The Early Palaiologan Court (1261-1354)
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THE EARLY PALAIOLOGAN COURT (1261-1354) by FROUKE MARIANNE SCHRIJVER A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The complex phenomena ‘court’ and ‘court society’ have received increasing interest in academic research over recent years. The court of late Byzantium, however, has been overlooked, despite the fact that assumptions have been made about the influence of Byzantine court ceremonial on ceremonies in the late Medieval and Early Modern West and about the imitation of the Byzantine court as an institution in the early Ottoman empire. In the discussion of these influences late Byzantine sources were left untouched, a neglect that underlines the need for a comprehensive study of the court in this period. The aim of the present thesis is to fill a part of this gap in our knowledge through an examination of the core of the court in early Palaiologan Byzantium (1261-1354). The methodology used is inspired by studies of Western royal and princely courts and approaches the early Palaiologan court in an interdisciplinary way. It aims to investigate the main palace of the Palaiologan emperors and the residents of this palace (the imperial family, their servants and their guards), or in other words the imperial household. The court is therefore seen from a spatially and socially restricted viewpoint, while social interaction is used as the main differentiating tool. On a larger scale the present thesis aims to address questions about the interrelation between space and social interaction. Although the absence of an actual surviving palace and of imperial household ordinances makes it hard to investigate the late Byzantine court, this thesis presents a picture of the core of the early Palaiologan court by combining various late Byzantine sources, each of which provides us with snippets of information about the palace and (individual) members of the imperial household. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Everyone who has ever embarked on the journey of writing a thesis knows that this cannot be done without the help and encouragement of numerous people. Here I wish to acknowledge the kind support I have received throughout the past four years. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Ruth Macrides for her enthusiasm and meticulous critiques. It would not have been possible to complete this thesis without her advice, inspiration and cheerful presence. Her thoughts on the fourteenth-century ceremony book known as Pseudo-Kodinos proved a parameter for my research and I am highly indebted to her for allowing me to read her forthcoming translation and commentary of this text. I am also particularly grateful to Prof. Jeroen Duindam, who informally acted as my second supervisor, for shaping my initial thoughts on my thesis topic and for his continuous guidance throughout my research. I am very appreciative of his generosity with his time and of his unique perspective on courts, which served as an example for my research. I would like to express my appreciation to the academic staff of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham, in particular to Prof. Dimiter Angelov and Prof. Leslie Brubaker, as well as to Prof. Chris Wickham from Oxford University, for discussing ideas and parts of my work and offering me advice at critical stages of my research. The Arts and Humanities Research Council, the College of Arts and Law (Birmingham University), the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilizations (Koç ii University), Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Catharina van Tussenbroekfonds and Ketel1 Studiefonds provided generous financial support for my research. My last year as a PhD student I spent as a junior fellow at the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilizations of Koç University in Istanbul. I am indebted to Prof. Scott Redford for accepting me as one of the fellows and for creating a wonderful research environment. I would also like to express my gratitude for the assistance provided by Prof. Hansgerd Hellenkemper, Dr. Ivana Jevtic and Prof. Paul Magdalino during that same year. Many thanks go out to the research students at the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies in Birmingham and to research fellows at the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilizations in Istanbul, as well as to numerous other colleagues I met and academic friends I made throughout the last four years – for sharing, inspiring and just having fun. All my dearest friends, both old and new ones, I would like to thank for their company and for being there for me. Lastly, I would like to express my love and gratitude to my family: my brother Frans and sister Margot and especially to my parents Jan and Klaske. Without their continuous understanding, kindness, patience and support the present thesis would not have been completed. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF ILLISTRATIONS vii INTRODUCTION 1 1 THE PALACE 22 1.1 THE BLACHERNAI PALACE AS THE RESIDENCE OF CHOICE 28 1.2 THE BLACHERNAI PALACE, A FORTIFIED PALACE-CITADEL 35 1.3 BEHIND THE GATES: PALACE BUILDINGS AND COURTYARD 55 CONCLUSION 81 2 THE IMPERIAL FAMILY 83 2.1 THE EMPEROR AND HIS NEXT OF KIN 87 2.2 THE EMPRESS AND THE COURT OF WOMEN 132 CONCLUSION 153 3 HOUSEHOLD STAFF 159 3.1 HYPERESIA, THERAPEIA AND OTHER GENERIC TERMS FOR SERVANTS 164 3.2 EUNUCHS 172 3.3 PAGES 181 3.4 CASE STUDY: THE CHAMBERLAINS OF THE BEDCHAMBER 201 CONCLUSION 214 4 SECURITY STAFF 218 4.1 VARANGIANS 220 4.2 VARDARIOTS 236 4.3 PARAMONAI 240 4.4 TZAKONES 244 4.5 MOURTATOI 248 4.6 KORTINARIOI 251 4.7 OTHER (OCCASIONAL) PALACE GUARDS 256 CONCLUSION 258 CONCLUSION 261 APPENDIX I 273 APPENDIX II 285 APPENDIX III 286 iv BIBLIOGRAPHY 287 v NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION The present thesis is for a great part based on the study of Byzantine Greek texts. The decision whether to give a translation only, to use transliteration or to quote the Greek with the translation has been made on an individual basis. Sometimes the Greek is given in the text because my translation and interpretation particularly matter to support my argument or because the Greek is unclear. In all other cases the Greek is given in the footnotes. All the translations are my own unless stated otherwise. In some cases I use transliterations, like aule, to point at particular Byzantine terms. Likewise, I have transliterated Byzantine court offices, such as parakoimomenos, but in the case of the Despot I have followed Dimiter Angelov and have capitalized the title: the Despot was the second highest office and certain autonomous rulers titled themselves Despot, see Dimiter Angelov, Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330 (Cambridge 2007), xi. As is common practice in the field of Byzantine studies, I have transcribed Byzantine names and have not Latinized them; Kantakouzenos and not Cantacuzenus. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BHG Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca BMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies BRP British Rencesvals Publications ByzF Byzantinische Forschungen BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift CCCM Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis CFHB Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae CSHB Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers EEBS Ἐπετηρίς Ἑταιρείας Βυζαντινῶν Σπουδῶν EHR English Historical Review ESG Erotici Scriptores Graeci IMB International Medieval Bibliography JÖB Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik JRS Journal of Roman Studies LBG Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität MM Miklosich-Müller ODB The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium OCP Orientalia Christiana Periodica PG Patrologia Graeca (Patrologia Cursus Completus Series Graeca) PLP Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit REB Revue des Études Byzantines RESEE Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes RHM Römische historische Mitteilungen TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae TM Travaux et Mémoires VV Vizantijskij Vremennik vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig 1. Medieval Constantinople (after Paul Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180 (Cambridge 1993), 110, fig. 3). Fig. 2. Map of the Blachernai area (Müller-Wiener, 1977) (after Wolfgang Müller- Wiener, Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls: Byzantion-Konstantinupolis- Istanbul bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts (Tübingen 1977), 302, fig. 344). Fig. 3. Northern wall of the Blachernai palace complex, seen from the approximate location of the Blachernai Church and the Hagiasma, creating a platform (photo by Frouke Schrijver, 20 April 2012). Fig. 4. Northern wall of the Blachernai palace complex, looking towards the East, the point where the wall turns southwards (photo by Frouke Schrijver, 20 April 2012). Fig. 5. Northern wall of the Blachernai palace complex, looking towards the West, in the direction of the Emir Buhari Tekkesi (photo by Frouke Schrijver, 20 April 2012). Fig. 6. The approximate location of Ta Hypsela: the Dervişzade sokak bending around the Emir Buhari Tekkesi (photo by Frouke Schrijver, 20 April 2012). Fig. 7. Eastern wall of the Blachernai palace complex, seen from Kale Çk (photo by Frouke Schrijver, 20 April 2012). Fig. 8. Eastern wall of Blachernai palace complex, behind the third alley westwards from Ebe sokak (name of alley unknown) (photo by Frouke Schrijver, 20 April 2012).