The Slavs in European History and Civilization
Stars
Length
688 pages
Author
Francis Dvornik
Eras
From 1 AD to Now
Types
History
Synopsis
This dense brick of a book starts with a warning to the unwary - an (untranslated) Latin dedication. It was written by a Czech priest who eventually became a Harvard professor of Byzantine history. He informs readers that this book enlarges upon a Harvard course on Slavic history from the 13th to the 17th centuries. So brace yourself.
The reader must be motivated for this erudite sweep of an extremely complex history - successive waves, not just of Germans and Hapsburgs and Angevins, popes and antipopes, but also Mongols and Ottoman Turks. I read the book in preparation for a vacation in Prague, with a road trip across the Czech Republic to Auschwitz. As I breathed in the choking, acrid air of modern Silesia, I could reflect that this battered land had been Bohemian, Hungarian, Prussian, and Polish.
I had to make liberal use of the internet, since, for example, Prof. Dvornik rather assumes his readers know what the Bogomil heresy is. (To my relief, other very interesting heresies are given explanations in the text.)
Not surprisingly, the author is at his best in describing religious history in a political and economic context, including the rise of Jan Hus at the University of Prague in the 15th century, the Hussite wars and the stubborn resistance of the papacy to moderate demands for reform of very real abuses. In response, for instance, the Hungarians preferred to direct a crusade against the Hussites, rather than the Turks, opening the way to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. [Amazon]
The reader must be motivated for this erudite sweep of an extremely complex history - successive waves, not just of Germans and Hapsburgs and Angevins, popes and antipopes, but also Mongols and Ottoman Turks. I read the book in preparation for a vacation in Prague, with a road trip across the Czech Republic to Auschwitz. As I breathed in the choking, acrid air of modern Silesia, I could reflect that this battered land had been Bohemian, Hungarian, Prussian, and Polish.
I had to make liberal use of the internet, since, for example, Prof. Dvornik rather assumes his readers know what the Bogomil heresy is. (To my relief, other very interesting heresies are given explanations in the text.)
Not surprisingly, the author is at his best in describing religious history in a political and economic context, including the rise of Jan Hus at the University of Prague in the 15th century, the Hussite wars and the stubborn resistance of the papacy to moderate demands for reform of very real abuses. In response, for instance, the Hungarians preferred to direct a crusade against the Hussites, rather than the Turks, opening the way to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. [Amazon]
RefTags
Released
1986
Location
Europe
Setting