Memory, State, and Past Remembering in East Central and Northern Europe

Analyzing the mechanisms that led to the formation of early state forms, this book defines the role of gifts, religious belief systems, prestige, and reciprocity within segmentary and chiefdom societies in eastern Europe.

Volume I explores the functioning of early medieval cultural phenomena, memory, and power. The development in East Central and Northern Europe has long fascinated scholars interested in the cultural implications of the renewed Empire’s influence on these regions. The text provides various scholarly perspectives, with each contribution reflecting a distinct methodological approach, contributing to a multifaceted discourse on how these cultural phenomena were shaped, contested, and remembered in the medieval context.

This book provides an interdisciplinary study of medieval material culture and memory across medieval Poland, Hungary, Scandinavia, Bohemia, and Rus, and is an ideal resource for students.

Piotr Pranke is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Historical Sciences at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland, and deals with the history of medieval Scandinavia and Central and Eastern Europe. His scientifc interests include the history of trade in the Viking era and the history of the Ottonian Empire and its infuence on the shaping of the areas of East Central and Northern Europe.

Łukasz Różycki is Professor of History at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland. His main research interests include the study of Roman and Byzantine theory of warfare, with a particular focus on military treatises.

Marcin Lisiecki is Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland. His scientific interests focus on popular culture, animated film, and research on myths, among other areas.