Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines

Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines
Name	Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines
Native name	Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines
Founded	1948
Headquarters	Paris
Region served	International
Fields	Byzantine studies

Contents

Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines is an international scholarly association founded to promote research in Byzantine studies through coordination of scholars, publication of research, and organization of congresses. It operates in the milieu of institutions such as École Pratique des Hautes Études, British Museum, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Dumbarton Oaks, and Harvard University and interfaces with national academies like the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. The association engages researchers working on subjects connected to Constantinople, Byzantium (place), Eastern Roman Empire, Justinian I, and related figures and institutions such as Theodora (wife of Justinian), Heraclius, Leo III the Isaurian, and Basil II.

History

The association emerged in the aftermath of World War II when scholars from centers including Université de Paris, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Rome La Sapienza, and University of Athens sought to rebuild scholarly networks disrupted by the Second World War. Early meetings featured participants from the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, University of Munich, University of Vienna, and University of Belgrade and dealt with materials ranging from manuscripts in the Vatican Library to mosaics at Hagia Sophia and archaeological sites like Persepolis and Thessaloniki. The formative period intersected with developments in archaeological practice at the British School at Athens and publication projects associated with Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae and Patrologia Graeca. Over decades the association responded to political changes affecting research access in regions governed by the Ottoman Empire successor states, the Soviet Union, and modern Greece and Turkey, adapting relations with institutions such as the State Hermitage Museum and the National Library of Russia.

The association’s governance model mirrors other learned societies like the Royal Historical Society, American Historical Association, International Council on Monuments and Sites, and the Union Académique Internationale, with an elected president and an executive committee drawn from scholars affiliated with the University of Basel, University of Edinburgh, University of Barcelona, University of Zagreb, and Saint Petersburg State University. Advisory bodies have included representatives from the European Commission cultural programmes, the UNESCO Secretariat, and foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Gennadius Library. Administrative headquarters established in Paris coordinate with regional committees in cities like Istanbul, Athens, Rome, London, Berlin, and Moscow, and consult legal frameworks exemplified by statutes registered under French law and modeled after charters used by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

The association sponsors publication series alongside presses such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Brill Publishers, Peeters Publishers, and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Its journal and monograph series address topics from textual transmission related to Michael Psellos and Anna Komnene to iconography linked to Saint George, Virgin Mary, and the Transfiguration of Christ, to studies of legal codes like the Basilika and the Ecloga. Collaborative projects have involved cataloguing manuscripts housed at the Monastery of Stoudios, the Monastery of Mount Athos, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and the Vatican Library. The association also issues bibliographies and indexes used by libraries such as the Bodleian Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Library of Congress.

Quadrennial congresses convene delegates from institutions including Dumbarton Oaks, Collegium Patristicum, Pontifical Oriental Institute, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Chicago and often feature sessions on archaeology at sites like Ephesus, Antioch, Nicaea, and Cappadocia. The congresses draw specialists on liturgy connected to John Chrysostom and Gregorian chant, historians focusing on the Fourth Crusade and the Fall of Constantinople (1453), numismatists studying mints at Sardis and Trebizond, and art historians researching mosaics from Ravenna and frescoes in Miroslavljevic Monastery. The association also organizes thematic symposia in partnership with universities and museums including Museum of Byzantine Culture (Thessaloniki), Hermitage Museum, and National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Membership encompasses individual scholars and national committees representing bodies such as the Società per la Storia Patria, the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Institutional affiliates include university departments of Byzantine Studies at Harvard University, University of Birmingham, University of Ioannina, and research centers such as Warburg Institute, Institute for Byzantine Studies (Belgrade), and Institut national d'histoire de l'art. The association maintains links with learned networks like the International Congress of Historical Sciences and collaborates with regional archaeological missions sponsored by national ministries such as the Ministry of Culture (Greece) and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Turkey).

The association grants recognition comparable to awards from organizations like the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and medals akin to those offered by the British Academy and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, honoring lifetime achievement in studies of figures like Procopius, John II Komnenos, Michael VIII Palaiologos, and topics such as manuscript studies, iconography, and architectural conservation. Prizes have been awarded to scholars affiliated with institutions such as University College London, Sorbonne University, Columbia University, Yale University, and King's College London for contributions to editions, catalogues, and synthetic histories. Special commendations have sometimes been coordinated with foundations including the Gennadius Library, Onassis Foundation, and Fulbright Program.