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IMC 2023: Sessions

Session 1520: Entangled Semantics of Power between East and West, I: Lost in Translation - Chancery Habits, Institutional Language, and Diplomatic Practices in the 1192 Byzantine Chrysobull to Pisa

Thursday 6 July 2023, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:Luisa Andriollo, ERC Project ACO, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
Moderator/Chair:Cristina Rognoni, Dipartimento Culture e Società, Università degli Studi di Palermo
Paper 1520-aPisan Civitas and Byzantine Megalopolis in the Chrysobull of 1192: Spaces, Institutions, and Men
(Language: English)
Luisa Andriollo, ERC Project ACO, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Charters and Diplomatics, Mentalities, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1520-bLaw and Diplomacy in the Chrysobull of 1192
(Language: English)
Daphne Penna, Sectie Rechtsgeschiedenis, Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Charters and Diplomatics, Law, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1520-cRepresentation of Power between East and West: Material Aspects of the Chrysobull of 1192 and Its Latin Translation
(Language: English)
Maria Cristina Rossi, Dipartimento di Civiltà e Forme del Sapere, Università di Pisa
Carlo Pernigotti, Dipartimento di Fililogia, letteratura e linguistica, Università di Pisa
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Greek, Language and Literature - Latin, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Abstract

In 1192 Isaac II Angelos confirmed and enhanced the commercial privileges enjoyed by Pisa within the Byzantine Empire. The resulting chrysobull, preserved in the Greek original and in Latin translation, traces the eventful story of diplomatic negotiations in considerable detail, and deserves to be studied as a witness to cross-cultural political communication. How could alien political realities, institutional behaviours, and juridical practices be named and made intelligible in a stratified bilingual act? How did scribal and chancery habits adapt to express authority and trustworthiness in an 'internationally recognizable' way?