Isaac Komnenos Porphyrogennetos
Isaac Komnenos Porphyrogennetos

Author: Valeria Flavia Lovato

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-01

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1040121292

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Twelfth-century Byzantium is characterized by a striking artistic vitality and profound socio-political changes. The Constantinopolitan elites, led by the Komnenian dynasty initiated by Alexios I, were the driving force behind the renewed intellectual landscape and power dynamics of the century. Despite the wealth of studies devoted to the Komnenians, the sebastokrator Isaac (1093–after 1152) has received limited attention in modern scholarship. Yet, Isaac is a fascinating figure at the crossroads of different worlds. He was an intellectual, the author of the first running commentary on the Iliad ever written in Byzantium. He was a patron, sponsoring magnificent buildings and supporting artists in and outside the capital. He was a would-be usurper, attempting to seize the throne several times. He was a shrewd diplomat, forging alliances with Armenian, Turkish, and Latin rulers. Modern scholars have so far failed to see the interplay between Isaac’s multiple personae. Isaac the scholar is rarely brought into conversation with Isaac the usurper, Isaac the patron, or Isaac the world traveller. Bringing together experts from a range of disciplines, this book fills a significant gap in the literature. As the first comprehensive study of one of the protagonists of the Komnenian era, it is essential reading for students of the Byzantine Empire. In addition, the portrait of Isaac presented here provides scholars of pre-modern civilizations with a relevant case study. By exposing the permeability of the theoretical and geographical ‘borders’ we use to conceptualize the past, Isaac epitomizes the interconnectedness at the heart of the so-called Global Middle Ages.

John II Komnenos, Emperor of Byzantium
John II Komnenos, Emperor of Byzantium

Author: Alessandra Bucossi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-03

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 1317110706

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The Emperor John II Komnenos (1118–1143) has been overshadowed by both his father Alexios I and his son Manuel I. Written sources have not left us much evidence regarding his reign, although authors agree that he was an excellent emperor. However, the period witnessed territorial expansion in Asia Minor as well as the construction of the most important monastic complex of twelfth-century Constantinople. What else do we know about John’s rule and its period? This volume opens up new perspectives on John’s reign and clearly demonstrates that many innovations generally attributed to the genius of Manuel Komnenos had already been fostered during the reign of the second great Komnenos. Leading experts on twelfth-century Byzantium (Jeffreys, Magdalino, Ousterhout) are joined by representatives of a new generation of Byzantinists to produce a timely and invaluable study of the unjustly neglected figure of John Komnenos.

Isaac Komnenos Porphyrogennetos
Isaac Komnenos Porphyrogennetos

Author: Valeria Flavia Lovato

Publisher:

Published: 2024-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781032055220

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"Twelfth-century Byzantium is characterized by a striking artistic vitality and profound socio-political changes. The Constantinopolitan elites, led by the Komnenian dynasty initiated by Alexios I, were the driving force behind the renewed intellectual landscape and power dynamics of the century. Despite the wealth of studies devoted to the Komnenians, the sebastokrator Isaac (1093-after 1152) has received limited attention in modern scholarship. Yet, Isaac is a fascinating figure at the crossroads of different worlds. He was an intellectual, the author of the first running commentary on the Iliad ever written in Byzantium. He was a patron, sponsoring magnificent buildings and supporting artists in and outside the capital. He was a would-be usurper, attempting to seize the throne several times. He was a shrewd diplomat, forging alliances with Armenian, Turkish, and Latin rulers. Modern scholars have so far failed to see the interplay between Isaac's multiple personae. Isaac the scholar is rarely brought into conversation with Isaac the usurper, Isaac the patron, or Isaac the world traveller. Bringing together experts from a range of disciplines, this book fills a significant gap in the literature. As the first comprehensive study of one of the protagonists of the Komnenian era, it is essential reading for students of the Byzantine Empire. In addition, the portrait of Isaac presented here provides scholars of pre-modern civilizations with a relevant case study. By exposing the permeability of the theoretical and geographical 'borders' we use to conceptualize the past, Isaac epitomizes the interconnectedness at the heart of the so-called Global Middle Ages."--

Medieval Greek Commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics
Medieval Greek Commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics

Author: Charles E. Barber

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 9004173935

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Given the enduring importance of Aristotle s "Nicomachean Ethics," it is remarkable to find that there is no extensive surviving commentary on this text from the period between the second century and the twelfth century. This volume is focused on the first of the medieval commentaries, that produced in the early twelfth century by Eustratios of Nicaea, Michael of Ephesus, and an anonymous author in Constantinople. This endeavor was to have a significant impact on the reception of the "Nicomachean Ethics" in Latin and Catholic Europe. For, in the mid-thirteenth century, Robert Grosseteste translated into Latin a manuscript that contained these Byzantine commentators. Both Albertus Magnus and Bonaventure then used this translation as a basis for their discussions of Aristotle's book. Contributors are George Arabatzis, Charles Barber, Linos Benakis, Elizabeth Fisher, Peter Frankopan, Katerina Ierodiakonou, David Jenkins, Anthony Kaldellis and Michele Trizio.

Research on Psalter Catenae
Research on Psalter Catenae

Author: Cordula Bandt

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2024-07-22

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 3111502872

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This volume proceeds from a workshop at the XVIII International Conference on Patristic Studies (Oxford, 2019) and presents developments in recent and ongoing research on the complex tradition of Psalter catenae. The twelve contributions cover a wide range of topics, presenting methodological developments and challenges of catena research as well as fresh insights on specific subjects, such as new manuscript finds and the publication of illustrations and captions in catena manuscripts. The studies range from the first Palestinian stages of Psalter catenae to later Byzantine compositions, and beyond: the Oriental versions receive particular attention. The volume offers students and scholars who are less familiar with research on Psalter catenae a taste of its diversity. Those who have already dealt intensively with this tradition and related topics will find useful research tools and interesting new results. Most of the volume is written in English; two contributions are in French and two in German. The printed volume is accompanied by two databases that are made available online, which allow for more complex search queries.

Byzantium in the Time of Troubles
Byzantium in the Time of Troubles

Author: Eric McGeer

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-12-30

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9004419403

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The years before and after the battle of Mantzikert (1071) mark a turning point in the history of the Byzantine Empire. The invasions of the Seljuk Turks in the east and the encroachment of the Normans from the west altered the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean and forced the Byzantines to confront new threats to their survival. These threats came at a time when internal rivalries made an effective military response all but impossible and led to a significant transformation of the Byzantine polity under the Komnenoi. The Continuation of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes, now translated for the first time, provides a contemporary view of these troubled times. An extension of the principal source for the middle Byzantine period, and a subtle reworking of the History of Michael Attaleiates, the Continuation offers a high court official’s narrative of the events and personages that shaped the course of Byzantine history on the eve of the Crusades.

Isaac Komnenos Porphyrogennetos
Isaac Komnenos Porphyrogennetos

Author: Valeria Flavia Lovato

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-01

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1040121357

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Twelfth-century Byzantium is characterized by a striking artistic vitality and profound socio-political changes. The Constantinopolitan elites, led by the Komnenian dynasty initiated by Alexios I, were the driving force behind the renewed intellectual landscape and power dynamics of the century. Despite the wealth of studies devoted to the Komnenians, the sebastokrator Isaac (1093–after 1152) has received limited attention in modern scholarship. Yet, Isaac is a fascinating figure at the crossroads of different worlds. He was an intellectual, the author of the first running commentary on the Iliad ever written in Byzantium. He was a patron, sponsoring magnificent buildings and supporting artists in and outside the capital. He was a would-be usurper, attempting to seize the throne several times. He was a shrewd diplomat, forging alliances with Armenian, Turkish, and Latin rulers. Modern scholars have so far failed to see the interplay between Isaac’s multiple personae. Isaac the scholar is rarely brought into conversation with Isaac the usurper, Isaac the patron, or Isaac the world traveller. Bringing together experts from a range of disciplines, this book fills a significant gap in the literature. As the first comprehensive study of one of the protagonists of the Komnenian era, it is essential reading for students of the Byzantine Empire. In addition, the portrait of Isaac presented here provides scholars of pre-modern civilizations with a relevant case study. By exposing the permeability of the theoretical and geographical ‘borders’ we use to conceptualize the past, Isaac epitomizes the interconnectedness at the heart of the so-called Global Middle Ages.

Recapturing a Homeric Legacy
Recapturing a Homeric Legacy

Author: Casey Dué

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13:

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Marcianus Graecus Z. 454 [= 822], known to Homeric scholars as the Venetus A, is the oldest complete text of the Iliad in existence, meticulously crafted during the tenth century ce. An impressive thousand years old and then some, its historical reach is far greater. The Venetus A preserves in its entirety a text that was composed within an oral tradition that can be shown to go back as far as the second millennium bce, and the writings in its margins preserve the scholarship of Ptolemaic scholars working in the second century bce and in the centuries following. Two thousand years later, technology offers a new opportunity to rediscover this scholarship and better understand the epic that is the foundation of Western literature. The high-resolution images of the manuscript that accompany these essays were acquired by a multinational team of scholars and conservators in May 2007.