Study group „Rulers, Prophets, and Scholars – Transmediterranean Perspectives on the Pre-Modern Era“
The exercise of power appears in many forms. Most prominently, though, in the form of authority (de: “Herrschaft”). This concept is, at least according to Max Weber, tied to either a person, a group or both. These people or groups occupy socially exalted positions, which are, in turn, socially dependent and socially framed.
This interinstitutional and interdisciplinary study group approached the thematic complex of social authority from a plurality of case studies ranging from the Holy Roman Empire to the Levant and from Byzantium to Egypt.
These studies analysed the different authorities in order to reveal their precise characteristics, systematics, expectations, duties, representations, and criticisms.