Where the Middle Ages Begin
One of the consequences of the decline of Roman imperial might was the shortage of slaves at state-run mines. Consequently, criminals were often sentenced to damnatio ad metallum. The need for gold especially soared when the gold solidus was introduced at the beginning of the fourth century.
The Christianity which arrived in Ireland with the fifth-century missionaries was more than just a literate religion; it was very much a religion of the book.
Among the most eligible saints for such treatment, Mary of Egypt deserves particular consideration: her popularity is evidenced by over a hundred extant Greek manuscripts of her Life and her uniquely prominent position in the Lenten liturgical cycle in the Eastern Church.
This is my review of Sharan Newman’s latest book, Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem.
The Mongol conquest of Armenia precipitated social changes that were in motion since the late 10th-early 11th centuries, such as the dissolution of some princely houses, the realignment of others, as well as the rise of new ones.
Ani, a dramatic, windswept archaeological site in eastern Turkey, was once a thriving medieval city on the trade route through Central Asia.
For a broader modern audience today, if taken somewhat journalistically, Pusicius’ story is an example that cuts along cultural and religious lines that presumably originate in ancient, political divisions and confirm a “clash of civilizations” thesis.
The chronological period of study is highlighted by the usurpation of the Ayyūbid-ruled Sultanate by the Baḥrī Mamlūks, while the two most important political-military events in the region were the collapse of the Crusader States and the invasion of the Mongols. This thesis will examine how events impacted on the nine Christian Confessions, treating each separately.
The Romano-Byzantine landscape was forever changed in the seventh century with Heraclius’ defeat of Sasanian Iran, the Arabs’ wresting of the Near East from the Byzantines, the removal of the Monophysite problem from Byzantium proper, and the massive devastation
brought by this ferocious cycle of warfare.
Since at least the Iron Age, and perhaps much earlier, Caucasia has been a cohesive yet diverse zone of cross-cultural encounter and shared historical experience. Despite their linkage by a web of interconnections which was as dense as it was durable, the peoples inhabiting the isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas have seldom exhibited a conscious regional identity in their oral, written, and visual monuments.
The vast majority of medieval historians writing on the Middle East have focused on Byzantium, the Crusaders, and the Saracens, but there is an abundance of primary materials on Armenian history
The Assassination of King Het‘um II: The Conversion of The Ilkhans and the Armenians By Angus Stewart Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, Vol.15 :1 (2005) Introduction: On November 17, 1307, the Armenian king, Het‘um II, was assassinated by a Mongol, recently converted to Islam, the noyan Bularghu. In this paper I will […]
The Crusader Church of the Holy Sepulchre Burke, Tiffany L. (University of Notre Dame Department of History) University of Notre Dame, March 22 (2002) Abstract The main focus of this essay is to describe in great detail the events leading up to and following the predominant architectural changes of the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. More precisely, […]
This thesis deals with the various functions of Latin and Armenian fortifications in Cilician Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, Syria and Palestine between 1187 and c.1380.
How were the Crusades fitted into an Armenian worldview?
The Sign of Christ, the Sign of Salvation: an Exalted Cross in a Late Medieval Armenian Gospel Book By Orsolya Mednyánszky Paper given at the Vagantes: Medieval Graduate Student Conference, held at the University of Pittsburgh (2011) By the later Middle Ages, illuminated gospels became very popular among Armenians, with even lower class families owning […]
Armenian Architecture in Twelfth-Century Crusader Jerusalem Kenaan-Kedar, Nurith (Tel Aviv University) Assaph Studies in Art History, 3 (1998) Abstract The art and architecture of the crusaders in 12th-century Jerusalem have been constantly studied since the beginning of this century. Major issues of investigation have been the geographical origins of various artistic projects, and the meaning of […]
Armenia from the Fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the Forced Emigration under Shah Abbas (1604) By Dickran Kouymjian The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Vol.2, editor Richard Hovannisian, editor (New York, 1997) Introduction: The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are the dark ages of Armenian history. The poverty of historical sources reflects the […]
What those ideas were I shall endeavor to make clear by first translating and then commenting on the passage in question. After that I propose to draw the reader’s attention to certain broad but significant similarities between these ideas and the concept of Jihad as initially expressed and enunciated in the pages of the Qur’an.
The Turco-Mongol Invasions and the Lords of Armenia in the 13-14th Centuries By Robert Bedrosian Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University (1979) Abstract: The 13-14th centuries was a period of great turbulence in the history of the Armenian people. Over roughly 170 years (from ca. 1220 to ca. 1403) Armenia was subjected to no less than 15 invasions of […]
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