Download or read book Private Religious Foundations in the Byzantine Empire written by John Philip Thomas and published by Dumbarton Oaks. This book was released on 1987 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas examines the private ownership of ecclesiastical institutions to determine the nature and extent of private ownership of religious institutions in the Byzantine Empire. This includes churches, monasteries, and philanthropic institutions such as hospitals and orphanages, which were founded by private individuals and retained for personal administration independent of the public authorities of the state and church.
Download or read book Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents written by John Philip Thomas and published by Dumbarton Oaks. This book was released on 2000 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nature of the typkia, discussed by John Thomas in the introduction, was one of flexible and personal documents, which differed considerably in form, length, and content. Not all of them were foundation documents in the strict sense, since they could be issued at any time in the history of an institution. Some were wills; others were reform decrees and rules; yet others were primarily liturgical in character.
Download or read book Land and Privilege in Byzantium written by Mark C. Bartusis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-03 with total page 749 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pronoia was a type of conditional grant from the emperor, often to soldiers, of various properties and privileges. In large measure the institution of pronoia characterized social and economic relations in later Byzantium, and its study is the study of later Byzantium. Filling the need for a comprehensive study of the institution, this book examines the origin, evolution and characteristics of pronoia, focusing particularly on the later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. But the book is much more than a study of a single institution. With a broad chronological scope extending from the mid-tenth to the mid-fifteenth century, it incorporates the latest understanding of Byzantine agrarian relations, taxation, administration and the economy, as it deals with relations between the emperor, monastic and lay landholders, including soldiers and peasants. Particular attention is paid to the relation between the pronoia and Western European, Slavic and Middle Eastern institutions, especially the Ottoman timar.
Download or read book Architecture and Ritual in the Churches of Constantinople written by Vasileios Marinis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-13 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the interchange of architecture and ritual in the Middle and Late Byzantine churches of Constantinople (ninth to fifteenth centuries). It employs archaeological and archival data, hagiographic and historical sources, liturgical texts and commentaries, and monastic typika and testaments to integrate the architecture of the medieval churches of Constantinople with liturgical and extra-liturgical practices and their continuously evolving social and cultural context. The book argues against the approach that has dominated Byzantine studies: that of functional determinism, the view that architectural form always follows liturgical function. Instead, proceeding chapter by chapter through the spaces of the Byzantine church, it investigates how architecture responded to the exigencies of the rituals, and how church spaces eventually acquired new uses. The church building is described in the context of the culture and people whose needs it was continually adapted to serve. Rather than viewing churches as frozen in time (usually the time when the last brick was laid), this study argues that they were social constructs and so were never finished, but continually evolving.
Download or read book The Eunuch in Byzantine History and Society written by Shaun Tougher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-06-02 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The existence of eunuchs was one of the defining features of the Byzantine Empire. Covering the whole span of the history of the empire, from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries AD, Shaun Tougher presents a comprehensive survey of the history and roles of eunuchs, making use of extensive comparative material, such as from China, Persia and the Ottoman Empire, as well as about castrato singers of the eighteenth century of Enlightenment Europe, and self-castrating religious devotees such as the Galli of ancient Rome, early Christians, the Skoptsy of Russia and the Hijras of India. The various roles played by eunuchs are examined. They are not just found as servile attendants; some were powerful political players – such as Chrysaphius who plotted to assassinate Attila the Hun – and others were prominent figures in Orthodoxy as bishops and monks. Furthermore, there is offered an analysis of how society thought about eunuchs, especially their gender identity - were they perceived as men, women, or a third sex? The broad survey of the political and social position of eunuchs in the Byzantine Empire is placed in the context of the history of the eunuch in general. An appendix listing key eunuchs of the Byzantine Empire describing their careers is included, and the text is fully illustrated.
Download or read book Studies in Byzantine Monasticism written by Alice-Mary Talbot and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-10-02 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume includes seventeen essays on Byzantine monasticism, focusing on the 9th to 15th centuries. Envisaged as a companion Variorum volume to Talbot's Women and Religious Life in Byzantium (2001), this compendium complements its predecessor by focusing more attention on male monasteries, hermits and holy mountains, while offering some pioneering studies of female patrons, rural nuns, and the links of many Byzantine women to Mount Athos. The volume also complements Talbot's 2019 monograph, Varieties of Monastic Experience in Byzantium, 800-1453, by offering detailed analyses of topics that could only be briefly addressed in that book. Introductory essays include an overview of the historical development of Byzantine monasteries and holy mountains, emphasising the intertwining of monasticism with urban and rural society. Subsequent essays explore the regimen at coenobitic monasteries, while paying considerable attention to the less well-known lifestyles of hermits, especially those on holy mountains. Other topics include monastery gardens and horticulture; the culture of the refectory; challenges for adolescent novices; factors influencing the choice of a monastery’s foundation site; female patronage of monastery construction and restoration; the conversion of monasteries from male to female and vice-versa; rules regarding personal poverty for monastics; and the choice of a monastic name.
Download or read book The Rich and the Pure written by Daniel Caner and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A portrait of history’s first complex Christian society as seen through the lens of Christian philanthropy and gift giving As the Roman Empire broke down in western Europe, its prosperity moved decisively eastward, to what is now known as the Byzantine Empire. Here was born history’s first truly affluent, multifaceted Christian society. One of the ideals used to unite the diverse millions of people living in this vast realm was the Christianized ideal of philanthrōpia. In this sweeping cultural and social history, Daniel Caner shows how philanthropy required living up to Jesus’s injunction to “Give to all who ask of you,” by offering mercy and/or material aid to every human being, regardless of their origin or status. Caner shows how Christian philanthropy became articulated through distinct religious ideals of giving that helped define proper social relations among the rich, the poor, and “the pure” (Christian holy people), resulting in new and enduring social expectations. In tracking the evolution of Christian giving over three centuries, he brings to the fore the concerns of the peoples of Early Byzantium, from the countryside to the lower levels of urban society to the imperial elites, as well as the hierarchical relationships that arose among them. The Rich and the Pure offers nothing less than a portrait of the whole of early Byzantine society.
Download or read book What Makes a Church Sacred written by Mary Farag and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If churches belong to no one, what is their purpose? Mary K. Farag persuasively demonstrates that three interest groups cared about this question in late antiquity: law-makers, Christian leaders, and wealthy lay-persons. Most of the time, their answers co-existed, sitting side-by-side like tectonic plates. Yet the plates did not always sit still, and it is events on their colliding boundaries that account for familiar Christian controversies in novel ways. What Makes a Church Sacred? argues that scholarship misunderstands well-known religious figures by ignoring the legal issues they faced. In this seminal text, Farag nuances the scholarly conversations on sacred space, gift-giving, wealth, and poverty in the late antique Mediterranean world, making use not only of Latin and Greek sources, but also Coptic and Arabic evidence"--
Download or read book Art and Material Culture in the Byzantine and Islamic Worlds written by Evanthia Baboula and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-04-19 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Honouring Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Art and Material Culture in the Byzantine and Islamic Worlds analyzes aspects of the constructed narratives and reconstructed realities of the visual-material record of diverse Mediterranean faith communities from medieval into contemporary times.
Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Byzantine Visual Culture in the Danube Regions 1300 1600 written by Maria Alessia Rossi and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-02-22 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume aims to broaden and nuance knowledge about the history, art, culture, and heritage of Eastern Europe relative to Byzantium. From the thirteenth century to the decades after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the regions of the Danube River stood at the intersection of different traditions, and the river itself has served as a marker of connection and division, as well as a site of cultural contact and negotiation. The Routledge Handbook of Byzantine Visual Culture in the Danube Regions, 1300–1600 brings to light the interconnectedness of this broad geographical area too often either studied in parts or neglected altogether, emphasizing its shared history and heritage of the regions of modern Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia. The aim is to challenge established perceptions of what constitutes ideological and historical facets of the past, as well as Byzantine and post-Byzantine cultural and artistic production in a region of the world that has yet to establish a firm footing on the map of art history. The 24 chapters offer a fresh and original approach to the history, literature, and art history of the Danube regions, thus being accessible to students thematically, chronologically, or by case study; each part can be read independently or explored as part of a whole.
Download or read book The Hypotyposis of the Monastery of the Theotokos Evergetis Constantinople 11th 12th Centuries written by R. H. Jordan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-03 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book forms part of the Evergetis Project which aims to investigate all surviving texts associated with the Monastery of the Theotokos Evergetis founded in 1049 near Constantinople. A book-length introduction sets out the historical significance of the house for the development of Byzantine monasticism and discusses its administration, liturgy and way of life. An English translation of the Hypotyposis (the monastery's foundation document) is provided, accompanied by detailed notes. Previous scholarship on the authorship of the Hypotyposis and the evolution of the text is discussed and linguistic analysis used to suggest that traces of the original foundation document by Paul Evergetinos can be identified within it. The Hypotyposis was widely used as a model for later Byzantine and Slavonic typika and the precise relationship of these documents one to the other is demonstrated in detail. The volume also includes prosopographical material on the known patrons of the monastery, a discussion of its library, English translations of later Greek and Latin texts referring to the monastery and a suggested reconstruction of Paul Evergetinos' original foundation document.
Download or read book A Sociological History of Christian Worship written by Martin D. Stringer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-07-14 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book the 2000 year history of Christian worship is viewed from a sociological perspective. Martin Stringer develops the idea of discourse as a way of understanding the place of Christian worship within its many and diverse social contexts. Beginning with the Biblical material the author provides a broad survey of changes over 2000 years of the Christian church, together with a series of case studies that highlight particular elements of the worship, or specific theoretical applications. Stringer does not simply examine the mainstream traditions of Christian worship in Europe and Byzantium, but also gives space to lesser-known traditions in Armenia, India, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Offering a contribution to the ongoing debate that breaks away from a purely textual or theological study of Christian worship, this book provides a greater understanding of the place of worship in its social and cultural context.
Download or read book Innovation in Byzantine Medicine written by Petros Bouras-Vallianatos and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Byzantine medicine is the biggest unknown quantity in both the study of medieval medicine and science and in Byzantine studies. This volume aims to redress this gap by presenting the first comprehensive examination of the medical corpus of John Zacharias Aktouarios, arguably the most important Late Byzantine physician.
Download or read book The Cambridge Ancient History written by Averil Cameron and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-03-29 with total page 1190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 14 concludes the new edition of The Cambridge Ancient History.
Download or read book Exploring the Future of Christian Monasticisms written by Greg Peters and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-01-15 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The institution of monasticism in the Christian Church is in general decline, at least in so-called “first world” nations. Though there are many reasons for this, monastic leaders are confronted by the reality of fewer communities, monks, and nuns nonetheless. At the same time, many younger Christians are rediscovering the rich heritage of the monastic tradition. Though they themselves might not be called to join a traditional monastery, they are eager to appropriate monastic practices in their own lives. This had led to a movement known as the “new monasticism” or “secular monasticism.” Despite lacking a unified vision and any central organization, these new/secular monastics are attempting, in their own ways, to carry on the tradition and practices of Christian monasticism. As well, there is a movement within historical Christian monasteries to pour new wine into old wineskins. Traditional forms of monasticism are also generally flourishing in developing nations, breathing new life into monasticism. This volume looks at the current monastic landscape to assess where monasticism stands and to imagine ways in which it will grow in the future, leading not only to a renewed Christian monasticism but to new monasticisms.
Download or read book Literary Circles in Byzantine Iconoclasm written by Óscar Prieto Domínguez and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-02-04 with total page 557 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Iconoclasm was the name given to the stance of that portion of Eastern Christianity that rejected worshipping God through images (eikones) representing Christ, the Virgin or the saints and was the official doctrine of the Byzantine Empire for most of the period between 726 and 843. It was a period marked by violent passions on either side. This is the first comprehensive account of the extant contemporary texts relating to this phenomenon and their impact on society, politics and identity. By examining the literary circles emerging both during the time of persecution and immediately after the restoration of icons in 843, the volume casts new light on the striking (re)construction of Byzantine society, whose iconophile identity was biasedly redefined by the political parties led by Theodoros Stoudites, Gregorios Dekapolites and Empress Theodora or the patriarchs Methodios, Ignatios and Photios. It thereby offers an innovative paradigm for approaching Byzantine literature.
Download or read book Master Builders of Byzantium written by Robert Ousterhout and published by UPenn Museum of Archaeology. This book was released on 2008-02 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract:
