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Manuel II Palaiologos and Rhetoric in Purple Florin Leonte Imperial Visions of Late Byzantium 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd i 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM Edinburgh Byzantine Studies Innovative approaches to the medieval Eastern Roman empire and its neighbours Edinburgh Byzantine Studies promotes new, theory-driven approaches to the empire commonly called Byzantium. The series looks at the literary, historical, material and visual remains of this long-living political order and its neighbours, often from a multi-disciplinary and/or cross-cultural vantage point. Its innovative readings highlight the connectivity of Byzantine culture as well as of Byzantine Studies. Series Editors Niels Gaul, University of Edinburgh the late Ruth Macrides, University of Birmingham Alexander Riehle, Harvard University Yannis Stouraitis, University of Edinburgh Books available in the series Imperial Visions of Late Byzantium: Manuel II Palaiologos and Rhetoric in Purple Florin Leonte Books forthcoming The Earthly Order: Social Stratifi cation in Late Byzantium Christos Malatras The Monotheisation of Pontic-Caspian Eurasia: Eighth to Thirteenth Centuries Alex Mesibov Feldman Visit the Edinburgh Byzantine Studies website at edinburghuniversitypress.com/ series-edinburgh-byzantine-studies.html 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd iiii 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM Imperial Visions of Late Byzantium Manuel II Palaiologos and Rhetoric in Purple Florin Leonte 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd iiiiii 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Florin Leonte, 2020 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road, 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 10.5/13 Goudy Old Style by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd, and printed and bound in Great Britain. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 4103 2 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 4105 6 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 4106 3 (epub) The right of Florin Leonte to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). 6165_Leonte.indd iv 30/10/19 12:21 PM Contents Acknowledgements viii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Manuel II Palaiologos: A Short Biography and an Overview of the Historical Context 1 Aims of the Present Study 5 Structure 7 Sources 8 Theoretical Framework 9 Previous Scholarship 11 Part I Dissent and Consent 1 Voices of Dissent: Preaching and Negotiating Authority 19 Organisation of the Ecclesiastics’ Group 21 Major Political and Social Themes in the Ecclesiastics’ Writings 31 Conclusion 54 2 Voices of Consent: Imperial Rhetoricians, Theatra and Patronage 58 Theatra and Imperial Involvement 59 Profi le and Organisation of the Rhetoricians 64 Connections among the Members of the Literary Court 68 The Rhetorical Landscape in the Late Palaiologan Period 75 Main Themes in the Rhetoricians’ Writings 79 Conclusion 100 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd v 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM vi IMPERIAL VISIONS OF LATE BYZANTIUM Part II Other Voices, Other Approaches: Manuel II’s Political Writings Introduction to Part II 105 Further Methodological Considerations 105 An Overview of the Emperor’s Rhetorical œuvre 108 The Emperor’s Political Texts 111 3 The Deliberative Voice: The Dialogue with the Empress-Mother on Marriage 113 Contents and Structure 115 Genre 116 Constructing Dialogic Authority 117 Conclusion 123 4 The Didactic Voice: The Foundations of an Imperial Education 124 Context of Production 126 Contents and Structure 128 Genre 135 Authorial Voice 149 Conclusion 159 5 The Didactic Voice: The Orations (Seven Ethico-Political Orations) 161 The Dramatic Setting 163 The Contents of the Orations 165 Major Themes in the Orations 165 The Orations: Summary and Form 172 Between Teaching and Preaching: Constructing the Genre of the Orations 183 Authorial Voice: Teaching the Son and Admonishing the Emperor 189 Conclusion 196 6 The Narrative Voice: The Funeral Oration on His Brother Theodore, Despot of Morea 199 Contexts of Production 200 The Rhetorical Template and the Compositional Structure of the Funeral Oration 203 The Narrator and the Narrative 209 Authorial Voice 233 Conclusion 234 7 Towards a Renewed Vision of Imperial Authority 237 Society and Social ‘Classes’ 240 Enemies and Allies 241 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd vvii 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM CONTENTS vii Markers of Byzantine Identity 244 Renewal of Imperial Ideology in Manuel’s Texts 246 Manuel II’s Imperial Vision and Style of Government 264 Conclusions 270 Appendices Appendix 1 Members of Manuel II’s Literary Circle 281 Appendix 2 The Contents and Structure of Manuel II’s Foundations 284 Appendix 3 Translation of Gemistos Plethon’s Preface to Manuel II’s Funeral Oration 288 Appendix 4 Network of Ecclesiastics and Rhetoricians during Manuel II’s Reign 290 Bibliography Manuscripts Consulted 293 Primary Sources 293 Secondary Literature 300 Index 323 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd vviiii 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM Acknowledgements It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the support I have received from others in completing this volume. I am much indebted to Niels Gaul, who provided help and inspiration from the earliest stages of the project and through the publication process of this volume. I am grateful to a number of other people from whom I received great help at various moments: Margaret Mullett, Erich Trapp, Ida Toth, Charalambos Dendrinos, Stephanos Efthymiadis, Dimiter Angelov, Markéta Kulhánková, Alexander Riehle and the late Ruth Macrides. I am also thankful to the institutions which offered me the possibility of working on this book: the Department of Medieval Studies at Central European University, the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, the Department of the Classics at Harvard University, the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Vienna and the Department of Classical Philology at Palacký University of Olomouc. Finally, I am grateful to my family, David and Madalina, for their support and patience. This book is dedicated to them. 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd vviiiiii 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM Abbreviations BF Byzantinische Forschungen BMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies BNJ Byzantinisch-Neugriechische Jahrbücher BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift Dialogue Manuel Palaiologos, Dialogue with the Empress-Mother on Marriage, ed. and trans. A. Angelou (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1991) DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers ΕΕΒΣ Ἐπετηρὶς Ἑταιρείας Βυζαντινῶν Σπουδῶν EO Echos d’Orient Foundations Manuel Palaiologos, Foundations of an Imperial Education, PG 156, 313–84 Funeral Oration Manuel Palaiologos, Funeral Oration on His Brother Theodore, Despot of Morea, ed. and trans. J. Chrysostomides (Thessalonike: Association for Byzantine Research, 1985) GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies JÖB Jahrbuch der Österrreichischen Byzantinistik JÖBG Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinischen Gesellschaft MM F. Miklosich and W. Müller (eds), Acta et Diplomata Graeca Medii Aevii Sacra et Profana, 6 vols (Vienna: Carolus Gerold, 1860–90) OCP Orientalia Christiana Periodica ODB The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3 vols, ed. A. Kazhdan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) Orations Manuel Palaiologos, Seven Ethico-Political Orations, PG 156, 385–562 PG J. P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca, 161 vols (Paris, 1857–66) 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd iixx 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM x IMPERIAL VISIONS OF LATE BYZANTIUM PLP E. Trapp (ed.), Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, 12 vols (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1976–96) PP S. Lampros (ed.), Παλαιολόγεια καὶ Πελοποννησιακά, 3 vols (Athens: Gregoriades, 1926) REB Revue des Études Byzantines RESEE Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae TM Travaux et Mémoires ZRVI Zbornik radova vizantološkog instituta 66165_Leonte.indd165_Leonte.indd x 229/10/199/10/19 55:37:37 PPMM Introduction This book is equally about people and their texts. It seeks to explore how a Byzantine emperor negotiated his authority in the troubled waters of late Byzantium where churchmen and court-based interest groups vied for the attention of wider audiences. And it is about the construction of discursive strategies by adapting the rules of rhetorical genres to historical circumstances. The focus of the book is Manuel II Palaiologos, both emperor of Byzantium (r. 1391–1425) and prolifi c author of a range of oratorical and theological texts. The argument is that the emperor maintained his position of authority not only by direct political agency but also by rhetorically advertising his ideas about the imperial offi ce. Throughout his reign, Manuel II created a parallel literary court where he presided over a group of peer literati who supported his position and did not contest his imperial prerogatives. It was within this group that his texts were copied and subsequently disseminated in order to promote a renewed version of the idea of imperial authority. His ideological commit- ments valued education and the use of rhetorical skills as instruments of social and political change. His vision evolved and changed according to the oppor- tunities and conditions of his reign. In order to understand it one needs to attend not only to his texts but to other contemporary written sources. This will allow us to further scrutinise the late Byzantine understanding(s) of the imperial offi ce as well as the extent to which Manuel II’s writings mirrored or obliterated contemporary concerns. Manuel II Palaiologos: A Short Biography and an Overview of the Historical Context The life of Manuel II Palaiologos coincided with a period of upheavals occur- ring in the last century of Byzantine history. He was born in 1350 as the second son of Emperor John V Palaiologos (r.
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