Hardly anything has been more influential in forming the modern era s definition of itself than its position in relation to the pre-modern . That is why medieval reception is not just a secondary effect of the echo of medieval texts or topics but itself constitutes a central area of discourse on the formation of cultural identity by individuals and cultural systems. In a historical journey from humanism up to the present and from Jorg Wickram to Dan Brown, this volume considers basic questions on the forms and functions of medieval reception the cultures of reception between canon and pop culture."