[Bilimsel Haber] Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Politics and Patronage (7th – 19th Centuries), July 2-5, 2007

[Onur Inal]

Conference Announcement:

Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Politics and Patronage (7th – 19th
Centuries)
Gotha, Schloss Friedenstein, July 2-5, 2007

Courts and the complex phenomenon of the Courtly Societies have received
intensified interest in academic research over the last three decades,
especially due to the pioneering work of Norbert Elias from 1969. For
various reasons however, so far the field of “Muslim Court Culture” has
been almost neglected, if we compare it to the huge amount of detailed
studies on “European Court Culture”. Whereas in the European case
scholars of different academic disciplines can rely on a vast variety of
different studies to move towards comparative and, thus, more structural
questions, research in “Muslim Court Cultures” did not yet surpass the
level of studies of individual courts. This conference therefore
attempts to provide a first structural overview of the state-of-the-art
of research on different aspects of courts and courtly life in the
Muslim World from the earliest times to the 19th century. There is
hardly any other place in Germany more qualified to host such a
conference than the Baroque Schloss Friedenstein at Gotha. The Library
of Schloss Friedenstein is in possession of the third largest collection
of Oriental manuscripts in Germany. The impressive collection of Islamic
manuscripts in Gotha is in itself an indicator of European “Court
Culture”, as the manuscripts were collected in the late 18th century by
order of Duke Ernest II (1772-1804) of Saxe-Gotha-

Altenburg.
For additional information and the conference programme see:
www.uni-erfurt.de/islamwissenschaft/courtculture2007/
Contact: Dr Albrecht Fuess (albrecht.fuess at uni-erfurt.de
Dr. Jan-Peter Hartung (jan-peter.hartung at uni-erfurt.de
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Dr. Albrecht Fuess
Universität Erfurt
Religionswissenschaft - Lehrstuhl Islamwissenschaft
Nordhäuser Straße 63; D-99089 Erfurt
Telefon: 0049/ (0) 361/ 737 4113
Telefax: 0049/ (0)361/737 4119
E-mail: albrecht.fuess at uni-erfurt.de
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