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History of Central Europe: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Jacob Wheeler
Follow a narrative history of the vast lands of Central Europe through new episodes every Monday. Here, we learn the traditions of the many rich cultures of the region, and follow them through their political highs and lows.In the show, we'll gain an intimate union with the histories of modern day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland from the Early Medieval Period to the Modern Day.Have questions or comments? Contact me at betweentheseas@zohomail.com
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- 1 weeks ago1h 14m
Medieval Hungary – an Aspiring Latin Empire
In this episode, we focus on the Kingdom of Hungary from the mid 12th century to the start of the 13th. This is an important time in Hungarian History, and lays the groundwork for their century of change, through internal strife, and foreign invasions of all of their neighbors. At the heart of the conflicts is a search for identity beyond the exploits of their traditional past, and their search will tie them in with the changes taking place across the continent.New episodes coming when I get around to it...Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Engel, Pal. The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary. International Library of Historical Studies, 2005.Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014.Rady, Martyn. The Middle Kingdoms. Basic Books, 2023.
- May 21, 20261h 27m
Late Kievan Russia
In this episode, we descend upon the Greater Riverlands, to discuss the last century of organized political life in the Kievan Rus. Like elsewhere in Inner Europe, it is a time of political fragmentation and dynastic struggle, but also one of rapid development, and a flourishing culture. There truly was no society quite like the Medieval Kievan Rus, before or since.Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1948.Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014.Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe 500-1453. Praeger Publishers, 1971.Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades: Second Edition. Penguin Books, 1998.
- Apr 3, 20261h 4m
The Medieval Polish Patchwork
In this episode, we descend into the first 100 years of the Polish Fragmentation Period, wherein Boleslaw III Wrymouth's Seniorate System cracks, and then dissolves into an abundance of warring principalities. Ultimately, the period would not be all decline, as several important social and cultural changes would find the room they needed to grow, and later strengthen a Polish revival.New episodes every Thursday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014.Davies, Norman. Moorhouse, Roger. Microcosm: A Portrait of a Central European City. Jonathan Cape, 2002.Davies, Norman. God’s Playground: A History of Poland Volume 1: Origins to 1795. Columbia University Press, 2005.
- Mar 19, 202620 min
Series 12: Feudalization of the Frontier (1125 - 1241 AD)
In this Series Introduction, we discuss the rising western influence within Inner Europe, and talk more conceptually about how cultural influences manifest themselves into real organizational systems, and what this will mean for Inner Europe. In this series, we will aim to discover these grand changes by focusing on three civilizations in turn: A Fragmented Poland, the Kievan Rus, and the Kingdom of Hungary.New episodes every Thursday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Rady, Martyn. The Middle Kingdoms. Basic Books, 2023.Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014.Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.
- Mar 12, 20261h 11m
Royal Bohemia and Fall of the Staufers
In this episode, we recount the changing customs and organization of the Bohemian duchy in the 12th century, and witness its elevation to kingdom in the 13th. Throughout, it presents a useful case study in imperial politics as a whole, through the reign of Barbarossa and Frederick II, whose conflicts would usher in the fall of the Staufers.New episodes every Thursday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020.Bazant et al. The Czech Reader. Duke University Press, 2010.Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. Simon and Schuster, 1950.Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988.Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.
- Mar 5, 202656 min
Emperor Barbarossa; the Welf-Staufer Divide
In this episode, we look at the latter half of the 12th century within Inner Europe; namely, this means looking at the rule of Frederick I "Barbarossa", perhaps the most powerful Staufer emperor, and one who would change much about how the empire worked, and how it perceived itself compared to the powers around it. Part of this change meant dealing with pan-elite factions which had risen in perennial opposition to Imperial power, materialized most in the Welf threat within Saxony and Bavaria led by Henry the Lion. The efforts to remake the Empire would in effect also remake Inner Europe, as we shall see in later episodes.New episodes every Thursday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988.Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.Davies, Norman. Moorhouse, Roger. Microcosm: A Portrait of a Central European City. Jonathan Cape, 2002.Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020.
- Feb 5, 202658 min
The Wendish Crusade
In this episode, we begin our series on the High Medieval Empire by focusing first on its northeastern frontier, where many factors would coalesce into a sudden, and permanent, push to the east by Saxons and Danes into the lands of the Slavic Wends. The whole phenomenon has been summarized into the "Wendish Crusade", despite the crusade only lasting a single season of a many decades long process. Over the course of these momentous decades, warring forest tribes would transfer into a vast amount of pluralistic, though German, identities, including the rising Hanseatic League.New episodes every Thursday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades: Second Edition. Penguin Books, 1998.Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988.Davies, Norman. Europe: A History. Oxford Press, 1996.Schildhauer, Johannes. The Hansa: History and Culture. Dorset Press, 1988.Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020.
- Jan 30, 202618 min
Series 11: Staufer Revival (1125 - 1250 AD)
In this series, we discuss how the Holy Roman Empire will change in the long term from its warrior foundings, to a transpersonal and permanent institution of Inner Europe. This process would be personified by the Staufer dynasty, who would work to pick up the fragments of the investiture struggle and rebuild a new society.New episodes every Thursday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at BetweentheSeas@zohomail.comSourcesIntro: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020.Berend, Nora. Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw. Wiszewski, Przemyslaw. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, C.900-C.1300. Cambridge University Press, 2014.Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe 500-1453. Praeger Publishers, 1971.Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades: Second Edition. Penguin Books, 1998.Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988.
About History of Central Europe
Follow a narrative history of the vast lands of Central Europe through new episodes every Monday. Here, we learn the traditions of the many rich cultures of the region, and follow them through their political highs and lows.In the show, we'll gain an intimate union with the histories of modern day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland from the Early Medieval Period to the Modern Day.Have questions or comments? Contact me at betweentheseas@zohomail.com
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