[Remembering the Jagiellonians]
ENAs Natalia Nowakowska observes in her introduction to this welcome volume, the recent torrent of memory studies of East-Central Europe is overwhelmingly concerned with current memories of recent events. The traumas of the last century cast a long shadow, and what Bernhardt and Kubik term “mnemonic actors” have widely instrumentalized history, attempting to shape collective memory in the pursuit and exercise of power. Yet, such practices are by no means new. Royal dynasties were always enthusiastic mnemonic actors, devising representational and commemorative strategies to justify and extend their rule long before scholars began investigating lieux de mémoire and milieux de mémoire. It is therefore an excellent idea to explore how the Jagiellonians - now largely forgotten outside of Eastern Europe - have been and are still remembered in the lands over which they ruled [p. 407].
