This selection of articles, published for the 50th anniversary of the author's doctorate at Göttingen, opens with studies on his teacher, Percy Ernst Schramm, and his contribution to the study of the medieval state and continues with examples of state symbology from Central Europe. Questions of legitimization and representation of kings and queens through texts and Herrschaftszeichen as well as the development of 'coronation studies' are addressed in a comparative framework. The second part contains articles on social and political history mainly of the kingdom of Hungary in the fifteenth century, also attempting to place the issues into a wider context. Finally, two pieces present and discuss the 'use' or 'abuse' of the Middle Ages in the political discourse and display of our times.

János M. Bak is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and at the Central European University, Hungary. Edited by Balázs Nagy and Gábor Klaniczay.