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This article concerns issues connected with references to wild animals in a variety of sources, reflecting Byzantine social practices primarily connected with hunting. Hunting here is understood in the broadest possible sense. It should be remembered that the function of providing food through hunting was marginal in the Byzantine context; propaedeutic and prestigious functions of hunting were dominant. The activities discussed therefore include: game keeping, gifting exotic animals in the course of diplomacy and keeping them in captivity, hunting during military training, fishing (regarded in Byzantine culture as a form of hunting), and pigeon breeding. This requires a rich and diverse bibliographical basis. It should be emphasised that information concerning wild animals in legislation is scant and scattered. Byzantine law did not specify in detail either how hunting should take place or people's attitude towards wild animals, except concerning issues connected with ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article proposes a new approach to debates over the fort's location at Civetot (Kibotos), known to have been built by Emperor Alexios in the eleventh century before it disappeared from the historical record after the thirteenth. The crusades significantly changed the political and cultural structure of Asia Minor so understanding the early period of the crusades is important for gauging their impact in the region. The siege of Nicaea is referred to in many historical documents but earlier events are less frequently mentioned. The victory of the crusaders and the Byzantine army resulted in the conquest of Nicaea, which led to less emphasis being placed on previous struggles and the crusaders' defeat at Civetot, although it was a milestone for the crusaders and the Sultanate of Rum. This article combines historical sources, aerial photography, satellite images and underwater archaeological surveys to clarify details of the fort at Civetot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This contribution mainly focuses on Cyprus and the Balearics, islands located at opposite geographical extremes of the Byzantine Mediterranean, during the passage from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. Historians have often regarded these islands as peripheral additions to the Byzantine heartland of the Aegean and the Anatolian plateau; this article argues that, in fact, archaeological and material indicators (such as ceramics, lead seals and coins), paired with the scarce textual sources, point to a certain degree of economic prosperity in the abovementioned islands during the period under scrutiny, suggesting that they continued to play an important role in the political, administrative and religious structures of the Byzantine Empire. A resilient insular economy and continuity of local production of artefacts was ensured by the persistence of demand from local secular and religious elites and regular, if infrequent, contacts with other areas of the Byzantine heartland or the Muslim Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The "World of Medieval Islands" project invites the questioning of the category of island from medieval evidence, and coincided with another project of the author's that was undertaking a similar exercise with medieval frontiers. Combining these two research areas, this article investigates two island, or island-like, zones that were situated at the edges of early medieval polities, primarily (though variably) of Umayyad al-Andalus, and compares their situation so as to elucidate what about their geopolitical situation made them island-like and how steady that likeness was. Working through the historiographies of the Balearic Islands, which shifted from Byzantine to Islamic control through a variably evaluated transition period, and of the Muslim settlement at La Garde-Freinet, Provence, from inception to extermination, the article concludes that what was island-like or indeed frontier-like about both areas was not continuous, and that the category "island" is historically contingent and subjective, despite its apparent geographic concreteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The Aegean island of Chios provides a special case of insularity during the Middle Ages, aspects of which are reflected in the production of a highly-valued product, mastic resin, which was sought after across the Mediterranean world for use in medicine, fragrances and flavourings. Produced only on the island, high-quality mastic became an iconic Chian product that highlighted the island's uniqueness and significantly contributed to its economy. This article presents a diachronic view of mastic production in and circulation from Chios during the periods of Roman, Byzantine and Genoese rule. The widespread demand for its luxury commodity meant that the island was always active in the wider maritime networks in this period. The lens of mastic production makes these connections visible in textual, archaeological and architectural evidence that highlights the role local products played in the ways islands, like Chios, navigated the economic and political transitions of the medieval Mediterranean world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The subject of this article is the mantle of the kings of Sicily, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Made in Palermo in the 1130s, it is often known as the mantle of Roger II. Following his coronation in 1130, King Roger II saw the need to ensure the succession of his sons. As part of his strategy to consolidate dynastic succession, Roger invested his sons with important titles in the mainland regions of the kingdom. This article has two parts: the first discusses the materials used to make the mantle, the journeys they took to reach Sicily and the diplomatic and commercial relationships necessary to acquire them. The second part argues that the mantle may have been made for the investiture ceremonies of the king's sons and examines how the materials and their exoticism shaped the ceremonial meaning of the garment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article examines the frontier between the Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm and its Byzantine neighbours in the thirteenth century, concentrating on the place of these frontier districts within the Seljuk state. Scholarship on the frontier, influenced by the ideas of Paul Wittek, has seen it as something of a “no man's land”, politically, economically, culturally and religiously distinct from the urban heartland of the Seljuk sultanate in central Anatolia, dominated by the nomadic Turks, the Turkmen, who operated largely beyond sultanic control. It is often thought that the Seljuk and Greek sides of the border shared more in common with each other than they did with the states of which they formed a part. In contrast, this article argues that in fact the western frontier regions were closely integrated into the Seljuk sultanate. Furthermore, with the Mongol domination of the Seljuk sultanate in the second half of the thirteenth century, the Seljuk and Mongol elites became increasingly involved in this frontier region, where some of the leading figures of the sultanate had estates and endowments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The medieval Mediterranean has predominantly been considered to be a place of continuous conflict in matters of political and territorial ambitions, and, of course, religious dominance. The constant incursions on the islands of the Mediterranean have been considered by historians, legitimately in many instances, to be destructive of local communities, and to have caused turbulence in the economy, society, and culture. However, there is documentation which proves that such invasions were frequently followed by improvement in administration, and subsequently by production of art and a new type of culture that was an amalgam of Western and Eastern elements. This article aims to illustrate certain positive side effects of this interaction in the Mediterranean through a specific example: the medieval city of Aegina in the Aegean Sea. During its history, the island passed through the hands of the Franks, the Venetians, the Catalans, and eventually the Ottomans. The architectural forms and artistic patterns that will be discussed support the argument that the medieval Mediterranean became a place for the exchange of ideas, and a canvas for multicultural activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] more...

This essay explores one of the main tools of Byzantine diplomatic techniques: inviting foreign rulers to Constantinople and establishing bonds of alliance through the bestowal of titles and stipends, with respect to the empire's Muslim neighbours in the fourth/tenth and fifth/eleventh centuries. In particular, it will be explained how and under what circumstances the traditional lines of communication between Constantinople and the caliphal court of Baghdad were gradually transformed into a multilayered network of personal contacts between the emperor and a number of Muslim frontier lords, who partly took on the role of representatives and dignitaries of the Byzantine Empire. Furthermore, I will try to examine the development of these newly established networks with respect to the emirates of Aleppo and Edessa, the Jarrāḥid clan in Syria and the Marwānid dynasty in the Upper Euphrates and Lake Van region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Ambassadors and embassies were numerous between Byzantium and its Muslim and Western Christian neighbours during the Middle Byzantine Period. This article seeks to demonstrate that these official envoys constituted major players involved in the transfer of political information between the courts considered. Ambassadors were those who travelled the most in the Mediterranean area during our period – at least between 700 and 900. Furthermore, as official envoys acting for sovereigns, they were carefully listened to by those sovereigns when they returned. Information coming from ambassadors is found in various sources and concerned military matters and foreign policy. But we also find precise data on domestic affairs and internal political information. Furthermore, news of usurpations and troubles in Byzantium may have constituted an important part of the information transferred beyond the Empire. Foreign ambassadors witnessed usurpations and palace revolutions. Their testimonies could have nourished the idea of a Byzantine government weakened by political instability and this theme became prominent during the twelfth century in some Western Christian courts. 1 I am very grateful to Alun Williams, John Tolan and Diana Maloyan for their critical remarks on this article. A shorter version was presented at the International Medieval Congress session “Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantine and Islamic Spheres: Travelling Rulers and Exploring Subjects” in Leeds in July 2010, and I would like to thank Jonathan Shepard for his kind invitation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] more...

Partly because the First Crusade had weakened the Seljuk Sultanate in 1097-1099, David III of Georgia was able to extend his power over much of the Caucasus. The rulers of the Crusader States who stood in need of Eastern Christian allies sought to co-operate with him. Yet although some Western knights served in his army, the practical difficulties of co-ordinating joint action against the Islamic powers of north Syria and Anatolia in the twelfth century proved insuperable. In the thirteenth century the Georgian crown offered an alliance to the leaders of the Fifth Crusade: their forces would attack the northern provinces of the Ayyubid Empire while the crusaders were invading Egypt. This strategy was sound, but the rise of the Mongol Empire prevented it from being implemented. Nevertheless, the desire for military collaboration between Georgia and the Western powers persisted until the mid-fifteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper focuses on religiously based concepts in the Comnenian dynasty's ideology when propagating Byzantium's political and military antagonism with the Muslim-Turkish principalities of Asia Minor. Whereas during the conquest period in the second half of the eleventh century Byzantine perceptions were mainly determined by the classical bipolarity of barbarism vs. Roman civilisation and therefore defined the Seljuk Turks as an ethnic rather than a religious entity, in the 1130s a tendency to identify them with the 'sons of Hagar', i.e. the Muslims, prevailed. At the same time the court rhetoricians of Emperor John II developed forms of imperial representation exhibiting allusions to Old Testament prototypes (Moses) and certain features of western crusader ideology. The image of his successor, Manuel I, instead draws more intensively on the idea of the emperor's Christ-like position and the motif of the tireless defender of the true faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The aim of this short article is modest: it means to fill a lacuna in scholarly output by offering a concise and accessible survey of the physical structure of the typical west Anatolian town in the High Middle Ages. Attempts to locate such a study meet with disappointment. If one wishes to look through the eyes of medieval travellers in Anatolia, whether they be merchants, pilgrims or soldiers, and discover what type of construction they witnessed when approaching and entering a typical town, one is compelled to trawl through a great number of specialist articles and monographs dealing with specific archaeological sites or particular narrow periods of history. This laborious exercise will be made somewhat redundant by a brief synthesis of the appropriate evidence which historians and archaeologists have addressed and compiled since the late 1950s when attempting to reconstruct the development of the Byzantine city. The article traces the slow development of the typical Anatolian urban form and aspect from the late fourth century, through the mid-seventh to mid-eighth centuries, and then through to a period of urban recovery until the latter part of the twelfth century. The choice of periods separated by some 800 years is not arbitrary: the physical character (and function) of the typical town began to change in the late fourth century, and the form it obtained during the seventh and eighth centuries continued to be the one retained (with inconsequential variations to the general pattern) during the intermediate periods of Byzantine recovery [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Advice had to be given carefully to the Emperor in Byzantium. This article looks at two addresses delivered to Alexios I Komnenos in the latter part of the 11th Century by Theophylact of Ohrid and John the Oxite. Both were senior clerics who sought to counsel the Emperor to abandon risky policies which had brought limited success to Byzantium. The methods of the two orators differ sharply, with one urging Alexios gently and through flattery, and the other providing a stinging critique of Komnenian rule, offering a dramatic diagnosis of the problems affecting Byzantium at this time. This is at least partly a reflection of a changing political situation in and around Constantinople between 1088-91. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In the fourteenth century, a mounting crisis was faced by the Byzantine Empire. This study considers the reactions during the reign of Andronicus II of two courtiers, Theodore Palaeologus and Theodore Metochites, who can be argued to be key figures in late medieval political thought. Central to the debate that developed between these individuals was the issue of the appropriateness of introducing in Constantinople "constitutional" reforms modelled upon practices established in the city-states of northern Italy-practices that emphasised the importance of consultative rule as an ideal and insisted upon the role of conciliar or parliamentary institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The Byzantine emperor Theophilus (829-842) is recorded as having commissioned a palace in the style of contemporary &hamza;Abbāsid palaces in Baghdad near Constantinople, making it an important instance in the visual cultural exchange between Byzantium and Islamdom. One widely held explanation suggests that Theophilus had a taste for the arts of Islamdom. This paper argues that the &hamza;Abbāsid-style palace of Theophilus should be placed in the context of contemporary political events and Theophilus's architectural patronage. The palace can then be seen as the product of Byzantine-Muslim political and cultural rivalry mediated by an increasingly shared culture of objects that included architectural concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The present paper studies the titles of the Byzantine emperors used by the Mamlūk chancery. The surviving Mamlūk chancery textbooks of the fourteenth century provide us with new, rich data on the modes of address customarily employed by the Mamlūk sultans in writing to the Byzantine emperors. What determined the choice of a particular title? Were these titles translated into Arabic from the Byzantine originals or were these formulas the inventions of the Mamlūk secretaries? Was the attitude demonstrated by the Mamlūks towards the Byzantine emperor an innovation in chancery practice, or was it a part of a traditional view, shared by other great powers, the Īlkhāns, of the role of the emperor as head of Christendom? The investigation of the Mamlūk formula of the address of the Byzantine emperor clearly demonstrates that almost all the titles of the emperor were composed by the Mamlūk secretaries. The titles help us restore the traditional perception of the Byzantium in the Muslim countries in the fourteenth century. Despite the decline of Byzantium, the emperor was still considered as head of Christendom, the successor of Alexander the Great of Macedonia and the chief protector of the Christian faith. Such perception was demonstrated not only by the Mamlūk, but also the Īlkhānid chancery. However, the Mamlūks brought about an innovation: they recognised the concept of the so-called Byzantine Commonwealth, an association of the Orthodox states with the Byzantine emperor as its head. It seems that the Orthodox Church that participated in the relations between Byzantium and the Muslim East, was a channel of communication which brought the idea of the Commonwealth into Mamlūk diplomatic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article deals with the Islamic background of the Arab penetration of Byzantine Anatolia in the seventh to tenth centuries A.D. It focuses in particular on the implicit references to the Islamic law of war (fiqh al-jihād) , as found in the Arabic historical sources dealing with Muslim raids, the accumulation and distribution of booty, and the ideological framework in which these events occurred. There was a theological dimension to this discourse: Muslim writers at times refer to the absolute determination of the outcome of battles and sieges through divine will. It appears that fiqh al-jihād had acquired standing as a species of international law by the end of this period, becoming the dialectical cognate of customary law of nations recognised by the late Roman jurists. This becomes evident through an analysis of negotiations for the surrender of cities, and in the periodic exchange of captives for which there are detailed records between 830-946 A.D. Recognised norms were sometimes violated: one sees this particularly in the killing of monks during Arab military operations. It is anticipated that the present study will be the first step in a comparative study of Byzantine and Islamic jurisprudence on the regulation of armed conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Byzantine crowns are not only emblematic of the empire, but also reflect the breadth and depth of her acquaintance. Much like the Classical tradition of using women as personifications of cities, states and ideals, the empress who embodied the empire was often depicted in a more elaborate crown than the emperor. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the Byzantine empress' crown as distinct from the emperor's crown. Both evolved, in part, from the much simpler diadems of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Comparison of pictorial images and historical sources reveals how their respective styles diverged and the influences that fed those variations. Further comparison with the jewelry and headgear of neighbouring peoples reveals the influence of Eastern headgear and hairdressing upon the evolution of the empress's crown. Much like the decorative arts of Byzantium, the empress's crown testifies to the fusion of Mediterranean and Eastern cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...