Karen Culver

In this interview, David Rockwell, Ph.D student with the Department of Medieval Studies, discusses his research into the lobbying practices of bankers and other lenders that aimed to influence imperial law-making affecting the economic life of sixth century Byzantium.  He looks at the history of economics and corruption of the period from his unique perspective as a former senior finance and capital markets lawyer in today’s global trading hubs.

In this interview, Konstantin Golev, the Associate Professor at the ‘Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ discusses his on-going research into “Winter is Coming – the Seasonal Nature of Nomadic Warfare”.His research focusses on the interaction between the nomadic tribal peoples of the vast Eurasian steppe, specifically the Cumans and Mongols, and their sedentary neighbours to the west.  He does this mostly through a detailed analysis of the asymmetrical nature of warfare of nomadic peoples, who, unlike most sedentary populations, preferred to go to war, invade and raid in winter, and avoided fighting in summer.  Konstantin explains that this unusual seasonal nature of warfare is largely due to there being more grass available for their many horses in the cooler, wetter months, than the hotter and drier part of the year.      Konstantin also shows the different approach to battle between the nomadic peoples and their sedentary neighbours.  The nomadic fighters each had several, light, fast horses with limited armour, while their opponents favoured fewer, stronger, well armoured but slower ‘knightly’ mounts. For the nomadic people, warfare and fighting was purely an economic function and had little to do with political ambitions, therefore when they were unlikely to win a battle, they simply retreated.In addition, Konstantin explains the challenges of studying Medieval Eurasian nomadic peoples.  Due to the nature of their constantly mobile life-style, they leave limited archaeological records and, all but two tribal groups, have left no written records. This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

In this interview Anna Kinde discusses her doctoral research into the arrangement and use of space in medieval cathedrals in Central Europe.  She approaches this topic on the premise that people and communities are reflected in and by their built environment, including non-domestic and religious spaces, and thus by studying the built environment helps us to understand the societies that built them.   As numbers of central European cathedrals have been destroyed or extensively rebuilt, Anna’s analysis of the use of space includes liturgical instructions and secular records of activities such as trials and signing important documents that occurred within the space of cathedrals.Anna also notes how good structural design enhances feeling of personal well-being and positive social interaction.  This can be seen and felt within many medieval ecclesiastical buildings.This podcast is based on archive material from the CEU Medieval Radio, an initiative of the doctoral students of the Department of Historical Studies.  It forms part of a series for the CEU Department of Historical Studies and MECERN.

In this interview László Bartosiewicz, Emeritus Professor of Osteoarchaeology at Stockholm University, discusses his recent research, undertaken with Erika Gál, on hippophagy, the eating of horse meat, in medieval Hungary. He considers their various sources of information and how they compare the archaeological occurrence of horse bones and any cutting marks on those bones, to known, but sometimes ambiguous references in written sources to hippophagy.  This analysis demonstrates that people in the Carpathian basin ate horse meat, as well as keeping horses for many other purposes.  He also shows how the horse bones were used to make skates, runners for sledges and even weights for fishing nets.László discusses the cultural implications of hippophagy in terms of social status, ethnic background and geographic location.  He notes that while the Christian church did not out-right ban eating horse meat, it actively discouraged it, possibly because hippophagy may have been linked to earlier, non-Christian, religions and their celebrations.  He notes that in this way, the foods that people eat help to define them as ‘one of us’ or ‘the other’ in terms of social acceptability.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

In this interview, Michał Machalski discusses his recent thesis research into rulers, subjects, and loyalty in 13th Century Poland’.   The thirteenth century in Poland was a period of intense turmoil and fragmentation, with many of the nobility battling for supremacy, and for the right to be King, while the Teutonic Knights made increasing incursions into Polish lands.In this complex and fractured period, Michał looked at aspects of loyalty between the rulers from the local Piast dynasty and their subjects; how this loyalty was expressed, enacted, enforced, rewarded, and when lacking, how disloyalty was punished.  Although loyalty within the church was beyond the scope of his research, Michał explains how senior Bishops became arbiters of loyalty and guarantors of oaths.  Michał shows how through declarations and demonstrations of loyalty, the Polish society was held together and enabling Kazimierz III the Great to gain the throne and unite Poland. This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.Image - Duke of Wroclaw Krakow Henryk IV Probus, from Codex Manesse 1305-40 (27668147667)

Dorottya Uhrin is an assistant professor at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Medieval History Department.  In this interview she discusses her on-going research into the phenomenon of the ‘virgin kings’ that occurred in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Europe. Dorottya’s work focusses on Prince Emeric, the last surviving son of King Istvan I of Hungary who, according to his saintly legend, died a virgin.  She compares Emeric’s history and legend with those of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and the English king, Edward the Confessor, who were, again according to their saintly legends, ‘virgin kings’.  Dorottya notes that while they were all venerated for their perceived sanctity, the image of the ‘virgin king’ as a positive phenomenon was short lived and their popularity was limited.  This was possibly due to the lack of legitimate heirs, which for Hungary caused significant internal conflict, and for England eventually resulted in a foreign invasion.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

In this interview, Anna Boreczky discusses her fascinating research into the medieval illustrations of the story of ‘Apollonius, King of Tyre’ a romance from late antiquity which became a Medieval blockbuster, popular throughout Europe.Anna is an art historian and expert in medieval book culture, and is part of the Fragmenta et Codices research group in Budapest.  She starts by telling the story of Apollonius, King of Tyre, which is a moral story and an exciting adventure of love, fortune and marital fidelity spread over the eastern Mediterranean. In her forthcoming book, she discusses 26 illustrated books of the Apollonius story, made between ca. 600 and 1500. Her research includes two fragments; the first found in St Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai which is a palimpsest and forms part of a very early copy of the Gospels in Arabic; the second is called Apollonius Pictus and is kept in the National Széchényi Library in Budapest..   Anna’s principle interest is in the illustrations,  their role within the renewals of the story and within the narrative strategies employed by illustrated Apollonius books These images show that when the book was copied or printed, the illustrations were updated to the contemporary era to increase the engagement of the readers.  In addition, Anna’s research confirms that illustrated romances were known in late antiquity, and assumed to be highly popular, with obvious lasting appeal.The image shown here is taken from Heinrich Steinhöwel: Apollonius von Tyrus. Augsburg, 1476. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, 8 Inc 73, fol. 44r.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

In this interview, Olga Kalashnikova and Jan Kremer discuss their on-going research into historical digital gaming.  They note that around sixty percent of the population regularly play digital games, and that historical games generally constitute twenty percent of the most popular games, implying that history sells games. Olga and Jan research not only the games and their developers, but most importantly, the gamers, focussing on how they understand the games they play and the history behind those games.  In this interview they consider if, and how the most popular historical digital games can change or re-enforce popular perceptions of history. And if they do, will this makes professional historians more or less relevant.  They also discuss how national governments might use historical digital games for political propaganda with an example of a game developed and marketed on behalf of the Russian state.  Finally Olga and Jan consider what might be better ways of using medieval, or any history, in digital games to ensure they are historically valid while still being entertaining and profitable for the developers.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.Photo image - Pentiment (2022), photo provided by the Obsidian Entertainment

Adinel Dincă is Associate Professor at Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca.  In this interview he talks about his major research project “Restory – Recovering Past Stories for the Future: A Synergistic Approach to Textual and Oral Heritage of Small Communities”.  While this project focuses on the little known group of Transylvanian Saxons, it includes partners from all over Europe. The project aims to rediscover local experiences and micro histories by working along-side local galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, to share them with the localities that the stories came from.Adinel breaks down how the endeavour was developed, how the several elements of the project function and how the partners are working together.  He also points out that the research is particularly interested in the local stories of good resource management, whether this is through primary education to build better human resources, or through re-use and re-purposing of physical resources for pragmatic and symbolic aims.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.The Restory project is funded by the European Research Executive Agency through the Research and Innovation Actions, Cluster 2 - Culture, Creativity, Inclusive Society, Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe (call HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-01-04: Cultural heritage in transformation – facing change with confidence; Project nr. 101132781). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

In this interview, Nicholas Tayler talks about his thesis research into the migration of missionaries and merchants from the Lotharingian region, in the current day Low Countries, to ‘New Europe’ and specifically to Hungary.Nick looks at how he is tracing this fascinating, but largely forgotten migration route from Lotharingia to Hungary through a mixture of documents and histories, mostly from ecclesiastical archives, archaeology, place names and personal names.  This vast, complex and challenging research highlights the migration and it‘s multi-vectoral influence on the developing kingdom of Hungary.  Nick also discusses his research’s methodological foundations in Bruno LaTour’s ‘Actor Network Theory’ and the concept of Entangled History,  and how these tools help with the understanding of these routes of people and influence.  Nick explains how understanding medieval episcopal politics can help make sense of modern Europe. Nicholas Tayler was awarded the Bak Fellowship scholarship in 2023 -2024 to support his research.  For information about this scholarship please click here.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.