On September 28, 1009, Caliph al-Hakim had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed. How did it come to this? What did it mean for contemporaries? Why were Jews persecuted as a result? Did it interrupt the stream of pilgrims to Jerusalem? What do we know about al-Hakim's personality? How was the crisis mastered? How was the church rebuilt? These are the questions considered in an interdisciplinary discourse by scholars of Arabic, Byzantine, Jewish, medieval and Nordic studies, as well as art historians and experts on the Christian East.

This is the first systematic study of literary formulae (topoi) in Greek medieval lives of the saints. Thomas Pratsch compiles a comprehensive collection of material, including a systematic catalogue of the topoi. In his evaluation of them he provides new insights into the genesis, transmission and historical development of the genre of Greek saints' vitae. He traces the gradual development of the vitae from various other literary forms and, working from a new perspective, lends support to the thesis that a canon of Greek lives of the saints became established from the end of the 10th century and into the 11th century. This study is a valuable reference work on Byzantine hagiographic literature.

The Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period is a comprehensive biographical dictionary for the Eastern Mediterranean, including Byzantine Italy, in the Early Middle Ages. It is published in two sections, each comprising five volumes, and documents over 20,000 people. The first section covers the period from 641 to 867, the second extends to 1025. Apart from the five main volumes, each section contains an additional introductory volume, Prolegomena , containing principally information about the most important sources for the period - both Byzantine and non-Byzantine - together with a concluding volume with the definitive list of abbreviations, the indexes, and addenda and corrigenda. The work covers firstly all Byzantines mentioned either by name or anonymously in the relevant Byzantine and non-Byzantine sources, and secondly all persons mentioned in the Byzantine sources both from Western Europe and from the Arabic and Slavonic areas, together with those from the Christian East. The articles on the individual people bring together all known details in each case and give information on the present state of research. Both sections contain comprehensive indexes of names, variants of names, offices, titles, places and geographical terms, which facilitate use of the work. A subject index and online versions of all the indexes are in preparation. Thus the Prosopography is a research instrument of use both to the specialist and to all those just looking for rapid information on individuals, a region or a particular event.

The Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period is a comprehensive biographical dictionary for the Eastern Mediterranean, including Byzantine Italy, in the Early Middle Ages. It is published in two sections, each comprising five volumes, and documents over 20,000 people. The first section covers the period from 641 to 867, the second extends to 1025. Apart from the five main volumes, each section contains an additional introductory volume, Prolegomena , containing principally information about the most important sources for the period - both Byzantine and non-Byzantine - together with a concluding volume with the definitive list of abbreviations, the indexes, and addenda and corrigenda. The work covers firstly all Byzantines mentioned either by name or anonymously in the relevant Byzantine and non-Byzantine sources, and secondly all persons mentioned in the Byzantine sources both from Western Europe and from the Arabic and Slavonic areas, together with those from the Christian East. The articles on the individual people bring together all known details in each case and give information on the present state of research. Both sections contain comprehensive indexes of names, variants of names, offices, titles, places and geographical terms, which facilitate use of the work. A subject index and online versions of all the indexes are in preparation. Thus the Prosopography is a research instrument of use both to the specialist and to all those just looking for rapid information on individuals, a region or a particular event.

The Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period is a comprehensive biographical dictionary for the Eastern Mediterranean, including Byzantine Italy, in the Early Middle Ages. It is published in two sections, each comprising five volumes, and documents over 20,000 people. The first section covers the period from 641 to 867, the second extends to 1025. Apart from the five main volumes, each section contains an additional introductory volume, Prolegomena , containing principally information about the most important sources for the period - both Byzantine and non-Byzantine - together with a concluding volume with the definitive list of abbreviations, the indexes, and addenda and corrigenda. The work covers firstly all Byzantines mentioned either by name or anonymously in the relevant Byzantine and non-Byzantine sources, and secondly all persons mentioned in the Byzantine sources both from Western Europe and from the Arabic and Slavonic areas, together with those from the Christian East. The articles on the individual people bring together all known details in each case and give information on the present state of research. Both sections contain comprehensive indexes of names, variants of names, offices, titles, places and geographical terms, which facilitate use of the work. A subject index and online versions of all the indexes are in preparation. Thus the Prosopography is a research instrument of use both to the specialist and to all those just looking for rapid information on individuals, a region or a particular event.

The Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period is a comprehensive biographical dictionary for the Eastern Mediterranean, including Byzantine Italy, in the Early Middle Ages. It is published in two sections, each comprising five volumes, and documents over 20,000 people. The first section covers the period from 641 to 867, the second extends to 1025. Apart from the five main volumes, each section contains an additional introductory volume, Prolegomena , containing principally information about the most important sources for the period - both Byzantine and non-Byzantine - together with a concluding volume with the definitive list of abbreviations, the indexes, and addenda and corrigenda. The work covers firstly all Byzantines mentioned either by name or anonymously in the relevant Byzantine and non-Byzantine sources, and secondly all persons mentioned in the Byzantine sources both from Western Europe and from the Arabic and Slavonic areas, together with those from the Christian East. The articles on the individual people bring together all known details in each case and give information on the present state of research. Both sections contain comprehensive indexes of names, variants of names, offices, titles, places and geographical terms, which facilitate use of the work. A subject index and online versions of all the indexes are in preparation. Thus the Prosopography is a research instrument of use both to the specialist and to all those just looking for rapid information on individuals, a region or a particular event.