Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies written by Elizabeth Jeffreys and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 1053 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies presents discussions by leading experts on all significant aspects of this diverse and fast-growing field. Byzantine Studies deals with the history and culture of the Byzantine Empire, the eastern half of the Late Roman Empire, from the fourth to the fourteenth century. Its centre was the city formerly known as Byzantium, refounded as Constantinople in 324 CE, the present-day Istanbul. Under its emperors, patriarchs, and all-pervasive bureaucracy Byzantium developed a distinctive society: Greek in language, Roman in legal system, and Christian in religion. Byzantium's impact in the European Middle Ages is hard to over-estimate, as a bulwark against invaders, as a meeting-point for trade from Asia and the Mediterranean, as a guardian of the classical literary and artistic heritage, and as a creator of its own magnificent artistic style.
Download or read book The Making of Byzantium 600 1025 written by Mark Whittow and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An excellent book. Its originality lies in its broad geographical perspective, the extensive treatment of neighboring countries . . . and the emphasis on archaeological evidence."--Cyril Mango, Exeter College, Oxford
Download or read book A Companion to the Patriarchate of Constantinople written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-07-26 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides an overview of the development of the Patriarchate of Constantinople as central ecclesiastical institution of the Byzantine Empire from Late Antiquity to the Early Ottoman period (4th to 15th century CE).
Download or read book Medieval Greek Commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics written by Charles E. Barber and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2009 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the enduring importance of Aristotle s "Nicomachean Ethics," it is remarkable to find that there is no extensive surviving commentary on this text from the period between the second century and the twelfth century. This volume is focused on the first of the medieval commentaries, that produced in the early twelfth century by Eustratios of Nicaea, Michael of Ephesus, and an anonymous author in Constantinople. This endeavor was to have a significant impact on the reception of the "Nicomachean Ethics" in Latin and Catholic Europe. For, in the mid-thirteenth century, Robert Grosseteste translated into Latin a manuscript that contained these Byzantine commentators. Both Albertus Magnus and Bonaventure then used this translation as a basis for their discussions of Aristotle's book. Contributors are George Arabatzis, Charles Barber, Linos Benakis, Elizabeth Fisher, Peter Frankopan, Katerina Ierodiakonou, David Jenkins, Anthony Kaldellis and Michele Trizio.
Download or read book The Making of Orthodox Byzantium 600 1025 written by Mark Whittow and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 1996-07-12 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is a clear, up-to-date, reassessment of the Byzantine empire during a crucial phase in the history of the Near East. Against a geopolitical background (well-illustrated with 14 maps), it covers the last decade of the Roman empire as a superpower of the ancient world, the catastrophic crisis of the seventh century and the means whereby its embattled Byzantine successor hung on in Constantinople and Asia Minor until the Abbasid Caliphate's decline opened up new perspectives for Christian power in the Near East. Not confined to any narrow definition of Byzantine history, the empire's neighbours, allies and enemies in Europe and Asia also receive extensive treatment.
Download or read book A History of Byzantium written by Timothy E. Gregory and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-08-26 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revised and expanded edition of the widely-praised A History of Byzantium covers the time of Constantine the Great in AD 306 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Expands treatment of the middle and later Byzantine periods, incorporating new archaeological evidence Includes additional maps and photographs, and a newly annotated, updated bibliography Incorporates a new section on web resources for Byzantium studies Demonstrates that Byzantium was important in its own right but also served as a bridge between East and West and ancient and modern society Situates Byzantium in its broader historical context with a new comparative timeline and textboxes
Download or read book Roman Identity from the Arab Conquests to the Triumph of Orthodoxy written by Douglas Whalin and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-22 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book asks how the inhabitants and neighbours of the Eastern Roman Empire understand their identity as Romans in the centuries following the emergence of Islam as a world-religion. Its answers lie in exploring the nature of change and continuity of social structures, self-representation, and boundaries as markers of belonging to the Roman group in the period from circa AD 650 to 850. Early medieval Romanness was integral to the Roman imperial project; its local utility as an identifier was shaped by a given community’s relationship with Constantinople, the capital of the Roman state. This volume argues that there was fundamental continuity of Roman identity from Late Antiquity through these centuries into later periods. Many transformations which are ascribed to the Romans of this era have been subjectively assigned by outsiders, separated by time or space, and are not born out by the sources. This finding dovetails with other recent historical works re-evaluating the early medieval Eastern Roman polity and its ideology.
Download or read book Medieval Textual Cultures written by Faith Wallis and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-08-22 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding how medieval textual cultures engaged with the heritage of antiquity (transmission and translation) depends on recognizing that reception is a creative cultural act (transformation). These essays focus on the people, societies and institutions who were doing the transmitting, translating, and transforming -- the "agents". The subject matter ranges from medicine to astronomy, literature to magic, while the cultural context encompasses Islamic and Jewish societies, as well as Byzantium and the Latin West. What unites these studies is their attention to the methodological and conceptual challenges of thinking about agency. Not every agent acted with an agenda, and agenda were sometimes driven by immediate needs or religious considerations that while compelling to the actors, are more opaque to us. What does it mean to say that a text becomes “available” for transmission or translation? And why do some texts, once transmitted, fail to thrive in their new milieu? This collection thus points toward a more sophisticated “ecology” of transmission, where not only individuals and teams of individuals, but also social spaces and local cultures, act as the agents of cultural creativity.
Download or read book A Cultural History of Bathing in Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium written by Michal Zytka and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses social, religious and medical attitudes towards bathing in Late Antiquity. It examines the place of bathing in late Roman and early Byzantine society as seen in the literary, historical, and documentary sources from the late antique period. The author argues that bathing became one of the most important elements in defining what it meant to be a Roman; indeed, the social and cultural value of bathing in the context of late Roman society more than justified the efforts and expense put into preserving bathing establishments and the associated culture. The book contributes a unique perspective to understanding the changes and transformations undergone by the bathing culture of the day, and illustrates the important role played by this culture in contributing to the transitional character of the late antique period. In his examination of the attitudes of medical professionals and laymen alike, and the focus on its recuperative utility, Zytka provides an innovative and detailed approach to bathing.
Download or read book The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire written by Edward N. Luttwak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. The Byzantine empire so greatly outlasted its western counterpart because its rulers were able to adapt strategically to diminished circumstances, by devising new ways of coping with successive enemies. It relied less on military strength and more on persuasion—to recruit allies, dissuade threatening neighbors, and manipulate potential enemies into attacking one another instead. Even when the Byzantines fought—which they often did with great skill—they were less inclined to destroy their enemies than to contain them, for they were aware that today’s enemies could be tomorrow’s allies. Born in the fifth century when the formidable threat of Attila’s Huns were deflected with a minimum of force, Byzantine strategy continued to be refined over the centuries, incidentally leaving for us several fascinating guidebooks to statecraft and war. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire is a broad, interpretive account of Byzantine strategy, intelligence, and diplomacy over the course of eight centuries that will appeal to scholars, classicists, military history buffs, and professional soldiers.
Download or read book Negotiating Secular and Sacred in Medieval Art written by Amanda Luyster and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offering original analysis of the convergence between 'sacred' and 'secular' in medieval works of art and architecture, this collection explores both the usefulness and limitations of these terms for describing medieval attitudes. The modern concepts of 'sacred' and 'secular' are shown to be effective as scholarly tools, but also to risk imposing false dichotomies. The authors consider medieval material culture from a broad perspective, addressing works of art and architecture from England to Japan, and from the seventh to the fifteenth century. Although the essays take a variety of methodological approaches they are unified in their emphasis on the continuing and necessary dialectic between sacred and secular. The contributors consciously frame their interpretations in terms and perspectives derived from the Middle Ages, thereby demonstrating how the present art-historical terminology and conceptual frameworks can obscure the complexity of medieval life and material culture. The resonance among essays opens possibilities for productive cross-cultural study of an issue that is relevant to a diversity of cultures and sub-periods. Introducing an innovative approach to the literature of the field, this volume complicates and enriches our understanding of social realities across a broad spectrum of medieval worlds.
Download or read book Divine Inspiration in Byzantium written by Karin Krause and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-09 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, Karin Krause examines conceptions of divine inspiration and authenticity in the religious literature and visual arts of Byzantium. During antiquity and the medieval era, “inspiration” encompassed a range of ideas regarding the divine contribution to the creation of holy texts, icons, and other material objects by human beings. Krause traces the origins of the notion of divine inspiration in the Jewish and polytheistic cultures of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds and their reception in Byzantine religious culture. Exploring how conceptions of authenticity are employed in Eastern Orthodox Christianity to claim religious authority, she analyzes texts in a range of genres, as well as images in different media, including manuscript illumination, icons, and mosaics. Her interdisciplinary study demonstrates the pivotal role that claims to the divine inspiration of religious literature and art played in the construction of Byzantine cultural identity.
Download or read book The Holy Roman Empire and the Ottomans written by Mehmet Sinan Birdal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-07-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles V's Holy Roman Empire and Suleyman I's Ottoman Empire were the most significant empires of the early-modern era. Both rulers exercised global power as the leaders of the universal res publica Christiana and dar-es Islam, respectively, both subject to exploits of lavishness, extravagance, and self-indulgence with respect to their demonstrations of power and world dominance. The most obvious example of this was Charles V's crowning as the Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement V, which included a procession of 20 cardinals, 400 papal guards and 300 knights, as well as a commemorative painting by Parmigianino that depicted Charles being handed the globe by the infant Hercules while being crowned with laurel by Fame. The modality of power reflective of aristocratic society and exhibited by both Charles V and Suleyman I is one of many different style of leadership and Mehmet Sinan Birdal here explores how these power modalities determine the performance of a state in foreign politics and the emergence of the dominant unit in the state system. This book examines the Habsburgs' and Ottomans' transformation from medieval empires with claims of global domination to absolutist nations that recognized the sovereignty of others. In fact the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Austria's Enlightened Despotism developed from the Holy Roman Empire, while the Ottoman Empire, through modernization and reform, became the present-day Republic of Turkey. Drawing upon the teachings of Habermas and the Frankfurt School, as well as original historical sources, Birdal uses the doctrine of legitimation as the theoretical basis for political authority in The Holy Roman Empire and the Ottomans, creating a revisionist work that is an invaluable read for historians, international relations specialists and political scientists alike.
Download or read book Medieval Latin written by Frank Anthony Carl Mantello and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 796 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organized with the assistance of an international advisory committee of medievalists from several disciplines, Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide is a new standard guide to the Latin language and literature of the period from c. A.D. 200 to 1500. It promises to be indispensable as a handbook in university courses in Medieval Latin and as a point of departure for the study of Latin texts and documents in any of the fields of medieval studies. Comprehensive in scope, the guide provides introductions to, and bibliographic orientations in, all the main areas of Medieval Latin language, literature, and scholarship. Part One consists of an introduction and sizable listing of general print and electronic reference and research tools. Part Two focuses on issues of language, with introductions to such topics as Biblical and Christian Latin, and Medieval Latin pronunciation, orthography, morphology and syntax, word formation and lexicography, metrics, prose styles, and so on. There are chapters on the Latin used in administration, law, music, commerce, the liturgy, theology and philosophy, science and technology, and daily life. Part Three offers a systematic overview of Medieval Latin literature, with introductions to a wide range of genres and to translations from and into Latin. Each chapter concludes with a bibliography of fundamental works--texts, lexica, studies, and research aids. This guide satisfies a long-standing need for a reference tool in English that focuses on medieval latinity in all its specialized aspects. It will be welcomed by students, teachers, professional latinists, medievalists, humanists, and general readers interested in the role of Latin as the learned lingua franca of western Europe. It may also prove valuable to reference librarians assembling collections concerned with Latin authors and texts of the postclassical period. ABOUT THE EDITORS F. A. C. Mantello is professor of Medieval Latin at The Catholic University of America. A. G. Rigg is professor of English and medieval studies and chairman of the Medieval Latin Committee at the University of Toronto's Centre for Medieval Studies. PRASIE FOR THE BOOK "This extraordinary volume, joint effort of dozens of scholars in eight countries, will be in constant use for research, for advising students and designing courses, and for answering the queries of nonmedievalist colleagues. . . . Medieval Latin provides a foundation for advances in research and teaching on a wide front. . . . Though Mantello and Rigg's Medieval Latin is a superb reference volume, I recommend that it also be read from beginning to end--in small increments, of course. The rewards will be sheaves of notes and an immensely enriched appreciation of Medieval Latin and its literature."--Janet M. Martin, Princeton University, Speculum "A remarkable achievement, and no one interested in medieval Latin can afford to be without it."--Journal of Ecclesiastical History "Everywhere there is clarity, conclusion, judicious illustration, and careful selection of what is central. This guide is a major achievement and will serve Medieval Latin studies extremely well for the foreseeable future."--The Classical Review
Download or read book The Islamic Byzantine Frontier written by A. Asa Eger and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-18 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The retreat of the Byzantine army from Syria in around 650 CE, in advance of the approaching Arab armies, is one that has resounded emphatically in the works of both Islamic and Christian writers, and created an enduring motif: that of the Islamic-Byzantine frontier. For centuries, Byzantine and Islamic scholars have evocatively sketched a contested border: the annual raids between the two, the line of fortified fortresses defending Islamic lands, the no-man's land in between and the birth of jihad. In their early representations of a Muslim-Christian encounter, accounts of the Islamic-Byzantine frontier are charged with significance for a future 'clash of civilizations' that often envisions a polarised world. A. Asa Eger examines the two aspects of this frontier: its physical and ideological ones. By highlighting the archaeological study of the real and material frontier, as well as acknowledging its ideological military and religious implications, he offers a more complex vision of this dividing line than has been traditionally disseminated.With analysis grounded in archaeological evidence as well the relevant historical texts, Eger brings together a nuanced exploration of this vital element of medieval history. In this way, Eger's volume contributes to a more complex vision of the frontier than traditional historical views by bringing to the fore the layers of a real ecological frontier of settlement and interaction. For Eger, exposing the settlements and communities of the frontier constitutes a crucial gesture for understanding the interaction of two civilizations in a contested yet connected world. This work is thus vital for students of not only the medieval period and Byzantine and Islamic studies, but also for readers attempting to understand the ways in which frontiers and borders shape the construction of identity while functioning outside the traditionally understood state.
Download or read book Reconstructing Satyr Drama written by Andreas Antonopoulos and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-07-05 with total page 928 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origins of satyr drama, and particularly the reliability of the account in Aristotle, remains contested, and several of this volume’s contributions try to make sense of the early relationship of satyr drama to dithyramb and attempt to place satyr drama in the pre-Classical performance space and traditions. What is not contested is the relationship of satyr drama to tragedy as a required cap to the Attic trilogy. Here, however, how Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (to whom one complete play and the preponderance of the surviving fragments belong) envisioned the relationship of satyr drama to tragedy in plot, structure, setting, stage action and language is a complex subject tackled by several contributors. The playful satyr chorus and the drunken senility of Silenos have always suggested some links to comedy and later to Atellan farce and phlyax. Those links are best examined through language, passages in later Greek and Roman writers, and in art. The purpose of this volume is probe as many themes and connections of satyr drama with other literary genres, as well as other art forms, putting satyr drama on stage from the sixth century BC through the second century AD. The editors and contributors suggest solutions to some of the controversies, but the volume shows as much that the field of study is vibrant and deserves fuller attention.
