Prosopography of the Byzantine World

A British Academy Research Project funded by the AHRC

PBW launched version 2006.1 of its electronic database of eleventh-century sources at King's College London last August, during the International Byzantine Congress. The database has since been updated and version 2006.2 is now freely accessible on the net: http://www.pbw.kcl.ac.uk . It contains information on some 12,000 individuals, culled from more than 7,800 lead seals and from textual sources mainly in Greek but also in Latin and Arabic. This information is presented in some 63,000 small packets (“factoids”) that appear as answers to specific searches (or combinations of search terms) and are organized where appropriate in chronological order, based on almost 3,000 events (“narrative units”) recorded in the empire and the wider area in the course of the 11 th and 12 th centuries. Thus, PBW is much more than a fully searchable prosopographical database: its chronological component and the abundant sigillographic material it integrates turn it into a valuable research tool for sigillographers and historians alike. It is also a rich resource for students and for the interested general public....[continued]

The Medieval Logistics Project
The Medieval Logistics Project is shared between Birmingham University (Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity) and Princeton University (History Dept.). A new website, with updated details of current work and projects, will shortly be set up at Princeton to complement that at Birmingham: see www.medievallogistics.bham.ac.uk

CD-Roms, disks or other materials which may be useful for the teaching of Byzantine Studies, Europe East and West: Byzantine Civilization, Patras, Hellenic Open University 2001, pp.168 (in Greek) (ISBN: 960-538-277-6). This is the standard and official Open University textbook for the relevant module of the European Civilization group of courses. It is written by Dr. C. Athanasopoulos and was critically reviewed by a panel of specialists led by Professor P. Kitromelides, Professor of Philosophy, School of Law, U. of Athens.
(Book Web Presentation Page: www.eap.gr/books/epo30a.PDF)

Dr. C. Athanasopoulos, Ancillae Theologiae: Philosophy and Theology in the Medieval and Byzantine Times, Athens: Parousia 2004, pp.368 (in Greek, with tables and extensive bibliography in Greek, Latin, English, French, German) (ISBN: 960-7956-94-X). This is a book in Medieval and Byzantine Philosophy examining in detail the metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and political philosophy of the main figures of medieval philosophy (starting with St.Augustine and finishing with the Ockhamists and Macciaveli) and of Byzantine Philosophy (ending with Georgios Gemistos Plethon and Gennadios, making a specific comparison between Scholasticism and late Byzantine mystical realists, such as St. Gregory Palamas).

GRAMMAR OF MEDIEVAL GREEK

The University of Cambridge has been awarded a substantial research grant by the Arts and Humanities Research Board, to produce a systematic and comprehensive grammar of Medieval Greek. The project is funded for five years, from October 2004, and is based in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at Cambridge. The research programme is directed by Dr David Holton (principal investigator) and Professor Geoffrey Horrocks (Faculty of Classics). Two full-time Research Associates have been appointed: Dr Tina Lendari and Dr Notis Toufexis. Dr Io Manolessou (Lecturer in Linguistics, University of Patras) is a consultant to the project.

The main aim of the project is to provide a comprehensive description of the Greek language between 1100 and 1700. These dates are chosen because texts in the vernacular become available in significant quantity only in the 12th century, and, although there is no obvious point at which to locate the end of the "medieval" period, by the 18th century important cultural and political changes are afoot. The period 1100-1700 constitutes a coherent whole in terms of the development of the Greek vernacular. The analysis will be based on as wide a corpus of vernacular texts as possible, including non-literary sources (documents, letters etc.) which have been largely ignored in past studies of Medieval Greek. In certain cases, early medieval texts (5th-11th century) will be taken into account, mainly to illuminate points of historical evolution or the earliest dating of phenomena.

The Grammar will contain a full description on all levels (phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics); information about the distributional patterns of variant forms and old vs. new formations; spelling and orthographic conventions of the period; and dialectal variation. It will also examine crucial diachronic issues, giving a full account of linguistic developments within the period, with information on the dating, first appearance and spread of various phenomena (looking both backwards to Ancient Greek and forwards to Modern Greek). Past linguistic scholarship on Medieval Greek will be re-evaluated; textual documentation and bibliographic guidance will be given for each phenomenon examined.

The outcome will be a standard reference work on the Greek language of the later medieval period and at the crucial stage when the medieval vernacular is acquiring the morphological and syntactic features which are characteristic of the modern language.

Early in 2005 a website will be established
(http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/greek/grammarofmedievalgreek/)
where information about the progress of the project will be posted.

The dedicated website for the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21-26 August 2006

http://www.levantia.com.au - aspects of everyday life in Byzantium and its neighbours.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/palacecompany/ - a living history society set in Constantinople.

http://www.fu-berlin.de/fmi/antike/Bibliographie.html (Bibliographical update to Demandt's 1989 work on Die Spätantike).

http://www.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/bereiche/ag/Hartmann/mat/ss02/iustlit.htm
(bibliography to 2002 of Justinian's reign)

http://www.byzarch.bham.ac.uk/ (the Byzantine Archaeology Group based at Birmingham)

http://byzance.dr10.cnrs.fr/

http://www.lateantiquearchaeology.com (the Late Antique Archaeology Conference Site)

"Lt-Antiq" is the premier discussion list for Late Antiquity: to join go to http://www.sc.edu/ltantsoc/

To join "Byzans-L" go to: http://www.doaks.org/byzansl.html

A CD-ROM entitled ‘Hagia Sophia from Konstantinoupolis to Istanbul with Lord J.J.Norwich’ has just been released. This CD-ROM has been awarded with a Silver Medal in NewMedia Invision 2000 Competition, Gold Medal Cindy 2001 and became a finalist in EMMA 2000.

The above-mentioned CD-ROM features the architectural history of Hagia Sophia, eight Byzantine legends narrated by Lord J.J.Norwich, selected biographies of Byzantine Emperors, constructors and guardians,10 short films featuring Norwich telling anecdotes from Byzantine history, 16 rare examples of Byzantine and Ottoman music, tour of Hagia Sophia with a tourist guide, important buildings in historical Constantinople, chronology of Hagia Sophia with referances to Byzantine history, and a glossary of architectural, artistic and religious terms.

Unfortunately, we have not resolved problems about distribution have not yet been resolved.However, if you are interested and want to learn more about the CD-ROM, you can find detailed information including ordering information on the website at www.metropolmultimedia.com

(Haluk Kocoglu)

For previous announcements:
BBBS 27 (2001)
BBBS 26 (2000)