Byzantine Empire

This paper traces changes and continuities in the "imperial landscape" of Constantinople after the Ottoman conquest (1453). It is shown how Mehmet II adopted an adapted the Romano-Byzantine ideology of universal rulership by reviving the ritual and monumental forms which in the Byzantine past had expressed Constaninople's status as the symbolic center of the world.

The news of the fall of the Byzantine Empire by the army of the
Turks had given a great shock to Europeans. Latin Christians viewed the
fall of Constantinople as a tragic disaster. The conquest of the Byzantine
Empire by the Turks has lead to other economic changes in the
Mediterranean world. French middle school history textbooks explain that the fall of the Byzantine Empire by the Turks was one of the main
reasons for Portugal and Spain discovering an alternative route to the
land of spices in Asia. According to them, after having conquered the
Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire came to obstruct spices, silk, and
gold from Asia from being imported to Europe, and therefore European
countries tried to discover new routes to Asia to get Asian goods. This
interpretation has been still generally accepted. It presents the rise of the price of spices, caused by the decrease of the supplies of spices in
Europe, as evidence.
This article aims to rectify this interpretation by counting on specific
historical sources and data. Firstly, the Byzantine Empire was not located on the main routes of spices coming from Asia to Europe. The two Levantine ports of Alexandria and Beyrouth had been principal places for European merchants to make their purchases of spices for several centuries since Antiquity. Merchants of Venice also, who had a quasi monopoly of spice trades in the Mediterranean in the later Middle Ages, had purchased their spices mostly in Alexandria of Egypt and Beyrouth of Syria. Secondly, several historians’ works proved that spice prices did not rise in the second half of the fifteenth century. Many historical documents also show that spice prices decreased during the second half of the century. Lastly, Mehmed, the conqueror of Constantinople, never wanted to interrupt trade with European merchants. As soon as he had accomplished the conquest of Constantinople, he started conducting commercial negotiations with the Genoese and Latin nations.

Though the modern study of Byzantine civilisation and history dates back to the late 19th century, the establishment of a definitive introductory textbook in the English language would be a slow process that would not culminate until the 1950’s. Due in part to the enormous chronological termini of Byzantine History, and major primary sources in at least five different languages, the number of introductory works is much smaller than in other historical disciplines. As a result, Byzantine history textbooks are still very closely welded to two initial templates established in 1892 and 1925. This article will briefly examine the initial templates laid down by the early authors of Byzantine textbooks. Following the examination of these templates, we will move chronologically through some of the main publications of the long 20th century, concluding in the present day, gauging the impact of these works through scholarly reaction and publication information.

The Byzantine Southern Italy (876-1071) consisted of the themes of Longobardia (modern Apulia), Lucania (modern Basilicata) and Calabria, is the least studied region of the Byzantine Empire. After the Byzantine reconquest of this region from the Lombards and the Arabs, Constantinople organized the political, military and ecclesiastical infrastructure of the region in order to establish on the one hand the Byzantine power, and on the other to intergrade the Lombards and the Latin Church within the Empire. The Byzantine politics and the attitude of the population itself formed a frontier society based on co-existence and tolerance without disputes as every demographic group acknowledged its own different identity and the identity of the other. The Byzantine culture in southern Italy was formed, developed and finally established within this context, but always under the control of the central authorities. Until today the Byzantine art of southern Italy has not been the subject of a special study, but it is always studied briefly as a part of the Medieval art of the region. As a result the Byzantine monuments have not been placed so far within the political, religious, social and ideological context in which they were created. This PhD thesis examines for the first time only the art of the Byzantine period in association with the information of the rich Byzantine archive this region possesses. This methodological approach allowed to study the way the artistic creation, the cults and the state ideology were transferred from Constantinople to the western frontier, the way Byzantine art was developed within the context of the demographic differences of this border area, how Byzantine art was acculturated by a frontier society, the means by which the art, the cults and the state ideology were established and how the interaction between the Byzantines and the Lombards is manifested. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to the monuments and the other kind of evidence that are directly or indirectly connected with Constantinople itself such as the praitorion of the Catepans of Italy, the liturgical roll Exultet 1 of Bari, and the various commissions of the Byzantine officials. The detailed analysis of the epigram of Basil Mesardonites for his building activity in the praitorion alongside with the archeological data and the evidence from the written sources led to the reestablishment of the praitorion as the political, military and religious centre of the Byzantines, while an attempt is made for its archeological reconstruction. Regarding the Exultet 1 this thesis challenges for the first time the established view that the roll was commissioned by the Lombard archbishop of Bari alone, explores the role the Byzantines played in its decoration and reveals the mechanisms by which the art and the imperial ideology were transferred directly from Constantinople to the western frontier. The detailed analysis of the commissions of the Byzantine officials challenges the traditional view that the churches and the works of art were sponsored only by the local officials. The second part of this thesis studies monumental art in six built and cave churches, i.e. S. Pietro at Otranto, S. Maria della Croce at Casaranello, S. Cristina at Carpignano, Ss. Stefani near Vaste, the anonymous cave church in Grottaglie and the fragments of frescoes that were excavated in the Church BB in Masseria Quattro Macine. The detailed iconographic and artistic analysis not only led to the identification of unknown saints until today and the redating of some of the paintings, but it also revealed the degree of convergence with the monuments of the rest of the empire regarding the art and the cults, and the degree of deviation from the Byzantine tradition as an expression of local eclecticism. The third part of the thesis is dedicated to local issues of art and cult. Here the question of the liturgical use of the cave churches is analysed and the traditional view that the cave churches were private funerary chapels where the liturgy did not took place is challenged. Another local element that is studied in detail is the Christοcentric decoration of the apse and finally the establishment and the diffusion of the popular cults of southern Italy, those of the Virgin Mary, of the archangel Michael, and of St Nicholas as they are attested in monumental art and the written sources.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

The story of the translation of Ptolemy’s Geography on the eve of the birth of Modernity has often been written with a perspective that privileges events unfolding on the Western shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In the same period, however, a parallel process was taking place on the Eastern shores, at the court of Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople, the city that was to become Istanbul, the heart of the newly born Ottoman Empire. Here, in 1465, the Byzantine scholar George Amiroutzes (ca. 1400–1475) and his son Mehmed Bey produced a new world map with Arabic texts, one of the great endeavours in geographical studies in the years following the fall of Constantinople (1453). They were subsequently commissioned to produce a new translation of Ptolemy’s work into Arabic. The analysis of a number of studies on Amiroutzes’ contribution to Mehmed II’s ecumenical vision, as well as that of other Byzantine scholars such as George of Trabzon (Trapezuntius), offers new insight into how the Ottoman Empire wished to create fresh room for manoeuvre and express its desire to expand. At the same time, it lays the groundwork for future research on toponymy, on the mathematical and geopolitical contents of cartographic production at the time of Mehmed and, particularly, on the world-map described in this work.

El imperio bizantino 1 , tomado como un ente autárquico del imperio romano de occidente, fue uno de los más longevos de la historia. Duró más de 1000 años transitando toda la Edad Tardoantigua y Edad Media, siendo trascendental para el contexto político y religioso de la Edad Moderna y Contemporánea. Como mencionábamos, siempre que se nombra la Edad Media la referenciamos con la caída del imperio romano, la decadencia del saber, las cruzadas, los caballeros, el feudalismo... No obstante, el imperio romano en realidad no cayó y continuó durante toda la Edad Media gracias al imperio que modernamente llamamos «Bizantino», manteniendo la grandeza de la cultura griega 2 y romana por varios siglos más. Esta porción del imperio romano continuó siendo rica, poderosa, ilustrada y culta, mientras Europa Occidental se encontraba debilitada, dividida, sumida en la ignorancia y la barbarie. Ni Europa, ni América serían como son en la actualidad, si el imperio bizantino no hubiese frenado el avance musulmán a Europa, al menos hasta su caída en 1453 d.C., cuando Europa se encontraba ya fortalecida para defenderse por sí sola. La relevancia histórica del imperio bizantino pudo lograrse, en gran parte, gracias a los cambios generados en sus inicios, entre ellos la «Reforma monetaria de Anastasio» que veremos más adelante.

Near the present-day Poltava village of Malaya Pereschepina in Ukraine is buried our Bulgarian dear ancestor, the great Bulgarian and the Roman patrician Khan Kurt-Kubrat († 665); the founder and long-time ruler of the Caucasian Proto-Bulgarian Empire, Old Great Bulgaria, which is the second European Bulgarian state after the West Hun Empire of Atilla-Avitohol and the earlier one of New Great Bulgaria of Khan Asparuh; one of the most significant figures in Asia and Europe since the first half of the 7th century; a brave warrior crusader, a great commander, a skilful diplomat, the richest and most influential emperor of the entire then world, from the Chinese Empire to the east and the Roman Empire to the west; the Bulgarian ruler who dared to oppose the strongmen of the West Turkic and Avar Kaganates of the day; he defeated the mighty Sasanian-Persian Empire, prevented the death of the great Byzantine Empire and saved the Holy Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
All the silver and gold objects and articles from the tomb of Khan Kubrat he has them and owns as his own heritage from the previous Bulgarian khans; as a fighting trophy acquired personally by him with a weapon in his hand during battles with the Persians; as gifts mainly from the Byzantine emperors and as invaluable works of art at the jewelry studio in his court.

The modelling and visualisation of networks is based on the material in: M. Mullett, Theophylact of Ochrid. Reading the Letters of a Byzantine Archbishop. Birmingham 1997.

The first graph is a visualisation of the connections between letters in localities between which these letters were exchanged (" 2mode network").

The second graph is a visualisation of the weighted network of localities on the basis of Theophylact´s correspondence; two localities are connected if letters of Theophylact were exchanged between them. Links are scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

The third graph visualises these connections between localities on a map. Links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them. The size of nodes is scaled according to their number of connections within the network ("degree").

The fourth graph is a "zoom" into these geographical visualisation of the network for the Western Balkans; links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

For the localisation of sites within the historical region of Macedonia cf. also the upcoming volumes on Macedonia (Southern Part) by Peter Soustal and on Macedonia (Northern Part) by Mihailo Popovic within the series "Tabula Imperii Byzantini" (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/byzanzforschung/communities-landscapes/historische-geographie/)

For any further questions, please contact Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at.

In un Impero ancora scosso dalla pesante sconfitta di Adrianopoli (378 d.C.), segnato da invasioni barbariche, instabilità politico-militare e divisioni religiose interne, si delineano progressivamente le sorti delle due metà del mondo romano: un Occidente che si avvia inesorabilmente verso la disgregazione politica, un Oriente che in nome dell'unità riesce a resistere e a prosperare.

In una rapida rassegna degli eventi e dei personaggi principali dal 379 al 534 d.C., il comes Marcellino, da narratore e spettatore privilegiato di inizio VI secolo d.C., tramanda nel suo Chronicon (qui tradotto integralmente per la prima volta in italiano) un punto di vista fondamentale per la comprensione dell'età tardo-antica e per la percezione storica a cavallo di due epoche.

The birth of a single man in the Arabian desert would go on to alter the course of history. Even down to the modern day, the rise of Islam and the subsequent conquests of the seventh century would have major ramifications, leading to the eventual rise of the Ottoman Empire and World War I. But just how was it that the Arabs rose to power and came to successfully dominate the Middle East? Building upon social structures existent in pre-Islamic Arabia, Muhammad was able to formulate an Islamic super-tribe bound by the umma. The zealous Islamic warriors would take a literal reading of the Qur’an, led by brilliant commanders who would utilise the army’s adaptability to formulate creative tactics, overcoming their handicaps.

377’de İstanbul önlerine gelen, 6. yüzyılda kente yerleşmeye başlayan, burada askerlik, esirlik, misafirlik, ticaret, eğitim, sığınma, siyasî rehin olmak, siyasî evlilik ve kolonizatörlük için kısa ya da uzun süreli kalan Türkler Hunlardan, Bulgarlardan, Avarlardan, Göktürklerden, Hazarlardan, Peçeneklerden, Oğuzlardan, Kıpçaklardan, Selçuklulardan, Osmanlılardan ve muhtemelen Karluklardan oluşmuştur. Fetih sonrasında kentin Türkleştirilmesine katkıda bulunabilecek ciddî bir Türk nüfus 1453’te varolamamışsa da İstanbul, içinde 6. yüzyıldan itibaren neredeyse her yüzyıl yaşayan Türklerin iyi bildiği ve yabancı olmadığı bir kent olmuştur.

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The Turks who came to Constantinople in 377, and started settling in the city in the 6th century, stayed there for short or long periods for different reasons; military purposes, marriage, captivity, visit, trade, education, political asylum, etc. These people were mainly composed of Huns, Bulgars, Avars, Gokturks, Khazars, Pechenegs, Oghuz, Qypchaqs, Seljuks, Ottomans and perhaps Qarluqs. Even though there was no considerable number of  Turkish population in 1453 to help Turkify the city after the Conquest, the point is that, starting with the 6th century, Constantinople had already been  a well-known, familiar city for the Turks.

Cura (con emendamenti e aggiornamenti bibliografici) della versione italiana di J.-C. CHEYNET (sous la direction de), Le monde byzantin, II. L’Empire byzantin (641-1204), Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2006.

Co-editorial oversight, incl. bibliographical revisions and updates, of the Italian version of J.-C. CHEYNET (sous la direction de), Le monde byzantin, II. L’Empire byzantin (641-1204), Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2006.

Considerable scholarly research has been devoted to moral, ceremonial and legal aspects
of the betrothal and marriage in Byzantine Empire. Different chroniclers preserve
valuable records of marriage in Byzantium according to which, we can imagine how this
event was celebrated. However, little is known about the special rites of the Imperial
marriages, rather our extant sources have tended to focus on ritual surrounding the
solemn procession of the Imperial couple toward the nuptial chamber. Limited number of
Greek accounts regarding the wedding ceremonies of Royal Persons fail to give detailed
information on liturgical and ceremonial aspects of this event such as the ceremony’s
participants, decoration of the palaces in which the ceremonies took place, etc. There is,
however, an Arabic account reported by some of the earliest Shī’ī scholars that casts new
light on the rites and rituals of Byzantine Imperial marriage. Ibn al-Babawayh (d.
381/991), Shī’ī al-Ṭabarī (d. fifth/eleventh century) and al-Ṭūsī (d. 460/1067) on the
authority of Bishr Ibn al-Sulaymān report an interesting autobiography of a Byzantine
princess named Narjis, describing herself as the granddaughter of a Great Caesar and
descendant of Jesus’s disciples. She narrates her story about the years she lived in the
Caesar’s court and tells that for some complicated reasons runs away, gets captured and
ends up in Arab lands. She is then bought by the Tenth Imām of Shī’ī Muslims, al-Hādī,
for his son the Eleventh Imām, Hasan al-Askarī and then becomes the mother of the
Twelfth Imām. In his autobiography, Lady Narjis tells that the Caesar performs a
ceremony in his own palace to marry her to his nephew. But all of a sudden, strong
tremors shake the palace, the groom fall unconscious and the ceremony terminates. Some
of the historical hints drawn from this Arabic account about the imperial or liturgical rites
in Byzantium are scarcely distinguishable from what is already known to us through
Byzantine sources. This manifestly attests to the authenticity of this account. Besides, this
autobiography contains supplementary material for Byzantine account and provides us
with the information the like of which nowhere is found in Greek Chronicles.

The acclamations were an important and defining part of the Byzantine court ceremony. A poetic-musical species, they were permanently present around the emperor, highlighting his authority and superiority over others, but also the divine source of his power, as he was considered to be the messenger and later the anointed of God. In his both political and spiritual capacity as leader, the basileus was congratulated during each public appearance by chanting these acclamations, with a rich theological meaning, not only by the members of political factions – the most important being the “Greens” and “Blues” – but also by the people, the one who represents the collective character in the context of these manifestations. The acclamations were also a way of communicating and expressing support or even disapproval of the masses for the policy pursued by the sovereign or for any other aspect of public interest.
Regarding the Romanian Principalities, although much diminished in importance and symbolism compared to the Byzantine ones, the acclamations had a rather key role during the ceremony at the princely court. On the Romanian territory they can be found most often in the context of the ceremonial enthronement of one of the two countries, as this was the most representative moment in the life of a ruler, as well as the most important opportunity to manifest and highlight his power.

Chapter 7 as a teaser: "Food of Recent Greece"

"Foods and nations" is a new series from Reaktion that explores the history-and geography-of food. Books in the series reveal the hidden history behind the food eaten today in different countries and regions of the world, telling the story of how food production and consumption developed, and how they were influenced by the culinary practices of other places and peoples.

The Battle of Yarmouk (20 August 634 CE) – Comments & Revelations I: without the Aramaeans' utilization of Islam, prophet Muhammad's religion would be blocked in Hejaz
First published on 22nd August 2021 here:
https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com/2021/08/22/the-battle-of-yarmouk-20-august-634-ce-comments-revelations-i-without-the-aramaeans-utilization-of-islam-prophet-muhammads-religion-would-be-blocked-in-hejaz/
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Contents
I. Ancient, Christian, and Muslim historiographers
II. Oversights and errors attested in the existing bibliography
A. 'Battle techniques'
B. 'Two great empires exhausted and weakened'

---------- EXCURSE I: HISTORICAL FOCUS ----------------
Borders, fronts, rebellions, divisions and fights
1- Post-conquest Iran
2- Eastern Roman Empire
3- Upper Egypt and the Sudan (: historical Ethiopia)
4- Internal conflicts transported from Hejaz to Syria and Mesopotamia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. 'History of states' and not of peoples and cultures
D. Poor conceptualization of the early Islamic conquests by modern scholars

------ EXCURSE II: ETHNO-LINGUISTIC & RELIGIOUS FOCUS ---------
Ethno-linguistic groups
Religious groups
i- the Christian Aramaeans of the Syriac Orthodox Church (Monophysites)
ii- the Christian Aramaeans of the Great Church of the East (Nestorians)
iii- the Gnostic Aramaeans
iv- the Manichaean Aramaeans
v- the Copts (Monophysitic Christian Egyptians)
vi- the (Aramaic-speaking) Jews, followers of Rabbinical Judaism
vii- the Persians and other Iranians followers of various Iranian religions
viii- the Eastern Roman Orthodox Christians, who sided with the Patriarchate of Constantinople
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E. The demographic structure of the eastern provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire and of the Western Iranian provinces: the Aramaeans
F. The central provinces of the Islamic Caliphates: the lands of the Aramaeans.
G. Lack of historical criticism in Islamic Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies
III. The astounding scarcity of contemporaneous sources
IV. Critical incidents during the Battle of Yarmouk
V. The true dimensions of the Battle of Yarmouk and of its outcome

1054 reexamines all the history of the first millennium trying to answer the question, if the indivisible Church is divided at 1054, where is the indivisible Church.  Our research did not lead to any anticipated outcome.  We just followed the trail of evidence to our own surprise.

This article tries to determine a potential dating of the so-called Curmsun Disc from a philological perspective. One interpretation of the inscription of the disc is: Harald “Bluetooth” Gormson, king of the Danes, Scania, Jumne in the diocese of Aldinburg. The conclusion of the philological analysis is that the disc most likely is produced before the introduction of the g-rune around year 1000 as Gormson is transliterated as CVRMSVN and not GVRMSVN. Two different transliterations of the word king strengthen this theory. The coin inscriptions of four Hiberno-Norse Kings during the 10th century use the transliterated word CVNVNC for king while the coin inscription of Sihtric around year 1000 uses the transliterated word CVNVNG for king after the introduction of the g-rune. The use of Old Norse like the word Taner on the Curmsun Disc ends in coin inscriptions in the beginning of the 11th century which furthermore strengthens a manufacturing date before year 1000. As Scania was concurred towards the end of Harald Bluetooth´s life the disc was most likely produced after year 980. In the middle of the 980s Sweyn Forkbeard rebelled against his father Harald Bluetooth. A decree from empress Theophanu that confirmed or reinstalled Harald on the throne could have been issued as Harald ought to be preferred over Sweyn in the Holy Roman Empire. Theophanu may have ordered bishop Egizo to manufacture the Curmsun Disc with help from her fellow citizens in Jumne

Michael F. Hendy was a noted Byzantine historian and numismatist who was active in the mid-to-late 20th century. Trained at the University of Oxford, and effectively mentored by noted historian and numismatist Philip Grierson, Hendy would publish three seminal works on Byzantine coinage, economy and fiscal administration. This article will provide a brief biography of Professor Hendy, along with a bibliography of his published works and reviews by other scholars of his work.

Résumé

L’empire de Constantinople, après un siècle (969-1085) de domination sur de vastes portions de l’Orient (Cilicie, Chypre, Syrie du Nord et Djézireh), et de rayonnement au-delà jusqu’à Jérusalem, dut reconstituer sa présence dans cet espace à partir de la fin du XIe siècle. L’arrivée de nouveaux acteurs chrétiens autonomes, Francs et Arméniens, compliqua l’équation politique de l’Empire, qui ne devait plus uniquement reconstruire sa domination sur ses anciens sujets, mais aussi compter avec ces forces.  L’empire de Romanie vécut en Orient, parallèlement aux Croisades, une intense phase de redéfinition de sa réalité régionale, de ses modalités de fonctionnement et de son rôle politique. Cependant, cette expérience, qui se prolongea sur près de deux siècles, ne saurait se limiter à une simple projection de puissance de Constantinople sur cette périphérie.  Malgré les bouleversements qui frappèrent le cœur de l’Empire de 1081 à 1289, la référence impériale se maintint en Orient sous les Comnènes, les empereurs latins et nicéens, puis sous les premiers Paléologues.  Le processus ne fut durable que grâce à la redéfinition progressive de l’identité impériale locale. Ses contours varièrent par l’adjonction d’éléments hétérogènes, contribuant à complexifier l’empreinte de l’empire de Romanie en Orient.  La Romanie orientale fut une solution à l’équation politique des pouvoirs locaux (la principauté d’Antioche, le comté de Tripoli et les royaumes de Chypre et d’Arménie principalement) pour réussir leur intégration régionale en la conjuguant avec un héritage impérial constantinopolitain, incluant l’Orient helléno-arabe.


Abstract

The empire of Constantinople, after a century (969-1085) of domination over large part of oriental territories (Cilicia, Cyprus, North Syria and Djezireh) during which it exerted its influence over Jerusalem, had to restore its influence in this space from the end of the eleventh century. The arrival of new autonomous Christian players, Francs and Armenians, complicated the empire’s political equation, which had not just to rebuild his domination over its old subjects, but also had to allow for these forces. The empire of Romanie lived in the East, at the same time of the Crusades, an intense period of redefinition of its regional reality, of its modes of running and of its political role. However, this experience, which lasted for two centuries, can’t be confined to a simple projection of Constantinople’s powerful onto this periphery.  Despite the disruptions which hit the heart of the empire, from 1081 to 1289, the imperial reference persisted in the East under the Comneni, the Latin and Nicene emperors, and under the firsts Paleologues. The process was lasting because of the gradual redefinition of regional imperial identity. Its contours were varied by the addition of heterogenic elements, which contributed to complicate the imperial mark in the East. Oriental Romania was a solution to the political equation of local authorities (Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and the kingdoms of Cyprus and Armenia mainly) to succeed in their regional integration, combined with an imperial Constantinopolitan heir, including the Hellenic and Arabic East.

Collective identity in the so-called Byzantine Empire is a much-debated issue that has drawn a lot of attention over the years. The current paper attempts a critical assessment of the hitherto main lines of thinking about Byzantine identity, focussing on the period between the seventh and the thirteenth centuries. By proposing an alternative view on source material based on a comprehensive theoretical framework, I argue that a conceptualization of the collective identity of this medieval imperial social order with its constantly fluctuating geopolitical and cultural boundaries needs to be disconnected from essentialist and reifying views on perennial ethnicity as well as from the modern phenomenon of the nation-state.

The book Language of Space in Byzantine Iconography is illustrated by 760 colour and 16 black and white pictures of whole scenes or details from the period of the 2nd-15th century, comprising all types of Byzantine iconography products: mosaics, frescoes, icons, miniatures, reliefs, inlays and embroidery on textile. All of its 95 chapters are divided into two main sections.  The first section, entitled the "Theory of Sentences in Byzantine Iconography", focuses on the grounds of structures in the Byzantine pictorial space.  The second section - the "Theory of Words in Byzantine Iconography" - is the working core of the book. It examines in detail the elements building the space in Byzantine painting. This section is structured in three parts, containing 81 chapters. The first part is naturally designed for the Sacred Light, because of its paramount importance in the Byzantine Liturgy and Theology. The second part deals with specific spatial structures, and a special emphasis is given to the Epiphanic Liquids - water and the Blood of Christ. Presented as a Garment of Incorruptibility, water determines the shapes of oval vessels and oval wells. Structures of caves, various buildings, fortresses, the earth ground, scrolls, oval and linear suppedaneums, oval and linear tables, etc., are also studied in this section. The third part of the book explores the Effects and regular spatial relationships between depicted objects, the main exponents of which are Interlacings. Interlacings comprise not only all displayed objects, but often encompass in the picture even the framework of a specific scene, obliterating the idea of art. Various types of Interlacings are complemented by Superposition, Levitation, Translations, Varied-scalabilities and reconciliation of several actions into one scene, eliminating the notion of linear time.

In 1204 the Byzantines had lost their capital city. They had lost Constantinople and the attack had not come from infidels but from those who ‘bore the cross of Christ upon their shoulders’, people whom they regarded as somehow part of their world. It was the Christian Latins who had struck the blow that, up to 1204, the Byzantines had always been able to parry.
This article aims on the complex interaction between the Eastern Roman Empire, western Europe, the Papacy, the crusaders and the crusader states.

In April 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople. For the leading princes, it was self-evident that they would install an imperator of their own in the Queen of Cities. Their choice fell on Baldwin IX/VI, count of Flanders/Hainault. In this contribution, we aim to analyse how Baldwin and his successors saw their emperorship, and how they and their empire were seen by others in Byzantium and the West. The current historiographical term, 'Latin Empire of Constantinople', reflects the prevailing view that an entirely new political construct had been set up replacing the former Byzantine Empire. However, contemporaries, both the emperors themselves as well as outsiders, consistently referred to the empire using both Latin and Greek terms that, prior to 1204, had been commonly employed to refer to the Byzantine Empire. Yet eastern and western conceptions of the nature of the empire before 1204 differed greatly: it was 'Greek' in Latin eyes, 'Roman' in Byzantine eyes. The Constantinopolitan imperial crown having been placed on his head, Baldwin became heir to these conflicting traditions. Moreover, rival imperial claims soon arose within the Byzantine space in neighbouring Byzantine successor states. In the face of these challenges, the Latin emperors strove to formulate a political ideology legitimising their claim to imperial rule. We will argue that in essence the successive Latin emperors adopted, up to a point, the key tenets of Byzantine imperial theory (Roman character, universalism, emperors as vicars of Christ and autocracy). Their western background and their different relationship with the West led to certain changes, but whether these should be seen as fundamentally un-Byzantine is not self-evident. Conversely, the presence of the now Latin rulers on the Constantinopolitan throne also led to changes in the western perception of the eastern empire.

The book examines the church policy of the Roman Emperor Justinian the Great (527–565) in regard to the anti-Chalcedonians, who were inner-church group opposed to the definitions of the 4th Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. The work covers the period from 451 to 571 and deals with the background and immediate consequences of the policy of Justinian. The chosen aspect is investigated on the basis of the totality of western and eastern sources and the existent secondary literature on the subject. The foundations and peculiarities of Justinian’s policy and its impact on the subsequent development of church policy in the early medieval Roman (Byzantine) Empire are analyzed in detail. The text is provided with several appendices, which contain a Russian translation of the main church-political and theological writings of the Emperor Justinian, relevant to the topic of the monograph. The book is intended for specialists in the history of the Byzantine Empire and the early Middle Ages, the Church history, as well as for students of history and all those who are interested in this subject. It can also be used in the educational process as additional reading for the study of medieval history, the history of Byzantium and Church history.