Lecture with Nora Berend (University of Cambridge)

Friday, October 16, 2020
10:00 AM (Pacific Time)
Live via Zoom.
RSVP required to obtain access details.

The talk will consider the usefulness of the concept of 'minority' through the example of Muslims in medieval Hungary. Muslims immigrated into the Christian kingdom and filled various roles from money-minters to soldiers in royal service between the XI^th and XIII^th centuries. Royal policies changed from forced conversion to the encouragement of new immigration. Against this background, and also making use of recent archaeological finds, we can analyze Muslim life in Hungary as a test case.

Nora Berend is Professor of European History at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Fellow of St. Catharine’s College. She was educated at ELTE Budapest, EHESS Paris, and Columbia University, New York. Her publications include At the Gate of Christendom: Jews, Muslims and ‘Pagans’ in Medieval Hungary (c.1000 – c. 1300) (2001); ed. with David Abulafia, Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices. (2002); ed., Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy: Central Europe, Scandinavia and Rus’ c. 950 – c. 1200 (2007); and the co-authored Central Europe in the High Middle Ages, c. 900-c.1300 (2013). She was visiting professor in France, Germany and Japan, and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Stockholm.

Sponsor(s): Center for Near Eastern Studies