From EIAH

Conference Announcement: Every Inch a King

From: Christiane J. Gruber <chgruber@indiana.edu>
Date: Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 2:21 AM</br> Subject: Conference Announcement: Every Inch a King
To: H-ISLAMART@h-net.msu.edu

From: Dr C.P. Melville <cpm1000@cam.ac.uk>
Date: 19 Aug 2008

EVERY INCH A KING: From Alexander to the King of Kings
22-24 September 2008

A conference on kingship in Europe and the Near East from antiquity to the medieval period. Sponsored by The British Institute for Persian Studies and the Centre for Mediterranean Studies, Exeter, in association with the Iran Heritage Fund.

The period from Alexander to Machiavelli and the geographical compass of the Middle East and Europe lends itself in particular to a study of kingship because of the many historical, political and intellectual connections and contrasts such a frame represents. European theorists in the medieval period looked back to Alexander and Greek political thought for their models of ideal kingship, just as the Middle Eastern monarchs built on and developed the models of kingship they inherited from Alexander and from the Alexander traditions. The relationship to the divine was similarly important across these periods and places, whether for king as priest, hand of god, or god himself. Likewise, itinerant kingship was found in both the ancient Middle East and medieval Europe.

This conference will examine different styles of kingship as a means of negotiating power and legitimating of authority. By looking at actual kings, theoretical kings and idealised kings in the Middle East, Iran and medieval Europe it will consider the relationships between kingship and the divine, law and justice; examine kingship as a mode of authority created and maintained through war, as well as through nomadism; and reflect on the kinds and importance of images of kingship as a means of expressing and asserting royal power.

Topics for consideration include:
1. Kingship and Justice; Kings and their subjects
2. Kingship and power; power and legitimacy
3. Styles of Kingship; absolutism and consultation
4. Sacral Kingship; Kingship and religion
5. Kings and warfare; Kings and heroes
6. Mirrors for Princes; the ideals and the realities
7. Kingly patronage; courtly patronage of art, architecture and literature
8. The visual image of Kingship

The conference will be held in the auditorium, Peterhouse, Cambridge (located on Trumpington Street). A map of Peterhouse can be found at:

http://www.peterhouse-conferences.co.uk/p-868990f0-9bb7-499d-b6ff-98057a203248.aspx

For those booking accommodation and lunch-time meals, these will be across the road in Pembroke College:

http://www.cam.ac.uk/map/v4/drawmap.cgi?mp=main;xx=1900;yy=1040

The conference dinner will be held in Peterhouse on Tuesday 23rd September (at 7.30 pm, for 8 pm). Reservations for the conference dinner must be made in advance, and can be booked through the registration form (see below).

Registration fees:
Full conference fee: £40
One-day attendance: £15
Student fee £20 (full)/£10 (daily)

So that we can provide adequate catering, we would urge delegates to register in advance through the registration form, which can be downloaded from the conference website

http://www.centres.ex.ac.uk/cms/conferences/every_inch_a_king.htm

This also contains details of the final programme and the abstracts of the papers.

For further information, please contact either Lynette Mitchell or Charles Melville at the addresses below.

We are grateful to the British Institute of Persian Studies and the Iran Heritage Fund who are sponsoring this conference.

Lynette Mitchell Charles Melville
Dept of Classics & Ancient History Dept of Middle Eastern
Studies
Amory Building, Rennes Drive Sidgwick Avenue
University of Exeter University of Cambridge
Exeter EX4 4RJ Cambridge CB3 9DA

Tel: 01392 264203 Tel. 10223 335131
Email: l.g.mitchell@ex.ac.uk Email: cpm1000@cam.ac.uk