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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 1326: New Approaches to Refugees and Displaced Persons in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, II

Wednesday 6 July 2016, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin
Organisers:Guido M. Berndt, Geschichte der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters, Freie Universität Berlin
Roland Steinacher, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Moderator/Chair:Stuart Airlie, School of Humanities (History), University of Glasgow
Paper 1326-a'The Other Völkerwanderung': Some Thoughts on the Displacement of Roman Refugees in the Early Medieval West
(Language: English)
Thomas Brown, School of History, Classics & Archaeology, University of Edinburgh
Index terms: Demography, Social History
Paper 1326-bDiffering Fates?: Roman and Barbarian Refugees and Displaced Persons: Some Case Studies
(Language: English)
Guido M. Berndt, Geschichte der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters, Freie Universität Berlin
Index terms: Demography, Historiography - Medieval, Military History, Social History
Paper 1326-cThe 'Migration Period' in Africa: Questions of Refugees and Migration around the Sahara in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
(Language: English)
Philipp von Rummel, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Demography, Military History, Social History
Paper 1326-dByzantines, Petchenegs, and Cumans: The Crimea and the Population Movements of the Northern Black Sea Area since the 10th Century
(Language: English)
Thomas Brüggemann, Institut für Klassiche Altertumswissenschaften, Martin Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg
Index terms: Demography, Historiography - Medieval, Social History
Abstract

According to the UN, the number of refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people worldwide has, for the first time in the post-World War Two era, exceeded 50 million people. Between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages numbers were considerably smaller. Since the 16th century, however, modern research labelled the period Völkerwanderungszeit ('migration period'), evoking images of large groups of peoples on the move. To a certain extent Roman sources provided the basis for these valuations describing ongoing Roman civil wars as invasions and a barbarian takeover. Our sessions will deal with the fate of refugees, possible reasons of migrations, and question the narratives of barbarians versus Romans. Furthermore, we will discuss not only the evolution of historical narratives since the modern era, but also the way pre-modern scholars thought of refugees and population movements.