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Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900–1400 book cover

1st Edition

Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900–1400

Edited By Donald Ostrowski, Christian Raffensperger Copyright 2018
    234 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    234 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    234 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge
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    Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides imagined biographies of twenty different figures from all walks of life living in Eastern Europe from 900 to 1400. Moving beyond the usual boundaries of speculative history, the book presents innovative and creative interpretations of the people, places, and events of medieval Eastern Europe and provides an insight into medieval life from Scandinavia to Byzantium.

    Each chapter explores a different figure and together they present snapshots of life across a wide range of different social backgrounds. Among the figures are both imagined and historical characters, including the Byzantine Princess Anna Porphyrogenita, a Jewish traveller, a slave, the Mongol general Sübodei, a woman from Novgorod, and a Rus’ pilgrim. A range of different narrative styles are also used throughout the book, from omniscient third-person narrators to diary entries, letters, and travel accounts.

    By using primary sources to construct the lives of, and give a voice to, the types of people who existed within medieval European history, Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides a highly accessible introduction to the period. Accompanied by a new and interactive companion website, it is the perfect teaching aid to support and excite students of medieval Eastern Europe.

    List of figures

    List of maps

    List of contributors

    Acknowledgements

    PART 1: Rus’ and Northern Europe

    1. "The Widow Princess of Minsk" - Inés García de la Puente

    2. "Anna, A Woman of Novgorod" - Eve Levin

    3. "Prince Vladimir of Pskov" - Anti Selart

    4. Mother of a Tribal Häme Warrior – Kuutamo Hyväneuvo - Mari Isoaho

    5. "From Butcher to Saint: The Improbable Life and Fate of Vaišvilkas/Vojšelk/Lavryš/Elisej of Lithuania and Black Rus' (? -1267)" - David Goldfrank

      6.

      PART 2: Eurasian Steppe

    6. "The Rare and Excellent History of Konchak (A Polovtsian Chieftain)" - Donald Ostrowski

    7. "Sübedei Ba’atar: Portait of a Mongol General" - Timothy May

      8. PART 3: Byzantium and South Eastern Europe

    8. "Anna Komnene: Princess, Historian, & Conspirator?" - Leonora Neville

    9. "Angel on Earth and Heavenly Man—St. Sava of Serbia" - Florin Curta

    10. "Paulus de Breberio banus Croatorum dominus et Bosne" - Neven Budak

    11. “King Miliutin and His Many Marriages” - Vlada Stanković

      12.

      PART 4: Central Europe

    12. "Henry Zdík, Bishop of Olomouc and Premonstratensian" - Lisa Wolverton

    13. "King Béla IV of Hungary: A Monarch in a Period of Crisis and Recovery" - Balázs Nagy

    14. "Zalava, Slave in the Kingdom of Hungary" - Cameron Sutt

    15. “Jan Długosz on King Władysław Jagiełło’s Master Chef and the Invention of Bigos” - Paul Milliman

      16.

      PART 5: Travelers to Strange Lands

    16. "The Travels of Gorm in Eastern Europe" - Heidi Sherman-Lelis and Arnold Lelisx

    17. "Anna Porphyrogenita, Byzantine Princess and Queen of the Rus’" - Susana Torres Prieto

    18. "The Journeys of My Soul in the Land of Canaan, by Yitshak ben Sirota" - Isaiah Gruber

    19. "Agent of Change: Evpraksia Vsevolodovna between Emperor and Papacy" - Christian Raffensperger

    20. "Fotii, a Rus' Pilgrim to Constantinople" - Monica White

    Conclusion - Christian Raffensperger

    Index

    Biography

    Donald Ostrowski is Research Advisor in the Social Sciences and Lecturer in History at the Harvard University Extension School. His previous publications include Muscovy and the Mongols: Cross-Cultural Influences on the Steppe Frontier 1304–1589 (1998) and over 100 articles and review essays. He is also the editor of The Povest’ vremennykh let: An Interlinear Collation and Paradosis, 3 vols. (2003), and a co-editor of four collections of studies.

    Christian Raffensperger is Associate Professor of History at Wittenberg University, as well as an associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He has published multiple books including Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus’ in the Medieval World (2012) and Ties of Kinship: Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage in Kyivan Rus’ (2016). He is also the series editor for Beyond Medieval Europe, a book series published by ARC Humanities Press.

    "Balancing on an intricate edge between facts and fiction, this thoughtfully edited volume offers an excellent selection of ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’ biographies of individuals, from slaves to kings, who populated the eastern half of Europe in the centuries before and after the first Millennium. The expert authors provide a refreshing and instructive read to students of history and to anyone who has roots in this region or wishes to broaden her mental horizon."

    Katalin Szende, Central European University, Budapest

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