Biography

Dr. Riedel’s research interests focus on the nexus of war, politics, and religion in the early medieval Byzantine oikoumene, with particular interest in how Orthodox Christianity interacted with Islam, Latin Christianity, Judaism, and other indigenous faith traditions of the Mediterranean world. She studies military and diplomatic interactions between Christendom and Islam and is particularly interested in Byzantine cultural attitudes and beliefs in the centuries leading up to the Crusades. Her first book, currently in progress, will present a new analysis of the design and purpose of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI’s military manual, the Taktika, and particularly his use of biblical allusions and language to articulate a Byzantine collective identity that would distinguish Orthodox Christians from their close Muslim neighbors.

Dr. Riedel is a member of Tenth Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Philadelphia, where she served on the Outreach Commission and in teaching. While pursuing seminary education, she encountered the vestigial Byzantine empire on visits to the Republic of Turkey. An inexhaustible fascination with the mysteries of the East is thus the catalyst for her ongoing research into the history of Christianity.