Margins and Metropolis
Authority across the Byzantine Empire
Published on 23. June 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
392 pages
978-0-691-16662-9 (ISBN)
Description
This volume explores the political, cultural, and ecclesiastical forces that linked the metropolis of Byzantium to the margins of its far-flung empire. Focusing on the provincial region of Hellas and Peloponnesos in central and southern Greece, Judith Herrin shows how the prestige of Constantinople was reflected in the military, civilian, and ecclesiastical officials sent out to govern the provinces. She evokes the ideology and culture of the center by examining different aspects of the imperial court, including diplomacy, ceremony, intellectual life, and relations with the church. Particular topics treat the transmission of mathematical manuscripts, the burning of offensive material, and the church's role in distributing philanthropy. Herrin contrasts life in the capital with provincial life, tracing the adaptation of a largely rural population to rule by Constantinople from the early medieval period onward.
The letters of Michael Choniates, archbishop of Athens from 1182 to 1205, offer a detailed account of how this highly educated cleric coped with life in an imperial backwater, and demonstrate a synthesis of ancient Greek culture and medieval Christianity that was characteristic of the Byzantine elite. This collection of essays spans the entirety of Herrin's influential career and draws together a significant body of scholarship on problems of empire. It features a general introduction, two previously unpublished essays, and a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into her broader analysis of the unusual brilliance and longevity of Byzantium.
The letters of Michael Choniates, archbishop of Athens from 1182 to 1205, offer a detailed account of how this highly educated cleric coped with life in an imperial backwater, and demonstrate a synthesis of ancient Greek culture and medieval Christianity that was characteristic of the Byzantine elite. This collection of essays spans the entirety of Herrin's influential career and draws together a significant body of scholarship on problems of empire. It features a general introduction, two previously unpublished essays, and a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into her broader analysis of the unusual brilliance and longevity of Byzantium.
Reviews / Votes
Judith Herrin, Winner of the 2016 Dr A.H. Heineken Prize, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences "Herrin has followed her publisher's excellent advice that she preface each piece with a generous account of when and how it came to be written. This means that, together with her general introductions for the two volumes, the reader has an extraordinary glimpse into the evolution of Byzantine studies from the 1960s onward as well as for the personal development of Herrin herself as a Byzantine historian. The two volumes are a kind of intellectual autobiography. I know of nothing quite like them in the time-honored tradition of collecting a scholar's papers. We can see clearly, step by step, how Herrin became the historian she is today as well as the environment that supported her, and through her, the field to which she has dedicated her life."--G.W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books "Herrin delights with her unpicking of unfamiliar texts and her eye for detail."--Christopher Kelly, Times Literary Supplement "I have often been told that scholars of other fields do not read the work of Byzantine historians because it is inaccessible or overly specialized... Herrin's essays are the best possible answer to such myopia. For church historians interested in a range of issues ... this collection of essays provides a stellar example of what Byzantine historians can contribute to several broader fields."--Tia M. Kolbaba, Church History "[T]hese volumes are an incredibly useful research and teaching resource. They make Herrin's work accessible to anyone interested in Byzantium who lacks access to the specialised journals in which they were published... Herrin's volumes offer a summative reflection of her erudition and skill as a Byzantinist over many years."--Liz James, Anglo-Hellenic ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
662 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-16662-9 (9780691166629)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2015
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€120.95
Available for download
Person
Judith Herrin is the Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College London. She is the author of Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium, and The Formation of Christendom (all Princeton).
Content
Abbreviations ix Introduction xiii MARGINS 1.A Christian Millennium: Greece in Byzantium--How the Empire Worked at Its Edge 3 2.Aspects of the Process of Hellenization in the Early Middle Ages 33 3.Realities of Provincial Government: Hellas and Peloponnesos, 1180-1204 58 4.The Ecclesiastical Organization of Central Greece at the Time of Michael Choniates: New Evidence from the Codex Atheniensis 1371 103 5.The Collapse of the Byzantine Empire in the Twelfth Century: A Study of a Medieval Economy 111 6.Byzantine Kythera 130 METROPOLIS 7.Byzantium: The Palace and the City 159 8.Philippikos and the Greens 179 9.Philippikos "the Gentle" 192 10.The Historical Context of Iconoclast Reform 206 11.Constantinople, Rome, and the Franks in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries 220 12.The Pentarchy: Theory and Reality in the Ninth Century 239 13.From Bread and Circuses to Soup and Salvation: The Origins of Byzantine Charity 267 14.Ideals of Charity, Realities of Welfare: The Philanthropic Activity of the Byzantine Church 299 15.Mathematical Mysteries in Byzantium: The Transmission of Fermat's Last Theorem 312 16.Book Burning as Purification in Early Byzantium 335 Index 357