CEU Medieval Studies and MECERN

The Gothic Architect – an International, Professional Elite

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:00:26 -0700

In this interview Dr Jana Gajdosova talks about her research into the architects, their lives, their business practice, and their architecture during the late gothic period. The conversation focusses on the architects Peter Parler, who worked on Prague Cathedral, and Lorenz Lechler, both of whom may be described as members of an international, professional elite of the middle-ages. Dr Gajdosova is a medieval art specialist at Sam Fogg, an international art dealership and gallery in London.

Link to the video of the Lorenz Lechler drawing - https://vimeo.com/666276544

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the early and medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Conflict, Collusion, and an Unholy Alliance – Diplomatic Relationships in 14th Century Balkans

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:58:46 -0700

In this interview Emir Filipovic, Associate Professor of Medieval History at Sarajevo University, discusses his research into conflict, collusion, and diplomacy in 14th century Balkans. This was a period and region of great change, with competing powers, shifting alliances, and much political and military complexity. The Byzantium empire was in slow decline and emerging powers were competing for a slice of the Byzantine cake; there were shifting alliances; two Popes were both bidding for influence, and the phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ had true meaning. Amongst all of this, an alliance was formed between a Christian king and the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid, potentially to be confirmed by a marriage which, if it had taken place, would have placed a member of the Ottoman ruling family in a significant position in a European, Christian, royal dynasty.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Aquincum, the Town and its Legacy

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:57:44 -0700

In this interview, Orsolya Lang, the Director of the Aquincum Museum in Budapest, Hungary, talks about her work in the town of Aquincum on the Roman Limes, and its legacy on the early medieval period. Orsolya discusses Aquincum, which at its height had a population of around 60,000, including a legionary fortress, administrative centre and civil town, and the settlement was an important part of the global Roman world. Aquincum initially absorbed and ‘Romanised’ settlers from outside the empire, but with the gradual decline of the empire, semi-nomadic ‘barbarian’ tribes from regions north and east of the Limes slowly replaced the settled, urban, Roman population. These people brought new cultures and new life styles, and with them the early middle-ages emerged.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the early and medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Rituals and the Legitimisation of Rulership in the High Middle Ages in Bohemia

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:56:00 -0700

In this interview, Robert Antonin, Associate Professor of History at Ostrava University in Czech Republic, discusses his research into the importance of rulership rituals in the High Middle Ages, Bohemia. He shows how the visualization of rulership through the public display of ritual built the legitimacy of the ruler, and how the public acceptance of this legitimacy enhanced social cohesion and stability. While Robert’s research period is the high medieval, he suggests a similar process happens in today’s modern democracies.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

The Story of the Book - How the ‘Oxford Handbook of Medieval Central Europe 800 – 1600’ was Made

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:54:43 -0700

The ‘Oxford Handbook of Medieval Central Europe 800 – 1600’ was conceived in Budapest, Hungary in 2014, outlined in Olomouc, Czechia in 2016 and finally published by Oxford University Press in 2022.

In this interview, the joint editors of the book, Nada Zecevic and Daniel Ziemann, discuss the process of creating a Handbook that consists of twenty-four chapters written by over fifty different scholars spread throughout the world. They discuss how the book’s style and content was created, how the boundaries of chronology and geography were defined and agreed upon, and how they managed the many challenges of such an extensive subject and ambitious project. Nada and Daniel also reflect on the final chapter of the Handbook and consider the use, and potential abuse, of medieval history and the role that historians should play in presenting medieval history.

The Herders of Korčula: A study of a socio-professional community in fifteenth-century Dalmatia

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:52:57 -0700

In this interview, Dr. Fabian Kümmeler talks about his on-going research into the socio-professional community of herders on the island of Korčula in Venetian Dalmatia, in the fifteenth century. Based on largely neglected archival holdings from the Croatian State Archive in Zadar, which include business contracts, records of litigation and dispute resolution, Fabian describes how the herding business functioned, who was involved, the legal environment and how it was enforced. Together they offer a fascinating window into the daily life of the herders and their fellow islanders in 15th century.

Dr. Fabian Kümmeler is the APART-GSK Fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Principal Investigator of a project on “Pastoral Communities in Southeast Europe, 1400–1600”.

This podcast is part of a series for the CEU Department of Medieval Studies and MECERN

Royalty, Religion & Relics

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:51:25 -0700

In this interview, Zoë Opačić, Senior Lecturer in the Department of the History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, discusses her current research into how royalty, religion and relics impacted town planning and architecture, and thus changed the shape of major cities in central Europe. The interview focusses on Prague, Krakow and Vienna in the fifteenth century, specifically during the reigns of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and Kasimir the Great.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Medieval and Macabre – Images of Death in Fifteenth Century Bohemia

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:50:12 -0700

In this interview, Associate Professor Daniela Rywikova, University of Ostrava, talks about her book ‘Spectrum Mortis, The Image of Death in Late Medieval Bohemian Painting’. She considers how the people of Bohemia in the medieval period thought about death, represented death, prepared for their own death, and how the worlds of the living dead and the dead were compressed together in ways which are quite different from our own, modern approach to death and dying.

This interview podcast is part of the series of podcasts for MECERN and the CEU Department of Medieval Studies.

Waqf villages – Ottoman pious foundations, and populating the conquered lands of the Balkans

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:46:33 -0700

In this interview, Grigor Boykov, an assistant professor at the University of Vienna (Institute for East European history) discusses his research into waqf villages in Bulgaria during the early Ottoman period. Ottoman landholders in the conquered territories founded waqf villages to create a stream of income that they endowed to religious or social welfare activities within the Ottoman empire. Grigor’s research using the original Ottoman tax and legal records, and techniques of modern spatial analysis, shows the waqf also were instrumental in re-populating empty lands, maintaining social order, increasing the value of the land, and safeguarding the heredity rights of the landholders.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Scribal Additions; The Scribes, Their Humour, and their Nonsense

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:45:26 -0700

In this interview, Lucie Doležalová, professor of Medieval Latin at the Charles University in Prague, discusses her current research into the additions made by scribes at the end of their copied texts in late medieval Bohemia. Lucie shows how these seemingly personal additions, sometimes humorous, sometimes requesting rewards, sometimes nonsensical, were often quite formulaic. The research will map the scribal additions by time and place to identify the source of the more formulaic additions, and possibly the routes by which the ideas were transmitted.

Scribal additions also offer a rare glimpse over the shoulder of the scribe and allows us to see the material and physical nature of the scribes’ work of copying text, including his tiredness, hunger, and relief at finishing the task.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Medieval Liturgy and the Making of a Political Identity – A Case Study of Poland circa 1000

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:44:01 -0700

In this interview, Paweł Figurski, Assistant Professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences and a Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Regensburg, talks with Karen Culver about his current research into medieval liturgy and the making of Polish political identity around the year 1000. In this newly Christianised region, Paweł shows how the liturgy was used, not only to spread the Christian message, but also to build awareness of the emerging early medieval state through the repetition of rulers’ names and propagation of the new name of a country (Polonia). This ritual was a key part in building a political identity not only among the literate clergy, but also with more straightforward means among the other members of the political elite.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering Central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

In the interview the following recordings have been utilized. We thank the authors for enabling us to share medieval music in the podcast:

1) "Annua recolamus” from the album Sacer Nidus - Św. Wojciech, Bolesław I. Chrobry i Otton III. w muzyce średniowiecznej by Ensemble Peregrina, dir. Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, Raumklang 2011

2) Exultet chant based on the Gradual of Bolesław II of Mazovia, MNK Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, Rr. 4922-4940 (olim: KrM MNK/XV/rys/2271-89), performed by Isabella Burns at the University of Notre Dame, 2015.

Urban Demography, Migrants and Masters – a case study of Cluj in the late Middle Ages

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:43:07 -0700

In this interview Agnes Flora, an archivist at the Romanian National Archives in Cluj, discusses her research into the city archives in Cluj in Transylvania, Romania. She highlights the changes in urban demography that occurred due to inward migration, encouraged by the city council which needed both tax revenue and labour. Agnes explains how Cluj promoted the inward movement of peasants from the city’s hinterland, and welcomed longer distance skilled craftsmen as migrants, and how these two migration movements impacted the style and business of the city. She also offers fascinating insights into the working and personal life of one Italian migrant as he becomes a citizen of Cluj and finally a Guild Master and leading political figure within the city.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Public Politics and Private Piety – Representations of Rulership in Late Medieval Bohemia

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:41:19 -0700

In this interview Grischa Vercamer, an interim professor for European regional history at Chemnitz University of Technology, discusses his on-going research into the representation of rulership in late medieval Central Europe. The interview focuses on the chronicles of Eberhard Windeck, a merchant and close advisor to the Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund of Luxemburg. Grischa considers how Windeck presents Sigismund to his readers in terms of politics and piety, and compares this presentation with other sources, including other late medieval chronicles of rulers. Based on this comparative research Grischa offers us a deep insight into the writing of Eberhard Windeck, the roles of medieval rulership and the public persona and private piety of Sigismund of Luxemburg.

The Right of Reprisal – a Customary Law of International Trade

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:39:21 -0700

In this interview Leslie Carr-Riegel discusses her research into inter-state mercantile trade in the medieval period and the ways in which the Right of Reprisal influenced that trade. Leslie explains that a reprisal was a legal instrument that compensated for losses due to theft and the non-payment of debts and doweries. Her on-going, summative work compares reprisals, and the process of gaining reprisals throughout Europe during the whole medieval period. Surprisingly, she shows that reprisals functioned in a very similar way at a time when most aspects of trade were variable and determined locally. Leslie also explains how reprisals influenced state-building and the development of inter-state trade treaties.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

A Global Moment in the Middle Ages

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:37:27 -0700

In this interview, Martin Bauch, the leader of a group researching medieval climate history and climate change at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) in Leipzig, discusses his research into the eruption of the Samalas volcano in 1257 in Indonesia. Based on a wide range of information sources, including chronicles from Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, dendrochronology and ice-core dating, Martin explains how this massive eruption had an impact on world-wide climate patterns over several years. Martin’s focus is on central and southern Europe, and here he demonstrates how the shifting climate influenced economics, trading patterns, public health and potentially even the design of cultural artefacts.

The effect of the Samalas eruption was noted throughout the world, often, but not always, with a negative impact. As many of the changes wrought by the eruption and subsequent change of weather patterns were long term or permanent, Martin describes this as a truly global moment in the Middles Ages.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

The Golden Horde in the 13th Century; Coups, Conflicts and Gold

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:36:38 -0700

In this interview, Jack Wilson, historian of the Mongol Empire and PhD candidate at Central European University discusses his current research into the Mongol invasions of Hungary in the thirteenth century.

Focussing on the lesser known Mongol invasion of Hungary in the 1280s, and viewing this from the perspective of the Mongols, Jack’s research considers the likely reasons for the invasion. His analysis shows that the Mongol motivations were closely linked to internal power struggles and dynastic conflicts within the Golden Horde, and changing climatic conditions in their home steppe-land. Jack’s analysis also implies that the invasion was not for conquest, but for loot and slaves, and to enhance the reputation a leading contender within their internal power struggles. Jack also demonstrates how the Mongolian elite viewed the world and the place of themselves and their vast empire within it.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Noble & Lazy? The Nuns of St George’s Abbey in Prague Castle

Karen Culver — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:34:49 -0700

In this interview, Karel Pacovský discusses his on-going research into the daily lives of the Benedictine nuns of St George’s Monastery in Prague Castle. The monastery, founded around 970 exclusively for women, was the earliest monastic institution in Bohemia. It held an important position within the Bohemian state due to its physical location and the status and learning of its abbesses.

Karel’s research is based on a range of sources, including a book written for the nuns by their confessor, a monk from a near-by Benedictine Abbey of Ostrov, in the early 15th century. This book contains the rule of St Benedict, and the confessor's advice on various aspects of their life – how to manage their library, educate the young novice nuns, and how to conduct their daily life in accordance with their monastic vows. The book also contains reprimands which offer delightful insights into where and how the nuns were taking short-cuts in their religious life.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Noble Ladies: Between East and West

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:15:54 -0700

In this interview, Natalia (Talia) Zajac, an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Niagara University, New York State, discusses her on-going research into ‘Noble Ladies: Between East and West’. This is the interesting phenomenon of noble ladies from Rus marrying into Central European noble families, and nobles ladies from Central Europe marrying into the Rus nobility, thus creating marriages of mixed Orthodox and Latin Christianity. Natalia also offers explanations of why this religious openness and acceptance of difference gradually came to an end in the thirteenth century.

In addition, Natalia talks about her research into one specific noble lady, the Duchess Gremislava (in Polish, Grzymisława), a Rus princess married into the Polish nobility. Through the detailed examination of a seal of Duchess Gremislava, Natalia reviews the power struggles and internal family competition of the nobility, as well as how these travelling brides built wider support and friendship networks throughout their married lives.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Good Friday Sermons – the Mass Media of 14th Century Bohemia

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:14:49 -0700

In this interview, Olga Kalashnikova, recent PhD graduate and researcher at the CEU Democracy Institute ‘History of Democracy’ section, discusses her research into Good Friday Sermons – the Mass Media of 14th Century Bohemia.

Olga’s research focussed on Milíč of Kroměříž, a popular and radical preacher in Bohemia who wrote many lengthy sermons which were widely copied and disbursed in central and northern Europe. Using Milíč’s sermons for Good Friday as a window into the preaching of the period, Olga explains why the Good Friday sermons were so important, how the sermons were used as a form of mass communication, and what the sermons were expected to achieve in connection to the church congregation. Olga also shows why and how these sermons are still valuable and relevant for today’s academics and wider population.

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 Making of the Wenceslas Bible

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:13:41 -0700

In this interview, Maria Theisen talks about her work on the Making of the Wenceslas Bible. This great bible was written in German in the late fourteenth century, and although it was never completed, it still contains 2,000 folios and over 650 illuminations. Maria sets the creation of the bible into the context of the times, particularly the reforms within the church and the power struggles between the Catholic church and King Wenceslas IV. Maria also explains the complex iconography of the period and the symbolism of the images in the great first letter of Genesis. As the bible was not finished, there remain notes in the margins for the illuminators which give clues to the process of making the bible and the lives of the scribes and illuminators.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Revelations in Glass – Nuremburg’s Apocalyptic Windows

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:12:41 -0700

In this interview, Jessica Knowles discusses her current research into the apocalyptic stained glass window in St Martha’s pilgrim hospice church in Nuremburg, comparing it to the apocalyptic window in All Saints’ Church in York, northern England.

Jessica is considering St Martha’s window in its fullest context of the late 14th century. Therefore this includes not only the images and surviving text surrounding the images, but also the story these images and texts told, and how these stories fitted with the stories told by adjacent windows, now lost, in St Martha’s. In addition, she considers the people who saw the window and the ways in which they would have seen and experienced it, also the people who paid for the window and how they benefited from this donation and memorial. Jessica concludes that, although today we see the apocalyptic images and windows as perhaps negative as the physical world burns and is destroyed, late medieval people would probably have seen them as positive, happy and an image of the salvation of their souls.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

The Rode Altarpiece and Time Travel to 1480s

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:11:32 -0700

In this interview, Merike Kurisoo, Director, Niguliste Museum, Tallinn, discusses her work on the Rode Altarpiece and how it enables ‘time travel’ to the 1480s.

The Niguliste Museum (branch of the Art Museum of Estonia) is based in the medieval St Nicholas ( Niguliste ) Church in central Tallinn. One of the most important items in it’s collection is the massive and stunning beautiful altarpiece by Herman Rode of Lübeck. Based on documents in the Tallinn City Archives, Merike describes how the unique altarpiece was commissioned for St Nicholas Church by the major guilds of the city; how funds for the work was collected from the wider congregation, and finally how the altarpiece was delivered in August 1481 and erected in place by workmen from Lübeck. Merike extends the story of the Rode Altarpiece to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as the work and City Archives were evacuated and returned to Tallinn due to wars and peace. Today Tallinn clearly loves and is proud of its medieval history and art.

Workshop of the Lübeck master Hermen Rode. Retable of the High Altar of St Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn. 1478–1481

https://nigulistemuuseum.ekm.ee/en/the-retable-of-the-high-altar-of-st-nicholas-church/

Books:

https://pood.ekm.ee/en/et/rode-altar-tallinn-niguliste-church-main-altar-retable/ https://pood.ekm.ee/en/et/rode-altar-side-view/

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Fair Relations: Business, Church and Power

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:10:34 -0700

In this interview, Katalin Szende, Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University, and founding member and current President of MECERN, talks about her on-going research into Fair Relations: Business, Church and Power in the 11th – 13th Century. Her focus is on the cathedral cities of the three major polities of the period and region, Bohemia, Poland and Hungary, their differences and similarities.

Katalin notes that there are few traditional, archival sources of information for her research, and so uses the method of spatial analysis to understand the changing relationship between ecclesiastical , secular , and mercantile power. These relationships become clear from the locations of, and physical and visual links between the cathedral, the stronghold and the marketplaces of a city.

The research presented in this podcast was funded and hosted by the Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations research group of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt (DFG – FOR 2779).

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

Symbolic Capital and a Saintly Bishop in Medieval Poland

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:09:28 -0700

In this interview, Grzegorz Pac, Professor at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw, discusses his on-going research into the cult of saints and canonisation in Medieval Poland. Through a case study of the canonisation of St Stanislaus of Krakow, Grzegorz focusses on how a saint, particularly a popular and highly venerated saint, could confer symbolic capital onto a specific church, diocese and individual bishops or archbishops. And in turn, how this symbolic capital offers the beneficiaries greater status and power within the ecclesiastical hierarchy. In addition, Grzegorz considers how the medieval process of canonisation, while becoming more formalised, was more difficult and less effective in the newly Christianised regions peripheral to the centre of Christianity in Rome.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Seshat and Cliopatria – a Global View of Human History from 3,400BCE to the Present

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:06:11 -0700

In this interview, Jakob Zsambok of The Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, talks about the Seshat and Cliopatria databases, what they contain, their data sources and confirmation, and how they are accessed, used and enhanced by historical researchers.

Seshat: Global History Databank, founded in 2011, aims to bring together the most current and comprehensive body of knowledge about human history in one place by systematically collecting what is known about the social and political organization of human societies and the evolution of civilizations over time.

Cliopatria is a geospatial database of world-wide political entities from 3400BCE to 2024CE (then continuing with the existing description) it builds on work originally done by Andrew Tollefson for a YouTube video. Seshat and Cliopatria are now linked, so that data related to a polity can be taken in relation to its physical location, its geo-spatial context, and over time. Jakob uses the Holy Roman Empire and Sigismund of Luxemburg as examples of the management of inter-locking relationships

Seshat and Cliopatria both actively welcome enhancements, additional data and suggestions from their users. The web addresses are

Seshat: https://seshat-db.com/ and https://seshatdatabank.info/ (Note : in order to see all the data and suggest edits, an account is needed which has to be manually approved)

And Seshat database on github: https://github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank

Cliopatria on github: https://github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria And on Zenodo: https://zenodo.org/records/13363121

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

Places of Patronage and Piety – the Cult of the Virgin Mary in late Medieval Hungary

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:05:22 -0700

In this interview, Karen Stark discusses her on-going research into the cult of the Virgin Mary in late medieval Hungary. Originally an archaeologist, Karen retains a great interest in material culture and place-making, and she uses this lens to analyse the Marian cult.

Following King Stephen I dedicating the Hungarian kingdom to the Virgin, Karen notes how later kings venerated, and promoted the veneration of the Virgin Mary. This public veneration, echoing and linking to King Stephen I, was particularly strong during times of dynastic transition when kingship and the right to rule was liable to be challenged. Karen also notes how the nobility also promoted the cult of the Virgin Mary, potentially in order to gain favour with the king.

Karen also discusses the malleability of the image of the Virgin, enabling many different communities to venerate her, for example, royalty, nuns, mothers, newly converted pagans. Finally, Karen considers why understanding the cult of the Virgin is relevant today, citing both on-going veneration to political propaganda.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

The image of the Virgin for this podcast is from Manfred Koller, “Das Schatzkammerbild in Mariazell. Untersuchung und Konservierung,” in Ungarn in Mariazell, Mariazell in Ungarn: Geschichte und Erinnerung, ed. Péter Farbaky and Szabolcs Serfőző (Budapest: Historisches Museum der Stadt Budapest, 2004), 301.

Pirates and Privateers – a Linguistic Conundrum of the 15th Century Baltic

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:03:31 -0700

In this interview, Gregor Rohmann, Professor for Regional Cultural History, University of Rostock, talks about his research into Pirates and Privateers – a Linguistic Conundrum of the 15th Century Baltic.

Gregor considers how pirates, and the concepts and semantics related to piracy emerged in the Baltic. He links the emergence of specific actors who engaged in armed violence at sea to the need for both merchants and nobility to protect their legitimate interests. In addition, he notes how the frequent inter-state conflicts within the region gave rise to the use of sea-based privateers and mercenaries commissioned by the states engaged in conflict. Gregor also describes the number of terms used to describe the actors involved, and these terms vary partly according to how the ‘pirates’ were paid or rewarded and by whom, and party according to the view point of the person using the terms. However, there are no records of what terminology the ‘pirates’ used to describe themselves.

Finally Gregor explains how the semantics influenced the development of the rule-of-law and thus state building, and he notes how these developments were, effectively undertaken by merchants to protect their economic interests and trade within the Baltic region.

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 Persistence of Jewish Otherness among the New Christians of Spalato – Integration, Persecution and Trade

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:01:25 -0700

In this interview, Lena Sadovski talks about her current research into the community of New Christian merchants trading between Apulia in southern Italy, and Spalato, modern day Split, in Dalmatia in the 15th and 16th century.

Lena explains who the New Christians were, and why they moved between Apulia and Spalato. She shows how, and why this route of international trade was so important for Spalato and their colonial over-lords, the Venetians, and the types of goods moving in both directions. This trade also highlights the importance of family connections within and between the communities of New Christians in both Apulia and Spalato. And despite the New Christians having converted from the Jewish faith to Christianity several centuries earlier, Lena shows that the memory of their religious alterity could be weaponized by their opponents in moments of conflicts, underlining the persistence of Jewish ‘otherness’ despite decades of successful integration into the Dalmatian society.

Photo credit - Državni Arhiv u Zadru, 16: 59/66.7-IV, fol. 188r.

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

Migrants, Missionaries and Merchants –from Lotharingia to New Europe in 11th to 13th Centuries

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:00:07 -0700

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.

Restory – Recovering Cultural Roots of Small Communities

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:58:52 -0700

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.

Digital Gaming – Doing History Today

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:57:47 -0700

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

Apollonius, King of Tyre – a Medieval Blockbuster

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:56:01 -0700

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.

Saint Emeric and His Chaste Marriage

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:54:55 -0700

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.

Rulers, Subjects and Loyalty in Thirteenth Century Poland

Karen Culver — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:51:55 -0700

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)

The Medieval Culture of Food – a Case Study of Hippophagy in Medieval Hungary

Karen Culver — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 01:35:51 -0700

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.