Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies

Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies
Author: Elizabeth Jeffreys
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780754657408

The theme of the 2006 International Congress of Byzantine Studies was display, assessing what strategies the people of Byzantium used to express their thoughts, ideals, fears and beliefs, and how these have been interpreted through various modern discourses. The first volume presents the texts of the 28 plenary papers delivered at the Congress; the second and third contain the abstracts of the many hundreds of papers written for the 64 separate panels and the sessions of communications.

Niketas Choniates

Niketas Choniates
Author: Alicia Simpson
Publisher: Oxford Studies in Byzantium
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2013-09-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199670714

Simpson uncovers the complex manuscript tradition and transmission of Niketas Choniates' History, an important historical Byzantine text. Investigating issues related to historical narrative and imperial biography, the volume explores the historian's sources and the literary models and historical concepts which guided him.

En Sofía mathitéfsantes: Essays in Byzantine Material Culture and Society in Honour of Sophia Kalopissi-Verti

En Sofía mathitéfsantes: Essays in Byzantine Material Culture and Society in Honour of Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
Author: Charikleia Diamanti
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2019-12-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789692636

The 30 studies presented here are dedicated to Sophia Kalopissi-Verti, Emerita of Byzantine Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. They cover a large variety of topics presenting unpublished archaeological material, suggesting new approaches to various aspects of Byzantine archaeology, material culture and art history.

Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai
Author: George Manginis
Publisher: Haus Publishing
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1910376515

A mountain peak above Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt, Mount Sinai is best known as the site where Moses received the Ten Commandments in the biblical Book of Exodus. Mount Sinai brings this rich history to light, exploring the ways in which the landscape of Mount Sinai’s summit has been experienced and transformed over the centuries, from the third century BCE to World War I. As an important site for multiple religions, Mount Sinai has become a major destination for hundreds of visitors per day. In this multifaceted book, George Manginis delves into the natural environment of Mount Sinai, its importance in the Muslim tradition, the cult of Saint Catherine, the medieval pilgrimage phenomenon, modern-day tourism, and much more. Featuring notes, a bibliography, and illustrations from nineteenth-century travelers’ books, this deft blend of historical analysis, art history, and archaeological interpretation will appeal to tourists and scholars alike.

The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453

The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453
Author: Marios Philippides
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 919
Release: 2017-05-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317016084

This major study is a comprehensive scholarly work on a key moment in the history of Europe, the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The result of years of research, it presents all available sources along with critical evaluations of these narratives. The authors have consulted texts in all relevant languages, both those that remain only in manuscript and others that have been printed, often in careless and inferior editions. Attention is also given to 'folk history' as it evolved over centuries, producing prominent myths and folktales in Greek, medieval Russian, Italian, and Turkish folklore. Part I, The Pen, addresses the complex questions introduced by this myriad of original literature and secondary sources.

Approaches to Byzantine Architecture and its Decoration

Approaches to Byzantine Architecture and its Decoration
Author: Mark J. Johnson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1351957643

The fourteen essays in this collection demonstrate a wide variety of approaches to the study of Byzantine architecture and its decoration, a reflection of both newer trends and traditional scholarship in the field. The variety is also a reflection of Professor Curcic’s wide interests, which he shares with his students. These include the analysis of recent archaeological discoveries; recovery of lost monuments through archival research and onsite examination of material remains; reconsidering traditional typological approaches often ignored in current scholarship; fresh interpretations of architectural features and designs; contextualization of monuments within the landscape; tracing historiographic trends; and mining neglected written sources for motives of patronage. The papers also range broadly in terms of chronology and geography, from the Early Christian through the post-Byzantine period and from Italy to Armenia. Three papers examine Early Christian monuments, and of these two expand the inquiry into their architectural afterlives. Others discuss later monuments in Byzantine territory and monuments in territories related to Byzantium such as Serbia, Armenia, and Norman Italy. No Orthodox church being complete without interior decoration, two papers discuss issues connected to frescoes in late medieval Balkan churches. Finally, one study investigates the continued influence of Byzantine palace architecture long after the fall of Constantinople.

Chosen Places: Constructing New Jerusalems in Slavia Orthodoxa

Chosen Places: Constructing New Jerusalems in Slavia Orthodoxa
Author: Jelena Erdeljan
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2017-06-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004345795

In Chosen Places. Constructing New Jerusalems in Slavia Orthodoxa, Jelena Erdeljan focuses on the Old Testament topic of the divinely-chosen status of Jerusalem and translatio Hierosolymi, including the history, process and media of formulating and disseminating this idea and its spatial-visual matrix in Christian visual culture. Firstly the study presents the case of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, as New Jerusalem, and secondly, in relation to Constatinople, discussion focuses on the cases of the capitals of Slavia Orthodoxa in the later Middle Ages: Turnovo, Belgrade and Moscow. The idea of Jerusalem corresponds with the idea of a mystical center, the center of the historical Christian world, which travels and follows the path of eschatologial realisation.

Italy, Cyprus, and Artistic Exchange in the Medieval Mediterranean

Italy, Cyprus, and Artistic Exchange in the Medieval Mediterranean
Author: Anthi Andronikou
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2022-09-08
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1009041258

In this volume Anthi Andronikou explores the social, cultural, religious and trade encounters between Italy and Cyprus during the late Middle Ages, from ca. 1200 -1400, and situates them within several Mediterranean contexts. Revealing the complex artistic exchange between the two regions for the first time, she probes the rich but neglected cultural interaction through comparison of the intriguing thirteenth-century wall paintings in rock-cut churches of Apulia and Basilicata, the puzzling panels of the Madonna della Madia and the Madonna di Andria, and painted chapels in Cyprus, Lebanon, and Syria. Andronikou also investigates fourteenth-century cross-currents that have not been adequately studied, notably the cult of Saint Aquinas in Cyprus, Crusader propaganda in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, and a unique series of icons crafted by Venetian painters working in Cyprus. Offering new insights into Italian and Byzantine visual cultures, her book contributes to a broader understanding of cultural production and worldviews of the medieval Mediterranean.