“I was there on my own on the fields where our ancestors

beat up the Turks; the Serbs now sing about them.

I saw Varna. […]

And in a deep ditch, where the king had fallen, I walked on.

I walked on and a Greek shows me the sites,

And sorry he feels for the defeated Christians and the king”.

These words taken from the chronicle by Maciej Stryjkowski are a proof for a lively interest in the battle of Varna by the representative of Polish intellectual elite of the second half of the 16th century. Cultivation of the memory of this event by Stryjkowski did not come down to a mere glorification of the bygone times. The memory of fighting and the willingness to satisfy curiosity were so strong that the author decided to visit Varna on the occasion of a diplomatic journey to Turkey. The place of the fight against the Turks has already at that time functioned as a site of remembrance, that is a space understood as an element of historical culture to which strictly defined contents were ascribed. In general, the battle of Varna was one of many struggles between Christian and Muslim worlds. However, it remained a significant event for the nations of the Balkan Peninsula and Central Europe. The causes and the course of the battle, its consequences, and the deeds of the main protagonists were widely commented from the first days it had taken place. However, already then the creation of the memory depended on a number of factors like one’s cultural background, political beliefs or religious views, etc.

The 580th anniversary of the battle of Varna provides an excellent opportunity to look at some aspects of the ways it has been remembered throughout the history. The conference is addressed to the representatives of various academic disciplines, primarily to historians, art historians, archeologists, anthropologists, literary scholars, political scientists, etc. The aim of the conference is to trace the memory of the battle of Varna in examples of European historiography, culture, and art from the very late Middle Ages till the beginning of the 21st century. The focus will be mainly on the following issues:

-       functions of the memory of the Varna battle;

-       memory transitions conditioned by the current intellectual climate, political situation, ideologies, cultural changes, civilization and religious background;

-       memory of the Varna heroes;

-        importance of the battle of Varna in the transcultural/religious dialogues;

-       (re)interpretations of the Varna memory;

-       sites of remembrance;

-       impact of the Varna tradition on the European identities;

-       neglect of the battle of Varna – its causes and context;

-       the significance of the battle of Varna in contemporary heritage tourism, museology, historical re-enactment, etc.

Conference language: English.

Schedule:

15September 2024- deadline for the abstracts (200 words maximum in English). In addition to the abstract, the application should include: speaker’s name and surname, affiliation, title, contact details. PhD candidates are requested to send a scanned document that their paper topic has been accepted by their supervisors. The abstracts should be sent to: conferencerememberingthebattle@gmail.com

30 September 2024 – the speakers will be informed of their papers’ approval.

12-13 November 2024 – conference.

The organisers will select the papers, based on the submitted abstracts. The presented papers will later be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The conference is planned to take place online.