INSTITUTE OF BYZANTINE RESEARCH

The Institute of Byzantine Research (originally the Centre for Byzantine Research) was founded in 1960 for the purpose of promoting research into Byzantine history and civilization. Its activities as a research centre focus on a number of projects devoted to the study of Byzantine history. These projects provide an umbrella for a wide range of research fields and disciplines, exploiting various resources, whether literary, archival or archaeological, and explore relations and contacts among the peoples of the Balkans and, more generally, of the eastern Mediterranean throughout the Middle Ages. The Institute’s main programmes are five, two of which date from the time of its foundation.

Archival, palaeographical and diplomatic research

The researchers working on this project visit archives and libraries with a view to identifying and locating Byzantine or post-Byzantine documents and sources, whether in Greek or other languages. They are also involved in photographing this material in order to preserve it on microfilm, and undertake to classify, catalogue and supervize the maintenance and good repair of the various archives and libraries. A second, but nonetheless important, part of this research work entails the diplomatic transcription of some of these archive materials, by way of preparing them for publication with commentaries and notes. The programme has published catalogues, manuscripts and other documents, both in academic journals and in a large two-volume publication containing the Byzantine documents held in the archives of the monastery of Patmos, as well as summaries of documents preserved in seven of the monasteries on Mount Athos.

Byzantine History Data Bank

The Byzantine History Data Bank-(BHDB)- a technologically more advanced version of an older programme entitled Byzantine Chronography has been running since 1981. With the back-up of computer programmers and software designers, the BHDB has produced thousands of entries and codified pieces of information on events of Byzantine history. It contains approximately 35,000 extracts from texts and 1,100 seals, all of which have been arranged into 277 thematic units. Various auxiliary systems, such as the thematic units, chronological data, geographical data, prosopographical details, sources and bibliographical support, enable the user to maximize the potential provided by the material in the data bank simply by entering key words. The BHDB has been selected by the National Documentation Centre as one of the Greek data banks deserving special support. The publication of a collective project entitled “Asia Minor of the Themes, 7th-11th Centuries” is due to be published in the near future.

Byzantium and the World of the Slavs and the Balkans

This programme, set up in 1981, aims to explore Byzantium’s relations with the world of the Slavs and the Balkans. The researchers working on the programme have focused their interests on the following areas: the geography and social movements of the Balkans from the 12th to the 15th centuries, Byzantium’s commercial and cultural relations with the neighboring peoples of the Balkans, and, lastly, guides to the bibliography relevant to the Slavic world and its dealings with Byzantium. The programme has developed strong ties with the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Centre National des Recherches Scientifiques, Paris.

Historical Geography of the Helladic Regions

Set up in 1981, the Historical Geography programme is one of the younger programmes at the Institute. The programme examines and studies Byzantine sources and archaeological remains, such as settlements, monuments, roads and harbors, with a view to publishing a historical and geographical study for each region, while the workers on the programme conduct field trips to identify, verify and photograph various locations and sites. Regions investigated include the Peloponnese, the South Aegean and Crete. The study of the historical geography of the Peloponnese is now complete and is currently being prepared for publication. The programme has also established cooperation with the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Realia Technologica. Agricultural (and urban) methods of living and cultivation

This, the latest of the Institute’s programmes, is currently being run under a provisional format. Drawing particularly on hagiographical texts, the programme’s objective is to collect, file and analyze passages giving information on tools, housing, non-public constructions, olive-growing, viniculture, fishing, livestock farming and crop growing, as well as on the methods of cultivation, working out, trading and consuming the products of all this labor. Further research of documentary evidence, chronicles and literary texts will then serve to complement the evidence gathered. The same programme also includes the collection of data on ages and ageing, which will subsequently be examined and analyzed in depth.

Other activities

The Institute is also active in a number of other areas. It regularly organizes congresses, symposia and colloquia on fields related to Byzantium and Byzantine history. Scholars and guest researchers from Greece and abroad are frequently invited to give lectures and talks which may be attended by students and academics from outside the Institute. Further, the Institute publishes an annual journal, Symmeikta, to which the researchers on the programmes contribute. Lastly, the Institute runs a historical research seminar whose purpose is to impart specialist knowledge and training to younger scholars and students, particularly in the fields of archival research, palaeography and codicology.

The Institute’s staff includes 18 researchers a small number of scholarship-holder and scholary collaborators, 5 research associates and three secretaries.