Between the Seas: A Central European History

Late Kievan Russia

In this episode, we descend upon the Greater Riverlands, to discuss the last century of organized political life in the Kievan Rus. Like elsewhere in Inner Europe, it is a time of political fragmentation and dynastic struggle, but also one of rapid development, and a flourishing culture. There truly was no society quite like the Medieval Kievan Rus, before or since. Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com [BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com] Sources Intro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tune Outro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960) Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1948. Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014. Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe 500-1453. Praeger Publishers, 1971. Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades: Second Edition. Penguin Books, 1998.

The Medieval Polish Patchwork

In this episode, we descend into the first 100 years of the Polish Fragmentation Period, wherein Boleslaw III Wrymouth's Seniorate System cracks, and then dissolves into an abundance of warring principalities. Ultimately, the period would not be all decline, as several important social and cultural changes would find the room they needed to grow, and later strengthen a Polish revival. New episodes every Thursday! Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com [BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com] Sources Intro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tune Outro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960) Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014. Davies, Norman. Moorhouse, Roger. Microcosm: A Portrait of a Central European City. Jonathan Cape, 2002. Davies, Norman. God’s Playground: A History of Poland Volume 1: Origins to 1795. Columbia University Press, 2005.

Series 12: Feudalization of the Frontier (1125 - 1241 AD)

In this Series Introduction, we discuss the rising western influence within Inner Europe, and talk more conceptually about how cultural influences manifest themselves into real organizational systems, and what this will mean for Inner Europe. In this series, we will aim to discover these grand changes by focusing on three civilizations in turn: A Fragmented Poland, the Kievan Rus, and the Kingdom of Hungary. New episodes every Thursday! Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com [BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com] Sources Intro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tune Outro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960) Rady, Martyn. The Middle Kingdoms. Basic Books, 2023. Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014. Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.

Royal Bohemia and Fall of the Staufers

In this episode, we recount the changing customs and organization of the Bohemian duchy in the 12th century, and witness its elevation to kingdom in the 13th. Throughout, it presents a useful case study in imperial politics as a whole, through the reign of Barbarossa and Frederick II, whose conflicts would usher in the fall of the Staufers. New episodes every Thursday! Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com [BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com] Sources Intro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tune Outro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960) Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020. Bazant et al. The Czech Reader. Duke University Press, 2010. Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. Simon and Schuster, 1950. Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988. Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.

Emperor Barbarossa; the Welf-Staufer Divide

In this episode, we look at the latter half of the 12th century within Inner Europe; namely, this means looking at the rule of Frederick I "Barbarossa", perhaps the most powerful Staufer emperor, and one who would change much about how the empire worked, and how it perceived itself compared to the powers around it. Part of this change meant dealing with pan-elite factions which had risen in perennial opposition to Imperial power, materialized most in the Welf threat within Saxony and Bavaria led by Henry the Lion. The efforts to remake the Empire would in effect also remake Inner Europe, as we shall see in later episodes. New episodes every Thursday! Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com [BetweentheSeas@zohomail.com] Sources Intro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tune Outro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960) Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988. Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993. Davies, Norman. Moorhouse, Roger. Microcosm: A Portrait of a Central European City. Jonathan Cape, 2002. Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020.