Iversen, Frode (2009). Royal Villas in Northern Europe. In: Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo (ed.) The archaeology of early medieval villages in Europe. Universidad del País Vasco. ISBN 978-84-9860-303-3. 99 - 112

This paper concerns royal villas and state formation in Northern Europe c. 500–1200 AD, comparing Carolingian, Anglosaxon and Scandinavian developments. In the mainly rural society in the Middle Ages, political and economic power rested on control over land and people. The king and his followers travelled between a limited numbers of royal villas, located in the coastal areas or by important route-ways and rivers. Due to urbanisation and supra-regional state formation, this system gradually changed. Around 900–1100 AD, new urban centres gradually became the king’s residences and powerbase. During the High Middle Ages, many of the old rural royal manors and estates were split up and donated to secular allies and ecclesiastical institutions such as bishops, monasteries, and churches.The uploaded version has not been proofread. At the end of the document, I have added the figures in higher resolution.