DOCSLIB.ORG

Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-Fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990 (Review)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-Fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990 (Review) Wright State University CORE Scholar History Faculty Publications History 1994 Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-Fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990 (Review) Martin Arbagi Wright State University - Main Campus, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/history Part of the History Commons Repository Citation Arbagi, M. (1994). Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-Fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990 (Review). Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, 69 (4), 1272-1274. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/history/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the History at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1272 Reviews biographyof a medievalauthor withthe informationneeded for furtherresearch." At present,the seriescomprises two subseries,Historical and ReligiousWriters of the Latin West, edited by PatrickJ. Geary,and EnglishWriters of the Late Middle Ages, edited byM. C. Seymour.Among the authors to be treatedin the latter,the subseriesin question here, are WilliamLangland, John Gower, the Gawain poet, Thomas Hoccleve, and Sir Thomas Malory,several of whom make poor subjects for biographicalresearch strictly speaking. Regardless of one's view of recent death-of-the-authortheories, one has to wonderabout the value of referencebiographies devoted to virtuallyuntraceable figures like Langland or the Gawain poet as well as ask what furtherresearch anyone could possiblyundertake into theirlives. It is not clear, in fact,what scholarly need the English Writersseries fills,apart from that of updating the bibliographiescontained in such referenceworks as the Manual of the Writingsin Middle English,1050-1500 (gen. ed. AlbertE. Hartung)and MiddleEnglish Prose: A CriticalGuide to Major Authorsand Genres (ed. A. S. G. Edwards). There is perhaps a case to be made for the utilityof Seymour'sSir JohnMandeville, since the onlyrecent critical survey of the authorshipquestion is Rita Lejeune's valuable 1964 study,"Jean de Mandevilleet les Liegeois" (in Melanges... offertsa M. Maurice Delbouille;J. R. S. Phillips's 1993 essay, "The Quest for Sir John Mandeville," in The Cultureof Christendom, ed. Marc AntonyMeyer, contains a brieferoverview but otherwise consistsof underinformedspeculation). Unfortunately, Seymour adds almostnothing to Lejeune's study,offering little more than a rehashof the evidence and opinions already available in the introductionsand notes to his several editions of the Middle English redactions.Some of his newer information(e.g., regardingthe author's use of biblical citations)is borrowedfrom Christiane Deluz's Le Livrede jehan de Mandeville:Une "ge'o- graphie"au XIVe s. (Louvain-la-Neuve,1988), an erudite studywhose worth Seymour does not sufficientlyrecognize, while some of his bolder claims (e.g., the author was "a fluentreader of Latin," p. 23) are offeredwithout evidence and contradictDeluz's better- supportedconclusions (e.g., the author's Latin was "assez incertain,"p. 67). In addition, Seymour'splausible but unprovableassertion that the still-unlocatedauthor of TheBook ofJohn Mandeville was French-not English,as both Lejeune and Deluz believe-makes nonsense of the subseries's proclaimed focus on English writers.The bibliographyis inadequate,omitting among otherthings S. A. J. Bradley'saccounts of the Danish version and MaryB. Campbell's Witnessand theOther World. A detailedpresentation of TheBook's complex textualhistory would have been a much more valuable aid to furtherresearch. IAIN HIGGINS, Universityof BritishColumbia JONATHAN SHEPARD and SIMON FRANKLIN, eds., ByzantineDiplomacy. Papers from the Twenty-FourthSpring Symposium of ByzantineStudies, Cambridge, March 1990. (So- cietyfor the Promotionof ByzantineStudies, 1.) Aldershot,Hampshire: Variorum, 1992. Pp. xi, 333; 6 black-and-whiteillustrations. $69.95. The Society for the Promotion of ByzantineStudies has begun its publication series auspiciouslywith the present book. I have complained previouslyin the pages of this journal about pro forma editing,but Shepard and Franklinhave done theirjob well here. Usage, includingabbreviations in footnotes,is uniform.Authors are aware of each other's work,and theirarticles are laced withcross-references. The editors are a bit less successfulin dealing with another dilemma that plagues anthologies:the problemof theme.To be entirelyfair, the difficultymay be an insoluble one, especiallywith as stellar a cast of writersas this group (Ihor Sevcenko, Robin Cormack,John Haldon, JudithHerrin, Alexander Kazhdan, Hugh Kennedy,Ruth Ma- Reviews 1273 crides, and Nicolas Oikonomides,among others). In theoryByzantine Diplomacy has a narrowfocus: it is concerned with the techniquesof Byzantinediplomacy rather than the narrativehistory of individualmissions or of Byzantineforeign relations as a whole. But it is rarelypossible entirelyto eliminatenarrative; and some articles,notably in the section "Byzantiumand Others," are more chronologicalthan analyticalin scope. One problem thisbook touches only lightlyis how one can treatinternational diplomacy as a separate categorywhen Byzantium(like most statesbefore the Renaissance and most nonwesterngovernments until the nineteenthcentury) did not clearlydifferentiate be- tween foreignand domesticaffairs. Afteran introductionby Alexander Kazhdan, "The ByzantineNotion of Diplomacy," ByzantineDiplomacy is dividedinto five further sections: "Phases of ByzantineDiplomacy," "Byzantiumand Others," "Sources on Diplomacy," "Art in Diplomacy," "Social As- pects," and an afterword,"The Less Obvious Ends of ByzantineDiplomacy." My usual procedure-that of notingthose articlesthat most attractedmy attention-is admittedly idiosyncratic,but it has not elicited complaintsin previous reviewsand so I follow it again here. Evangelos Chrysos,Jonathan Shepard, and Nicolas Oiknomidesdelineate the problem of periodization.One possibility(especially appealing to westernmedievalists) is to do so in termsof Byzantinerelations with the Latin West.Until 800 theold empire'sdealings withthe Latins were those of a patron witha client.Between 800 and ca. 1200 the two were on an approximatelyequal footing.After 1204 Byzantiumincreasingly "appeared in the role of an impoverishedand feeble supplicant" (p. 5). But such a periodization is at times inappropriatefor Byzantinediplomacy with the Muslim world or with the peoples of the north.A professionaldiplomatic corps was in all periods frequentlysup- plementedby courtiersor civil servantswho, though experienced, were withoutspe- cialized trainingor knowledge. Especially in the late period, one even comes across outrightamateurs, such as membersof the nobility,medical doctors,clergy, or scholars, as diplomats. "Byzantiumand Others" deals withdiplomacy with (old) Rome, the Franks,Khazars, Arabs, the Russian church, and the Ottomans. Hugh Kennedy makes the surprising observationthat Byzantine diplomacy with the Arabs was largelyrestricted to negotiations for exchanges of prisonersof war, truces,and other short-termissues. There was little attemptat "creat[ing] the conditionsfor longer termsecurity" (p. 133). The section on sources contains two of the most interestingarticles in the book and one disappointment.Roger Scott's short piece, "Diplomacy in the Sixth Century:The Evidence ofJohn Malalas," is succinctand packed withinformation. Scott at least alludes to the questionof whetheror not premodernstates could adequatelydistinguish between internaland foreignpolicy, venturing the opinion that theywere indeed able to do so (p. 163). Ihor Sevcenko's learned and witty"Re-Reading ConstantinePorphyrogenitus" is actuallyan annotatedtranslation of a memorandumfrom Constantine himself, now a residentof "Ouranoupolis." The once shy and reclusivebasileus waxes merryover his apotheosisby modernscholars as a scholar-emperorwhose enlightenedpatronage of art and learningstarted the classical revivalof the Macedonian epoch. In fact,Constantine observes,he was not well educated. Althoughhe did do some writing,many of the works attributedto him were actuallyauthored by others. His classical allusions in some cases were merelycribbed fromsecondary sources, and in others exist only in the minds of modern scholars,eager to see humanisticerudition in textswhere thereis none. Adding insult to injury,the imperial author goes on to write that much of the Macedonian "renaissance" is itselfa fiction.Indeed, Byzantinecivilization does not compare favorably withroughly contemporary cultures further to the east-the Porphyrogenituscites India and Japan as comparisons.It seems to thisreviewer that Constantine has been sneaking 1274 Reviews out of Ouranoupolis to visitThe Other Place and conversingwith the likes of Gibbon and Voltaire.Medieval civilizationhad its collectivemind fixedon the next world (as the basileusshould well understandby now), not thisone, and thatis reflectedin its art and literature.Constanze Schummer'sbrief piece on Liudprand of Cremona makes the ob- vious point thatdespite his sophisticationand knowledgeof Greek,the Lombard bishop was not by temperamentfitted for diplomacy-somethingthat also could be said of Humbertof Silva Candida in the next century. Aftera sectionon the diplomaticuses of art,Byzantine Diplomacy concludes withP. T. Antonopoulos's essay,"The Less
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Byzantine Missionaries, Foreign Rulers, and Christian Narratives (Ca
    Conversion and Empire: Byzantine Missionaries, Foreign Rulers, and Christian Narratives (ca. 300-900) by Alexander Borislavov Angelov A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in The University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor John V.A. Fine, Jr., Chair Professor Emeritus H. Don Cameron Professor Paul Christopher Johnson Professor Raymond H. Van Dam Associate Professor Diane Owen Hughes © Alexander Borislavov Angelov 2011 To my mother Irina with all my love and gratitude ii Acknowledgements To put in words deepest feelings of gratitude to so many people and for so many things is to reflect on various encounters and influences. In a sense, it is to sketch out a singular narrative but of many personal “conversions.” So now, being here, I am looking back, and it all seems so clear and obvious. But, it is the historian in me that realizes best the numerous situations, emotions, and dilemmas that brought me where I am. I feel so profoundly thankful for a journey that even I, obsessed with planning, could not have fully anticipated. In a final analysis, as my dissertation grew so did I, but neither could have become better without the presence of the people or the institutions that I feel so fortunate to be able to acknowledge here. At the University of Michigan, I first thank my mentor John Fine for his tremendous academic support over the years, for his friendship always present when most needed, and for best illustrating to me how true knowledge does in fact produce better humanity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Construction of Ottonian Kingship Ottonian of Construction The
    INTELLECTUAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY Grabowski The Construction of Ottonian Kingship Antoni Grabowski The Construction of Ottonian Kingship Narratives and Myth in Tenth-Century Germany The Construction of Ottonian Kingship The Construction of Ottonian Kingship Narratives and Myth in Tenth-Century Germany Antoni Grabowski Amsterdam University Press Cover illustration: Interior of Collegiate Church of Quedlinburg Source: NoRud / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en) Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6298 723 4 e-isbn 978 90 4853 873 7 (pdf) doi 10.5117/9789462987234 nur 684 © Antoni Grabowski / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2018 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Table of Contents Acknowledgements 7 Note on Citations 9 Introduction 11 1 Aims and State of the Art 12 2 What is Myth/Mythology? 15 3 Liudprand’s Biography 19 4 Origins of Antapodosis 23 5 Language of Antapodosis 27 6 Other Contemporary Sources: Widukind’s Res gestae saxoni- cae; Continuation of the Chronicle of Regino of Prüm; Hrotsvit’s Gesta Ottonis 29 7 Interpreter of Liudprand: Frutolf of Michelsberg 30 8 Understanding Liudprand’s Works: Textbooks
    [Show full text]
  • Inhaltsverzeichnis
    Nachlass Aloys SCHULTE Inhaltsverzeichnis Bearbeitet von Birgit Schaper Bonn 2011 Inhaltsübersicht 3 Inhaltsübersicht Vorwort I. Korrespondenz S 2754 - S 2787 1. Briefe, (überwiegend) an Aloys Schulte S. 7 S 2754 - 2777 2. Familienbriefe und Lebensdokumente der Familie S. 34 S 2778 - S 2781 3. Aloys Schulte zum 70. Geburtstag (1927) und zum 75. Geburtstag (1932) S. 36 S 2782 4. Briefe von nicht identifizierten Absendern S. 41 S 2783 – S 2784 5. Schreiben von Körperschaften und offiziellen Stellen S. 41 Materialien zu Schriften von Aloys Schulte S. 42 Zeitungsausschnitte zu anderen Themen S. 43 Briefe und Karten an Aloys Schulte aus dem 1. Weltkrieg S. 44 S 2785 6. Briefwechsel Aloys und Oda Schulte Familienbriefe Aloys und Oda Schulte betr. Erbschafts- angelegenheiten Dokumente betr. Erbschaftsangelegenheiten S. 45 Briefentwürfe von Aloys Schulte S. 46 S 2786 7. Briefkopiebücher der Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins S. 47 S 2787 II. Wissenchaftlicher Nachlass S 2788 - S 2799 1. Vorlesungsmanuskripte und einige kleinere wissenschaftliche Arbeiten S. 68 S 2788 - S 2795 2. Kleinere Manuskripte, überwiegend zu Reden und Vorträgen S. 72 S 2796 3. Vorarbeiten zu größeren Werken S 2797 Materialien zur „Geschichte der Großen Ravensburger Handelsgesellschaft“ (1923) S. 79 S 2798 Materialien zu „Die Fugger in Rom“ (1904) und andere Abschriften aus Archiven S. 84 S 2799 "Deutsche adlige Frauenstifte vor 1000 Jahren" (1937) S. 86 Das Manuskript der Dissertation siehe in S 2801 III. Persönliches S 2800 - S 2802 S 2800 1. Kontroverse Schulte / Obser – Böhtlingk über den Rastatter Gesandtenmord S. 86 2. Materialien betr. die Herausgabe von Werken Schultes S.
    [Show full text]
  • Publications Without, However, Aspiring to Completeness. Paul
    Jonathan Shepard publications without, however, aspiring to completeness. Paul Stephenson has provided a valuable review-article of secondary literature published in a western language on the history of the early Hungarians, while his book on Byzantium’s Balkan frontier sets the activities of Hungarians in the tenth century within the broader context of imperial Byzantine diplomacy, emergent Balkan polities and the needs of nomads. Stephenson and Tóth, building on the earlier work of Macartney and Göckenjan, point to the strong probability that the lands east of the Tisza were occupied by the De administrando’s Kavars (Kabaroi). These, in turn, may be associated with the “Khalisioi”/Kaliz, a grouping of Khazar provenance known from later Hungarian sources to have occupied the valley of the Tisza in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Constantine VII could well have drawn heavily on Kavar informants for his contemporary data about the Hungarians’ lands, and the De administrando’s generous coverage of this grouping in comparison with the other units of Hungarians becomes the more understandable. In addition, a number of scholars have independently reached the conclusion that imperial attention to, knowledge about, and policy towards a region or people fluctuated drastically in accordance with the empire’s ever- changing needs and apprehensions of perils. Stephenson’s book shows how adaptable Byzantine administrative arrangements were after the defeat of the Rus and the Bulgarians in 971. Comparable flexibility was applied to the northern borderlands after final victory over the Bulgarians had been won in 1018, and in the territories reconquered from the eastern Muslims in the 960s and 970s.
    [Show full text]
  • Fall of Constantinople] Pmunc 2018 ​ ​ Contents
    [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ CONTENTS Letter from the Chair and CD………....…………………………………………....[3] Committee Description…………………………………………………………….[4] The Siege of Constantinople: Introduction………………………………………………………….……. [5] Sailing to Byzantium: A Brief History……...………....……………………...[6] Current Status………………………………………………………………[9] Keywords………………………………………………………………….[12] Questions for Consideration……………………………………………….[14] Character List…………………...………………………………………….[15] Citations……..…………………...………………………………………...[23] 2 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Dear delegates, Welcome to PMUNC! My name is Atakan Baltaci, and I’m super excited to conquer a city! I will be your chair for the Fall of Constantinople Committee at PMUNC 2018. We have gathered the mightiest commanders, the most cunning statesmen and the most renowned scholars the Ottoman Empire has ever seen to achieve the toughest of goals: conquering Constantinople. This Sultan is clever and more than eager, but he is also young and wants your advice. Let’s see what comes of this! Sincerely, Atakan Baltaci Dear delegates, Hello and welcome to PMUNC! I am Kris Hristov and I will be your crisis director for the siege of Constantinople. I am pleased to say this will not be your typical committee as we will focus more on enacting more small directives, building up to the siege of Constantinople, which will require military mobilization, finding the funds for an invasion and the political will on the part of all delegates.. Sincerely, Kris Hristov 3 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ COMMITTEE DESCRIPTION The year is 1451, and a 19 year old has re-ascended to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed II is now assembling his Imperial Court for the grandest city of all: Constantinople! The Fall of Constantinople (affectionately called the Conquest of Istanbul by the Turks) was the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Thüringer MUSEUMSHEFTE
    THÜRINGER MUSEUMSHEFTE 2 2018 Titelthema: 1919–2019 Bauhaus und Weimarer Republik 100 Jahre Bauhaus ans Joachim Breustedt (1901–1984) aus Stei- Hnach im Thüringer Wald gehört zu den 92 Stu- dierenden der Hochschule für bildende Kunst Wei- mar, die im April 1919 an das von Walter Gropius gegründete Staatliche Bauhaus wechseln. Er sieht sich selbst als ein „Lieblingsschüler“ Lyonel Feinin- gers, wie er rückblickend schreibt. Seine Geburts- stadt Steinach richtet dem Bauhaus-Künstler, der nach 1945 in Oberösterreich lebt und arbeitet, im Jubiläumsjahr 2019 eine Retrospektive aus. Das hier reproduzierte, undatierte Doppelbild- nis von Ehefrau Sofia und Hans Joachim Breustedt entstand in den 1920er-Jahren, geschaffen von dem Bauhäusler Johannes Driesch (1901–1930). Die Tochter Marysia schenkte das Blatt im Oktober 1987 dem Angermuseum Erfurt. Mehr über das bewegte Leben und die Retro- spektive des Bauhäuslers Hans Joachim Breustedt ab Seite 34. (Foto: Dirk Urban) Thüringer Museumshefte Herausgegeben vom Museumsverband Thüringen e. V. 27. Jahr | 2018 | 2. Heft 1 2 Inhaltsverzeichnis Titelthema: 1919–2019 Bauhaus und Weimarer Republik Von Weimar in die Welt und vice versa . 7 Das Bauhaus-Museum Weimar Hellmut Seemann Weimar 1919 – Aufbruch zu Demokratie und kultureller Moderne . 12 Heiko Holste Ernst Hardt – Kosmopolit im Kulturleben der Weimarer Republik . 17 Alf Rößner Ein Jubiläum | Drei Museen . 22 Franz Löbling Paul Citroen „Der Mensch vor der Kunst“ . 27 Mit dem Bauhaus verbunden: Menschen und Orte in Thüringen (1) Johanna Huthmacher Margaretha Reichardt und ihr Haus in Erfurt-Bischleben . 29 Mit dem Bauhaus verbunden: Menschen und Orte in Thüringen (2) Kai Uwe Schierz Kurt Schmidt und die Synthese der Künste.
    [Show full text]
  • Vilnius University INSTITUTE of INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
    Vilnius University INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE International relations and diplomacy Study Programme ARNOLDAS VENYS 2nd year DEFENSIVE DIPLOMACY: THE CASE OF BYZANTINE DIPLOMACY AND THE US MASTER‘S THESIS Tutor: Associate prof. Dr. Deividas Šlekys Vilnius, 2018 Magistro darbo vadovo/ės išvados dėl darbo gynimo: ............................................................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................. ................ ................................................. ........................ (data) (v., pavardė) (parašas) Bakalauro/magistro darbas įteiktas gynimo komisijai: .............. ........................................................................ (data) (Gynimo komisijos sekretoriaus/ės parašas) Bakalauro/magistro darbo recenzentas/ė: ........................................................................... (v., pavardė) Bakalauro/magistro darbų gynimo komisijos įvertinimas: ................................................................................................................................................ Komisijos pirmininkas/ė: Komisijos nariai: PATVIRTINIMAS APIE ATLIKTO DARBO SAVARANKIŠKUMĄ Patvirtinu, kad įteikiamas Magistro darbas Defensive
    [Show full text]
  • University Micrcsilms International 300 N
    INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand comer of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
    [Show full text]
  • Ambassadors As Informants and Cultural Brokers Between Byzantium and the West (8Th to 12Th Centuries)
    Nicolas Drocourt Ambassadors as Informants and Cultural Brokers between Byzantium and the West (8th to 12th Centuries) Scholars generally consider that diplomacy played a signifi - with Latin titles: the De administrando imperio and the De cant role in the longevity of the Byzantine Empire. Associated cerimoniis 1 . At the crossroads of normative and narrative with military activity, it constituted an undeniable element texts, offi cial correspondence and letters exchanged between explaining how and why the empire lasted for a millennium. chanceries are also fundamental for this subject. Yet we must Offi cial negotiations as well as secret discussions continued keep in mind that all these sources are biased is certain ways; until the very end of the state in 1453. The Byzantines called describing offi cial contacts was never neutral nor objective. themselves »Romans« (῾Ρωμαῖοι) and thought that their vari- Unfortunately, offi cial accounts of diplomatic missions ous neighbours remained barbarians – even the Christian and have not survived from the High Middle Ages, with one excep- Western Latin ones. Yet a quick glance at the extant sources tion: the account written by Liudprand of Cremona, Otto I’s shows that this binary opposition is false in most cases. Seen ambassador, sent to Constantinople in 968. His testimony from Constantinople, these barbarians were not of equal has sparked a great deal of debate among historians and led value; moreover, the basileis could adopt the traditional Ro- to numerous publications 2 . Liudprand’s text also shows the man practice of divide et impera toward them. It is clear that extent to which ambassadors were informants between the Byzantine diplomacy remained very active, involving contacts, different courts.
    [Show full text]
  • GLOBAL BYZANTIUM Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies University of Birmingham
    Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies 50th Spring Symposium GLOBAL BYZANTIUM Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies University of Birmingham 25th-27th March 2017 Communications abstracts Symposiarchs Prof. Leslie Brubaker Dr Rebecca Darley• Dr Daniel Reynolds Registration and information: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/bomgs/events/2017/global-byzantium.aspx Traces of Foreign Prosopography in the Imperial Documents of the First Palaeologan Age (1261-1328) as a globalization indicator. Introductory Notes and considerations Elisa Bianchi, Università di Pavia Byzantine diplomacy is a remarkable area of Greek civilization and an increasingly fertile research field. In particular, the prosopographical study of an historical-documentary source is a good tool to check the roles of individual members within a specific socio-cultural reality and also to verify the historical accuracy of the correlated events. For this reason the aim of this paper is to focus on all types of the so-called «Aussenpolitische Urkunden» (by reffering to the material handed down by Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des Oströmische Reiches) belonging to the first Palaeologan age, from the reconquest of Byzantium (1261) by the emperor Michael VIII to Andronikos II (1328). In this period, the Byzantine Empire has forged deep relationships (in a kind of «Kultursymbiose») with foreign neighbours in the Near East (for example the Seljuk Dynasty of Ikonium or the Mamluk Sultanate) and, more often, in the West. In particular, this contribution will deal with personal names referring to foreign characters involved in various diplomatic relationships with the Byzantine Empire. This prosopographical, paleographical and historical analysis will evaluate the presence of foreign names in different documents, classifying them according to their country of origin and to Urkunden’s type; on a further level the present contribution will consider the diplomatical context and the specific relationships between Byzantium and its foreigners and immigrants.
    [Show full text]
  • Byzantine Diplomacy and the Huns
    У Ж 327(495.02:369.1) ” Byzantine Diplomacy and the Huns G ab riela SIMONOVA Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Philosophy Skopje, Macedonia The term “Byzantine diplomacy” basically defines the principles, methods, mechanisms and techniques that were used by~the Byzantine Em­ pire in negotiations with other countries, i.e. tribes, and in the promotion of the interests of its foreign policy. Understanding diplomacy as a war driven by other principally peace­ ful means is a notion characteristic to the Byzantines. For them, “peace bought with tributes” in each case was cheaper than any war. Therefore, the security of the Empire largely depended not only on its military capabilities, but also on its diplomatic activities. Because of the increased dangers imposed by the barbarian world1, and generated by the Great Migration of Peoples, weapons alone were not 1 1 The term “barbarian” and the word itself comes from the Greek language. In the classical era, the ancient Greeks using this word indicated a person who spo­ ke a language unknown or incomprehensible to them, who neither thought Greek nor behaved Greek. Byzantium also used this term in that cultural context. In the eyes of the Byzantines, the barbarians were those tribes and peoples who lived in an educational darkness, beyond the borders of the empire and who, by their culture, religion and lifestyle, did not belong to the Universe (oecumene). In the narrow sense the Barbarian was a pagan who was not directly a subject to Emperor’s laws or, indirectly through member­ ship of the Byzantine commonwealth, to the Emperor’s power.
    [Show full text]
  • Alexander Cartellieri
    Zitierhinweis Mario Kessler: Rezension von: Matthias Steinbach / Uwe Dathe (Hgg.): Alexander Cartellieri. Tagebücher eines deutschen Historikers. Vom Kaiserreich bis in die Zweistaatlichkeit (1899-1953), München: Oldenbourg 2014, in sehepunkte 14 (2014), Nr. 10 [15.10.2014], URL:http://www.sehepunkte.de/2014/10/25095.html First published: http://www.sehepunkte.de/2014/10/25095.html copyright Dieser Beitrag kann vom Nutzer zu eigenen nicht-kommerziellen Zwecken heruntergeladen und/oder ausgedruckt werden. Darüber hinaus gehende Nutzungen sind ohne weitere Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber nur im Rahmen der gesetzlichen Schrankenbestimmungen (§§ 44a-63a UrhG) zulässig. sehepunkte 14 (2014), Nr. 10 Matthias Steinbach / Uwe Dathe (Hgg.): Alexander Cartellieri Editionen von Tagebüchern deutscher Wissenschaftler aus der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts sind seit einigen Jahren im Schwang, wenngleich sie selten auf solch allgemeines Interesse stoßen wie die von Victor Klemperer. Unter Historikern fanden die Kriegstagebücher des Heidelberger Mittelalterforschers Karl Hampe Beachtung. [ 1 ] Während Hampe sich vom überzeugten Monarchisten zum "Vernunftrepublikaner" wandelte und dem Naziregime distanziert begegnete, durchlief sein Berufs- und Altersgenosse Alexander Cartellieri keinen solch selbstkritischen Wandlungsprozess. Cartellieri (1867-1955), geboren in Odessa, verbrachte aufgrund der Handelstätigkeit seines Vaters die Kindheit in Paris und ging in Gütersloh aufs Gymnasium. 1887 bis 1891 studierte er an mehreren deutschen Universitäten vor allem mittelalterliche Geschichte. Die Heidelberger Habilitation war 1899 dem französischen König Philipp II. August gewidmet, über den er später ein umfangreiches Werk verfasste. 1902 ging er nach Jena. Dort wurde er 1904 ordentlicher Professor für allgemeine Geschichte und historische Hilfswissenschaften. 1935 wurde er emeritiert. Er starb in Jena. Matthias Steinbach und Uwe Dathe haben aus seinen in Jena aufbewahrten Tagebüchern, die rund 12.000 Seiten umfassen, eine noch immer äußerlich imposante Auswahl getroffen.
    [Show full text]