Zajac, Talia

Biography

Talia Zajac is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto. Her dissertation “Women Between West and East: the inter-rite marriages of the Kyivan Rus’ Dynasty, ca. 1000-1204” examines the frequent marriage alliances concluded by the Orthodox Riurikid dynasty of early Rus’ (ancient Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus) with Latin Christian (Catholic) rulers. In particular, her research analyzes the ways in which royal brides in these marriages acculturated to their husbands’ courts and, at the same time, maintained cultural continuity with their homelands, thus acting as bridges for cultural exchanges between countries and religious confessions. In the spring of 2018, she will be a post-doctoral fellowship at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute where she will further examine the cultural patronage and political activities of Rus’-born royal brides who became Western medieval queens, duchesses, and noblewomen and, vice versa, of Western brides who came to Rus’ to marry into the Riurikid dynasty. Talia Zajac is a published poet and serves as the newsletter editor for the Early Slavic Studies Association (ESSA). Talia Zajac is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto. Her dissertation “Women Between West and East: the inter-rite marriages of the Kyivan Rus’ Dynasty, ca. 1000-1204” examines the frequent marriage alliances concluded by the Orthodox Riurikid dynasty of early Rus’ (ancient Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus) with Latin Christian (Catholic) rulers. In particular, her research analyzes the ways in which royal brides in these marriages acculturated to their husbands’ courts and, at the same time, maintained cultural continuity with their homelands, thus acting as bridges for cultural exchanges between countries and religious confessions. In the spring of 2018, she will be a post-doctoral fellowship at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute where she will further examine the cultural patronage and political activities of Rus’-born royal brides who became Western medieval queens, duchesses, and noblewomen and, vice versa, of Western brides who came to Rus’ to marry into the Riurikid dynasty. Talia Zajac is a published poet and serves as the newsletter editor for the Early Slavic Studies Association (ESSA).

Research Interest

Historical Studies