Claudia Rapp, Matthew Kinloch, Dirk Krausmüller, Ekaterini Mitsiou, L. Ilias Nesseris, Christodoulos Papavarnavas, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Giulia Rossetto, Rustam Shukurov, and Grigori Simeonov, eds. Mobility and Migration in Byzantium: A Sourcebook Moving Byzantium 1

We live in a period with a high degree of geographic mobility. People frequently change their places of residence for a wide range of reasons (education, job, tourism, refuge, etc.). The Middle Ages had less technologically advanced possibilities of transportation compared to the modern era, but the period nevertheless experienced an increased human mobility. Who, why, and how they traveled in the Byzantine Empire, during the seventh to the middle of the fifteenth centuries, can be understood from Claudia Rapp et al.'s Mobility and Migration in Byzantium. Representatives of several European universities and research centers prepared the book: Matthew Kinloch, Dirk Krausmüller, Ekaterini Mitsiou, Ilias Nesseris, Christodoulos Papavarnavas, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Claudia Rapp (project leader), Giulia Rossetto, Rustam Shukurov, and Grigori Simeonov. Their book is one of the outcomes of the project "Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium" (2015–2021), funded by the Austrian National Research Fund. This is the first of a planned series of volumes entitled "Moving Byzantium." More information on the project can be found at https://rapp.univie.ac.at/.In the introductory section, Claudia Rapp states that human mobility and its implications were vital for the survival of Byzantium. She asserts that the "dynamic diversity of Byzantine culture would not have been possible without the contribution of other cultural traditions, nor would the longevity of the Byzantine political system have been sustainable without the possibility for social change. All of this depended on the movement of individuals from one location to another" (p. 13). The author discusses several arguments about why numerous scholars have touched on the subject of mobility in Byzantium in recent decades (pp. 14–15). First, historians are interested in studying what were the possibilities for building an individual life course in medieval society. The possibility of changing place was one of the ways of shaping one's life. Human circulation within certain boundaries is important, too, for scholars interested in social networks. Wars and invasions, natural disasters, and climate change count among the main causes of displacement of populations in the Middle Ages. Knowledge about them has increased because of recent scientific achievements (Claudia Rapp cites several recent studies, among which count: Michael Borgolte (ed.), Migrationen im Mittelalter. Ein Handbuch, Berlin, 2014; Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Lucian Reinfandt, Ioannis Stouraitis (eds.), Migration Histories of the Medieval Afroeurasion Transition Zone, Leiden and Boston, 2020). Other aspects of mobility have been discovered by scholars who investigate religious missions as well as the connections between Byzantium and remote lands (Iceland, India, Sudan, and China).The editors of the present volume invite us to discover human mobility in Byzantium as seen by the Byzantines themselves. Information about this topic is presented in various kinds of narrative sources. The first section of the book ("Why Moving?," pp. 39–226) contains excerpts that highlight the reasons people changed their places of living: warfare, resettlement, prisoners of war, rebellion and treachery, banishment and defection, religion, natural disasters and the environment, pastoralism, education and advancement, diplomacy and embassies, health, healing and pilgrimage, and family matters. It is obvious that, in most cases, people were forced by dramatic events to change their places of living.The second section deals with the question "Who Moved?" (pp. 229–318). Almost all categories of Byzantine society experienced mobility: the political elite, rural and urban workers, monks and clerics, soldiers, warriors and mercenaries, traders, merchants, artisans, and entertainers. The biggest number of examples is linked to warfare, in much the same way as in the previous section of the book.The third section ("Scales, Configurations and Perspectives," pp. 321–387) is dedicated to the participation of various social groups in mobility (single travelers, kinship groups, larger groups, confederations, diasporas). In the fourth section ("Modalities of Movement," pp. 391–435), one finds descriptions of the stages of a travel itinerary: leaving, en route, arriving, and settling. The final section ("Imaginary," pp. 439–454) is about supernatural journeys (in heaven or hell, to the otherworld, within a dream). They complement the Byzantine views on the phenomenon of mobility.All five sections, as well as each chapter, contain an introduction highlighting the main aspects of the topic. Following the introduction are relevant excerpts from narrative sources, translated into English, accompanied by additional information that helps readers better understand the text: its date and genre, literary context, the historical significance of the movement (described in the source), and location and date of movement. Interested persons will find recommendations for further reading. The volume contains lists of names, places, and terms encountered in the cited texts. The geographical location of places can be viewed on three maps.The volume will surely prove very useful for university students and lecturers. Along with the topic of mobility, it offers the possibility to learn about important authors, personalities, and events that shaped Byzantine history. Reading about how people experienced mobility in medieval Byzantium, we find out more about human sensibility and behavior in various historical settings.