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IMC 2013: Sessions

Session 1003: Being Roman after Rome, I

Wednesday 3 July 2013, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:ERC Advanced Grant: Social Cohesion, Identity & Religion in Europe (SCIRE)
Organiser:Clemens Gantner, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Moderator/Chair:Rosamond McKitterick, Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge
Paper 1003-aBeing Roman after Rome: An Introduction
(Language: English)
Walter Pohl, Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Universität Wien
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Political Thought, Social History
Paper 1003-bSemantics and Narratives of Romanness
(Language: English)
Cinzia Grifoni, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Political Thought
Paper 1003-cPreaching Romanness in the Early Middle Ages
(Language: English)
Marianne Pollheimer-Mohaupt, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Political Thought, Sermons and Preaching
Abstract

In Late Antiquity and in the first medieval centuries, political identities emerged under the long shadow of Rome. Being Roman could mean many things in the period, for instance, Greek-speaking subjects of the Byzantine Empire, inhabitants of the city of Rome, autonomous civic or regional groups, Latin speakers under 'barbarian' rule in the West or, increasingly, representatives of the Church of Rome. The shifting concepts of Romanness represent a methodological challenge for Medievalists. This has led to a fruitful international debate. The ERC funded project 'Social Cohesion, Identity and Religion in Europe, 400-1200' will contribute to the ongoing research by connecting it with the studies on ethnicity and social identity carried out by the project collaborators.
In this first session, Walter Pohl will give an introduction to the different ways to be Roman in the early Middle Ages and to the methodological and typological questions that they raise. Cinzia Grifoni will tackle the questions from a semantic perspective and Marianne Pollheimer will analyse traces of Romanness in Early Medieval sermons.