ISAAC COMNENUS PORPHYROGENITUS: WALKING THE LINE IN TWELFTH-CENTURY BYZANTIUM AND BEYOND (AN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP)
5-6 March 2020
Convent of Noble Maidens, Centre for Medieval Literature (University of Southern Denmark, Odense)
Contact: Valeria F. Lovato (lovato@sdu.dk)
In the last decades, modern scholarship has devoted much attention to the Comnenian dynasty. Surprisingly, no comprehensive study has yet been dedicated to Isaac Comnenus Porphyrogenitus, son of emperor Alexius I and brother of both John II and Anna Comnena. Isaac is an intriguing figure, at the crossroads between different worlds: classical scholarship, artistic patronage, courtly intrigues and international political alliances. Traditional divisions between scholarly fields have prevented a comprehensive exploration of Isaac’s many facets.
Challenging this very compartmentalization, this workshop aims to bring together Isaac’s different worlds, contributing to a better understanding of 12th-century Byzantium.
THURSDAY 5 MARCH
§ 9.30 – 10.00: MORNING COFFEE
§ 10.00 – 10.30: Valeria F. Lovato and Lars Boje Mortensen (SDU): welcome and introduction
§ 10.30 – 12.30: PANEL 1: Isaac and 12th-century literature
Nikolaos Zagklas (University of Vienna), “Isaak Komnenos and Theodore Prodromos: Forging Intellectual and Patronage Ties in Twelfth-Century Constantinople”
Respondent: Divna Manolova (University of York)
Marina Loukaki (University of Athens), “Notes on the construction of Isaakios Komnenos’ profile by Theodoros Prodromos”
Respondent: Nikolaos Zagklas (University of Vienna)
Aglae Pizzone (SDU), “Isaac against Proclus? A problem of authorship”
Respondent: Christian Høgel (SDU)
§ 12.30 – 13.30: LUNCH BREAK
§ 14.00 – 15.15: PANEL 2: Homeric philology
André-Louis Rey (University of Geneva), “Isaac Comnenus and the scholarship of a learned prince”
Respondent: Silvio F. Bär (University of Oslo)
Filippomaria Pontani (Ca’ Foscari University), “The dignity of kingship asserted: Isaac’s ‘political’ notes on the Iliad”
Respondent: Silvio F. Bär (University of Oslo)
§ 15.15 – 15.30: COFFEE BREAK
§ 15.30 – 17.30: PANEL 3: Isaac as patron, literatus and founder
Kallirroe Linardou (Athens School of Fine Arts), “Komnenian Book-Culture: Tracing Tastes, Mapping Networks”
Respondent: Rosa Rodríguez Porto (SDU)
Margaret Mullett (University of Belfast), “A ‘barren and senseless shoot’, a ‘flawless ally’, and ‘an enkolpion of pearls’: Isaac’s Kosmosoteira”
Respondent: Aglae Pizzone (SDU)
Valeria F. Lovato (SDU), “What kind of exile? Isaac’s poem to the Virgin and the final days of a repented (?) usurper”
Respondent: Margaret Mullett (University of Belfast)
§ 19.00: SPEAKERS’ DINNER
FRIDAY 6 MARCH
§ 9.30 – 10.50: PANEL 4: Innovation, change and conflict in the Comnenian era (Part One)
Vlada Stanković (University of Belgrade), “Dynastic conflict in the Comnenian era”
Respondent: Nikolaos Chrissis (Democritus University of Thrace)
Angeliki Papageorgiou (University of Athens), “Ties of blood, bids for power: Usurpation attempts during the reign of John II Komnenos”
Respondent: Nikolaos Chrissis (Democritus University of Thrace)
§ 10.50 – 11.10: COFFEE BREAK
§ 11.10 – 12.30: PANEL 4: Innovation, change and conflict in the Comnenian era (Part Two)
Maximilian Lau (Hitotsubashi University), “‘Ten Tongues’ on the Transformations of Isaakios”
Respondent: Julian Yolles (SDU)
Alex Rodríguez Suárez (Orient-Institut Beirut), “Change and innovation in twelfth-century Byzantium: The case of hair and hairstyles”
Respondent: Valeria F. Lovato (SDU)
§ 12.30 – 13.00: FINAL REMARKS
§ 13.00: GOODBYE LUNCH