Dorestad and its Networks

Dorestad was the largest town of the Low Countries in the Carolingian era. As a riverine emporium on the northern edge of the Frankish Empire, it functioned as a European junction, connecting the Viking world with the Continent. In 2019, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden hosted its quinquennial international congress based around Dorestad, located at present-day Wijk bij Duurstede. This third edition, 'Dorestad and its Networks', coincided with the fiftieth birthday of finding the famous Dorestad brooch in July 1969, and with what would have been the hundredth birthday of prof.dr. Ina Isings, to whom a special session on early-medieval glass was dedicated.The Third Dorestad Congress brought together scholars from the North Sea area to debate Dorestad and its counterparts in Scandinavia, the British Isles and the Rhineland, as well as the material culture, urbanisation and infrastructure of the Early Middle Ages. The contributions in these proceedings are devoted to new research into the Vikings at Dorestad, assemblages of jewellery, playing pieces and weaponry from the town, recent excavations at other Carolingian sites in the Low Countries, and the use and trade of glassware and broadswords in this era. They show the political, economic and cultural networks of Dorestad, the only town to be called 'vicus famosus' in contemporary sources.ContentsDorestad and its Networks: An IntroductionAnnemarieke WillemsenVikings and Luxury at DorestadViking Dorestad: A Haven for Hydrarchy?Christian CooijmansVikings beyond Dorestad: Rethinking some metal finds in, around and after the emporiumNelleke IJssennagger - van der PluijmTrading Games? Playing with/without the Vikings in DorestadMark A. HallA new gold ring from Dorestad?Channa Cohen Stuart and Annemarieke WillemsenBeads from DorestadMette LangbroekMixed Emotions: The swords from DorestadAnnemarieke WillemsenThe Medieval NetherlandsA Carolingian coin hoard from Wirdum (Friesland, the Netherlands) and the Dorestad mintSimon CouplandTimber! Opening up the landscape of Carolingian LeiderdorpMenno DijkstraCharlemagne's palace at Nijmegen: Some thoughts on the economic implications of itinerant kingshipArjan den BravenBeyond the planned/unplanned dichotomy: The development of the town plan of Utrecht until c.1560Marcel IJsselstijnCommerce and ConflictProduction of early medieval glass in Cologne and its export via DorestadMichael Dodt, Andreas Kronz and Klaus SimonGlass vessels from the early medieval emporium at IpswichRose BroadleyNon-funerary sword depositions in Carolingian EuropeDusan MaczekForm follows function: Reconstructing the use of Viking age swordsIngo Petri