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“” Turkish Traces “in Medieval Europe” by Giuseppe Cossuto is an essay of fundamental importance to fully understand the origins of the Turks and modern Europe, 2 elements extremely connected to each other but whose union is all too often forgotten
“” Turkish Traces “in Medieval Europe
In this monograph, which makes use of the presentation of prof. Mihai Maxim, the salient events of the peoples of the steppes in Europe are illustrated in a popular but scientific way, starting from the arrival of the Huns up to the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuk, trying to harmonize the different historiographic traditions on the basis of classical written sources and medieval, archaeological evidence and folklore traditions, in a non-euro-centric perspective but which takes into account the different social and cultural nature of the warrior nomads of the steppes compared to the Roman, Germanic and Slavic civilizations. Describing the origin, history and institutions of the Huns, Bulgarians, Magyars, Khazars and other peoples, the perennial presence during the Middle Ages is outlined, of the nomads of the steppes who, by right, constitute an important part, much neglected from historiography, of the cultural roots of Europe.
The Turks at the origin of modern Europe
“” Turkish Traces “in medieval Europe is an extremely precious essay that will allow us to better discover what happened beyond the Rhine in the early centuries of the Middle Ages, giving us the tools to truly understand the migrations that transformed that part of the continent and how, in the vast majority situations, History is much more complex and rich than what we imagine. In detail, the book starts by making us understand the real differences that have characterized nomadic civilizations from permanent ones, helping us to understand their reasons and their uses, facilitating thus a reinterpretation of the interior of peoples such as the Huns, the Avars, the Bulgars and the Magyars, reaching the moment when the Seljuks conquered Anatolia, laying the very first foundations of today’s Turkey.
All these people, among other things, are also extremely linked to the Italic Peninsula, a place where they all passed and where many of them settled, so much so that they leave many toponyms that still persist, reminding us more and more that the Italian past is made from a thousand and one origins. In addition to fully immersing ourselves in their epics, thus also discovering the Slavic migrations, the central role of Byzantine and Germanic peoples and the passage from ancient tribes to today’s populations (especially Bulgarians and Hungarians), this work allows us to really enter into the internal dynamics of these nomadic confederations which, whether we like it or not, have really changed the world. Unlike what we are used to thinking, in fact, these populations, despite being of Turkish origin, were not tied too much to a specific ethnicity, but mainly represented men and women who, for one reason or another, had decided to break away from settled civilizations by taking the path of nomadism and freedom, giving life to a fluid identity ready to innovate with the passing of the centuries. A truly rich and fascinating essay that allows the reader a truly full immersion in the evolution of men, times and places. Two small clarifications, the first for those interested in the Turkish epic above all in an Islamic key: even if there are some hints, this text focuses above all on their evolution in Europe, a place where the real doubt was not so much between Islam and Christianity , but between Christianity and Paganism, which is why it is a much more suitable book for understanding Turkish origins in absolute terms than Turkish ones in the “Islamic world”. The second clarification is that, at the moment, this essay is only available in Italian.
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