11.11.2026 – 14.11.2026
Universität Hamburg

We cordially invite you to our final conference under the title Imperial Transformations – Comparatice Strategies in Empires of Salvation Religions organized by the RomanIslam – Centerfor Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies – Early Islam (University of Hamburg) on November 11-14, 2026.

Imperial Transformations – Comparative Strategies in Empires of Salvation Religions

A detailed program and abstracts of the speakers can be found under https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/events-news/workshops/imperial-transformation.html.

The conference will take place on site, however, it is possible to participate online via zoom. In order to attend, please register by Novemeber 2 by e-mail with maximilian.schlimm@uni-hamburg.de.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Programme :

Wed., 11. Nov.

18.00 Stefan Heidemann (Universität Hamburg)
Introduction

18.30 Alan Strathern (University of Oxford)
Abrahamic Transcendentalism and the Imperial Management of Religious Pluralism

12.15 Michaela Konrad (Universität Bamberg)
The Rise of Salvation Religions in the Roman Empire

13.00 Lunch Break

15.00 Andrew Marsham (Cambridge University)
The Umayyad Empire as a Syro-Mesopotamian Pastoralist Empire and its Ecological Context

15.45 Javier Francisco (Universität Basel) – Online
The Contributions of “Religion” to Empire-Building: The Spanish Case

16.30 Coffee Break

16.45 Discussion: Ritual and Religion in Comparison
17.30 End of Day One

19:30 Reception

Thu., 12 Nov.

10.00 Registration & Coffee

10.15 Stefan Heidemann (Universität Hamburg)
Welcome

10.30 Stefan Heidemannn (Universität Hamburg) Empires of Salvation Religions

11.15 Lutz Berger
(Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel)
Religion and Empire in Early Islam

12.00 Coffee Break

Fri. 13 Nov.

10.00 Registration & Coffee

10.15 Clifford Ando (The University of Chicago)
Religion, Citizenship, and Social Cohesion

11.00 Christian Müller (CNRS Paris)
Islamic Law in the First Islamic Empire: From Caliphal to Juridical Authority

11.45 Coffee Break

12.00 Johannes Meier (Universität Mainz) – Online
The Church’s Role in Spanish Rule Over the Americas

12.45 Discussion: Law and Justice in Comparison

13.15 Lunch Break

14.30 Kristian Kanstrup Christensen (Stellenbosch, Western Cape University)
Christianity and the Administration of the Later Roman Empire

15.15 Philip Wood (King’s College London)
Appropriating Difference: Christian Sectarian Discourses and the Construction of Islamic Imperial Ideology

16.00 Coffee Break

16.15 Amira K. Bennison (Cambridge University)
The Almohad City and its Integrative Functions

17.00 Federico Tavelli (Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina) – Online
Indians as Protestants? The Transformation of Ancient America through European Christian Social Models in the Sixteenth Century

17.45 Discussion:
Questions of Integration in Comparison
Discussant: Kurt Franz (Universität Hamburg & Universität Göttingen)

18.15 End of Day Two

Sat., 14 Nov

9.15 Registration & Coffee

9.30 Stanisław Adamiak (Nicolaus Copernicus University at Toruń)
Augustine’s Languages of Power and Weakness

10.15 Caroline Cunill (EHESS)
A Patchwork of Languages? The Scope and Reach of the Indigenous Languages in the Spanish Empire

11.00 Coffee Break

11.15 Discussion: Imperial Languages in Comparison

11.45 Ulrich Gotter (Universität Konstanz)
Empire(s) of the Mediterranean

12.30 Marie Legendre (University of Edinburgh)
Imperial Wealth: Between Caliph, Court and Province

13.15 Lunch Break

14.15 Stefan Heidemann (Universität Hamburg)
The Integrative Role of Imperial Currencies in Comparison

15:00 Discussion: Economic Integration of Empires and the Wealth of Elites in Comparison

15:45 End of the Conference

Source : H-Soz-Kult