IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 1514: Byzantium in Context, I: Crown, Throne, Seal - Courts and Court Societies in the Medieval Mediterranean, 9th-12th Centuries

Thursday 10 July 2014, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:	Politecnico di Torino / Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Abteilung Byzanzforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), Athens
Organisers:	Anna Marotta, Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Politecnico di Torino Alessandro Tosini, Dipartimento interateneo Scienze, Progetto e Politiche del Territorio, Politecnico di Torino
Moderator/Chair:	Eleonora Kountoura-Galaki, Department of Byzantine Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), Athens
Paper 1514-a	'On the Throne of Solomon': The Cross-Cultural Dimension of Liturgy and Architecture of Reception at the Caliphal and Byzantine Courts in the 10th Century (Language: English) Alessandro Tosini, Dipartimento interateneo Scienze, Progetto e Politiche del Territorio, Politecnico di Torino Index terms: Architecture - Secular, Byzantine Studies, Islamic and Arabic Studies, Liturgy
Paper 1514-b	Playing the Great Game: Armenian Nobility and Its Foreign Politics from the 9th to the 11th Centuries (Language: English) Federico Alpi, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche del Mondo Antico, Università di Pisa Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Genealogy and Prosopography, Islamic and Arabic Studies, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1514-c	The Imperial Connections of the Kingdom of Sicily under William I (Language: English) Hervin Fernández-Aceves, School of History, University of Leeds Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Computing in Medieval Studies, Genealogy and Prosopography, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract	The Imperial Courts of the Middle Ages were complex frameworks of international exchange. Cross-cultural interactions determined the formation of relational, diplomatic and liturgical scenarios, that can be understood by considering their global dimension. Investigation on related themes overcomes traditional borders among disciplines, as different kinds of comparative approaches are proposed in the session. The interaction among Courts of Imperial Rank led to the adoption of common paradigms of Power Display (e.g. the 'Throne of Solomon'); meanwhile, the contact with the 'Empire' brought regional Courts to find their own international role in the Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern Area, according to different models and circumstances.