Department of Medieval History
Address: 1088 Budapest, Múzeum körút 6–8.
Phone/ext.: +36 1 411 6500 / 5101
Facebook: facebook.com
The Department of Medieval History was established in February 2019 as part of the organizational restructuring of the Institute of History bringing together faculty members from the former Department of Medieval and Early Modern Hungarian History and the Department of Medieval and Early Modern European History who specialize in medieval history. The Department’s teaching and research covers the history of Europe from the decline of the Roman Empire to the turn of the fifteenth–sixteenths centuries, as well as Hungarian history from its beginnings to the Battle of Mohács.
The teaching of medieval history at the Department can look back on the work of such renowned and outstanding medievalists as György Székely (1924–2016), Ilona Sz. Jónás (1929–2017), and József Gerics (1931–2007), who were professors of the predecessor departments specializing in the Middle Ages.
The faculty members of the Department of Medieval History play an active role in undergraduate and master’s training of history students, as well as in the training of prospective history teachers. The Department also regularly offers English-language courses for international students studying at ELTE.
The Department provides specialized training in medieval history within the framework of the medieval specialization of the master’s program. Since the beginning of the program in 2009, nearly seventy students have attended courses of the medieval specialization; many of them continued their studies in doctoral programs. So far, nineteen former students of the specialization have earned doctoral degrees at ELTE and at other universities in Hungary and abroad; several of them are currently working in research institutes and universities.
Two doctoral programs of the Doctoral School of History are based on the faculty members of the Department of Medieval History: the Doctoral Program in Medieval Hungarian History and the Doctoral Program in Medieval and Early Modern European History. Since 2010, in cooperation with the Doctoral Program in Auxiliary Sciences of History, these doctoral programs have organized the annual conference for doctoral students working on medieval topics. Over years, this conference has grown into a well-regarded international academic forum. The papers of the conference are published in the volumes of the Micae Medievales series, which now has a tradition of over a decade.
The faculty members of the department are active participants in both national and international conferences, and the Department regularly welcomes visiting professors from abroad. The Department of Medieval History itself often organizes scholarly conferences, primarily on topics related to the research areas of its staff and within the framework of research projects connected to the Department.