Internationales Kolloquium. Aus dem Ankündigungstext der Veranstalter: «The publication of On Kings, by anthropologists David Graeber and Marshall Sahlins (2017) has raised numerous questions about kingship and its relation to state formation, political theology, and state-society relations. In particular, the concluding chapter in Graeber and Sahlins’s book, “Notes on the politics of divine kingship: Or, elements for an archaeology of sovereignty” (On Kings, pp. 377-464), offers a model to understand the “politics of kingship” in early societies. Briefly, politics fluctuated between two models of kingship: divine-like, unrestricted power and sacralized, contained power.
This model potentially offers new opportunities to study the Visigothic kingdom, a period rich in political literature despite the documentary dearth in other areas. What does Visigothic political theory or political theology reveal about the politics of kingship? How did different actors in Visigothic society envisioned limits to and powers of royal authority? Do discussions over kingship reveal a particularly Visigothic political culture beyond the traditional concepts of “Roman”, “Christian”, or “Germanic”? Were Visigothic kings the only locus of sovereignty in Visigothic society? What role did religious and non-religious ritual play in limiting or expanding kingly authority?»
Mit Beiträgen u.a. von
– Courtney Booker (University of British Columbia), Sacred Kingdom, Penitential State: A Short History of L’Augustinisme politique
– Wolfram Drews (Universität Münster), Observations on “Tyranny” in Julian of Toledo
– Paulo Pachá (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), Fragile kings? Royal Authority and Visigothic Political Culture between Theory and Practice
– Céline Martin (Université Bordeaux-Montaigne), El monarca hispanovisigodo: ¿un rey obispo?
– Lauro Olmo Enciso (Universidad de Alcalá), State Formation and Visigothic Kingship: An Interpretation through Materiality
29. bis 30. Juni 2023
Organisation: Stefan Esders (Freie Universität Berlin – Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut), Damián Fernández (Freie Universität Berlin – Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut / Northern Illinois University), Sabine Panzram (Universität Hamburg – RomanIslam Center)
Veranstaltungsort: Kollegforschungsgruppe 2615 “Rethinking Oriental Despotism”, Fabeckstr. 15 (“Despoten-Villa”), Raum 013, 14195 Berlin
Programm: Visigothic Kingship and Political Culture, Berlin 06.2023