Judith herrin women in purple rulers of med ium (v5 0)

Byzantium By the same author The Formation of Christendom A Medieval Miscellany Women in Purple Iconoclasm (edited with Anthony Bryer) Constantinople in the early eighth century: the Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai (edited with Averil Cameron) Mosaic (Festschrift for A H S Megaw, edited with Catherine Otten and Margaret Mullett) Personification in the Greek World: From Antiquity to Byzantium (edited with Emma Stafford) JUDITH HERRIN Byzantium The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire ALLEN LANE an imprint of PENGUIN BOOKS ALLEN LANE Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England www.penguin.com First published 2007 Copyright © Judith Herrin, 2007 The moral right of the author has been asserted All rights reserved Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book EISBN: 978–0–141–91136–6 For Tamara and Portia, who also asked, What is Byzantium? Contents List of Illustrations List of Maps Introduction: A Different History of Byzantium I Foundations of Byzantium The City of Constantine Constantinople, the Largest City in Christendom The East Roman Empire Greek Orthodoxy The Church of Hagia Sophia The Ravenna Mosaics Roman Law II The Transition from Ancient to Medieval The Bulwark Against Islam Icons, a New Christian Art Form 10 Iconoclasm and Icon Veneration 11 A Literate and Articulate Society 12 Saints Cyril and Methodios, ‘Apostles to the Slavs’ III Byzantium Becomes a Medieval State 13 Greek Fire 14 The Byzantine Economy 15 Eunuchs 16 The Imperial Court 17 Imperial Children, ‘Born in the Purple’ 18 Mount Athos 19 Venice and the Fork 20 Basil II, ‘The Bulgar-Slayer’ 21 Eleventh-Century Crisis 22 Anna Komnene 23 A Cosmopolitan Society IV Varieties of Byzantium 24 The Fulcrum of the Crusades 25 The Towers of Trebizond, Arta, Nicaea and Thessalonike 26 Rebels and Patrons 27 ‘Better the Turkish Turban than the Papal Tiara’ 28 The Siege of 1453 Conclusion: The Greatness and Legacy of Byzantium Further Reading List of Emperors Named in the Text Chronology Maps Acknowledgements Index List of Illustrations Photographic acknowledgements are given in parentheses Mount Athos, Chalkidike (copyright © Kallirroe Linardou) Mount Sinai, Egypt (copyright © Judith Herrin) Constantinople, land walls (copyright © ArtServe, reproduced by kind permission of Michael Greenhalgh) Thessalonike, walls of the citadel (copyright © Judith Herrin) Aqueduct of Valens, Constantinople (copyright © Judith Herrin) Obelisk of Theodosius I (copyright © Judith Herrin) Silk roundel (copyright © Dumbarton Oaks, Byzantine Collection, Washington DC) Lead seal of kommerkiarioi (copyright © Dumbarton Oaks, Byzantine Collection, Washington DC) Pilgrim flask of St Menas (copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum) 10 Frontispiece from the Bible of Leo (copyright © Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana) 11 Gold coins, Constantinople (copyright © The Henry Barber Coin Collection, University of Birmingham) 12 Karanlik Kilisse, twelfth century, exterior (copyright © Dick Osseman) 13 Karanlik Kilisse, interior fresco with fork (copyright © Dick Osseman) 14 Ivory plaque of Christ, tenth century, Musée du Cluny, Paris (copyright © Bridgeman Art Library) 15 Miniatures from the Khludov Psalter, ninth century (copyright © M V Shchepkina, Miniatiury Khludovskoi Psaltyri (Moscow 1977)) 16 Hagia Sophia from the sea (copyright © Dick Osseman) 17 Mosaic of Zoe and Constantine IX flanking Christ, Hagia Sophia (copyright © Dumbarton Oaks, Image Collections & Fieldwork Archives, Washington DC) Nikephoros II Phokas, Emperor 121, 144, 145, 178, 196, 213 Niketas, cousin of Herakleios 84 Niketas, Patriarch of Constantinople 93, 163 Niketas the Paphlagonian 163 Nikomedeia 8, 283, map Nikopolis 312, maps 4, Niš 4, maps 4, 5, Nomokanon 73, 75 Notaras, Loukas 184, 299, 309 Notker 211, 332 nunneries 48, 187, 190, 197–8 Nymphaion 278, map ochlokratia (mob rule) 282, 286 Odo of Deuil 161 Oecumenical Councils 35 First (Nicaea 325) 35–6, 162, 307 Second (Constantinople 381) 38 Fourth (Chalcedon 451) 11, 38, 39, 46, 94, 307 Sixth (Constantinople 680/81) 95, 121 Seventh (Nicaea 787) 111, 296 Eighth (Constantinople 869/70) 136 Ohrid 217, 275, maps 4, Opsikion, theme 91, 107, map organ 17, 28, 29, 171, 180, 181, 207 Oikonomides, Nicolas 156 Olga 138, 179, 214 Orhan 283–4 Osman 283 Otloh of St Emmeram 209–10 Otto I, Emperor of Germany 178 Otto II, Emperor of Germany xxii, 207–8, plate 14 Ottoman Turks capture of Constantinople 20, 314, 317–20, 333 expansion of 310–14, 325 rise of 283–4, 314–20 rulers 316–17 Pachom 41 paganism and Christianity 9, 37–8, 95 icons 99–100, 103–4 inheritance of 329–31 Pakourianos family 246–7 Pakourianos, Gregory 247 Palaiologina, Helena 331 Palaiologos dynasty 191, 282, 299, 311–12 Palaiologos, Andreas 285–6, 289 Palaiologos, Demetrios and Thomas 317 Palaiologos, George 237, 239 Palaiologos, Michael 285–6 Palaiologos, Theodore 310 Palamas, Gregory 200–201, 286, 289, plate 39 Pannonia 133–4, map papyrus 5, 30, 53, 64, 68, 125 parchment, writingon 125 Patras 93, 132, 292, map siege of 94, 132 patriarchs appointment of 44 pentarchy 38–9 under Ottomans 333–4 Pechenegs 181, 221, 222–3, 237 Peloponnese 84, 132, 168, 250, 271, 291, 292, 297, map Persians attacks on Byzantium 84–5 occupation of Near East 26, 149 Peter, St 35, 28, 45, 135, 210, 261, plate 15 church of, Rome 46, 64, 92, 117 relics 35, 69 Peter of Bulgaria 188 Peter the Hermit 258 Petritzos 247, map Philagathos, John 211, plate 14 Philadelphia 270, map philanthropy 247–8 Philippikos, Emperor 18 philosophy 228–9, 293–7, 305 Philotheos 165 Phokas, Emperor 32 Phokas, Peter 161 Photios, Patriarch 75, 104, 113, 116, 126–30, 134–8, 329 Pippin 68, 207 Pirenne, Henri 87 Pisa 209, 240, 260, map Pisanello 307 plague 16–17 Planoudes, Maximos 304–5 Platonism 293, 296–7 Plethon, George Gemistos 49, 293–8, 330, 332–3 liturgy for worship of Zeus 294, 330 Poitiers 89, map politics popular 225–6, 282 See also patriarchs polo 29, 182, 240 pope, authority of 45, 307–8 See also Christianity: papal primacy population census 152 Constantinople 16–18 rural 155 porphyrogennetos 185–91, 207, plate 40 poverty 287–8 Presba 217, map Procopius 58–9 on Hagia Sophia 50, 56, 58 on Nika rebellion 54–5 on the plague 16–17 on Sinai 42 on Theodora 26, 58 Secret History 58–9 Wars 58, 66 Proikonessos 315, map pronoia 247–8 protospatharios 156–7 Psellos, Michael 76, 224–30 Pseudo-Kodinos 183–4 Ptolemy 123, 125, 229 Pulcheria 11, 19 punishments blinding 165, 186, 217–18 235, 245 castration 164–5 exile 44, 65, 95, 96, 115, 150, 159, 226, 281, 289, 293 mutilation 79, 96, 165 purple, imperial significance 185–91 al-Qazwini 20 Qur’an 88–9, 114, 138, 305, 324 Rastislav, Kingof Moravia 133, 134 Ravenna 50, 73, 203, 204, 207, maps 2, churches 37 decline of 69 fall of 110, 204 Gothic buildings 63–5 Justinian 65–8 mosaics 61, 63–4, 66–7 in Roman empire 61–3, 65, 67–9 rebels, Zealots 285–90 record-keeping 121, 174–5 relics, collection of 10, 19, 157, 170, 195, 256, 261 Renaissance, Italian 331, 332 Rhapsomates 237 Rhodes 91, 270, map Rhodian Sea Law 150 Richard I, Kingof England 270 Rimini 297, map Ringrose, Kathryn 169 Robert of Rheims 256 Roman empire eastern 24–32 expansion of 22–4 tetrarchy 4, 23 traditions of 30–32, 331 western half conquered 13–14, 23–4 Romanos I Lekapenos, Emperor 18, 144, 155, 176, 188, 196 Romanos II, Emperor 30, 181, 188–9, plate 23 Romanos III Argyros, Emperor 190, 205 Romanos IV Diogenes, Emperor 220 Rome 3, 7–8, 64, 91–2, 134, 163 bishops of 36, 45, 53, 164 churches 51, 134 Constantine I’s influence 8–9 and Constantinople 45–8, 109, 210–11, 261, 299–309 papal letters 73, 178, 211 sack of 13, 24, 63 Rum 19 Sultanate of Rum 256, 262, maps 5, Runciman, Steven 298 Russia, relations with Byzantium 213–14 Russians 16, 59, 137, 141, 242, 273 and Christianity 137–8, 189, 214 saints, lives of 111, 122, 198, 215, 238 Saladin, Sultan 260 Salerno 207, 209, map Samuel, Tsar 216–17, 218 Scandinavia, Byzantine influence 246 Scholarios, George see Gennadios scholarship 119–30 seals, lead 174–5 Seleukeia 34, maps 2, Seljuk Turks 18, 220–21, 255–6, 262, 324–5 Selymbria 14, 311, map Senate 96–7, 225 Septimus Severus 29 Serbia 270, 303, map Sergios, Patriarch 84–5 Seth, Symeon 228, 229 Sgouros, Leo 270 Sicily 66, 68, 91–2, 143, 153, 206, maps 2, Sidon 52 Sigismund, King of Hungary 312 Sigurd, King of Denmark 246 silk 52–3, 151 silver, icons 102 Sinaites, Gregory 200 Sinan 316 Singidunum 25, 83, maps 2, Sinope 137, maps 4, Sirmium 8, maps 2, Skleraina, Maria 185, 190 Skylitzes, John 141–2, 185, 218, 220, 230 slaves 163, 204 Slavs 83–4, 92–4 Christianity 131–8 language 131, 133–4 society hierarchy 281 power of the people 225–7, 282 rich and poor 287–8 Solomon, Rabbi 244 Solomon ben Simpson of Speyer 257 Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem 102 Spain, Arab expansion 89 Sparta 133, 243, 291, 293, map Sphrantzes 319 status symbols, imperial 142–3 Stefan Uroš IV Dragaš, Kingof Serbia 288, 310, 311 Stephen II, Pope 68 Stephen the Younger, St 110 stereotypes, Byzantium 211, 267–8, 321 Stilicho 13, 23–4 Süleyman, Caliph 310 Susannah 41 Sylvester II, Pope 208 Symeon, Sts, Younger and Elder 41, 103 Symeon, called Metaphrastes 215 Symmachus, Pope 64 Syracuse 91–2, map Syropoulos, Sylvester 306, 308 Tamar, Queen of Georgia 273 Tarasios, Patriarch 111, 123, 127 Taurus Mountains, as barrier 52, 88–9, 90, map taxation 148–52 technology, automata 29, 171 Tenedos 25, 305, map Thebes 154, 244, 279, 291 theme development 91, 132, 143 theme government 106–7, 132 Theodahad 65 Theoderic the Ostrogoth 24, 63–5, 67 Theodora, Empress, wife of Justinian 26–7, 42, 54–5, 61, 66–7, plate 19 Theodora, Empress, wife of Theophilos 112, 117–18, 150, 173, 331, plate 27 Theodora, Empress (1055–6) 55, 147, 185, 189–90, 221, 226, 331 Theodora, St 276 Theodore I Komnenos Doukas, Emperor in Epiros 275 Theodore I Laskaris, Emperor in Nicaea 270, 277 Theodore II Laskaris, Emperor in Nicaea 279, 300 Theodore of Stoudios, St 124, 192 Theodoretus of Cyrrhus 52 Theodosios III, Emperor 107 Theodosius I, Emperor 12–13, 23, 38, plate Theodosius II, Emperor 18, 71 Theodote 173 Theoktistos, chief eunuch 112, 131–2, 167 Theophanes, Archbishop of Nicaea 302 Theophanes Confessor, Chronicle 85, 108, 124, 148, 243 Theophano, Empress, wife of Leo VI, 187 Theophano, Empress, wife of Romanos II and Nikephoros II 55, 213 Theophano, wife of Otto II xxii, 207–8, 209–11, plate 14 Theophilos, astrologer 123 Theophilos, Emperor 28, 75, 112, 125, 150, plate 32 Theophylaktos of Ohrid 168–9 Thessalonike 78, 84, 132, 150, 216, 269, 275, 285, 290, 306, 311, maps 4, 6, plate Zealots 285–90 Thera 108, map Thessaly 57, 132, 270, map Thomas the Slav 93 Thrace 26, 153, 270, 283, 310 theme 91, map Thrakesion, theme 91, 107, map Timur (Tamerlane) 313–14 titles, honorific 156–7 Toledo 88, map Tornikes, George 228, 232 Toscanelli, Paul 296 Trabzon see Trebizond trade 148–59, 204, 250 Trapezountios, George 296 Trebizond 196, 243, maps 2, 4, imperial centre 269, 271, 272–5, 283‘Triumph of Orthodoxy’ 112–13, 194 Trnovo 270, map trousers 240, 260 True Cross 84–5, 265 Turkey, formation of 334–5 Turks conflict with 18, 220–21, 236–7, 240, 255–6, 324–5 Ottoman 283–4, 325 See also crusades; Ottoman Turks Tyre 52, map Tzetes, John 242–3, 249 Ulfila 37 Umur, Emir of Aydin 286 Urban II, Pope 236, 255–7, 300 Urban IV, Pope 300 Valens, Emperor 12, 14 Valentinian III, Emperor in the West 62 Vandals 37, 63 Varangians 243, 246, 273 Varna map crusade 308 Venice 133, 163, 290, 305–6, map founding of 203–4 rise of 69 and Fourth Crusade 263–4, 267 San Marco 205, 265, plates 29, 30 trade with Byzantium 158–9, 204–11, 236, 250, 260 Verina, Empress 19, 100 Vikings 245–6 villages, economy 154–6 Villehardouin, Geoffrey 18, 246, 262–3 Villehardouin, Geoffrey (the younger) 271 Visigoths 24 Vitalian, Pope 92, 164 Vitiges 65–6 Vladimir of Kiev 189, 213–14 Vladislav, John 219 Vladislav I of Hungary, 307–8 volcanic eruption (726) 108 Voltaire 321 war, just 79 warfare maritime 141–3 See also Greek fire; military campaigns Wickham, Chris 332 William of Champlitte 271 William of Moerbeke 278–9 William II Villehardouin 290 women at court 172–4, 179 education 122, 330–31 holy 41, 198 powerful 55 saints 198 writers 238 Woodhouse, C M 332 writing historical 124 techniques of 125 See also language; letters; literature Xenos, John 197 Xeropotamites, Paul 196 Xiphilinos, John 76, 273 Zaccaria, Genoese family 284, 292, 317 Zakynthos 132, 143, map Zara 262–3, map Zealots 285–90 Zeno, Emperor 63 Zeus 7, 100, 230, 294–5, 330 Zoe, Empress 55, 147, 189–90, 215, 221, 226, 331, plate 17 Zoe Zaoutze 173, 187 Zosimus 3, 8–9 ... (copyright © Judith Herrin) Aqueduct of Valens, Constantinople (copyright © Judith Herrin) Obelisk of Theodosius I (copyright © Judith Herrin) Silk roundel (copyright © Dumbarton Oaks, Byzantine Collection,... Byzantium? Contents List of Illustrations List of Maps Introduction: A Different History of Byzantium I Foundations of Byzantium The City of Constantine Constantinople, the Largest City in Christendom... to this link, which I would connect with a Byzantine tradition of female rule, ‘the imperial feminine’ Digging up Byzantium was another way of discovering the Byzantines On excavations in Greece,