Byzantine History and Culture
Postgraduate Programme — Level 7
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion, students will be able to:
1)
Demonstrate advanced knowledge of the major political, social, economic, religious, and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire from Late Antiquity to 1453
2)
Explain and critically assess key themes in Byzantine history and culture, including imperial ideology, administration and economy, diplomacy, religion, art, and intercultural exchanges
3)
Analyze and interpret a range of primary sources (historical texts, legal sources, hagiography, material culture, and visual evidence) using appropriate historical methodologies
4)
Evaluate major historiographical debates and scholarly approaches concerning Byzantine history and civilization
5)
Compare Byzantine institutions and cultural phenomena with those of neighboring medieval societies, identifying continuities, transformations, and cross-cultural interactions
6)
Apply specialized terminology and conceptual tools relevant to Byzantine studies in oral and written academic communication
7)
Conduct independent research on selected topics in Byzantine history and culture, using appropriate bibliographical resources and scholarly conventions
8)
Synthesize evidence from diverse sources to formulate well-supported historical arguments and present them effectively in written assignments and discussions
COURSE SYLLABUS
13 Modules
Week 01 | What Was Byzantium? Empire, Romanity, and Historiography
Main issues to discuss and present: Byzantium as the medieval Roman Empire, the problem of the term “Byzantine”. The sources, methods, and approaches in Byzantine Studies
Week 02 | From Late Antiquity to Byzantium: Transformation and Continuity (4th–7th c.)
Main issues to discuss and present: Emperor Constantine I and Constantinople, Christian empire and imperial ideology, Justinian I and the transformation of Roman hegemony, Crisis and transition in the seventh century
Week 03 | State, Emperor, and Administration
Main issues to discuss and present: the emperor as ruler and sacred authority, Bureaucracy, taxation, law, Themes/θέματα and provincial administration
Week 04 | Orthodoxy, Church, and Religious Culture
Main issues to discuss and present: Church-state relations, Councils and doctrinal conflict, Monasticism
Week 05 | Society, Gender
Main issues to discuss and present: Urban and rural society, family and social structures, gender and social identities, ethnic groups
Week 06 | Economy, Trade, and the Mediterranean World
Main issues to discuss and present: the agrarian structures and taxation, trade networks and exchange, Coinage and markets, Byzantium in Mediterranean connectivity
Week 07 | Byzantium and the World: East, West, and Cross-Cultural Exchange
Main issues to discuss and present: Byzantium and Islam, Byzantium and Latin Christendom, Slavic missions and cultural transmission, the diplomacy as imperial strategy, frontiers and cultural contact zones
Week 08 | Art, and Visual Culture
Main issues to discuss and present: Hagia Sophia and monumental culture, Icons, mosaics, and visual theology, Art as political and religious discourse
Week 09 | Intellectual and Literary Culture
Main issues to discuss and present: Education and paideia, historiography and rhetoric, Theology and philosophy, Natural Sciences
Week 10 | Crisis, Fragmentation, and the Fall of Constantinople
Main issues to discuss and present: 1204 and the Latin conquest, the state Nicaea and restoration, Palaiologan Byzantium, 1453 and historical endings
Week 11 | The Legacy and Reception of Byzantium
Main issues to discuss and present: Byzantium after 1453, Byzantium in Orthodox traditions
Week 12 | Modern uses of Byzantium
Main issue to discuss and present: Current directions in Byzantine Studies
Week 13 | Presentation of students’ essays
Presentation
ASSESSMENT
Student Evaluation
20%
Seminar Participation
20%
Primary Source Analysis
20%
Public presentation
40%
Research Essay
Workload — ECTS Distribution
250 Hours Total
Lectures
22
Seminar discussions
Primary source workshops
Study and analysis of bibliography
40
Student presentations
20
Independent study
60
Essay writing
74
Course Total
250
Recommended Bibliography
Suggested bibliography:
- Beck, Hans-Georg. Das byzantinische Munich: C.H. Beck, 1978.
- Brubaker, Leslie, and John Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Cameron, Averil. Byzantine Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.
- Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity AD 395–700. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2012.
- Cormack, Byzantine Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Dagron, Emperor and Priest: The Imperial Office in Byzantium. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Dagron, Gilbert. L’Empire romain d’Orient. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2004.
- Dagron, Naissance d’une capitale: Constantinople et ses institutions de 330 à 451. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1974.
- Guillou, André. Byzance et sa Paris: Armand Colin, 1974.
- Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Hendy, Michael. Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300–1450. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
- Herrin, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.
- Herrin, The Formation of Christendom. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.
- Jeffreys, Elizabeth, John Haldon, and Robin Cormack, The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Kaldellis, Romanland: Ethnicity and Empire in Byzantium. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.
- Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
- Karayannopoulos, Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού Κράτους. Thessaloniki: Vanias, multiple editions.
- Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
- Krueger, Derek, Byzantine Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.
- Laiou, Angeliki, ed. The Economic History of Byzantium. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2002.
- Lemerle, Paul. Le premier humanisme byzantin. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1971.
- Mango, Byzantium: The Empire of New Rome. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980.
- Beck, Hans-Georg. Das byzantinische Munich: C.H. Beck, 1978.
- Brubaker, Leslie, and John Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Cameron, Averil. Byzantine Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.
- Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity AD 395–700. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2012.
- Cormack, Byzantine Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Dagron, Emperor and Priest: The Imperial Office in Byzantium. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Dagron, Gilbert. L’Empire romain d’Orient. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2004.
- Dagron, Naissance d’une capitale: Constantinople et ses institutions de 330 à 451. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1974.
- Guillou, André. Byzance et sa Paris: Armand Colin, 1974.
- Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Hendy, Michael. Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300–1450. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
- Herrin, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.
- Herrin, The Formation of Christendom. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.
- Jeffreys, Elizabeth, John Haldon, and Robin Cormack, The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Kaldellis, Romanland: Ethnicity and Empire in Byzantium. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.
- Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
- Karayannopoulos, Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού Κράτους. Thessaloniki: Vanias, multiple editions.
- Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
- Krueger, Derek, Byzantine Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.
- Laiou, Angeliki, ed. The Economic History of Byzantium. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2002.
- Lemerle, Paul. Le premier humanisme byzantin. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1971.
- Mango, Byzantium: The Empire of New Rome. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980.
- Morrisson, Cécile, Trade and Markets in Byzantium. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2012.
- Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
- Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971.
- Treadgold, Warren. Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995.