Medieval East Central Europe in a Comparative Perspective

Gerhard Jaritz is Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University, Hungary. His previous publications include Angels, Devils: The Supernatural and its Visual Representation (2011) and Images, Ritual and Daily Life. The Medieval Perspective (2012).Katalin Szende is Associate Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University, Hungary. Her previous publications include Generations in Towns: Succession and Success in Pre-Industrial Urban Societies (edited with F-E Eliassen, 2009) and Segregation – Integration – Assimilation. Religious and Ethnic Groups in the Medieval Towns of Central and Eastern Europe (edited with D Keene and B Nagy, 2009).

"This is the first book to look not only at the nature, composition and character of East Central Europe in the Middle Ages but also at its intellectual construction. A comprehensive range of contributions, involving much comparative material and supported by extensive bibliographies, illustrates the region’s complexity and the difficulties of its definition. The individual essays are supported by extensive bibliographies, making them chapters of first resort for those interested in the principal themes of European medieval history."Martyn Rady, Masaryk Professor of Central European History, University College London, UK"East Central Europe is nowadays attracting more and more attention, but rarely in a comparative perspective. This is therefore no conventional handbook or introductory survey. Under the direction of Gerhard Jaritz and Katalin Szende, an array of scholars offer a variety of original and at times surprising perspectives. The essays, which vary in topics from towns and monasticism to historiography, to political representation, to church architecture, to literacy and etymological argumentation, illustrate both general European developments in the Middle Ages as well as the particular factors of the East Central region. These essays make a valuable contribution to a topic that has generally been treated only in a narrow context, and explain why the medieval history of the region has often been marginalized or misunderstood, and why it should matter to us today." Florin Curta, University of Florida, USA

• Gerhard Jaritz, IntroductionWhat is East Central Europe?Nora Berend, The Mirage of East Central Europe: Historical Regions in a Comparative PerspectiveMárta Font, The Emergence of East Central Europe and Approaches to Internal Differentiation Anna Kuznetsova, The Notion of ‘Central Europe’ in Russian Historical ScholarshipPolitical PracticesStefan Burkhardt, Between Empires: South-Eastern Europe and the Two Roman Empires in the Middle AgesJulia Burkhardt, Negotiating Realms: Political Representation in Late Medieval Poland, Hungary, and the Holy Roman Empire Religious SpaceJózsef Laszlovszky Local Tradition or European Patterns? The Grave of Queen Gertrude in the Pilis Cistercian AbbeyBeatrix F. Romhányi, Mendicant Networks and Population in a European PerspectiveJohnny Grandjean Gøgsig Jakobsen, Friars Preachers in Frontier Provinces of Medieval Europe Urban SpaceOlha Kozubska-Andrusiv, Comparable Aspects in Urban Development: Kievan Rus’ and the European Middle AgesKatalin Szende, Town Foundations in East Central Europe and the New World: the Use of the Grid Plan in a Comparative PerspectiveMichaela Antonín Malaníková, Female Engagement in Medieval Urban Economy: Late-Medieval Moravia in a Comparative PerspectiveArt and LiteratureBéla Zsolt Szakács, The Place of East Central Europe on the Map of Romanesque ArchitectureAnna Adamska, Intersections: Medieval East Central Europe from the Perspective of Literacy and Communication Julia Verkholantsev, Etymological Argumentation as a Category of Historiographic Thought in Historical Writings of Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary János M. Bak, What did we learn? What is to be done? Some insights and visions after reading this book