Übung Mittelalterliche Geschichte: Byzanz im Fokus der prosopographischen Forschung
Instructors: PD Dr. Thomas PratschShortname: Ü.Mittelalter.Gesch.
Course No.: 07.068.150
Course Type: Übung
Contents
Commentary:1. The Background
What is prosopography? And what is prosopographical research? Where are the roots of prosopographical research? Which renowned German historian and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature has a strong connection to prosopographical research? How did prosopographical research come to Byzantium? Or, the question asked differently: How did it come about that the Byzantine Empire got so strongly in the focus of prosopographical research? What is the present state of affairs in this research field or "Hilfswissenschaft"?
2. The Corpora
Which prosopographical corpora are existing, and how did they develop? What is the chronological order of the development of these prosopographical corpora? What is the accessible form of these prosopographical works? Prosopographia Imperii Romani, Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit, Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire, Prosopography of the Byzantine World, Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, what do these titles actually mean and stand for? Is the Byzantine Empire completely covered by prosopographical research? Where are possible deficits and gaps and why?
3. The Method
What is so special about the prosopographical method in comparison with earlier historical research? What did the older methods look like? What are the modern trends in the whole field of historical research? What is the relationship between prosopographical research and modern specializations in the framework of historical research in general such as social history, economic history, military history, etc.? Why is the prosopographical research so valuable for the gain of knowledge in historical research?
4. The Lemmata
What is especially peculiar or noticeable regarding the inividual personal articles (lemmata)? Which conclusions can vice versa be drawn with a view to the source value?
These are the questions we will try to answer and discuss in the course of this session (Übung). To be able to find answers to the points 3 and 4, we will thoroughly analyse some selected personal articles (lemmata). Furthermore, we will discuss problems regarding the compilation of a prosopographical corpus as well as traditional and modern forms of publication.
Dates
| Date (Day of the week) | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 04/15/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 04/22/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 04/29/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 05/06/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 05/13/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 05/20/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 05/27/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 06/03/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 06/10/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 06/17/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 06/24/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 07/01/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
| 07/08/2026 (Wednesday) | 14:15 - 15:45 | 00 014 SR 01 9125 - Bausparkasse Mainz |
