The nineteenth annual Runciman Lecture will be held this coming Thursday 4 February 2010 at 18.00 in the Great Hall, Strand Campus, Kings’ College, London.
Professor Robert Hillenbrand (Edinburgh) will present: Byzantine Architecture reconfigured in early Islamic Syria.
The lecture will be preceded by a Service of Orthodox Vespers in the Chapel of King’s College London at 17.15. Best to arrive early as last year it was standing room only for Judith Herrin. Details.
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Watch Edward Luttvak interviewed by Harry Kreisler in the Berkeley University series Conversations with History. Edward Luttvak discusses his book “The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire.”
Visit the books section to read a review from the Wall Street Journal.
Thirty years after her first visit, the historian returns to find hidden treasures in the European Capital of Culture for 2010
Bettany Hughes
Firecrackers and cars do not typically mix. But when one of Istanbul’s football teams wins, the traffic in the city blasts past with supporters waving fireworks from the windows and hurling them joyfully into city squares.
My two daughters, raised in the health- and-safety shackles of 21st-century Europe, were slack-jawed with delight.
It was a little bit of history for them; Ottoman generals would herald the start of a battle with a volley of pyrotechnics, and Istanbul’s sultans supervised their princes’ circumcision as fireworks sparkled over the Golden Horn. The place revels in spectacle, and as the European Capital of Culture it’s promising us a year-long party.
I should come clean. Istanbul is my favourite city. I first visited when I was 18, fell in love and have long wanted to fire my children, Sorrel, 13, and May, 9, with the same enthusiasm. I had dangerously high expectations of our family trip. It was, fortunately, a huge success.
This is my friend from Slovenia, Mateja Gorjup, who has such a beautiful voice, singing an old Serbian love song in one of the churches in Svete Gore in Slovenia. Enjoy!
She has provided us with a short explanation of this beautiful song “Marijo, deli bela kumrijo”:
“This is an old Serbian song dedicated to those who have travelled to distant parts seeking work. Since Mary’s loved one is far away, it is difficult to be happy and cheerful. Her lovelorn state makes her step slow and leaden; her voice loses its brightness and strength. And so this song describes her mood of deep longing.
The local Aga is a curious and careful onlooker. He sees how the girl’s step has become “soft” and her speech “quiet”. He supposes this to be the result of her carrying heavy water pitchers (stomno, stomnite) or wearing weighty encrusted necklaces (derdana). The girl, full of youth and strength, roundly rejects the idea that work or wearing the necklaces by which she is known to her beloved could be called a burden. The only heavy and almost unbearable burden she carries, given her youth, is separation from the man she loves!”
For those of you who live and work in London and have an interest in Byzantium, you would certainly like the seminars run by the Department of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King’ College.
The Spring Term programme is now published. Events are free to all and are held at the Franklin-Wilkins Building on Stamford Street just two minutes walk from Waterloo station. There is no need to register; just turn up by 5.30 pm. For a map of the campus click here.
The seminars last for about an hour and typically involve an academic presenting their latest research. There is an opportunity to ask questions. The audience is full of Byzantists, professional and amateur, and often includes the wonderful Judith Herrin.
The Spring programme is here and I hope to see some of the Blog visitors at some of these events over the coming months. The next event is on 19 January.
