Modern East Mediterranean History

Diplomatic relations between two states are never simply bilateral relations as there is always a broader context in which they can be framed and, very often, they do not arise from nothing but are the result of specific events. Like all human vicissitudes, they have a beginning, a development and an end. The relations between Medici Tuscany and Safavid Persia have unfortunately never been the subject of extensive enough studies that go beyond the few things already known from decades ago. However, the continuous search for sources and their analysis in the light of a different historiographic approach can provide a new understanding of certain events and a more precise chronological and historical framework.

In the Mediterranean world the encounter/clash of people and civilizations has always been particularly rich, varied, intense, going often so far as to deeply mould the shape of cities: both along the coasts of the Mediterranean and in the hinterland of countries overlooking it, for which the sea was an undisputable horizon of reference.

This meeting aims to foster a discussion about the continuities and disruptions which have conditioned the multi-ethnic dimension of our cities. We would like to focus on the specificities of places and time in our millennial history that have produced both tangible and intangible cultural heritage (a heritage which today seems strongly under attack).

We aim for a historical perspective – by drawing attention on well-documented case-studies offering comparative insights – without however forgetting to ask ourselves the meaning of our research in the troubled world we live in. Without anachronisms, but also without hiding behind the pretext of specialisms: in other words, we would like to broaden the traditional horizons of our disciplines under the issues of our times, questioning the role of historical research and the forms of scientific communication nowadays, when old practices seem more challenged than ever by the overwhelming expansion of new technologies.