IMC 2017: Sessions

The session treats different forms of violence, performed by individuals and/or groups, comprising three different disciplines: medieval history, literary studies, and Byzantine studies. Each paper discusses the main topic choosing a different approach. The first paper treats the topic of violence in a legal source: The 11th-century Decretum of Burchard of Worms contains canons on capital crimes such as homicide, theft, perjury, and other. The paper analyses the specific view of a canonical source, using the example of violence against women and violence performed by groups. Paper (-b) also focusses on violence against women. In Heinrich von dem Türlin's Diu Crône, a late medieval Arthurian romance, the queen Ginover is abducted and raped, which represents an extreme form of violence against women. This episode demonstrates how language can be used either to diminish the cruelty of the assault or to focus on the actual violence. The third paper will examine the different dimensions of conflicts and violence against Westerners in 12th-century Byzantium and the role of otherness as conflict potential and / or justification for violence. An investigation of these aspects will contribute to a better understanding of violence and its reception in different cultural contexts.