Week 1 (January 11-15): What is Eastern Europe? Medieval history and modern approaches [Curta 1-30]

• A question of terminology: Central, Eastern, Southeastern, and East Central Europe; see maps of East Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe
• Written and archaeological sources; see examples of a 12th-century Rus’ seal, a birch-bark letter from Novgorod, a Bulgar inscription on a column, and a Runic inscription found in Staraia Ladoga

Week 2 (January 18-22): East European Dark Ages [Curta 31-64]

• The last century of Roman power in the Balkans; see a map of the Roman Empire and another of East Central Europe ca. 400 A.D; see a view of Philippi (Greece) and the plan of Caričin Grad (Serbia, possibly Iustiniana Prima); see the plan of the sixth-century Roman fort at Iatrus (Krivina, Bulgaria) and an example of a copper coin issued for Emperor Justinian
• Slavs and Avars [Procopius (of Caesarea); Theophylact (Simocatta)]; see the ideal reconstruction of a sunken-floored building with clay oven, see map of Europe around 600 and another of the Carpathian Basin at the time of the Avar migration

Week 3 (January 25-29): Early medieval Balkans [Curta 65-100]

• Croats and Serbs [(Constantine) Porphyrogenitus]
• Bulgars and early medieval Bulgaria [Theophanes (Confessor); (Thirty-Year) Peace]; see a gold medallion of Omurtag; visit Pliska and the site of the Madara Horseman

Week 4 (February 1-5): The West in the East, ca. 800-900 [Curta 101-127]

• Avars and Franks [Notker; Conversion (of the Baiuvarians and Carantanians)]
• In-class assignment #1. Early medieval Moravia [Annals (of Fulda)]; see  a map of the most important sites and a bird-view reconstruction of the ninth-century hillfort at Pohansko

Week 5 (February 8-12): “Steppe empires” [Curta 128-178]

• The Khazars and their conversion to Judaism [(the reply of King) Joseph (to Hasdai ibn Shaprut)]; see a of map of Khazaria and a brief presentation of Sarkel; see a few examples of Khazar weapons (including slightly curved sabers)
• Volga Bulgars, Pechenegs, Cumans, and Oghuz [(Ahmad ibn) Fadlan, (John) Skylitzes]; see a map of Volga Bulgaria and a brief presentation of Bolgar

Week 6 (February 15-19): Conversion to Christianity [Curta 179-213]

• The mission of Cyril and Methodius to Moravia [(Life of Constantine, aka St.) Cyril]; see a brief presentation, a facsimile (sample copy), and an acoustic reconstruction of the Freising Manuscripts; see also an introduction to the Glagolitic script
• Prince Boris and the conversion of Bulgaria [Responsa (of Pope Nicholas I to the Questions of the Bulgars]); (St.) Clement (of Ohrid on St. Cyril)]; see an icon of St. Clement of Ohrid; visit the church of St. Panteleimon (St. Clement’s monastery) and the monastery of St. Naum in Ohrid

Week 7 (February 22-26): The “iron century” [Curta 214-273]

• Bulgaria under kings Symeon and Peter [(John the) Exarch; (Life of St. John of) Rila]; see a brief presentation of the site and the ramparts of Preslav (see also the plan of the city); see a biography of St. John of Rila and a brief presentation of the Rila Monastery
• In-class assignment #2. Emperor Samuel and his war with Basil II [Skyl(itzes )Cont(inuatus; Echo]; see a map of the military operations in the Balkans; visit the ruins of the Church of St. Achilles in Prespa (with a plan of the fortified power seat on the island) and Samuel’s Fortress in Ohrid
• Magyars and Vikings [(Ibn) Rusta; Wulfstan]; see a map of the presumed migration of the Magyars and a map of the Magyar and Viking raids

Week 8 (March 1-5): The rise of Rus’ [Curta 274-305]

• Vikings in Russia and the Normannist controversy [(Russian Primary) Chronicle; trade( treaty of 944)]; see Scandinavian tortoise brooches, Viking-age swords, and a hoard of dirhams; see a map of the most important sites and a shaded relief map of Russia
• Kievan Rus’ [(Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus on the) Rus’; (Ruskaia) Pravda]; visit the St. Sophia Church and the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev

Week 9 (March 8-12): Byzantium in the Balkans [Curta 306-340]

• Byzantine Greece [Anna (Comnena); Cadaster (of Thebes)]
• Byzantine and post-Byzantine Dalmatia [Thomas (the Archdeacon)]; see a map of the most important sites and a shaded relief map of Croatia

Week 10 (March 15-19): New powers, I [Curta 341-362, 656-670]

• Early medieval Poland and the Piasts [Gallus (Anonymus); Thietmar (of Merseburg)]; see brief presentations of Ostrów Lednicki, visit Ostrów Tumski, Duke Mieszko I’s palace in Poznań, and Giecz; see a reconstruction of the tenth-century stronghold at Grzybowo; see two scenes representing the martyrdom of St. Adalbert and the transfer of his remains from Prussia to Gniezno (twelfth-century panels on the bronze doors of the cathedral in Gniezno); see a genealogy of the Piasts
• Medieval Serbia and the Nemanjids [(charter of Stephen )Nemanja; (St. Sava on the) abdication (of Stephen Nemanja)]; visit the Žiča royal monastery

Week 11 (March 22-26): New powers, II [Curta 363-408]

• Hungary after the conversion to Christianity [(laws of King) Coloman]; see a brief presentation of the Spiš Castle (Slovakia) and an outline of the history of the Saxons in Transylvania
• In-class assignment #3. Přemyslid Bohemia [(Decrees of) Břetislav]; see a map of the present-day Czech Republic; visit the St. Clement church in Levý Hradec, the chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul in Budeč, the basilica of St. George in the Prague Castle (see also a reconstruction of the tenth-century castle), the initial St. Vitus Cathedral (Rotunda) in Prague, the Sázava monastery, and  the Znojmo Rotunda (with a fresco in the interior); see the statue of St. Wenceslas in Prague and his medieval portrait; see also a brief presentation of Český Krumlov

Week 12 (March 29-April 2): Economy and society [Curta 409-469]

• Agriculture, rural economy and cities [slaves (of the Abbey of St. Peter in the Village); (charter of John )Asen (II)]
• Feudalism in Eastern Europe [(Golden) Bull; (Book of) Henryków]; see a genealogical tree of the Elefánthy family

Week 13 (April 5-8): Catholicism and Orthodoxy: the rift in Eastern Europe [Curta 470-534]

• Royal saints and monasticism in Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland [(Legenda) Christiani; Hartvic]; see pictures of the abbey churches of Sv. Krševan (Zadar) and Św. Jakub (Sandomierz)
• In-class assignment #4. Orthodoxy in Rus’, Orthodoxy and religious dissent in the Balkans [(Passion of Boris and )Gleb; George (the Bulgarian and the Magyars); (the) Bogomil(s)]

Week 14 (April 12-16): Crusades in Eastern Europe [Curta 534-575]

• Seven crusades and Eastern Europe [Albert( of Aachen); (Geoffrey of Villehardouin on the conquest of) Zara]
• The Baltic Crusade [Henry (of Livonia)]; see a brief history of the German Order of St. Mary (Teutonic Knights); see pictures of Üxküll (Ikškile), Toruń, Riga and Marienburg (outside and inside)

Week 15 (April 19-21): The Balkans and the Mongols [Curta 671-717]

• In-class assignment #5. The Second Bulgarian Empire [(Niketas) Choniates; (letter of Johannitsa) Kaloyan; (John Asen boasts of his victory at) Klokotnica]; visit Tărnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire (see, especially, the plan of the city and the St. Demetrius Church)
• The Mongol invasion [Roger( of Torre Maggiore); William (of Rubruck)]; see a series of maps of the Mongol Empire; see a dirham minted for the Golden Horde Khan Uzbek, and a brief presentation of Golden Horde art; see the Annals of Jan Dlugosz on the battle of Legnica