Traders

This chapter examines the similarities in the medieval Sahel and north-west Europe within the specific context of trade, and particularly of traders. It outlines the common themes of trade in central Sahel and north-west Europe including the mechanisms for the movement of goods and forms of trade. The findings indicate that the commerce in slaves is a strong thread of similarity and a concrete link between north-west Europe and the central Sahel.

Warriors

This chapter examines military activity and violence, as manifest in aspects of the archaeological and historical records for medieval times in the central Sahel and north-west Europe. It explores the contribution of military innovations to political centralisation, the prevalence of fortifications and town walling, and the widespread occurrence of slave raiding. It highlights the individual agency and motives in attracting followers for one's army, in building up stables of horses for prestige and power, and in building walls for purposes both definitional and defensive.

Rulers

This chapter compares the privileges and duties of rulers in central Sahel and north-west Europe. It provides a factual overview of the political history of the central Sahel and north-west Europe and compares their rulers in terms of boundary control, economic control and taxation, and religious and social roles. It suggests that many medieval polities in north-west Europe and central Sahel were the result of economic interference or of military campaigns imposing a new framework on disparate societies.

The case for comparison

This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the comparison of rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics on the central Sahel and the North Sea region. It argues that there was more similarity between north-western Europe and the central Sahel in the few centuries either side of AD 1001 than has hitherto been recognised, and maintains that the nature of the sources has obscured these formative times and left them in the shadow of organised structures. It discusses the interconnectedness of central Sahel and north-west Europe through contacts and shared pre-industrial nature.

Clerics

This chapter examines the similarities in the means by which new monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam, came to override previous religious beliefs in the central Sahel and north-west Europe. It explains the concept of animism and describes the initial stages of the implantation of Christianity and Islam, or the time of the most sustained missionary activity rather than that of established belief. It provides an overview of the religious history of the central Sahel and north-western Europe and considers religious conversion from the point of view of the converted.

People in context: overview and conclusions

This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study which compared the rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics of medieval central Sahel and north-west Europe. It discusses the problems associated with the use of historical and archaeological records to comprehend the past and the problems concerning the paradox between the local/immediate and the global/long term. It suggests that despite the limited evidence available, the data from the central Sahel and from north-west Europe make most sense when considered together.

Sahelian frameworks

This chapter provides an overview of the current state of archaeological research in the central Sahel. Archaeological research on the central Sahel is still in its infancy while historical research is a little better advanced, focusing on the local dynastic lists and on their critique. Most of the published archaeological work about Sahel is still descriptive in nature rather than synthetic, highlighting the need for further research. This chapter describes some key areas in central Sahel based on available data including Darfur, Kanem-Borno, and southern Niger.