Quellen zur byzantinischen Rechtspraxis

Within the framework of an interdisciplinary symposium in 2007 it was attempted to approach questions of law in the Byzantine area from two sides: On the part of papyrology texts and groups of documents were presented which to a certain extent mark the beginning of a several centuries lasting period and in a comparatively large transmission give clear insight in the late ancient and early Byzantine law system. On the part of Byzantine studies some isolated problems of juristic texts in connection with their transmission were discussed. On both parts the first question arose about the text transmission and analysis (especially for the middle and late Byzantine period). So the device of the symposium was: back to the sources. In this regard experts of juristic papyrus did pioneer work, particularly the Vienna group in the main and following projects supported by the Austrian National Fund for Scientific Work (FWF; START, N° Y 69). This volume is also to be seen as homage to a Viennese researcher who followed his teacher Herbert Hunger in this field of research and continued to build a bridge between papyrological and Byzantine studies, in this way raising the awareness of his students to a diachronic development in diplomatics and paleography: Otto Kresten.