At the Gate of Christendom
At the Gate of Christendom
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'.
- The first book to analyse the position of minorities and cultural interaction in medieval Hungary
- Provides an analysis of medieval socio-religious interaction
- Offers a complex analysis of the economic, legal, social and religious status of non-Christian groups
Reviews & endorsements
"...a fine first book from an excellent young scholar. One looks forward eagerly to the next." SPECULUM
"The book is a model for future studies of Jewish-Christian and Muslim-Christian relations in the Middle Ages." Theological Studies
"Nora Berend's book will certainly become an indispensable tool for those interested in the history of medieval Hungary, the relations between the Catholic majority and the non-Christian minorities in European countries under Rome's spiritual influence, the policy of the theocratic papacy toward the non-Catholic communities in the thirteenth century, and the specific situation in the bordering countries of the Latin Christian world." Slavic Review
"This enlightening book will be helpful for all those interested in the dynamics of ethnic identity, persecution and tolerance, and religious identification." Stephen D. Benin, Religious Studies Review
"[An] impeccably researched and beautifully organized book." American Historical Review
"Berend's research shows a fascinating variety of approaches to dealing with non-Christian minorities, and she is able to show how many factors contributed to the varying efforts to convert, exterminate, tolerate, or even incoporate these groups into Hungarian society...A good...resource for academic libraries supporting upper level history students." Catholic Library World
"Nora Berend has found a unique topic that presents a wide range of questions on religion and social identity...Berend uses an impressive array of documentation...an interesting and recommendable study." Comitatus
Product details
February 2011Adobe eBook Reader
9780511837111
0 pages
0kg
2 maps
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
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Table of Contents
- List of maps
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1. Hungary: a frontier society
- 2. Christians and non-Christians
- 3. The legal position of Hungary's non-Christian population
- 4. Non-Christians in Hungarian economy and society
- 5. Conflicts between the papacy and the kings
- 6. Christian perceptions and attitudes
- 7. Non-Christian communities: continuity, transformation, conversion and assimilation
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index.
