Byzantine diplomatics from arabic sources 1025-1204

Research project P 14630 Byzantine diplomatics from arabic sources 1025-1204 Otto KRESTEN 09.10.2000 In historically orientated byzantinistics one has to use besides genuine byzantine sources also the historiographic material of the neighbouring peoples; this holds true also for research in diplomaties. Franz Dolger in working on his "Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des oströmischen Reches von 565-1453" was faced with the problem to work not only through the greek, but also the whole western-latin, slavonic and oriental transmission of imperial diploma. Especially the arab sources he was able to handle only in a very insufficient way. Although interpretation and critic of arab sources have yielded most important new insights since the first edition of the second fascicle od Dölger`s Regesten (1025-1204) in 1925, the second edition by Peter Wirth (1995) hardly shows any advancements. The region of non-imperial diploma in arab sources for the period 1025-1204 has not yet been worked systematically at all. The project under review sets itself therefore mainly the task to produce from arab sources as far as possible an exhaustive collection of all the material on byzantine diploma, to put it into chronological order and to give a critical evaluation. All indications shall be presented in a clear arrangement of regests, in order to offer to the user complete informations about the content of diplomatic utterances of the byzantine emperors and inferior secular and ecclesiastic officials of the empire as represented in arab eyes, about time an place of their production, the arab transmittance as compared to parallel transmittance in other languages, the, most important secondary literature, their place in the history of events and finally a critical evaluation of the sources. In period and method the project locks in with the current project PI 1739-HIS for the years 5651025. It shall reap not only advancements in the field of byzantine diplomatics in a more restricted sense (work on deperdita and diplomatic texts from arab sources according to source critical and philological criteria) but also in the field of research on byzantine-arab history in general (further clarification of problems of events and chronology; starting point for questions on reception and adaption of authentical and fictional written utterances of byzantine provenience in arab historiography or receptors respectively and for further intercultural interferences).