The Bulgars and the Steppe Empire in the Early Middle Ages
The Bulgars and the Steppe Empire in the Early Middle Ages

Author: Tsvetelin Stepanov

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2010-02-15

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9047444523

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is about Steppe Eurasia and China, Persia, Byzantium, as well as the 'Inside' and 'Outside' Other. This dual approach helps the reader to better understand the attitudes of the Steppe to both the southern sedentary empires (in this book, the 'Outside' Other) and to the women and shamans/magicians within the nomadic confederations (in this book, the 'Inside' Other), in the so-called 'Golden Age' of the Steppe Empire, e.g. between the sixth and ninth/tenth centuries.The result is a new and vivid picture of the Steppe's attitudes to 'otherness' and 'usness'. The book covers not only a long period of time, but also a vast territory, from Mongolia to the Black Sea and South-Eastern Europe. It studies many peoples and societies and their images of the 'Other', interpreted through different approaches and methodologies.

The Avars
The Avars

Author: Walter Pohl

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2018-12-15

Total Pages: 663

ISBN-13: 1501729403

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Avars arrived in Europe from the Central Asian steppes in the mid-sixth century CE and dominated much of Central and Eastern Europe for almost 250 years. Fierce warriors and canny power brokers, the Avars were more influential and durable than Attila's Huns, yet have remained hidden in history. Walter Pohl's epic narrative, translated into English for the first time, restores them to their rightful place in the story of early medieval Europe. The Avars offers a comprehensive overview of their history, tracing the Avars from the construction of their steppe empire in the center of Europe; their wars and alliances with the Byzantines, Slavs, Lombards, and others; their apex as the first so-called barbarian power to besiege Constantinople (in 626); to their fall under the Frankish armies of Charlemagne and subsequent disappearance as a distinct cultural group. Pohl uncovers the secrets of their society, synthesizing the rich archaeological record recovered from more than 60,000 graves of the period, as well as accounts of the Avars by Byzantine and other chroniclers. In recovering the story of the fascinating encounter between Eurasian nomads who established an empire in the heart of Europe and the post-Roman Christian cultures of Europe, this book provides a new perspective on the origins of medieval Europe itself.

Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500-1300) (2 vols)
Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500-1300) (2 vols)

Author: Florin Curta

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-07-08

Total Pages: 1426

ISBN-13: 9004395199

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winner of the 2020 Verbruggen prize This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of scholarship on Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. The goal is to offer an overview of the current state of research and a basic route map for navigating an abundant historiography available in more than 10 different languages. The literature published in English on the medieval history of Eastern Europe—books, chapters, and articles—represents a little more than 11 percent of the historiography. The companion is therefore meant to provide an orientation into the existing literature that may not be available because of linguistic barriers and, in addition, an introductory bibliography in English. Winner of the 2020 Verbruggen prize, awarded annually by the De Re Militari society for the best book on medieval military history. The awarding committee commented that the book ‘has an enormous range, and yet is exceptionally scholarly with a fine grasp of detail. Its title points to a general history of eastern Europe, but it is dominated by military episodes which make it of the highest value to anybody writing about war and warmaking in this very neglected area of Europe.’ See inside the book.

“The” Other Europe in the Middle Ages
“The” Other Europe in the Middle Ages

Author: Florin Curta

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 503

ISBN-13: 9004163891

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Drawing on archaeological and narrative sources, this collection of studies offers a fresh look at some of the most interesting aspects of the current research on the medieval nomads of Eastern Europe.

The Pechenegs: Nomads in the Political and Cultural Landscape of Medieval Europe
The Pechenegs: Nomads in the Political and Cultural Landscape of Medieval Europe

Author: Aleksander Paroń

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-06-22

Total Pages: 477

ISBN-13: 9004441093

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In The Pechenegs: Nomads in the Political and Cultural Landscape of Medieval Europe, Aleksander Paroń offers a reflection on the history of the Pechenegs, a nomadic people which came to control the Black Sea steppe by the end of the ninth century. Nomadic peoples have often been presented in European historiography as aggressors and destroyers whose appearance led to only chaotic decline and economic stagnation. Making use of historical and archaeological sources along with abundant comparative material, Aleksander Paroń offers here a multifaceted and cogent image of the nomads’ relations with neighboring political and cultural communities in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

The Routledge Handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1300
The Routledge Handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1300

Author: Florin Curta

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-29

Total Pages: 886

ISBN-13: 1000476243

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Routledge Handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1300 is the first of its kind to provide a point of reference for the history of the whole of Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages. While historians have recognized the importance of integrating the eastern part of the European continent into surveys of the Middle Ages, few have actually paid attention to the region, its specific features, problems of chronology and historiography. This vast region represents more than two-thirds of the European continent, but its history in general—and its medieval history in particular—is poorly known. This book covers the history of the whole region, from the Balkans to the Carpathian Basin, and the Bohemian Forest to the Finnish Bay. It provides an overview of the current state of research and a route map for navigating an abundant historiography available in more than ten different languages. Chapters cover topics as diverse as religion, architecture, art, state formation, migration, law, trade and the experiences of women and children. This book is an essential reference for scholars and students of medieval history, as well as those interested in the history of Central and Eastern Europe.

The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony
The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony

Author: Dennis P. Hupchick

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-07-10

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 3319562061

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book provides an interpretive narrative of the wars fought by Bulgaria against the Byzantine Empire for dominant control of the Balkan Peninsula during the early medieval era. Over a span of two centuries, from the early ninth through the early eleventh, and under the leadership of the Bulgarian rulers Krum, Simeon I, and Samuil, those conflicts evolved from simple confrontations for territorial possession into a life-or-death struggle for imperial precedence within the Orthodox world then emerging in Eastern Europe—a struggle that the Bulgarians ultimately lost. The primary focus is on Bulgaria, rather than Byzantium, and an effort is made to provide a historically reliable chronology of the assorted campaigns. The various belligerents’ military organizations, defensive technologies, armaments, and tactics are surveyed in an introduction to the main narrative. A prelude chapter sets the stage for the hegemonic conflict, which was divided into three distinct phases by interludes of relative peace between the contending parties, during which Bulgaria’s domestic, foreign, and cultural developments shaped the nature and conduct of the fighting in each successive phase.

Empires to be remembered
Empires to be remembered

Author: Michael Gehler

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-03-10

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13: 3658340037

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

By applying a comparative approach the volume focuses on a select group of „empires“ which are generally not in the focus of empires studies. They are studied in detail and analyzed due to a strict concept that takes into account real history and reception history as well. Reception history becomes more and more an important element in empire studies although this topic is still often more or less underdeveloped. The volume singles out a series of such “forgotten empires”. It aims to provide a methodologically clearly structured as well as a uniform and consistent approach. It develops a general set of questions that help to compare and distinguish these entities. This way the volume intends to examine and to illuminate empires that are generally ignored by modern scholarship.

Master Narratives of the Middle Ages in Bulgaria
Master Narratives of the Middle Ages in Bulgaria

Author: Roumen Daskalov

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-08-30

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 9004464875

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book traces the establishment of a master narrative of the Middle Ages in Bulgaria and its evolution to the present day, including the attempt at a Marxist counter-narrative, thereby offering a critical analysis of Bulgarian historiographical views.

Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831
Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831

Author: Panos Sophoulis

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2011-09-30

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9004206957

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Drawing on written and material sources, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of Byzantium's relations with Bulgaria during the late eighth and early ninth centuries, one of the most crucial and formative periods in the history of both medieval states.