New Books in Western European Studies Christian Raffensperger, "Authorship, Worldview, and Identity in Medieval Europe" (Routledge, 2022)
Jan 24, 2026
Christian Raffensperger, Kenneth E. Ray Chair in Humanities and scholar of medieval Eastern Europe. He explores how medieval authors imagined worlds beyond their towns and kingdoms. Short takes look at eastern Europe’s place in medieval narratives, imagined geographies, mercantile perspectives like Marco Polo’s, and how texts create identity and space.
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Western-Centric Medieval Narrative Is Misleading
- Medievalists often imagine Europe as Western-centric because textbooks and scholarship have long focused on the West.
- Christian Raffensperger urges returning to primary sources to recover a broader medieval European worldview.
Bring Scholars Together Across Silos
- Do assemble scholars across regional silos to interrogate primary sources collaboratively.
- Raffensperger organized this edited volume to recover broader medieval worldviews.
Return To Sources With Modern Methods
- Going back to primary sources need not repeat 19th-century positivism or Leopold von Ranke's method.
- Raffensperger advocates modern methodologies that study authors' intentions and constructions of worldview.
