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IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 1509: Legitimating Empire

Thursday 10 July 2014, 09.00-10.30

Moderator/Chair:Jake Ransohoff, Department of History, Harvard University
Paper 1509-aBuilding the Imperial Legitimateness: The Serbian Case
(Language: English)
Paolo Angelini, Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid, KU Leuven / Università 'G. d'Annunzio', Chieti-Pescara
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Political Thought
Paper 1509-bTranslatio imperii to Ethiopia: Between Rome and Israel - The Legitimacy of the Ethiopian Emperors
(Language: English)
Charlotte Touati, Institut d'histoire, Université de Neuchâtel
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Language and Literature - Other, Political Thought
Paper 1509-cBulgarian Imperial Ideology: Between Byzantium and the Eurasian Steppe
(Language: English)
Antoan Tonev, Department of Ancient History, Thracian Studies & Medieval History, University of Sofia 'St Kliment Ohridski'
Index terms: Mentalities, Political Thought, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

Paper -a:
After having conquered the Byzantine provinces in the Balkan Peninsula, in 1346 the Serbian ruler Stephan Dušan proclaimed himself βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Ῥωμανίας. His goal was to conquer the city of Constantinople and become the legitimate successor on the throne of Constantine and Justinian. After the foundation of the Serbo-Byzantine empire, Dušan adopted the imperial title of basileus and granted the Byzantine dignities like sebastocrator, caesar to the nobility. The chancellery, leaded by the logothete, started the redaction of chrysobulla and prostagmata both in Serbian and Greek language, and Byzantine law was adopted in the newborn empire as law in force. Dušan tried to legitimate his political project adopting the Byzantine political and legal concepts, utilizing the Byzantine dignities and redacting documents based on the Greek-Roman formulary.

Paper -b:
According to the 13th century Kebra Nagast, Ethiopia's national epic, Solomon gave birth to three lineages. The first one is the Ethiopian royal dynasty, through his first-born, but illegitimate, son from the Queen of Sheba. The second one is the dynasty of the King of Judah, while the third consists of the Roman (i.e. Byzantine) Emperors, because Solomon married his daughter to the son of the Roman King. This paper intends to expose the conception of power and the 'international' relationships implied in the Kebra Nagast, as well as the work on the sources to shape the Ethiopian imperial propaganda.

Paper -c:
Early medieval Bulgarian state arises in the lands between the Great Steppe and the Eastern Roman Empire. Because of its border location between two disparate worlds early medieval Bulgaria faces a variety of challenges and problems. It is clear that these two worlds, between which Bulgaria is situated, do not view it as an integral part of their universe and do not seek peaceful coexistence with it. They want to use Bulgaria for their interests and sometimes they even want to destroy it. Under these circumstances, Bulgaria creates its imperial ideology that is very specific because it takes ideas and traditions both from the Eastern Roman Empire and from the Pax Nomadica. In my paper I will discuss the origin and the formation of the Bulgarian imperial ideology from the end of the 7th century until the middle of the 9th century.