Supporting sovereign decision-making
Experts and their knowledge in a transcultural and comparative perspective
This conference aims at investigating which resources were available to premodern rulers in their decision-making duties. Through their knowledge, advisors and experts could assist the sovereign in taking decisions. Therefore, they took part in councils and thus were able to indicate solutions to problems and influence decisions. In so doing, they based their expertise on various resources of knowledge, amongst which the exact sciences (astronomy, astrology, as well as observations on natural phenomena like thunders and earthquakes) played an essential role. Normative and narrative sources refer to those sciences in many ways.
In the frame of this conference, the various modes of decision-making in the areas of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Arab world, and the Far East come under consideration. The transmission of specialized knowledge and its evaluation in the decision-making process led by the sovereign / (absolute) ruler / monarch is also addressed in comparison with similarly structured societies of premodern times.
The main questions addressed are: What kind of knowledge was available and suitable for supporting/backing the process of decision-making? What role or function did experts assume? Was there any organized way of consultation in the various ruling/power centres? In which fields was this backing/expertise utilized (e.g. military or administration)? To what extent was the ruler/sovereign dependent on or influenced by those resources? Were there (any) strategies for keeping knowledge under control?
Programme
Wednesday, 16. May 2018 |
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14.00 | Begrüßung und Einleitung | Ulrich Pfister (Sprecher des SFB 1150), Michael Grünbart (SFB 1150, WWU Münster) |
14.30 | Entscheiden im Rom des 9. Jahrhunderts | Klaus Herbers (IKGF, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) |
15.15 | ||
16.00 | Pause | |
16.30 | Counselors ex officio and Expert Advisors (Byzantium, 11th-14th Centuries) | Demetrios Kyritses (University of Crete) |
17.15 | Pause | |
18.15-19.45 |
Abendvortrag: Royalty and Divine Communication in Didactic Writings of the Western Church (c.1050-1200) Im Rahmen des Forschungskolloquiums “400-1500 |
Anke Holdenried (University of Bristol) |
Thursday, 17. May 2018 |
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Vorsitz: Michael Grünbart (SFB 1150, WWU Münster) | ||
09.00 | Grundlagen herrschaftlicher Entscheidungsfindung im frühtraditionellen China | Michael Schimmelpfennig (The Australian National University, Canberra) |
09.45 | Schlecht beraten? Irrationale Entscheidungsprozesse in der Spätantike |
Felix K. Maier (JMU Würzburg) |
10.30 | Pause | |
Vorsitz: Susanne Spreckelmeier (SFB 1150, WWU Münster) | ||
11.00 | Supporting or Superseding Decision-Making? Piccolomini’s Pentalogus, a Janus-faced Policy Paper | Maximiliane Berger (SFB 1150, WWU Münster) |
11.45 | Politik und Wahrsagerei an frühneuzeitlichen Höfen. Vorschlag zur Gewichtung eines Zusammenhangs | Ulrike Ludwig (GU Frankfurt/Main) |
12.30 | Pause | |
14.00 | Zu Funktion und Darstellung herrscherlicher Entscheidungsfindungen in der lateinisch-christlichen Historiografie | Hans-Christian Lehner (IKGF, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) |
14.45 | Jenseits der Astrologie - Mantische Praktiken als Entscheidungshilfe an westlichen Herrscherhöfen des Mittelalters | Matthias Heiduk (IKGF, FAU Erlangen- Nürnberg) |
15.30 | Pause | |
Vorsitz: Stefanos Dimitriadis (SFB 1150, WWU Münster) | ||
16.00 | Astrology at the Court of Manuel I Komnenos | Paul Magdalino (University of St. Andrews) |
16.45 | Prophecies as a Resource for Decision-Making: The Case of Alexios Mourtzouphlos |
András Kraft (American University of Central Asia, Division of General Education, Bischkek) |
17.30 | The Late Byzantine Oikeioi: Political Advice and Decision Making at the Palaiologan Court |
Florin Leonte (Palacký University Olomouc) |
Friday, 18. May 2018 |
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Vorsitz: Florin Filimon (SFB 1150, WWU Münster) | ||
09.00 | Predicting the Reliability of Astrologers: An Epistle of al-Qabīṣī (4th/6th century) |
Anne Regourd (University of Copenhagen) |
09.45 | Supporting Princely Decision-Making? al-Ashraf ‘Umar and His Kitāb al-Tabṣira (Yemen, 13th c.) | Petra G. Schmidl (GU Frankfurt/Main) |
10.30 | Pause | |
11.00 | Ancient or Modern? Astrological Handbooks in the Komnenoi Period | Anne-Laurence Caudano (University of Winnipeg) |
11.45 | “The Oracles of Leo”: What the Emperor Does Not Know | Benjamin Anderson (Cornell University, Ithaca N.Y.) |
12.30 |