24th International Medieval Congress

The Freshfield Album: General view of St Sofia, adjacent buildings, and the three monuments in the Hippodrome. Trinity College Library, Cambridge (O.17.2, f. 20). Image: © Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Conference Date: Jul 03, 2017–Jul 06, 2017 Location: University of Leeds Leeds UK Session Title: Byzantine Exceptionalism: New Perspectives (Session 109) Session Date: Jul 03, 2017 (11:15 AM - 12:45 PM)

Byzantine Exceptionalism: New Perspectives

The debate about the place of Byzantium in the premodern world is far from finished. Was Byzantium simply Rome and thus incomprehensible in comparison with anything else? Was it instead just another medieval state, among many? Was it “other” or were its neighbors “other” to it? This panel uses archaeological, art historical, and historical perspectives, as well as new vantage points, including Rome, Muscovy and Egypt, to look at the place of Byzantium in the medieval world. This discussion will help medievalists, Byzantinists, and others think through their characterization of not just Byzantium but their own objects of study.