Balász Nagy, born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1962. Ph.D. from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Assistant Professor of Medieval History at the Central European University, Budapest.
Magyar Fellow ( 1 February 1999 – 30 June 1999)
During the five months of my stay at NIAS as a Magyar Fellow I carried on with different projects, making considerable progress in all. I continued the detailed examination of the Autobiography of the Charles IV of Luxemburg, one of the few surviving autobiographies from the Middle Ages. In this text the future Holy Roman Emperor describes his life from his birth until his election as King of Romans in 1346. Charles told of his childhood, spent mainly in the court of French kings, his juvenile years, his marriage and his first steps into the international political scene during the first part of the fourteenth century. As a result of my work the first full English translation of this text along with my notes will be published next spring.
Furthermore in close connection with the above-mentioned project I wrote an essay entitled “The Terenzo Dream of Charles IV”, which analyses the personal development of the young Charles in the light of his visions included to his autobiography. This essay will be published soon. I also commenced work on a new project during my stay at NIAS. I was requested to write some chapters of a new textbook on medieval European history. I wrote the chapters mainly on the economic, commercial, and urban development of medieval Europe.