The Edges of the Medieval World

In the Middles Ages, the edges of one's world could represent different meanings. On the one hand, they might have been situated in far-away regions, mainly in the east and north, that one most often only knew from hearsay and which were inhabited by strange beings: humans with their faces on their chest, without a mouth, or with dog heads. On the other hand, the edges of one's world could just mean the borders of the community where one lived and that one sometimes might not have had the possibility to cross during one's whole life. These varieties of edges of the medieval world were the topic of an international workshop that was held in 2006 on the Estonian island of Muhu, itself an area that could easily be connected with the topic of this meeting. In the present proceedings of the workshop, specialists from eight European countries offer their ideas about different edges of the medieval world and contribute to a discussion that has been increasing greatly in Medieval Studies in recent times.