The history of Byzantium 4018-KONW87
The first aim of the course is to familiarize participants with the history of Byzantium (political, social, economic, religious, and cultural history) and with sources for studying it. The history of Byzantium cannot be considered separately from the surrounding world, so our course will look from a broader perspective and also include Byzantium's neighbours and selected problems of the Middle East in the Middle Ages, particularly the situation of Christians outside the empire. The other aim of the course is for students to practise the historical method, and methods of analysing sources in particular. Therefore every class will also be a workshop.
Below is a list of topics, of which a maximum of 11-12 will ultimately be covered. The topics will be chosen together with the participants
0) Organizational matters.
1) Justinian and Theodora in The Secret History by Procopius - the imperial court at the birth of Byzantine culture. Literary convention versus interpretation of a source.
2) The Arab conquest - especially the conquest in Syro-Palestine and the conquerors' conduct towards the conquered.
3) The symbolic role of Jerusalem in the wars of the 7th century. Jews and Christians in the 7th century.
4) The economy in the first centuries of Byzantium - The Agrarian Law and The Life of Philaretos.
5) The iconoclasm - reading excerpts from one of the lives of the saints from this period.
6) Christians under Arab rule. Jesus in the eyes of Muslims; what did the Byzantines and Arabs know about each other?
7) The founding myth of the Macedonian dynasty: workshops based on the life of Basil I written by his grandson Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
8) Source workshops on De administrando imperio - the empire's diplomatic and intelligence service. The empire's policy towards the steppe peoples.
9) The symbolic topography of Constantinople in the 10th century: history and present day. Workshops based on Patria Constantinopolis.
10) The coup d'état in Byzantium - what legitimises the emperor's rule? Workshops based on Michael Psellos' Chronicles.
11) Georgians and Armenians versus the Byzantine world in the 10th-12th centuries.
12) Byzantium's economic development in the 10th-12th centuries. Source analysis workshops on The Book of the Prefect (Eparch), maybe also imperial documents granting privileges to Italian city-states.
13) The Seljuk Turks. Alexios Komnenos and the Crusades (The Alexiad).
14) The symbolism and practice of Norman rule in Sicily - workshops based on iconographic material and sources related to the cultural activity of the Norman rulers.
15) The crisis of Byzantium in the eyes of the West - the capture of Constantinople in 1204 (source analysis workshops based on Latin sources).
16) The capture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261 in Greek and Latin sources.
17) New structures of power: between Western feudalism and Byzantine society. The Latin states after 1204 on the example of The Chronicle of Morea.
18) The last "capital city" of Byzantium: Mystras. Workshops based on iconographic material and the town's topography.
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
Students will be familiar with basic facts and problems from the history of Byzantium, and with the major historiographic controversies.
Students will be able to find sources and studies on specific problems from the history of Byzantium and to analyse these materials.
Assessment criteria
Systematically preparing for classes, active participation in the discussion during class. Three absences are allowed; students will have to make up for their third absence in a form agreed upon with the teacher, the first two absences will have no consequences. A fourth absence will cause the student to be struck off the register.
Bibliography
Literatura do poszczególnych tematów będzie podawana z przynajmniej tygodniowym wyprzedzeniem. Część będzie umieszczana w depozycie prowadzących w Lektorium IH.
Poniżej umieszczamy listę wybranych podręczników i literatury pomocniczej:
E. Jeffreys et al. (red.), The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies, Oxford 2008
C. Morrison (red.), Le Monde Byzantin I, Paris 2004 (tł. pol. Świat Bizancjum, Kraków 2007)
J.-C. Cheynet (red.), Le Monde Byzantin II, Paris 2006
H.W. Haussig, Historia kultury bizantyńskiej, Warszawa 1969
Alexander P. Kazhdan (red.) The Oxford dictionary of Byzantium. Vol. 1-3, New York ; Oxford 1991.
M. Whittow, The Making of Orthodox Byzantium, Brekley 1996
G. Ostrogorski, Dzieje Bizancjum, Warszawa 2008
J. Herrin, Bizancjum, Poznań 2009
J. Haldon (red.) A social history of Byzantium, wyd. Blackwell 2009
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: