The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Central Europe summarizes the political, social, and cultural history of medieval Central Europe (c. 800-1600 CE), a region long considered a "forgotten" area of the European past. The 25 cutting-edge chapters present up-to-date research about the region's core medieval kingdoms - Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia - and their dynamic interactions with neighboring areas. From the Baltic to the Adriatic, the handbook includes reflections on modern conceptions and uses of the region's shared medieval traditions. The volume's thematic organization reveals rarely compared knowledge about the region's medieval resources: its peoples and structures of power; its social life and economy; its religion and culture; and images of its past.

Introduction: "Central Europe:" Perceptions, Definitions, and Comparisons in a Historiographical Context Nada Zecevic PART I. LAND, PEOPLE, AND STRUCTURES OF POWER 1. Geography, Natural Resources, and Environment Andras Vadas 2. From Avars and Slavs to the First Medieval Kingdoms in Central Europe: Population and Settlement, 700-1100 Daniel Ziemann 3. The Central European States: From Monarchy to Standestaat Julia Burkhardt 4. Government: Central and Local Administration Janos M. Bak and Suzana Miljan 5. Law and the Administration of Justice Janos M. Bak and Yuriy Zazuliak 6. Wars, Warfare, and Military Organization Attila Barany 7. Cooperation and Conflict in Diplomacy and War within and around Central Europe Gerald Schwedler and Pawel Figurski, with contributions by Laszlo Veszpremy, Emir O. Filipovic, and Christian Raffensperger PART II. SOCIETY AND ECONOMY 8. Changing Elites in Medieval Central Europe Cosmin Popa-Gorjanu 9. Locals and Immigrants in Medieval Central Europe Stefan Donecker 10. Gender and Family in Medieval Central Europe Michaela Antonin Malanikova, Witold Brzezinski, and Marija Mogorovic Crljenko 11. Rural Land Management in Medieval Central Europe Edit Sarosi 12. Cities and Towns in Medieval Central Europe Katalin Szende and Felicitas Schmieder 13. Mining, Finances, and Commerce in Medieval Central Europe Grzegorz Mysliwski and Balazs Nagy PART III. CULTURE AND RELIGION 14. Cultural Landscapes: Education and Literature Farkas Gabor Kiss and Lucie Dolezalova 15. A History of Social Communication in East- Central Europe: Words, Scripts, and Beyond Anna Adamska 16. Art and Architecture in Medieval East Central Europe Bela Zsolt Szakacs and Zoe Opacic 17. Contexts of Late Medieval Daily Life Gerhard Jaritz 18. Religious Practices (and Confessional Variants) in Medieval Central Europe Stanislava Kuzmova 19. The Papacy and the Region, Church Structure, and Clergy Agata Zielinska and Igor Razum 20. Jews in Medieval Central Europe Tamas Visi 21. Monasticism in Medieval Central Europe (c. 800-c. 1550) Marie-Madeleine de Cevins, with contributions by Marek Derwich and Beatrix Romhanyi PART IV. IMAGES OF THE PAST 22. The Image of East Central Europe in Medieval European Literature Levente Selaf 23. Musical Culture in Medieval Central Europe Pawel Gancarczyk 24. The Middle Ages after the Middle Ages: Popular Traditions and Medievalism Janos M. Bak and Gabor Klaniczay Index