The Edges of the Medieval World

Download or read book The Edges of the Medieval World written by Gerhard Jaritz and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2009-10-15 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Middles Ages, the edges of one's world could represent different meanings. On the one hand, they might have been situated in far-away regions, mainly in the east and north, that one most often only knew from hearsay and which were inhabited by strange beings: humans with their faces on their chest, without a mouth, or with dog heads. On the other hand, the edges of one's world could just mean the borders of the community where one lived and that one sometimes might not have had the possibility to cross during one's whole life.In this volume specialists from eight European countries offer their ideas about different edges of the medieval world and contribute to a discussion that has been increasing greatly in Medieval Studies in recent times.