Remembering the Jagiellonians

Natalia Nowakowska is a Fellow and Associate Professor in History at Somerville College, University of Oxford, and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council (ERC) funded project ‘Jagiellonians: Dynasty, Memory & Identity in Central Europe’. Her previous publications include King Sigismund and Martin Luther: The Reformation before Confessionalization (2018) and Church, State and Dynasty in Renaissance Poland: The Career of Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellon (1468–1503) (2007).

• Introduction: space, time and dynasty; Chapter 1: Our foreign traitors and redeemers: remembering Jagiellonians in Lithuania; Chapter 2: An ambiguous golden age: Jagiellonians in Polish memory and historical consciousness; Chapter 3: The memory of the Jagiellonians in the Kingdom of Hungary, and in Hungarian and Slovak national narratives; Chapter 4: Did Bohemian Jagiellonians exist?; Chapter 5: Remembering Jagiellonians in German-Speaking lands; Chapter 6: Remembering a past princess: Catherine Jagiellon and the construction of national narratives in Sweden and Finland; Chapter 7: The Jagiellonians in Belarus: a gradual release of memory; Chapter 8: The Jagiellonians in Ukrainian traditions; Chapter 9: The Jagiellonian dynasty in Russian historiography and memory

'Now at long last the Jagiellonians can be remembered besides the Tudors, Valois, and Habsburgs as one of the preeminent dynasties of the Renaissance. This fascinating collection of essays introduces students and scholars to one of Europe’s forgotten ruling families who once controlled nearly a quarter of the continent. With its emphasis on the dynasty’s transnational links, Remembering the Jagiellonians is particularly valuable as it helps restore a political and cultural unity to the vast landscape of Central and Eastern Europe.'Howard Louthan, University of Minnesota, USA'This volume skillfully demonstrates the mutual influence of dynastic memory making and national identity formation in pre-modern and modern Europe. Taking an innovative long-term approach to the Renaissance Jagiellonian dynasty, it brings this much-neglected family to the attention of English-speaking scholars. The editor and authors compellingly demonstrate the diverse ways in which Jagiellonians were remembered in different regions and different periods. In doing so, they challenge the idea of 'dynasty' as a self-evident historical phenomenon, arguing instead that it is shaped by constructed memories reinvented over time.'Jasper van der Steen, Leiden University, The Netherlands"Remembering the Jagiellonians sheds light onto the complex history of a dynasty that became celebrated insome countries, vilified in others, and forgotten elsewhere.Remembering the Jagiellonians answers questions about the dynasty’s legacies across Europe, as developed from the sixteenth century until today. By focusing on memory and memorialisation, the contributors provide an analysis rich in both depth and breadth of how different communities shaped their Jagiellonian heritage.[...]this is a work of history that is not only valuable to historians of East Central Europe and royal dynasties, but also especially to transnational historians who focus on memory, primarily because of the sheer depth and breadth of the examination that never loses its focus. The methodology is to be emulated."Agata Zielinska, University College London