About

The International Congress of Byzantine Studies is the world’s largest academic event dedicated to the latest research and findings on the Byzantine Empire, its history, and culture. Since the first congress in 1924 in Bucharest, it has been held approximately every five years in different locations, attracting up to 1,500 participants in recent years. In 2026, the 25th Congress will take place in Vienna, where researchers from around the globe will present their work in hundreds of presentations. Cultural events and receptions will offer numerous opportunities for informal exchange. Exhibitions and collaborations with the city of Vienna and individual cultural institutions will also make the academic research accessible to a wider audience.

The International Congress of Byzantine Studies serves as a platform for exchange and networking, productive discussions, and the integration of diverse research topics. The congress logo reflects this concept. Its design is derived from the so-called Vienna Dioscurides, the manuscript Cod. med. gr. 1, which is housed in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. This codex, a richly illustrated version of medical texts, was dedicated in 512 to the patrician Anicia Juliana (462–c. 527) as a token of gratitude for her patronage in founding the Church of the Theotokos in the Honoratae quarter of Constantinople. In her time, she was the wealthiest private individual in the Byzantine capital and sponsored numerous works of art, including the renowned Church of St. Polyeuktos.
On folio 6v, a dedicatory image depicts Juliana alongside allegorical figures of Prudence (φρόνησις) and Magnanimity (μεγαλοψυχία), set within an elegant frame of golden ropes, where two interlaced squares harmoniously fit inside a circle.

The manuscript was stored in various monasteries in Constantinople over the centuries and was used for medical purposes. Severely damaged, it received a new binding in 1406, crafted by John Chortasmenos, which is still preserved today. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it came into Ottoman hands and was used by the Sultan’s personal physicians. In 1569, the Habsburg ambassador Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq purchased it and brought it to Vienna, where it has remained one of the greatest treasures of the National Library. The codex has since been recognized by UNESCO through its inclusion on the Memory of the World Register as a document of global significance for the cultural memory of humanity, and is among the most significant artistic treasures in Vienna.

The use of this motif has a long tradition in Viennese Byzantine studies: the miniature appears on the front covers of the first volumes of the Yearbook of Austrian Byzantine Studies (Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik), and the depiction was also used as a motif for the 16th International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Vienna in 1981.