Please note: this event is in Bulgarian!

The Centre for Advanced Study Sofia hosts a discussion series under the theme:

Why Byzantium?

On the 1st April 2024 we will convene for a lecture on the following topic:

“Send us, Lord, […] such a teacher” (Vita Cyrilli): Features of the Ecclesiastical Mission of Constantine and Methodius

Lecturer: Prof. Marco Scarpa, PhD (University of Messina, Italy)

1 April 2024 (Monday), at 17:00h.

About the discussion series:

The topic of this discussion series hosted by the Centre for Advanced Study, titled “Why Byzantium?”, deals with the influence and legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire, which withstood multiple waves of barbarian invasions and lasted more than a millennium after the fall of its western half, spanning the entire Middle Ages. Apart from being an Empire, however, Byzantium was a cultural and historical community of enormous influence that carried the Hellenic, Hellenistic and Roman heritage or inheritances, but already in their Christian form, into all spheres of its existence, transmitted them to other populations and continued to live long after its fall under the Ottoman Sultans. This influence took on a strongly identitarian character – recognized or not – for many peoples, states and social establishments. And thus, the circle of our interests is formed: how Byzantium comes to be perceived, studied, appreciated and understood. This takes place in various ways, some of which we are trying to trace, but one of the main ones is its comprehension in historical works – chronicles, narratives and scholarship – both in the Middle Ages and up to the present day. At the centre of our interest is the perception and conceptualization of the phenomenon of “Byzantium,” and not so much the phenomenon itself. This is achieved through various paths, only one of which is historiography. In addition to historians, the discussion series is addressed to representatives of various disciplines with an interest in the Middle Ages, the Modern Period or Late Antiquity – literary scholars, linguists, art historians, archaeologists – and to all those for whom the phenomenon of Byzantium could and should be of interest.