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.
Between Byzantium and Venice: Western Music in Crete
Were there orchestras, and which was their place in the life of the Catholic or Byzantine Churches? On the other hand, to what extent was the organ used in the liturgical space and by whom?
Brothels, Baths and Babes: Prostitution in the Byzantine Holy Land
Graeco-Roman domestic sexuality rested on a triad: the wife, the concubine and the courtesan.
The Question of Trabzon’s Efrenciyan Population: 1486-1583
The following article examines the ‘fate’ of the Efrenciyan or foreign residents of the city of Trabzon following the Ottoman conquest of the city in 1461.
A Contemporary View of Ancient Factions: A Reappraisal
I will reassess the scholarship relating to the motivations for the increasingly frequent and destructive riots spearheaded by the circus factions between the 5th and 7th centuries CE in the Eastern Roman Empire.
“For the Honor of God and of the Holy Roman Church:” Understanding Venetian Motivations and Involvement during the Fourth Crusade
This thesis will attempt to unravel how it came to be that men who claimed to fight in the name of the cross had come to attack one of the most important cities in all of Christendom. It shall focus particularly on the motivations and actions of the Venetians, a people whose involvement in this crusade and the crusading movement in general has often been misunderstood.
Economy of Ragusa, 1300 – 1800: The Tiger of Mediaeval Mediterranean
An economist is indeed tempted to think of Ragusa as the “Adriatic Tiger “ of yesteryear, an early example of a small open economy with strong fundamentals, and to hypothesize further that, in analogy to the current consensus about what it takes to minimize the impact of external crises, these strengths also allowed Ragusa to mitigate the effects of the many external shocks and financial crises in Medieval Europe.
BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE IN GREAT MORAVIA
What could the Byzantine Empire offer to Great Moravia in the field of education? Let’s leave aside the political and theological aspects of the mission for a while and point out, that Byzantium complied with Rastislav’s request out of political reasons as well. They considered Great Moravia a possible ally.
The legal aspects of the Stefan Dušan`s involvement in the civil war in Byzantium 1341-1354
The problem of the legal aspects is consisting mainly of the measure of influence of contemporary concepts of what was legitimate and legal towards the sequence of events during the civil war which started a few months after the death of the Emperor Andronikos III (died 15 June 1341) and lasted with certain periods of a relative peace until his son John V finally succeeded to take the sole rule of an Emperor (after 10 December 1354).
ARABIC CONFLUENCE FROM CONSTANTINE TO HERACLIUS: The Preparation for a 7th Century Religio-Racial Explosion
This paper’s argument is purposeless without the reader knowing the seventh century events of the so-called explosion of Islam, and the interpretation of which I find so contentious. Thus a brief description of the episode is necessary.
‘For Whom Does the Writer Write?’: The First Bubonic Plague Pandemic According to Syriac Sources
This includes information about the geographical spread and extent of the initial outbreak in the time of Justinian (541–543), the chronology of later outbreaks, the pathology of the disease, its occurrence among animals…
The meaning of the nursing in Byzantium
Byzantine hospitals were so well organized that they may be compared with contemporary ones.
Caucasia and the Second Byzantine Commonwealth: Byzantinization in the Context of Regional Coherence
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.
Caucasia and the First Byzantine Commonwealth: Christianization in the Context of Regional Coherence
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.
Religious Key Terms in Hellenism and Byzantium: Three Facets
The following is a survey of the main semantic variations of love in the Greek and Latin of the Church Fathers and the medieval Latin of Scholasticism
Women and the Transmission of Power in Medieval Byzantium
Information about Byzantine women of power and influence who lived in the eastern capital during its long history from AD 330-1453 is often concealed in references that either minimize or demonize women (a familiar problem).
The Representation of Christ in Byzantine Hermitages: A Comparison
The spread of Christianity had a tremendous effect on the culture and life of Cappadocia. Christianity was prevalent throughout the region as early as the 2nd-century A.D.1 During the 8th and 9th-centuries Arab invasions began to deplete the population and threatened to overcome the empire.
Slavic Paganism
Before the advent of Christianity, the European population practiced various forms of paganism. Pagan beliefs were not centralized or codified; they exhibited specific regional characteristics that developed within relatively small territories (Afanas’ev). Slavic cities had differing pantheons comprised of deities whom the inhabitants considered to be most important.
‘Arthritis’ in Byzantium (AD 324-1453): unknown information from non-medical literary sources
Most Byzantine physicians described several types of arthritis that resemble rheumatoid arthritis, chronic deformans polyarthritis and gout.
Foundations of Byzantine late middle ages architecture thoughtfulness
Byzantine late Middle Ages and Byzantine Renaissance (1204-1453) are two final periods in the culture and architecture of that 1141 year lasting Empire.