The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce the 2025–2026 edition of its annual lecture with the Harvard University Standing Committee on Medieval Studies.
The Frankish Kingdom and the Eastern Empire: Rethinking Their Interconnections from a Medieval Perspective
Laury Sarti, University of Bonn
February 27, 2026 | 12:00–1:30 pm (EST, UTC -5) | Zoom
How did the Byzantines perceive the Franks since the end of Antiquity, and to what extent did they recognise Frankish imperial claims at the time of Charlemagne? This lecture reassesses the sources to challenge the traditional view of general Byzantine superiority, focusing on contemporary perspectives. It examines the relationship and connections between the Franks and the empire from the Merovingian period, and how these relations evolved over time. It does so by employing three approaches: the study of connectivity, exploring interactions and infrastructures; the study of networking, tracing the processes and outcomes of these interactions; and entanglement, analysing intersecting socio-political factors. The evidence shows that Charlemagne’s recognition in 812 followed standard imperial protocols, that the dual imperial order remained conceptually viable, and that the Franks retained ties to imperial structures while gradually asserting autonomy. Elite-level networks—embassies, marriage proposals, and Greek learning—sustained a limited but enduring imperial connection, which only weakened by the Ottonian period.
Laury Sarti is Heisenberg Professor in the Department of History at the University of Bonn. Her research focuses on war as a factor of social change after the end of the Roman Empire, the legacy of Rome in the early medieval West, and physical mobility until the Late Middle Ages.
Advance registration required. Register: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/the-frankish-kingdom-and-the-eastern-empire
Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, with any questions.
