Introduction; 1. Central and eastern Europe, 1290–1320; 2. Sources; 3. An introduction to Lithuanian political and economic history before 1315; 4. The expansion of Lithuania; 5. Political ramifications of the pagan cult; 6. The Metropolitanate of Lithuania; 7. Pagans, peace, and the pope, 1322–84; 8. The harshest realpolitik; 9. 1339–45: endings and beginnings; 10. Factors contributing to the formation of the Grand Duchy; Appendices.
This book, first published in 1994, studies the rise of a pagan state in late medieval Christendom against a background of crises in Europe.
"...[a] superb scholarly study....whose balanced narrative and
analysis effectively portray the many vivid personalities and
dramatic developments of this crucial period in the history of east
central Europe. General and academic collections at all levels."
Choice
"English (and in some respects the first time in any language), the
rise of pagan Lithuania during the rule of Grand Duke Gediminas,
with attention given also to the reigns of his predecessor Vytenis
and successor Jaunutis." Choice
"It deserves careful attention from every serious student of
medieval Russia and East Central Europe." Jean W. Sedlar, American
Historical Review
"He [Rowell] has utilized the archives of ten different countries
and an astounding array of published primary sources,
Quellenforschungen, and specialized studies. He carefully
introduces and re-introduces his cast of geographic, ethnic,
institutional, and human characters, so that the reader does not
get lost...Rowell has written a splendid book and has done so with
erudition and zest....There is nothing at all like this book in any
western language." International History Review
"This superb book is a major contribution to the history of
east-central Europe in the Middle Ages, and to medieval history in
general. It is an exceptionally welcome and original addition to a
series of recent works about east-central Europe in the medieval
period that are conceived in...English and that situate this
region, and the countries and peoples that make it up, within a new
and informed comparative perspective. In exceptionally clear and
polished prose, it weaves together political, dynastic, economic,
diplomatic, and ecclesiastical history to trace and explain the
rise of the Jogaila dynasty to Christianity and the series of
unions with Poland that followed in the late fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries. The book...is, above all else, astonishingly
learned." Piotr Górecki, Speculum
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