Paper -a:
In 1326 the Byzantine historian Nikephoros Gregoras was sent on a diplomatic mission from Byzantium to the Serbian state. Travelling on the Via Egnatia he reached Amphipolis, the river Strymon, and most probably continued his journey through the valley of the river Strumica. He spent Easter in the Byzantine town of Strumica and finally reached Skopje. Only a few geographic features are described by Gregoras. Nevertheless, it is possible to reconstruct the landscape of the valley of the river Strumica as seen by Gregoras by evaluating contemporaneous Byzantine and Slavonic charters and by using the method of Central Place Theory.
Paper -b:
Travel is an integral feature of the Vita of Apollinaris of Valence. The first half of the Vita details the self-imposed exile of Apollinaris and other Burgundian bishops; the second half focuses upon the naval voyage Apollinaris undertakes prior to his death. Geographical features, including the Rhône and the nature of its waters, feature prominently in the accounts of both journeys. This paper will investigate the historicity of the travel accounts and geography in the Vita Apollinaris Valentiniensis as well as the literary function of these accounts within the hagiographical narrative.
Paper -c:
Geographers, anthropologists, and other scientists have recently proposed an image of islands as connected and networked instead of isolated. Does this vision correspond with medieval ideas about islands? This paper will examine discussions of islands in Albertus Magnus' De natura loci, Roger Bacon's Geographia, and other scientific writings. It will seek to answer: How were islands imagined in the Middle Ages? Were they seen as isolated? Which ancient ideas about islands did medieval authors adopt and ignore? How did religious notions of isolation affect geographical conceptions of islands and vice versa?
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