Termin 2009

This conference is stimulated by two events. One is the retirement of Judith Herrin as Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King’s College. The other is the presence at the Royal Academy of the first major international exhibition in London on Byzantium. Both events encourage us to reflect on the astonishing progress in Byzantine Studies in recent decades, which has enabled us to ask new questions, and review old assumptions. In this spirit, we wish to explore the conventional but resilient view of Byzantium as a society constrained by authority which was rarely questioned. We propose to investigate both the ways in which authority was presented, but also how it was modified through a process of interpretation and remodelling; in this investigation, we will be calling upon insights from Byzantine scholars, and also scholars of the western middle ages.

Department of Art History, Open University, Warburg Institute and SPBS Registration free.

Department of History of Art, University of York and Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies

Diese Konferenz beschäftigt sich mit Formen weiblicher vita religiosa, die sich zwischen Spätantike und Hochmittelalter entwickelt haben. In diachronem Zugriff werden signifikante Phänomenbereiche, wie etwa das Verhältnis von Leitideen und Normen, Organisationsformen und Regelgebrauch, materiellen Grundlagen und sozialen Beziehungen aber auch Fragen charismatischer Führung und Reformfähigkeit an exemplarisch ausgewählten Gemeinschaften historischempirisch erarbeitet. Ziel sind vergleichende Analysen, die weiteren Einblick in die Komplexität und Differenzierungen institutionalisierter weiblicher Lebensformen verschaffen und Kulturleistungen von weiblichen Religiosen ebenso zur Diskussion stellen wie deren mitunter ambivalente Stellung neben den Männern.

Rahmenthema "Kanon"

The Society for Late Antiquity announces that the Eighth Biennial Conference on Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity will be held at Indiana University and will explore the theme 'Shifting Cultural Frontiers in Late Antiquity' [ca. 200-700 AD]. The confirmed plenary speakers will be Professors Jas Elsner (Corpus Christi, Oxford) and Seth Schwartz (Jewish Theological Seminary). Beneath the familiar political and religious narrative of late antiquity lies a cultural history both more complicated and more fascinating. Late antiquity was a time of intense cultural negotiation in which new religious communities and new populations sifted through existing modes of cultural expression, adopting many elements for themselves and turning others aside. This conference seeks to understand how cultural transformation occurred amidst the political and religious disruption that can seem characteristic of late antiquity. To this end, we seek contributions that explore three distinct areas of late antique cultural history: 1) the interaction of 'high' and 'low' culture, 2) the impact of changing and collapsing political centers on their peripheries, and 3) the emergence of hybrid literary, artistic and religious modes of expression. Possible contributions to these areas may highlight the permeable division between elite and vernacular culture, the ease with which cultural memes were transmitted across geographic and linguistic boundaries, the adaptability of established cultures to new political and social realities and the degree to which newcomers were integrated into existing cultural communities. As in the past, the conference will provide an interdisciplinary forum for ancient historians, philologists, Orientalists, art historians, archeologists and specialists in the early Christian, Jewish and Muslim worlds to discuss a wide range of European, Middle-Eastern and African evidence for cultural transformation in late antiquity. Proposals should be clearly related to the conference theme. They should state both the problem being discussed and the nature of the new insights or conclusions that will be presented. Information: Prof. Edward Watts, (Department of History, Indiana University, Ballantine Hall, Rm. 828, 1020 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405-7103, USA, email: shifting.frontiers.8@gmail.com).

The intention of this TAG conference is to provide a forum for the diverse and interesting theoretical perspectives that exist in the United States, and to bring together both Classical and anthropological archaeology. TAG was founded in Great Britain in 1979 with the aim of exploring inter-disciplinary theoretical issues, promoting debate, discussion of their application and use for archaeological interpretation. It has always been an exploratory venue for progressive and innovative archaeological research.

Die Ausstellung zeigt Funde der Jahre 2006 und 2007 aus dem alamannischen Gräberfeld von Hessigheim bei Ludwigsburg. Herausragendes Ausstellungsobjekt ist ein mit ornamentierten Beinplättchen beschlagenes Reliquienkästchen in Form einer Kirche, für das in Deutschland bislang kein Vergleichsstück existiert. Daneben sind in der Ausstellung rund 100 weitere der gut 5.000 Einzelfunde ausgestellt, darunter ein umfangreiches Brustgehänge, Münzen, ein eiserner Klappstuhl und Alltagsgegenstände aus dem 6. Jahrhundert.

Contact: Chris Entwistle, Curator, Late Roman and Byzantine Collections, Department of Prehistory and Europe, British Museum, Gt Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG Email: centwistle AT thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Tel.no. 0207-323-8724 Conference fee: £30. Cheques payable to the British Museum.

First Hellenic Studies Graduate Student Day, organized under the auspices of the CEU Center for Hellenic Traditions. We intend to investigate a wide range of aspects regarding the transmission and transformation of Hellenic traditions in the Greek-speaking world and beyond. Special attention will be offered to the circulation of ideas as well as the continuous exchange of cultural and material practices with the neighboring regions. For this reason, a wide chronological span is envisaged, from the Late Antiquity until the immediate period after the Fall of Constantinople.

Die gezeigten Schmuckstücke stammen aus der Sammlung von Johannes Freiherr von Diergardt, der einer der größten privaten Sammler völkerwanderungszeitlicher Kunst und zugleich Mäzen archäologischer Forschungen war.

This conference aims to examine the relationships that monastic communities have formed with secular authorities across a range of criteria that includes political, economic and cultural concerns. By considering monasteries as institutions, but also their members as individual actors, the conference will help to define the various settings in which they operated within the political landscape, as well as in reference to one another. It will aim to provide a framework in which we can consider the importance of the monastery as a focal point of power and how that power provided the foundations for lasting relationships or for the genesis of conflict. The conference is designed to encompass papers concerning the Continent and the British Isles with the intent to explore similarities and differences in strategies employed by individuals and their communities from as wide a pool of sources as possible. Melanie C. Maddox or Christian Harding The St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies 71 South Street St Andrews, Fife KY16 9QW Email: mcm34@st-andrews.ac.uk or ch28@st-andrews.ac.uk

Mitglieder der AGCA sind zur Ausstellungseröffnung "Kindheit am Nil" am 9. Juli 2009 im Museum für Byzantinische Kunst (Bode-Museum) eingeladen. Gezeigt werden Objekte aus römischer bis frühislamischer Zeit.

The IMC seeks to provide an nterdisciplinary forum for the discussion of all aspects of medieval studies. Papers and sessions on any topic or theme in the European Middle Ages are welcome. Each Congress has one particular special thematic strand on an area of interdisciplinary study in a wider context. However, this strand is not intended to be an exclusive and submissions from all spheres of medieval research, in any major European language, are welcome. In 2009, to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the launch of the Albigensian Crusade the International Medieval Congress has the special thematic focus 'Heresy and Orthodoxy'. For further information, please consult the full announcement on http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc2009_call.html or contact Axel E. W. Müller, International Medieval Congress, Institute For Medieval Studies, Parkinson 1.03, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT Tel: +44 (0)113 343 3614 imc@leeds.ac.uk

Militaria und Verteidigungsanlagen zwischen Spätantike und Frühmittelalter

The International and National Organising Committees of the 4th International Congress on Black Sea Antiquities extend an invitation to all interested scholars to participate in the forthcoming Congress, either by contributing a paper or by attending as a discussant in the proceedings. The official languages of the Congress are English, French and German. Its specific subject is the Bosporus as a gateway between the ancient West and East (1st millennium BC-5th century AD). The Congress is composed of 7 working sessions beginning on September 14th, 2009 (participants to arrive on September 13th). It is intended that each session will be introduced by a 30-minute keynote lecture on the current state of relevant research. Leading scholars will be commissioned by the Organising Committees to prepare these lectures. For more information, contact: Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, Secretary General of the Congress Centre for Classics and Archaeology, Old Quad, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia E-mail: g.tsetskhladze@unimelb.edu.au

Kontakt: Alexandra.Krenn-Leeb@univie.ac.at

Das Badische Landesmuseum zeigt in der „Großen Landessaustellung 2009“ erstmals ein umfassendes Bild des vandalischen Königreichs und seiner Epoche. Dabei vermittelt die Ausstellung mit spektakulären Exponaten, die zum Teil noch nie in Europa zu sehen waren, einen Eindruck von der reichen Kultur einer multi-ethnischen Bevölkerung aus Germanen und Römern, die maßgeblich durch das Christentum beeinflusst war.

It is well known that episcopal elections in the later Roman Empire were often a complicated and complicating event, as the controversy (and even violence) attendant upon the elections and successions of many bishops indicates. This conference will approach the phenomenon of episcopal elections and succession from the broadest possible perspective, examining the varied combination of factors, personalities, rules and habits that played a role in the process that eventually resulted in one specific candidate becoming the new bishop, and not another. The many diverse and even conflicting aspects of this phenomenon will be addressed: the influence of doctrinal conflicts, the relationship between Church and State, patronage, local habits and regional differences, chronological developments, ethnic identity. Also relevant is the development of images of the ideal bishop, especially the manner in which such idealized representations shaped the outcome of contested elections and affected the character and exercise of episcopal authority in late antique society. Proposals for papers approaching the broader theme by any number of perspectives and methodologies are welcome: particular elections, specific bishops, geographical surveys (e.g. a city or a province), and concrete texts (e.g. legislation - both civil and canonical, or, hagiography) are all legitimate points of entry shedding valuable light upon a relatively little studied phenomenon. English will be the primary conference language, although proposals for papers in French and German are equally acceptable. Following the conference there will be opportunity for participants to submit their papers for peer review, as the conference organizers intend to edit the conference proceedings for publication. Paper proposals should be sent to the conference secretary by 15 May 2009. Proposals should consist of a title and an abstract of up to 300 words providing a clear indication of the paper's thesis, sources and methodology. All those interested are encouraged to contact the conference secretary, Dr. Shawn Keough: shawn.keough@theo.kuleuven.be

Internationale Tagung Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg - Institut für Europäische Kunstgeschichte (IEK). Die Tagung möchte sich besonders jenen Bauwerken und deren Ausstattung der Westgotenzeit, Asturiens und des Mozarabischen widmen, die in den letzten Jahren erst in den Mittelpunkt der Forschung gerückt sind, will aber auch den neuesten Stimmen/Forschungsergebnissen zu bereits etablierten Bauten ein Forum zu geben.

Works of sacred architecture in the Byzantine world large or small, are always viewed as symbols. As three-dimensional images or models of them they are abstract references to an essence of time and place. Their spiritual impact does not depend on their physical size. Thus, shrinking a church or templon to something that can fit in the palm of a hand allows it to be brought into the private, personal space, into the home, with unchanged power of generating Divine presence. In that sense, in the world of Eastern Christianity a work of architecture is an icon. Two-dimensional representation refers to truths that have perhaps been forgotten, in that it opens a window on to the transcendental cosmos and stands against the illusion of the imagined reality. The Byzantine icon, as a two-dimensional portrayal, acts both as a veil that symbolically separates the world of the viewer from the invisible world behind it, and also as a window of communication with the Holy. Thus, the iconostasis, a two-dimensional screen allows the faithful spiritual access to the Holy and constitutes a polysemous architectural representation, and as such is a quintessential example of architecture as icon. Space in Byzantine art is coherent, and at the same time depicted in multiple manifestations: as interior and exterior, near and distant, past and present, imaginary and real. The symbolical and allegorical dimension of a scene is rendered with visual tools and “abbreviations”. These provide manifold possibilities for analysing what has been described as Byzantine “expressionism”, while at the same time raising questions that require a comparative approach to the study of the evolution of ideas in the Byzantine and Western worlds. Perception and representation of architectural elements in Byzantine art touche upon man’s relationship with the inaccessible, imaginary, transcendental, heavenly hierarchy, and ultimately with God. A deeper understanding of the Byzantine mind necessitates an exploration of the philosophical and theological aspects of the Byzantine world, as well as of the ways in which the Byzantines conceived of and rendered architecture. What is even more essential for the spectator contemplating an architectural representation, however, is an incentive, imagination and intellectual alertness, that will enable him to discover values and ideas whose continuity and relevance are always present.