Hic sunt dracones: Eastern Europe in the study of the Middle Ages

Eastern Europe continuously holds a precarious position in the Anglophone study of the Middle Ages. Although technically a part of Europe, it fell outside of the Carolingian world that has been at the center of traditional medieval studies. At the same time, the critique of the field's traditional Eurocentrism and the growing emphasis on the Mediterranean basin and the global Middle Ages have further marginalized this region. As a result, the defining characteristic of Eastern Europe becomes its emptiness—a place where dragons may live. Yet given its unique positionality, Eastern Europe promises valuable contributions to the study of the Middle Ages. In addition to demonstrating the connectedness of Europe to surrounding regions, it would also expand the area of collaboration with scholars of Byzantium, evaluate traditional models, and foreground the diversity of European population. The inclusion of Eastern Europe will further repudiate the myth of a medieval Europe that is uniformly white and Christian. When viewed from its orient, this was a geographical space filled with followers of different religious traditions, claiming diverse ethnic identities, who interacted with each other and with the surrounding world.