Proposal a) The social consequences and repercussions of war in the mid-Byzantine era
Wars often fall into oblivion once the military conflict has been decided, not only in research but also in Byzantine historical sources, both literary and pictorial. The direct and indirect repercussions for the society concerned are often poorly documented and require the combined analysis of numerous sources. This project addresses the secondary effects of warfare and the military in Byzantium, such as the loss of goods and chattels, bodily injuries, captivity and slavery, and also contribution in the form of billeting troops, socage and requisition. The consequences of war are seen as a phenomenon which effected transformation in society as a whole through destruction, migration and a scarcity of resources. It also produced certain patterns of perception and representation, for example in literary depictions of destruction or in pious practices such as the veneration of patron icons.
Proposal b) The oeuvre of war and love in the Byzantine novel
This project addresses two Byzantine romances, the verse romance Rhodanthe und Dosicles (ca. 1135) by the distinguished author Theodoros Prodromos in antique-like Greek, and the anonymous mid 14th century tale of Achilles, written in a vernacular idiom. Both texts are set in a fictive antiquity, contain lengthy descriptions of fighting and battles and establish a direct association between war and love. The intention is to analyse how war and love, special rituals and the cult of the god of love are interconnected. How is the attitude of “warlike” men to love and of “peaceful” women to war constructed in the romances, taking into account the fear of feminising men and of masculinising women in a love that is depicted as war.
Proposal c) The role of icons and relics in Byzantine war culture (in co-operation with Prof. Dr. Ute Verstegen, Christian Archaeology/Byzantine art history
Links between military activities and Christian cult objects are often found in historiographical sources and in mid-Byzantine panegyric rhetoric. However, there is no synopsis of the ideological exploitation of icons and relics to legitimise warfare (Stephenson offers a review). It is, for example, unclear whether these objects were taken on every campaign or only when the emperor participated. A further question is which objects (relics or icons) were chosen in the course of time and which saints they represented (military saints, mother of god etc.).