Berend Nora's Books

Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

By: David Abulafia,Nora Berend

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Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

By: David Abulafia,Nora Berend

In recent years, the 'medieval frontier' has been the subject of extensive research. But the term has been understood in many different ways: political boundaries; fuzzy lines across which trade, religions and ideas cross; attitudes to other peoples and their customs. This book draws attention to the differences between the medieval and modern understanding of frontiers, questioning the traditional use of the concepts of 'frontier' and 'frontier society'. It contributes to the understanding of physical boundaries as well as metaphorical and ideological frontiers, thus providing a background to present-day issues of political and cultural delimitation. In a major introduction, David Abulafia analyses these various ambiguous meanings of the term 'frontier', in political, cultural and religious settings. The articles that follow span Europe from the Baltic to Iberia, from the Canary Islands to central Europe, Byzantium and the Crusader states. The authors ask what was perceived as a frontier during the Middle Ages? What was not seen as a frontier, despite the usage in modern scholarship? The articles focus on a number of themes to elucidate these two main questions. One is medieval ideology. This includes the analysis of medieval formulations of what frontiers should be and how rulers had a duty to defend and/or extend the frontiers; how frontiers were defined (often in a different way in rhetorical-ideological formulations than in practice); and how in certain areas frontier ideologies were created. The other main topic is the emergence of frontiers, how medieval people created frontiers to delimit areas, how they understood and described frontiers. The third theme is that of encounters, and a questioning of medieval attitudes to such encounters. To what extent did medieval observers see a frontier between themselves and other groups, and how does real interaction compare with ideological or narrative formulations of such interaction?

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299

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351918583

ISBN 13

9781351918589

Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300

By: Nora Berend,Przemysław Urbańczyk,Przemysław Wiszewski

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Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300

By: Nora Berend,Przemysław Urbańczyk,Przemysław Wiszewski

A groundbreaking comparative history of the formation of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, from their origins in the eleventh century.

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549

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Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521781566

ISBN 13

9780521781565

Stephen I, the First Christian King of Hungary

From Medieval Myth to Modern Legend

By: Nora Berend

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Stephen I, the First Christian King of Hungary

From Medieval Myth to Modern Legend

By: Nora Berend

Stephen I, Hungary's first Christian king (reigned 997-1038) has been celebrated as the founder of the Hungarian state and church. Despite the scarcity of medieval sources, and consequent limitations on historical knowledge, he has had a central importance in narratives of Hungarian history and national identity. This book argues that instead of conceptualizing modern political medievalism separately as an 'abuse' of history, we must investigate history's very fabric, because cultural memory is woven into the production of the medieval sources. Medieval myth-making served as a firm basis for centuries of further elaboration and reinterpretation, both in historiography and in political legitimizing strategies. In many ways we cannot reach the 'real' Stephen, but we can do much more to understand the shaping of his myths. The author traces the origin of crucial stories around Stephen, contextualizing both the invention of early narratives and their later use. A challenger to Stephen's rule who may be a medieval literary invention became the protagonist of a rock opera in 1983, also standing in for Imre Nagy, a key figure of the 1956 revolution; moreover, he was reinvented as the embodiment of true Hungarian identity. The alleged right hand relic was 'discovered' to provide added legitimacy for Hungary's kings and then became a protagonist of the entanglement of Church and state. A medieval crown was invested with supernatural status, before turning into a national symbol. This book analyses the often seamless flow that has turned medieval myth into modern history, showing that politicisation was not a modern addition, but a determinant factor from the start.

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Page Count

267

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198889399

ISBN 13

9780198889397

At the Gate of Christendom

Jews, Muslims and 'Pagans' in Medieval Hungary, C.1000 - C.1300

By: Nora Berend

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At the Gate of Christendom

Jews, Muslims and 'Pagans' in Medieval Hungary, C.1000 - C.1300

By: Nora Berend

Modern life in increasingly heterogeneous societies has directed attention to patterns of interaction, often using a framework of persecution and tolerance. This study of the economic, social, legal and religious position of three minorities (Jews, Muslims and pagan Turkic nomads) argues that different degrees of exclusion and integration characterized medieval non-Christian status in the medieval Christian kingdom of Hungary between 1000 and 1300. A complex explanation of non-Christian status emerges from the analysis of their economic, social, legal and religious positions and roles. Existence on the frontier with the nomadic world led to the formulation of a frontier ideology, and to anxiety about Hungary's detachment from Christendom, which affected policies towards non-Christians. The study also succeeds in integrating central European history with the study of the medieval world, while challenging such current concepts in medieval studies as frontier societies, persecution and tolerance, ethnicity and 'the other'.

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363

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521651859

ISBN 13

9780521651851

History in My Life

A Memoir of Three Eras

By: Ivan T. Berend

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History in My Life

A Memoir of Three Eras

By: Ivan T. Berend

Berend's memoir offers an interesting case study, a subjective addition to the "objective" historical works on Central and Eastern European state socialism. It describes the hard choices of intellectuals in a dictatorial state: 1. remain in isolation, concentrate on scholarly works, and exclude politics in your personal life; 2. be in opposition, criticize and unveil the regime, accept discrimination and exclusion; 3. remain within the establishment and work for reforming the country using legal possibilities to criticize the regime and to achieve changes from within.The book raises basic historical questions and debates, compares East European and American higher education systems, and presents an eyewitness' insights on life in the United States.

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286

Publisher

Central European University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

6155211779

ISBN 13

9786155211775

From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union

The Economic and Social Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe Since 1973

By: Ivan T. Berend

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From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union

The Economic and Social Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe Since 1973

By: Ivan T. Berend

An authoritative study that covers the social and economic history of Central and Eastern Europe since 1973.

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Page Count

316

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

052149365X

ISBN 13

9780521493659

Economic History of a Divided Europe

Four Diverse Regions in an Integrating Continent

By: Ivan T. Berend

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Economic History of a Divided Europe

Four Diverse Regions in an Integrating Continent

By: Ivan T. Berend

This book presents the sharp regional diff erences within the integrating European continent. Four regions – Northwestern Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern-Southeastern Europe – represent high, medium, and relatively less-developed levels of economic advancement. These disparities have emerged as a result of historical diff erences that produced and reinforced cultural and behavioral diff erences. The author examines the distinctions between the regions, looks at how these differences transpired and became so retrenched, and answers the question of why some countries were able to elevate to higher levels of economic development while others could not. This book is unique in that it provides a timely historical analysis of the main causes of the most pressing conflicts in Europe today. Readers will come away from this book with a deeper understanding of the sharp divergence in economic standing between the four different regions of Europe, as well as knowledge about how institutional corruption and other cultural features exacerbated these variations. The book also offers a better understanding of major European Union confl icts between member countries and between member and nonmember countries, as well as the rise of autocratic regimes in certain countries. The book begins with a short history of European integration throughout European civilization and then goes on to discuss the modern reality of integration and attempts to homogenize the Continent that divided into four different macro-regions. It will primarily appeal to scholars, researchers and students studying Europe from various fi elds, including economics, business, history, political science, and sociology, as well as a general readership interested in Europe’s past, present, and future.

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Page Count

256

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000038475

ISBN 13

9781000038477

Europe in Crisis

Bolt from the Blue?

By: Ivan Berend

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Europe in Crisis

Bolt from the Blue?

By: Ivan Berend

This book analyzes the European Great Recession of 2008-12, its economic and social causes, its historical roots, and the policies adopted by the European Union to find a way out of it. It contains explicit debates with several economists and analysts on some of the most controversial questions about the causes of the crisis and the policies applied by the European Union. It presents the cases of Iceland, Greece and Ireland, the countries that first declined into crisis in Europe, each of them in a different way. Iceland is a case study for reckless banking practices, Greece of reckless public spending, and Ireland of reckless household indebtedness. At least seven other countries, mostly from the peripheries of Europe, had similarly reckless banking and spending practices. In the center of the book are the economic and social causes of the crisis. Contemporary advanced capitalism became financialized, de-industrialized and globalized and got rid of the "straitjacket" of regulations. Solid banking was replaced by high-risk, "casino-type" activity. The European common currency also had a structural problem — monetary unification without a federal state and fiscal unification. The other side of the same coin is European hyper-consumerism. A new lifestyle emerged during two super-prosperous periods in the 1950s to 1960s, and during the 1990s to 2006. Trying to find an exit policy, the European Union turned to strict austerity measures to curb the budget deficit and indebtedness. This book critically analyzes the debate around austerity policy. The creation of important supra-national institutions, and of a financial supervisory authority and stability mechanisms, strengthens integration. The correction of the euro’s structural mistake by creating a quasi-fiscal unification is even more important. The introduction of mandatory fiscal rules and their supervision promises a long-term solution for a well-functioning common currency. These measures, meanwhile, create a two-tier European Union with a fast-track core. This book suggests that the European Union will emerge stronger from the crisis. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of economics, history, political science and international finance, but will also prove profitable reading for practitioners and the interested public.

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Page Count

186

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1136193340

ISBN 13

9781136193347

Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300

By: Nora Berend,Przemysław Urbańczyk,Przemysław Wiszewski

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Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300

By: Nora Berend,Przemysław Urbańczyk,Przemysław Wiszewski

A groundbreaking comparative history of the formation of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, from their origins in the eleventh century.

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

549

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521781566

ISBN 13

9780521781565

At the Gate of Christendom

Jews, Muslims and 'Pagans' in Medieval Hungary, C.1000 - C.1300

By: Nora Berend

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At the Gate of Christendom

Jews, Muslims and 'Pagans' in Medieval Hungary, C.1000 - C.1300

By: Nora Berend

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

363

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521651859

ISBN 13

9780521651851

Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

By: David Abulafia,Nora Berend

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Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

By: David Abulafia,Nora Berend

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

299

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351918583

ISBN 13

9781351918589

Book's by Berend Nora

Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Stephen I, the First Christian King of Hungary

Stephen I, the First Christian King of Hungary

At the Gate of Christendom

At the Gate of Christendom

History in My Life

History in My Life

From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union

From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union

Economic History of a Divided Europe

Economic History of a Divided Europe

Europe in Crisis

Europe in Crisis

Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

Central Europe in the High Middle Ages

At the Gate of Christendom

At the Gate of Christendom

Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices

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