Byzantine Territory Research Articles

内部架構構成からみた中期ビザンツ文化圏内接十字型教会堂建築の成り立ち

The cross-in-square was one of the most common church forms in the middle Byzantine period (9th-12th centuries CE). This paper looks at how the architectural configuration of the cross-in-square developed, focusing on the threedimensional characteristics of all churches within Byzantine territories, unlike previous studies. These churches are classified according to their floor plan; horizontal shape and construction methods of supports; the arrangement of arches; and the support and arch connection methods. Two architectural groups emerge: the centralised church-like configuration, in which the arches are placed on the supports, and the two-direction configuration, where the arches penetrate inner walls.

Reflections on Hoyland's In God's Path

Abstract Robert Hoyland's erudite new narrative of the so-called “Islamic conquests” uses a vast amount of primary and secondary sources to address key questions about how the early Muslims took control of Byzantine and Sasanian territory. By doing so, he broadens the scope of the earlier published “conquest narratives,” aptly contextualizes early history of Islam into the late antique landscape, and hence does not present a one-sided image of the events. However, the author claims that it was not religious zeal that motivated the fighters, but the doctrines of emigration (hijra) and fighting (jihād). This interpretation belies the monograph's title, which is a reference to and translation of the qurʾānic term fī sabīl Allāh that is usually used in connection with fighting (jihād) and represents an important Islamic theologumenon.

The rise of the Byzantine Greek kingdoms in 1204- 1261 AD and its impact on the Byzantine Empire

After the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204 AD, Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the crusade, was expected by both the Crusaders and the defeated Byzantines to become the new emperor. However, the Venetians felt that Boniface was too closely tied to the Byzantine Empire, as his brother Conrad had married into the Byzantine royal family. The Venetians wanted an emperor whom they could control more easily, and with their influence, Baldwin of Flanders was elected as emperor of the new Latin Empire.The capture of Constantinople is the Fourth Crusade's 'success', and Latin emperors are established in the city. The Byzantines withdraw to Nicæa in Anatolia, but rival claimants also established holdings in Trebizond and Epirus so that, at one point, there are four claimants to the Byzantine throne, as well as the Bulgar and Serb states.Claimants to the Byzantine throne set up rival powerbases, including this one in the Pontic Greek cities of Trebizond, Sinope and Paphlagonia. Trebizond was the last of the Byzantine territories to fall to the Ottoman Empire, earning it the occasional title of the last Greek empire.

Revisiting the Beyşehir Occupation Phase: Land-Cover Change and the Rural Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean During the First Millennium AD

Abstract The latter part of the Beyşehir Occupation Phase (BOP) corresponds in space and time to the Late Roman empire in the eastern Mediterranean. The emphasis on tree crops in pollen records, particularly olive trees, implies long-term investment, stable trade networks and regional economic integration. The onset of the BOP was time-transgressive, starting between the Bronze Age and Hellenistic times in different localities. During the mid 1st millennium AD, the BOP came to an end, often abruptly, with a marked decline in agricultural indicators and an increase in forests, implying partial landscape re-wilding. This termination is most commonly dated to the 7th c. AD, coinciding with Arab attacks on Byzantine territory, and this, rather than climate change, seems the most likely explanation for the regional collapse of the rural agrarian system. The end of the BOP marks the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval era, a transition which appears to have been notably later in date and more dramatic than elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

The Myth of the White Monks’ “Mission to the Orthodox”: Innocent III, the Cistercians, and the Greeks

In the early thirteenth century, numerous Cistercian monasteries were founded in the former Byzantine territories conquered in the context of the Fourth Crusade. According to the standard narrative, put forth in the 1970s, Pope Innocent III sent the Cistercians on a “mission to the Orthodox,” but the mission was a failure, because the White Monks soon abandoned almost all of their houses in Frankish Greece and Constantinople without having “converted” the Greeks. In the light of recent research on the aftermath of 1204 and on the Cistercian Order, this paper argues that the Frankish rulers took the initiative to found Cistercian monasteries in the Greek East for the same reason that they did so in the Latin West: to cater to the Latin rite aristocracy. This Cistercian mission was a success, since the Cistercian establishments in Greece generally existed as long as the Western nobility survived to patronize and protect them. There is no evidence that Innocent intended the Cistercians to be missionaries in Romania since, contrary to a once common assumption, the papacy did not view the Greeks as requiring the same kind of missionary activity that was deemed necessary in lands inhabited by pagans or heretics.

The Myth of the White Monks' “Mission to the Orthodox”: Innocent III, the Cistercians, and the Greeks

In the early thirteenth century, numerous Cistercian monasteries were founded in the former Byzantine territories conquered in the context of the Fourth Crusade. According to the standard narrative, put forth in the 1970s, Pope Innocent III sent the Cistercians on a “mission to the Orthodox,” but the mission was a failure, because the White Monks soon abandoned almost all of their houses in Frankish Greece and Constantinople without having “converted” the Greeks. In the light of recent research on the aftermath of 1204 and on the Cistercian Order, this paper argues that the Frankish rulers took the initiative to found Cistercian monasteries in the Greek East for the same reason that they did so in the Latin West: to cater to the Latin rite aristocracy. This Cistercian mission was a success, since the Cistercian establishments in Greece generally existed as long as the Western nobility survived to patronize and protect them. There is no evidence that Innocent intended the Cistercians to be missionaries in Romania since, contrary to a once common assumption, the papacy did not view the Greeks as requiring the same kind of missionary activity that was deemed necessary in lands inhabited by pagans or heretics.

Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μετριώτεροι τῶν Ἑσπερίων ἐχθρῶν οἱ παρὰ τῆς Ἀνατολῆς ὁρμώμενοι Τοῦρκοι: Ο ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟΣ Α΄ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΟΓΟΣ ΚΑΙ Η ΠΕΛΟΠΟΝΝΗΣΟΣ ΣΤΑ ΤΕΛΗ ΤΟΥ 14ου ΑΙΩΝΑ

Fourteenth-century Peloponnese was made up of several Latin states and dominant Venetian colonies, remnants of the Fourth Crusade; the only Byzantine territory was the Despotate of Morea. Its rulers, the despots, always trusted kinsmen of the emperor, followed the policies of Constantinople while trying to carve a separate political and diplomatic path. The protagonist of this paper is Theodore I Palaeologus (1382-1407), brother of the emperor Manuel II (1391-1425). Through the observation of his reign in Morea, the reader can take a glimpse at the empire’s situation at the time, which was defined by the irreversible expansion of its enemies and the on-going dynastic struggles that led to the political, social and economic collapse of the Byzantine state. Upon his arrival, Theodore had to cope with the rebellious Byzantine ruling class, who preferred their independence instead of abiding to the beadings of the central administration. That problem, still present until his death, forced him to make sporadic compromises and superficial coalitions, usually without benefit. Among his Latin allies were Nerio Acciaiuoli, the despot’s father-in-law, Venice and the Hospitallers of Rhodes. Besides the Latins, whose help proved inadequate, Theodore turned to the swiftly rising Ottoman sultans. Although at first, the Ottomans suppressed the internal opposition of the despot, soon they became the most significant threat, not only for the Peloponnese, but for the rest of the failing Byzantine Empire. In the long run, Theodore, from an “ally” of Murād I (1361-1389), turned out to be a liegeman of Bāyezīd I (1389-1402). This study, based on contemporary Byzantine sources and modern bibliography, aims to roughly present Theodore’s foreign affairs and his co-existence in the Peloponnese with the Latins and the Ottoman Turks, either as friends or as foes.

On the Question of Orality behind Medieval Romance: The Example of the “Constance” Group

Some contemporary fairytales have antecedents in pre-modern documents. That oral traditions lie behind much medieval literature is likely; this is no less true for the “Constance” tales (ATU 706 and ATU 706C). Through the historic–geographic method, Alexander H. Krappe determined that these plots originated in Eastern Europe. An ahistorical anecdote in The Chronicle of Morea is related to the earliest documented variants of the “Constance” group, two thirteenth-century romances, Mai und Beaflor and Le Roman de la Manekine, and two episodes in historical narratives by Matthew Paris and Jans der Enikel. In addition to the basic outline of events, the common themes of relationship between an imperial centre and outlying districts are shared. The birth of this plot type, under the influence of both western and eastern sources, may then be situated in the historical context of the Fourth Crusade's aftermath in formerly Byzantine territory.

The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East: an analysis of their internal spatial configurations

The hammams (or Islamic bath-houses), commonly known as ‘Turkish baths’, are one of the key urban facilities in Islamic cities. They evolved from the Roman and Byzantine public baths, as these were assimilated when the Umayyad dynasty conquered Byzantine territories in the Middle East between AD 661 and 750. Early hammams were built in the eighth century by the Umayyad rulers who established their capital in Damascus. The most famous ones are Qusayr Amra, in today's north-eastern desert of Jordan and Khirbat al Mafjar. The period following the rise of Islam witnessed a rapid development in the architecture of baths and the change from Roman to Islamic bathing habits. Public Roman baths consisted of very large establishments, the thermae, which comprised not only bathing facilities but also recreational ones such as libraries, gymnasiums, exercise grounds and gardens, tanning rooms, ball courts and concert halls. The balnea were the smaller privately or publicly owned Roman baths, located in greater number within the city.

When were the Five Greek Vowel-Signs Introduced into Syriac Writing?

It is usually said that the West Syriac vowel-signs, based on Greek letters, were invented in the eighth century. On close inspection, however, the evidence for this early date is insubstantial. Dated manuscripts with the vowel-signs first appear in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Almost all of them contain the so-called West Syrian masorah, and can be located in the region around Melitene in Byzantine territory. There are good reasons to think that the masorah itself was first published there and then (and not in the monastery of Qarqafta further east as has often been supposed), and that the vowel-signs themselves were introduced as part of this scholarly project.

A VIDA ECONÔMICA E SOCIAL NA ALTA IDADE MEDIA ITALIANA E A CONSTITUIÇÃO DO GÊNERO REPRESENTATIVO DOS CICLOS DOS MESES NOS REINOS LONGOBARDOS E FRANCOS

Through a historical reconstruction of High Middle Ages, this article looks for understanding forms and functions of the production of season representations, in their literary expressions as well as in their iconographic metamorphosis. This study is centered upon the Longobard and Byzantine territories in Italy, through religious inventaries. In a second moment, the article revises the phenomenon in other European territories. There is a narrow relationship between the progression of an economy based on forest products to a development of cultivated areas as the main principle to explain the configuration of elements that constitute the calendary representations. KEY WORDS: Calendars, High Medieval Economy, Medieval Iconography.

‘Novy Svet Ware’, an Exceptional Cargo of Glazed Wares from a 13th-Century Shipwreck near Sudak (Crimea, Ukraine)—Morphological Typology and Laboratory Investigations

Excavation of a medieval shipwreck at Novy Svet, Crimea, Ukraine, revealed an exceptional quantity of glazed ceramics with sgraffito decoration which, according to chemical analysis, correspond to a single production provisionally named ‘Novy Svet Ware’. Typological and analytical definitions are given. Its diffusion in the Crimea and extending to Turkey and the Levant, points to a main, as yet unlocated, workshop. The Novy Svet shipwreck suggests the persistence of large-scale diffusion of ceramics in the late-13th century, and demonstrates connections with the Black Sea, the Byzantine capital and territories, the Mediterranean and possibly the spice roads. © 2009 The Authors

Η πολεµική τέχνη των πρώιµων Σλάβων (ΣΤ΄-Ζ΄ αι.)

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="A1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><font size="3">TH</font></span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 8pt">E ART OF </span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt">W</span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 8pt">AR OF THE EARLY SLAVS </span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt">(6</span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 8pt">TH</span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt">-7</span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 8pt">THC</span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt">. </span></span><span class="A1"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt">A. D.)</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'"> </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'"> </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">This study deals with the development of warfare among the early Slavs during </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">the 6th and 7th c. A. D. Its main focus is based on the equipment, the tactic, the </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">art of ship building, the use of the horse, the art of siege and the fortifications. The </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">testimony of sources is critically viewed with respect to the above questions, while </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">with regard to the equipment a number of archaeological data is also added. The </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">conclusions reached, attribute to a large degree the development of the early Slav </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">warfare to contacts with nomadic tribes, and the Avars in particular, with whom </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">they conducted common attacks in Byzantine territory. In certain cases, the </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">extensive use of the horse by the Slavs is attested, as against the traditional view </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">that they usually fought as foot soldiers, and the absence of fortifications among </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">the Slavs of the Lower Danube. The use of the Slavic light spear by the Byzantine </p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px 'MgOldTimes UC Pol'">army is also noticed. <span style="font: 12px 'Times New Roman'"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12px" class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>

Immigration and Identity in the Middle Ages : French Immigrants to Constantinople and Greece in the Thirteenth Century 1

After capturing Constantinople in 1204, the Fourth Crusaders established several states in former Byzantine territory. Starting from the captured imperial center, westerners moved into Thrace, Greece, the Aegean islands, and even Asia Minor. These campaigns of conquest had varied success, with the greatest and longest lasting in southern Greece . The Fourth Crusaders had struck out for the east as warriors, not as immigrants, and after a year, many of them returned to their homelands. Some re...

The Policy of Pope Innocent III on Monasteries in the Latin Empire of Constantinople

In this article the policy of Pope Innocent III on monasteries in the Byzantine territories, occupied by the Latins after the fourth crusade (1204), is examined. The “constitutional” documents relating to church property are discussed as a basis for Innocent's pragmatic attitude and the development of a policy. From the Pope's letters it becomes evident that the pontiff distinguished between 5 categories of ‘existing’ monasteries (imperial, royal, patriarchal, episcopal and the ones in Athos), while Western orders (especially military ones) are introduced in the Byzantine territory. Finally, Innocent's reaction to the serious problem of lay usurpation is discussed.

Tax-Farming in the Early Ottoman State

While tax-farming is often thought of in negative terms, its application in the early Ottoman state may well have been beneficial for economic development. Tax-farming seems to have been in operation from at least the later fourteenth century and may simply have been taken over by the early Ottoman rulers as a system already in operation in Byzantine territory. It is possible to argue that tax-farming also existed in the Turkish states of Aydin and Mentese from the beginning of the century.

Frescoes in the Virgin Peribleptos Church referring to the origins of the archbishopric of Ohrid

Frescoes in the Virgin Peribleptos Church referring to the origins of the archbishopric of Ohrid

Bishop Vlaho or Vlahoepiskop

Bishop Vlaho or Vlahoepiskop

The Rise, Decline and Attempted Regeneration of the Jews of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottomans were descended from one of the many clans of Turkish nomads who swept westwards from the steppes of Central Asia and decisively defeated the enfeebled Byzantine Empire at the battle of Manzikert in 1071. The tribesmen converted to Islam and then slowly expanded their grip on Byzantine territory in Anatolia.

«Θηβαΐς»: Αυτή η πλευρά του παραδείσου

Με αφορμή την όγδοη συμφωνία του Μάλερ, που επενδύει μουσικά την τελική σκηνή του δεύτερου μέρους του Φάουστ του Γκαίτε, γίνεται αναφορά στο θέμα της «Θηβαΐδας» που αναφέρεται στο έργο. Εκκινώντας από τις ιταλικές της αναπαραστάσεις στην τοσκανική ζωγραφική του 15ου αιώνα, αναζητώνται τα πρότυπά της, τα οποία ανάγονται αναμφίβολα σε παραστάσεις με την Κοίμηση του οσίου Εφραίμ του Σύρου στην βυζαντινή ζωγραφική. Τόσο τα σωζόμενα παραδείγματα, όσο και το κείμενο του Μάρκου Ευγενικού που αναφέρεται στην εικονογραφία της Κοίμησης του οσίου Εφραίμ, δείχνουν ότι παρά τις βυζαντινές καταβολές του θέματος, η ιταλική ζωγραφική έχει παίξει καθοριστικό ρόλο. Η πιθανή σκιαγράφηση της ιστορικής πορείας του θέματος δείχνει ότι αυτό σίγουρα γεννήθηκε σε βυζαντινό εικαστικό περιβάλλον κατά τον 11ο αιώνα, ωστόσο από το 1204 κ.ε. η παρουσία δυτικών καλλιτεχνών και έργων στα βυζαντινά εδάφη αναμφίβολα διευκόλυνε την επαφή του θέματος με την ιταλική ζωγραφική. Παράλληλα το θέμα αυτό θεωρήθηκε το ιδανικό για να εκφράσει την αναπτυσσόμενη αστική ιταλική κοινωνία και το πνεύμα της, όπως αυτό διαμορφώθηκε από τη δημιουργία και κατίσχυση των μοναχικών ταγμάτων των Φραγκισκανών και των Δομηνικανών στην καθημερινή ζωή της εποχής. English abstract:The 8th symphony of Mahler, which is the musical backdrop to the final scene of the second part of the Faust of Goethe, is the departure point for an analytical examination of the Thebaid motif mentioned in the play. The origins of the Italian Thebaid examples encountered in the Tuscan painting of the 15th century are undoubtedly Byzantine in their origin and are related to the depictions of the scene of the Dormition of Hosios Ephraim the Syrian. The surviving examples of the painting along with the text of Markos Eugenikos showcase that the Italian painting had played a formative role in the development of the scene. However, the possible tracking of the overall evolution of the theme suggests that the latter was actually born to a purely Byzantine artistic context by the 11th century. Nevertheless, after 1204, the presence of both Western artists and works of art in the Byzantine territories lead to an appropriation of the subject by the Italian painters. At the same time, the subject was considered to be suitable for the emerging urban class and bourgeois spirit of the Italian society, which was heavily influenced by the creation and prevalence of the religious orders of the Franciscans and Dominicans.