In 2025, the Research Area “Cultural Encounters – Cultural Conflicts” welcomed three outstanding early-career researchers as FSP Fellows working on the topic “Transfer of Ideas in European Intellectual History: From Medieval Texts to Interactive Online Content.” Similar to our Fellowshp "Constructed Spaces - Spatial Constructs", this fellowship provided a focused research stay in Innsbruck connecting the fellows with ongoing projects on medieval translations and digital scholarships.
These were Tomáš Mikulka (Charles University, Prague / Institute of Slavonic Studies, Czech Academy of Sciences), Sava Kokoudev (Faculty of Theology, Sofia University), and Kameliya Hristova-Yordanova (Faculty of Slavic Studies, Sofia University / Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). During their time in Innsbruck, they brought fresh energy, international perspectives, and hands-on expertise to our projects on medieval Slavonic translations of Byzantine texts.
All three fellows contributed actively to REGEST, the online reference tool for Greek-Slavonic translations, developed at the University of Innsbruck as part of the WEAVE project “The Slavonic Metaphrasis of Byzantine Orthodoxy.” Tomáš Mikulka focused on two Byzantine homilies and their medieval Slavonic translations, bringing to light their specific theological and linguistic aspects. He made an interesting discovery – both target texts turned out to be of Italo-Greek provenance. Sava Kokoudev added entries on selected hymnographic texts, demonstrating that understanding their translation peculiarities is impossible without theological knowledge. Kameliya Hristova-Yordanova enriched REGEST with metadata on Byzantine homilies and their South Slavonic translations, revealing also some of the writing and reading culture of the time by pointing at the text collections in which those texts were disseminated in the late Middle Ages.
The highlight of the research program was the international conference “Transfer of Ideas in European Spiritual History: From Medieval Texts to Interactive Online Content” (30 June – 2 July 2025).
The event brought together more than fifty scholars from Europe and beyond to discuss how medieval texts carry ideas across languages, regions, and centuries. Tomáš Mikulka presented on Gregory of Nazianzus in Early Slavic Literature: A Reception through Quotation and Sava Kokoudev spoke on Stichera of Romanus Melodus and Theophany Hymnography, bringing new interdisciplinary insights to the discussions.
In parallel, Kameliya Hristova-Yordanova’s work demonstrated how manuscripts function as carriers of cultural ideas, showing how digital tools make these texts interactive and accessible to modern audiences. The overall communication was lively, interdisciplinary, sparking ideas for future collaborations.
The fellows exchanged knowledge with visiting scholars and project collaborators. Beyond research and presentations, they engaged with Innsbruck’s scholarly community, collaborating with faculty and students across philology, theology, and history. Their visits strengthened long-term links between the University of Innsbruck and their home institutions, illustrating the FSP Fellowship’s mission: to foster international exchange, expand networks, and bring European intellectual history to life in both traditional and digital formats.
We are proud to have hosted these three brilliant researchers and look forward to welcoming future FSP Fellows who will continue to explore, connect, and innovate in the study of cultural encounters and medieval knowledge transfer.
Biographical notes
Tomáš Mikulka, PhD in Slavic Philology (completed), PhD in Patristics (ongoing)
Research Associate at the Institute of Slavonic Studies of the Czech Academy of Sciences and a PhD student at the Charles University in Prague. His study focuses on the interaction between the Slavic and Byzantine worlds, particularly in the areas of early Slavic Christianity, homiletics, and biblical/patristic textual transmission. His dual expertise in philology and theology contributed to the project’s interdisciplinary approach and deepened the understanding of medieval translations’ role in the spread of Byzantine texts across Slavic regions.
Sava Kokoudev, PhD in Cultural Studies
Research Associate at the Faculty of Theology of the Sofia University, where he teaches Comparative Theology and Sacramentology. His research interests focus on Eucharistic theology and ecclesiology as well as on the interaction between Byzantine and Western medieval theological paradigms, hymnography, and contemporary challenges to ecclesial life. His culturological perspective on theological issues in medieval texts brought new insights to the understanding of medieval transfer of texts and ideas.
Kameliya Hristova-Yordanova, PhD in Old Church Slavonic Studies
Research Associate at both the Faculty of Slavic Studies of the Sofia University, where she teaches Old Bulgarian Language, and the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where she is involved in numerous initiatives. Her scholarly work is dedicated mainly to Byzantine homiletic texts and their South Slavonic translations as well as on medieval and early modern Bulgarian manuscripts.
Ekaterina Dikova is a researcher in the project The Slavonic Metaphrasis of Byzantine Orthodoxy, led by its principal investigator, Jürgen Fuchsbauer. She oversees the development of REGEST, a digital reference tool for Byzantine texts and their medieval Slavonic translations, and has coordinated the FSP Fellows at the Institute of Slavic Studies.