‘Vampire’ skeleton discovered in Poland
Archaeologists working in northwestern Poland have unearthed the remains of man who was buried with a rock jammed into his jaw and a stake driven into his leg.
Fabrics in Medieval Dress in Pomerania
The use of colour effects – motives of stripes, colour ribbon and string additions as well as pieces of embroidery – is a testament to the decorative character of medieval clothes.
A Comparative Analysis Of Early Medieval North-West Slavonic And West Baltic Sacred Landscapes
The major aim of our paper is to present a comparative analysis of early medieval north-west Slavonic and Prussian objects and places which are interpreted in a sacral context.
Church and burial mounds among medieval archaeological finds in Poland
The remains of a 13th-century church and burial mounds dating back to the ninth-century are among the archaeological finds announced this month by Polish researchers.
Over a thousand medieval manuscripts to be digitized in Poland
Wroclaw University Library in Poland is teaming up with IBM to digitize nearly 800,000 pages of European manuscripts, books, and maps dating back to the Middle Ages. This will include over 1100 medieval manuscripts.
Examples of Medieval Plague Treatises from Central Europe
Studying the phenomenon of the plague in the Middle Ages one discovers that by far the most numerous source material directly connected to the epidemics is represented by the plague treatises
Infant Burials and Christianization: The View from East Central Europe
This was the second paper in the Early Medieval Europe I series given at KZOO and another fabulous archaeology paper. It contrasted infant grave sites in early converted medieval Poland and Anglo Saxon England.
Delivering stability: Primogeniture and autocratic survival in European monarchies 1000-1800
Although the dominating position of primogeniture at the end of the period might seem natural given primogeniture’s many advantages for the monarch and the ruling elite it was first rather late in history that the principle came to dominate Europe.
Ritual and cultural change: Transformations in rituals at the junction of pagan religion and Christianity in early medieval Poland
The paper aims at presenting an interpretation of the changes in ritualsagainst the background of the general political and social transformation witnessed by the early Polish state between the 10th and 12th centuries.
New DNA test can determine eye and hair colour from people who lived in the Middle Ages
A team of researchers from Poland and the Netherlands have developed a system that is able to answer what the hair and eye colour is from individuals who lived over 800 years ago.
The Morosinis in Hungary under King Andrew III and the two versions of the death of the Queen of Hungary Tommasina
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
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.
Reception of Christian Hebrew Studies in Renaissance Poland
While talking about Polish Renaissance I mean the period from the end of 15th century until 1638, when the Arian printing house in Raków was closed. Referring to Poland, I mean, first of all, the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, which was tightly connected with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its fiefdom lands.
Environmental impact of the Baltic Crusades: deforestation, animal extinction, dogs no longer on the menu
A multidisciplinary project seeks to understand the environmental impact of the Baltic Crusades. Horses, for example, aided the Christians in battle, while the castles the Crusaders built decimated forests.
The Battle of Tannenberg in 1410: Strategic Interests and Tactical Implementation
On July 15, 1410 the united Polish-Lithuanian Army destroyed the army of the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Tannenberg.
Scissors or Sword? The Symbolism of a Medieval Haircut
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.
The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe.
The standard method employed in characterization studies of amber, namely infrared spectrography, can discriminate roughly between Baltic amber and amber from other European sources…
Reflection of European Sarmatia in Early Cartography
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
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
This paper focused on marriage alliances in Eastern Europe and the issue of canon law and consanguinity.
Martin Bylica at the Court of Matthias Corvinus: Astrology and Politics in Renaissance Hungary
Late in the spring 1468, Matthias Corvinus convened the Hungarian diet in the city of Pozsony. Holding the diet in Pozsony enabled him to impress the Hungarian nobles with the local intellectual community that had begun to form at his fledgling Academia Istropolitana, which he had founded the previous year.
The Heritage of Polish Republicanism
In Polish political debates of half a millenium ago, monarchic ideas were always permeated with republicanism. In that period public discourse had civic virtue as its centerpiece.
Malbork revitalization process
The following paper presents the key investments made in the town, since 2007, when Malbork adopted a Local Revitalization Program, and their impact upon its residents and tourists.
Formation and Transformations of Dynastic Ties between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland from 1386–1501
JŪRATĖ KIAUPIENĖ is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Lithuanian History, Vilnius, Head of the Section on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Professor of History at the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. She published numerous books and articles on this subject.
The Turning Point in the Battle of Tannenberg (Grunwald/Žalgiris) in 1410
SVEN EKDAHL is Assistant Professor of History at Gothenburg University and Professor of Medieval History at the Polish-Scandinavian Research Institute in Copenhagen. He has published extensively on the history of the Teutonic Order in Prussia as well as treated Polish, Baltic, and Scandinavian themes.