arXiv subjects

Johannes Preiser-Kapeller

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Preiser-Kapeller.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

"The sun was darkened for seventeen days (AD 797)". An interdisciplinary exploration of celestial phenomena between Byzantium, Charlemagne, and a volcanic eruption

The blinding of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI in Constantinople in August 797 and his overthrow by his mother Eirene, who then until 802 ruled as first female emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, was used as legitimation for the coronation of the Frankish King Charlemagne as emperor of the Romans on December 25, 800, by contemporaries in Western Europe. Some observers in the West may have even interpreted the downfall of the Eastern Roman emperor and his replacement by a woman as sign of an impending collapse of the Roman Empire and the entire world order as already expected, based on chiliastic calculations. We equally find indications of apocalyptic expectations in Constantinople, where the blinding of Constantine was linked with a spectacular celestial manifestation of divine disapproval, a darkening of the sun for 17 days. In this paper, this obfuscation of the sun is compared with the description of other atmospheric and climatic phenomena in the 8th and 9th century as well as before and after this period. In addition, natural scientific data is used to disprove earlier hypotheses on the physical background to this event and to present a more probable scenario, i. e., the impacts of one or more volcanic eruptions, for the darkening of 797 and other phenomena, which provided a peculiar atmospheric framework for the interpretation of the events between the downfall of Constantine VI and the coronation of Charlemagne by contemporaries.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2022

The Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Oort Minimum and Socio-Political Dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Byzantine Empire, 10th to 12th Century

The study examines the palaeoclimatic background and the regional manifestations of the Medieval Climate Anomaly in the Eastern Mediterranean, with a focus on the Byzantine Empire, but also including neighbouring polities. It explores the interplay between climatic factors and the socioeconomic dynamics between the 10th and 12th centuries, concentrating on the late 10th and 11th centuries, also overlapping with the Oort Solar Minimum. In particular it contrasts scenarios of an economic boom and of an collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean created in recent scholarship for this period and evaluates these notions based on a close reading and citation of historiographical and other written sources. Thereby, both potentials as well as problems of a combination of archives of society and archives of nature become evident.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2022

Global apocalypse at the turn of the first Millennium AD? Climate fluctuations, astronomic phenomena and socio-political turbulences in 10th and 11th century Byzantium and Japan in comparative perspective

Around the turn of the first Millennium AD, both in Christian polities such as the Byzantine Empire as well as in Buddhist communities such as in Heian Japan, expectations of an end of times emerged. Although based on different religious and independent chronological interpretations, they gained attraction at the same time due to the parallel observation and interpretation of the same astronomical phenomena (such as sightings of Halley's Comet in 989 AD) or of simultaneous climate anomalies, which can partly be connected with the Oort Solar Minimum of the 11th century. This paper explores and compares the interplay between natural phenomena, political and religious unrest and apocalyptic interpretations on the basis of historical and natural scientific evidence.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2018

Networks and the Resilience and Fall of Empires: a Macro-Comparison of the Imperium Romanum and Imperial China

This paper proposes to proceed from a rather metaphorical application of network terminology on polities and imperial formations of the past to an actual use of tools and concepts of network science. For this purpose, a well established network model of the route system in the Roman Empire and a newly created network model of the infrastructural web of Imperial China are visualised and analysed with regard to their structural properties. Findings indicate that these systems could be understood as large scale complex networks with pronounced differences in centrality and connectivity among places and a hierarchical sequence of clusters across spatial scales from the overregional to the local level. Such properties in turn would influence the cohesion and robustness of imperial networks, as is demonstrated with two tests on vulnerability to node failure and to the collapse of longdistance connectivity. Tentatively, results can be connected with actual historical dynamics and thus hint at underlying network mechanisms of large scale integration and disintegration of political formations.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2018

The Climate of the Khagan. Observations on palaeo-environmental Factors of the History of the Avars (6th-9th century AD)

Based on palaeoenvironmental, historical and archaeological data, the paper proposes possible climatic impacts on the history of the Avar Khaganate, which comprised the Carpathian Basin between the late 6th and the early 9th century AD. While the establishment of the Avars in East Central Europe took place within a period characterised by cold and dry climatic conditions (recently identified as Late Antique Little Ice Age), more stable climatic parameters may have favoured the stabilisation of Avar rule after a crisis in the aftermath of 626 AD. Data indicates growth of settlement and agricultural activity up to the mid-8th century. These developments did not necessarily strengthen central power, but may have contributed to a greater autonomy of various groups on the basis of increased resources. The Khaganate quickly disintegrated faced by the Carolingian advance of the 790s; the last decades of documented Avar presence were again accompanied by environmental vicissitudes.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2017

A Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean? New results and theories on the interplay between climate and societies in Byzantium and the Near East, ca. 1000-1200 AD

This paper discusses a recently proposed scenario of a climate-induced Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 11th century AD. It demonstrates that such a scenario cannot be maintained when confronted with proxy data from various regions. On the other hand, data on the interplay between environment and economy in the Komnenian period (1081-1185) and evidence for a change of climatic conditions in the period of the Angeloi (1185-1204) is presented, arguing that climatic parameters should be taken into consideration when comparing socio-economic dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean with those in Western Europe. The necessity of further research on the regional as well as over-regional level for many aspects of the interaction between human society and environment in the medieval Eastern Mediterranean is highlighted.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2017

Networks of border zones: multiplex relations of power, religion and economy in South-eastern Europe, 1250-1453 CE

We demonstrate the application of the multiplex networks-approach for the analysis of various networks which connected individuals and communities in the politically highly fragmented late medieval Balkans (1204-1453 AD) within and across border zones. We present how we obtain relational data from our sources and the integration of these data into three different networks (of roads, state administration and ecclesiastical administration) of various topologies; then we calculate several indicators for influences and overlaps between these different networks which connect the same set of nodes (settlements). We analyse changes and continuities in the topologies of the various networks for three time-steps (1210, 1324 and 1380 CE) and demonstrate the role of these networks as frameworks for social interactions. Finally, we combine all three networks into one network which shows properties observed for the small world model. Thus, we demonstrate possibilities for capturing historical complexity with the help of the multiplex networks approach.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2017

Networks as Proxies: a relational approach towards economic complexity in the Roman period

Based on the assumption that economic complexity is characterised by the interactions of economic agents (who) constantly change their actions and strategies in response to the outcome they mutually create, this paper presents how network models can be used a proxies for the mapping, quantification and analysis of Roman economic complexity. Network analysis provides tools to visualise and analyse the inherent complexity of various types of data and their combination (archaeological, geographical, textual) or even of a single piece of evidence. Equally, the relational approach invites to a structural and quantitative comparison between periods, regions and the economic systems of polities and empires. An increasing number of proxies of this kind may allow us to capture the trajectories of economic complexity beyond metaphors.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2016

Connecting Harbours. A comparison of traffic networks across ancient and medieval Europe

Ancient and medieval harbours connected via navigable and terrestrial routes could be interpreted as elements of complex traffic networks. Based on evidence from three projects in Priority Programme 1630 (Fossa Carolina, Inland harbours in Central Europe and Byzantine harbours on the Balkan coasts) we present a pioneer study to apply concepts and tools of network theory on archaeological and on written evidence as well as to integrate this data into different network models. Our diachronic approach allows for an analysis of the temporal and spatial dynamics of webs of connectivity with a focus on the 1st millennium AD. The combination of case studies on various spatial scales as well as from regions of inland and maritime navigation (Central Europe respectively the Seas around the Balkans) allows for the identification of structural similarities respectively difference between pre-modern traffic systems across Europe. The contribution is a first step towards further adaptions of tools of network analysis as an instrument for the connection and comparison of data across the projects of Priority Programme 1630.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2015

Calculating the Middle Ages? The Project "Complexities and Networks in the Medieval Mediterranean and Near East" (COMMED)

The project "Complexities and networks in the Medieval Mediterranean and Near East" (COMMED) at the Division for Byzantine Research of the Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences focuses on the adaptation and development of concepts and tools of network theory and complexity sciences for the analysis of societies, polities and regions in the medieval world in a comparative perspective. Key elements of its methodological and technological toolkit are applied, for instance, in the new project "Mapping medieval conflicts: a digital approach towards political dynamics in the pre-modern period" (MEDCON), which analyses political networks and conflict among power elites across medieval Europe with five case studies from the 12th to 15th century. For one of these case studies on 14th century Byzantium, the explanatory value of this approach is presented in greater detail. The presented results are integrated in a wider comparison of five late medieval polities across Afro-Eurasia (Byzantium, China, England, Hungary and Mamluk Egypt) against the background of the »Late Medieval Crisis« and its political and environmental turmoil. Finally, further perspectives of COMMED are outlined.

physics.soc-ph↗