Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900–1400

Donald Ostrowski is Research Advisor in the Social Sciences and Lecturer in History at the Harvard University Extension School. His previous publications include Muscovy and the Mongols: Cross-Cultural Influences on the Steppe Frontier 1304–1589 (1998) and over 100 articles and review essays. He is also the editor of The Povest’ vremennykh let: An Interlinear Collation and Paradosis, 3 vols. (2003), and a co-editor of four collections of studies. Christian Raffensperger is Associate Professor of History at Wittenberg University, as well as an associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He has published multiple books including Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus’ in the Medieval World (2012) and Ties of Kinship: Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage in Kyivan Rus’ (2016). He is also the series editor for Beyond Medieval Europe, a book series published by ARC Humanities Press.

• List of figuresList of mapsList of contributorsAcknowledgements Introduction - Donald Ostrowski PART 1: Rus’ and Northern Europe "The Widow Princess of Minsk" - Inés García de la Puente "Anna, A Woman of Novgorod" - Eve Levin "Prince Vladimir of Pskov" - Anti Selart Mother of a Tribal Häme Warrior – Kuutamo Hyväneuvo - Mari Isoaho "From Butcher to Saint: The Improbable Life and Fate of Vaišvilkas/Vojšelk/Lavryš/Elisej of Lithuania and Black Rus' (? -1267)" - David M. GoldfrankPART 2: Eurasian Steppe "The Rare and Excellent History of Konchak (A Polovtsian Chieftain)" - Donald Ostrowski "Sübedei Ba’atar: Portait of a Mongol General" - Timothy MayPART 3: Byzantium and Southeastern Europe "Anna Komnene: Princess, Historian, & Conspirator?" - Leonora Neville "Angel on Earth and Heavenly Man—St. Sava of Serbia" - Florin Curta "Paulus de Breberio banus Croatorum dominus et Bosne" - Neven Budak “King Miliutin and His Many Marriages” - Vlada StankovićPART 4: Central Europe "Henry Zdík, Bishop of Olomouc and Premonstratensian" - Lisa Wolverton "King Béla IV of Hungary: A Monarch in a Period of Crisis and Recovery" - Balázs Nagy "Zalava, Slave in the Kingdom of Hungary" - Cameron Sutt “Jan Długosz on King Władysław Jagiełło’s Master Chef and the Invention of Bigos” - Paul MillimanPART 5: Travelers to Strange Lands "The Travels of Gorm in Eastern Europe" - Heidi Sherman-Lelis and Arnold Lelisx "Anna Porphyrogenita, Byzantine Princess and Queen of the Rus’" - Susana Torres Prieto "The Journeys of My Soul in the Land of Canaan, by Yitshak ben Sirota" - Isaiah Gruber "Agent of Change: Evpraksia Vsevolodovna between Emperor and Papacy" - Christian A. Raffensperger "Fotii, a Rus' Pilgrim to Constantinople" - Monica WhiteConclusion - Christian A. RaffenspergerIndex

"Balancing on an intricate edge between facts and fiction, this thoughtfully edited volume offers an excellent selection of ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’ biographies of individuals, from slaves to kings, who populated the eastern half of Europe in the centuries before and after the first Millennium. The expert authors provide a refreshing and instructive read to students of history and to anyone who has roots in this region or wishes to broaden her mental horizon."Katalin Szende, Central European University, Budapest