3.44 TS – New Discoveries on the History of Byzantium in Viennese Collections

This Thematic Session is devoted to new discoveries of rare sources on the history of Byzantium in various collections in Vienna. The purpose of the TS is to comprehensively identify the scholarly potential of the Vienna collections for the world of Byzantine studies. During the Thematic Session, its participants will present their scientific discoveries based on Viennese museum and archive collections. Given these considerations, this Thematic Session is distinguished by a wide source study and chronological coverage. Such an interdisciplinary approach will bring together the positions of specialists in various fields of Byzantine Studies and help outline the most promising areas of research.

Text and Context of Ephesos Museum III 1072 (Antikensammlung, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien)/Cast Gallery H110 (The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

The influence and popularity of the legend of Abgar, King of Osrhoene, are difficult to overstate. Describing an episode from the life of Jesus of Nazareth, this apocryphal legend was widely disseminated across diverse Christian traditions from late antiquity through the medieval period and beyond. Among these, the Greek versions of the Abgar Story offer…

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The Autocephaly of the Russian Church According to Byzantine Sources of the 10th Century from the Collection of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

The important information on the early jurisdiction of the Russian Church is contained in the letter of Bishop Leo of Synada (937–1003) to the anonymous Metropolitan of Ephesus (Cod. Vindob. Phil. Gr. 342, fol. 163v, 166v–167v) from the collection of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. The Vienna manuscript has already been described in detail in a number…

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Memory of Byzantium, Mehmed II Fatih and His Entourage: The Evidence of Künhü’l-Aḫbār According to the Viennese Manuscript

The second volume of the Künhü’l-Aḫbār (“The Essence of News”) by Mustafa Âli (1541–1600) of Gallipoli describes the conquest of Constantinople and the history of the buildings of the City. Various manuscripts of Künhü’l-Aḫbār can be found in Turkish, Egyptian and European libraries in different sections of the work. Complete copies in Istanbul are available…

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Byzantine-Rite Liturgical Books Printed by Cyrillic Letters at the Sancta Barbara Chapel (Newly Discovered Archival Sources)

Empress Maria Theresa established a seminary for the education of Byzantine-rite clergy in the Habsburg Empire. Founded in the 1750s at the Chapel of St Barbara (Sancta Barbara), the institution became known as the Barbareum. One of the major challenges facing the seminary was the provision of instruction in the Byzantine liturgy and Church Slavonic….

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