Byzantine News

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Two books which try to make Byzantium accessible to a wider public have been published recently. In AD 476 the Roman Empire fell–or rather, its western half did. Its eastern half, which would come to be known as the Byzantine Empire, would endure and often flourish for another eleven centuries. Though its capital would move to Constantinople, its citizens referred to themselves as Roman for the entire duration of the empire’s existence. Indeed, so did its neighbors, allies, and enemies: When the Turkish Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453, he took the title Caesar of Rome, placing himself in a direct line that led back to Augustus. For far too many otherwise historically savvy people today, the story of the Byzantine civilization is something of a void. Yet for more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization. When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. When li...

A Companion to Byzantium , ed. Liz James Using new methodological and theoretical approaches, A Companion to Byzantium presents an overview of the Byzantine world from its inception in 330 A.D. to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Provides an accessible overview of eleven centuries of Byzantine society Introduces the most recent scholarship that is transforming the field of Byzantine studies Emphasizes Byzantium's social and cultural history, as well as its material culture Explores traditional topics and themes through fresh perspectives Click here to read a review from BMCR <p><p><p><p><p&...

From BBC: Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's description of the UN resolution on Libya is "unacceptable". The rare rebuke came after Mr Putin said the resolution resembled "medieval calls for crusades". Mr Medvedev said such comments could "lead to a clash of civilisations". The UN resolution, which Russia abstained from voting on, authorised military action in Libya to protect civilians from pro-Gaddafi forces. Mr Medvedev told Russian news agencies: "Under no circumstances is it acceptable to use expressions which essentially lead to a clash of civilisations, such as 'crusade' and so on. Read more

From the website of the project: Introduction The aim of the Sharing Ancient Wisdoms (SAWS) project is to use new technology to present and analyse the tradition of wisdom literatures in Greek and Arabic. Throughout antiquity and the middle ages collections of wise or useful sayings were created and circulated, as a practical response to the cost and inaccessibility of full texts in a manuscript age; our project will focus on those which collected moral and social advice, and philosophical ideas. The project Our collaboration has been made possible by funding from HERA - Humanities in the European Research Area - as part of a programme to investigate cultural dynamics in Europe. These collections have not been extensively studied, and many remain unpublished; but their compilation formed a crucial route by which philosophical concepts, together with ideas of reasonable behaviour and good conduct, were disseminated over a huge area, and over many centuries. With the support of...

Deadline for abstracts: Friday, 25 March, 2011 The Thirty-Seventh Annual   Byzantine   Studies Conference (BSC) will be held at DePaul University in Chicago from Thursday evening, October 20, through Sunday lunch, October 23. The conference is the annual forum for the presentation and discussion of papers on every aspect of   Byzantine   studies, and is open to all, regardless of nationality or academic status. It is also the occasion of the annual meeting of the   Byzantine   Studies Association of North America (BSANA), conducted by the current BSANA officers: President: Robert Ousterhout (University of Pennsylvania) Vice President: Ann Marie Yasin (University of Southern California) Secretary: Kathleen Maxwell (Santa Clara University) Treasurer: Elizabeth Fisher (George Washington University) For more information, please see our website: http://www.bsana.net

Amanda French   writes on the possibility of a digital library: Imagine a National Digital Library: I Wonder If We Can