medieval worlds ‒ comparative and interdisciplinary studies, No. 15/Special Issue 2022

“medieval worlds” provides a forum for comparative, interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Its aim is to overcome disciplinary boundaries, regional limits and national research traditions in Medieval Studies, to open up new spaces for discussion, and to help developing global perspectives. We focus on the period from c. 400 to 1500 CE but do not stick to rigid periodization. “medieval worlds” is open to submissions of broadly comparative studies and matters of global interest, whether in single articles, companion papers, smaller clusters, or special issues on a subject of global/comparative history. We particularly invite studies of wide-ranging connectivity or comparison between different world regions. Apart from research articles, “medieval worlds” publishes ongoing debates and project and conference reports on comparative medieval research.

This is the first special issue of “medieval worlds”. This format has been introduced to provide a platform for publishing the proceedings of conferences and specially edited collections of studies which not only form a thematic unit but also engage in comparative or interdisciplinary discourse with each other. Special issues will be published in addition to the regular volumes, apart from the usual publication dates of 1 July and 1 December.
The present volume was organised by guest editors D. Mahoney, D. Ó Riain and G. Vocino. It contains seven case studies which examine medieval biographical collections from different cultural and religious backgrounds – Buddhist (R. Langelaar), Christian (R. Kramer, D. Ó Riain, G. Vocino, G. Ward, and V. Wieser) and Muslim (J. Heiss and D. Mahoney). Their findings form the basis of three comparative chapters, in which the authors of the case studies present aspects of comparison which emerged in their collaborative discussions, namely compilation strategies (D. Mahoney and D. Ó Riain), writing strategies (R. Langelaar, G. Vocino and V. Wieser) and audience and reception (R. Kramer and G. Ward). Introduction and conclusion form an overall framework that provides the reader with a broader comparative overview.