DOCSLIB.ORG

HAGIOZACHARITAI – a LITTLE-KNOWN BYZANTINE ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY from the 10Th – 11Th C. АГИОЗАХАРИДИТЕ –

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
HAGIOZACHARITAI – a LITTLE-KNOWN BYZANTINE ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY from the 10Th – 11Th C. АГИОЗАХАРИДИТЕ – ВЛАДЕТЕЛ, ДЪРЖАВА И ЦЪРКВА НА БАЛКАНИТЕ ПРЕЗ СРЕДНОВЕКОВИЕТО Сборник с доклади от международна научна конференция, посветена на 60-годишнината на проф. д-р Пламен Павлов HAGIOZACHARITAI – A LITTLE-KNOWN BYZANTINE ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY FROM THE 10th – 11th C. Symeon Antonov АГИОЗАХАРИДИТЕ – ЕДИН СЛАБО ПОЗНАТ ВИЗАНТИЙСКИ АРИСТОКРАТИЧЕН РОД ОТ X – XI ВЕК Симеон Антонов Abstract: Hagiozacharitai were a Byzantine aristocratic family, attested in 10th – 11th c. sources of different nature – narrative, epistolary and sphragistic. The last dominate the primary material. Some twelve Hagiozacharitai are known at present. Their careers are studied as best as possible, given the scarce data, coming predominantly from lead seals, many of them with un- known or uncertain provenance. Two main questions are specially considered in the paper: 1) origin of the family name, the family itself, and the cult towards St Zacharias, whose brilliant image is found on some seals be- longing to members of the Hagiozacharites’ lineage; 2) Hagiozacharitai’s place in state and society and the changes through the lifetime of the family between the end of the 10th and the whole of the 11th c. Keywords: Hagiozacharites, Byzantine nobility, Byzantine elite, St Zacharias, Byzantine prosopography. he name Hagiozacharites (Ἁγιοζαχαρίτης) is found in sources from the last Tthird of the 10th and the whole of the 11th c. These sources are predominantly sphragistic (some 85% of all). The first and only written historical text, mentioning the Hagiozacharitai, is the Synopsis Historion of Ioannes Skylitzes. Another member of the family, unfortunately unnamed, is the addressee of a letter from the synkellos Leo, bishop of Synada. The fact that no thorough study has ever been published of this family, makes the present paper worthwhile. In his book about the Byzantine ruling elite from the 11th – 12th c. Alexander Kazhdan takes only four of them into account (Каж- дан 1974, 96, 159)1. Various paragraphs and footnotes in corpora of Byzantine 1 One of whom bears the name Trishagiozacharites – notarios Eusthatios (12th – 13th c.), where the connection with the Hagiozacharitai is more than hypothetical. 762 Hagiozacharitai – а Little-Known Byzantine Aristocratic Family... 763 lead seals are also devoted to the Hagiozacharitai (Laurent 1981, 221; Йорданов 1993, 156; Seibt, Zarnitz 1997, 127; Stavrakos 2000, 48; Šandrovskaja, Seibt 2005, 113 – 114). The only prosopographic information that is nearly complete is that in Ivan Yordanov, but the nature and the volume of the edition predetermines its brief analysis (Yordanov 2006, 38 – 39). An important issue, connected to the current topic, is that of the origin of the family name. A few suggestions dominate the secondary sources. Jean-Claude Cheynet believes the Hagiozacharitai belonged to the “aristocratie micrasiatique”, because they sided with Bardas Skleros during his revolt (Cheynet 1996, 229). The author put no effort into interpreting their name, though. A. Kazhdan supposes that it should be traced back to a monastery, named after the prophet Zacharias, the father of St John the Forerunner (Каждан 1974, 190). Evidence of a church with the name of Ἅγιος Ζαχαρίας ἐν τῷ Καταβόλῳ are found in the vita of the 5th-century saint Daniel Stylites. It was built on the European coast of the Bos- porus, to the north of the capital city of Constantinople. Other sources bespeak a palace and a district of that name, probably in the same place (Janin 1950, 144). Another hypothesis relates the family to a homonymous settlement – Ἅγιος Ζαχαρίας (Nesbitt, Oikonomides 1994). In this case it should have been a small fortified kastron or even a village, the information about whom, at least as far as I know, is currently unavailable, or why not the above-mentioned Constantino- politan suburb. The two suggestions are easy to combine in one, since it was a common practice in the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine world that settlements or quarters bore the name of a church, which had functioned as a nucleus in their earliest history. There is one other possibility – that there had been a family cult of the saint, which eventually led to the foundation of a church or monastery, consecrated with his name. It preceded the adoption of this uncommon family name, which re- mained in use by their descendants. This is suggested by the saint’s presence on the obverse side of some lead seals – a traditional place for showing off certain cultic or religious preferences. When using the term “family”, we should be aware of a certain danger. It con- cerns our database, consisting mostly of sphragistic pieces. Therefore, it is impos- sible to establish any bloodline joining the various Hagiozacharitai into a single lineage (γένος). We can be sure only of these presumably earliest members of the family – the brothers Theodoros and Niketas, mentioned by Ioannes Skylitzes for A.D. 977. If they were named after a toponym, it is possible that it was used as a nickname by persons completely independent from one another, having only one thing in common – their birthplace. However, the limited time frame of the evidence and the rarity of the saint itself, unambiguously indicate the opposite. 764 Symeon Antonov Prosopographic list of the family of the Hagiozacharitai (late 10th – 11th c.): 1. Theodoros2 and 2. Niketas Hagiozacharites3 (977) Theodoros and Niketas were brothers, who took part in the attempted usurpa- tion of Bardas Skleros. At a particular moment (probably soon before the battle of Rageas in thema Anatolikon) they had defected from his army and joined the loyalist forces. This we learn from the narrative of Ioannes Skylitzes about the aforementioned battle, where the protovestiarios Leo, commander of the impe- rial troops, was eventually defeated and captured. Among the captives of Bardas Skleros were the two brothers Hagiozacharites, who were blinded before the whole army of the usurper (Skylitzes 1973, 32162 – 32285) – a typical imperial sentence for apostasy4. The exemplary nature of the punishment, implemented only on Theodoros and Niketas, if we are to believe Skylitzes, is a definite proof of their importance. Unfortunately, the late-11th c. Byzantine author did not provide any information on their official titles or offices by that time, which could have helped make a better estimation in this direction, or establish a link with the owners of lead seals with these common within the family Christian names. There is no doubt, according to most of the scholars, that both had some sort of military or military/administra- tive careers, otherwise they would not have been in the army of first Bardas Skleros and then in that of the protovestiarios Leo. 3. N. Hagiozacharites5 (988) A letter from the bishop of Synada Leo was sent to an anonymous Hagio- zacharites in the time the bishop was involved in an imperial embassy to Italy and the Holy Roman Empire (Leo of Synada 1985, № 3). The author addresses him as ὑπέρλαμπρε καὶ θαυμάσιε ἄνθρωπε which is a testimony of his social status (Leo of Synada 1985, 61). The main part of the letter consists of Leo’s account of his own deeds in Longobardia and Frankia. Some sort of intimacy becomes apparent at the end. Hagiozacharites is called συνετώτατε καὶ καλὲ φίλε καὶ προστάτα, and the author expresses his wish to “be judged worthy to see you, pay my respect to you, embrace you, and rejoice in your company and so leave this present life” (Leo of Synada 1985, 617 – 22). We could suppose that this Hagiozacharites is a relative of № 1 and 2 or even identical with one of them, but unfortunately the available data cannot confirm that. 2 PMbZ, 27764. 3 PMbZ, 25788. 4 For these two persons, see also: Holmes 2005, 265. For the rebellion of Bardas Skleros: Cheynet 1996, № 11, 170. 5 PMbZ, 22542. Hagiozacharitai – а Little-Known Byzantine Aristocratic Family... 765 4. N. Hagiozacharites, hypatos, basilikos protospatharios and chartou- larios tou dromou6 (end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th c.) A single sphragistic piece from the collection of Dumbarton Oaks with uncer- tain reading of the Christian name – either as Theodoros Laurent( 1981, № 451; Seibt, Zarnitz 1997, 127; Stavrakos 2000, 48) or Konstantinos (Jordanov 2006, 39). Obv: bust of St Theodore with vertical legend: Ὁ ἅγιος Θεόδωρος. Circular invocation inscription: Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ. Rev: inscription of seven lines: […] ὑπάτῳ βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ χαρτουλαρίῳ τοῦ δρόμου τῷ Ἁγιοζαχαρίτῃ. 5. Manouel Hagiozacharites, spatharokandidatos of the Chrysotriklinos (10th – 11th c.) A lead seal, mentioned by G. Schlumberger (Schlumberger 1905, № 229). Its provenance and fate after the publication are unknown to me. Obv: bust of St Nicholas with the inscription: Ὁ ἅγιος Νικόλαος. Rev: Μανουὶλ σπαθαροκανδιδᾶτος ἐπι τοῦ χρισοτρικλινίου τῷ Ἁγιοζαχαρίτῃ. 6. Niketas Hagiozacharites, anthypatos patrikios and vestes7 (last third of the 10th – first third of the 11th c.) He is known from at least two lead seals – one from the Hermitage and another unpublished belonging to L’Institut français d’études byzantines (IFEB) (Šandrovskaja, Seibt 2005, № 98; 114, n. 35). Obv: bust of St Theodore, indicated in the legend as ὁ ἅγιος Θεόδωρος, with invocation circular inscription: Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ. Rev: inscription of six lines: Νικήτᾳ ἀνθυπάτῳ πατρικίῳ βέστῃ τῷ Ἁγιοζαχαρίτῃ. His elevated titles indicated a later dating, probably within the early 11th c., thus greatly hindering the attribution of the seals to the homonymous, mentioned by Skylitzes. This could not be ruled out completely, though. It is possible, if we assume that he was compensated by the emperor Basileios II (976 – 1025) for his betrayal of the usurper Bardas Skleros. Blinding itself did not mean the end of one’s public career. One of the best examples from the period, which comes to my mind, is that of the patrikios Basileios Skleros (grandson of the above-mentioned candidate for the throne), who had been blinded in the time of Konstantinos VIII (1025 – 1028), but his successor Romanos III Argyros (1028 – 1034) honoured him with the higher rank of magistros despite his sightlessness (Skylitzes 1973, 37280 – 86, 38820 – 24; Psellos 1926, VI: XV, 12516 – 25).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Politics of Roman Memory in the Age of Justinian DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the D
    The Politics of Roman Memory in the Age of Justinian DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Marion Woodrow Kruse, III Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Anthony Kaldellis, Advisor; Benjamin Acosta-Hughes; Nathan Rosenstein Copyright by Marion Woodrow Kruse, III 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the use of Roman historical memory from the late fifth century through the middle of the sixth century AD. The collapse of Roman government in the western Roman empire in the late fifth century inspired a crisis of identity and political messaging in the eastern Roman empire of the same period. I argue that the Romans of the eastern empire, in particular those who lived in Constantinople and worked in or around the imperial administration, responded to the challenge posed by the loss of Rome by rewriting the history of the Roman empire. The new historical narratives that arose during this period were initially concerned with Roman identity and fixated on urban space (in particular the cities of Rome and Constantinople) and Roman mythistory. By the sixth century, however, the debate over Roman history had begun to infuse all levels of Roman political discourse and became a major component of the emperor Justinian’s imperial messaging and propaganda, especially in his Novels. The imperial history proposed by the Novels was aggressivley challenged by other writers of the period, creating a clear historical and political conflict over the role and import of Roman history as a model or justification for Roman politics in the sixth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Byzantium's Balkan Frontier
    This page intentionally left blank Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier is the first narrative history in English of the northern Balkans in the tenth to twelfth centuries. Where pre- vious histories have been concerned principally with the medieval history of distinct and autonomous Balkan nations, this study regards Byzantine political authority as a unifying factor in the various lands which formed the empire’s frontier in the north and west. It takes as its central concern Byzantine relations with all Slavic and non-Slavic peoples – including the Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians and Hungarians – in and beyond the Balkan Peninsula, and explores in detail imperial responses, first to the migrations of nomadic peoples, and subsequently to the expansion of Latin Christendom. It also examines the changing conception of the frontier in Byzantine thought and literature through the middle Byzantine period. is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Keble College, Oxford BYZANTIUM’S BALKAN FRONTIER A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, – PAUL STEPHENSON British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow Keble College, Oxford The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Paul Stephenson 2004 First published in printed format 2000 ISBN 0-511-03402-4 eBook (Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-77017-3 hardback Contents List ofmaps and figurespagevi Prefacevii A note on citation and transliterationix List ofabbreviationsxi Introduction .Bulgaria and beyond:the Northern Balkans (c.–) .The Byzantine occupation ofBulgaria (–) .Northern nomads (–) .Southern Slavs (–) .The rise ofthe west,I:Normans and Crusaders (–) .
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts of Papers
    45th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference Abstracts of Papers October 17-20, 2019 University of Wisconsin-Madison Sponsored by: UW Madison Anonymous Fund Department of History Department of Classics and Ancient Near East Studies Department of Folklore and Comparative Literature Program in Medieval Studies Program Committee Annie Labatt, Chair, Sweet Briar College Elena Boeck, DePaul University Jeff Brubaker, SUNY Geneseo Craig Gibson, University of Iowa Anthony Kaldellis, Ohio State University Thomas Lecaque, Grand View University Brenda Llewelyn Ihssen, Pacific Lutheran University Jordan Pickett, University of Georgia at Athens Luis Sales, Scripps College Local Arrangements Committee Leonora Neville, Chair Jefferey Beneker Thomas Dale Christopher Livanos 2019 BYZANTINE STUDIES CONFERENCE PROGRAM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16TH 6:00 PM Mike Clover Memorial Lecture “The Contagion of the Gaze: A Persistent motif in Medieval Art and Modern Theory” Professor Anthony Cutler, Penn State Department of Art History, Elvehjem Building THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17TH 3:00 PM, Russian Icons in the Chazen Museum of Art The Chazen Museum of Art has a collection of approximately 40 Russian icons ranging in date from the 16th to 20th centuries. The core of the collection (23 examples) was given to the university by Joseph Davies, who served as ambassador to the Soviet Union (1937-38). This informal workshop will introduce participants to the collection including works not on view in the main galleries and will discuss issues of iconography, authenticity and collecting. 4:30-8:00 PM, Conference Registration Begins The Chazen Museum of Art 5:30-6:30 PM, Public Lecture, The Chazen Museum of Art "Re-Claiming The Original 'Degenerate Art': Disability, Alterity and Byzantine Studies." Professor Elena Boeck, DePaul University, Department of the History of Art and Architecture Mellon-Borghesi Workshop on Thinking Race: Migration, Representation, and Appropriation in the Middle Ages and Beyond.
    [Show full text]
  • © in This Web Service Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-43093-7 - Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era c. 680–850: A History Leslie Brubaker and John Haldon Index More information Index Given the centrality of these concepts to the present work, the terms ‘iconoclasm, iconoclast’ etc., and ‘iconophile’ are not indexed. Monuments are normally listed under location. ‘Abbas, son of al-Ma’mun 409 Anatolikon 28, 70–1, 74, 159, 292, 294, 358, ‘Abd al-Malik, caliph 778 362, 364, 386, 410, 549, 553, 554, 586, ‘Abd ar-Rahman II, caliph 411 613, 633, 634, 691, 697, 704, 759 Abu Qurra, Theodore 188, 233, 234, 246 Anchialos 288, 290 acheiropoieta 35–6, 38, 55, 56, 774, 782 Andrew of Crete 20, 70, 80, 85, 90, 151, 643 Adamnan 58, 141, 781 Angelidi, Christine 216 Adata 410 angels, images of 776 adiectio sterilium 718, 720 Ankara 255, 289, 409, 540, 549, 552, 553, 561 Adoptionism 283, 309 Anna, patrikia 313, 424, 446 Adrianople 361, 362 Anna, daughter of Theodora and Theophilos Aetios, protospatharios 288, 292, 294, 637 433 Agathias 13, 54, 478, 776, 777 Annales Bertiniani 516 Agatho, pope 20 Anne, wife of Leo III 144 Agathos, monastery of 316, 424 Anthony, bishop of Syllaion 369, 390, 391, Agauroi, monastery of 397 392 Aghlabids 405, 411 Anthony the Younger, Life 735 Aistulf, king 169 Anthousa of Mantineon, monastery of 216, Akathistos, Synaxarion 93 240 Akroinon 76, 546, 553 anthypatos 593, 671, 673, 682, 712–13, 716, Alakilise, Church of the Archangel Gabriel 742, 764, 769–70 416 Antidion, monastery 425 Alcuin 281 Antioch (Pisidia) 75 Alexander, Paul 373, 375 Antoninus of
    [Show full text]
  • Byzantine Empire (Ca 600-1200)
    INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH ΙΝΣΤΙΤΟΥΤΟ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ SECTION OF BYZANTINE RESEARCH ΤΟΜΕΑΣ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ NATIONAL HELLENIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION ΕΘΝΙΚΟ IΔΡΥΜΑ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ EFI RAGIA OLGA KARAGIORGOU – PANTELIS CHARALAMPAKIS – CHRISTOS MALATRAS THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION STATE OFFICIALS IN THE OF OPSIKION, THE ANATOLIKOI OF THE BYZANTINHEMESE EMPIRE (CA 600-1200): ANDI .1.TH TE HKEI BAYPORRTAIOHEKAITAI :OF N AEWSIA AND MINO RERC E(7NTHLY-8 RETHVISI C.)TED SIGILLOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE ΑΘΗΝΑ • 20092016 • ATHENS OLGA KARAGIORGOU – PANTELIS CHARALAMPAKIS – CHRISTOS MALATRAS STATE OFFICIALS IN THE THEMES OF OPSIKION, THE ANATOLIkoI AND THE KIBYRRAIOTAI: NEW AND RECENTLY REVISITED SIGILLOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE The research project entitled Towards an institutional and social history of Byzantine Asia Minor on the evidence of seals and other sources (7th - 13th centuries) (abbreviated as SigCorpByzAMthemes; project’s code 4492) was one of the 180 projects (among 1622 submitted research proposals) to receive financial help of the amount of 200,000 Euros in the framework of the ARISTEIA II (Excellence Award) Program, which is co-financed by the European Social Fund and Greek National Funds as part of the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013. The project was carried out at the Academy of Athens (Research Centre for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art, KEBMT) over a period of 21 months (February 2014 to October 2015) by a team of seven, including the Principal Investigator (Olga Karagiorgou, Assistant Researcher at the KEBMT), three postdoctoral researchers (Pantelis Charalampakis, Christos Malatras, Tolga Uyar), a doctoral student (Angelos Kyriakos) and two members of supporting staff: an expert in Museum Studies (Nikos Androutsopoulos) and a Librarian (Mary Maznoki).
    [Show full text]
  • The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century, with a Revised Text
    THE BRITISH ACADEMY SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS I The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century t With a Revised Text of The Kletorologion of Philotheos J. B. Bury Fellow of the Academy London Published for the British Academy By Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press Amen Corner, E.G. Price Ten Shillings and Sixpence net THE BRITISH ACADEMY SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS I The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century With a Revised Text of The Kletorologion of Philotheos By J. B. Bury Fellow of the Academy London Published for the British Academy By Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press Amen Corner, E.G. 1911 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY .......... 3 A. PRELIMINARY .......... 7 (1) Sources for institutional history. text of Philotheos. (2) The (3) The contents and sources of the Kletorologion. The Taktikon Uspenski. (4) Scope of the following investigation. General comparison of the Constaiitinian with the later Byzantine system. Sta 20 B. DIGNITIES (at /?/oa/3etW di'at) ...... Sia 36 C. OFFICES (at \6yov dtat) ....... I. crrpar^yot. II. So/ACOTlKOl. III. Kptrai. IV. V. VI. VII. dtat D. DIGNITIES AND OFFICES OF THE EUNUCHS . .120 I. d^tat Sta ^paj8etW. II. d^tat Sta \6yov. TEXT OF THE KLKTOROLOGION OF PHILOTHEOS . 131 Ml 226210 BIBLIOGRAPHY SOURCES. Saec. V. [Not. Dig.] Notitia Dignitatum, ed/Seeck, 1876. [C. Th.] Codex Theodosianus, ed Mommsen, 1905. Novettae Theodosii II, &c., ed. Meyer, 1905. [C. I.] Codex lustinianus (see below). Saec. VI. [C. I.] Codex lustinianus, ed. Kruger, 1884. lustiniani Novettae, ed. Zacharia von Lingenthal, 1881. lustini II, Tiberii II, Mauricii Novettae, in Zacharia v. Lingenthal, Ins Graeco-Romanum , Pars III, 1857.
    [Show full text]
  • Byzantine Names for SCA Personae
    1 A Short (and rough) Guide to Byzantine Names for SCA personae This is a listing of names that may be useful for constructing Byzantine persona. Having said that, please note that the term „Byzantine‟ is one that was not used in the time of the Empire. They referred to themselves as Romans. Please also note that this is compiled by a non-historian and non-linguist. When errors are detected, please let me know so that I can correct them. Additional material is always welcomed. It is a work in progress and will be added to as I have time to research more books. This is the second major revision and the number of errors picked up is legion. If you have an earlier copy throw it away now. Some names of barbarians who became citizens are included. Names from „client states‟ such as Serbia and Bosnia, as well as adversaries, can be found in my other article called Names for other Eastern Cultures. In itself it is not sufficient documentation for heraldic submission, but it will give you ideas and tell you where to start looking. The use of (?) means that either I have nothing that gives me an idea, or that I am not sure of what I have. If there are alternatives given of „c‟, „x‟ and „k‟ modern scholarship prefers the „k‟. „K‟ is closer to the original in both spelling and pronunciation. Baron, OP, Strategos tous notious okeanous, known to the Latins as Hrolf Current update 12/08/2011 Family Names ............................................................. 2 Male First Names .......................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Armenian Neighbours (600–1045)
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository CHAPTER 8 ARMENIAN NEIGHBOURS (600–1045) t. w. greenwood introduction Anyone wishing to unravel the history of the relationship between Byzan- tium and Armenia from late antiquity into the eleventh century has to confront a series of historical and historiographical challenges. The most immediate, and intractable, of these is one of definition: what does ‘Armenia’ mean? Although Armenia is used to express a territorial entity in contemporary texts, both Armenian and non-Armenian in origin, its precise meaning varies according to the date and the context in which it is used. Far from finding a single, stable definition of Armenia, one discovers multiple ‘Armenias’.1 Thus a seventh-century Armenian geographical com- pilation depicts ‘Great Armenia’ as comprising not only regions currently recognised as Armenian but also those with historic associations.2 Successive provinces of Armenia were imposed and superimposed by external powers, each with a particular scope. The kingdom of Armenia, re-established in 884, bore little relation to its Arsacid precursor and increasingly represented only the Bagratuni kingdom centred on Ani, excluding rival kingdoms in Vaspurakan, Siwnik‘ and elsewhere. Given the absence of stable territorial boundaries and in the light of significant Arab settlement in certain districts from the end of the eighth century, there have been attempts to construct Armenian identity in terms of a blend of confessional,
    [Show full text]
  • Niketas Choniates
    GUIDE TO BYZANTINE HISTORICAL WRITING This handy reference guide makes it easier to access and understand histories written in Greek between 600 and 1480 CE. Covering classi• cizing histories that continued ancient Greek traditions of historiog• raphy, sweeping, fast-paced "chronicle"-type histories, and dozens of idiosyncratic historical texts, it distills the results of complex, multilin• gual, specialist scholarship into clear explanations of the basic infor• mation needed to approach each medieval Greek history. It provides a sound basis for further research on each text by describing what we know about the time of composition, content covered by the history, authorship, extant manuscripts, previous editions and translations, and basic bibliography. Even-handed explanations of scholarly debates give readers the information they need to assess controversies independently. A comprehensive introduction orients students and nonspecialists to the traditions and methods of Byzantine historical writing. It will prove an invaluable timesaver for Byzantinists and an essential gateway for classicists, western medievalists, and students. LEONORA NEVILLE is a historian of Byzantine culture and society. Her work on Byzantine historical writing has dealt with how Byzantine authors interacted with classical models of history writing and culture and tried to shape contemporary opinion by writing history. She is the author of Anna Komnene: The Life and Work of a Medieval Historian (2016), Heroes and Romans in Twelfih- Century Byzantium: The Material for History of Nikephoros Bryennios (Cambridge University Press, 2012), and Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society: p$o—lloo (Cambridge University Press, 2004). She is Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and the John W. and Jeanne M.
    [Show full text]
  • 6 X 10 Long.P65
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-83231-1 - The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500-1492 Edited by Jonathan Shepard Index More information INDEX NOTE: Page references in italics refer to maps or illustrations. Material within entries is arranged predominantly alphabetically, although some of the longer entries begin with a chronologically-ordered section, to help orient the reader. Footnotes are only referred to where the subject is not mentioned in the corresponding page of the text. Personal names of Byzantines and other individuals in the early and middle periods are generally listed by first name followed by family name (for example, John Skylitzes rather than Skylitzes, John). For the later period, some (mainly western) individuals are listed by surname (for example, Dandolo, Enrico). Entries for commonly occurring first names are sequenced thus: Byzantine emperors, patriarchs of Constantinople, popes, and then all others in alphabetical order. Aachen 417, 552–3; map 396 Acacius, bishop of Melitene 165 Abaqa, Ilkhan 722 Acciaiuoli, Antonio, duke of Athens 840 Abas Bagratuni, magistros 355 Acciaiuoli, Giovanni, archbishop of Patras 839 al-‘Abbas bin al-Ma’mun 391 Acciaiuoli, Nerio 839–40 al-‘Abbas bin al-Walid 385 Acciaiuoli, Niccolo` 839 Abbasid dynasty 386–92, 881; and Armenia 300, Acciaiuoli family 838, 839–40 348; and Byzantium 392–3, 493, 496; caliphs acclamations 398, 512, 604 917; inception 255–6, 365, 386; jihad 386–7, Acerenza 568; map 561 392–3; and Mongols 721; move capital to Achaemenids 139, 140, 881 Baghdad
    [Show full text]
  • ON the TOPONYMY and PROSOPOGRAPHY of SOME MINOR MILITARY-ADMINISTRATIVE DIS- TRICTS in BYZANTIUM: KAS(S)E, *VINDAION, MAURON OROS* Pantelis CHARALAMPAKIS**
    2017 3 / 3 (27-49) 1 ON THE TOPONYMY AND PROSOPOGRAPHY OF SOME MINOR MILITARY-ADMINISTRATIVE DIS- TRICTS IN BYZANTIUM: KAS(S)E, *VINDAION, * MAURON OROS Pantelis CHARALAMPAKIS** ** Research Fellow, Centre for This paper1 presents three lead seals issued by Byz- Advanced Study, Sofia. antine officials who served in small military-admin- E-Posta: [email protected] istrative districts located in present-day Turkey. One of these areas, Kas(s)e, was in northern Kappadokia, the second one, *Vindaion (or *Vindaios), in Pisidia, and the last one, Mauron Oros, in Hatay, close to the border with present-day Syria (see fig. 1). Only the owner of the first seal was already known in bibli- ography, through the publication of other speci- mens. The seals under examination share a common fea- ture: they all mention place names that are rela- tively unknown and only very little information about them survived through other sources, mostly (though not exclusively) related to their ecclesiasti- cal organization. All three seals were issued by mil- itary officials: two strategoi and one tourmarches. The key question that emerges therefore is whether these small districts (Kas(s)e, Vindaion, Mauron Oros) were themes, or simply fortresses or military * Gönderim Tarihi: 16.05.2017 garrisons under the command of a tourmarches or a Kabul Tarihi: 13.06.2017 strategos. Regarding Mauron Oros, we can be sure -------------------------------------------------------- 1 I would like to thank Prof. Kay Ehling, Director of the Staatliche Münzsammlung München, for granting me permission to study and publish seals from the collection, as well as Prof. J.-Cl.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-02622-3 - Michael Psellos: Rhetoric and Authorship in Byzantium Stratis Papaioannou Excerpt More information Introduction “The greatest figure of letters in the eleventh century and, perhaps, in the entire Byzantine history”; “the most witty, playful, and original of Byzantineauthors...oneofthebestkeptsecretsinEuropeanhistory”; “an interesting mixture of ´erudit, exhibitionist, and spokesman for the politically and theologically orthodox order”; “an exemplary Byzantine soul in which the highest spiritual gifts and the most absolute mediocrity ofcharactercoexistinsuchadisconcertingmixture”;“philosopher...one againstall...poet”;“incomparableinspeech”;“anunpleasantandarrogant man”;“oneoriginatinginmany;yetalso...manyfromone.” These sentences by modern and Byzantine writers are just a sample of the numerous, superlative, and contradictory characterizations of Michael Psel- los, the eleventh-century Constantinopolitan rhetor, teacher, and courtier.1 The last phrase, from Psellos himself, rightly suggests that there are many “Pselloi.” For some readers, he is an egotistical rhetor and a typical Byzan- tine courtier; for them, Psellos’ name is identical to servile “rhetoric,” the verbosity with neither meaning nor sincerity, that supposedly prevailed in the Constantinopolitan court. For others, Psellos is a protagonist in Byzantine cultural history, a kind of secular saint in a medieval world oth- erwise bound by a (supposed) theocentric conservatism. Psellos’ writings offer them proofs of an appealing non-religious
    [Show full text]