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Nikephoros Bryennios' history of the Byzantine Empire in the 1070s
is a story of civil war and aristocratic rebellion in the midst of
the Turkish conquest of Anatolia. Commonly remembered as the
passive and unambitious husband of Princess Anna Komnene (author of
the Alexiad), Bryennios is revealed as a skilled author whose
history draws on cultural memories of classical Roman honor and
proper masculinity to evaluate the politicians of the 1070s and
implicitly to exhort his twelfth-century contemporaries to
honorable behavior. Bryennios' story valorizes the memory of his
grandfather and other honorable, but failed, generals of the
eleventh century while subtly portraying the victorious Alexios
Komnenos as un-Roman. This reading of the Material for History
sheds new light on twelfth-century Byzantine culture and politics,
especially the contested accession of John Komnenos, the
relationship between Bryennios' history and the Alexiad and the
function of cultural memories of Roman honor in Byzantium.
This handy reference guide makes it easier to access and understand
histories written in Greek between 600 and 1480 CE. Covering
classicizing histories that continued ancient Greek traditions of
historiography, sweeping, fast-paced 'chronicle' type histories,
and dozens of idiosyncratic historical texts, it distills the
results of complex, multi-lingual, specialist scholarship into
clear explanations of the basic information needed to approach each
medieval Greek history. It provides a sound basis for further
research on each text by describing what we know about the time of
composition, content covered by the history, authorship, extant
manuscripts, previous editions and translations, and basic
bibliography. Even-handed explanations of scholarly debates give
readers the information they need to assess controversies
independently. A comprehensive introduction orients students and
non-specialists to the traditions and methods of Byzantine
historical writing. It will prove an invaluable timesaver for
Byzantinists and an essential entry point for classicists, western
medievalists, and students.
Nikephoros Bryennios' history of the Byzantine Empire in the 1070s
is a story of civil war and aristocratic rebellion in the midst of
the Turkish conquest of Anatolia. Commonly remembered as the
passive and unambitious husband of Princess Anna Komnene (author of
the Alexiad), Bryennios is revealed as a skilled author whose
history draws on cultural memories of classical Roman honor and
proper masculinity to evaluate the politicians of the 1070s and
implicitly to exhort his twelfth-century contemporaries to
honorable behavior. Bryennios' story valorizes the memory of his
grandfather and other honorable, but failed, generals of the
eleventh century while subtly portraying the victorious Alexios
Komnenos as un-Roman. This reading of the Material for History
sheds new light on twelfth-century Byzantine culture and politics,
especially the contested accession of John Komnenos, the
relationship between Bryennios' history and the Alexiad and the
function of cultural memories of Roman honor in Byzantium.
The imperial government over the central provinces of the Byzantine
Empire c.950-1100 was both sovereign and apathetic, dealing
effectively with a narrow set of objectives, chiefly collecting
revenue and maintaining imperial sovereignty. Outside these
spheres, action needed to be solicited from imperial officials,
leaving vast opportunities for local people to act independently
without legal stricture or fear of imperial involvement. In the
absence of imperial intervention provincial households competed
with each other for control over community decisions. The emperors
exercised just enough strength at the right times to prevent the
leaders of important households in the core provinces from becoming
rulers themselves. Membership in a successful household, wealth,
capacity for effective violence and access to the imperial court
were key factors that allowed one to act with authority. This 2004
book examines in detail the mechanisms provincial households used
to acquire and dispute authority.
The imperial government over the central provinces of the Byzantine
Empire c.950-1100 was both sovereign and apathetic, dealing
effectively with a narrow set of objectives, chiefly collecting
revenue and maintaining imperial sovereignty. Outside these
spheres, action needed to be solicited from imperial officials,
leaving vast opportunities for local people to act independently
without legal stricture or fear of imperial involvement. In the
absence of imperial intervention provincial households competed
with each other for control over community decisions. The emperors
exercised just enough strength at the right times to prevent the
leaders of important households in the core provinces from becoming
rulers themselves. Membership in a successful household, wealth,
capacity for effective violence and access to the imperial court
were key factors that allowed one to act with authority. This 2004
book examines in detail the mechanisms provincial households used
to acquire and dispute authority.
This handy reference guide makes it easier to access and understand
histories written in Greek between 600 and 1480 CE. Covering
classicizing histories that continued ancient Greek traditions of
historiography, sweeping, fast-paced 'chronicle' type histories,
and dozens of idiosyncratic historical texts, it distills the
results of complex, multi-lingual, specialist scholarship into
clear explanations of the basic information needed to approach each
medieval Greek history. It provides a sound basis for further
research on each text by describing what we know about the time of
composition, content covered by the history, authorship, extant
manuscripts, previous editions and translations, and basic
bibliography. Even-handed explanations of scholarly debates give
readers the information they need to assess controversies
independently. A comprehensive introduction orients students and
non-specialists to the traditions and methods of Byzantine
historical writing. It will prove an invaluable timesaver for
Byzantinists and an essential entry point for classicists, western
medievalists, and students.
Byzantine princess Anna Komnene is known for two things: plotting
to murder her brother to usurp the throne, and writing the Alexiad,
an epic history of her father Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) that
is a key historical source for the era of the First Crusade. Anna
Komnene: the Life and Work of a Medieval Historian investigates the
relationship between Anna's self-presentation in the Alexiad and
the story of her bloodthirsty ambition. It begins by asking why
women did not write history in Anna's society, what cultural rules
Anna broke by doing so, and how Anna tried to respond to those
challenges in her writing. Many of the idiosyncrasies and surprises
of Anna's Alexiad are driven by her efforts to be perceived as both
a good historian and a good woman. These new interpretations of
Anna's authorial persona then spark a thorough re-thinking of the
standard story which defines Anna's life by the failure of her
supposed political ambitions. The second half of this work reviews
the medieval sources with fresh eyes and re-establishes Anna's
primary identity as an author and intellectual rather than as a
failed conspirator.
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