Despite being one of the most genetically analysed groups, the origin of European Jews has remained obscure.
In search of a missing link: The Bogomils and Zoroastrianism
January 13, 2013 By
Both Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism are dualist relig- ions. Implicit in the beliefs held true by these religions is the notion of co-equal and co-eternal principles. Implicit in this notion is the belief that both good and evil exist and are acted upon from the very beginning.
The Morosinis in Hungary under King Andrew III and the two versions of the death of the Queen of Hungary Tommasina
January 9, 2013 By
In reality, Charles Robert’s predecessor, the last Arpád, Andrew III, called the Vene- tian, was already a foreigner on the throne of Hungary.
Princess Salomea and Hungarian – Polish Relations in the Period 1214 – 1241
January 9, 2013 By
It is necessary to say at the beginning that almost all works devoted to Salomea come from the pens of Polish historians. Slovak and Hungarian historiography has devoted little attention to her, in spite of the fact that she played a part in the history of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Mummified saints of the Northern Croatian Littoral
January 8, 2013 By
European mummies occupy a significant place among the world known mummies.
The Chronicle of Ulrich Richental as an Exceptional Source for the History of Slovakia
December 19, 2012 By
One of the most interesting testimonies is the work of a burgher of Konstanz Ulrich Richental, who gave a straight forward account of everyday life in the city during the council, of things he saw, heard or learnt directly from participants in the council.
Fools, Devils, and Alchemy: Secular Images in the Monastery
December 9, 2012 By
The fool is one of the most popular and stable character types throughout cultures and times. This is especially true of medieval Europe. The fool, sometimes a jester, sometimes a clown or a trickster, is always recognizable through his abnormal appearance.
Conversion and Empire: Byzantine Missionaries, Foreign Rulers, and Christian Narratives (ca. 300-900)
December 3, 2012 By
For a broader modern audience today, if taken somewhat journalistically, Pusicius’ story is an example that cuts along cultural and religious lines that presumably originate in ancient, political divisions and confirm a “clash of civilizations” thesis.
A diplomat in the service of the Kings of Hungary: The activity of the Bishop of Nitra Antony of Šankovce at the end of the Middle Ages
November 27, 2012 By
According to this medieval handbook, the work of the diplomat includes: ‘honouring the Church and the Imperial Crown, protecting the rights of the kingdom, strengthening obedience and friendship, agreeing peace, removing the possible causes of future unpleasantness reprimanding tyrants, making rebels obedient…’
The Effects of the Mongol Empire on Russia
November 25, 2012 By
This paper looks at the Mongol Empire’s impacts on Russia in terms of religion, art, language, government, and the ultimate rise of Moscow.
Transylvanian Identities in the Middle Ages
November 25, 2012 By
Identity has become a subject of historical exploration as it is also one of the themes examined from the perspectives of various disciplines belonging to the social sciences such as sociology, psychology or anthropology.
Noble and Urban Family-Structures in the Late Middle Ages in the Hungarian Kingdom
November 15, 2012 By
The everyday life of the clan people was filled with disputes over small plots, since it was the main duty of each generation to preserve and enlarge the lands of the clan. It was also the basic interest of the members of the clans to secure the survival of the clan by marriages that were fertile in every sense. It was a sign of the strength of the clan that the members had to consult before taking decisions in questions of marriage, inheritance.
The Dangerous Dead: The Early Medieval deviant burial at Southwell, Nottinghamshire in a wider context
October 30, 2012 By
This was the deviant burial, which had been buried (or reburied) intact along with a further leg and lower arm bone…Without speculating wildly on the implications of the iron studs, it is known that treatment of this sort was accorded to bodies which had died unnaturally or when there was some reason to fear the supernatural’.
God’s Warriors from the Czech Kingdom – the Terror of Central and Eastern Europe in the First Half of the 15th Century
October 28, 2012 By
The aim of this study is to point out a distinct phenomenon in the history of Central And Eastern Europe wherein part of the population of a fairly small kingdom in Central Europe invoked justified fear throughout the majority of Europe. Czech history is not all that popular a theme of study within the framework of European history. One of the few exceptions is the period of the first half of the 15th century in particular.
Scissors or Sword? The Symbolism of a Medieval Haircut
October 6, 2012 By
Simon Coates explores the symbolic meanings attached to hair in the early medieval West, and how it served to denote differences in age, sex, ethnicity and status.
A Distant World: Russian Relations with Europe Before Peter the Great
October 4, 2012 By
Despite their isolation and poverty, the Slavic plowmen succeeded in settling this unforgiving region, expanding their numbers, and, most importantly, creating the beginnings of a trading network along the many rivers of the region—the western Dvina, the Volkhov, the northern Dvina, and the Dniepr and its tributaries.
Mandeville’s Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
October 3, 2012 By
While Chaucer‟s knight has traveled to and fought in Spain, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia Minor, Sir John claims to have visited the entire known world from Constantinople and the Holy Land to the farthest reaches of Asia.
The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe.
September 30, 2012 By
The standard method employed in characterization studies of amber, namely infrared spectrography, can discriminate roughly between Baltic amber and amber from other European sources…
Contacts between the Romanians and Turkic nomads. Disinformation, mystification and xenophobia: N. Berend
September 24, 2012 By
It is not as much the lack of minimal knowledge of the history of medieval Moldavia which astounds the reader of the review, as the outpour of misinformation and a hardly veiled bias against Romanians.
The medieval peasant house in Bohemia – continuity and change
September 16, 2012 By
The archaeologically resolved theme of the medieval peasant house can be divided into three developmental areas, an understanding of which has various groundings, while yielding diverse results.
The Forgotten Text of Nikolai Golovin: New Light on the Igor Tale
September 14, 2012 By
Mann argues that a rare text of the Skazanie o Mamaevom poboishche comes from an early, fifteenth-century redaction that scholars could never locate—a redaction that is the prototype for all the redactions that have been studied heretofore. He maintains that unique parallels between this redaction and the Slovo o polka Igoreve support the hypothesis that the Igor Tale was an oral epic song in a tradition that actually continued into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when oral tales about the Kulikovo Battle (1380) were composed. He places the new parallels in the context of other evidence for oral composition in the Igor Tale.
Reflection of European Sarmatia in Early Cartography
August 23, 2012 By
While looking for the origins of the state of Lithuania, it is the study of old maps that helps solve a number of riddles, so far weighing on the history of our nation. Historical data, traced in maps and their images, unrestricted by any political, religious or pseudo- scientific taboos, allow us to cast a broad view on the dim and distant past of our state.
Labor Markets After the Black Death: Landlord Collusion and the Imposition of Serfdom in Eastern Europe and the Middle East
August 19, 2012 By
The differences in the imposition of serfdom led to different economic and political effects for the peasantry in Europe. In Western Europe, wages rose, grain prices fell, and the consumption of meat, dairy products, and beer increased. More and more peasants moved into a widening “middle class” that could afford to buy manufactured goods.
Marriage Impediments in Canon Law and Practice: Consanguinity Regulations and the Case of Orthodox-Catholic Intermarriage in Kyivan Rus’, ca. 1000–1241
August 18, 2012 By
This paper focused on marriage alliances in Eastern Europe and the issue of canon law and consanguinity.
Processus iudiciarius secundum stilum Pragensem:Its Manuscripts and Edition
August 8, 2012 By
This paper is a work in progress for further analysis of Puchnik’s work.
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