Scholl, Christian; Gebhardt, Torben R.; Clauß, Jan, eds. (2017):
Transcultural Approaches to the Concept of Imperial Rule in the Middle Ages. Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien: Peter Lang
Anthology
Abstract

During the Middle Ages, rulers from different regions aspired to an idea of imperial hegemony. On the other hand, there were rulers who deliberately refused to be «emperors», although their reign showed characteristics of imperial rule. The contributions in this volume ask for the reasons why some rulers such as Charlemagne strove for imperial titles, whereas others voluntarily shrank from them. They also look at the characteristics of and rituals connected to imperial rule as well as to the way Medieval empires saw themselves. Thus, the authors in this volume adopt a transcultural perspective, covering Western, Eastern, Northern and Southern Europe, Byzantium and the Middle East. Furthermore, they go beyond the borders of Christianity by including various caliphates and Islamic «hegemonic» rulers like Saladin.


Christian Scholl, Torben R. Gebhardt, Jan Clauß: "Transcultural Approaches to the Concept of Imperial Rule in the Middle Ages: Introduction" 7 // Christian Scholl: "Imitatio Imperii? Elements of Imperial Rule in the Barbarian Successor States of the Roman West" 19 // Sebastian Kolditz: "Barbarian Emperors? Aspects of the Byzantine Perception of the qaghan (chaganos) in the Earlier Middle Ages" 41 // Jan Clauß: "Imports and Embargos of Imperial Concepts in the Frankish Kingdom. The Promotion of Charlemagne’s Imperial Coronation in Carolingian Courtly Culture" 77 // Simon Groth: "How to Become Emperor – John VIII and the Role of the Papacy in the 9th Century" 117 // Jessika Nowak: "Imperial Aspirations in Provence and Burgundy" 139 // Torben R. Gebhardt: "From Bretwalda to Basileus: Imperial Concepts in Late Anglo-Saxon England?" 157 // Nadeem Khan: "The Caliphates between Imperial Rule and Imagined Suzerainty – A Case Study on Imperial Rituals during Saladin’s Rise to Power" 185 // Tobias Hoffmann: "Von verlorenen Hufeisen und brennenden Nüssen - Über Konflikte im Rahmen des 'diplomatischen' Zeremoniells des byzantinischen Kaiserhofes" 221 // Roland Scheel: "Byzantium – Rome – Denmark – Iceland: Dealing with Imperial Concepts in the North" 245 // Stefan Burkhardt: "Intoxication with Virtuality. French Princes and Aegean Titles" 295 // Grischa Vercamer: "Imperiale Konzepte in der mittelalterlichen Historiographie Polens vom 12. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert" 321 //