Cultural Identity and Dress: The Case of Late Byzantine Court Costume
At the earliest stages of its development, ceremonial costume was often a more ornate and luxurious version of contemporary attire. It’s use in a ritual context, however, resulted in its becoming imbued with a symbolic significance, a significance that epitomized the political and religious ideology of the state in general and the self perception of the ruling class in particular.
The fabric of society: The organization of textile manufacturing in the Middle East and Europe, c. 700 – c. 1500
In recent years several attempts have been made to use institutional theory to explain this divergence between the Middle East and Europe. Most of these attempts focus on the organization of international trade.
Scissors or Sword? The Symbolism of a Medieval Haircut
Simon Coates explores the symbolic meanings attached to hair in the early medieval West, and how it served to denote differences in age, sex, ethnicity and status.
A Distant World: Russian Relations with Europe Before Peter the Great
Despite their isolation and poverty, the Slavic plowmen succeeded in settling this unforgiving region, expanding their numbers, and, most importantly, creating the beginnings of a trading network along the many rivers of the region—the western Dvina, the Volkhov, the northern Dvina, and the Dniepr and its tributaries.
The Geography of the Provincial Administration of the Byzantine Empire (ca 600-1200)
The transition to the medieval thematic system of provincial administration took place at a period of time on which our level of information is extremely low.
The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe.
The standard method employed in characterization studies of amber, namely infrared spectrography, can discriminate roughly between Baltic amber and amber from other European sources…
Heraclius and the Evolution of Byzantine Strategy
This paper aims to be an initial stepping stone in the understanding of the foundation and evolution of Byzantine strategy.
The Life and Miracles of Thekla: A Literary Study
What is this story and why is Egeria reading it at the shrine in Seleukeia?
The Romans as Viewed by Arabic Authors in the 9th and 10th Centuries A.D.
The reason why Muslims authors of the 9th and 10th century A.D. dealt with the history and culture not only of
the Romans but also of other ancient and contemporary nations is related to the social, political and cultural
circumstances of their age.
The Mediterranean Muslim Navy and the Expeditions Dispatched against Constantinople
The aim of this paper is to present an account of the information we find in various Arabic sources of the early period of Arabic historiography on the preparation of a military naval force and the expeditions launched against Constantinople during the period of the early expansion of the Muslim Arabs
Origins and Development of the Notariate at Ravenna (Sixth through Thirteenth Centuries)
Excluding the profession of the sword, that of the notary was among the earliest, the most self-conscious and certainly the largest in the medieval world.
The Emperor Heraclius: investigations into the image of an emperor
This thesis is an investigation into the image of the emperor Heraclius as depicted by the ancient sources who cover his reign (610-641 A. D.).
Arab Siege of Egyptian Babylon : a Classic Study in Islamic Expansion of the 7th Century
The fall of the Byzantine Fortress of Babylon in 641 CE allowed invading Arab armies to move beyond the Lower Nile region of Egypt and ultimately conquer the whole of the province from the Byzantines, effectively ending centuries of almost totally uninterrupted Roman rule.
George Gemistos Plethon on God: Heterodoxy in Defense of Orthodoxy
The Emperor, John VIII Palaeologos, knew they were going to face some of the finest minds in the Roman Church on their own soil; he therefore wanted the best minds available in support of the Byzantine cause to accompany him. Consequently, the Emperor appointed George Gemistos as part of the delegation.
The Symbolical Career of Georgios Gemistos Plethon
Thus Gemistos was the first who in an authoritative way attacked the hegemony of Aristotle in western thought.
The Date of Laonikos Chalkokondyles’ Histories
No event known to Laonikos need be dated later than ca. 1464, and the terminus ante quem is 1468: writing some 25 years earlier than has been thought
A Spectacle of Great Beauty: The Changing Faces of Hagia Sophia
For Constantine, Justinian, Sultan Mehmed II, and Atatürk, Hagia Sophia served as a model for the changing political and religious ideals of a nation. To use the useful phrase coined by Linda Young, Hagia Sophia is a building that is “in between heritage.”
Hellenism and the Shaping of the Byzantine Empire
While the role of Byzantine Hellenism on the art, literature, and society of the Empire has been the subject of tremendous study, the question of its origins has, nonetheless, rarely been raised, and the strongly Hellenic Byzantine identity seems, to a large extent, to have been taken for granted historiographically.
Praising A City: Nicaea, Trebizond, and Thessalonike
Praising A City: Nicaea, Trebizond, and Thessalonike Aslıhan Akışık Journal of Turkish Studies, Vol.36 (2012) Abstract The late Byzantine period(1204-1461) was distinguished by…
The Triumphal Way of Constantinople and the Golden Gate
In Rome the term triumphus referred to an archaic and highly regulated rite that was decreed by the Senate upon the fulfilment of certain strict preconditions. Scholars have disagreed whether the triumphal procession, which could be held only in Rome, always followed the same itinerary, but the chances are that it did
The Italo-Cretan Religious Painting and The Byzantine-Palaeologan Legacy
The paper aims to introduce the last significant school of painting, which was nurtured by the Byzantine sources, the so-called Italo-Cretan school, whose presence and influence lasted for more than 300 years. Its works are perceived not just as mere objects of veneration but have also high artistic and marketing value.
Unity and Diversity in Early Medieval Canonical Collections
This paper details differences and similarities in canon law sources in different regions.
The Construction of the Two Palaces: The Composition of the Song of Digenis Akritas and the Claim for the Anatolic Hegemony of Alexius Komnenos
The arrival of the Komnenos-Doukas faction at the imperial throne, with the rising of Alexius Komnenos in 1081, represents a strong change in the rhetoric and sharing of power in Byzantium.
The Role of the Byzantine Church in Medieval Hungary
The necessity for a change of country by the Magyars was a direct consequence of the policy of the Byzantine court.
A Note on Michael the Porphyrogenitus, son of Andronikos III Palaiologos (*1337-+1352)
Michael the Porphyrogenitus was born approximately in the year 1337. TheImperial couple chose the name “Michael” probably in honor of Michael IXPalaiologos, co-emperor of Byzantium (1296-1320) and father of the young Andronikos.