Syllabus
* Mandatory:
WILSON, P. H. Heart of Europe A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Boston: Harvard University Press 2016. Selected chapters.
SEDLAR, J. W. East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1994. Selected chapters.
JARITZ, G. and SZENDE, K. (eds.). Medieval East Central Europe in a Comparative Perspective. London: Routledge, 2016. Selected chapters.
* Recommended:
BOEHM, B. D. and FAJT, J. Prague-The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. Selected chapters.
ASTON, M., The Fifteenth Century: The Prospect of Europe. London: Thames and Hudson, 1969.
KAMINSKI, H. A history of the Hussite revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press 1967, 2nd ed. 2004. Selected chapters.
ZAORAL, R. “Silver and Glass in Medieval Trade and Cultural Exchange between Venice and the Bohemian Kingdom”, In Český časopis historický/The Czech Historical Review Vol. 109, 2011, pp 235-261.
KEENE, D., NAGY, B. and SZENDE, K. (eds.). Segregation, Integration, Assimilation: Religious and Ethnic Groups in the Medieval Towns of Central and Eastern Europe. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. Selected chapters.
Annotation
The aim of the course is to present the basic problems of the late medieval history of Central Europe in a broader European context. The attention will be paid to political, church, economic and everyday life history. Its attendees also gain general knowledge of literature and sources related to late medieval Central Europe. The course is designed as a suitable and recommended form of preparation for Comprehensive Exam in European History in Contexts. Weekly Schedule:
1. What is Central Europe: Historical concepts, demarcation, and origins
2. Crisis of the middle ages and Central Europe
3. The Luxembourg, Angevins, Jagellonians: Emerging dynasties in the region
4. Central Europe in European politics and conflicts
5. Central Europe and Holy Roman Empire: Mutual influence and relations, CE states in imperial politics
6. Midterm essay
7. Triangular trade: Italy, Flanders and Central Europe
8. Church vs. state: Religious reform and heresy in regional context
9. Hussites and Lollards; The Anti-Hussite crusade in England
10. Pilgrimages. Papal legates and collectors in Central Europe.
11. The “other“ in Central Europe: Religious and ethnic minorities
12. Oral presentations
13. Final essay