The column and equestrian statue of Justinian, with Elena Boeck
Though it is often overlooked today, Justinian’s column and colossal statue, which stood for a thousand years next to Hagia Sophia, defined the City almost as much as the Great Church itself. In this episode of Byzantium and Friends, we talk with Elena Boeck about the symbolism, history, and the engineering of this monument.
NEW! The Medieval Magazine No. 108
Spring cleaning! The first issue of the Medieval Magazine with a fresh new face!
In this issue, we look at Norse seasons, medieval beliefs about luck, food and politics in Constantinople, Spanish Easter traditions, and the overlooked life of Catherine of Aragon.
I was there. Constantine Akropolites’ Typikon
Constantine Akropolites wrote an appendix to the typikon for the Church of our Lord’s Resurrection in Constantinople, rebuilt by his father, George (1217-82).
Imagining the Virgin in the Byzantine Night
In the early Byzantine period, the Virgin Mary rose to prominence among Christians – especially in the capital city of Constantinople.
Islamic Spaces and Diplomacy in Constantinople (Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries C.E.)
This article focuses on the built spaces, often described as mosques, of two Muslim communities in Constantinople between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
Defining Constantinople’s Suburbs through Travel and Geography
This paper considers these challenges as they relate to the suburbs of Constantinople and, in doing so, it seeks to offer some reflections on the ways in which various conceptions of geography, space, and spatial practice can inform late antique suburban studies.
How Hagia Sophia was Built
Stories and legends from the Patria on how the greatest church of the Byzantine world was built
What Remains: Women, Relics and Remembrance in the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade
After the fall of Constantinople to the Latin Crusaders in 1204 hundreds of relics were carried into the West as diplomatic gifts, memorabilia and tokens of victory. Yet many relics were alsosent privately between male crusaders and their spouses and female kin.
Robert of Courtenay (1221-1227): an idiot on the throne of Constantinople?
Among scholars who have discussed Robert’s reign – however superficially – there appears to exist a relative consensus, with few exceptions, that the misfortunes that befell the empire of Constantinople during this period are largely to be attributed to his personal and utter incompetence. In this contribution I would like to challenge that view.
The Means of Destruction: How the Ottoman Empire Finally Ended the Byzantine Empire
No European had any reason to believe that the Ottomans would capture Constantinople, since they had tried two times previously and had failed in both of those attempts.
‘Part of our commonwealth’: a study of the Normans in eleventh-century Byzantine historiography
‘Part of our commonwealth’: a study of the Normans in eleventh-century Byzantine historiography Alexander Olson (Simon Fraser University) Simon Fraser University: Faculty of…
The Lost Secret History of Nicetas the Paphlagonian
Although the Secret History of Nicetas the Paphlagonian has failed to reach us in its original form, it has probably shaped our knowledge of Byzantium in the ninth and early tenth centuries more than any surviving text.
Manuel II Palaeologus in Paris (1400-1402): Theology, Diplomacy, and Politics
The end of the fourteenth century found the Byzantine Empire in a critical state.
Land and Sea Communications, Fourth–Fifteenth Centuries
The principle that the active and coordinated collaboration of nature and man is an essential requirement for the creation of a network of communications is of fundamen- tal importance.
The Riurikid Relationship with the Orthodox Christian Church in Kievan Rus
Prior to the late tenth century, the princes of the Riurikid dynasty were rulers over the loose collection of pagan Slavic tribes and minor city states that were Kievan Rus. However, in a relatively short period, the dynasty had linked itself and its legitimacy to rule to the Orthodox Christian Church centered in Constantinople.
The Commercial Map of Constantinople
The commercial topography of Constantinople was in part determined by the fact that it was a sea-bound city on seven hills, making access from the port to the forum and other commercial premises a key necessity in urban development.
The City and the Cross: the image of Constantinople and the Latin empire in thirteenth-century papal crusading rhetoric
This paper examines the way papal rhetoric made use of the image and reputation of the city of Constantinople in order to legitimise and incite support for its crusading calls for the defence of the Latin empire after 1204.
Glass Bridges: Cross-Cultural Exchange between Florence and the Ottoman Empire
During the medieval period, the main aim of the crusades was recovery of the Holy Land. However, this changed in the fifteenth century for various reasons.
The city of walls: Constantinople
The world owes much of its cultural legacy to Constantinople’s walls. When Constantinople was under siege by neighboring enemies, the Roman city’s elaborate system of moats, outer walls, and inner walls stood tall.
Russian Pilgrims in Constantinople
If one compares the Russian Anthony text with the original Mercati Anonymus text, the longest and most detailed of the three extant contemporary Western descriptions of the shrines of Constantinople, one finds that the Latin text includes only twenty of the seventy-six religious shrines mentioned by the Russian enumeration.
Mandeville’s Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
While Chaucer‟s knight has traveled to and fought in Spain, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia Minor, Sir John claims to have visited the entire known world from Constantinople and the Holy Land to the farthest reaches of Asia.
Through the Eyes of a Crusader: An Intensive Study Into the Personal Involvement of Two Men in the Fourth Crusade
What was going through the minds ofthese men who were fighting for the cross when they attacked a Christian city, which was one oftheir allies?
In the Lion’s Den: Orthodox Christians under Ottoman Rule, 1400-1550
A glance at the Orthodox Christian church under the Ottoman Empire from the early fifteenth to mid sixteenth century gives a revealing glimpse at some of the changing relationships of conquered Christians to the state.
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.