Medieval Eastern Europe, 500-1300

Florin Curta is a professor of medieval history and archaeology at the University of Florida.

List of Figures
Introduction

1. From Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages

Procopius on the Slavs
Theophylact Simocatta on the Origin of the Avars
Avars and Slavs and Avars
Slavs, Avars, and Franks
The Sermesians and Thessalonica
Theophanes on the Bulgar Migration
Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus on the Migration of the Croats

2. Early Polities and Conversion

Notker on the Avars
The Annals of Fulda on Moravia
The Conversion of the Carantanians
St. Cyril, Old Church Slavonic, and the Creation of the Glagolitic Alphabet
King Joseph on the Conversion of the Khazars to Judaism
The Conversion of the Bulghars to Islam
Pope Nicholas I Answers the Questions of the Bulgarians

3. Medieval Nomads

Ibn Rusta on the Magyars
Ibn Fadlan on the Oghuz
John Scylitzes on the Pechenegs
Robert de Clari on the Cumans

4. The Iron Century

Wulfstan Travels to Truso
George the Bulgarian and the Magyars
John the Exarch on Symeon the Great
A Hermit Meets an Emperor
Scylitzes Continuatus on the Bulgarian-Byzantine War
Echoes of the Bulgarian-Byzantine War in France and in Syria
Varangians in Rus’ (Russian Primary Chronicle)
Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus on the Rus’
A Trade Agreement between Rus’ and Byzantium

5. The Balkans between the Ninth and the Twelfth Century

The Resettlement of the Peloponnese
The Thirty-Year Peace
The Story of Danelis
Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus on Bulgarian-Serbian Conflicts
St. Luke the Younger and Bulgarian Attacks on Greece
Kekaumenos on the Vlachs
King Peter Krešimir IV Donates an Island
Theophylact of Ohrid on Recruitment Shortages in the Balkans
The Battle of Dyrrachium
Cadaster of Thebes
Archdeacon Thomas on Archbishop Rainer of Split

6. New Powers

The Magyars Conquer Hungary
The Origin of the Přemyslid Dynasty
The Origin of the Piast Dynasty
Dagome iudex
The Assassination of Duke Wenceslas
The Gniezno Summit
A King’s Mirror: The Admonitions
Thietmar of Merseburg on Bolesław Chrobry
The Decrees of Břetislav
The Collapse of the Piast State
Simon of Kéza on the Pagan Revolt
Abu Hamid on Hungary
Vincent of Prague on King Vladislav II
The Golden Bull of 1222

7. Economy and Society

The Diet of Rižana
John Kaminiates on Thessaloniki before the Sack of 904
Slaves for the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter in the Village
The Typikon of Isaac Comnenus for the Monastery near Bera
The “Statutes” of Conrad Otto II
Treaty between Riga, Gotland, and Smolensk
Charter of John Asen II for Ragusa
The Henryków Book on Feudalism

8. Faith, Religion, Heresy

The Invention of the Relics of St. Clement
The Bogomils
The Martyrdom of St. Ludmila
Instruction on Liturgical Practices
The Martyrdom of St. Adalbert
The Many Lives of St. Stephen
Demons, Wine, and Relics for a Church in Sparta
Rule of the Lavra Monastery on Mount Athos
A Hermit’s Portrait: St. Andrew-Zoerard
The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb
Typikon of the Monastery of Bachkovo
Jews in East Central Europe
Razumnik, a Study Guide
Social Problems in the Questions of Kirik
The Assassination of Bishop Stanisław of Cracow
Stephen Nemanja Establishes the Hilandar Monastery
St. Sava’s Second Trip to the Holy Land
The Synod of 1211 Condemns the Bogomils

9. Crusades

The Army of the First Crusade in Hungary
Bernard of Clairvaux Calls the Czechs to Take the Cross
Hungary at the Time of the Second Crusade
The Crusade against Lettgallians
The Army of Frederick Barbarossa Crosses the Balkans
The Sword Brothers
The Conquest of Zara
The Crusade of King Andrew
The Teutonic Knights in Transylvania
The Conquest of Prussia and St. Barbara
Pope Gregory IX Calls for a Crusade against John Asen II

10. Law

First Law Code in Eastern Europe
Church and Secular Law in the Statute of Yaroslav
The Laws of Coloman
Ruskaia Pravda
Law Code of Vinodol
Making a Will

11. Literacy and Literature

Khrabr defends the Slavonic Letters
St. Clement of Ohrid on St. Cyril
Birchbark Letters
Sermon on Law and Grace
On the Lame and the Blind
Russian Primary Chronicle on the Origins of the Slavs
Queen Vanda of the Poles
The Hungarian-Polish Chronicle on a Meeting of Rulers

12. The New Powers in the Thirteenth Century

Benjamin of Tudela on the Vlachs
The Vlach Rebels in Bulgaria
Stephen Nemanja Submits to Emperor Manuel I
St. Sava on Stephen Nemanja’s Abdication
Johannitsa Kaloyan Writes to Pope Innocent III
Robert de Clari on the Battle of Adrianople
Henri of Valenciennes on Alexius Slav
John Asen II Boasts of His Victory at Klokotnica
Serbs Defeat the Byzantines, a Serb on the Bulgarian Throne

13. Mongol Conquests and Pax Mongolica

The Quriltai of 1235
Mongols in Northeastern Rus’
The Battle of Muhi
The Mongol Sack of Oradea
The Camp of Batu Khan on the Volga
Kiev after the Mongol Invasion

Sources
Index of Topics