How is the Middle Ages period used in modern cultural narratives? This is what prof. dr Emilia Jamroziak discussed during her first lecture within the Named Chair of Honour of prof. Maria Janion. The eminent historian from the University of Leeds met with the UG academic community on November 29.

The meeting was opened by prof. dr hab. Beata Możejko, who announced a series of scientific initiatives related to the Named Chair of Honour of Prof. Maria Janion. Dr hab. Arkadiusz Janicki, prof. UG, Dean of the Faculty of History, expressed the hope that prof. Emilia Jamroziak's activities at UG would contribute not only to a better knowledge of history among students but also to raising the prestige of the Faculty of History.

Prof. Emilia Jamroziak's first lecture as part of Prof. Maria Janion's Named Chair of Honour was on early modern medievalism.

‘Medieval studies consist in the scientific study of the Middle Ages, while medievalism as a phenomenon is the use of relations to the Middle Ages as cultural material,’ said prof. Jamroziak in her introduction. 'Most publications on medievalism focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, because this is one of the most significant and perceptible expressions of the phenomenon. Medieval history was then used, among other things, in state and ethnic constructions.’

As an example of this, the historian cited school programmes that taught children that the origins of their state came from the Middle Ages. In this narrative, pupils were told that they were the direct successors to the kings and victories of a nation that lived hundreds of years ago. ‘This approach only received more criticism in the second half of the 20th century,’ she said.

Later in the lecture, prof. Emilia Jamroziak talked about, among other things, the successive manifestations of medievalism in modern culture, including in architecture, literature or computer games.

The meeting was held as part of the ‘Friday at the Historical’ series.