Meanings of Community Across Medieval Eurasia: Comparative Approaches

This volume explores some of the many different meanings of community across medieval Eurasia. How did the three ‘universal’ religions, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, frame the emergence of various types of community under their sway? The studies assembled here in thematic clusters address the terminology of community; genealogies; urban communities; and monasteries or ‘enclaves of learning’: in particular in early medieval Europe, medieval South Arabia and Tibet, and late medieval Central Europe and Dalmatia. It includes work by medieval historians, social anthropologists, and Asian Studies scholars. The volume present the results of in-depth comparative research from the Visions of Community project in Vienna, and of a dialogue with guests, offering new and exciting perspectives on the emerging field of comparative medieval history. Contributors are (in order within the volume) Walter Pohl, Gerda Heydemann, Eirik Hovden, Johann Heiss, Rüdiger Lohlker, Elisabeth Gruber, Oliver Schmitt, Daniel Mahoney, Christian Opitz, Birgit Kellner, Rutger Kramer, Pascale Hugon, Christina Lutter, Diarmuid Ó Riain, Mathias Fermer, Steven Vanderputten, Jonathan Lyon and Andre Gingrich.

Preliminary Material /; Introduction: Meanings of Community in Medieval Eurasia /; People(s) of God? Biblical Exegesis and the Language of Community in Late Antique and Early Medieval Europe /; The Political Usage of Religious and Non-religious Terms for Community in Medieval South Arabia: A Comparative Response to Gerda Heydemann’s Chapter /; Jamāʿa vs. Mulk: Community-Centred and Ruler-Centred Visions of the Islamic Community /; The City as Commune /; Addressing Community in Late Medieval Dalmatia /; Urban Communities in Medieval South Arabia: A Comparative Reflection /; The Political Construction of a Tribal Genealogy from Early Medieval South Arabia /; Genealogical Representations of Monastic Communities in Late Medieval Art /; Genealogy into the Future: Glimpses from Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho’s (1653–1705) Exposition of the Extended Dalai Lama Lineage /; Genealogy: A Comparative Perspective from the Early Medieval West /; Introduction: Spiritual Communities across Medieval Eurasia /; Enclaves of Learning, Religious and Intellectual Communities in Tibet: The Monastery of gSang phu Neʼu thog in the Early Centuries of the Later Diffusion of Buddhism /; Teaching Emperors: Transcending the Boundaries of Carolingian Monastic Communities /; Competing Visions of Welfare in the Zaydi Community of Medieval South Arabia /; Vita communis in Central European Monastic Landscapes /; The Schottenklöster in the World: Identity, Independence and Integration /; Among Teachers and Monastic Enclaves: An Inquiry into the Religious Learning of Medieval Tibet /; Enclaves of Learning: A Commentary on the Papers in the Section on “Spiritual Communities” /; Response to the Chapters in “Spiritual Communities” Section /; Medieval Eurasian Communities by Comparison: Methods, Concepts, Insights /; Index / / Eirik Hovden , Christina Lutter and Walter Pohl --; Walter Pohl --; Gerda Heydemann --; Johann Heiss and Eirik Hovden --; Rüdiger Lohlker --; Elisabeth Gruber --; Oliver Schmitt --; Johann Heiss , Eirik Hovden and Elisabeth Gruber --; Daniel Mahoney --; Christian Nikolaus Opitz --; Birgit Kellner --; Walter Pohl --; Rutger Kramer --; Pascale Hugon --; Rutger Kramer --; Eirik Hovden --; Christina Lutter --; Diarmuid Ó Riain --; Mathias Fermer --; Steven Vanderputten --; Jonathan R. Lyon --; Andre Gingrich --; Eirik Hovden , Christina Lutter and Walter Pohl.