Walter Pohl - Empires and Communities in the Post-Roman and Islamic World, C. 400-1000 CE

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Pohl, Walter, 1953- editor, author. |

Kramer, Rutger, editor, author.

Title: Empires and communities in the post-Roman and Islamic world,

c. 4001000 CE / edited by Walter Pohl and Rutger Kramer.

Description: New York : Oxford University Press, [2021] |

Series: Oxford studies in early empires |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020041478 (print) | LCCN 2020041479 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780190067946 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190067960 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: ImperialismHistoryTo 1500. | Civilization, Medieval. |

Middle Ages. | Islamic EmpireHistory. |

EthnicityHistoryTo 1500. | East and West.

Classification: LCC CB353 .E526 2021 (print) |

LCC CB353 (ebook) | DDC 909.07dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041478

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041479

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190067946.001.0001

Walter Pohl and Rutger Kramer

Hugh Kennedy

Walter Pohl

Walter Pohl and Hugh Kennedy

Peter Webb

John Haldon

Leslie Brubaker and Chris Wickham

Daniel Reynolds

Stefan Esders and Helmut Reimitz

Rutger Kramer

Peter Webb

Petra M. Sijpesteijn

Chris Wickham

This volume is the result of a memorable collaborative effort. The authors of the chapters met in Vienna four times to discuss topics, presentations, and drafts of papers, in order to arrive at a more differentiated picture of the relationship between late antique and early medieval empires and particular communities within their range of control. Specialists in the late antique/early medieval West, Byzantium, and the early Islamic period contributed their different perspectives on the Roman Empires in East and West and the Umayyad/Abbasid caliphates. Rather than using a strict common grid of questions and criteria, we worked with the different angles that emerged from a divergent source base and disciplinary state of the art, and we explored differences and commonalities resulting from the various case studies. It was an intellectually stimulating venture, and we hope that readers will be able to share some of this experience.

This collaboration was made possible by a large interdisciplinary project funded by the Austrian Research Council, Fonds zur Frderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in sterreich (FWF): Visions of Community: Comparative Approaches to Ethnicity, Region and Empire in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism (4001600 CE) (VISCOM) F 42G 18, a Spezialforschungsbereich (SFB) that was active from 2011 to 2019 and involved medieval history, social anthropology, Islamic studies, and Buddhist studies. It was based both at the University of Vienna and at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The working group was hosted by the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy. The editors are grateful to all institutions involved, and especially to Nicola Edelmann for her tireless efforts helping to bring this volume to fruition.

Leslie Brubaker

Professor of Byzantine Art

Director of Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies

Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies

University of Birmingham

Stefan Esders

Professor of Late Antique and Early Medieval History

Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut

Freie Universitt, Berlin

John Haldon

Emeritus Shelby Cullom Davis 30

Professor of European History

Emeritus Professor of Byzantine

History and Hellenic Studies

History Department

Princeton University

Hugh Kennedy

Professor of Arabic

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

University of London

Rutger Kramer

Assistant Professor

Department of History, Art History and Classics

Radboud Institute for Culture and History

Radboud University, Nijmegen

Walter Pohl

Director of the Institute for Medieval Research

Austrian Academy of Sciences

Professor of Medieval History

University of Vienna

Helmut Reimitz

Professor of History

Director of the Program in Medieval Studies

History Department

Princeton University

Daniel Reynolds

Lecturer in Byzantine History

Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies

University of Birmingham

Petra M. Sijpesteijn

Professor of Arabic

Faculty of Humanities

Leiden Institute for Area Studies

Leiden University

Peter Webb

Lecturer in Arabic

Leiden Institute for Area Studies

Faculty of Humanities

Leiden University

Chris Wickham

Emeritus Chichele Professor of Medieval History

Faculty of History

University of Oxford