Byzantine Silk in the World explores how silk came to symbolize Byzantium both within the Empire and abroad. In-depth and intersecting studies of a selection of six examples explore a range of cultural responses to Byzantine silk. The silks were employed strategically and, often, on a monumental scale to spectacular effect, conveying conceptions of sacrality as well as wealth, power, luxury, and exoticism. The book centers on major themes of monumentality, the spectacle, and sacrality of Byzantine silk while establishing the broader historical and pan-cultural context and the critically important premise that in the medieval world textiles held much greater value than they do today.