Description
The Byzantine World presents the latest insights of the leading scholars in the fields of Byzantine studies, history, art and architectural history, literature, and theology. Those who know little of Byzantine history, culture and civilization between AD 700 and 1453 will find overviews and distillations, while those who know much already will be afforded countless new vistas.
Each chapter offers an innovative approach to a well-known topic or a diversion from a well-trodden path. Readers will be introduced to Byzantine women and children, men and eunuchs, emperors, patriarchs, aristocrats and slaves. They will explore churches and fortifications, monasteries and palaces, from Constantinople to Cyprus and Syria in the east, and to Apulia and Venice in the west. Secular and sacred art, profane and spiritual literature will be revealed to the reader, who will be encouraged to read, see, smell and touch. The worlds of Byzantine ceremonial and sanctity, liturgy and letters, Orthodoxy and heresy will be explored, by both leading and innovative international scholars.
Ultimately, readers will find insights into the emergence of modern Byzantine studies and of popular Byzantine history that are informative, novel and unexpected, and that provide a thorough understanding of both.
Table of Contents
Part I The Byzantines in their World; Chapter 1 The Byzantine Political Process at Crisis Point, Angold Michael; Chapter 2 The Rise of the Middle Byzantine Aristocracy and the Decline of the Imperial State, Paul Stephenson; Chapter 3 Money, Coins and the Economy, Cécile Morrisson; Chapter 4 The Army and Military Logistics, John Haldon; Chapter 5 The Study of Women and Children, Kaldellis Anthony; Chapter 6 Strong Women and their Husbands in Byzantine Historiography, Neville Leonora; Chapter 7 Cherchez L’homme! Byzantine Men, Tougher Shaun; Chapter 8 On Slaves and Slavery, Prinzing Günter; Chapter 9 Monotheists, Dualists and Pagans, Christopher Livanos; Chapter 10 The Virtues and Faults of the Latin Christians, Kolbaba Tia; Part 2 The Written World; Chapter 11 Political Literacy, Catherine Holmes; Chapter 12 Byzantine Military Manuals, Denis F. Sullivan; Chapter 13 De Cerimoniis and the Great Palace, J. M. Featherstone; Chapter 14 Rhetoric and Performance, Emmanuel C. Bourbouhakis; Chapter 15 Letter-Writing, Stratis Papaioannou; Chapter 16 Trends and Developments in the Byzantine Poetic Tradition, Christopher Livanos; Chapter 17 The Corpus of Byzantine Historiography, Anthony Kaldellis; Chapter 18 Christians, Jews and Muslims in Byzantine Italy, Youval Rotman; Chapter 19 Christians, Jews and Muslims in Byzantine Italy, Alice-Mary Talbot; Chapter 20 Writing for the Heart, Joseph Munitiz; Part 3 Heaven On Earth; Chapter 21 What is a Byzantine Icon? Constantinople Versus Sinai, Bissera V. Pentcheva; Chapter 22 Defining Liturgical Space, Vasileios Marinis; Chapter 23 Celestial Hierarchies and Earthly Hierarchies in the Art of the Byzantine Church, Warren T. Woodfin; Chapter 24 Unofficial Art and the Resistance to Orthodoxy, Henry Maguire; Chapter 25 Constantinople and the Construction of a Medieval Urban Identity, Ousterhout Robert; Chapter 26 The Practice, Perception and Experience of Byzantine Fortification, Nikolas Bakirtzis; Chapter 27 Imperial Outliers, Jonathan Shepard; Chapter 28 The Medieval Progeny of The Holy Apostles, Papacostas Tassos; Chapter 29 Sacred Space from Constantinople to Venice, E. A. Dale Thomas; Part 4 The World of Byzantine Studies; Chapter 30 The History of Editing Byzantine Historiographical Texts, Diether Roderich Reinsch; Chapter 31 Byzantium in Nineteenth-Century Greek Historiography, Despina Christodoulou; Chapter 32 Pioneers of Popular Byzantine History, Paul Stephenson; Chapter 33 A Case Study in the Emergence of Byzantine Studies, Srd?n Pirivatri?; Chapter 34 Byzantium and Historical Sociology, Johann P. Arnason; Chapter 35 Byzantium’s European Future, Paul Stephenson;
