Metropolen und Kulturtransfer im 15./16. Jahrhundert. Prag-Krakau-Danzig-Wien by Andrea Langer Georg Michels (review)

Abstract

130 SEER, 8i, I, 2003 ideal would have been to include the Greek text side by side with the translation, but this was beyond the remit of this Corpus. The commentary and analysis preceding each document remain impeccable throughout the four volumes; with perhaps only one serious misinterpretation.On p. 1379 [1] Constantine Akropolites recalls the scene when his father George Acropolites, the founder of the monastery of Anastasis,took him before the icon of Christ the Pantocrator and told him that if he fell on hard times, to appeal to Christ 'the bountiful provider' to come to his help. The editor's comment that 'This may be takento mean that the authorconsideredthatthe foundation had an obligation to bail him out of any futurefinancialdifficulty' (P. 1375)hardlydoesjustice to the Byzantineperception of the sacred. Fromthe technical point, the notes both of the introductorysection of each document and its translation, unlike the Preface, General Introduction and ChapterIntroductions,areplaced at the end of each section. This makestheir consultation cumbersome. Notes are an integral part of the text and ideally should have also appeared at the foot of each page. The notes to the translation, understandablylimited by space, could have been occasionally more informative.The Greek and Cyrillic titles of secondaryworksunfortunately and unnecessarily have been latinized. These however are minor points. This splendid collection with its impeccable scholarshipshould be an indispensableacquisitionfor any library. TheHellenic Institute J. CHRYSOSTOMIDES RoyalHolloway,University ofLondon Langer,Andrea and Michels, Georg (eds).Metropolen undKulturtransfer im15. / i6. Jahrhundert. Prag-Krakau-DanzigWien .Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur des ostlichen Mitteleuropa, 12. FranzSteiner Verlag, 2001. 280 pp. Plates.?50.00. THIs volume represents the preliminary results of an interdisciplinary international research project on cultural exchange in late-medieval and early-modern east-central European metropolitan cities, especially in the HabsburgandJagiellonianlands. Itsupplementsarticlesby authorspublished by the PolishAcademy of Science (Krak6w)in 2000 (Metropolie Europy srodkowowschodniej wXVi XVIwieku, ed. L. Belzyt,J. Pirozyniski). Matthias Michels attempts a theoretical analysis of cultural exchange for east-centralEuropein contrastto those alreadyon offerforwesternEuropean culture in the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries. Michels looks at two particularaspects of cultural exchange, namely European contacts between metropolitan centres and the roles of cultural purveyors and receptors, the court, cities and the Church, and the mechanisms of internal cultural mediation as influenced by centralization; the court's influence on the universitiesand burgherculture, and the university'srole in enlightening the court and the citizenry. This theoreticalintroductionis then illustratedmore or less by the other contributorsto the volume. Krzysztof Baczkowski offers a general survey of 'humanist' culture in Krak6wand Vienna in the sixteenth century, explaining developments at the REVIEWS 13I court and universitiesand in ecclesiastical and burghercircles in both cities, stressinglinksbetween theJagiellonian and Habsburgworlds.Arno Strohmeyer looks at the work of court historians in Vienna, while Karen Lambrecht deals with the practical dissemination of such knowledge through book publishing in Prague and Krak6w, linking this in with developments further east in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lithuania's first printer, Franti9ek Skoryna,learned his skillsin Krakowand publisheda CyrillicBible in Prague before setting up shop in Vilnius. Jan Pirozyfiskiassessesthe place of Polish cities in the sixteenth-century European news network, stressingthe role of Gdafiskas a purveyorof foreignnews. He touches upon the use of new media, news-sheets,in spreadingnews of political disputeswithin the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and between that realm and neighbouring powers. The architectural medium is explored by three authors, Marina DmitrievaEinhorn , Arnold Baretzkyand Jacek Tylicki who deal with the reception of visualimageson buildingsin Bohemiancitiesand in GdafiskandWroclaw. A place where art, architecture, dynasty, gender specificity and domestic and foreign policy conjoin in early-modern Poland is illustratedby Andrea Langer in her examination of Elisabeth Habsburg, known to Poles still as 'matkakr6l6w'. Langer's study draws on recent art historicalwork by Anna Boczkowska and the ecclesiastical studies network in Lublin. Langer makes use of literarysourcesas well aspainting, illuminatedmanuscriptsand church architecture.She intendsto extend her sightson to moreJagiellonian women. One aspect of Elisabeth's cultural role in Jagiellonian domestic and foreign propaganda is passed over here. Elisabeth provided possibilities for maintaining the unity of the Jagiellonian inheritance by offering various foreign thrones to her sons. She was an eminent symbol of royalty, outshining the Piast pretenders to her husband and...