The Danger of the Soft Life: Manly and Unmanly Romans in Procopius’s Gothic War
Rather than uncovering the Goths, Byzantines, and Italians “as they really were,” this paper seeks to unearth some of the purpose and reasoning behind Procopius’s gendered depictions and ethnicizing worldview.
From peasant to Byzantine emperor: the remarkable career of Basil the ‘Macedonian’
The unexpected rise of Basil and the obscurity of his origins resulted in one of the most striking features of the history of the early Macedonian dynasty: the growth of a myth around his birth, his early life and achievements
Love, marriage and abduction in Byzantium: the epic romance of Digenes Akritas
What can an epic poem from the the 12th century tells us about love and marriage in the Byzantine world?
Magic and the Warding-off of Barbarians in Constantinople, 9th – 12th Centuries
What remains to be seen is how the populace of the middle-Byzantine Constantinople tried to ward off “barbarians” by resorting to the “magical properties” of bewitched statues.
How to criticize: The Chronicle of Constantine Manasses
Few can match the 12th century chronicler Constantine Manasses when it comes to inventive ways to criticize a ruler.
Piracy and reprisal in Byzantine waters: resolving a maritime conflict between Byzantines and Genoese at the end of the twelfth century
In 1192, Genoese and Pisan pirates under the command of a Genoese corsair pillaged Venetian ships carrying merchandise and valuable gifts for the Byzantine emperor from the Sultan of Egypt.
What was the fate of the ‘True Cross’ in the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars?
Despite the fact that there is a relative abundance of contemporary or near contemporary sources on Heraclius’ campaigns, it is hard – if not impossible – to retrace the chronology of the events leading up to the restoration of the Cross.
Protecting Against Child-Killing Demons: Uterus Amulets in the Late Antique and Byzantine Magical World
This doctoral dissertation examines medicinal-magical amulets pertaining to the uterus and the protection of women and children, the accompanying tradition of magical texts, and the mythology and folktales of demons believed to kill children and parturient women.
Over 800 medieval manuscripts to be digitised
Hundreds of medieval and early modern Greek manuscripts – including classical texts and some of the most important treatises on religion, mathematics, history, drama and philosophy – are to be digitised thanks a collaboration between Cambridge University, Heidelberg University and the Vatican Library.
The aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert (1071): What really brought the Byzantine Empire to its knees
The real challenge for the Empire in the aftermath of Manzikert lay in the mad scramble for power in Constantinople.
Domestic violence against women as a reason to sanctification in Byzantine hagiography
The lives of Matrona of Perge, Mary the Younger and Thomaïs of Lesbos are rare examples of how domestic violence against women could be also interpreted as a reason to sanctify the woman suffered abuses of this sort.
The Mongols in Europe: The Byzantines, the Bulgarians and the Golden Horde
How did the Mongol presence in the Balkans effect its two main political powers – the Byzantines and the Bulgarians?
Can you solve these Byzantine riddles?
Here are five riddles written in the eleventh-century. Can you answer them?
The Mongol invasions and the Aegean world (1241–61)
This article examines the decisive role played by the Mongols in the political history of the Aegean region in the thirteenth century. The Mongol invasions of 1241–44 were the key turning point in the struggle for hegemony in the region.
How the borders of the Byzantine Empire changed in the Middle Ages
Here are several videos that track the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire
The world view of the anonymous author of the Greek Chronicle of the Tocco, 14th-15th centuries
Written in 3923 ‘political verses’, the anonymous Chronicle of the Tocco is an epic family chronicle, which describes the history of the Tocco family – mainly the deeds of Carlo I Tocco, as well as the events which took place in Western Greece and the islands of Zakynthos, Leukas, Cephalonia and Ithaca during the years 1375-1422.
Byzantium and Venice: The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Alliance
The story of the Venetian-Byzantine military alliance is a complex one, with many questions that need to be answered.
Climate Impacts and Societal Resilience in the Mediterranean of the Last Millennium: the Case of Medieval Byzantium
The period we’re talking about is covering the period after the early medieval crisis until the period that followed the fall of Constantinople to the Latins in the year 1204
The papacy and Byzantium in the seventh- and early eighth-century sections of the Liber pontificalis
The papal narrative undermines the usual assumptions about the so-called Byzantine Reconquest and the Roman perception, if not the reality, of the degree to which ‘Byzantine rule’ was exercised in Italy between the middle of the sixth and first half of the eighth century.
Why did the Byzantines write History?
Our desires and expectations for good history do not align with those of the medieval authors of Byzantine histories.
It’s in the Water: Byzantine Borderlands and the Village War
The sources for this essay are a series of military manuals written by Byzantine army commanders first in the late sixth century and then again in the tenth century.
Chronology and History in Byzantium
Compared with historiography, chronological writing develops against a wider background than human affairs, and it focuses on the order of events and the time intervals between them, rather than on their internal development, their meaning, or their causes.
Art and Devotional Practices in the Byzantine Village: The Long View
In this talk, Gerstel will look at devotional art in several Greek villages and will also discuss how engaging with art in the village may provide opportunities for medievalists to move beyond the strict chronological confines of our field to take a more activist stance in approaching buildings and their communities.
Spectacle, Power and Romanness in Byzantium: The Use of Roman Heritage in the Ceremonial Practices in the Hippodrome (10th-century)
This thesis will provide a case study in the debate on Byzantine identity by analysing how the Byzantine emperor projected an image of himself to Byzantine society in ritual and ceremonial.
“The Great Emperor”: A Motif in Procopius of Caesarea’s Wars
When Justinian is described to barbarians as “the great emperor,” this reflects an anxiety about the emergence of post-Roman successor states in the West and a growing determination to pursue imperial reconquest.