Byzantine studies
Encyclopedia
Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities
that addresses the history, culture, costumes
, religion, art
, such as literature
and music
, science
, economy
, and politics
of the Byzantine Empire
. The discipline's founder in Germany
is considered to be the philologist Hieronymus Wolf
, a Renaissance
humanist
. He gave the name Byzantine to the eastern Roman Empire that continued after the western part collapsed in AD 476. About 100 years after the final conquest of Byzantium by the Ottomans
, Wolf began to collect, edit, and translate the writings of Byzantine philosophers
. Other 16th-century humanists introduced Byzantine studies to Holland and Italy
.
(330). The "east-Roman" or late antique
era of Byzantium begins at the latest with the division of the Roman Empire
into a Western Roman Empire
and an Eastern Roman Empire (395). This "early Byzantine" period lasts until approximately 641. Emperor Justinian I
(527–65) reconquered Italy, north Africa, and southern Spain, but after the expansion of Islam (634/98) a reorganized Byzantium, now based on administration by Theme
s, was limited to the Greek-speaking regions of the Balkan peninsula, Asia Minor, and southern Italy; Latin
was abandoned as the language of officialdom. This may be perceived as the "end of antiquity," and the beginning of the "middle Byzantine" era.
This was also the era of Iconoclasm
(717–843) and of the origin of the Holy Roman Empire
(800). Under the Macedonian Dynasty
(10th–11th centuries) Byzantium regained power against the Islamic and Bulgarian states, but the death of Emperor Basil II
marked a turning point, with Byzantine power in Asia Minor and southern Italy suffering from the Battle of Manzikert
(1071) and the rise of the Normans
, respectively. A certain stability was achieved under the Comnenian Dynasty, at least until the Battle of Myriokephalon
(1176). Internal conflicts facilitated the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders (the Fourth Crusade
, 1204) and the establishment of Latin states in the south Balkans.
The late period of the Byzantine Empire as a small state begins with the Palaiologos
dynasty, which was particularly threatened by the advances of the Ottoman Empire
and the economic influence of Venice
and Genoa
. An empire weakened in part through civil war suffered a severe blow when Thessalonica was captured in 1430, and finally fell to the Ottomans (Fall of Constantinople
in 1453, and of Mistras in 1461). The Empire of Trebizond
(1204–1461), founded in the wake of the Fourth Crusade, also forms a part of Byzantine history.
(the popular language, and the forerunner of modern Greek
). Thus a certain diglossia
between spoken Greek and written, classical Greek may be discerned.
Major genres of Byzantine literature include historiography
(both in the classical mode and in the form of chronicle
s), hagiography
(in the form of the biographical account or bios and the panegyric
or enkomion); hagiographic collections (the menaia and synaxaria), epistolography
, rhetoric
, and poetry
. From the Byzantine administration, broadly construed, we have works such as description of peoples and cities, accounts of court ceremonies, and lists of precedence. Technical literature is represented, for example, by texts on military strategy. Collections of civil and canon law are preserved, as well as documents and acta (see "Diplomatics" below). Some texts in the demotic are also preserved.
, parchment
or paper
, in addition to inscriptions, coins, and medals. The papyrus rolls of antiquity (papyrology
) are quickly replaced by the parchment codices of the Middle Ages (codicology
), while paper arrives in the 9th century via the Arabs and Chinese.
entails the study of Byzantine documents. Documents may be classified according to their producers as secular (imperial and private documents) or sacred (patriarchal and episcopal documents), or according to their means of preservation (the originals, imitations, or simple copies). Imperial documents may be divided into those that promulgate law (types: edikton, typos, pragmatikos typos, thespisma, neara, nomos, sakra; mandatum principis), present decisions regarding specific cases (Epistula type: epistule, sakra; Subscriptio type: lysis [administration, taxes], semeiosis), documents of foreign policy (treaties, letters to foreign rulers) (types: sakrai, grammata, basilikon, chrysobullos horismos, chrysobullon sigillon, prokuratorikon chrysobullon) and administrative documents (Types: prostagmata [horismoi], sigillia, codicilli). Sacred documents are the documents and official letters of the patriarchs, including the gramma, homologia (creeds), diatheke (testaments), aphorismos (excommunication), paraitesis (abdication) as well as the ceremonial praxis (synodike) and the hypotyposis (the resolution of a synod) and the tomos (dogmatic edicts). The most splendid form of privileged communication, in the form of a letter, was chrysobullos logos so called because the Emperor's word (logos
) appeared three times in red ink. They were used in the appointments of Imperial ambassadors and they were stamped with the Imperial golden seal (Chrysos = gold and bulla = seal).
Specific subsets of diplomatics entail sigillography
, the study of seals, and palaeography
, the study of scripts.
entails the study of weights and measures. A great number of measures of length were used, including the ancient Greek daktylos, kondylos, anticheir, palaiste, dichas, spithame, pechys, bema (one pace), orgia (a fathom), schoinion (field measurement), plethron, million, allage, a day's journey. Measure of volume included: litra, tagarion, pinakion, modios, and those of surface area modios, megalos modios and zeugarion. Measures for water and wine were called megarikon, metron and tetartion. Measures of weight were krithokokkon, sitokokkon, gramma, obolos, drachme, ungia, litra, kentenarion, gomarion and pesa.
remained standard.
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
that addresses the history, culture, costumes
Byzantine dress
Byzantine dress changed considerably over the thousand years of the Empire, but was essentially conservative. The Byzantines liked colour and pattern, and made and exported very richly patterned cloth, especially Byzantine silk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and...
, religion, art
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
, such as literature
Byzantine literature
Byzantine literature may be defined as the Greek literature of the Middle Ages, whether written in the territory of the Byzantine Empire or outside its borders...
and music
Byzantine music
Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Greek and foreign historians agree that the ecclesiastical tones and in general the whole system of Byzantine music is closely related to the ancient Greek system...
, science
Byzantine science
Byzantine science played an important role in the transmission of classical knowledge to the Islamic world and to Renaissance Italy, and also in the transmission of medieval Arabic science to Renaissance Italy...
, economy
Byzantine economy
The Byzantine economy was among the most advanced in Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries. Constantinople was a prime hub in a trading network that at various times extended across nearly all of Eurasia and North Africa. Some scholars argue that, up until the arrival of the Arabs in the...
, and politics
Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy
The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative...
of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The discipline's founder in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
is considered to be the philologist Hieronymus Wolf
Hieronymus Wolf
Hieronymus Wolf was a sixteenth-century German historian and humanist, most famous for introducing a system of Byzantine historiography that eventually became the standard in works of medieval Greek history.- His life :...
, a Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
. He gave the name Byzantine to the eastern Roman Empire that continued after the western part collapsed in AD 476. About 100 years after the final conquest of Byzantium by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Wolf began to collect, edit, and translate the writings of Byzantine philosophers
Byzantine philosophy
Byzantine philosophy refers to the distinctive philosophical ideas of the philosophers and scholars of the Byzantine Empire, especially between the 8th and 15th centuries...
. Other 16th-century humanists introduced Byzantine studies to Holland and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Definition
Byzantine studies is the discipline that addresses the history and culture of Byzantium (Byzantium ↔ Byzantine Empire, the Greek Middle Ages; Byzantium = Constantinople [as capital of the Byzantine Empire]). Thus the unity of the object of investigation ("Byzantium") stands in contrast to the diversity of approaches (= specializations) that may be applied to it. – There were already "Byzantine" studies in the high medieval Byzantine Empire. In the later Middle Ages the interest in Byzantium (in particular the original Greek sources) was carried on by Italian humanism, and it expanded in the 17th century throughout Europe and Russia. The late 19th and early 20th centuries brought the formation of Byzantine studies as an independent discipline.Byzantium
Greek / Hellenistic culture, Roman state traditions, Oriental influence and Christian faith, together with a relative unity of language and culture, constitute medieval Byzantium. The starting point of Byzantine history is usually taken to be the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) and the foundation of ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(330). The "east-Roman" or late antique
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
era of Byzantium begins at the latest with the division of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
into a Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
and an Eastern Roman Empire (395). This "early Byzantine" period lasts until approximately 641. Emperor Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
(527–65) reconquered Italy, north Africa, and southern Spain, but after the expansion of Islam (634/98) a reorganized Byzantium, now based on administration by Theme
Theme (Byzantine administrative unit)
The themes or themata were the main administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-seventh century in the aftermath of the Muslim conquests of Byzantine territory and replaced the earlier provincial system established by emperors Diocletian and...
s, was limited to the Greek-speaking regions of the Balkan peninsula, Asia Minor, and southern Italy; Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
was abandoned as the language of officialdom. This may be perceived as the "end of antiquity," and the beginning of the "middle Byzantine" era.
This was also the era of Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
(717–843) and of the origin of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
(800). Under the Macedonian Dynasty
Macedonian dynasty
The Macedonian dynasty ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greatest expanse since the Muslim conquests, and the Macedonian Renaissance in letters and arts began. The dynasty was named after its founder,...
(10th–11th centuries) Byzantium regained power against the Islamic and Bulgarian states, but the death of Emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
marked a turning point, with Byzantine power in Asia Minor and southern Italy suffering from the Battle of Manzikert
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
(1071) and the rise of the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
, respectively. A certain stability was achieved under the Comnenian Dynasty, at least until the Battle of Myriokephalon
Battle of Myriokephalon
The Battle of Myriokephalon, also known as the ', or in Turkish, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in Phrygia on September 17, 1176. The battle was a strategic reverse for the Byzantine forces, who were ambushed when moving through a mountain pass...
(1176). Internal conflicts facilitated the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders (the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, 1204) and the establishment of Latin states in the south Balkans.
The late period of the Byzantine Empire as a small state begins with the Palaiologos
Palaiologos
Palaiologos , often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259,...
dynasty, which was particularly threatened by the advances of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and the economic influence of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. An empire weakened in part through civil war suffered a severe blow when Thessalonica was captured in 1430, and finally fell to the Ottomans (Fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
in 1453, and of Mistras in 1461). The Empire of Trebizond
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
(1204–1461), founded in the wake of the Fourth Crusade, also forms a part of Byzantine history.
Languages
It is possible to distinguish between three levels of speech: Atticism (the literary language), Koine (the common language of the Hellenistic period), and DemoticDemotic
Demotic may refer to:*Demotic Greek, a variety of the Greek language*Demotic , a script and stage of the Egyptian language...
(the popular language, and the forerunner of modern Greek
Modern Greek
Modern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
). Thus a certain diglossia
Diglossia
In linguistics, diglossia refers to a situation in which two dialects or languages are used by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety , a second, highly codified variety is used in certain situations such as literature, formal...
between spoken Greek and written, classical Greek may be discerned.
Major genres of Byzantine literature include historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
(both in the classical mode and in the form of chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
s), hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
(in the form of the biographical account or bios and the panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
or enkomion); hagiographic collections (the menaia and synaxaria), epistolography
Epistolography
Epistolography is the art or practice of writing letters, with particular regard to their timeframe and cultural environment. Generally, the letters were written for a public audience, however, private letters could be useful for a better knowing of the author and his works.- Context :According...
, rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
, and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. From the Byzantine administration, broadly construed, we have works such as description of peoples and cities, accounts of court ceremonies, and lists of precedence. Technical literature is represented, for example, by texts on military strategy. Collections of civil and canon law are preserved, as well as documents and acta (see "Diplomatics" below). Some texts in the demotic are also preserved.
Modes of transmission
Modes of transmission entails the study of texts that are preserved primarily on papyrusPapyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
, parchment
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
or paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, in addition to inscriptions, coins, and medals. The papyrus rolls of antiquity (papyrology
Papyrology
Papyrology is the study of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., as preserved in manuscripts written on papyrus, the most common form of writing material in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome...
) are quickly replaced by the parchment codices of the Middle Ages (codicology
Codicology
Codicology is the study of books as physical objects, especially manuscripts written on parchment in codex form...
), while paper arrives in the 9th century via the Arabs and Chinese.
Diplomatics
DiplomaticsDiplomatics
Diplomatics , or Diplomatic , is the study that revolves around documentation. It is a study that focuses on the analysis of document creation, its inner constitutions and form, the means of transmitting information, and the relationship documented facts have with their creator...
entails the study of Byzantine documents. Documents may be classified according to their producers as secular (imperial and private documents) or sacred (patriarchal and episcopal documents), or according to their means of preservation (the originals, imitations, or simple copies). Imperial documents may be divided into those that promulgate law (types: edikton, typos, pragmatikos typos, thespisma, neara, nomos, sakra; mandatum principis), present decisions regarding specific cases (Epistula type: epistule, sakra; Subscriptio type: lysis [administration, taxes], semeiosis), documents of foreign policy (treaties, letters to foreign rulers) (types: sakrai, grammata, basilikon, chrysobullos horismos, chrysobullon sigillon, prokuratorikon chrysobullon) and administrative documents (Types: prostagmata [horismoi], sigillia, codicilli). Sacred documents are the documents and official letters of the patriarchs, including the gramma, homologia (creeds), diatheke (testaments), aphorismos (excommunication), paraitesis (abdication) as well as the ceremonial praxis (synodike) and the hypotyposis (the resolution of a synod) and the tomos (dogmatic edicts). The most splendid form of privileged communication, in the form of a letter, was chrysobullos logos so called because the Emperor's word (logos
Logos
' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
) appeared three times in red ink. They were used in the appointments of Imperial ambassadors and they were stamped with the Imperial golden seal (Chrysos = gold and bulla = seal).
Sigillography and palaeography
Specific subsets of diplomatics entail sigillography
Sigillography
Sigillography is one of the auxiliary sciences of history. It refers to the study of seals attached to documents as a source of historical information. It concentrates on the legal and social meaning of seals, as well as the evolution of their design...
, the study of seals, and palaeography
Palaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...
, the study of scripts.
Epigraphy
Byzantine epigraphy entails the study of various stone, metal, ivory, mosaic, enamel, and paint inscriptions.Numismatics
Byzantine numismatics entails the study of coins. Building on the gold standard of late antiquity, the Byzantine monetary system was, until the middle of the 14th century, based on a gold standard, and included silver, bronze, and copper coins. With the economic and political decline of the late period, the gold standard was abandoned in the final century of Byzantine history, and replaced by a silver-based system.Metrology
Byzantine metrologyMetrology
Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. The word comes from Greek μέτρον , "measure" + "λόγος" , amongst others meaning "speech, oration, discourse, quote, study, calculation, reason"...
entails the study of weights and measures. A great number of measures of length were used, including the ancient Greek daktylos, kondylos, anticheir, palaiste, dichas, spithame, pechys, bema (one pace), orgia (a fathom), schoinion (field measurement), plethron, million, allage, a day's journey. Measure of volume included: litra, tagarion, pinakion, modios, and those of surface area modios, megalos modios and zeugarion. Measures for water and wine were called megarikon, metron and tetartion. Measures of weight were krithokokkon, sitokokkon, gramma, obolos, drachme, ungia, litra, kentenarion, gomarion and pesa.
Chronology
Byzantine chronology entails the study of the computation of time). According to the various Byzantine calendar systems: Year 1 AD. = Year 754 ab urbe condita = the first year of the 195th Olympiad = Year 49 of the Antiochean era = Year 5493 of the Alexandrine era = Year 312 of the Seleucid era = Year 5509 from the formation of the world. The Byzantine year began with the 1st of September, believed to be the day of creation, e.g., the 1st of January through the 31st of August belonged to the year 5508, the 1st of September through the 31st of December to the year 5509. Dating according to indictionIndiction
An indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle used to date medieval documents throughout Europe, both East and West. Each year of a cycle was numbered: first indiction, second indiction, etc...
remained standard.
Literature
This article is substantially based upon the equivalent entry in the German Wikipedia.- Hans-Georg Beck, Byzantinistik heute. Berlin, De Gruyter 1977. ISBN 3-11-007220-3
- Herbert HungerHerbert HungerHerbert Hunger was an Austrian Byzantine scholar.From 1973-1982 he served two consecutive terms as president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.- Literary works :...
, Studien zur griechischen Paläographie (= Biblos-Schriften 5), Wien 1954 - Herbert Hunger, Byzantinische Grundlagenforschung, London 1973
- Johannes Irmscher, Einführung in die Byzantinistik, Berlin 1971
- Alexander KazhdanAlexander Kazhdan- Soviet :Born in Moscow, Kazhdan was educated at the Pedagogical Institute of Ufa and the University of Moscow, where he studied with the historian of medieval England, Evgenii Kosminskii...
, Giles Constable, People and Power in Byzantium. An introduction to modern Byzantine studies, Washington 1982 - Otto Mazal, Handbuch der Byzantinistik, Graz 1989
- Gyula Moravcsik, Einführung in die Byzantologie, Darmstadt 1976
Important journals
- Byzantine and Modern Greek StudiesByzantine and Modern Greek StudiesByzantine and Modern Greek Studies or BMGS is a peer reviewed British journal which contains articles that pertain to both Byzantine Studies and Modern Greek studies, i.e. the language, literature, history and archaeology of the post-classical Greek world, from Late Antiquity to the present day,...
, Oxford, ISSN 0307-0131. - Byzantinische ZeitschriftByzantinische ZeitschriftByzantinische Zeitschrift is a Byzantine studies journal established in 1892 by Karl Krumbacher....
, Munich, ISSN 0007-7704. - Byzantinoslavica, Prague, ISSN 0007-7712
- Byzantion: revue internationale des études byzantines, Brussels.
- Dumbarton Oaks papersDumbarton Oaks PapersDumbarton Oaks Papers is an academic journal founded in 1941 for the publication of articles relating to civilizations of the late antique, early medieval, and Byzantine periods....
, Washington, ISSN 0070-7546. - Gouden hoorn, Amsterdam, ISSN 0929-7820
- Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik, Vienna, ISSN 0378-8660.
- Revue des études byzantines, Paris, ISSN 0373-5729.
- Rivista di studi bizantini e neoellenici, Rome, ISSN 0557-1367.
- Vizantiĭskiĭ vremennik, Moscow, ISSN 0132-3776
- Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta, Belgrade, ISSN 0584-9888.
External links
- International Association of Byzantine Studies
- Byzantine Studies Association of North America
- Australian Association for Byzantine Studies
- Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (U.K.)
- Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies
- Bibliography on Byzantine Paleography from Fordham University NY
- Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
- 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies (Sofia, 22-27 August 2011)