Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900–1400 PDF
Preview Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900–1400
“Balancing on an intricate edge between facts and fi ction, this thoughtfully edited volume offers an excellent selection of ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’ biographies of individ- uals, from slaves to kings, who populated the eastern half of Europe in the centuries before and after the fi rst 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 PORTRAITS OF MEDIEVAL EASTERN EUROPE, 900–1400 Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides imagined biographies of twenty differ- ent fi gures 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 fi gure 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 traveler, a slave, the Mongol general Sübedei, a woman from Novgorod, and a Rusʹ 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, P ortraits 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. Donald Ostrowski is Research Advisor in the Social Sciences and Lecturer in His- tory at the Harvard University Extension School. His previous publications include Muscovy and the Mongols: Cross-Cultural Infl uences on the Steppe Frontier 1304–1589 (1998) and over 100 articles and review essays. He is also the editor of T he 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 Univer- sity, as well as an associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He has pub- lished multiple books including R eimagining Europe: Kievan Rusʹ in the Medieval World (2012) and Ties of Kinship: Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage in Kyivan Rusʹ (2016). He is also the series editor for Beyond Medieval Europe, a book series published by ARC Humanities Press. PORTRAITS OF MEDIEVAL EASTERN EUROPE, 900–1400 Edited by Donald Ostrowski and Christian Raffensperger First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 selection and editorial matter, Donald Ostrowski and Christian Raffensperger; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Donald Ostrowski and Christian Raffensperger to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-63704-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-70120-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-20417-8 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Please visit the book’s companion website at http://www.routledge.com/cw/ostrowski To our predecessors, the trail-blazing scholars of medieval Eastern Europe . . . CONTENTS List of fi gures xii List of m aps xiii List of c ontributors xiv Acknowledgments xviii I ntroduction 1 D onald Ostrowski PART 1 Rusʹ and Northern Europe 13 1 The widow princess of Minsk 15 Inés García de la Puente 2 Anna, a woman of Novgorod 23 Eve Levin 3 Prince Vladimir of Pskov 33 Anti Selart 4 Mother of a tribal Häme Warrior – Kuutamo Hyväneuvo 40 Mari Isoaho 5 From butcher to saint: the improbable life and fate of Vaišvilkas/ Vojšelk/Lavryš/Elisej of Lithuania and Black Rusʹ (?–1267) 50 David M. Goldfrank
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