Collapses

Collapse, crisis, and (de)legitimization of power in the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Focusing primarily on Abrahamic religions, this project investigates those changes that occurred throughout history and are often referred to as moments of crisis or “collapses”: historical events that profoundly marked their time by causing major social, political and religious changes.  Despite their suddenness, these historical turning points have often occurred at the end of a long process, encompassing several stages and various phases that, at times, affect subsequent events. Starting with the most historiographically well-known “collapses” (Temple of Jerusalem - 76 B.C., Westen Roman Empire - 476 B.C., Constantinople 1453 B.C., Granada 1492 B.C.), the research tries to identify other events that might present the same pattern and historical-religious relevance. While scholars often approach these events by resorting to the point of view of the clash of civilizations, this project on the contrary aims to delve into the internal perspective of the religious communities involved. As a point of fact, through the examination of various sources (registers, chronicles, hagiographies, homilies, public speeches, liturgical writings, and archaeological sources), the research reconstructs the general perspective from the lowest level of the popular communities to that of the top institutional hierarchies, while also verifying the possible discrepancy between the perception of the crises and the actual development of the historical phenomenon.

The project is currently focusing on eschatological sources, with particular reference to prophetic elements that allude to those events that are contemporary with the crisis or that slightly preceding it (i.e., post-event prophecies). In this regard, the research on the one hand aims to highlight how political and religious institutions drew on this prophetic material to legitimize their power, which was challenged by the social changes occurring during the crisis, and, on the other hand, tries to comprehend if and how such “institutionalized” prophetic discourses had an impact on the life of religious communities.

Contributors: Ibrahim Abaddi; Francesca Badini; Gianmarco Braghi; Giuseppe Brocato; Rosanna Budelli; Francesco Cargnelutti; Lucia de Lorenzo; Giacomo Favaretto; Laura Righi; Rosalia Schimmenti.