ABSTRACT

Medieval Networks in East Central Europe explores the economic, cultural, and religious forms of contact between East Central Europe and the surrounding world in the eight to the fifteenth century. The sixteen chapters are grouped into four thematic parts: the first deals with the problem of the region as a zone between major power centers; the second provides case studies on the economic and cultural implications of religious ties; the third addresses the problem of trade during the state formation process in the region, and the final part looks at the inter- and intraregional trade in the Late Middle Ages.

Supported by an extensive range of images, tables, and maps, Medieval Networks in East Central Europe demonstrates and explores the huge significance and international influence that East Central Europe held during the medieval period and is essential reading for scholars and students wishing to understand the integral role that this region played within the processes of the Global Middle Ages.

part One|2 pages

East Central Europe – No Man’s Land or Historical Region?

chapter 1|14 pages

Reimagining Europe

An Outsider Looks at the Medieval East–West Divide

chapter 2|18 pages

The Carpathian-Danubian Region during the Eighth and Ninth Centuries

A General View Based on Archaeological Records

chapter 3|15 pages

The Entry of Early Medieval Slavs into World History

The Chronicle of Moissac

chapter 4|11 pages

Medieval Latin Europe Connecting with the Rest of the World

The East Central European Link

part Two|2 pages

Christianization and the East–West Link

chapter 5|16 pages

Gregory the Great and the Bishops

Papal Letters and the Ecclesiastical Integration and Disintegration of East Central Europe

chapter 6|36 pages

Children in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Hungary and Poland

An Archaeological Comparison

chapter 7|16 pages

Technologies on the Road between West and East

The Spread of Water Mills and the Christianization of East Central Europe

part Three|2 pages

Trade Relations of East Central Europe in the Age of State Formation

chapter 9|19 pages

The Logic of Tribute versus the Logic of Commerce

Why Did Dirhams Reach East Central Europe during the Tenth Century?

chapter 11|21 pages

The Heyday and Fate of an Early Trade Center

Graphite Pottery in Early Óbuda

part Four|2 pages

Trade Relations of East Central Europe in the Late Medieval Period

chapter 12|16 pages

Mining, Coinage, and Metal Export in the Thirteenth Century

The Czech Lands and Italy in Comparative Perspective

chapter 13|9 pages

Late Medieval Gdan´sk as a Bridge between Regions

Western European, Hanseatic, and East Central European Contacts

chapter 14|27 pages

A Silesian Town and the Hungarian Monarchy

Economic Contacts between Wrocław and Hungary, ca. 1250–1500

chapter 15|14 pages

Transit Trade and Intercontinental Trade during the Late Middle Ages

Textiles and Spices in the Customs Accounts of Bras,ov and Sibiu

chapter 16|10 pages

Reflected in a Distorted Mirror

Trade Contacts of Medieval East Central Europe in Recent Historiography