Search results for ""Author Mirosław J. Leszka""
Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Wydawnictwo The Bulgarian State in 927–969: The Epoch of Tsar Peter I
Tsar Peter (927–969), this book’s protagonist, is all too frequently presented in modern scholarship as a weak ruler, devoid of any grander political aspirations, and focused on religious matters—pious, but neglecting the vital interests of his subjects. It was said that during his reign both his court and state became Byzantinized, that central authority was completely helpless in the face of Hungarian raids, and saw the spread of the Bogomilist heresy. According to the Tsar’s critics, it was as a result of his ineffectual rule that Boris II, his son and successor, was unable to defend Bulgaria’s sovereignty in 971.This book—the first monograph devoted to Peter—was written by Bulgarian (Miliana Kaymakamova, Georgi N. Nikolov, Angel Nikolov, and Nikolay Hrissimov) and Polish medievalists (Zofia A. Brzozowska, Mirosław J. Leszka, Kirił Marinow, and Jan M. Wolski). Thanks to a thorough analysis of the sources and an in-depth knowledge of the literature of the subject, they have constructed a comprehensive and balanced image of the reign of their protagonist and the role he played in the history of medieval Bulgaria.
£49.50
Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Wydawnictwo Maria Lekapene, Empress of the Bulgarians: Neither a Saint nor a Malefactress
The book presents the biography of Maria, daughter of Christopher Lekapenos (the eldest son of emperor Romanos I). For about 35 years, she was the tsaritsa of the Bulgarians at the side of her husband, Tsar Peter (927-969). Her character is but dimly visible in the sources; interestingly, the few sources that do mention her are almost exclusively of Byzantine provenance. Most scholars who have dealt with her life—usually as a side note to studies on Peter’s reign—saw in her a representative of the interests of Constantinople and a propagator of Byzantine culture. Some have gone so far as to call her a Byzantine agent at the Bulgarian court.In this book, the first monograph on Maria ever to have been written, Mirosław J. Leszka and Zofia A. Brzozowska construct a balanced narrative of the tsaritsa’s life and her role in tenth-century Bulgaria through meticulous analysis of primary sources, putting aside biases. The publication is supplemented by a translation of the fragments of the Hellenic and Roman Chronicle of the second redaction devoted to Maria and Peter.
£40.50
