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  • Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period (MEDCON) Funded... moreedit
Research Interests:
Presentation for the "Austrian Days of Digital Humanities" (December 1st-3rd 2014, Vienna) on the new project funded within the go!digital-programme of the Austrian Ministry of Science and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
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Das neue Projekt „Mapping Medieval Conflicts“ an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW) untersucht Konflikte im Mittelalter mit digitalen Methoden der Netzwerkanalyse. Hier eine kurze Zusammenfassung einiger Thesen,... more
Das neue Projekt „Mapping Medieval Conflicts“ an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW) untersucht Konflikte im Mittelalter mit digitalen Methoden der Netzwerkanalyse. Hier eine kurze Zusammenfassung einiger Thesen, Konzepte und Beispiele.
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The new project „Mapping Medieval Conflicts“ at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW) analyses conflicts in the Middle Ages with the help of digital tools of network analysis
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Das neue Projekt „Mapping Medieval Conflicts“ an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW) untersucht Konflikte im Mittelalter mit digitalen Methoden der Netzwerkanalyse
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Visualisation of the workflow and dissemination strategies of the project "Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period (MEDCON)" funded within the go!digital-framework of the Austrian... more
Visualisation of the workflow and dissemination strategies of the project "Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period (MEDCON)" funded within the go!digital-framework of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and hosted at the Institute for Medieval Research of the OEAW in Vienna.
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This short study is a first attempt to apply some tools which have been adopted for the analysis of temporal dynamics in the Late Medieval Period† to the early medieval world. The study is also inspired by the recent works of... more
This short study is a first attempt to apply some tools which have been adopted for the analysis of
temporal dynamics in the Late Medieval Period† to the early medieval world. The study is also
inspired by the recent works of KOKKONEN/SUNDELL (2012), who inspected if primogeniture influenced
the durability of reigns in Europe in the period between 1000 and 1800 CE, and of BLAYDES/CHANEY
(2013), who analysed for a big sample of polities the dynamics of ruler change for medieval Europe
and the Islamic world before 1500 CE. The aim of the present study is more modest and does not
include the creation of elaborate mathematical models as did KOKKONEN/SUNDELL and BLAYDES/CHANEY.
With several statistical tools, a smaller sample of polities in the period 0-800 CE is inspected with
regard to the sequence and duration of reigns, differentiated along the qualification if a reign was
initiated “violently” or “non-violently”. Thereby, the general durability of reigns, the possible
persistency of periods of frequent violent ruler-change and the temporal dynamics of these “games
of thrones”, which not only affected rulers and dynasties as well as courts and nobilities, but also
entire societies and polities, across longer periods of time will be illustrated. Differences and
commonalities of polities from various regions of the early medieval world will become visible. At the
same time, the value of such quantitative analyses for research on a period for which source
evidence is often characterised as insufficient for such attempts will be highlighted.
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Within this paper, the focus on one selected and relatively well-documented elite family within a well-studied period of Byzantine history (I refer to the older works of Seibt, Winkelmann and Kazhdan and more recent studies of Cheynet,... more
Within this paper, the focus on one selected and relatively well-documented elite family within a well-studied period of Byzantine history (I refer to the older works of Seibt, Winkelmann and Kazhdan and more recent studies of Cheynet, Holmes, Beihammer and Haldon) allows us to reflect on the relational framework of the emergence and dynamics of elite status and elite networks, which may be of interest also for other cases across the medieval world.
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The 14th century in Byzantium was a time of both exogenous pressure and internal conflict within the elite, starting with the civil wars between the factions of the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III in the... more
The 14th century in Byzantium was a time of both exogenous pressure and internal conflict within the elite, starting with the civil wars between the factions of the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III in the years 1321-1328. In order to analyse the structure and composition of these factions, on the basis of both diplomatic and narrative sources, we created a network model of the “dynatoi”, the most powerful noblemen for the period from 1315 to 1321, with 139 nodes and 381 ties (of family connections, allegiance and alliance)
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Presentation given at the 2014 EEA Conference in Istanbul at the Session "Old Worlds, New Histories: Towards an Integration Of Archaeological And Historical Data-Sets". OpenATLAS will provide the data base infrastructure for Mapping... more
Presentation given at the 2014 EEA Conference in Istanbul at the Session  "Old Worlds, New Histories: Towards an Integration Of Archaeological And Historical Data-Sets".

OpenATLAS will provide the data base infrastructure for Mapping Medieval Conflicts.
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Poster presented at the CHNT-Conference 2014 in Vienna. (with Viktor Jansa). This poster won the Award in the Category "Cultural Heritage"
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Johannes Preiser-Kapeller is the PI of the MEDCON and responsible for the case study on 14th century Byzantium.
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Sonja Dünnebeil is Researcher at the Institute for Medieval Research of the ÖAW, working on the Edition of the proceedings of the Order of Golden Fleece, refunded by the FWF P 25157-G18 „ The Order of Golden Fleece between Loyalty and... more
Sonja Dünnebeil is Researcher at the Institute for Medieval Research of the ÖAW, working on the Edition of the proceedings of the Order of Golden Fleece, refunded by the FWF P 25157-G18 „ The Order of Golden Fleece between Loyalty and Felony (1484-1493)“. Within MEDCON, she is responsible for the case study on Factions and alliances in the fight of Maximilian I for Burgundy.
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Stefan Eichert is a specialist for the archaeology of early medieval Central Europe as well as for archaeological databasis and GIS-analysis; within MEDCON he is responsible for the adaptation and further development of the data base... more
Stefan Eichert is a specialist for the archaeology of early medieval Central Europe as well as for archaeological databasis and GIS-analysis; within MEDCON he is responsible for the adaptation and further development of the data base system OpenATLAS, invented by him.
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Kornelia Holzner-Tobisch is head of the department Regesta Imperii Wien (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/editionsunternehmen-und-quellenforschung-mir/ag-regesta-imperii/) at IMAFO. Within MEDCON, she is responsible for the... more
Kornelia Holzner-Tobisch is head of the department Regesta Imperii Wien (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/editionsunternehmen-und-quellenforschung-mir/ag-regesta-imperii/) at IMAFO. Within MEDCON, she is responsible for the case study "Emperor Frederick III and the League of the Mailberger coalition in 1451/52".
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Günter Katzler is Research fellow at the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the FWF Project „Balancing Power: Sigismund’s Politics in Constance 1414–1418“. Within MEDCON, he is responsible for the... more
Günter Katzler is Research fellow at the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the FWF Project „Balancing Power: Sigismund’s Politics in Constance 1414–1418“. Within MEDCON, he is responsible for the casestudy on the conflict between Emperor Sigismund and Frederick IV, Duke of Austria and Tyrol, at the time of the Council of Constance.
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Andrea Rzihacek is head of the workinggroup “Wiener Diplomata-Abteilung der Monumenta Germaniae Historica” at the IMAFO and within MEDCON together with Renate Spreitzer responsible for the case study "Fluctuation between opposing parties... more
Andrea Rzihacek is head of the workinggroup “Wiener Diplomata-Abteilung der Monumenta Germaniae Historica” at the IMAFO and within MEDCON together with Renate Spreitzer responsible for the case study "Fluctuation between opposing parties in the struggle for the German throne 1198-1208"
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Renate Spreitzer is Researcher at the Institute für Medieval Research and member of the working group Wiener Diplomata-Abteilung der Monumenta Germaniae Historica... more
Renate Spreitzer is Researcher at the Institute für Medieval Research and member of the working group Wiener Diplomata-Abteilung der Monumenta Germaniae Historica (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/editionsunternehmen-und-quellenforschung-mir/ag-diplomata-der-mgh/). Within MEDCON, she is working on the case study on "Fluctuations between opposing parties in the struggle for the German throne 1198-1208" together with Andrea Rzihacek
Research Interests:
• Fluctuation between opposing parties in the struggle for the German throne 1198-1208 (A. Rzihacek, R. Spreitzer) After Emperor Henry VI´s death the majority of the German princes elected his younger brother Philipp of Swabia as king,... more
• Fluctuation between opposing parties in the struggle for the German throne 1198-1208
(A. Rzihacek, R. Spreitzer)
After Emperor Henry VI´s death the majority of the German princes elected his younger brother Philipp of Swabia as king, whereas a minor part chose the Guelph Otto IV, which caused years of political unrest, fluctuating coalitions and violent encounters. By 1208, due to Philipp´s success, the pope was considering to crown him emperor, when Philipp was assassinated in June the same year, leaving Otto to gain the imperial crown in 1209. The study will investigate the two parties of electors of 1198, the fluctuation between the two groups and their alliances with external powers, such as the Papacy, France, England and Byzantium.

• Coalitions in the war of Emperor Sigismund against Duke Frederick IV of Tyrol
(G. Katzler)
The Council of Constance (1414–1418) saw the outbreak of a conflict between Emperor Sigismund and the Duke Frederick IV of Tyrol over predominance in the German south-west. In a short period of time, the king managed to win several local nobles and towns to join him in a war (“Reichskrieg”), with numerous former allies of the duke using the opportunity to change sides. Eventually, the network of coalitions and loyalties proved so strong on both sides that the war resulted in a peace from which neither side emerged as a winner.

• Emperor Frederick III and the League of the Mailberger coalition in 1451/52 (K. Holzner-Tobisch)
The League of Mailberg (1451), which was formed against Emperor Frederick III (1440-1493), is generally seen as one of the most powerful political movements of the estates in Austrian history. It found its “material” manifestation in a charter featuring as many as 254 seals and bears witness of a very dense and successful structure of communication (fig. 2). Establishing this network of opposing aristocrats, prelates and towns extended over a period of several months. It also provided the basis for a supra-regional alliance with Hungary and the Counts of Cilli against Frederick III.

• Factions and alliances in the fight of Maximilian I for Burgundy (S. Dünnebeil)
The Dukes of Burgundy reigned over a conglomeration of dominions that lacked a common identity and were only held together by means of a strict regime. After the last male descendant had died, Mary was left as sole heiress who, in an effort to safeguard her inheritance, married the emperor´s son, Maximilian I. Mary´s death in 1482 resulted in a breakdown of law and order, which prompted various individuals and groups to secure their share of power. The network analysis aims at a structural survey of the various groups in this time of crisis between 1482 and 1488. Furthermore, it will shed light on the motives of the persons involved.

• Political factions in 14th cent. Byzantium (J. Preiser-Kapeller)
The 14th century in Byzantium was a time of both exogenous pressure and internal conflict within the elite, starting with the civil wars between the factions of the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III in the years 1321-1328 until the conflict between John V, Manuel II and John VII in 1390. We will map and analyse the networks of these rulers and their followers for several time slices in their temporal and spatial dynamics.
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Die Presse, July 25th 2015 http://diepresse.com/home/science/4784265/Eine-unbequeme-Goldkette?_vl_backlink=%2Fhome%2Fscience%2Findex.do Article on Sonja Dünnebeil and her project on the edition of the protocols of the Order of the... more
Die Presse, July 25th 2015
http://diepresse.com/home/science/4784265/Eine-unbequeme-Goldkette?_vl_backlink=%2Fhome%2Fscience%2Findex.do

Article on Sonja Dünnebeil and her project on the edition of the protocols of the Order of the Golden Fleede.
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Presentation for "Digital humanities: New tools for the medievalist" (Namur - Louvain, 7-8 May 2018):... more
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Paper for the conference "From the Human Body to the Universe... Spatialities of Byzantine Culture" (Uppsala, 18-21 May 2017): https://www.byzantinespace.net/ Kinetic Byzantium: space, mobility and imperial practices Based on his study... more
Paper for the conference "From the Human Body to the Universe... Spatialities of Byzantine Culture" (Uppsala, 18-21 May 2017): https://www.byzantinespace.net/

Kinetic Byzantium: space, mobility and imperial practices 
Based on his study of the development of the nomadic Comanche polity in the Great Plains of North America in the 18th century CE, Pekka Hämäläinen developed the concept of “kinetic empire” as “a flexible imperial organization that revolves around a set of mobile activities and relies on selective nodal control of key resources” (Hämäläinen 2013). It highlights the emergence of imperial patterns of organisation and of perception of space from a complex interplay of cultural practices and natural as well as geopolitical environmental conditions.
This paper will explore this theoretical framework and its applicability both on (nomadic) empires adjacent to Byzantium as well as on the Byzantine Empire itself. For this purpose, the spatial and temporal dynamics of practices regarding the (mental) mapping of and control over space in Byzantium and neighbouring polities will be explored and compared both from a (empire-wide) macro-perspective and from a regional view, especially on frontier areas of direct confrontation of competing imperial formations (e. g. in Eastern Anatolia, the Black Sea and Caucasus-region or at the Danube). Special attention will be paid to topographical and environmental parameters, (divergent) practices for the exploitation and appropriation of natural resources, imperial ideologies and imaginations and the role of mobility (of people, objects and ideas) respectively its control. In addition, tools and methods of Historical GIS and network analysis will be used to survey and map short and long term patterns of power and mobility. Thereby, the Byzantine case will be localised within a comparative study of imperial ecologies and spatial practices in the pre-modern period and to highlight the contribution of the interplay between competing imperial formations for the maintenance or change of these practices. It shall become clear to what extent also Byzantium had to become a “kinetic empire”, especially during the transitional period from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages.
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Presentation for Digital Humanities Abu Dhabi (#DHAD2017), 10-12 April 2017: https://wp.nyu.edu/dhad/ Digital tools allow for the combination of various layers of information referring to the same source, artefact, site or region;... more
Presentation for Digital Humanities Abu Dhabi (#DHAD2017), 10-12 April 2017: https://wp.nyu.edu/dhad/

Digital tools allow for the combination of various layers of information referring to the same source, artefact, site or region; multiplex visualisations emerging from such overlays can already provide new insights in the actual complex interplay of factors. Tools of quantitative and network analysis however enable us to not only visualise, but also to create models to determine possible correlations and weight potential impacts between socio-economic, cultural and environmental dynamics in a specific region across specific timespans, for instance.  This will be demonstrated for some examples from the transition zone between ancient and medieval Afro-Eurasia.
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Mellon Sawyer seminar: "Cultural and Textual Exchanges. The Manuscript across Premodern Eurasia" (University of Iowa, 2016-2017) http://eurasianmss.lib.uiowa.edu/ This Mellon Sawyer seminar is an interdisciplinary collaboration... more
Mellon Sawyer seminar: "Cultural and Textual Exchanges. The Manuscript across Premodern Eurasia" (University of Iowa, 2016-2017)

http://eurasianmss.lib.uiowa.edu/

This Mellon Sawyer seminar is an interdisciplinary collaboration dedicated to mapping cultural exchanges across Eurasia from roughly 400-1450 CE, by focusing on the development, distribution and sharing of manuscript technologies.

Approaches of „global“ and „entangled history“ in the last decades have opened new perspectives on the connections, commonalities, but also differences between regions, polities and cultures across medieval Afro-Eurasia. A number of ongoing projects at the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Vienna try to combine these approaches with concepts of network studies and complexity theory as well as various digital instruments (“Complexities and networks in the Medieval Mediterranean and Near East (COMMED)”: http://oeaw.academia.edu/TopographiesofEntanglements, “Entangled Worlds. Network analysis and complexity theory in historical and archaeological research”: http://www.dasanderemittelalter.net/conference-entangled-worlds/, and the Wittgenstein-Prize-project “Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium” of Prof. Claudia Rapp: http://rapp.univie.ac.at/).
In my talk I will present the methodological and technological frameworks of these projects and illustrate their analytical value with case studies on the mobility of people, objects (such as manuscripts) and ideas between the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern period. In particular, questions of the organization of heterogeneous historical and archaeological data, the integration of temporal and spatial uncertainties, the modelling of social and spatial networks at various scales and the visualization of temporal and spatial dynamics will be addressed. Furthermore, I will discuss potentials and pitfalls of more elaborate attempts of mathematical modelling and quantitative comparative analysis. Also the additional benefit of digital tools beyond data collection and their potential to allow for new research questions and analytical results shall be put up for discussion.
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Presentation for Digital Humanities Austria Konferenz, see: http://www.digital-humanities.at/#/en/dha/s-news/3rd-dha-conference-dha2016

Outline of results and tools developed within the project "Mapping Medieval Conflicts"
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Presentation for the Conference “The Reign of King Peter I of Cyprus: Crusading and Diplomacy in the Late Medieval Eastern Mediterranean”, October 13-15, 2016, Rome Global Gateway, Via Ostilia 15, University of Notre Dame... more
Presentation for the Conference “The Reign of King Peter I of Cyprus: Crusading and Diplomacy in the Late Medieval Eastern Mediterranean”, October 13-15, 2016, Rome Global Gateway, Via Ostilia 15,
University of Notre Dame (http://international.nd.edu/events/2016/10/14/the-reign-of-king-peter-i-of-cyprus-crusading-and-diplomacy-in-the-late-medieval-eastern-mediterranean/)

The life time of Peter I of Cyprus was not only a turbulent period in the history of the Mediterranean, the Near East and Europe, but also marked by the transition from the so-called “Medieval Warm Period” to the “Little Ice Age” from the point of view of climate history. As recent studies have demonstrated also for the Eastern Mediterranean, an increasing number of extreme events accompanied this transition period and aggravated also otherwise crisis-prone socio-economic conditions (cf. S. K. Raphael, Climate and Political Climate. Environmental Disasters in the Medieval Levant. Leiden 2013); the plague epidemic of Black Death from 1346 onwards was only one, albeit the most potent among these catastrophes. Based on information from historical sources as well as from new natural scientific evidence (so-called “proxy data” for long term trajectories of precipitation and temperature as well as short term extreme events), these phenomena are discussed as possible underlying factors contributing to the political dynamics in Cyprus, the Levant and the entire Eastern Mediterranean before and during the reign of Peter I.
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Abstract for the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Belgrade, 22-27 August 2016 (Special Session “Future of the Byzantine Studies. New Approaches and New Methods”)
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Presentation for the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Belgrade, 22-27 August 2016 (Special Round Table “ Digital Humanities and Byzantine Studies”)
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Presentation for the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Belgrade, 22-27 August 2016 (Round Table “Les frontières et les limites du Patriarcat de Constantinople”)
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Presentation for the Workshop "Towards a Digital Eurasia: Databases and Computational Methods for the History of Asia and the Middle East" The Hebrew University of Jerusalem June 8th-9th, 2016, Rabin Building room 2001... more
Presentation for the Workshop "Towards a Digital Eurasia: Databases and Computational Methods for the History of Asia and the Middle East"
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
June 8th-9th, 2016, Rabin Building room 2001

http://mongol.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/DigitalEurasia.pdf
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Paper given at the conference "Entangled Worlds" on April 15th 2016 in Vienna (see http://www.dasanderemittelalter.net/conference-entangled-words/entangled-worlds-the-programme/)
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Presentation for the Advisory board workshop within the project "The Migration of Faith: Clerical Exile in Late Antiquity" (Univ. Sheffield, PI: Julia Hillner; Research Associate: Dirk Rohmann), January 8th 2016... more
Presentation for the Advisory board workshop within the project "The Migration of Faith: Clerical Exile in Late Antiquity" (Univ. Sheffield, PI: Julia Hillner; Research Associate: Dirk Rohmann), January 8th 2016
http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/sites/clericalexile/
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Paper for the conference "The Court and Chancery of Emperor Sigismund as a Political Centre and as a Social System" Brno, November 20th 2015... more
Paper for  the conference "The Court and Chancery of Emperor Sigismund as a Political Centre and as a Social System"
Brno, November 20th 2015 (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/test/single/article/hof-und-kanzlei-kaiser-sigismunds-als-politisches-zentrum-und-soziales-system/)
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Keynote lecture for the Workshop: “Bridging the Gaps: (Ancient) History from the Perspective of Mathematical and Computational Modelling and Network Analysis” 13-14 November 2015 in Brno (Czech Republic): http://gehir.phil.muni.cz/ The... more
Keynote lecture for the Workshop: “Bridging the Gaps: (Ancient) History from the Perspective of Mathematical and Computational Modelling and Network Analysis”
13-14 November 2015 in Brno (Czech Republic): http://gehir.phil.muni.cz/

The “Mediterranean” has become one of the most prominent and most-discussed concepts in historical studies since Braudel´s masterpiece of 1949, more recently followed by studies such as Horden and Purcell´s “Corrupting Sea” (2000), Abulafia´s “Great Sea” (2011) or Broodbanks “Making of the Middle Sea” (2013). Across this scholarship, we encounter various “Mediterraneans”, sometime unified and centres of their own “world systems”, sometimes fragmented into a multitude of “micro-regions” and “micro-ecologies”. In this paper, I will demonstrate how concepts of network analysis and complexity theory can contribute to an integration of these various facets of the “Middle Sea” and a better understanding of the dynamics of its integration and dis-integration during time. Furthermore, phenomena of (cultural, religious, economic or epidemic) diffusion will be discussed against this changing framework and in their interplay with “global”, regional and local networks. In general, the aim is to highlight aspects of social complexity of Mediterranean history beyond metaphors.

NOTE: due to data sensibility, some of the graphs and images used for the actual presentation are not included in this PDF.
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29-31 October 2015: Conference 'Papyri & Social Networks in a Wider Context' (University of Leiden) “Networks are phenomenological realities as well as measurement constructs” (Harrison C. White, Identity and Control. How Social... more
29-31 October 2015: Conference 'Papyri & Social Networks in a Wider Context' (University of Leiden)

“Networks are phenomenological realities as well as measurement constructs” (Harrison C. White, Identity and Control. How Social Formations emerge. 2nd ed., Princeton – Oxford 2008, p.36). Based on the conceptual frameworks of Harrison C. White and other theoreticians of relational sociology and systems theory, this paper will offer a reflection on the actual content and dynamics of those social phenomena we aim to capture and visualise in the form of network graphs. Examples of network modelling on the basis of written and archaeological evidence will illustrate possible approaches and pitfalls for the mapping and analysis of complex entanglements between individuals, objects and places, also in their spatial and temporal dynamics. Thereby, also an interplay between “quantitative” or “structural” characteristics of networks and their emergent “qualitative” properties will become visible.
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“Complexity: a new framework to interpret ancient economic proxy data”. Book project and conference: Sagalassos, Sept. 11th 12th 2015 (http://www.rsrc.ugent.be/sdep/complexity#program) Draft paper online:... more
“Complexity: a new framework to interpret ancient economic proxy data”. Book project and conference: Sagalassos, Sept. 11th 12th 2015 (http://www.rsrc.ugent.be/sdep/complexity#program)

Draft paper online: https://www.academia.edu/14599966/Networks_as_Proxies_a_relational_Approach_towards_Economic_Complexity_in_the_Pre-Modern_Period

Abstract: Based on the assumption that economic complexity is characterised by the interactions of “economic agents (who) constantly change their actions and strategies in response to the outcome they mutually create”, this paper presents how network models can be used a “proxies” for the mapping, quantification and comparison of pre-modern economic complexity. Network analysis provides tools to visualise and analyse the “inherent” complexity of various types of data and their combination (archaeological, geographical, textual) or even of a single piece of evidence. Equally, the relational approach invites to a structural and quantitative comparison between periods, regions and the economic systems of polities and empires. An increasing number of proxies of this kind allow us to capture the trajectories of economic complexity from antiquity into the middle ages beyond metaphors.
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Paper to be presented in Prague, September 11th In the recent years "Digital Humanities" has become a common term in historical and archaeological research and many projects are currently dealing with this topic. The presentation aims at... more
Paper to be presented in Prague, September 11th

In the recent years "Digital Humanities" has become a common term in historical and archaeological research and many projects are currently dealing with this topic. The presentation aims at exploring how archaeology and history create digital data and how they are used. What types of analyses can be carried out and how can the results be presented and visualised? How does the research benefit from digital methods compared to traditional ones. And of course we will discuss the question if digital humanities are just a useful tool or proper science.
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Talk at the CML and Where East Meets West Seminar, University of South Denmark (Odense), August 19th 2015, see: http://www.sdu.dk/en/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/C_cml/Calendar/WEMW
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Talk for the Workshop: (Un)Calculable Conflicts. Complexity, Mathematics und Historical Research Time: Thursday, 19 February 2015, 14:00-17:15 Venue: Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse... more
Talk for the Workshop: (Un)Calculable Conflicts.
Complexity, Mathematics und Historical Research

Time: Thursday, 19 February 2015, 14:00-17:15
Venue: Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse 12-14 (Seminar rooms, ground floor), 1040 Vienna
Organiser: Project “Mapping MEDieval CONflicts. A digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period”, funded within the go!digital-Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW); Interdisciplinary Working Group “Digital Middle Ages” (OEAW – University of Vienna)

Programme
14:00-14:15: Address of welcome and short presentation of the project “Mapping MEDieval CONflicts“

14:15-14:45: PD Dr. Robert-Gramsch (Historisches Institut, Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena), ´O fortuna, velut luna´ – Wechselfälle mittelalterlicher Politik im Lichte netzwerkanalytischer Forschung
14:45-15:15: Discussion

15:15-15:45: Prof. Dr. Stefan Thurner (Section for Science of Complex Systems, Medical University Vienna), Quantification of humans in virtual worlds
15:45-16:15: Discussion

16:15-16:45: Dr. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller (Institute for Medieval Research/Division of Byzantine Research, OEAW), Vater oder Zerstörer aller Dinge. Überlegungen zur Dynamik und Funktion des Konflikts in (vormodernen) Gesellschaften.
16:45-17:15: Discussion

Background: Mapping MEDieval CONflicts tests the explanatory power of concepts of network analysis for phenomena of political conflict in medieval societies. MEDCON uses the relational structuring provided by modern software not simply as instrument for the organisation of data, but as heuristic tool for the reconstruction and analysis of the relational character of social phenomena of the past which is at the same time also of high relevance for modern-day discussions on the (in)stability of political frameworks.. The team at the Institute for Medieval Research includes specialists for the medieval Western Europe, Byzantium, Archaeology, Historical Geography and Geo-informatics; PI is Dr. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller.
With experts from within and beyond historical disciplines, also new theoretical approaches to these phenomena shall be discussed:
• PD Dr. Robert-Gramsch teaches at the Historisches Institut of the Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena and inter alia focuses in his research on the application of methods of network analysis on medieval history. In 2013, he published his monograph „Das Reich als Netzwerk der Fürsten. Politische Strukturen unter dem Doppelkönigtum Friedrichs II. und Heinrichs (VII.) 1225-1235“ (http://uni-jena.academia.edu/RobertGramsch)
• Prof. Dr. Stefan Thurner is founder and director of the Section for Science of Complex Systems at the Medical University Vienna and external professor at the Santa Fe Institute (USA). In his research and numerous publications he focuses inter alia on the application of models of mathematics, physics and complexity theory on social and economic phenomena. (http://www.complex-systems.meduniwien.ac.at/people/sthurner/)
Websites: https://oeaw.academia.edu/MappingMedievalConflict and http://www.imafonet.at/dma/
Contact: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at
Research Interests:
Das Jahr 1198 markiert mit der Doppelwahl des Staufers Philipp und des Welfen Otto IV. den Beginn einer der schwersten politischen Krisen des Hochmittelalters, die das gesamte Heilige Römische Reich erfasste und durch beider... more
Das Jahr 1198 markiert mit der Doppelwahl des Staufers Philipp und des Welfen Otto IV. den
Beginn einer der schwersten politischen Krisen des Hochmittelalters, die das gesamte Heilige
Römische Reich erfasste und durch beider außenpolitische Verbindungen sowie die Parteinahme
des Papstes gesamteuropäische Dimension erlangte. Regierungszeit und Urkundenwesen
Philipps sind stark von kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen, wechselnden Allianzen
und politischen Wirren geprägt. Die Edition seiner Urkunden umfasst insgesamt 216 Nummern,
darunter auch die von Philipp als Herzog von Tuszien und als Herzog von Schwaben
ausgestellten Urkunden sowie die Urkunden seiner Gemahlin Irene/Maria.
Programme for the International Conference in Vienna, April 13th-15th 2016
See also: http://www.dasanderemittelalter.net/conference-entangled-worlds/
Research Interests:
Entangled Worlds. Network analysis and complexity theory in historical and archaeological research International Conference, April 13th-15th 2016 (Vienna) Venue: Institute for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences,... more
Entangled Worlds. Network analysis and complexity theory
in historical and archaeological research

International Conference, April 13th-15th 2016 (Vienna)

Venue: Institute for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse 12-14, 1040 Vienna
Organisers: Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences (project MEDCON) - Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI)

Outline: While the term “network” has been used abundantly in historical and archaeological research in the last years, the actual number of studies taking into account the methodology of network analysis is increasing, but still limited. The reluctance of scholars to adapt tools of network analysis can be also connected with the conceptual and terminological divide between humanities and formal sciences. At the same time, the user-friendliness of software tools may tempt others to use them as “black boxes” in order to produce a variety of figures without being aware of the underlying concepts.
Against this background, the project “Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period (MEDCON)” at IMAFO, funded within the go!digital-programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, aims at an evaluation of concepts of social and spatial network analysis for studying phenomena of political conflict in medieval societies. For this purpose, a generalizable work flow from data input on the basis of medieval sources to the creation, visualisation and analysis of social and spatial network models and their web-based publication and presentation is created.
Even more, a cooperation was established with the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) within the framework of the DARIAH-network of the European Union with a focus on “Spatial and social network analysis”. The aim is to foster the development of and reflection on tools of network analysis for the study of complex phenomena of the past in exchange with scholars both from the humanities and from the sciences.

For this purpose, the conference “Entangled Worlds. Network analysis and complexity theory in historical and archaeological research” will assemble specialists from various disciplines of historical and archaeological studies as well as mathematics, physics and computer sciences in order to discuss in particular the following four overlapping topics:
• Entangling data: the organisation of relational data on the basis of historical and archaeological evidence (ontologies, software, workflows, standards)
• Entangling texts and people: the modelling and analysis of networks on the basis of textual evidence and narratives (prosopography, diplomatics, epistolography, historiography)
• Entangling sites and artefacts: the modelling and analysis of networks on the basis of archaeological evidence (objects, places, mobilities and exchange)
• Entangling dynamics: the modelling of complex past societies and networks (spatial and temporal dynamics, scales and mechanisms of networks, mathematical modelling)

The conference will be accompanied by a presentation of approaches and tools to the wider public. Proceedings will be published in a collective (peer reviewed) volume. For invited participants, expenses for travel and accommodation will be covered. Speakers will be contacted and invited directly by the organisers.

For further information: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at and sabine.ladstaetter@oeai.at
Websites: http://oeaw.academia.edu/MappingMedievalConflict and http://www.oeai.at/
Research Interests:
Time: Thursday, 19 February 2015, 14:00-17:15 Venue: Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse 12-14 (Seminar rooms, ground floor), 1040 Vienna Organiser: Project “Mapping MEDieval CONflicts.... more
Time: Thursday, 19 February 2015, 14:00-17:15
Venue: Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse 12-14 (Seminar rooms, ground floor), 1040 Vienna
Organiser: Project “Mapping MEDieval CONflicts. A digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period”, funded within the go!digital-Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW); Interdisciplinary Working Group “Digital Middle Ages” (OEAW – University of Vienna)

Programme
14:00-14:15: Address of welcome and short presentation of the project “Mapping MEDieval CONflicts“

14:15-14:45: PD Dr. Robert-Gramsch (Historisches Institut, Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena), ´O fortuna, velut luna´ – Wechselfälle mittelalterlicher Politik im Lichte netzwerkanalytischer Forschung
14:45-15:15: Discussion

15:15-15:45: Prof. Dr. Stefan Thurner (Section for Science of Complex Systems, Medical University Vienna), Quantification of humans in virtual worlds
15:45-16:15: Discussion

16:15-16:45: Dr. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller (Institute for Medieval Research/Division of Byzantine Research, OEAW), Vater oder Zerstörer aller Dinge. Überlegungen zur Dynamik und Funktion des Konflikts in (vormodernen) Gesellschaften.
16:45-17:15: Discussion

Background: Mapping MEDieval CONflicts tests the explanatory power of concepts of network analysis for phenomena of political conflict in medieval societies. MEDCON uses the relational structuring provided by modern software not simply as instrument for the organisation of data, but as heuristic tool for the reconstruction and analysis of the relational character of social phenomena of the past which is at the same time also of high relevance for modern-day discussions on the (in)stability of political frameworks.. The team at the Institute for Medieval Research includes specialists for the medieval Western Europe, Byzantium, Archaeology, Historical Geography and Geo-informatics; PI is Dr. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller.
With experts from within and beyond historical disciplines, also new theoretical approaches to these phenomena shall be discussed:
• PD Dr. Robert-Gramsch teaches at the Historisches Institut of the Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena and inter alia focuses in his research on the application of methods of network analysis on medieval history. In 2013, he published his monograph „Das Reich als Netzwerk der Fürsten. Politische Strukturen unter dem Doppelkönigtum Friedrichs II. und Heinrichs (VII.) 1225-1235“ (http://uni-jena.academia.edu/RobertGramsch)
• Prof. Dr. Stefan Thurner is founder and director of the Section for Science of Complex Systems at the Medical University Vienna and external professor at the Santa Fe Institute (USA). In his research and numerous publications he focuses inter alia on the application of models of mathematics, physics and complexity theory on social and economic phenomena. (http://www.complex-systems.meduniwien.ac.at/people/sthurner/)
Websites: https://oeaw.academia.edu/MappingMedievalConflict and http://www.imafonet.at/dma/
Contact: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at
Course for the Φροντιστήριο Ιστορικών Επιστημών, organised by the Institute for Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation. Details on the programme and admission:... more
Course for the Φροντιστήριο Ιστορικών Επιστημών, organised by the Institute for Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation.

Details on the programme and admission: http://www.eie.gr/nhrf/institutes/ihr/news/2016/FIE_Programma_2016-2017.pdf

On May 25th, between 6 and 9 pm, Ekaterini Mitsiou will talk on Φόνος στο Βυζάντιο (in Greek language)

On May 26th, between 3 and 6 pm, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller will present  Η περιβαλλοντική και Κλιματική ιστορία της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας: μια επισκόπηση („The environmental and climate history of the Byzantine Empire: an overview“, in English language)

The interaction between human society and natural environment has been discussed in Byzantine studies for a longer time, especially as part of historical geography. Since the 1990s, pioneers such as Johannes Koder or Ioannis Telelis have introduced a systematic analysis especially of written sources in order to determine the impact of changes of climatic and environmental conditions on Byzantine history. Recently, a combination of historical and archaeological evidence with natural scientific data has allowed for a much more detailed analysis of these phenomena. We now can draw a more balanced picture of the interplay between environmental and socio-political change in crucial periods of Byzantine history such as the 7th, the 11th or the 14th century. Sources, methods, concepts and results of these new studies will be presented and discussed. (Note: The presentation will be in English language, but all material and slides will be provided in Greek).
Research Interests:
Science meets Public, presentation at the Jüdisches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung, December 6th 2016: https://kurse.vhs.at/Veranstaltung/cmx576faecfe7a14.html Hunger, Pest und Judenmorde Neue Forschungen zur Krise des späten... more
Science meets Public, presentation at the Jüdisches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung, December 6th 2016: https://kurse.vhs.at/Veranstaltung/cmx576faecfe7a14.html

Hunger, Pest und Judenmorde
Neue Forschungen zur Krise des späten Mittelalters
Im 14. Jh. erfasste eine durch klimatische Veränderungen begleitete Krise die alte Welt von England bis China. Sie fand ihren Höhepunkt im „Schwarzen Tod“, der ab 1346 die Bevölkerung dahinraffte. Angesichts dieser Katastrophen wandte man sich auch gegen Minderheiten wie die Juden. Der Vortrag stellt dazu neue Ergebnisse aus den Geschichts- und Naturwissenschaften vor.
Research Interests:
Seminar at the Children´s University Vienna 2016 https://www.kinderuni-anmeldung.at/event.php?event_id=1196&field_id=1 Über „soziale Netzwerke“ wie Facebook sind heute Menschen auf der ganzen Welt verbunden. Computer und das Internet gab... more
Seminar at the Children´s University Vienna 2016
https://www.kinderuni-anmeldung.at/event.php?event_id=1196&field_id=1

Über „soziale Netzwerke“ wie Facebook sind heute Menschen auf der ganzen Welt verbunden. Computer und das Internet gab es vor 1000 Jahren nicht. Aber auch damals waren Menschen über große Entfernungen in Kontakt. Wir werden untersuchen, wie Netzwerke damals und heute funktionieren.
Research Interests:
Introductory presentation in the course "Introduction into Byzantine Studies" (Prof. Claudia Rapp), University of Vienna, Summer term 2015
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Article in the MIT Technology Review, June 23rd 2016 https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601763/how-the-new-science-of-computational-history-is-changing-the-study-of-the-past/ Applying network theory to medieval records suggests that... more
Article in the MIT Technology Review, June 23rd 2016
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601763/how-the-new-science-of-computational-history-is-changing-the-study-of-the-past/

Applying network theory to medieval records suggests that historical events are governed by “laws of history,” just as nature is bound by the laws of physics.
Research Interests:
http://derstandard.at/2000034696279/Wenn-Braveheart-sein-Netzwerk-aktiviert Article in the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard" on the conference "Entangled Worlds" on network analysis and complexity theory in historical and archaeological... more
http://derstandard.at/2000034696279/Wenn-Braveheart-sein-Netzwerk-aktiviert

Article in the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard" on the conference "Entangled Worlds" on network analysis and complexity theory in historical and archaeological research (see: http://www.dasanderemittelalter.net/conference-entangled-worlds/)
Research Interests:
https://science.apa.at/rubrik/kultur_und_gesellschaft/Der_Teilchenbeschleuniger_der_Historiker/SCI_20160504_SCI39431352629589334 Article in the science section of the Austrian Press Agency on the conference "Entangled Worlds" on network... more
https://science.apa.at/rubrik/kultur_und_gesellschaft/Der_Teilchenbeschleuniger_der_Historiker/SCI_20160504_SCI39431352629589334

Article in the science section of the Austrian Press Agency on the conference "Entangled Worlds" on network analysis and complexity theory in historical and archaeological research (see: http://www.dasanderemittelalter.net/conference-entangled-worlds/)
Research Interests:
http://www.physikalischesoiree.at/archives/3205

ScienceTalk ("Physikalische Soiree") of the science journalist Lothar Bodingbauer with Johannes Preiser-Kapeller on network analysis, complexity science and medieval history.
Research Interests:
Pre-Print of article published in: Alexander Beihammer - Angel Nikolaou-Konnari (eds.), Crusading, Society, and Politics in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Age of King Peter I of Cyprus. Brepols 2023,... more
Pre-Print of article published in: Alexander Beihammer - Angel Nikolaou-Konnari (eds.), Crusading, Society, and Politics in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Age of King Peter I of Cyprus. Brepols 2023, https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503598567-1.

The life time of Peter I of Cyprus was not only a turbulent period in the history of the Mediterranean, the Near East and Europe, but also marked by the transition from the so-called “Medieval Warm Period” to the “Little Ice Age” from the point of view of climate history. As recent studies have demonstrated also for the Eastern Mediterranean, an increasing number of extreme events accompanied this transition period and aggravated also otherwise crisis-prone socio-economic conditions (cf. S. K. Raphael, Climate and Political Climate. Environmental Disasters in the Medieval Levant. Leiden 2013); the plague epidemic of Black Death from 1346 onwards was only one, albeit the most potent among these catastrophes. Based on information from historical sources as well as from new natural scientific evidence (so-called “proxy data” for long term trajectories of precipitation and temperature as well as short term extreme events), these phenomena are discussed as possible underlying factors contributing to the political dynamics in Cyprus, the Levant and the entire Eastern Mediterranean before and during the reign of Peter I.
Research Interests:
Pre-print, to be published in: Wolfram Drews (ed.), Die Interaktion von Herrschern und Eliten in imperialen Ordnungen [forthcoming] This paper analyses both the commonalities as well as the entanglements between the interactions of... more
Pre-print, to be published in: Wolfram Drews (ed.), Die Interaktion von Herrschern und Eliten in imperialen Ordnungen [forthcoming]

This paper analyses both the commonalities as well as the entanglements between the interactions of imperial rulers and elites at the peripheries for two frontier regions between competing imperial spheres (esp. the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Caliphate) in the early medieval period: the Southern Caucasus (with a focus on Armenia) and the lands of Northeast Iran and Central Asia (Khurāsān and Transoxania). As a " tertium comparationis " , the interaction between imperial China during the rule of Tang dynasty and elites of Central Asian origin is introduced (esp. in the 7 th and 8 th century CE) in order to highlight common patterns of network building between rulers and elites across cultural (and disciplinary) borders. Potentials, but also inherent dangers of such practices and thereby emerging interdependencies between emperors and changing elites from the peripheries are analysed and illustrated for a case study on the Byzantine-Arab wars of the 830s. Also the long term impacts of these network dynamics on the frameworks of power in Byzantium, the Caliphate and Tang China in the 8 th-10 th century CE are addressed.
Research Interests:
A paper about relational modelling of historical data based on a presentation at the International Medieval Congress Leeds, July 5th 2016
Research Interests:
Published in Medieval Worlds Issue 2/2015: ›Empires in Decay‹ (peer reviewed, open access: http://www.medievalworlds.net/medieval_worlds?frames=yes) The project “Complexities and networks in the Medieval Mediterranean and Near East”... more
Published in Medieval Worlds Issue 2/2015: ›Empires in Decay‹ (peer reviewed, open access: http://www.medievalworlds.net/medieval_worlds?frames=yes)

The project “Complexities and networks in the Medieval Mediterranean and Near East” (COMMED) at the Division for Byzantine Research of the Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences aims at the adaptation and development of concepts and tools of network theory and complexity sciences for the analysis of societies, polities and regions in the medieval world in a comparative perspective. Key elements of its methodological and technological toolkit are applied for instance in the new project “Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period” (MEDCON), which analyses political networks and conflict among power elites across medieval Europe with five case studies from the 12th to 15th century. For one of these case studies on 14th century Byzantium, the explanatory value of this approach is presented in greater detail. The presented results are integrated in a wider comparison of five late medieval polities across Afro-Eurasia (Byzantium, China, England, Hungary and Mamluk Egypt) against the background of the “Late Medieval Crisis” and its political and environmental turmoil. Finally, further perspectives of COMMED are outlined.
Research Interests:
Marriage network of high medieval Europe (1000-1200 AD), based on 200 selected marriages of members of royal houses and of other royal and non-royal houses (data: Europ. Stammtafeln, graphs and maps: J. Preiser-Kapeller, ÖAW, 2018)
Research Interests:
The „Ego-Netzwerk“ of Maximilian von Habsburg and Maria of Burgundy (1477-1482) on the basis of kinship connections. Data: Sonja Dünnebeil, ÖAW/IMAFO Visualisations: Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, ÖAW/IMAFO 2017 See also:... more
The „Ego-Netzwerk“ of Maximilian von Habsburg and Maria of Burgundy (1477-1482) on the basis of kinship connections.
Data: Sonja Dünnebeil, ÖAW/IMAFO
Visualisations: Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, ÖAW/IMAFO
2017
See also:
http://www.dasanderemittelalter.net/news/the-fight-of-maximilian-i-for-burgundy/
Research Interests:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zFF_0-ggg3xI.kANSIEUOgS-o&usp=sharing Johannes Preiser-Kapeller and Ekaterini Mitsiou have created a map to visualise some aspects of the spatial organisation of the Late Byzantine Church, esp. for... more
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zFF_0-ggg3xI.kANSIEUOgS-o&usp=sharing

Johannes Preiser-Kapeller and Ekaterini Mitsiou have created a map to visualise some aspects of the spatial organisation of the Late Byzantine Church, esp. for the 14th century.
By selecting four different layers, you can see:
• Places of estates of the Patriarchate of Constantinople as indicated in a privilege charter of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1271
• Places of so-called patriarchika dikaia (entitlements of the Patriarchate on income, properties and/or juridical rights) as indicated in the documents of the Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople between 1315 and 1402
• Bishoprics contributing to the Patriarchate according to a charter of 1324 (cf. PRK I 88, 39–73)
• Bishoprics of the Patriarchate of Constantinople temporarily administrated by the same Metropolitan or Archbishop due to acts of “Epidosis” as indicated in the documents of the Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople between 1315 and 1402
Data collection and visualisation by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller and Ekaterini Mitsiou as part of the project “Edition of the Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople” (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/byzanz/prk.htm). Also most of the data comes from this central collection of documents for the Late Byzantine Church. For further studies on this material cf. also the bibliography on the website indicated above. Contact: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at; Ekaterini.Mitsiou@assoc.oeaw.ac.at; Websites: http://oeaw.academia.edu/EkateriniMitsiou; http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller.
Research Interests:
Exploring the spatial network of Late Byzantine history: a interactive map of 336 localities connected through the mobility of 2402 members of the Byzantine elite in the years 1282 to 1402... more
Exploring the spatial network of Late Byzantine history:
a interactive map of 336 localities connected through the mobility of 2402 members of the Byzantine elite in the years 1282 to 1402

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zFF_0-ggg3xI.kzPtUQfs7H8s&usp=sharing

Johannes Preiser-Kapeller has created a database of more than 2400 individuals and 330 places (on the basis of the Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, augmented with additional data) and a network model of these places connected due to the mobility of people in the years 1282 to 1402 CE. You can now explore this network online if you follow the link above. One can also only look at the distribution of places by unselecting the network layer. More sophisticated interactive visualisations of the data are under construction, but this site provides a first impression of the density and amount of connections of Late Byzantium.


More information on the underlying database you can find here: http://www.academia.edu/8247283/A_new_view_on_a_century_of_Byzantine_history_The_Vienna_Network_Model_of_the_Byzantine_Elite_1282-1402


The database is part of the project "Mapping Medieval Conflicts" (http://oeaw.academia.edu/MappingMedievalConflict)


More on this project and the underlying methodology you can also learn here: https://www.academia.edu/19333312/Calculating_the_Middle_Ages_The_project_Complexities_and_networks_in_the_Medieval_Mediterranean_and_Near_East_COMMED_
Research Interests:
Presentation on video: "The Complex Mediterranean. Networks, diffusion and social dynamics in the pre-modern period" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IiMfnagwno&index=2&list=PLxGU2gDyMnMkjcwWCpwr7-oPLn9rDtgOE Keynote lecture by... more
Presentation on video: "The Complex Mediterranean. Networks, diffusion and social dynamics in the pre-modern period"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IiMfnagwno&index=2&list=PLxGU2gDyMnMkjcwWCpwr7-oPLn9rDtgOE

Keynote lecture by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, given at the Workshop: “Bridging the Gaps: (Ancient) History from the Perspective of Mathematical and Computational Modelling and Network Analysis” (Brno, CZ, November 2015: http://gehir.phil.muni.cz/)

Abstract: “The Complex Mediterranean. Networks, diffusion and social dynamics in the pre-modern period”

Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Email: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at
Website: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller

The “Mediterranean” has become one of the most prominent and most-discussed concepts in historical studies since Braudel´s masterpiece of 1949, more recently followed by studies such as Horden and Purcell´s “Corrupting Sea” (2000), Abulafia´s “Great Sea” (2011) or Broodbanks “Making of the Middle Sea” (2013). Across this scholarship, we encounter various “Mediterraneans”, sometime unified and centres of their own “world systems”, sometimes fragmented into a multitude of “micro-regions” and “micro-ecologies”. In this paper, I will demonstrate how concepts of network analysis and complexity theory can contribute to an integration of these various facets of the “Middle Sea” and a better understanding of the dynamics of its integration and dis-integration during time. Furthermore, phenomena of (cultural, religious, economic or epidemic) diffusion will be discussed against this changing framework and in their interplay with “global”, regional and local networks. In general, the aim is to highlight aspects of social complexity of Mediterranean history beyond metaphors.
Research Interests:
Video of the lecture "From Parchment to ‘Big Data’: Methods and Tools for a Computational History of Medieval Afro-Eurasia”, presented at the University of Iowa on February 3rd 2017... more
Video of the lecture "From Parchment to ‘Big Data’: Methods and Tools for a Computational History of Medieval Afro-Eurasia”, presented at the University of Iowa on February 3rd 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxcHiVTM7HU&feature=youtu.be


See also: http://eurasianmss.lib.uiowa.edu/lectures/, for the abstract
Research Interests: