The Double-Headed Eagle in Byzantium: Myths and Realities
It’s a familiar image on church banners and tourist souvenirs: the double-headed eagle soaring over the memory of Byzantium. Yet the real story behind this symbol is far more complex — and far older — than many realize.
New Medieval Books: The Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople stood at the heart of Byzantine public life. This book explores the history of the stadium, the thrilling chariot races it hosted, and the vital role it played in the political, social, and cultural fabric of the empire.
The Starving Scholar: A Medieval Satire
A 12th-century Byzantine poem by Theodore Prodromos mocks the false promises of education through the voice of a hungry scholar who finds his purse full of parchment instead of coin.
New Medieval Books: Byzantine Dress
This book presents eleven essays exploring clothing and fashion in the Byzantine Empire. Together, they reveal the diverse ways medieval people dressed—and how their garments often carried deep cultural, social, and symbolic significance.
Byzantine taste, meals, and food culture, with Adam Morin
A conversation with Adam Morin about categories of taste, the meal structure, and the food and ingredients that east Romans ate. What foods were prized and what looked down upon? How do we know what they ate? What do we know about individual preferences?
New Medieval Books: Byzantine Sources for the Crusades, 1095-1204
These translated sources present Byzantine perspectives on the First through Fourth Crusades, offering a view of the Crusades as seen from Constantinople.
To Miklagarðr and back again: Varangians return from Constantinople, with Sverrir Jakobsson
A conversation with Sverrir Jakobsson about the experiences of Northmen — especially Varangians — who traveled to Constantinople and the south and returned home with stories, swords, riches, and prestige.
New Medieval Books: The Church of St. Polyeuktos at Constantinople
Built in the 6th century, the Church of St. Polyeuktos was once the largest church in Constantinople. This book tells the story of this building and its rediscovery in the 1960s.
Constantinople as seen by its inhabitants, with Paul Magdalino
A conversation with Paul Magdalino about the literary traditions and genres that Constantinopolitans developed to talk about the origins, history, cosmic importance, and superlative beauty of their city — the City.
Byzantine Monastery with Stunning Mosaic Discovered in Israel
An archaeological excavation near Kiryat Gat, a city southwest of Jerusalem, has uncovered a Byzantine monastery with a mosaic floor featuring a Greek inscription, as well as a sophisticated winepress and other ancient structures.
Sutton Hoo Warriors fought in the Byzantine Army, historian argues
The renowned Sutton Hoo burial site is famed for its opulent grave goods, but their origins remain a mystery. A newly published study in The English Historical Review presents a groundbreaking theory, offering “a startlingly new view of early Anglo-Saxon history.”
Can scholars and clerics be manly?, with Maroula Perisanidi
A conversation with Maroula Perisanidi about the distinctive kind of masculinity that was fashioned by scholars and priests in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the challenges and deficits that it faced, and the masculine capital that men in those occupations tried to amass and then spend.
Portrait of the Last Byzantine Emperor Discovered
Archaeologists in southern Greece have discovered a unique portrait of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, hidden within a layer of frescoes dating to the mid-15th century.
Early Medieval Christian Basilica Discovered in Italy
Archaeologists have uncovered a significant early Christian basilica in Aquileia, Italy, shedding new light on the city’s religious and geopolitical role during the Byzantine era.
The Fall of Constantinople, Pope Pius II, and the Birth of Europe, with Nancy Bisaha
A conversation with Nancy Bisaha about the origins of the idea of “Europe” as a place of identity and not just geography. One of its first theorists was the Italian humanist Aeneas Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II), who was in part reacting to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. The problem of whom to include and exclude as Europeans was there from the start. We talk about Aeneas himself and the siege of the City.
John of Brienne: King of Jerusalem and Emperor of Constantinople
We have released our first digital book – John of Brienne: King of Jerusalem and Emperor of Constantinople, by James Turner. You can buy it now on our Patreon Shop.
A Byzantine Account of Harald Hardrada’s Varangian Years
Most of what we know about Harald Hardrada, the Viking leader and King of Norway, comes from Norse sagas. Yet, a Byzantine account offers rare insights into his time serving as a Varangian guard in the Byzantine Empire.
Women and the Mount Athos in the Byzantine Period
My topic this evening is women and Mount Athos in the Byzantine period and I emphasize the conjunction and women and Mount Athos, not women on Mount Athos.
Medieval Constantinople’s Wildest Feud: How One Man Built an Earthquake Machine for Revenge
In medieval Constantinople, a neighbourhood feud between an architect and a lawyer escalated into a battle of wits involving steam-powered earthquakes and blinding mirrors. This is the bizarre story of how one man used science to terrorise his rival, earning himself the nickname ‘Zeus the Lightener.’
Defeat at the Gates: How Inexperience Crushed Byzantium’s Army in 986
In August 986, the Byzantine Empire suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan, where Emperor Basil II’s inexperienced forces were ambushed by the Bulgarian army. This battle marked a pivotal moment in the Byzantine-Bulgarian wars, exposing the empire’s vulnerabilities and shaping Basil’s future as a military leader.
The Travels of Manuel II Palaiologos, Emperor of the Romans
The story of Manuel II Palaiologos, whose travels would take him to Paris and London, and his efforts to protect his empire.
New Medieval Books: A Companion to the Environmental History of Byzantium
A collection of 17 essays that cover a wide range of topics, including climate, water management, nature, and even earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean region during the Middle Ages.
Becoming a Saint in Byzantium
The model or ideal of human behaviour and achievement in Byzantium was to become a saint.
7 Cunning Byzantine Tactics to Defeat a Medieval Army
Discover ingenious ways to outsmart and defeat a medieval army without direct confrontation, as detailed in the 10th-century Byzantine military manual, the Sylloge Tacticorum.
