Byzantium : the surprising life of a medieval empire

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書誌事項

Byzantium : the surprising life of a medieval empire

Judith Herrin

Princeton University Press, 2008

  • : pbk.

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注記

Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-353) and index

内容説明・目次

内容説明

Byzantium. The name evokes grandeur and exoticism - gold, cunning, and complexity. In this unique book, Judith Herrin unveils the riches of a quite different civilization. Avoiding a standard chronological account of the Byzantine Empire's millennium - long history, she identifies the fundamental questions about Byzantium - what it was, and what special significance it holds for us today. Bringing the latest scholarship to a general audience in accessible prose, Herrin focuses each short chapter around a representative theme, event, monument, or historical figure, and examines it within the full sweep of Byzantine history - from the foundation of Constantinople, the magnificent capital city built by Constantine the Great, to its capture by the Ottoman Turks. She argues that Byzantium's crucial role as the eastern defender of Christendom against Muslim expansion during the early Middle Ages made Europe - and the modern Western world - possible. Herrin captivates us with her discussions of all facets of Byzantine culture and society. She walks us through the complex ceremonies of the imperial court. She describes the transcendent beauty and power of the church of Hagia Sophia, as well as chariot races, monastic spirituality, diplomacy, and literature. She reveals the fascinating worlds of military usurpers and ascetics, eunuchs and courtesans, and artisans who fashioned the silks, icons, ivories, and mosaics so readily associated with Byzantine art. An innovative history written by one of our foremost scholars, "Byzantium" reveals this great civilization's rise to military and cultural supremacy, its spectacular destruction by the Fourth Crusade, and its revival and final conquest in 1453.

目次

List of Illustrations ix List of Maps xii Introduction: A Different History of Byzantium xiii Part I: Foundations of Byzantium Chapter 1: The City of Constantine 3 Chapter 2: Constantinople, the Largest City in Christendom 12 Chapter 3: The East Roman Empire 22 Chapter 4: Greek Orthodoxy 33 Chapter 5: The Church of Hagia Sophia 50 Chapter 6: The Ravenna Mosaics 61 Chapter 7: Roman Law 70 Part II: The Transition from Ancient to Medieval Chapter 8: The Bulwark Against Islam 83 Chapter 9: Icons, a New Christian Art Form 98 Chapter 10: Iconoclasm and Icon Veneration 105 Chapter 11: A Literate and Articulate Society 119 Chapter 12: Saints Cyril and Methodios,'Apostles to the Slavs' 131 Part: III: Byzantium Becomes a Medieval State Chapter 13: Greek Fire 141 Chapter 14: The Byzantine Economy 148 Chapter 15: Eunuchs 160 Chapter 16: The Imperial Court 170 Chapter 17: Imperial Children,"Born in the Purple" 185 Chapter 18: Mount Athos 192 Chapter 19: Venice and the Fork 203 Chapter 20: Basil II,"The Bulgar-Slayer" 212 Chapter 21: Eleventh-Century Crisis 220 Chapter 22: Anna Komnene 232 Chapter 23: A Cosmopolitan Society 242 Part IV: Varieties of Byzantium Chapter 24: The Fulcrum of the Crusades 255 Chapter 25: The Towers of Trebizond, Arta, Nicaea and Thessalonike 266 Chapter 26: Rebels and Patrons 281 Chapter 27: "Better the Turkish Turban than the Papal Tiara" 299 Chapter 28: The Siege of 1453 310 Conclusion: The Greatness and Legacy of Byzantium 321 Further Reading 339 List of Emperors Named in the Text 354 Chronology 357 Maps 363 Acknowledgements 375 Index 377

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