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Professor Raffensperger obtained his B.A. from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His monograph, released by Harvard University Press, recently won the Ohio Academy of History Publication Award and is titled, “Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus’ in the Medieval World, 988–1146.” It deals with the relationship of Rus’ (the medieval kingdom that will become Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus) to the rest of Europe. It specifically focuses on the dynastic marriages made between the ruling family of Rus’, the Riurikids, and the other ruling families of Europe. These marriages formed a web of connections that tied Rus’ firmly into the fabric of Europe during this period. Those marital connections are the subject of a separate manuscript, accepted for publication by the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute entitled, “A Chronicle of Rusian Dynastic Marriages” which provides a complete genealogy for the Riurikids through the mid–twelfth century (an online component of which can be viewed at genealogy.obdurodon.org). Currently he is at work on a new project focusing on the intra–familial conflicts in medieval central and eastern Europe, and how those conflicts often become wider wars.
Professor Raffensperger is currently the director of the Premodern and Ancient World Studies Minor (PAST) at Wittenberg. PAST is an interdisciplinary program that allows students to explore the premodern world through a variety of media, which enhances their understanding and appreciation of history. Any questions about the program may be directed to him.
Academic Background
Ph.D. University of Chicago
M.A. University of Chicago
B.A. Bates College
Publications
Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus’ in the Medieval World, 988–1146. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2012)
“The Missing Rusian Women: The Case of Evpraksia Vsevolodovna.” In Putting Together the Fragments: Writing Medieval Women’s Lives. Ed. Amy Livingstone and Charlotte Newman Goldy (New York: Palgrave, 2012), 69–84.
“Mapping History: Using Technology to Showcase Medieval Familial Interconnectivity.” With David J. Birnbaum. Festschrift in Honor of Orysia Karapinka in Russian History/Histoire Russe 37:4 (2010), 305–21.
“Dynastic Marriage in Action: How Two Rusian Princesses Changed Scandinavia” Imenoslov, F. B. Uspenskii, ed. (Moscow: Indrik, 2009), 187–99.
“Shared (Hi)Stories: Vladimir of Rus’ and Harald Fairhair of Norway” Russian Review 68:4 (2009), 569–82.
“Rurik and the First Rurikids,” with Norman W. Ingham. The American Genealogist 82:1 (2007), 1–13 (part 1); 82:2 (2007), 111–19 (part 2).
“Rusian Economic and Marital Policy: An Initial Analysis of Correlations.” Festschrift in Honor of Richard Hellie in Russian History/Histoire Russe 34:1–4 (2007), 149–59.
“Rusian Influence on European Onomastic Traditions” Imenoslov: Istoricheskaia semantika imeni. (Moscow: Indrik, 2007), pp. 116-34.
“Revisiting the Idea of the Byzantine Commonwealth” Byzantinische Forschungen 28 (2004), 159–74.
“Evpraksia Vsevolodovna between East and West” Russian History/Histoire Russe 30:1–2 (2003), 23–34.
Recent Courses
History 111 The Medieval World
History 201 Medieval Eastern Europe
History 301 Eurasian Nomads in the Ancient and Medieval World
Other Interests/Info
Russian and Central Eurasian Studies
Premodern and Ancient World Studies
