Dusan Zupka
Dušan Zupka
Dušan Zupka, PhD.
Associate Professor
2022 Associate Professor, General History Department, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts
2017 Assistant Professor, General History Department, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts
2009 PhD. in General History, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts
2005 MA in History, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts
Teaching experience:
2017 - Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava (Courses taught: Historiography; History of East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, Forms of Political Communication in Medieval Europe; Western Europe in the Middle Ages; Cultural History; Academic Writing; Proseminar in History)
2015 - Supervision of undergraduate and graduate students
2012 - Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava (Courses taught: History of Central Europe within the Central European Studies programme)
2007/2008 - Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava (Courses taught: Chapters from medieval monasticism; Coronation ceremonies in medieval Europe)
Academic boards and institutional membership
East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (450-1450) series, published by Brill, general co-editor
History Journal (Historický časopis), member of the editorial board
Medieval Central Europe Research Network (MECERN), board member
Slovak National Committee of Historians (CISH Member), vice-president
Reviewer for academic journals (Speculum, The English Historical Review, Forum Historiae, Knižná revue, Medea, Konštantínove listy, Historický časopis, Routledge)
International research stays:
2023 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome, Italy
2023 Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
2022 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome, Italy
2022 Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
2019 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome, Italy
2019 Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
2015 – 2016 European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant: Jagiellonians (Dynasty, Memory, Identity),
University of Oxford, research associate
2010 – 2011 Central European University in Budapest, Department of Medieval Studies, Post Doc.
Fellowship (supervisor Dr. Katalin Szende)
2008 Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, doctoral research
stay (supervisor Prof. Marco Mostert)
2007 Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht, doctoral studies scholarship
(supervised by Dr. Anna Adamska)
Conferences, workshops, webinars:
2024 Keynote lecture at the Rituals, Ceremonies and Symbols in Medieval Europe Conference, Pula Croatia: Study of Religious Rituals of War in Medieval Europe: Past, Present and Future
2024 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK: The Paradoxical Triumph: The Siege of Belgrade in 1456 and the Crisis of Late Medieval Crusading
2024 Fifth Symposium on Crusader Studies, Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus, Spain: Encounters between Crusader Leaders and Kings of Hungary (1096–1189)
2023 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK: Religious Warfare and Rulership on the Periphery of Medieval Latin Europe
2023 Between East and West: One World and Two Empires. Elites, Saints and Kings – Remembering Past and Forgotten Worlds, University of Toruń, Poland
2023 Continuity and Change in Medieval Central Europe, The Fifth Biennial Conference MECERN,
Bratislava
2022 Historical Society of Slovakia Biennial Conference, Banská Bystrica, 7.9.2022 (round table
discussion)
2021 Oxford University, History Faculty, Early Slavonic Seminar/Webinar, UK: Rulers and Rulership
between Ideal and Reality (East Central Europe, 10th-13th c.)
2021 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK: Great Expectations? Medieval Literacy 25
Years On - A Round Table Discussion
2019 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK: With God's Help against the Enemy:
Religion, Rituals, and Ruling Ideology on the Battlefield
2019 La Cattedrale nella Cittá Medievale: I Rituali, Università Federico II Naples, Italy: Symbolic
Communication in Medieval Urban Environment: the Town, the Church, and the Ruler in Central Europe (in absentia)
2018 Middle Ages in the Modern World Conference, Rome, Italy: The Landshut Wedding 1475: to
Experience the Middle Ages
2018 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK: Ritual and Text: Narrative strategies of
Thomas of Split’s Historia Salonitana
2018 MECERN Conference, University of Zagreb, Croatia: Forms of communication of ruling elites in late
medieval Central Europe (Hungary, Bohemia, Austria, c. 1250-1350)
2016 Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK: Dynastic consciousness across frontiers: dynastic
identity of Jagiellonian Princesses in German-speaking lands
2016 Unity and Diversity in Medieval Central Europe, University of Olomouc (Czech Republic), organized
by Medieval Central European Research Network: Diversity of dynastic consciousness in medieval Central Europe
2011 Central European University, Department of Medieval Studies, Budapest, Hungary: Rituals and Politics
in the Middle Ages
2008 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK: Urban Rituals and Literacy in the Medieval
Kingdom of Hungary: between Gesture, Speech and Written Record
2007 Masaryk University, Department of History, Brno, Czech Republic: Rituals of Reconciliation in Arpadian
Hungary
Scholarships and fellowships awarded
2010 Balassi Institute, Budapest, Hungary - postdoctoral fellowship
2008 National Stipend Programme, Bratislava, Slovakia – doctoral research scholarship
2007 Utrecht University Research Master in Medieval Studies Summer School
Professional and academic service
Organizing of conference sessions and workshops
2025 Religious Warfare on the Periphery of Medieval Latin Europe, Bratislava
2023 Continuity and Change in Medieval Central Europe, The Fifth Biennial Conference of
Medieval Central Europe Research Network, Comenius University, Bratislava, 27-29 April
2019 Organizing three sections and a round table discussion on Rulership in Medieval East Central Europe at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds (UK)
2019 Gestures, ceremonials, rituals and symbols in the Middle Ages, International conference, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
2017 Organizing section on Rulership in Medieval Central Europe, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA
2016 Dynasty and Dynasticism 1400-1700. International conference, Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK (co-organizer)
2016 What is Regional Memory? International workshop. TORCH, University of Oxford, UK (co-organizer)
Chairing of sessions on conferences and workshops
2025 The Sixth Biennial Conference of MECERN, Munich, Germany
2021 Whither the Study of Medieval Literacy? International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK
2019 Rulership in Medieval East Central Europe at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds (UK)
2019 Gestures, ceremonials, rituals and symbols in the Middle Ages, International conference, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
2017 Rulership in Medieval Central Europe, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA
2016 Rulers and Saints. International workshop. TORCH, University of Oxford
2016 Dynasty and Dynasticism 1400-1700. International conference. Somerville College, Oxford
2016 What is Regional Memory? International workshop. TORCH, University of Oxford
Grants and projects
2024 - 2026 Recovery and Resilience Plan: NextGen EU, Excellent Science
2024 - 2026 VEGA 1/0164/23 Central European Diplomacy between Regionalism and Universalism
2023 ERC Visiting Fellowship Program
2019 - 2023 APVV 18-0333 Database of Historical Terminology on Central European History
2020 - 2024 APVV 19-0131 Ars moriendi. The phenomenon of death in medieval Hungary
2022 - 2025 VEGA 2/0028/22 Medieval Society in Hungary (Structure, Coexistence and Confrontation of Social Groups until the End of the 13th Century)
2018 - 2020 APVV-15-0349 Individual and society - their mutual reflection in the historical process
2018 - 2020 VEGA 1/0814/18 History of Diplomacy in the Early Middle Ages
2019 - 2020 VEGA 2/0129/18: Ruling Power in the Middle Ages
2017 - 2019 VEGA 2/0110/17 Symbols, Gestures and Ceremonies in the Middle Ages
2019 - 2021 KEGA 042UK-4/2018 University textbook History of the European Middle Ages II - III.
2019 - 2021 KEGA 004UKF-4/2018 European Middle Ages interactive
2015 - 2016 European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant: Jagiellonians (Dynasty, Memory, Identity),
University of Oxford, research associate
List of Publications:
Books and edited volumes:
Continuity and Change in Medieval East Central Europe: Social, Ruling and Religious Transformations. Ed. Dušan Zupka. London/New York: Routledge, 2025
Marxism and Medieval Studies. Eds. Martin Nodl – Piotr Wecowski – Dušan Zupka. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024.
Stredná Európa v premenách času. I. Eds. Martin Hurbanič – Matej Ivančík – Dušan Zupka. Bratislava: VEDA, 2023.
Rulership in Medieval east Central Europe (Power, Rituals and Legitimacy in Bohemia, Hungary and Poland). Eds. Dušan Zupka – Grischa Vercamer. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (450-1450) 78. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2021.
Meč a kríž. Vojna a náboženstvo v stredovekej strednej Európe (10. – 12. storočie). Bratislava: VEDA, 2020.
Dejiny európskeho stredoveku III. Neskorý stredovek. Bratislava: Hlbiny 2024.
HISTORICA LIV ZBORNÍK K 60. NARODENINÁM VINCENTA MÚCSKU, ZBORNÍK FILOZOFICKEJ FAKULTY UNIVERZITY KOMENSKÉHO V BRATISLAVE, editor Dušan Zupka. Bratislava 2024.
Dejiny európskeho stredoveku II. Vrcholný stredovek. Bratislava: Hlbiny 2019.
Ritual and Symbolic Communication in Medieval Hungary under the Arpad Dynasty. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (450-1450). Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2016. 225s.
Rituály a symbolická komunikácia v stredovekej strednej Európe (Arpádovské Uhorsko 1000-1301). Acta historica Posoniensia XVII. Bratislava - Prešov 2011. 196s.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters:
Religious Warfare at the Eastern Borders of Latin Christendom: The Case of the Kingdom of Hungary
in the Later Middle Ages. In Religious Rites of War Beyond the Medieval West. Ed. Radosław Kotecki, Jacek Maciejewski, and Gregory Leighton. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2023, pp. 209-243.
Continuity and Change in Medieval East Central Europe: An Introduction, In Continuity and Change in Medieval East Central Europe. Social, Ruling and Religious Transformations. Edited by Dušan Zupka. London/New York: Routledge, 2024, s. 1-7.
Regnal identities of Jagiellonian royal daughters across frontiers. In HISTORICA LIV, 2024, pp. 94-
108.
Royal funeral ceremonies in fourteenth-century Central Europe. In Forum Historiae, 2023, vol. 17,
no. 1, pp. 45–58, doi: 10.31577/ forhist.2023.17.1.4
Rulership, Warfare and Sacrality in Medieval Central Europe, in Continuation or Change? Borders and Frontiers in Late Antiquity and Medieval Europe. Eds. Gregory Leighton – Lukasz Rozycki – Piotr Pranke (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022), pp. 103-122.
Kráľ Štefan I. Svätý. Medzi ideálom a realitou. In Historická revue 3/2022.
Zdravie a hygiena v stredoveku: dejiny jedného nepochopenia. In História zadnými dverami 7 : nezvyčajné príbehy zo slovenských a svetových dejín. Ed. Slavomír Michálek Bratislava : VEDA, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied : Historický ústav SAV, v. v. i., 2024, s. 45-54.
Rozmanitosť vnímania smrti a formy umierania v stredoveku v naratívnych prameňoch stredoeurópskej proveniencie, In Smrť a umerianie v stredoveku, Hlavačková/Lysá. Bratislava: VEDA, 2024, s. 95-112.
Hľadanie stredoveku alebo sto rokov so Jacquesom Le Goffom, In Historická revue, 2024, 35, s. 34-37.
Stredovek je fikcia, ktorú si ľudia vytvorili (rozhovor). In SME, 2024, roč. 32, č. 34, 16.-18.2.2024, s. 14-15.
Dynastic identity, death and posthumous legacy of Sophie Jagiellon (1522–1575) in contemporary sources. Historický časopis, 2023, 71, 5, pp. 793-808.
Formovanie monarchií v stredovekej strednej Európe (Kristianizácia – Dynastia – Legitimita), In Stredná Európa v premenách času. I. Eds. Martin Hurbanič – Matej Ivančík – Dušan Zupka. Bratislava: VEDA, 2023, s. 231 – 252.
Národ, etnicita a identita v stredovekej strednej Európe (identifikačné rámce v predmodernej dobe), In Stredná Európa v premenách času. I. Eds. Martin Hurbanič – Matej Ivančík – Dušan Zupka. Bratislava: VEDA, 2023, s. 369 – 398.
Vojna a konflikty v strednej Európe v období stredoveku, In Stredná Európa v premenách času. II. Eds. Vincent Múcska – Lukáš Rybár – Daniela Rošková. Bratislava: VEDA, 2023, s. 35 – 47.
Chiméra svojej doby : menej známe aspekty diela a života svätého Bernarda z Clairvaux. In História zadnými dverami 5 : nezvyčajné príbehy zo slovenských a svetových dejín. Ed. Slavomír Michálek. Bratislava : VEDA, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, 2023, s. 19-28. ISBN 978-80-224-2027-3.
Biskupi a ich úrad podľa Bernarda z Clairvaux, In Konštantínove listy/CONSTANTINE’S LETTERS, 16/2 (2023), pp. 14 – 23, DOI: 10.17846/CL.2023.16.2.14-23
The Landshut wedding 1475: to experience the Middle Ages, In MIDDLE AGES WITHOUT BORDERS: A CONVERSATION ON MEDIEVALISM. Eds. Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri, Pierre Savy, Lila Yawn. Rome: Publications de l’École française de Rome, 2021.
Life, Death, Commemoration and Memory of Hedwig Jagiellon, the Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut, Born Queen of Poland (1457 – 1502). In Studia Historica Nitriensia, 2021, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 331-343, ISSN 1338-7219, DOI: 10.17846/SHN.2021.25.2.331-343
Rulers between ideal and reality, in The Routledge Handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1300, ed. Florin Curta. London: Routledge, 2021, s. 174 – 190.
Rulership in medieval East Central Europe, in Rulership in Medieval east Central Europe (Power, Rituals and Legitimacy in Bohemia, Hungary and Poland). Eds. Dušan Zupka – Grischa Vercamer. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (450-1450) 78. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2021, s. 3 – 26.
Political, religious and social framework of religious warfare and its influences on rulership in medieval East Central Europe, in Rulership in Medieval east Central Europe (Power, Rituals and Legitimacy in Bohemia, Hungary and Poland). Eds. Dušan Zupka – Grischa Vercamer. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (450-1450) 78. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2021, s. 135 – 159.
Religious Rituals of War in Medieval Hungary under the Árpád Dynasty. In Christianity and War in Medieval East Central Europe and Scandinavia. Eds. Radosław Kotecki, Carsten Selch Jensesn and Stephen Bennett. Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2021, s. 141–157.
Tajomní nežidia, čo prijali židovskú vieru. Ako sa Chazari dostali k judaizmu?, in História
zadnými dverami 4. Bratislava: VEDA, 2022, s. 27 – 34.
Náboženské rituály vojny a vytváranie kresťanskej identity v stredovekej strednej Európe 12. storočia. In Historický časopis, 2020, roč. 68, č. 4, s. 1-15.
Aiunt non vos esse papam, sed me. Svätý Bernard, rímski biskupi a pápežstvo v zrkadle korešpondencie. In Konštantínove listy/CONSTANTINE’S LETTERS 13/2 (2020), s. 76-88.
Perception of princely identity between East and West. Memory of Jagiellonian Princesses in German genealogies. In Byzantinoslovaca, 2020, roč. VII, s. 201-213.
The Cathedral as a Venue for Monarchic and Episcopal Rituals in Late Medieval East-Central Europe (14th-16th Centuries). In. La cattedrale nella città medievale: i rituali, a cura di Vinni Lucherini e Gerardo Boto. Roma: Viella, 2020, s. 139-156.
Všetko, čo ste si mysleli, že viete o stredoveku, a mýlili ste sa. In História zadnými dverami 2. Bratislava: Premedia, 2020, s. 32-43.
Mních, ktorý vládol Európe. Rozporuplný život Bernarda z Clairvaux, História 19, 2020, č.1.
Ako písať o stredoveku pútavo a zároveň vierohodne? In HistoryWeb, 27.5.2020.
Medieval Dynasties in Medieval Studies: A Historiographic Contribution. In Forum Historiae, 2019, roč. 13, č. 2, s. 89-101. ISSN 1337-6861
Forms of Communication of the Political Elites in Medieval Central Europe (Hungary, Austria and the Czech Lands, 1250–1350). Historický časopis, 2019, 67, 5, pp. 785-808.
Kríž a meč: vojenské rituály kresťanských vojsk v boji s pohanmi [The cross and the sword: military rituals of Christian troops in their fight against the pagans]. In Gestá, symboly, ceremónie a rituály v stredoveku. - Bratislava : VEDA, vydavateľstvo SAV : Historický ústav SAV, 2019, s. 83-98. ISBN 978-80-224-1787-7.
Pitie krvi a nosenie prašivého psa na pleciach : podivné rituály v stredoveku. In História zadnými dverami : nezvyčajné príbehy zo slovenských aj svetových dejín. Zostavil Slavomír Michálek. - Bratislava : Premedia, 2018, s. 53-63. ISBN 978-80-8159-680-3.
Remembering the Jagiellonians in German-speaking Lands. In Remembering the Jagiellonians. Ed. Natalia Nowakowska. London/New York: Routledge, 2018, s. 121-140.
Formy komunikácie politických elít v stredovekej strednej Európe (Uhorsko, Rakúsko, České krajiny, 1250 – 1350), In Historický časopis 66, 2018/3, s. 385-408.
Identita kráľovských dcér a dynastická politika Jagelovcov v Svätej rímskej ríši v 15. a 16. storočí / Identity of Royal Daughters and Dynastic Policy of the Jagiellonians in the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th and 16th Century, In Kultúrne dejiny / Cultural History, 2018, Volume 9, Issue 1, s. 6-25.
Communication in a Town: Urban Rituals and Literacy in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary. In ADAMSKA, Anna – MOSTERT, Marco. (ed.). Uses of the Written Word in Medieval Towns. Medieval Urban Literacy II. Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy 28, Turnhout, Brepols 2014, s. 341-373.
Rex eris, si recte facias: si non facias, non eris. Panovnícka moc a jej reprezentácia v stredovekej strednej Európe (10. - 13. storočie). In Forum Historiae, 2014, 8/2, s. 202-226.
Dvorské slávnosti, rituály a panovnícka symbolika arpádovského Uhorska. In Medea – studia mediaevalia et antiqua, 15 - 16/2010 – 2011, s. 55-70.
Slávnostné dni v stredovekom meste. Mestské rituály neskorého stredoveku, História 3 - 4/2011,s. 21-26.
Power of rituals and rituals of power. Religious and secular rituals in the political culture of medieval Kingdom of Hungary. In HOLEC, Roman – KOŽIAK, Rastislav. (ed.). Historiography in Motion. Slovak Contributions to the 21st International Congress of Historical Sciences. Bratislava ; Banská Bystrica 2010, s. 29-42.
Symbolické gestá pokory - podrobenie sa a suplikácia. Ritualizované formy riešenia sporov v arpádovskom Uhorsku (11.-12.storočie), In Acta historica Posoniensia XIII, 2010, s. 88-103.
Rituály v živote stredovekých ľudí, Historická revue, 11/2010, s. 64-69.
Rituály zmierenia v zápasoch o uhorský trón v druhej polovici 11. storočia, In Rituál smíření. Konflikt a jeho řešení v středověku. M. Nodl - M. Wihoda (eds.). Brno 2008, s. 57-70.
Nešťastný osud mladého panovníka. Uhorské kráľovstvo vo víre dynastických bojov, História, 2/2008, s. 25-28.
Zaväzujúca sila gest. Rituály na stretnutiach panovníkov v stredoveku, História, 4/2007, s. 5-8.
Obraz mníšstva v listoch Bernadra z Clairvaux, Medea – studia mediaevalia et antiqua, 10/2006, s. 101-114.
Mystik kontra dialektik. Konflikt Bernarda z Clairvaux a Pierra Abélarda, História, 6/2005, s. 32-34.
Reviews:
Dariusz Adamczyk - Norbert Kersken, eds.: Fernhändler, Dynasten, Kleriker: die piastische Herrschaft in kontinentalen Beziehungsgeflechten vom 10. bis zum frühen 13. Jahrhuderts. Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz Verlag, 2015, in Speculum 93, 1 (2018), pp. 168-169
Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, Medieval art in motion : the inventory and gift giving of Queen Clémence de Hongrie. New York : Penn State U. P., 2019, in The English Historical Review, Volume 136, Issue 580 (2021) : 710-712.
Jaume Aurell, Medieval Self-Coronations: The History and Symbolism of a Ritual, in The English Historical Review, Volume 137, Issue 586 (2022): 890–891.
Gerd Althoff, Rules and Rituals in Medieval Power Games: A German Perspective, in The English Historical Review, 2021; ceab298, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ceab298
David S. Bachrach and Bernard S. Bachrach, Writing the Military History of Pre-Crusade Europe: Studies in Sources and Source Criticism, in The English Historical Review, Volume 137, Issue 587, August 2022, Pages 1222–1223.
Endre Tóth, The Hungarian Holy Crown and the Coronation Regalia, with essays by Atilla Horváth, Géza Pálffy, and Attila Zsoldos. Budapest: Országház Könyvkiadó, 2021. Pp. 512; color figures. ISBN: 978-6-1556-7441-9, Speculum 99/2 (2024), pp. 637-638.