IMC 2015: Sessions

Paper -a:
The research carried on the upper Iregua Valley (La Rioja, Spain) shows a foundation, use and abandon of a network of castra (hill forts) and turris of signals in a brief period of time (640-720 EC).

An important point is the complex 'poliorcetic' systems of defence of some hill forts. The study of a few Byzantine military treatises reveals Byzantine influences on the parameters of these castra. But not only that… some of these variables have a clear classical reference in Roman times.

In the end, is exposed a hypothesis of interpretation of these specific settlements and their possible functions.

Paper -b:
Historic Istanbul, which is located on a peninsula, was surrounded by land and sea walls continuously as the centre of the Byzantine Empire. The Sea Walls, which form the coastal defense line of Constantinople, had significant repairs and renovations during the Middle Ages. Today, only some parts of the towers and walls are intact, and there are construction techniques which reveal medieval traces on the surviving parts. Within this research, medieval repairs and renewals on Istanbul Sea Walls have been featured, analyzing and evaluating their remaining parts.

Paper -c:
Oral performance, including lecturing, cursing, and various other forms, has always played a significant role in medieval warfare both public and private. Relying on sources such as romances, chronicles, biographies, the paper presents this changing aspect of medieval warfare, relating it to changes in chivalry, social background, communities, military institutions, and especially to those changes which took place during the Hundred Years' War.