Posts Tagged ‘Byzantium’

Project to examine images of Hell in the medieval churches of Crete

Frescoes from the island of Crete depicting scenes of Hell and the punishments of the damned are the focus of a new research project led by historians in England and Germany.

Angeliki Lymberopoulou of The Open University, and Vasiliki Tsamakda, from the University of Mainz, aim to place and assess these representations within a wider geographical and cultural context involving both Greek-Orthodox and contemporary western examples (the Balkans, Cyprus, Cappadocia and Italy). The material will be accessible to scholars and will provide a stepping stone for future research in key iconographic subjects for understanding their social and historic context.

Dr Lymberopoulou, Lecturer in Art History, said: “The island of Crete was ruled by the Venetians from 1211 until 1669. This extended period was culturally very prolific and provides one of the most prolonged case-studies in cultural interaction between two different groups – the native Greek Orthodox population and the Venetian colonists. One of the lasting monuments to this thriving era is formed by the surviving churches with fresco decorations. No fewer than 77 of these fresco cycles contain representations of Hell and these will form the basis of our study.”

The subject has a wide range of cultural connotations, since it reflects religious and moral beliefs, social structure and expectations and the most common illegal activities (e.g. live stock theft). Moreover, while customarily depictions of Hell and of the sufferings of the damned form part of the wider context of the Last Judgement, this is not always the case on Crete. Hell and the punishment of sinners can be depicted independently on the island – a fact which underlines the importance that such representations had for patrons and the faithful. Furthermore, the scenes of Hell reflect more than anything the complex interaction between (Byzantine) East and (Venetian) West that took place on Crete during its Venetian occupation, especially since they often include Orthodox as well as western sinners burning in the eternal flames. Therefore, the choice of this iconographic subject carries a wider appeal and interest for cross-cultural studies in general, including the way different cultures influence each other today.

Around 750 Byzantine and Post-Byzantine frescoes survive in Cretan churches, but the majority remain unpublished or appear in general surveys but with no intention or space for in-depth analysis. The research team has received £176,600 from The Leverhulme Trust to photograph, catalogue, examine and publish all frescoes with representations of Hell within these churches.

Dr Lymberopoulou writing in the Leverhulme Trust newsletter, states, “our team aims to create a corpus of material accessible to scholarship. We will provide a stepping stone for future research in key iconographic subjects for understanding their social and historic context by studying the examples in depth in order to determine the intentions behind their commission, the religious and political aspirations and the moral and legal parameters in contemporary cross-cultural Cretan society. Equally important is the aim to place and to assess these representations within a wider geographical and cultural context involving both Greek- Orthodox and contemporary western examples (the Balkans, Cyprus, Cappadocia and Italy).”

Sources: Open University, Leverhulme Trust

2 Sep 2010
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Calculating Byzantium? Social Network Analysis and Complexity Sciences as tools for the exploration of medieval social dynamics

Calculating Byzantium? Social Network Analysis and Complexity Sciences as tools for the exploration of medieval social dynamics

By Johannes Preiser-Kapeller

Historical Dynamics of Byzantium, No. 1 (2010)

Introduction: In the last decade, historical and social studies have been confronted with a new kind of scientific research on natural as well as social, economic and historical phenomena based on the concept of complex systems; one may even speak of a “complexity turn”. Quantitative and mathematical methods and models are used to analyse social processes and structures, and it is suggested that these models capture dynamics of real-world phenomena and even have some predictive value. At the same time, these new methods claim to be more adequate for the analysis of social and historical dynamics than earlier attempts at the “calculation” of history which were based on the mechanistic thinking of 19th century natural sciences; one prominent researcher in the field of “historical dynamics”, Peter Turchin, even claims that only with these methods “historical sociology (will) become a theoretical, mature science”.

Especially the theses of Peter Turchin, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, found favour (but also critics) among various scholars in the fields of socio-historical research – but less so among specialist historians. One cause for the appeal of Turchin’s model may be his usage of relatively comprehensible mathematics; a reviewer gratefully wrote “the author eschews the hyper-parameterized, computer-dependent approach found in many contemporary modelling efforts, and instead focuses on variants of three basic and well understood differential equation models: the exponential, logistic, and predatorprey.“  The reviewer may have in mind models such as those of Wolfgang Weidlich in his book on “Sociodynamics”; for his model for “the rise and fall of interacting social groups” Weidlich used 15 Key-variables and 30 “Trend-functions” and at the same time stated: “we restrict the model to one sector or one dimension of social life”. Peter Turchin on the contrary claimed to be able to explain in his book “Historical Dynamics” on 240 pages “Why States Rise and Fall”.

But can these models really provide any further insight into the development of a medieval society such as Byzantium? One limiting factor is the necessity to provide statistical material in order to evaluate the appropriateness of a quantitative model – material which in most cases for the Byzantine period simply does not exist. To evaluate for instance Weidlich’s model of “the rise and fall of interacting social groups” we would need figures for the numbers of followers of the various political and ecclesiastical factions in 14th century Byzantium. Turchin’s simpler models demand less specific data, but still rely mostly on historical statistics to a degree which we are not able to provide on the basis of Byzantine sources.

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23 Aug 2010
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Calculating the Synod? A network analysis of the synod and the episcopacy in the Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the years 1379–1390

Calculating the Synod? A network analysis of the synod and the episcopacy in the Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the years 1379–1390

By Johannes Preiser-Kapeller

Historical Dynamics of Byzantium, Vol. 2 (2010)

Introduction: The Register of the Patriarchate of Constantinople is for us probably the most important source for the practice of management and leadership of the late Byzantine church; it provides us with a large number of decisions of the patriarch and the synod of the metropolitans, archbishops and bishops who were present in the capital on many aspects of the church, but also of the political, economic and social life of the Byzantine Empire and the entire Orthodox Commonwealth. These desisions of the supreme bodies of the church are connected in the documents with more or less detailed justifications, which often draw from the rich treasure of Byzantine rhetoric; that many unpleasant facts were either not presented or in disguised form, Herbert Hunger made clear in his paper on “the apparent nonchalance of the language of the patriarchal chancellery” in the second volume of the studies on the Register of the Patriarchate.

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19 Aug 2010
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The epidemic of Justinian (AD 542): a prelude to the Middle Ages

The epidemic of Justinian (AD 542): a prelude to the Middle Ages

By Francois Retief and Louise P. Cilliers

Acta Theologica, Vol.26:2 (2006)

Abstract: The epidemic that struck Constantinople and the surrounding countries during the reign of Justinian in the middle of the 6th century, was the first documented pandemic in history. It marked the beginning of plague as a nosological problem that would afflict the world until the 21st century. The symptoms of the disease, as described by various contemporary writers (especially the historian and confidant of the emperor, Procopius, and the two church historians, John of Ephesus and Euagrius), are discussed.

There is little doubt that the disease was the plague. The most common form in which it manifested was bubonic plague, which is spread by infected fleas and is not directly contagious from patient to patient. There is also evidence of septicaemic plague and possibly even pneumonic plague. The disastrous effects of the plague were described vividly by contemporary writers. A major problem was to find ways to dispose of infected corpses. It is estimated that about one third of the population died — a figure comparable to the death rate during the Black Death in the Middle Ages. Famine and inflation, the depopulation of the countryside, and a critical manpower shortage in the army were further effects which all contributed to bringing to a premature end Justinian’s attempt to restore the grandeur of the Roman empire, and precipitating the advent of the Middle Ages.

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15 Aug 2010
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An Introduction to Byzantine Monasticism

An Introduction to Byzantine Monasticism

By Alice-Mary Talbot

Illinois Classical Studies, Vol.12:2 (1987)

Introduction: The institution of monasticism was one of the most important characteristics of Byzantine society, and touched the life of virtually every imperial subject in many ways. First of all, a substantial number of Byzantine men and women took monastic vows: some in their youth, who pledged themselves to a lifetime of dedication to Christ; some in middle age, when their children were grown; many more at the end of their lives. Countless Byzantines, when they realized they were on their deathbed, took the monastic habit for their final hours or days, in the belief that, by dying in the holier monastic state, they were more likely to achieve salvation in the world to come.

The monastery was often the spiritual center of a rural village or urban quarter; local inhabitants might attend services at the monastic church, seek out monks for spiritual advice, or ask for help in time of need. If a Byzantine fell ill, he or she might find medical care in a hospital attached to the monastic complex, or alternatively seek healing at the tomb of a saint whose relics were preserved in the church. A traveler who hesitated to stop for the night at an inn (which was usually a euphemism for a brothel) might find accommodation at a hostel run by monks. An elderly widow without children to look after her could find spiritual companionship and nursing care in a convent; the nuns would also see to her proper burial and arrange commemorative services after her death, all in exchange for a handsome donation to the nunnery. The poor could come to the monastery gate and receive loaves of bread, wine, and the leftovers from the refectory. A wealthy noble, who wanted to present a deluxe illuminated Gospelbook to a church, could commission the copying and illustration of such a manuscript in a monastic scriptorium, or workshop for the production of manuscripts. A peasant who owned a small plot of land might be pressured into selling his vineyard or olive grove to the local monastery, which wished to increase its holdings; he might on the other hand give the land to the monastery as a pious act, in exchange for commemorative requiem masses in perpetuity. Emperors as well as peasants took personal interest in monasteries; they might found new ones, or present existing ones with landed estates, or declare their immunity from taxation. Emperors sought out monks as advisers on matters of state as well as religious policy. And not a few Byzantine emperors ended their lives in monasteries, either unwillingly when they were deposed from the throne by a usurper and forced into the tonsure, or of their own accord as an act of personal faith when their end drew near. Finally, monasteries served as the bulwark of Byzantine Orthodox Christianity: in the eighth and ninth centuries monks were among the most ardent supporters of image veneration and adversaries of iconoclasm: in the thirteenth century monks were persecuted for opposing Michael VIII’s policy of Union with the Roman Church at the Council of Lyons (1274). In the following century the monasteries and hermitages of Mt. Athos nurtured the burgeoning mystical movement called hesychasm, which was to give new vitality to the Orthodox religious tradition.

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22 Jul 2010
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Mehmed the Conqueror and the Equestrian Statue of the Augustaion

Mehmed the Conqueror and the Equestrian Statue of the Augustaion

By J. Raby

Illinois Classical Studies, Vol. 12:2 (1987)

Introduction: One of the landmarks of Constantinople was the colossal equestrian statue which stood on top of a hundred-foot-high column outside Hagia Sophia. Known as the Augustaion from the square in which it stood, the bronze statue was erected by Justinian, although in all probability it was not his own but a re-used work of Theodosius I or II, The statue’s size alone — some 27 feet in height—would have ensured its fame, but it was particularly esteemed as a symbol of Byzantine dominion and a talisman of the City. Christianity’s triumph over the world was signified by the globus cruciger which the rider held in his left hand, while with his extended right he was believed to gesture apotropaically towards the Orient, commanding the Eastern enemy, successively Sasanians, Arabs and Turks, to stay back behind the Byzantine border. The statue was so prominent, its symbolic and magical character for the Christians of Constantinople so commonly acknowledged, that it is hardly surprising it failed to survive under the Turks.

Some time between 1544 and 1550 Peter Gyllius saw fragments of the statue, which he claimed had long been kept in a courtyard of the Sultan’s palace, being transported to a cannon-foundry, which was presumably the one at Tophane; and he furtively measured a few of these disjecta membra, the rider’s nose and the horse’s hooves being nine inches long, the rider’s leg taller than Gyllius himself. It has never been satisfactorily explained how the statue came to be removed to the imperial Saray. The answer, however, is to be found not in European or Greek, but in Ottoman, sources.

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22 Jul 2010
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Byzantium’s Role in the Formation of Early Medieval Civilization: Approaches and Problems

Byzantium’s Role in the Formation of Early Medieval Civilization: Approaches and Problems

By Michael McCormick

Illinois Classical Studies, Vol.12:2 (1987)

Introduction: Until recently, Europe from the collapse of Roman power in the fifth century to the Carolingian achievement in the ninth—the early Middle Ages—has been the poor step-child of modem historical research. The reasons are not hard to find. Contemporary sources are few and difficult, their language is laced with obscurity, and lingering prejudice against the “dark ages” can still be perceived, especially in North America. But because a problem is difficult does not mean that it can be ignored. And it is increasingly difficult to deny that the long twilight period on the edges of Antiquity and the Middle Ages was fertile and even decisive for the destiny of medieval—and modem—civilization.

These centuries prepared the ground on which the high Middle Ages would build and out of which the modern world would grow. Not a few salient characteristics of contemporary westem civilization appear there for the first time. It was then that Christianity conquered northem Europe and that the Germanic, Slavic and Arab peoples emerged as key players on the world stage. It is here that we find the direct ancestors of phenomena as diverse as Europe’s modem nation states and today’s “Roman” alphabet, a style of writing invented by the scribes of Charlemagne’s kingdom in the eighth century.

While many factors which shaped early medieval Europe must be sought, of course, within that civilization’s internal development, there is little reason to think that outside stimulus was less influential here than in other, comparable cultures. And few would deny that the diffusion of a civilization’s culture beyond its frontiers is of great historical significance to understanding both that civilization and its beneficiaries. In the case before us, Byzantium’s contribution beyond its boundaries has been detected in domains as diverse as the music, art, thought, political symbolism and language of the early medieval West. Thus, it was Byzantium that supplied the organs which Carolingian rulers first introduced into church services. Early and middle Byzantine masterpieces inspired Carolingian and Ottonian book illuminators, while the court of Constantinople provided the very manuscript which stands at the beginning of western theology’s neoplatonizing mysticism. The extent to which the medieval West and its heirs have assimilated their Byzantine inheritance is suggested by the surprise one feels at discovering that this legacy includes state welcome ceremonies such as we now see at airports, or that Byzantium gave us words—and the realities behind them—like “ink,” “pasta,” “bronze,” “boutique,” and “diaper.”

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22 Jul 2010
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The campaigns of the Norman dukes of southern Italy against Byzantium, in the years between 1071 and 1108 AD

The campaigns of the Norman dukes of southern Italy against Byzantium, in the years between 1071 and 1108 AD

By Georgios Theotokis
PhD Dissertation, University of Glasgow, 2010

Abstract: The topic of my thesis is “The campaigns of the Norman dukes of southern Italy to Byzantium, in the years between 1071 and 1108 A.D.” As the title suggests, I am examining all the main campaigns conducted by the Normans against Byzantine provinces, in the period from the fall of Bari, the Byzantine capital of Apulia and the seat of the Byzantine governor (catepano) of Italy in 1071, to the Treaty of Devol that marked the end of Bohemond of Taranto’s Illyrian campaign in 1108.

My thesis, however, aims to focus specifically on the military aspects of these confrontations, an area which for this period has been surprisingly neglected in the existing secondary literature. My intention is to give answers to a series of questions, of which only some of them are presented here: what was the Norman method of raising their armies and what was the connection of this particular system to that in Normandy and France in the same period (similarities, differences, if any)? Have the Normans been willing to adapt to the Mediterranean reality of warfare, meaning the adaptation of siege engines and the creation of a transport and fighting fleet? What was the composition of their armies, not only in numbers but also in the analogy of cavalry, infantry and supplementary units? While in the field of battle, what were the fighting tactics used by the Normans against the Byzantines and were they superior to their eastern opponents?

However, as my study is in essence comparative, I will further compare the Norman and Byzantine military institutions, analyse the clash of these two different military cultures and distinguish any signs of adaptations in their practice of warfare. Also, I will attempt to set this enquiry in the light of new approaches to medieval military history visible in recent historiography by asking if any side had been familiar to the ideas of Vegetian strategy, and if so, whether we characterise any of these strategies as Vegetian?

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8 Jul 2010
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Procopius on Roman, Persian and Gothic Strategy near Dara and Rome

Procopius on Roman, Persian and Gothic Strategy near Dara and Rome

By Christopher Lillington-Martin

To be published in The Archaeology of War in Late Antiquity (forthcoming)

Abstract: This paper reinterprets Procopius’ descriptions of opposing Roman, Persian and Gothic strategies near Dara in AD 530 and Rome in AD 537-8 by reconsidering evidence pertaining to the location of temporary army camp sites. The method consists of reconciling his text with the landscapes of the areas concerned by supplementing the analysis with information gained from satellite imagery, cartography and field visits. This is evaluated, with secondary sources in mind, to analyse the landscapes and associated events described by Procopius. The satellite images are available via Google Earth and date from September and October 2004. By reconsidering Procopius’ account, after visiting the landscapes he described, we gain additional insights and can therefore reinterpret strategy and events.

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18 Jun 2010
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Cases and Clauses: The Language of Exclusion in Byzantium

Cases and Clauses: The Language of Exclusion in Byzantium

By Rosemary Morris

Toleration and Repression in the Middle Ages (2002)

Introduction: The cultural history of anger, like that of humour, is a history which takes us to the root of the definition of the other. An outcome of anger is often the declaration that the particular target of rage is alien to the group to which one attaches oneself; whether it be defined by nationality, by race, by religion or by sexual orientation. Thus by studying the language of anger and insult in a particular historical context, it is possible to arrive at some identifications of beliefs and attitudes which are not to be accepted or tolerated by groups within contemporary society.

But actually preserving an insult is a rather difficult matter. For insults, like jokes (which again provide a good source of social or ethnic identification) are an essentially oral form. Insults can, of course, be written down, but this is always a more dangerous pastime than simply shouting them. So studying written insults is, in fact, an aspect of a much wider area of interest to historians: the process by which, and the circumstances in which originally oral processes are transferred to writing.

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12 Jun 2010
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