Hafta 1
Introduction to the course. Wrap up session: what is Byzantium? For a history of the Byzantine empire between the 4th and the 9th century.
Hafta 2
Byzantium and its neighbors; the Land and Peoples in and beyond Byzantium. Byzantium and the Balkans; Bulgaria and Russia; Byzantium and the Arabs (the Empire strikes back); a New Aristocracy on the Rampage Readings: For Graduate Students - H. Amedroz, “An embassy from Baghdad to the emperor Basil II”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,” 46 (1914), pp. 915–42. For Undergraduate students Choose one of the following - W. Treadgold in Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, vol. I, pp. 129-50; - M.Angold, Byzantium. The Bridge from Antiquity to the Middle Ages (London, 2001), pp. 112-21. - J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 131-8.
Hafta 3
Byzantine Court Ceremonies and Ottonian Period A) Byzantine Economy B) Imperial Ceremonies: Constantine VII’ De Caerimoniis and Liutprand ‘ Embassy. C) Ottonian Age and Ottonian Italy Readings: For Graduate Students 1. R. Collins, Early Medieval Europe 300-100 (Basingstoke 1999), pp.390-409. 2. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos: De Caeremoniiis Aulae Byzantinae http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/promotionceremonies.html For Undergraduate students 3. J. Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), pp.148-68. 4. Liutprand of Cremon: Report of his mission to Constantinople http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/liudprand1.html (only Chapter 442, 443, 451).
Hafta 4
Basil II and the 11th century crisis of The Byzantine Empire; The Normans; the Byzantine Church 1) Basil II, "The Bulgar-Slayer". 2) Eleventh Century crisis 3) 1054 A.D.: the Great Schism 4) The Normans from West to East Readings For Graduate Students - J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 212-31. - E. Van Houts, The Normans in Europe (Manchester, 2000), pp.102-12. For Undergraduate students - P.Stephenson, Byzantium‘s Balkan Frontier. A political study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204 (Cambridge, 2000), 156-164. - Michael Psellus, Chronographia (only paragraph 1-4) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/psellus-chrono01.html
Hafta 5
Failing Emperors FOR ALL - J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 212-31. For Graduate Students - M.Angold, The Byzantine Empire 1025-1204 (London, 1985), pp. 35-56; pp. 81-98. - B. Pollick, “Sex, Lies and Mosaics: The Zoe Panel as a Reflection of a change in 11th century Byzantium.” https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/articulate/article/download/.../2905 For Undergraduate students - J.Haldon, The Palgrave Atlas of Byzantine History (New York, 2010), pp. 115-16.
Hafta 6
Changes in government under the Komnenoi; Alexios I and the Alexiad: a cosmopolitan society. A) The Komnenian Era and the West B) Anne Komnene and the Alexiad. C) A Cosmopolitan society Readings: For Graduate Students - M.Angold, The Byzantine Empire 1025-1204 (London, 1985), pp. 115-34. - Anne Komnene, The Alexiad (chapter I and II) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad01.html For Undergraduate students - J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 232-45.
Hafta 7
Week 7 John II Komnenos and Byzantine Women Readings: For Graduate Students - M.Angold, The Byzantine Empire 1025-1204 (London, 1985), pp. 181-91. - Anne Comnene, The Alexiad (chapter I and II) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad01.html For Undergraduate students - J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 232-45.
Hafta 8
MID TERM EXAMINATION and ASSESSMENT (in class)
Hafta 9
Venice and Byzantium: the Fourth Crusade 1) Venice: the raise and raise of a maritime republic 2) Fourth Crusade: the Fall of Constantinople. Readings: FOR ALL: 1. G. Villehardouin, Chronicle of the Crusade (Chapter 62-6) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/villehardouin.html 2. N.Choniates, The Sack of Constantinople http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/choniates1.html + One of the following: 3. G.Holmes, The Oxford History of Medieval Europe (Oxford, 2002), pp. 222-50. 4. M Angold, “The State of Research and the Road to 1204: the Byzantine background to the Fourth Crusade,” in Journal of Medieval History 25/3, pp. 257-278
Hafta 10
The Successor States and the Recovery of Constantinople (1261); Byzantine Cyprus. A) The Towers of Trebizond, Arta, Nicaea and Thessaloniki. B) Mistra, Piero Della Francesca, Byzantium and the Western Medieval world in the thirteen and fourteenth century C) Cyprus, from Byzantine to the Arabs and back again; Crusader Cyprus. Readings FOR ALL - J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 266-80. - George Akropolites, Historia (The Byzantine Recovery of Constantinople: Thanksgiving and Celebration) [Handouts]
Hafta 11
The Palaiologoi: from Re-conquest to Civil War (1261-1355); the Rise of the Ottomans Readings For Graduate Students - G. Ostrogorsky, History of Byzantine State, pp. 450-65/ 478-503. - C. Kafadar, Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State (Berkeley CA, 1995), pp. 122-151 For Undergraduate students - George Akropolites, Historia [Handout] - Chrysobull of Andronicus II granting privileges to the Catalans [Handout] - Gregory the Palamas among the Ottoman Turks [Handout]
Hafta 12
The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople (1453) Readings For Graduate Students R. Crowley, Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 (London 2013), pp. 57-90. J. Harris, Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium (London, 2007), pp. 169-193. For Undergraduate students 1. Selection of first-hand account on the Fall of the City http://www.greece.org/romiosini/fall.html 2. J.Herrin, Byzantium. The surprising life of a Medieval Empire (London, 2007), 310-321.
Hafta 13
Special Seminar: The Turks in Anatolia
Hafta 14
Special Seminar: Venice and the Trukic Maritime Beyliks