About
The Byzantine Worlds Seminar provides a venue for exploring the material and intellectual entanglements between the medieval worlds of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Byzantinists have long appreciated the need to look beyond the political boundaries of the empire. However, recent international conferences and projects devoted to 'Global Byzantium' and mobility within and beyond Byzantium have reaffirmed the need for scholars and students to incorporate into their work newly-developing research agendas on material evidence from around the globe, as well as on texts preserved in a wide array of medieval languages. Specialists from different disciplines, departments and institutions need venues to facilitate this kind of collaboration and research cross-fertilisation. Yet the concentration of specialists required to do this has been long hindered by the liminal place of Byzantium and its neighbours within traditional university departments. Cambridge, however, has a critical mass of researchers in these fields and is well placed to become an important hub for the study of the worlds of Byzantium and its neighbours.
The seminar builds on the existing work of the Cambridge Byzantine Seminar and the Cambridge Late Antique Network Seminar, and invites the involvements of historians, archaeologists, classicists, theologians and specialists in the languages and cultures of Afro-Eurasia. This expanded research community seeks to contribute to wider discussions across the University about global connections and cultural diversity before the era of European colonialism.
The seminar, which meets fortnightly during each Full Term, presents the research of speakers from within and outside of Cambridge. Invitations seek to ensure a balance of junior and more established scholars with an emphasis placed on broadening the diversity of backgrounds represented in the field.
We also run primary source reading groups in parallel with the seminar.
Reading Groups EasterTerm 2021:
- Byzantine Greek Reading Group: 10:00 am on alternate Wednesdays 28 April, 12 May, 26 May, and 9 June. For more information please contact Stephanie Forrest
- Medieval Arabic Reading Group: 12:00 noon on alternate Wednesdays, 5 May, 19 May, 2 June, and 16 June. For more information please contact Edward Zychowicz-Coghill
- Classical Armenian Reading Group: 10:00 am on alternate Tuesdays 4 May, 18 May, 1 June, and 15 June. For more information please contact Stephanie Forrest
- Old Church Slavonic Reading Group: 4:00 pm on alternate Mondays, 3 May, 17 May, 31 May, 14 June. For more information please contact Angus Russell
For further information see the programme, please.
To sign up to the Byzantine Worlds mailing list and receive email updates about future events please click here.
Administrative assistance: Networks@crassh.cam.ac.uk
Supported by CRASSH and Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (SPBS)
Convenors
Convenors
Dr Edward Zychowicz-Coghill (Christ's College, Junior Research Fellow, Faculty of Classics) [2018-21]
Stephanie Forrest (Pembroke College, PhD Candidate, Faculty of History) [2019-21]
Previous convenors
Dr Nicholas Evans (Clare College, Junior Research Fellow, Faculty of History) [2018-20]
Dr Louise Blanke (Research Associate, Impact of the Ancient City, Faculty of Classics) [2018-19]
Rosie Finlinson (PhD candidate Dept Slavonic Studies, Fitzwilliam College) [2018-19]
Faculty Advisors
Dr Peter Sarris (Reader in Late Roman, Medieval and Byzantine History)
Professor Simon Franklin (Professor of Slavonic Studies, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages)
Dr Caroline Goodson (University Lecturer in Early Medieval History)
Dr Elizabeth Key Fowden (Senior Research Associate, Faculty of Classics, Affiliated Researcher in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies)
Dr Mike Humphreys (Temporary Lecturer in Byzantine and Early Medieval History)
Programme 2020-21
All online events are scheduled at UK time. Please check time for individual events.
Easter Term 2021 tba
Byzantine Worlds |
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Thinking With Critical Race and Trans Studies in Byzantium 28 April 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) Roland Betancourt (California) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 1 28 April 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 1 03 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 1 04 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 1 05 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 2 12 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Ardashir I and Shapur I Face the West 12 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 2 17 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 2 18 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 2 19 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 3 26 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Anjar Reconsidered: A Preliminary Discussion of Recent Data From the Field 26 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) Aila Santi (Oxford) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 3 31 May 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 3 01 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 3 02 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Apostasy, Vacillation, and Muslim Women With Christian Men 09 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) Anna Chrysostomides (Queen Mary University of London) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 4 09 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 4 14 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 4 15 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 4 16 June 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Lent Term 2021
(Download the term poster here)
Byzantine Worlds |
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Byzantine Greek Reading Group 20 January 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 26 January 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 27 January 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 01 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
A Christian Insurgency in Islamic Syria: The Jarajima (Mardaites) 03 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) NB: Different time during Lent term Christian Sahner (Oxford). |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 03 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 09 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 10 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 15 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Reconsidering the Narrative of Identity in Byzantine Anatolia 17 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) NB: Different time during Lent term. Marica Cassis (Calgary). |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 17 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 23 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 24 February 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 01 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
‘The “Khārijite” Uprising of Muṭarrif b. al-Mughīra - Patterns of Rebellion in the Marwānid Period 03 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time). NB: Different time during Lent term. Hannah Hagemann (Hamburg). |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 03 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 09 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Old Church Slavonic Reading Group 15 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
The Patronage of the Rus’-born Duchess Gremislava (Grzymisława) of Kraków and Sandomierz (d. 1258) 17 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time). NB: Different time during Lent term. Talia Zajac (Manchester). |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 17 March 2021, ONLINE SESSION (UK Time) |
Michaelmas Term 2020
Byzantine Worlds |
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Byzantine Greek Reading Group 07 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 13 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 14 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Early Rus' Jewry: Byzantine Connections 14 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION (17:00 UK Time) Alexander Kulik (Jerusalem) |
'As We Heard from the Enemy Himself': Intercultural Transmission in Early Medieval Armenia 21 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION (18:00 UK Time) Alison Vacca (Tennessee, Knoxville) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 21 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 27 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 28 October 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Visions of Heaven and Hell: Byzantine Apocalyptic in the Seventh Century and Beyond 04 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION (10:00 UK Time) Bronwen Neil (Sydney) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 04 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 10 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 11 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
From Documents to the Digital Turn: Prosopography and Networks of the Lascarid Period 18 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION (10:00 UK Time) Ekaterini Mitsiou (Vienna) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 18 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Classical Armenian Reading Group 24 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Medieval Arabic Reading Group 25 November 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
The Emergence of Islam in its Pre-Islamic and Byzantine Contexts 02 December 2020, ONLINE SESSION (10:00 UK Time) Nadia El Cheikh (Beirut) |
Byzantine Greek Reading Group 02 December 2020, ONLINE SESSION |
Past Programmes
Programme 2019-20
Byzantine Worlds |
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Classical Armenian Session 1 08 October 2019, Seminar Room S2, 2nd Floor, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT. NB Different room today. Reading Group |
Byzantine Greek Session 1 16 October 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading group |
Classical Armenian Session 2 22 October 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
Weddings, Gifts and Paideia: Culture and Diplomatic Brides in Twelfth-Century Constantinople 23 October 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Foteini Spingou (Edinburgh) |
Byzantine Greek Session 2 30 October 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
Classical Armenian Session 3 05 November 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
The Empress’s New Clothes 06 November 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Petra Melichar (Prague) |
Byzantine Greek Session 3 13 November 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
Classical Armenian Session 4 19 November 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
Reconciling Stories of Decline in the Medieval Caucasus: Case Study from the Kura Plain, Azerbaijan 20 November 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Paul Wordsworth (Oxford) |
CANCELLED Byzantine Greek Session 4 27 November 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT |
CANCELLED Classical Armenian Session 5 03 December 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
CANCELLED Apostasy, Vacillation, and Muslim Women with Christian Men 04 December 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Anna Chrysostomides (Oxford) |
Pachymeres on the Acropolis at Sardis 15 January 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Benjamin Anderson (Cornell) |
Byzantine Greek – Reading Group 1 22 January 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT |
Byzantine Greek – Reading Group 2 05 February 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT |
The Anonymous Cosmographer Maps the Mediterranean (from Ravenna to the Black Sea) 12 February 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Judith Herrin (KCL) |
Byzantine Greek – Reading Group 3 19 February 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT |
CANCELLED: A Christian Insurgency in Islamic Syria: New Thoughts about the Jarājima/ Mardaites 26 February 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Christian Sahner (Oxford) |
CANCELLED: Byzantine Greek – Reading Group 4 04 March 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT |
CANCELLED: Visions of Heaven and Hell: Byzantine Apocalyptic in the Seventh Century 11 March 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Bronwen Neil (Macquarie University) |
CANCELLED: Apostasy, Vacillation, and Muslim Women With Christian Men:Abbasid Sources on Family Life 22 April 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Anna Chrysostomides (QMUL) |
POSTPONED Modes of Exchange in Late Antique and Medieval Eurasia 02 May 2020, Christ's College Cambridge, St Andrew's St, Cambridge CB2 3BU Workshop |
CANCELLED: From Documents to the Digital Turn: Prosopography, Space and Networks of the Lascarid P 06 May 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Ekaterini Mitsiou (Frankfurt) |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 06 May 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
CANCELLED: A Christian Insurgency in Islamic Syria: New Thoughts about the Jarājima/ Mardaites 20 May 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Christian Sahner (Oxford) |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 20 May 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 26 May 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Arabic Reading Group 27 May 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
CANCELLED: Byzantine Worlds 03 June 2020, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Petra Sijpesteijn (Leiden) |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 03 June 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 09 June 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Arabic Reading Group 10 June 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Slavonic Reading Group 15 June 2020, Online session 5.00pm BST |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 17 June 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 23 June 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Arabic Reading Group 24 June 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Slavonic Reading Group 29 June 2020, Online session 5.00pm BST |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 01 July 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 07 July 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Arabic Reading Group 08 July 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Slavonic Reading Group 13 July 2020, Online session 5.00pm BST |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 15 July 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 21 July 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Arabic Reading Group 22 July 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 04 August 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Byzantine Greek Reading Group 12 August 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
ONLINE Classical Armenian Reading Group 18 August 2020, Online session 10.00am BST |
Programme 2018-19
Byzantine Worlds |
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Markets Without (Much) Money: Exchange of Everyday Items in Italy Before 1000 03 October 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Caroline Goodson (Cambridge) - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 1 10 October 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Judicial Shaving in Middle Byzantium 17 October 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Mike Humphreys (Cambridge) - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 2 24 October 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
An Ekphrasis of the Hippodrome Scenes in Kyivan Sophia 31 October 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Robert Romanchuk (Florida State U) and Brad Hostetler (Kenyon College) - Byzantine Worlds |
The Old Slavic Digenis Akritis: Its Origin, ‘Formulaic Style,’ and Problems of Its Edition 02 November 2018, Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP Robert Romanchuk (Florida State University) - Joint Postgraduate Workshop Byzantine Worlds/Cambridge Ukrainian Studies. |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 3 07 November 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
The Experience of Mobility and Migration in Byzantium 14 November 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Claudia Rapp (Vienna) - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 4 21 November 2018, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
CANCELLED: Is Kiev Writing Really Muscovite? The Texts and Contexts of Slav Rus pre-1500 16 January 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Jana Howlett (Cambridge) - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 1 16 January 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Viewing St Catherine's Monastery at Sinai 23 January 2019, 4a Trumpington Street, Department of History of Art, Cambridge Robin Cormack (Cambridge), Maria Vassilaki (Thessaly) - Joint session Byzantine Worlds and Cambridge Art History Research Seminar |
Military Administration in Byzantine Africa: New Evidence 30 January 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Vivien Prigent (CNRS, Paris/Maison Française d'Oxford)- Byzantine Worlds |
POSTPONED to 6 Feb.Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 2 30 January 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 2 06 February 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Councils in Perspective: A Colloquium in the Research of Late-Antique Christian Synods 11 February 2019, Thirkill Room, Old Court, Clare College, Cambridge Marek Jankowiak (Oxford), Richard Price (London) et al. - Joint event Byzantine Worlds/Senior Patristics Seminar (Divinity) |
Translating Sex in the Medical Literature of Muscovite Rus 13 February 2019, Seminar Room, SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Rosie Finlison (Cambridge) - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 3 13 February 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Dalmatius, Eutyches, Victor and the Transmission of Consensus in Christological Controversies 27 February 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Luise Marion Frenkel (São Paulo)- Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 4 27 February 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Attempts at Imitations: Byzantine and Islamic Army and Administration 13 March 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Marie Legendre (Edinburgh) - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text RG 5 13 March 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road Reading group - Byzantine Worlds |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text 1 01 May 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
The Last Orders of Antiquity: Constantinopolitan Trends and Provincial Countercultures 08 May 2019, Seminar Room, SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Allison Kidd (Edinburgh) |
Aristotle in Late Antique Dialogues and Beyond 15 May 2019, Different venue and day. Trinity College, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ Dawn LaValle Norman (Australia) |
The 'Imperiality' of Sicily as Seen by Arab Writers 22 May 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Annliese Nef (Paris) |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text 2 29 May 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |
Byzantine Ceramics from Sagalassos: A New Window on the Late Antique Economy 05 June 2019, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Sophie Moore (Cardiff University) |
Byzantine Greek Primary Text 3 12 June 2019, Different room today. Seminar Room SG1, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT Reading Group |