PD Dr Eric Böhme

1. The Agency of the Conquered. Muslim Communities in the Emergence of Norman Sicily and the Kingdom of Valencia [revised und translated version of the Habilitation thesis, in preparation].
2. Die Handlungsmacht der Eroberten. Die Etablierung des normannischen Sizilien und des Königreiches València aus der Perspektive der muslimischen Gemeinden, Habilitation thesis, University of Konstanz, summer term 2023.
3. Die Außenbeziehungen des Königreiches Jerusalem im 12. Jahrhundert. Kontinuität und Wandel im Herrscherwechsel zwischen König Amalrich und Balduin IV. (Europa im Mittelalter. Abhandlungen und Beiträge zur historischen Komparatistik 33), Berlin / Boston 2019.

1. Sven Jaros / Eric Böhme / Marie Ulrike Jaros / Stefan Magnussen / Wolfgang Huschner (eds.), Changes of Monarchical Rule in the Late Middle Ages / Monarchische Herrschaftswechsel des Spätmittelalters. Negotiations – Actors – Ambivalences / Aushandlungen – Akteure – Ambivalenzen (Europa im Mittelalter. Abhandlungen und Beiträge zur historischen Komparatistik 44), Berlin/Boston 2024, Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111218083 .
    
2. Daniel G. König / Theresa Jäckh / Eric Böhme (eds), Transmediterrane Geschichte / Transmediterranean History / تأريخ العلاقات عبر البحر المتوسط, Konstanz 2019‒continuously, URL: https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/transmed.

1. (with Marie U. Jaros, Sven Jaros, Stefan Magnussen), Mediation von Herrschaft an den Grenzen Lateineuropas im Spätmittelalter. Eine Studie zu Herrschaftswechseln als Räume politischer Aushandlung in den Königreichen València, Sizilien, Polen und Norwegen [in preparation].

2. Conquered by Agreement: Surrender Negotiations in Sicily and Eastern al-Andalus in Comparison, in: Salvatore Liccardo / Alfonso Mammato / Michele Cobalto (eds.), L’Italia Meridionale nel Medioevo. Un centro politico, culturale ed economico (Secoli V–XIII) / Southern Italy in the Middle Ages. A political, cultural and economic centre (5–13th centuries) [in print].

3. Establishing Communication Mechanisms in a Frontier Zone: The Jewish Communities in the Early Kingdom of Valencia, in: Theresa Jäckh / Daniel G. König / Alejandro Peláez Martín / Kate Tinson (Hrsg.), Interreligious Communication. Transmediterranean Perspectives (7th to 16th Cent.) (al-Masāq. Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean, Special Issue) [in preparation].

4. Wa-ḥalafū ʿalā l-wafāʾ bihā. The Banū ʿĪsā and the Christian Conquest of Šāṭiba/Xàtiva, in: Sven Jaros / Eric Böhme / Marie Ulrike Jaros / Stefan Magnussen / Wolfgang Huschner (eds), Changes of Monarchical Rule in the Late Middle Ages / Monarchische Herrschaftswechsel des Spätmittelalters. Negotiations – Actors – Ambivalences / Aushandlungen – Akteure – Ambivalenzen (Europa im Mittelalter. Abhandlungen und Beiträge zur historischen Komparatistik 44), Berlin/Boston 2024, 325–348, Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111218083-016 .

5. Lenken im Hintergrund? Agnes von Courtenay und ihr Einfluss auf die Königsherrschaft Balduins IV. von Jerusalem, in: Gabriela Signori / Claudia Zey (eds.), Regentinnen und andere Stellvertreterfiguren. Vom 10. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert (Schriften des Historischen Kollegs. Kolloquien 111), Berlin / Boston 2023, 137–155.

6. Vom Šarq al-Andalus in die Krone Aragón? Die Errichtung des Königreiches València aus der Perspektive der Aljamas, in: Rike Szill / Andreas Bihrer (eds.), Eroberte im Mittelalter. Umbruchssituationen erleben, bewältigen, gestalten (Europa im Mittelalter. Abhandlungen und Beiträge zur historischen Komparatistik 39), Berlin / Boston 2023, 237–265. 

7. Between Chichén Itzá, Baghdad, and Guangzhou: New Approaches to the Global Middle Ages, in: German Historical Institute London Bulletin 44/1 (2022), 52–66.
    
8. Legitimising the Conquest of Egypt: The Frankish Campaign of 1163 Revisited, in: Paul Srodecki / Norbert Kersken (eds.): The Expansion of the Faith. Crusading on the Frontiers of Latin Christendom in the High Middle Ages (Outremer. Studies in the Crusades and the Latin East 14), Turnhout 2022, 269–280.
    
9. Der zweite Ägyptenzug König Amalrichs von Jerusalem 1164, in: Sebastian Roebert / Antonella Ghignoli / Cornelia Neustadt / Sebastian Kolditz (eds.), Von der Ostsee bis zum Mittelmeer. Forschungen zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte für Wolfgang Huschner / Dal Mar Baltico al Mediterraneo. Ricerche di storia medievale per Wolfgang Huschner (Italia Regia. Fonti e ricerche per la storia medievale 4), Leipzig 2019, 311–321.

• 1190: A Letter from al-Mahdiyya Reports on a Muslim Uprising on Sicily, in: Transmediterrane Geschichte / Transmediterranean History / (2024) تأريخ العلاقات عبر البحر المتوسط 6/, Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2024.6.1.78 .
   
• 1244: King James I of Aragon Reports on the Capitulation of Xàtiva, in: Transmediterrane Geschichte / Transmediterranean History / تأريخ العلاقات عبر البحر المتوسط 4/2 (2022), Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2022.4.2.45 .
   
• 1174: A Letter of Condolence from Saladin to Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, in: Transmediterrane Geschichte / Transmediterranean History / تأريخ العلاقات عبر البحر المتوسط 4/2 (2022), Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2022.4.2.44 .
   
• 1233: The Hospitallers in the Crown of Aragon Guarantee the Muslims of Cervera the Right to Remain, in: Transmediterrane Geschichte / Transmediterranean History / تأريخ العلاقات عبر البحر المتوسط 3/2 (2021), Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2021.3.2.59 .
   
• 1250: The Regional Ruler al-Azraq Writes to the Queen of Aragon, in: Transmediterrane Geschichte / Transmediterranean History / تأريخ العلاقات عبر البحر المتوسط 3/2 (2021), Open access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2021.3.2.40 .

1. Sam Ottewill-Soulsby, The Emperor and the Elephant. Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne, Princeton 2023, in: Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung [in preparation].

2. Nikolas Jaspert / Jan Rüdiger (eds), Thalassokratien im Mittelalter (Mittelmeerstudien, 25), Paderborn 2024, in: Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung [in preparation].

3. Michael Borgolte, Globalgeschichte des Mittelalters, München 2023, in: Francia-Recensio 2024/1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/frrec.2024.1.103045.
    
4. Gabriele Archetti / Emanuele Piazza (eds.), La Sicilia nei secoli VI-X. Dinamiche di poteri e culture tra Oriente e Occidente. In onore di Carmelina Urso (Centro studi longobardi. Ricerche 5), Spoleto 2023, in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters [in print].
    
5. Hans Eberhard Mayer, Die Kreuzfahrerherrschaften Beirut und Blanchegarde (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 50), Wiesbaden 2022, in: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 131/2 (2023), 381–383.
    
6. Anna Kollatz (ed.), Mamluk Descendants. In search for the awlād al-nās (Mamluk Studies 29), Göttingen 2022, in: Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 51/1 (2024), 128–130.
    
7. Laura K. Morreale / Nicholas L. Paul (eds.), The French of Outremer. Communities and Communications in the Crusading Mediterranean, New York 2018, in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 78/1 (2022), 450.
    
8. Jason T. Roche, The Crusade of King Conrad III of Germany (Outremer. Studies in the Crusades and the Latin East 13), Turnhout 2019, in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 78/1 (2022), 376–377.
    
9. Bernard Hamilton / Andrew Jotischky, Latin and Greek Monasticism in the Crusader States, Cambridge 2020, in: Historische Zeitschrift 314/2 (2022), 474–476.
    
10. Steve Tibble, The Crusader Strategy. Defending the Holy Land 1099–1187, London 2020, in: Historische Zeitschrift 315/3 (2022), 770–772.
     
11. Hans Eberhard Mayer, Die Kreuzfahrerherrschaften von Maraclea und Nephin (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen 46), Berlin / Boston 2018, in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 75/1 (2019), 347–348.
     

12. Antonio Musarra, Acri 1291. La caduta degli stati crociati, Bologna 2017, in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 75/1 (2019), 276–277.

13. Stephan Flemmig / Norbert Kersken (eds.), Akteure mittelalterlicher Außenpolitik: Das Beispiel Ostmitteleuropas (Tagungen zur Ostmitteleuropaforschung 35), Marburg 2017, in: Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung 67/3 (2018), 409–410. Online version in: Sehepunkte 19/2 (2019), URL: www.sehepunkte.de/2019/02/32855.html.

The Agency of the Conquered. Muslim Communities in the Emergence of Norman Sicily and the Kingdom of Valencia

Both Southern Italy and the Iberian Peninsula can be considered two particularly interesting zones of contact in the Western Mediterranean where, in the course of many centuries, Muslims, Jews, and Christians frequently engaged in processes of interaction which could be characterised by peaceful and pragmatic relations as well as by violence. In order to initiate and conduct interaction and communication between different cultures and religions effectively, all participants made use of mediators capable of acting as agents between the sides. Through combining and applying different verbal and cultural competences, these ‘border crossers’ were able to assume a variety of roles in these processes of communication, interaction and negotiation.

My second book seeks to analyse this phenomenon in two case studies to be ultimately compared to each other: Sicily and the Iberian Levante. In both areas of investigation, the centre of attention will be phases of major upheaval constituted by the expansion of Latin-Christian rule into regions which for centuries had been part of the dar al-islām. The new structures of rule could only be established and stabilised by means of constant processes of communication, interaction and negotiation. As mentioned above, mediators and mediator groups were of central importance in these processes and therefore will be a main focus of the research project. By analysing the multitude of processes of interaction which arose between the already resident and newly immigrated population groups as well as the representatives of the new rulers, it will be the main task to draw conclusions on the possible roles, motivations and behaviour patterns of these mediators as well as the mechanisms of communication established with their participation.

The main questions will be: (I) Which concrete moments of interaction between the resident ethnic, religious, social and legal groups and the new authorities can be traced? (II) How did these groups assert their demands towards the rulers and their representatives? (III) Who were the mediators in the underlying processes of communication, interaction and negotiation? What potentially motivated them to participate? (IV) Which patterns or mechanisms of communication and/or interaction between the participating sides (‘ruled’ – ‘mediators’ – ‘rulers’) emerged and were established? (V) Change of perspective: Which strategies did the rulers and their representatives apply in order to establish their authority over and within the heterogeneous structures of the different interest groups?

By studying these main questions, my second book aims at providing a comparative analysis of both case studies adding new perspectives to the scholarly discussion on the dynamics of communication and interaction in the multireligious and multicultural societies of the Mediterranean region.

Transmediterranean History is a trilingual journal (German, English, Arabic) that provides access to commented excerpts of primary sources in their original language and in translation. They cover transmediterranean themes in the period between 600 and 1650.

Daniel G. König, Theresa Jäckh, Eric Böhme (Eds.), Open access, DOI: https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/transmed/index.php/tmh/index .

Scientific Network, funded by the DFG (2024-2026)
Project leader: Eric Böhme

Research discussion on the phenomena (i) changes in rulership, (ii) conquest processes, and (iii) elite groups has recently been particularly productive, both in Medieval Studies and in related disciplines. Building on that, the planned network will focus on a hitherto neglected subject that connects the discussion on these three topics. The areas of investigation will be socio-political systems that underwent significant crisis and upheaval situations due to changes of rulership resulting from processes of conquest. In the cases to be studied, immediate or medium-term shifts in the politically dominant religion mark a particularly disruptive factor in the transitioning processes. Yet, the shifts of constellation caused by the change of rulership and its aftermath on the macro level merely provide the framework for the actual centre of analysis: elite groups which held concrete political power within the old system, as well as their agency in the context of the change of rulership and religion, its initiation, course, and aftermath. With a consensual understanding of rulership, it will be analysed how these elites engaged in processes of communication, interaction, and negotiation with the new rulers and their subordinate elites immigrating into the conquered territory, and how these processes were influenced by the change in the politically dominant religion. To ensure comparability of the case studies under examination, the analysis will follow a specific grid of criteria and core questions, divided into three subcategories: (a) the initial situation before the change of rulership, (b) interaction processes during the change of rulership, and (c) further development of the situation after the change of rulership.

As the central outcome of the interdisciplinary network project, its members will collaboratively produce a monograph that will test the methodological approach in a broad selection of 14 case studies and place the results of the individual analyses into comparative perspectives. The panorama of the case studies is to be understood in several ways: chronologically, they span the period from the Early Middle Ages to the beginning of the Early Modern period (500–1600); the geographical perspective encompasses examples from the Euromediterranean region as well as from Central America, North Africa, and Central, South, and East Asia. This transcultural and exemplary global perspective on the “medieval” millennium takes into account the fact that the phenomena to be studied were by no means limited to the Euromediterranean region but can be observed wherever societies underwent transitions due to changes of rulership and religion.