Revived Middle Ages: Medieval festivals, reenactments and associations in Croatia

Brozinčević, Nino. (2015). Revived Middle Ages: Medieval festivals, reenactments and associations in Croatia. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of History. [mentor Vedriš, Trpimir].

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Abstract

The main concern in this paper is the question of existence and development of historical reenactments in Croatia today. The main subjects are historical festivals, fairs and organizations such as orders of medieval knights. Historical reenactments and living history, as ever-growing phenomena, has been a better-researched area in international historiography and other literature in the humanities than in Croatia. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to shed some light upon this subject in contemporary Croatian history. The paper is primarily organized around a systematic analysis of individual manifestations, which started to appear in Croatia at the beginning of the 21st century, following similar trends in rest of Europe. These medieval festivals, tournaments, fairs and knightly associations have become more popular, and grow in number. The first chapter discusses the possibility of historical revival, how and in what way is it possible to achieve this in the Modern Age. The chapter explores the problems of authenticity and possibility, the concept of „reviving” the past, and other similar concerns related to this subject and ideas. The second and third chapters bring the individual and comparative reviews of historical manifestations occurring in Croatia. They have been divided into manifestations that happen in continental and coastal Croatia. By comparing these events it may be concluded that behind this growing phenomena and interest for medieval history in Croatia is an attempt of the local and regional population to achieve a sense of common identity. Based on the found resources and literature, this thesis gives insight into the current condition about historical reenactments in Croatia today, its reflection upon the collective thought of identity, and modern way of learning history.

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