FOUNDMED · Foundations in medieval societies: Cross-cultural comparisons

In the present foundations are ascribed a central role in overcoming social and political problems, be it in the field of social welfare or the sponsorship of science and the arts. But they were also in the past always an indicator of the condition of a society and lend themselves to deducing its overall structure. In a historical perspective they permit an intercultural comparison because there is evidence of the phenomenon of the foundation, while not on a continual basis, in all advanced civilizations. The project intends to carry out a comparative investigation of foundations of the medieval millenium (from approximately 500 to 1500 CE) in European Latin and Greek Orthodox Christianity, in Judaism, Islam and in pluri-religious India and of their mutual relations while making use of the ideas of modern global history. It will therefore also involve questions of cultural transfer or cross-cultural interaction. Under the leadership of the submitter five experts from the fields of Medieval, Byzantine, Jewish, Islamic or Ottoman and Indian studies will compile an ""Encyclopedia of Foundations in the Medieval Millenium"", in which articles written collaboratively will depict the forms, objectives, legal structures, endowments of the foundations and historical changes taking place within them, taking into consideration their religio-historical background (esp. end time concepts) and their respective historical context. The planned project is built upon pilot projects working on this issue, while a publishing company has already secured the rights for the publication of such an encyclopedia (also online). On completion of the project the submitter will also present a monograph on foundations in the Middle Ages as ""total social phenomenon"" (M. Mauss) in an universal history perspective.""