IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 730: Comparative Approaches to Medieval Governance in Border Zones, I

Tuesday 7 July 2020, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI) / University of Tokyo
Organiser:	Hisatsugu Kusabu, Department of History, University of Chicago, Illinois
Moderator/Chair:	Marek Jankowiak, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
Paper 730-a	Komnenian Titles and Court Ranks Reconsidered (Language: English) Hisatsugu Kusabu, Department of History, University of Chicago, Illinois Index terms: Administration, Byzantine Studies, Genealogy and Prosopography, Historiography - Medieval
Paper 730-b	Network and Governance in the Byzantine-Armenian Frontier, c. 900-1050 (Language: English) Kosuke Nakada, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews Index terms: Administration, Byzantine Studies, Local History, Military History
Paper 730-c	Crossing a Legal-Cultural Border: A Legislation of Otto I in Italy (Language: English) Takanori Shibata, Department of Occidental History University of Tokyo / Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Index terms: Administration, Archives and Sources, Law, Social History
Abstract	The flexibility in medieval court governance especially in the face of political difficulties in legal and cultural border zones, deserves more historical attention, especially given the ongoing reconsideration of modern western conceptualizations of political history. The analyses of governance adopted in border conflicts by the medieval Armenian Kingdom, the Komnenian Court, and the Ottonian Empire shed light on the often improvised but remarkably effective management of their diplomatic communications, restructuring of court hierarchies, and application of the law to the foreigners. Medieval empires were well acquainted with issues related to borderlands, which allows for a comparative approach.