Institute for Medieval Studies

Session	827
Title	Borders in Breach: Morals of Conquest in the Middle Ages
Date/Time	Tuesday 5 July 2022: 16.30-18.00
Sponsor	Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel / Universität Paderborn
Organiser	Anne Foerster, Historisches Institut, Universität Paderborn
	Rike Szill, Geschichte des frühen und hohen Mittelalters sowie für Historische Grundwissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Moderator/Chair	Philipp Winterhager, Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Respondent	Philipp Winterhager, Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Paper 827-a	Einhard's Vita Karoli magni and the Morals of Conquest (Language: English) Anne Foerster, Historisches Institut, Universität Paderborn Index Terms: Historiography - Medieval; Mentalities
Paper 827-b	A Tale of Two Homilies: The Danish Conquest of England (1016) within the Wider Framework of Apocalypse and Reform in the Oeuvre of Wulfstan of York (d. 1023) (Language: English) Stephan Bruhn, German Historical Institute London (GHIL) Index Terms: Mentalities; Sermons and Preaching
Paper 827-c	Borders, Breaches, and Biased Admirers: Facing Ottoman Expansion in the 15th-Century Aegean Sea (Language: English) Rike Szill, Geschichte des frühen und hohen Mittelalters sowie für Historische Grundwissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel Index Terms: Byzantine Studies; Historiography - Medieval; Mentalities
Abstract	This session looks at medieval conquests as trifold transgressions of borders since the seizure of foreign territory affects not only the geographic frontiers of realms. During the process of conquest, previous social demarcations within the societies involved, as well as those between them, inevitably shift. Moreover, medieval authors considered conquests also under the aspect of adherence to or violation of moral and normative boundaries. The session therefore aims to reveal the strategies the authors used to cope with conquest, how they evaluated it morally and with reference to classical role models or other antecedents, and what significance the social self-positioning of the writers had in the process. It also questions the dichotomous understanding of victors / conquerors and defeated / conquered.