The Holy Roman Empire and East Central Europe (High Middle Ages): Politics and Influences

Secular law remained largely customary and uncodified in east central Europe. While much of south-eastern Europe had remained Christian ever since Roman times, most of east central Europe was Christianized during the high Middle Ages. The Baltic region came later, Lithuania only being converted after 1387. South-eastern Europe was influenced first by Byzantine and then Italian law. In much of east central Europe secular law was based on Slavic customs, later influenced by canon law and German law. The Sachsenspiegel, Schwabenspiegel, and German town law spread to the whole region alongside the German colonization of east central Europe. Towns functioned as conduits of German and learned law. Certain territorial rulers actively promoted Roman law and (partial) codification, while the local nobility preferred uncodified customary law. In addition to foreign university studies, the fourteenth-century universities of Prague and Krakow, cathedral chapters, and notaries helped disseminate the ius commune into the region.

Piotr S. Wandycz. The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present. Paperback edition. New York: Routledge. 1993. Pp. xv, 330. $16.95

The American Historical Review ◽

10.1086/ahr/100.3.923 ◽

1995 ◽

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Central Europe ◽

East Central Europe ◽

East Central ◽

Paperback Edition ◽

History Of ◽

The Middle Ages

Piotr S. Wandycz. The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present. London and New York: Routledge, 1992. xv, 330 pp. $37.50. Georges Castellan. History of the Balkans from Mohammed the Congueror to Stalin. Translated by Nicholas Bradley. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 1992. vii, 493 pp. $56.00. Distributed by Columbia University Press. The Columbia History of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Edited by Joseph Held. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. lxxiv, 435 pp. $29.95 cloth; $16.50 paper.

Canadian-American Slavic Studies ◽

10.1163/221023994x00819 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 344-347

Author(s):

Philip Longworth

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Eastern Europe ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Central Europe ◽

Columbia University ◽

East Central Europe ◽

East Central ◽

East European ◽

The Balkans ◽

History Of

The “Mongol Experience” of East Central Europe in Image and Political Reality during the Later Middle Ages

10.1163/9789004500112_017 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 340-355

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Central Europe ◽

East Central Europe ◽

East Central ◽

Political Reality

Reviews : Piotr S. Wandycz, The Price of Freedom. A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present, London and New York, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-07626-9, 1992, xv + 330pp. ; £30.00

European History Quarterly ◽

10.1177/026569149402400318 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 444-446

Author(s):

Dan Berindei

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Central Europe ◽

East Central Europe ◽

East Central ◽

History Of ◽

The Middle Ages

The Archaeology of the Northwestern Slavs (Seventh To Ninth Centuries)

East Central Europe ◽

10.1163/187633004x00116 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 77-97

Author(s):

Sebastian Brather

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Central Europe ◽

Radical Change ◽

Critical Assessment ◽

Archaeological Research ◽

East Central Europe ◽

East Central ◽

The Past ◽

Contemporary Situation

AbstractTwenty years ago things seemed to be quite clear: several different groups of Slavs had invaded East Central Europe at some point during the sixth century, and all archaeologically identifiable, cultural characteristics pointed to a Slavic 'homeland' in Eastern Europe. More recent research, however, has shown this to be a rather simplistic view of the past. This paper is intended as an overview of the current archaeological research on the early Middle Ages that is responsible for the radical change of view of the last decade or so. Dendrochronology, new approaches, and the critical assessment of the historiography of the problem contribute now to a different understanding. The material culture - pottery, hillforts, settlement features, burials - can now be explained in terms of the contemporary situation in East Central Europe, i. e., the consolidation of settlement patterns, economic structures, and society. Exactly what that means for the debate about the 'origins' of the western Slavs remains a matter of further research and discussion.

The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present

History Reviews of New Books ◽

10.1080/03612759.1993.9950828 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 37-37

Author(s):

Lee Congdon

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Central Europe ◽

East Central Europe ◽

East Central ◽

History Of ◽

The Middle Ages

On What Were Oaths Taken in Christian Latin Europe in the High Middle Ages (12th-Early 14th Centuries)?

Mediaevistik ◽

10.3726/med.2019.01.06 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 143-157

Author(s):

Michalina Duda ◽

Sławomir Jó źwiak

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Fourteenth Century ◽

Holy Roman Empire ◽

Community Life ◽

Legal Systems ◽

High Middle Ages ◽

Private Corporation ◽

Written Sources

It is not surprising that oaths were used in all legal systems and in very broadly understood public and social relationships in Christian Latin Europe in the Middle Ages. The oath was commonly presented in various aspects of community life, that is, in political, constitutional, legal, economic, commercial, private, corporation, and religious matters.1 The oath as such and its use can be examined in a great number of contexts. But, in this paper we will solely focus on one of these. The topic discussed here are objects (paraments) on which oaths were taken. Lots of information about this issue is provided by iconography and written sources. These objects were subject to notable changes depending on the time and territory. This article focuses on such territories as England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Sweden, Bohemia, Poland, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the period of more than two centuries of the High Middle Ages, from the twelfth to the early fourteenth century.