This book investigates the social processes of memory formation that were at work among aristocratic groups in medieval Eastern Europe as they attempted to forge a new past that would be in conformity with the present. With an emphasis on the pioneering work of French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, it particularly explores the reciprocal relations between the production of social memory and the local environment. As such, the book tries to answer the question of why some historical events and personages, no matter whether they were real or imagined, became especially popular in specific localities, even though their connections with these places were dubious. The study focuses on how, from the sixteenth century onwards, social memories of Mindowe (Mindoŭh, Mindaugas), allegedly Lithuania’s first king, came to be associated closely with Navahrudak in the Upper Neman area rather than with Vilnius/Wilno, the Grand Duchy’s capital.
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Bibliographic data
Edition
1/2026
Copyright Year
2026
ISBN-Print
978-1-80270-396-2
ISBN-Online
978-1-80270-490-7
Publisher
Arc Humanities Press, Yorkshire
Series
Beyond Medieval Europe
Language
English
Pages
264
Product Type
Monograph
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
List of Illustrations No access
Acknowledgements No access
Abbreviations No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 16
1. Pasts Remembered and Forgotten No access Pages 17 - 48
2. Experiencing a Landscape of Memory No access Pages 49 - 70
3. Aristocracy, Inspiring Environment, and Formation of Memory Traditions No access Pages 71 - 100
4. Reinscribing a Local Memory Landscape No access Pages 101 - 124
5. King Mindowe in Navahrudak No access Pages 125 - 166
6. Duke-Monk Vojshalk No access Pages 167 - 186
7. A Holy Place in Search of a Founding Father No access Pages 187 - 218
