This page offers a brief overview of medieval studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina with some useful links and information about its institutions, societies, publications, journals, libraries and other resources. It is intended for anyone interested in studying or doing research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also for general readers who want to find out more about the medieval period in Bosnia.
The links provided lead to websites of history departments, universities and research centres in the country, as well as archives, libraries, and other places of interest for medievalists. Very few of the sites are consultable in English, while others are only available in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian. However, this issue can easily be overcome by using the Google translate technology to translate entire web pages.
Medieval studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina are a research field which is in constant development. The results of recent studies on the history of medieval Bosnia are little known to medievalists of Western Europe due to the fact that only a few scholarly books and articles about Bosnian history have been written in other European languages.
No specific institute for research on the Bosnian Middle Ages exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At present only the History Department of the University of Sarajevo organizes an MA course in medieval studies, while the PhD program is currently in preparation and its implementation is expected in 2012/2013. There is no state funding for research projects in medieval history and many institutions lack the resources for more ambitious undertakings.
Unfortunately, options for those wishing to study the literature, art history, theology, and archaeology of medieval Bosnia still remain very limited. Although individual research on these topics can be done on the basis of available source materials, there are no Universities which offer specialist courses in these fields.
Apart from that, there are also no libraries and archives of interest for medievalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina since most records from the Middle Ages have been destroyed, removed or lost after the Ottoman conquest in 1463. Hence most of the sources for the study of medieval Bosnian history are kept outside of the country’s borders, mainly in Croatia. Some materials can also be found in the libraries and archives of Hungary and the towns of Italy (Venice, Mantua, Florence, Milan etc.).
In Bosnia and Herzegovina there is not one single online presentation of medieval studies. A good starting point, however, is the website of the Society for the Study of Medieval Bosnian History. This Society, which acts as an online research network, publishes news on its website, but also organises conferences, workshops, public lectures and other scholarly events.