Sub-department of Premodern History

Members

About the Sub-department

The Sub-department of Premodern History was established on 28 August 2019 following the reorganisation of the former Sub-department of National History and the Sub-department of World History and Auxiliary Historical Sciences. Members of the Sub-department teach courses in ancient, medieval and early modern history, as well as auxiliary historical sciences, at the undergraduate and graduate study programmes of the Department of History.

The research interests of the Sub-department members include microhistory, local history, the history of the Hungarian minority in Croatia, environmental history, the history of the Mediterranean in antiquity, the reception of antiquity in the Renaissance, etc. (for a detailed list of publications, see the CROSBI links of each Sub-department member). Members of the Sub-department have published several scholarly books and articles in academic journals in Croatia and abroad (United Kingdom, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina), in Croatian and foreign languages (English, Hungarian, Turkish), focusing primarily on the history of Slavonia, Syrmia and Baranja in the premodern period, but also on other Croatian regions and Southeast Europe.

Members of the Sub-department actively participate in science popularisation programmes, primarily as part of the public life of the city of Osijek, but also more broadly. Examples of some of the activities of the Sub-department members include workshops, public lectures and panel discussions at the State Archives in Osijek, workshops for pupils as part of the Science Festival (Interpretations of Colours in European and Japanese Culture, Documents and Chronology), and others.

As part of regular teaching, within the courses Slavonia, Syrmia and Baranja in the Middle Ages, History of Central and Southeast Europe in the Middle Ages, Croatian Lands in the High Middle Ages and Microhistory and Local History, the Sub-department of Premodern History organises and conducts field teaching for history students throughout eastern and western Slavonia and southern Hungary. Some of the locations where field teaching has been conducted to date include Valpovo Castle, the Franciscan church in Našice, the Templar church in Martin near Našice, Ružica-grad near Orahovica, the fortress in Kaptol, Požega, Đakovo, Ilok, Novi Mikanovci, Korođvar, Pécs, Siklós, Sátorhely-Mohács, and others. (See: Past Field Teaching Activities)

As part of the Department of History’s guest lecture programme, the Sub-department of Premodern History has so far organised guest lectures in medieval and early modern history by several distinguished lecturers from Croatia and Hungary, including Stanko Andrić, PhD (lecture topic: Church Institutions in Slavonia in the Middle Ages), Asst. Prof. Gergely Bálint Kiss, PhD (The Diocese of Pécs and the Economic Activities of Monks in the Middle Ages), and others.

Members of the Sub-department of Premodern History are members of various national academic and professional associations and organisations: the Croatian National Committee for Historical Sciences, the Society for Croatian History Osijek, the Society for Croatian Economic History and Environmental History, Matica hrvatska, the Scientific Council for Research into Relations between Croatia and Southeast Europe in Historical Perspective of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Scientific and Artistic Association of Hungarians in the Republic of Croatia, the Terra banalis Society, the Centre for Međimurje Research, as well as international associations: European Society for Environmental History, Türkiye Çevre Tarihi Topluluğu (Turkish Society for Environmental History), Society for Classical Studies, and others.