governing bodies on the county level in Norway are called Fylkesting, the Thing of the County. The names of the judicial courts of Norway contain for the most part the affix ting. The primary level of courts is called the Tingrett, with the same meaning as the Swedish Tingsrätt, and four of the six Norwegian Courts of Appeal are named after historical Norwegian regional Things (Frostating, Gulating, Borgarting and Eidsivating).

In Dutch, the word geding refers to a lawsuit or trial, most noticeably with the term kort geding (literally: short thing) which refers to an injunction.

Viking raid warfare and tactics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_raid_warfare_and_tactics

The term "Viking Age" refers to the period roughly from 790s to the late 11th century in Europe, though the Norse raided Scotland's western isles well into the 12th century. In this era, Viking activity started with raids on Christian lands in England and eventually expanded to mainland Europe, including parts of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

While maritime battles were very rare, Viking bands proved very successful in raiding coastal towns and monasteries due to their efficient warships, and intimidating war tactics, skillful hand-to-hand combat, and fearlessness. What started as Viking raids on small towns transformed into the establishment of important agricultural spaces and commercial trading-hubs across Europe through rudimentary colonization. Vikings' tactics in warfare gave them an enormous advantage in successfully raiding (and later colonising), despite their small population in comparison to that of their enemies.

Culture of war

Vikings, according to Clare Downham in Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland, are "people of Scandinavian culture who were active outside Scandinavia ... Danes, Norwegians, Swedish, Hiberno-Scandinavians, Anglo-Scandinavians, or the inhabitants of any Scandinavian colony who affiliated themselves more strongly with the culture of the colonizer than with that of the indigenous population."

Parts of the tactics and warfare of the Vikings were driven by their cultural belief, themselves rooted in Norse culture and religion, and vividly recalled in the later Icelandic sagas written in the 13th-14th centuries; after the Christianisation of the Nordic world.

In the early Viking Age, during the late 8th century and most of the 9th, Norse society consisted of minor kingdoms with limited central authority and organization, leading to communities ruled according to laws made and pronounced by local assemblies called things. Lacking any kind of public executive apparatus—e.g. police—the enforcement of laws and verdicts fell upon the individual involved in a dispute. As a natural consequence, violence was a common feature of the Norse legal environment. This use of violence as an instrument regarding disputes was not limited to a man, but extended to his kin. Personal reputation and honour was an important value among Norsemen, and so actionable slander was also a legal category, in addition to physical and material injuries. Honour could be shamed from mere insults, where Norsemen were legally allowed to react violently. With this prevalence of violence came the expectation of fearlessness.

Norsemen believed that the time of death for any individual is predetermined, but that nothing else in life is. Considering this, Norsemen believed there to be two possibilities in life: "success with its attendant fame; or death." The necessity of defending honour with violence, the belief that time of death was preordained, adventure and fearlessness were core values to the Viking Age. These principal values and convictions were displayed in the tactics of Viking raids and warfare.

As in most societies with limited mechanisms for projecting central power, Norse society also shared traits of bonding through mutual gift-giving to ensure alliances and loyalty. One of the reasons many Norse went on such expeditions was the opportunity to gather loot and wealth by trading and raiding. This wealth was then brought back to Scandinavia and used for political gain; e.g. Olaf Tryggvason and Olaf Haraldsson both led successful raiding campaigns that served their later claims to kingship. This was one reason that monasteries and churches were often targeted, due to their wealth in relics and luxury goods like precious metals, fine cloths, and books such as the Codex Aureus which was stolen by a Viking and then sold to an Anglo-Saxon couple later on (a note was written inside the book after its recovery "I ealdorman Alfred and Wærburh my wife obtained these books from the heathen army with out pure money, that was with pure gold, and that we did for the love of God and for the benefit of our souls and because we did not wish these holy books to remain longer in heathen possession")

Raids

The Vikings regularly attacked coastal regions due to the difficult nature of defending such regions, as well as utilising rivers and stolen horses to raid deeper inland by the mid 9th century.

The Norse were born into a seafaring culture. With the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Baltic and North Sea bordering southern Scandinavia, seafaring proved to be an important means of communication for Scandinavians, and a vital instrument for the Vikings.

Despite reports since the 5th Century of the presence of seafaring Germanic peoples both in the Black Sea and in Frisia, and archaeological evidence of earlier contact with the British Isles, the Viking Age proper is characterized by extensive raiding, entering history by being recorded in various annals and chronicles by their victims." The Annals of St. Bertin and the Annals of Fulda contain East and West Frankish records (respectively) of Viking attacks, as does Regino of Prum's Chronicle - which was written as a history of the Carolingian Empire in its final years.

These raids continued for the entirety of the Viking Age and Vikings would target monasteries along the coast, raid the towns for their booty, and were known to set fires in their wake. While there is evidence that Viking arson attacks did occur, more recent scholarship has cast doubt on quite how severe the physical damages (rather than their psychological impact) truly were. Regino of Prum’s Chronicle records that the palace of Aachen was burned to the ground but there is no archaeological evidence of destruction on such a scale at the site. These attacks caused widespread fear, so much so that the Vikings were thought by some monks to be a punishment from God. There is also the complication of a lack of direct written sources about these raids from the Viking perspective. This leads to biased views of the raiders from Christians who were being attacked in their churches and lands.

Initially, the Vikings limited their attacks to "hit-and-run" raids. However, they soon expanded their operations. In the years 814–820, Danish Vikings repeatedly sacked the regions of Northwestern France via the Seine River and also repeatedly sacked monasteries in the Bay of Biscay via the Loire River. Eventually, the Vikings settled in these areas and turned to farming. This was mainly due to Rollo, a Viking leader who seized what is now Normandy in 879, and formally in 911 when Charles the Simple of West Francia granted him the Lower Seine. This became a precursor to the Viking expansion that established important trade posts and agrarian settlements deep into Frankish territory, English territory, and much of what is now European Russian territory. The Vikings had taken control of most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms like Wessex and others by the 870s, which was after the time of the Great Heathen Army that swept the Anglo-Saxon rulers away from power in 865. This army focused not on raiding, but on conquering and settling in Anglo-Saxon Britain, being composed of small bands that were already in Britain and Ireland that worked together for a period of time to accomplish their goals.

The Vikings were also able to establish an extended period of economic and political rule of much of Ireland, England, and Scotland during the Norse Ivarr Dynasty that started in the late 9th century and lasted until 1094. In Ireland, coastal fortifications known as longphorts were established in many places after initial raidings, and they developed into trading posts and settlements over time. Quite a few modern towns in Ireland were founded in this way, including Dublin, Limerick and Waterford.

Warships

Much of the Vikings' success was due to the technical superiority of their shipbuilding. Their ships proved to be very fast. Their build was not designed for battle at sea, as this was a form of warfare that the Vikings very rarely engaged in, but these long narrow ships could accommodate 50–60 seamen who powered the ship by rowing, as well as a complement of warriors, and so able to carry sizeable forces at speed to land wherever advantageous. Due to their shallow draft, Viking ships could land directly on sandy beaches rather than docking in well-fortified harbours. Viking ships made it possible to land practically anywhere on a coast and to navigate rivers in Britain and on the Continent, with raids reported far up rivers such as the Elbe, the Weser, the Rhine, the Seine and the Loire, the Thames, and many more. Vikings also navigated the extensive network of rivers in Eastern Europe, but they would more often engage in trade than in raiding.

Depending on local resources, the ships were mainly built from strong oak, though some with pine, but all with riven (split) and then hewn planks that preserved the wood grain unbroken, resulting in light, but very strong and flexible strakes. Steering was accomplished with a single rudder in the stern. There was a relatively short mast that allowed fast rigging and unrigging. The low mast, built for speed when the winds were favourable, could often easily pass under bridges erected in rivers. These masts were designed to maneuver under the fortified bridges that Charles the Bald of West Francia created from 848 to 877. These boats have a shallow draft of around a metre of water. Viking longships were built with speed and flexibility in mind, which allowed Norse builders to craft strong yet elegant ships. Close to 28 metres long and five metres wide, the Gokstad ship is often cited as an example of a typical Viking ship. Variants of these longships were built with a deeper hull for transporting goods, but what they added in hull depth and durability they sacrificed in speed and mobility. These cargo ships were built to be sturdy and solid, rather than Drakkar warships which were built to be fast. There is a mention of the Knörr being used as warships in poems written by skalds. Specifically, the poem "Lausavisor" by Vígfúss Víga-Glúmsson describes a Knörr being used as a battleship.

Seafaring military strategies

The fast design of Viking ships was essential to their hit-and-run raids. For instance, in the sacking of Frisia in the early 9th century, Charlemagne mobilized his troops as soon as he heard of the raid, but found no Vikings by the time he arrived. Their ships gave the Vikings an element of surprise. Travelling in small bands, they could easily go undetected, swiftly enter a village or monastery, pillage and collect booty, and leave before reinforcements arrived. Vikings understood the advantages of the longships' mobility and used them to a great extent.

Viking fleets of over a hundred ships did occur, but these fleets usually only banded together for one single—and temporary—purpose, being composed of smaller fleets each led by its own chieftain, or of different Norse bands. This was most often seen in the Francia raids between 841 and 892. They can be attributed to the fact that it was during this time that the Frankish aristocracy began paying off Vikings and buying mercenaries in return for protection from Viking raids. Thus, there appeared rudimentary structures of Viking armies.

Viking ships would rarely try to ram ships in the open sea, due to their construction not allowing for it. Vikings did attack ships, not with the intent to destroy them, but rather to board and seize them. Vikings raided for economic rather than political or territorial gains, and so were eager to enrich themselves through ransom, extortion, and slave trading. A noteworthy examples of ransom/tribute being paid to end a conflict is the 882 siege of Asselt which ended with emperor Charles the Fat paying the vikings 1,094 kg (2,412 lb) of gold and silver, as well as granting them land and allowing them to sail back to Scandinavia with an alleged two-hundred captives.

While naval Viking battles were not as common as battles on land, they did occur. As they had little to fear from other European countries invading the inhospitable regions of Scandinavia, most naval battles were fought amongst Vikings themselves, "Dane against Norwegian, Swede against Norwegian, Swede against Dane." Most Viking-on-Viking naval battles were little more than infantry battles on a floating platform. Viking fleets would lash their boats together, their prows facing the enemy. When they got close enough, the fighters would throw ballast stones, spears and use their longbows. Archers would be positioned in the back of the ships protected by a shield wall formation constructed in the front of the ship. Depending on the size of the defending fleet, some would attack from smaller craft to flank the bigger ships.

Battle tactics on land

These very small fleets brutally effectively scared locals and made it difficult for English and Frankish territories to counter these alien tactics. Sprague compares these tactics to those of contemporary western Special Forces soldiers, who "attack in small units with specific objectives." Later in the 860s, the formation of the Great Heathen Army brought about a more organized type of warfare for the Vikings. Large squads of raiders banded together to attack towns and cities, landing from fleets comprising hundreds of ships.

Viking raiders would anchor their largest warships before storming a beach. "It has been suggested that Sö 352 depicts an anchor and rope...It is perhaps more plausibly an anchor-stone...". However, it was more common practice for Vikings to beach their regular warships on land, where their battle tactics contained elements of surprise. "Vikings were notorious for laying ambushes and using woods to lay in wait for armies approaching along established roads." If confronted by legitimate forces in raids, Vikings would create a wedge formation, with their best men at the front of this wedge. They would throw spears, and rush this wedge through enemy lines where they could engage in hand-to-hand combat, which was their forte. Some survivors of sea battles were pressed into guarding the ships during land skirmishes.

Sagas of the Viking Age often mention Berserkers. These fabled Viking warriors are said to have spiritual magical powers from the god of war Odin that allowed them to become impervious to injuries on the battlefield. While these stories are exaggerated, the term berserks is rooted in truths about Viking warriors who were able to enter an intense, trance-like state whereupon they would "engage in reckless fighting." These warriors were greatly feared by Christians in Frankish and English regions who viewed such men as satanic. The reason for these raids is unknown, but some have suggested that the increase in trade created a growth in piracy.

Viking tactics were unconventional by wider European standards at the time and this element of "otherness" brought with it a tactical advantage. They also attacked holy sites far more regularly than Frankish and other Christian armies did, and they never arranged battle times. Deceit, stealth, and ruthlessness were not seen as cowardly. During raids, the Vikings targeted religious sites because of their vulnerability, often killing or taking the clergy at these sites prisoner, to then be either ransomed or taken as slaves. Norsemen who sailed back to Scandinavia after raiding brought back their loot as a symbol of pride and power. "The Viking chieftains Sigfrid and Gorm 'sent ships loaded with treasure and captives back to their country' in 882". Additionally, 'overwintering' was a widely used form of short-term occupation by Viking warbands in which they would descend on "monasteries, towns and royal estates" after the harvests had been gathered and then use the sites as fortified hubs from which they launched raids deeper inland. The Franks rarely, if ever, campaigned during the winter, even under Charlemagne, and once the Vikings had "dug in", as it were, it was incredibly difficult for armies to be raised in order to root them out, due to the resource-intensive nature of mustering and maintaining an army, especially when living off the land was not an option. Occupying warbands would then withdraw in early spring before the weather turned against them and armies could be raised again.

Warriors could be as young as 12 years old. Various basic physical tests were required to join the Viking forces, but these tests were considered easy to pass.

Additionally, during inland raiding campaigns, the loot from a given target would be stored in a warband's ship that would then sail further upriver while the raiding party proceeded by land to a rendezvous point. By doing this, Vikings could ensure the safety of their plunder from counter-raids, as well as drastically increase the amount they could carry.

Common weapons

Spear

The most common weapon in the Viking arsenal was the spear. They were inexpensive and effective weapons, and could also be used when hunting. In the late Roman Iron Age (ending c. 500 CE), the Norse were reputed for their preference of and prowess with the light spear. The wooden shaft of the Viking spear was between two and three meters long. There were two types of spears; one was made for throwing while the other was generally used for thrusting. The shafts were similar, but the tips of throwing spears were roughly thirty centimetres while the thrusting spears were close to sixty. Spears were sometimes used as projectile weapons in the occasional naval fight, as well as during raids onshore and in battle. The spear was popular because it was inexpensive and had a longer reach than the sword, making it the most common battlefield weapon all over the world, despite popular belief.

Archery

Another common weapon in the Viking arsenal was the bow. "In combat, archers formed up behind a line of spearmen who defended against a mounted attack."

Bows

One bow found in an Irish grave was of yew with a rounded rectangular cross section flattened toward the tips, which had been heat bent toward the belly's side. Other bows, either complete or in pieces, were made of yew and elm, as found in Hedeby.

Arrows

Viking arrows have been found in pieces, usually of birch wood. Three feathers were used for fletching. "The Viking's long arrows are meant to be drawn to the ear for instinctive shooting, meaning that the archer does not sight on or even look at his arrow."

Axe

The axe overtook the spear as the most common weapon in the turbulent Migration Age, which saw much internal raiding and warfare in Scandinavia. It was the first "siege weapon" for raiding enemy farmhouses, where a spear or a sword could do little damage. The axe was commonly used for all kinds of farm labour and logging, as well as in construction and shipbuilding, and eventually adapted for use in Viking raids. Axes varied in size from small handheld broadaxes that could be used both for raids and in farming, to Danish axes that were well over a meter in length. The popularity of the axe is often misunderstood in modern culture. The battle-axe was not seen as a superior weapon to the spear, and historical evidence shows that its use was rather limited. These axes had a wooden shaft, with a large, curved iron blade. They required less swinging power than expected, as the heads, while large, usually weighed only 0.8–0.9 kg, and as such were light and fast weapons, not depending on gravity and momentum to do most of the work. The axe had points on each tip of the blade where the curve tapered off. This allowed it to be used to hook an opponent, while also doubling as a thrusting weapon.King Magnus of Norway inherited his axe from his patron saint father, Olav Haraldsson. He named this axe Hel, the name of the Norse goddess of death (Christians associated this name with the word Hell). The axe of Magnus is still portrayed in the Norwegian coat of arms.

Sword

Viking swords were pattern welded and most commonly decorated with copper inlays and icons, featuring a fuller down the centre of the blade in order to reduce the weight of the blade; a few single-bladed swords around a meter in length have been unearthed but the most commonly found swords in Viking graves are double-edged with blades measuring around 90 cm long and 15 cm wide.

Viking Age swords were common in battles and raids. They were used as a secondary weapon when fighting had fallen out of formation or their primary weapon was damaged. While there were many variations of swords, the Vikings used double-edged swords, often with blades 90 centimetres long and 15 centimetres wide. These swords were designed for slashing and cutting, rather than thrusting, so the blade was carefully sharpened while the tip was often left relatively dull.

A sword was considered a personal object amongst Vikings. Warriors named their swords, as they felt such objects guarding their lives deserved identities. A sword, depending on the make, was often associated with prestige and value due to the importance of honour in the Viking Age. While the Vikings used their own swords in battle, they were interested in the Frankish battle swords because of their acclaimed craftsmanship.

Weapons often served more than one purpose. If two people were in disagreement, one would often challenge his offender to a duel of honour that was supposed to resolve the issue. This challenge would take place either on a small island or marked off area. A square with sides between 9–12 ft would be marked off with an animal hide placed inside the square. Each man was allowed three shields and a shield-bearer who carried the shield during battle. The helper could replace or carry shields for the combatant. The person who had been challenged was entitled to the first blow at the shields. The opponent could parry the blow and counter with his own strike; only one strike at a time was allowed. Once all of someone's shields had been destroyed he could continue to defend himself as best he could with a sword. This would continue until someone was injured; if blood fell on the animal hide then that person was required to pay three marks of silver to be set free and have his honour restored.

Defensive equipment

While few intact helmets have been recovered from Viking burial sites (often just fragments of metal), contemporary depictions of Viking warriors do show them wearing helmets which has led some historians, like Anne Pedersen, to suspect that most warriors wore leather helmets rather than metal, something that would offer little protection and of which there is little evidence. Another piece of defensive equipment used by warriors was a shield. The shield itself was round and easy to maneuver with; however, if on horseback, it left the legs exposed. Shields were made out of wooden boards and geld together by a rim of either leather or thin iron fittings. Shields also appears to have been covered in thin leather, preventing them from splintering. In addition to this, the weapons of their enemies sometimes became stuck in the shield, giving the Viking an opportunity to kill them. Shields had its hand grip hidden behind an iron boss and measures about 1 m in diameter.

Fragments of chain mail have been uncovered in particularly wealthy Viking graves and in the 9th-10th centuries such armour would have been incredibly expensive due to the material, time, and labour costs that would have been required to manufacture.

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