Following the workshop “Negotiating Catenae and Catena Research” held at KU Leuven in June 2025, this second instalment aims to move beyond the traditional approach that considers catenae in isolation, book by biblical book. We find it relevant to adopt a cross-cutting perspective and to study catenae on different biblical books in conjunction.

International workshop at KU Leuven, 31 March 2026

Conveners

Tiphaine Lorieux and Reinhart Ceulemans

Argument

The so-called Bible of Niketas, known under this name since the work of H. Belting and G. Cavallo (1979), consists of three Byzantine manuscripts copied at the end of the 10th century for a high-ranking imperial official named Niketas: Copenhagen, DKB, GKS 6 2° (Sapiential and Poetical Books); Florence, BML, Plut. 5.9 (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel); Turin, BNU, B.I.2 (the Twelve Minor Prophets). This triptych of manuscripts forms a coherent unit, both in terms of iconography and editorial structure. All three present a unified illustration program and are enriched with marginal catenae, as well as various paratexts. While some catenae in the Bible of Niketas already attracted scholarly interest, a large part remains unexplored. In particular, the relationships between the catenae have not yet been systematically analysed. Were they composed together specifically? Or were they assembled from different origins?

Following the workshop Negotiating Catenae and Catena Research held at KU Leuven in June 2025 with the support of LECTIO, this second instalment aims to move beyond the traditional approach that considers catenae in isolation, book by biblical book. While the Clavis Patrum Graecorum classifies catenae according to this logic, we find it relevant to adopt a cross-cutting perspective and to study catenae on different biblical books in conjunction. Such an approach can bring to light shared features (such as the sources used, the methods followed, the intended aims and audiences) and thereby help identify specific production environments, or even particular workshops or figures of catena compilers. The prologues and interventions of the catena author throughout the text offer valuable clues in sketching a ‘composite portrait’ of these compilers.

The workshop welcomes contributions on:

• The Bible of Niketas and the manuscripts it comprises;
• The exegetical catenae it contains;
•  Cross-cutting approaches to catenae, beyond the Bible of Niketas alone;
• The figure of the compiler (as visible from prologues, methods etc.).

Submission Guidelines

Proposals for 30-minute papers should be submitted by 1 December 2025 to tiphaine.lorieux@kuleuven.be . 

• Proposals must be submitted by 1 December 2025.

• Submissions should include a title and an abstract of no more than 300 words for a 30-minute paper.
• Only the title and abstract are required; no additional documents are needed.
• Send proposals to: tiphaine.lorieux@kuleuven.be

Evaluation Process

Submissions will be evaluated by the organizers and participants whose proposals are accepted will be notified before Christmas 2025.

The final program will be published early January 2026.

More information is available on the following page: https://www.arts.kuleuven.be/grieks/nieuws/on-the-trail-of-the-bible-of-niketas-a-transverse-approach-to-catenae