Survival and Success on Medieval Borders: Cistercian Houses in Medieval Scotland and Pomerania

Borders in medieval Europe were not well-guarded lines as we know them now. They were much less defined and often permeable. Many noble families held lends on two different sides of the border and developed political and social attachments on both side too. In many regions border was very much a frontier of different influences and regions that offered opportunity of fast economic advancement for these not afraid of instability. The best know case is of course Christian-Muslim frontier in Spain during the Reconquista in the 11-15th century, but there were many other. In my project I am investigating two northern-European border regions. The first one is Pomerania on the southern coast of Baltic sea, which was the eastern frontier of Germany, in the recently Christianised Slav territories, which remained unstable and disputed territory between German states (primarily Brandenburg), Denmark, 'indigenous' Slavonic duchies, and Polish Kingdom for most of the Middle Ages. The second one is English-Scottish border, which was until the area of wars starting in 1290s, a very open one, with strong cross-border connections between northern English nobility and southern Scottish barons. These two frontiers were also home to a number of Cistercian monasteries established in Scotland from 1130s and in the Pomerania from 1170. They have adapted very well to the local circumstances and appealed to benefactors on both side of the border, becoming desirable burial destination and focus of political and ethnic identification. They were also good at making friends among influential churchmen and rulers. With the onset of wars in both regions in the 13th century monasteries became object of attacks not only by armies, but also impoverished neighbours. However, the monastic communities were not hopeless and developed various preventative and restorative measures to combat impact of violence. By studying connections of the Cistercian monasteries with the world around them and their strategies of success we can learn a lot about how far the frontiers were regions of opportunities, how important the cross-border connections were for the political cohesion of these regions and how much the emergence of more rigid border lines in the 14th c. affected religious communities and lay people alike.