Robert Kurelic, PhD

My paper on Lovro Kurelić, an orphaned peasant boy who rose up through education to become the herald of the Holy Roman Empire under Leopold I. He was ennobled and composed the first genealogy of Alexei Romanov, the tsar of Russia. Quite a career.

hrcak.srce.hr/340503

I thought the opposite but history seems to be disproving me in real time.

Is that not the plot of the final episode of Battlestar Galactica? When they renounce medicine, launch their ships into the sun and live on like cavemen? Funny, I though that was the most unbelievable ending ever... Serves me right.

The limits of Empire..

But the statement you made stands. Many medieval kings were quite skilled at managing their administrative apparatus.. After all, you can't fire a vassal that easily, so you have to learn to compromise. :)

I agree that many rulers were deemed (in)competent after their reign and by later standards to boot. That said, for a number of reasons he was ill equipped to measure up to the other two kings.

Edward I and Edward III were very competent.. The one in between, less so. History is filled with powerful, weak, and the (in)competent. Comparing a current day president to (a) medieval king(s) is a double edged sword

The "Beginning of the Kingdom" conference in Split, Croatia (May 8-10, 2025). I argued that Tomislav was definitely a king according to the standards of the age. Pope John X's recognition was in line with Pope John VIII's claim to being the ultimate source of royal legitimacy in the West.

The entire society gripped by "someone (else) should do something."

We know from Roman history that the first guy declares (toys with the idea of). himself (as) king, which doesn't end well, then the next one will be president, speaker, president of the supreme court and pontifex maximus.

80 years is what Jan Assman explained as the cut off point for living memory. It is both exciting and sad to witness theory in practice.

Holocaust survivors fear Europe is forgetting the lessons of Auschwitz Eighty years after the liberation of the concentration camp, some politicians have been quick to target outsiders.

Eighty years, the cut-off point of living, collective memory. It is very difficult to maintain the lessons of an event beyond this point, not impossible, but difficult after eyewitness have passed as well as those they told first hand.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

If I remember correctly from my student days Egypt and China got their "feudal periods", too. It was all the rage back when to stick the term "feudal" to almost any era in which the sovereign didn't appear to have Palpatine levels of power but had to instead share it with others.

Rarely did anyone succeed in oppressing others "just because" and even when that happened there was push back, rebellion, court proceedings or reprisals. The notion of a Baron Harkonnen tossing his followers to lions at whim is ridiculous to the extreme. 2/2

The power relationships in the area I research (southeastern Germany, Hungary and Croatia) were almost always a two way relationship with a very strong associational instinct by groups of villagers, townsmen, lesser and greater nobles. 1/2

The many calls (at exuberant per minute rates) to "professional curse removers" on nighttime TV are the clear evidence for the age of absolute reason we currently reside in.

Has it become commonplace for journal submissions not to follow the citation style described in the instructions to authors? Or for said citations to be "all over the place," drawing inspiration from a random assortment of official styles, so to speak?

It is amazing and unfortunate how right Jan Assmann was with his "lifetime memory" concept. As soon as about 80 years pass after an event it leaves living memory and we're back to theories and scepticism. Hence, (neo) nazis, great power politics and "polio and measels don't exist."

Or you get an email from Japan, with the person appearing apologizing they will miss the deadline by one (1) day on account of a tsunami. Of course, that person is the first to submit anything.

I just delivered a paper on insults in medieval statues in Northern Adriatic. Each statute, be that on Venetian, Croatian or Austrian turf contains stringent provisions against insults because they lead to violent reactions, grudges and feuds. Prevention and deterrence were paramount.

The biggest problem I see in all this is that, after a generation of ChatGPT use body of knowledge will be so intermixed with hallucinations that future historians will have to specialize in telling truth from fiction. We're producing medieval "legends" in modern times.

As a nonnative speaker I've long since given up on attempting to master this one. The Eenie, meenie, miney mo method gets it right at least half the time which is perfectly fine. :D

Some jokes never quit to be funny, even if you hack them to pieces!

Peanut

📌

Then my December credit will go to your book. Nothing like historical fratricidal tendencies to lighten up a gloomy December. ;)

Do Audible orders count, as well?

As it was before the modern times, sovereign were more concerned with the number of "subjects" conquered than sq km of territory. Moreover, the assimilation of Ukrainians would help offset the demographic decline of Russia. Cruel strategy, but strategy nevertheless.

Well, they did have a holy avenger of sharpness by the name of Durendal back in old Frankia. ;)

They do say fame and success have a tendency to go to one's head. The third century seems to have been the most conducive to such phenomena. :)