| Paper 1227-b | The Image of the megalemporos in 12th-Century Byzantine Literature
(Language: English)
Gerasimos Merianos, Department of Byzantine Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), Athens
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Economics - Trade, Language and Literature - Greek, Social History |
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| Paper 1227-c | Calculating Byzantium? Social Network Analysis and Complexity Sciences as Tools for the Exploration of Medieval Social Dynamics
(Language: English)
Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Institut für Byzanzforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Computing in Medieval Studies, Economics - General, Social History |
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| Abstract | Paper -a:
From the 10th century, the antique model of the perfect statesman increasingly gained influence upon the education of the administrative elite in Western Europe. Especially Ciceronian literature, but also a strengthened focus on legal studies formulated new standards for the requirements of an administrator, and maybe it is possible to talk about a more secular than theological approach to education. In conclusion, a short comparison with contemporary Byzantine and Islamic practices will raise the question why the three cultures seem to have developed very similar educational systems - through independent developments from a common textual background or through direct contacts.
Paper -b:
During the 12th century, the use of the term megalemporos (great merchant) in both secular and ecclesiastical Byzantine texts is more frequent than in previous centuries. In works of various Byzantine literary genres, the image of the megalemporos, the merchant-entrepreneur of high standing, who sailed facing perils in search of profit, is metaphorically used to present a variety of subjects, e.g. knowledge or faith. The aim of this paper is to discuss these references, and link them with the social status and the conception of the 12th-century Byzantine merchant.
Paper -c:
The integration of methods and concepts from contemporary social and complexity sciences into the research of medieval societies has become somewhat accepted in the last two decades. This paper aims at presenting the effective use of more recent findings and models of social complexity sciences for analysing the dynamics of a medieval society in a time of severe crisis - late Byzantium (1204-1453). The relevance of such an expedition with the means of multidisciplinarity for the exploration of groups, networks, institutions, and structures as well as of their development, robustness or weakness in pre-modern societies in general will be similarly demonstrated.
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