Orthodox Monasticism in the Eastern Mediterranean, 15th and 16th Centuries
Seminar #1

New Perspectives on Byzantine Monasticism from the MAMEMS Project

Zachary Chitwood Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/ERC-StG MAMEMS

#SemMod
Programme 2025

Abstract

In this talk Zachary Chitwood discusses the process behind preparing an application for what became the MAMEMS project. He will talk about the challenges of writing a convincing ERC application and give an overview of the application process. After giving a brief overview of the project results, in particular how MAMEMS might contribute to changing our understanding of Byzantine monasticism, Prof. Chitwood will detail how he used insights from the project to prepare a further successful ERC Consolidator Grant application, NOMOS “The Challenge of Islam and the Transformation of Eastern Christian Normative Regimes, ca. 630-1100.”

About the speaker

Zachary Chitwood received his BA from Ripon College and his MA and PhD from Princeton University. After stints as a post-doc in Berlin and Mainz, he became the chair in Byzantine Studies at the University of Munich in 2024. Since 2020 he has been the Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant project MAMEMS “Mount Athos in Medieval Eastern Mediterranean Society: Contextualizing the History of a Monastic Republic (ca. 850-1550).”

About the seminar cycle

This series of seminars aims to provide a comprehensive overview of research on Orthodox monasticism in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages and early modern period.