Approaches to Comparison in Medieval Studies

Books, web-sites or university courses entitled 'The Medieval World' usually deal with Medieval Europe, sometimes only with its 'Latin' or Western parts. The name of the present journal, 'Medieval Worlds', underlines the diversity of our global past, while maintaining that common approaches are possible. 'Global History' often concentrates on the contemporary and modern history of a globalized world; but global perspectives on pre-modern periods are also possible before or beyond processes of globalization. Many fascinating projects explore wide horizons of the global past, both temporally and spatially. These new lines of research depart from many disciplines and reach out across disciplinary divides; arguably, this is one of the most dynamic fields in the heterogeneous academic landscapes of the study of the past. For those who are interested in engaging with current developments and advances in this type of research, however, it is still hard to get an overview of its progress. The present journal is intended to become one of the intellectual »hubs« in this regard: exploring new approaches, stimulating comparative research, offering methodological debates, exchanging reports across disciplines, and presenting current large-scale projects.