Emeritus Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University (CEU), Budapest
Born in 1950
Education, academic titles
Graduated in History, Medieval Studies, and English Philology in 1974 at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
1976 postgraduate studies in Paris with Jacques Le Goff (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) and Michel Mollat (Sorbonne)
1983 Dr. Phil. at ELTE
1994 Cand. Sci. at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
2001 Dr. Habil., Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest
2005 Dr. Sci. of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Employments, academic and administrative charges
1974-78 Editor at the review Világosság
1978–84 Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute for Historical Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1985–90 Secretary of the National Committee of Hungarian Historians.
1984–90 Assistant Professor, 1990–2006 Associate Professor, 2006 to present: Titulary Professor;1994–97 Head of the Department of Medieval European History, ELTE
1989-1993 Founding Editor of Budapesti Könyvszemle (BUKSZ), 1993-2001 Chairman of the Editorial Board; 2001 to present, Member of the Editorial Board
1990-97 Program Director, Historical Anthropology Program, ELTE, Budapest, (together with András Gerő)
1991-97 Co-editor of Budapest Review of Books (with Zsófia Zachár)
1991–92 Associate Dean for International Relations at ELTE, Faculty of Humanities.
1992–97, 2005-2007, 2019-2022 Head of the Department of Medieval Studies at CEU
1993- Professor of Medieval Studies, since 2005 University Professor, since 2022 Emeritus Professor at CEU
1997- 2002 and 2008 Rector of Collegium Budapest
1997- 2011 Permanent Fellow of Collegium Budapest
2016-19 Head of the Doctoral School of History at CEU, Budapest
2019 Member of the Budapest Research Team of MECERN (Medieval Central European Research Network)
2020 - Research Fellow at the Democracy Institute
Fellowships
1986 Research Fellowship, Columbia University, New York, (Institute on East-Central Europe)
1989 ‘Maître de conférences associé’ at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
1990–91 Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
1992 Getty Scholar at the Getty Center for Arts and the Humanities, Santa Monica
1996 Resident Scholar at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center
2003-4 Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford
2011-12 Fellow at the Institut d’Études Avancées, Paris
Distinguished invitations and awards
-1992 Plenary Lecture at the International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo
- 2002 Plenary Lecture at theInternational Medieval Congress at Leeds
- 2007 Introductory lecture at the Konstanzer Arbeitskreis, Reichenau conference (Böhmen und seine Nachbarn)
- 2007 Special Prize from the Mayor of Budapest “Budapestért” for managing academic exchange in Collegium Budapest
- October 2008 – Hungarian speaker in the series: 27 leçons d'histoire européenne par 27 des plus grands historiens de l'Union Européenne, arranged by the French Presidency of the EU in Paris
- 2014 - Membre correspondant étranger of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres
- 2016 - International Price for History ICHS (International Committee of Historical Sciences) - http://www.cish.org/index.php/en/
- 2017 – Prize for excellence in research, CEU
- 2018 – Corresponding Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2019 – Corresponding Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America
- 2022 - Membre de l'Institut, Associé étranger, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris
- 2024 - Honorary Fellow of the American Historical Association
Academic Services
- Member of the editorial boards of the reviews Budapesti Könyvszemle (BUKSZ); Századok; Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft; Sanctorum; Hungarian Historical Review; Acta Poloniae Historica; Scripta; Historical Studies of Central Europe, Archivio Italiano per la Storia della Pietà.
- Editor, then Co-editor (with Gyula Benda and István Szíjártó) of the book series Mikrotörténelem (Microhistory), with the Budapest publishers Magvető (1988-1993), then Osiris (1999-2022), currently at l'Harmattan (2007--) 20 volumes published
- Member of the editorial board of Central European Medieval Texts at CEU Press - 10 volumes published
- Editor of the book series The Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lectures at CEU Press, 2007-2023. 12 volumes published.
- Member of the Committee of History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1985-2000, 2014-24
- Member of the Committee of Cultural History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2002-10
- Member of the Advisory Council on Social Sciences and Humanities at the European Commission Brussels, 2004-6
- Member of the History Panel of Starting Grants – European Research Council, 2007-11
- Member of the Hungarian Accreditation Board (MAB), History Panel 2006-10
- Director of the organizing committee of the Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lectures at CEU, 2006-23
- Member of the Academic Advisory Board of Collegium de Lyon – Institute for Advanced Study, 2008-21
- Member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Graduiertenschule der Geisteswissenschaften Göttingen (GSGG), 2008-16
- Membre du jury Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), 2010 and 2011
- Member of the History Panel of Consolidator Grants – European Research Council, 2013
- Membre du Conseil Scientifique du LABEX HASTEC, Paris, 2012 -20
- Membre du jury du Prix du livre d'histoire de l'Europe, organisé par l'Association des Historiens, Paris, 2014-15
- Member of the Review Committee of Charles University, Prague, 2020
- President of the Hungarian Hagiography Society (Magyar Hagiográfiai Társaság) 2019 to present
Principal Academic Interests: historical anthropology of European Christendom (sainthood, miracle beliefs, stigmata, visions, healing, magic, witchcraft); comparative cultural and religious history of Hungary and Central Europe, modern and contemporary medievalism and its political uses