The proposal for the foundation of a "Commission for the Historical Geography and Spatial Analysis of Byzantium" was submitted officially with a letter to the Presidency of the AIEB on 16 December 2015 by the Austrian Society for Byzantine Studies through its President Prof. Dr. Claudia Rapp based on the initiative of Prof. Dr. Andreas Külzer and Doz. Dr. Mihailo Popović (both Project-Leaders of the Tabula Imperii Byzantini of the Austrian Academy of Sciences). As stated in the aforesaid letter, twelve international experts in the fields of the Historical Geography and Spatial Analysis of Byzantium were named as members for the formation of the respective Commission.

At the session of the AIEB in Belgrade Mihailo Popović was nominated by the Austrian Society for Byzantine Studies to present the proposal to the present delegates. He outlined that the envisaged Commission will have the aim to observe the vibrant scholarly developments in the respective fields, to compare ongoing projects and to address related methodological questions. It will focus on the "classic" Historical Geography as well as on emerging tools coming from the field of GeoSciences. Therefore, Cartography will play an important role in its future discourse. Although related academic fields (e.g. Archaeology, Digital Humanities etc.) will be included in the discussions of the Commission, it has to be stressed that the Commission is eager to strengthen the overall picture of Historical Geography and to coordinate dispersed scholarly initiatives. Following a short discussion, in which the submitted list of members was augmented by the names of Leah di Segni (Israel), Joseph Patrich (Israel), Toni Filiposki (North Macedonia), Anastasia G. Yangaki (Greece) and Georgi Nikolov (Bulgaria), the aforesaid Commission was accepted unanimously by the present delegates.

In accordance with its aims the chair of the “Commission for the Historical Geography and Spatial Analysis of Byzantium”, Mihailo Popović, is coordinating a new quarterly Newsletter starting with the year 2019. The Long-Term Project “Tabula Imperii Byzantini (TIB)” of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research) will succeed the DPP Newsletter and launch its successor, namely a Newsletter called the “HistGeo-Newsletter”, with its first issue due in March 2019. This “HistGeo-Newsletter” will include news and reports from the fields of Mapping, Digital Mapping, Historical Atlases and of Historical Geography of the Byzantine Commonwealth. Contributors will be – apart from the TIB – especially members of the Commission for the Historical Geography and Spatial Analysis of Byzantium at the Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines (AIEB).

If you have registered for the DPP Newsletter, you will continue to receive the new HistGeo-Newsletter in 2019. Please feel free to consult also our DPP homepage in order to subscribe or unsubscribe to the DPP Newsletter and its successor, which is in accordance with the Privacy Policy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Mission Statement

The Commission for the Historical Geography and Spatial Analysis of Byzantium was founded by unanimous vote of the General Assembly of the AIEB in 2016 and has a long-standing tradition in the former Commission Internationale pour la Géographie historique du monde byzantin (under the Presidency of Hélène Ahrweiler, 1973-1992). Its aim is to monitor and coordinate scholarly initiatives within the field of Historical Geography in Byzantine Studies worldwide.

In order to fulfil its tasks in the most efficient and appropriate way the Commission unites scholarly members from various countries and academic disciplines, who are doing research on the former “Byzantine Commonwealth”. The expertise of the Commission’s members covers amongst others Byzantine Studies, Historical Geography, Geography, Archaeology, Cartography and Geographical Information (GI)-Science. Its mission follows two main lines:

The role of coordination is achieved on the one hand through meetings, workshops and congresses, and on the other hand through information published in an external HistGeo-Newsletter. Thus, the Commission reaches out to other Commissions of the AIEB, to the colleagues working worldwide in the field of Byzantine Studies and to the interested public.

The Commission for the Historical Geography and Spatial Analysis of Byzantium is strongly committed to innovation by strengthening and developing the field of Historical Geography through scholarly discussions and evaluation of conventional as well as digital methods.