The Byzantine Presence between Black Sea and Baltic: Political, Ecclesiastical, and Cultural Trends in Late Medieval Northern East-Central Europe, National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Vilnius) & Online, May 30–31, 2024

This international conference aims to bridge a gap in the study of relations between late medieval Byzantium and its neighbours in northern East-Central Europe. Looking at the issue of Byzantium’s political and cultural impact – or otherwise – on these territories (defined as present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine), it considers what kind of interests, interest-groups and beliefs were in play in the interactions between Byzantium and subject populations, elites and overlords in the region.

The conference forms part of “Byzantium and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: the interface between the secular and the ecclesiastical spheres in the 14th–15th centuries”, a project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (Contract No. S-MIP-22-15).