Reports by SPBS Members |
Conferences
held in 2001 |
XXXV
SPRING SYMPOSIUM OF BYZANTINE STUDIES 31 March - 2 April 2001
Exeter College, University of Oxford
Symposiarch: Elizabeth Jeffreys
The 35th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies met in the hospitable surroundings of Exeter College for three days of vigorous exploration of the role of rhetoric in Byzantine society. The programme had been planned to involve historians and art-historians as much as those involved with literature, literary history and language studies. In the event the crowded lecture theatre, especially on the Sunday afternoon, and the at times heated discussion periods suggested that the aim had been at least partially achieved. Some sessions explored how specific writers used particular techiques for definable if not always apparent purposes, how these techniques were acquired in Byzantium, and how they can be discerned by modern readers and audiences. Others discussed the occasions on which these techniques were deployed publicly, either in verbal form or through visual images, or through both media. Yet other sessions analysed the persuasive ways in which an artful historian could present his case to best effect or the ways in which the apparently unchanging nature of these methods both formed and masked the conservative heart of Byzantine culture. A vital counter-point to the main sessions was provided by the six groups of communications, which explored a wide range of topics. To take a random sample: hymnography (with some delightful musical accompaniments which had the college office spell-bound as the sounds wafted through the windows), gender bias in Palaeologan writers, the conventions of monumental inscriptions, scholia to manuals of rhetoric. These, like the other topics, offered an extremely rich opportunity for discussion. The sub-terranean (but thoroughly air-conditioned) lecture theatre encouraged camaraderie! Thanks are due to many people, individuals as well as institutions. The Symposiarch would not have survived without Michael Jeffreys’ data-base, the secretarial activities of Daniel Farrell, the moral support of Teresa Shawcross who wrestled with projectors, the ever-present back-up of Marina Bazzani, Natalya Ristovska, and Ida Toth and it will be a long time before the dragons by the Hall, Maria Kouroumali and Evangeli Skaka, fade from her memory. The college staff were their usual unobtrusively helpful selves. Much gratitude for financial support is owed to the British Academy, the Leventis Foundation, the Kostas and Eleni Ourani Foundation, the Hellenic Foundation and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies: their generosity enabled planning to take place on a sound footing, and allowed costs to be kept within bounds, especially for student participants. Tangible records of the event in the form of abstracts of the communications were published in last year’s Bulletin; a further tangible record, revised versions of the main papers, is now being prepared for publication in the Society’s series. Elizabeth Jeffreys Exeter College, Oxford Symposiarch, 2001
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"Sweaty but Scintillating": Report by Alicia Simpson, who received one of the SPBS Travel Bursaries offered to research students in Byzantine Studies: The 20th international Byzantine Congress encompassed a wide variety of themes related to Byzantine life and civilization and was attended by more than one thousand international participants and conference guests. The richness and diversity of the programme was reflected in the broad spectrum of papers covering virtually every aspect of Byzantium-- from its archaeology to its art, literature, politics and mentality-- as well as the multi-lingual character of the presentations, including French, German, Italian, Russian and English. The presentations were divided into three sessions: the mornings were dedicated to plenary sessions, and the afternoons to free communications and round-table discussions. The eight plenary sessions, with subject matters including core Byzantine themes such as law, art and literature, also embraced novel directions in the field, most notably the socio-cultural interaction between Byzantium and other civilizations. For example, presentations, which were all of a very high standard and highly stimulating, covered artistic influences of Christendom to the Muslim world and vice versa, as well as the everyday symbiosis of westerners (mostly Italian merchants) and Greeks within the cities of the late empire. Most beneficial, especially for young researchers, was the final session which introduced various old and new instruments of historical research, including palaeography, numismatics and diplomatik, continuing international editorial projects, the significant new emphasis on prosopography as a research tool of Byzantine scholars) and important new techniques such as the CD-ROM version of the BZ bibliography. The portion of the Congress dedicated to free communications was divided into twenty-seven sessions and grouped according to thematic content. The subjects treated were as diverse as they were interesting and ranged from the classical Byzantine themes of society and its institutions, theology and hagiography, to the new emphasis on architecture and archaeology, ethno-history and self-perception, and the themes of centre and periphery. Although the communications appeared at times too brief, the great effort on the part of the organizers and the presidents of each session to incorporate all the significant efforts and advances of international scholarship and to allow time for lively and productive discussion following the presentations, must be recognised. The approximately 250 papers presented for round-table discussions were grouped in accordance with the various themes and sub-themes. For example, under the theme of ‘Literature and Culture’ one could choose to attend a session on epistolography, philosophy and science, or magic and ritual. The detailed and often extensive summaries of the conference papers were published in three volumes and presented to the participants at the opening of the congress. This proved most useful in directing the choices of the participants, especially if we take into consideration the number and variety of themes represented and the necessity to choose among the many noteworthy sessions, often being held at the same time. Various events were also held in honour of the Congress. The exhibition ‘Treasures of Byzantium’, displaying numerous manuscripts held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France afforded conference participants and guests with a unique opportunity to view and admire the artifacts that we had for long been accustomed to seeing only in photographs reproduced in books and neatly transcribed and edited manuscripts for the modern reader. Several publishers, who exhibited publications relating to the Byzantine world, were also in attendance for the duration of the congress. Their presence was of great utility for researchers struggling to keep up-to-date with the increasing bibliographical surge in the field. Finally, participants and guests could take advantage of the free admission offered at the Musée du Louvre and at the Musée National de Moyen Âge. In conclusion, the 20th International Byzantine Congress was an occasion that successfully brought together international scholars and added significantly to the advancement of Byzantine studies in all its aspects and variations. For those of us who attended such an event for the first time, it was a stimulating experience, which encouraged our interest and dedication to the study of Byzantium. We thus eagerly anticipate the next Congress which will be held in England in 2006. |
Byzantium in the North, Fourth Meeting A one-day conference entitled: Byzantium and Islam was held at the University of Leeds on Saturday 20 October 2001. The conference was organized by Dr Dionisius Agius with the collaboration of the Centre for Mediterranean Studies. The programme consisted of two keynote lectures and five related papers on the theme of Byzantine-Islamic cultural inter-relations. The keynote lectures were given by Professor Lucy-Anne Hunt ('Byzantine-Islamic cross-cultural contacts in the period of the crusades') and by Professor Carole Hillenbrand ('Muslim Views of Constantinople'). The five speakers were (in order of appearance): Dr Keith Hopwood ('The Nicene State and its Eastern Neighbours'), Alex Metcalf ('Sicily under the Muslims: Where did all the Greeks go?'), Dr D.A.Korobeinkov ('Diplomatic correspondence between Byzantium and the Mamluk Sultanate in the Fourteenth Century'), Dirk Krausmuller ('Christian and Muslim Ethics in John of Damascus’ Contra Manichaeos and Nicetas Byzantius’ Refutatio Mohamedis'), and Frank Trombley ('Arabs in the Anatolia and the Laws of War 7th-10th Centuries'). It is proposed that the papers from this successful conference be published. Further information from cmdtr@leeds.ac.uk. This was the fourth meeting of the Interdisciplinary Research Forum Byzantium
in the North. It was attended by some 20 delegates. It was agreed that
the next meeting would be held at Newcastle University on 9 November 2003
on 'Constantinople: New Approaches'. |
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