In the early Middle Ages the ethnic and political landscape of Europe was established, while at the same time concepts of religious identification gained in importance. Christianity provided with the Bible a 'repertoire' of patterns for order and orientation that contributed significantly to the shaping of ethnic identity.

SCIRE examines the way in which religious and ethnic identities interacted as forms of discourse and practice and thus established a social and cultural matrix for specific ethnic processes.

University of Vienna is host institution, the Austrian Academy of Sciences is second beneficiary.