The aim of this book is to shed a critical light on the term rule and the related semantic spheres based on Southeast European contexts. To this day, there is not even agreement in the German-speaking area about how the concept of rule coined by Max Weber can be understood theoretically and terminologically, not to mention its untranslatability into other languages. In the collaboration of six disciplines (history, political science, theology, Byzantine studies, cultural studies and art history), the contributions offer an empirical enrichment of the concept of rule and its semantic expression in Southeastern Europe. The contributors worked with the awareness of the existence of multiple forms and interdependencies of 'domination', which are what make this research topic so fascinating.