| Paper 1014-c | Soldiers, Pilgrims, and Diplomats: Examples of Late Medieval Mobility in the Southern Hapsburg Provinces
(Language: English)
Miha Kosi, Milko Kos Historical Institute, Slovenian Academy of Sciences & Arts, Ljubljana
Index terms: Daily Life, Military History, Politics and Diplomacy |
|---|
| Abstract | Paper -a:
Women take a prominent place in the Byzantine and Serbian medieval culture of travelling in the Balkans. Narratives and visual culture, such as architectural constructions, reliquaries, and pilgrimage souvenirs, testify of women's travels. This paper will try to establish a connection between religious travels - pilgrimages and the ones related to the political situation of the Balkans from the Middle Ages. Special attention will be devoted to the representation of the journeys of Empress Jelena (1330-1376), wife of the Serbian emperor Dušan, to Mount Athos at the time of plague in Serbia, as well as to the ones of Princess Milica (1335-1405) and nun Jefimija (1350-1405), who took a political mission to Sultan Bajezid I so as to obtain the relics of St Peraskevi for the state of Serbia.
Paper -b:
Transdanubia region connects northern and western Europe with the south-eastern part of the continent, thus linking them through Serbia first to the Balkan Peninsula and further to the Middle East. It is the shortest route from the central Europe to the southwest Asia. Until now, these independently known data had never been synthesized before in this way. According to itineraries, such as Itinerarium Burdigalense and Peutinger Table, as well as various charters, this route has been well-known since ancient times. In the Middle Ages the roads were used for transport of ores, wine, and textile, as well as for realisation of political and social communication, and cultural influence. Transdanubia symbolizes important tie between the south-east and the north-west of Europe.
Paper -c:
The late medieval Hapsburg territories encompassed also the provinces of Styria and Carniola on the south-eastern border of the Empire. The strategically placed territory between the Upper Adriatic and the Eastern Alps - the Venetian ports on one side and the Hungarian kingdom on the other - was accordingly important for transit and communication. Numerous unnamed and important noble pilgrims and crusaders streamed across the area in the way of Italy or to the Adriatic ports as the embarkation points; armies, mercenary groups from eastern German provinces, and diplomats frequently travelled the roads here. The paper will show the lively travelling in this area with emphasis on some important but little known examples.
|
|---|
