#Byzantine history

[gornwen]

Fun fact. When I took a class on Byzantine history it was actually a class on Byzantine theology. Or maybe I took a class on Byzantine theology that was actually a class on Byzantine history. Either way, they are one in the same.

Oh, and watch out for Theodora's granddaughter, Irena, who may or may not be burning icons. Or saving icons. Either way that is another seven schisms and an execution.

Byzantine history be like:

In 874 Emperor Kostalogous IV ascended to the throne after blinding sixteen nephews, and married his wife, Theodora.

However, he soon ran afoul of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Theopelagionikus, and his wife Theodora.

In 895 he was deposed by his general, Justiniapelomaxorianous II, and his wife Theodora.

This created nine new church schisms.

[toyastales]

A Byzantine Gold Collier with Emeralds, Sapphires, Amethysts and Pearls, from a workshop in Constantinople (late 6th-7th Century AD).

[charlesoberonn]

Shout out to Porphyrios, the whale who terrorized the waters near Constantinople for more than 50 years during the 6th century.

You'd sunk more Roman warships than most of their human enemies.

[chainmail-butch]

I started reading Roland Betancourt's Byzantine Intersectionality because it has a chapter on transwomen, but it turns out that the book is heavily focused on transmasculinity and race in the Byzantine world.

Specifically I wanted to show you this discussion on artistic representation of top surgery and the likelihood that this actually represents top surgery.

Anyway this is really fucking cool

[blueiscoool]

Byzantine Gold Necklace with Amethyst Beads Byzantine, 6th century A.D. Gold and Amethyst

[gemsofgreece]

When the Varangians honoured the woman who killed her near-rapist

The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, Tághma tōn Varángōn) was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England. The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions.

The Byzantines had mixed feelings about them, on one hand considering them barbarians and brutes with too much love for alcohol, on the other hand admitting their fierce loyalty to the emperor and their military prowress. They never fled a battle and they would fight to their death. They were also considered fair traders in their transactions between the Byzantine Empire and their northern homelands.

One incident which took place in 1034 helped soldify a positive image of the Varangians to the Byzantines' eyes, so much that the Byzantine Greek chronicler Ioannis Skylitzis, described it in his works as "αξιαφήγητον" (axiaphíyiton, worthy of mentioning / narrating).

According to Skylitzis, a group of Varangians were transferred in the Thracesian Theme (Greek: θέμα Θρᾳκησίων, thema Thrakēsiōn), a military division that at the time encompassed west Asia Minor (not Thrace). One of them once encountered a local woman in an uncrowded place. The man approached the woman suggestively but she rejected his advances. The man attempted to rape her and she seized his sword and killed him. His death was instant as she pierced him through his heart.

Art in Skylitzis' manuscript where the woman is erroneously depicted to kill the man with a spear instead of a sword.

Once the incident became known in the area, the Varangians made a gathering in which they agreed to honour the woman for killing their companion. They offered her all the valuable belongings of the killed Varangian, whom they left unburied. According to Varangian law, the rapists of married women were punished with execution, therefore the Varangians reasoned that the woman simply implemented the law by killing their companion.

The manuscripts of Skylitzis are kept in the National Library of Madrid.

Sources:

ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ

www.in.gr

[city-of-ladies]

"During the reign of her husband the primary function of an Augusta was the orchestration of ceremonial at the imperial court, a highly stylised and intricate affair given the ceremonial nature of imperial life, which was based primarily around the Great Palace, a huge complex extending from the hippodrome to the sea walls, with its own gardens, sporting grounds, barracks, audience halls and private apartments; the Great Palace was the official residence of the emperor until 1204, though under Alexios Komnenos the imperial family usually occupied the Blachernai Palace in the north-west of the city, while there were other residential palaces in and outside of the capital. Empresses’ public life remained largely separate from that of their husbands, especially prior to the eleventh century, and involved a parallel court revolving around ceremonies involving the wives of court officials. For this reason an empress at court was considered to be essential: Michael II was encouraged to marry by his magnates because an emperor needed a wife and their wives an empress. 

The patriarch Nicholas permitted the third marriage of Leo VI because of the need for an empress in the palace: ‘since there must be a Lady in the Palace to manage ceremonies affecting the wives of your nobles, there is condonation of the third marriage…’ While the empress primarily presided over her own ceremonial sphere, with her own duties and functions, she could be also present at court banquets, audiences and the reception of envoys, as well as taking part in processions and in services in St Sophia and elsewhere in the city; one of her main duties was the reception of the wives of foreign rulers and heads of state. Nor were empresses restricted to the capital: both Martina and Irene Doukaina accompanied their husbands on campaign.

The empress was also in charge of the gynaikonitis, the women’s quarters in the palace, where she had her own staff, primarily though not entirely composed of eunuchs, under the supervision of her own chamberlain; when empresses like Irene, Theodora wife of Theophilos, and Zoe Karbounopsina came to power they often relied on this staff of eunuchs as their chief ministers and even their generals. Theodora the Macedonian was unusual in not appointing a eunuch as her chief minister, perhaps because her age made such gender considerations unnecessary. The ladies of the court were the wives of patricians and other dignitaries: a few ladies, the zostai, were especially appointed and held rank in their own right. The zoste patrikia was at the head of these ladies (she was usually a relative of the empress),and dined with the imperial family."

Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204, Lynda Garland

[nanshe-of-nina]

Women’s History Meme || Empresses (5/5) ↬ Zoe Porphyrogénnētē (c. 978 – 1050)

When Michael V met his fate on Tuesday evening, 20 April 1042, the Empress Theodora was still in St Sophia. She had by now been there for well over twenty-four hours, steadfastly refusing to proceed to the Palace until she received word from her sister. Only the following morning did Zoe, swallowing her pride, send the long-awaited invitation. On Theodora's arrival, before a large concourse of nobles and senators, the two old ladies marked their reconciliation with a somewhat chilly embrace and settled down, improbably enough, to govern the Roman Empire. All members of the former Emperor's family, together with a few of his most enthusiastic supporters, were banished; but the vast majority of those in senior positions, both civil and military, were confirmed in office. From the outset Zoe, as the elder of the two, was accorded precedence. When they sat in state, her throne was placed slightly in advance of that of Theodora, who had always been of a more retiring disposition and who seemed perfectly content with her inferior status. Psellus gives us a lively description of the pair: Zoe was the quicker to understand ideas, but the slower to give them utterance. With Theodora it was just the reverse: she concealed her inmost thoughts, but once she had embarked on a conversation she would chatter away with an informed and lively tongue. Zoe was a woman of passionate interests, prepared with equal enthusiasm for life or death. In this she reminded me of the waves of the sea, now lifting a vessel on high, now plunging it down again. Such extremes were not to be found in Theodora: she had a calm disposition - one might almost say a dull one. Zoe was prodigal, the sort of woman who could dispose of a whole ocean of gold dust in a single day; the other counted her coins when she gave away money, partly no doubt because all her life her limited resources had prevented her from any reckless spending, but partly also because she was naturally more self-controlled In personal appearance there was a still greater divergence. The elder, though not particularly tall, was distinctly plump. She had large eyes set wide apart, with imposing eyebrows. Her nose was inclined to be aquiline, though not overmuch. She still had golden hair, and her whole body shone with the whiteness of her skin. There were few signs of age in her appearance … there were no wrinkles, her skin being everywhere smooth and taut. Theodora was taller and thinner. Her head was disproportionately small. She was, as I have said, readier with her tongue than Zoe, and quicker in her movements. There was nothing stem in her glance: on the contrary she was cheerful and smiling, eager to find any opportunity for talk. — Byzantium: The Apogee by John Julius Norwich

[newhistorybooks]

"Empresses-in-Waiting comprises case studies of late antique empresses, female members of imperial dynasties, and female members of the highest nobility of the late Roman empire, ranging from the fourth to the seventh centuries AD. Situated in the context of the broader developments of scholarship on late antique and byzantine empresses, this volume explores the political agency, religious authority, and influence of imperial and near-imperial women within the Late Roman imperial court, which is understood as a complex spatial, social, and cultural system, the centre of patronage networks, and an arena for elite competition."

[overlysarcasticpolls]

Round 1: Match 14

Video Links:

Anna Komnena

Ishtar

[wonder-worker]

"The second half of the 860s saw [...] a change in Angelberga’s status, as well as the introduction of several queenly titles, which were used more frequently for her than other queens before her.

During the period which Louis II spent in the south the empress received a considerable number of royal grants. The first one, which was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, was issued in May 866, probably in Capua, and granted to Angelberga the “corticellam nostram Ibernam sitam non longe a corte Olonna”. For the first time, Angelberga was presented as consors imperii: “dilectam coniugem nostram atque consortem imperii nostri” […] In July 866 Louis II issued another charter for Angelberga. This time she was granted three properties in north-eastern Italy, Sesto in the comitatus of Cremona, Locarno in the comitatus of Stazzona (Como) and Aticianum in the area of Diano (Liguria). In this document Angelberga is not defined consors imperii, but rather “dilectae coniugi nostrae, clarissimae scilicet augustae Angilbergae” [...] Gauginus recognized another charter, on 28th April 868 in Venosa, granting San Salvatore to Angelberga, and in case of her death, to her daughter Ermengarda. Based on the 861 diploma, this charter was issued following the death of Gisla, who until then had directed the nunnery. This charter explicitly stresses Angelberga’s political role as “consors et adiutrix regni pariter dilectissime coniuge nostrae, clarissimae scilicet augustae Angilbergae”. Expressions such as adiutrix regni and augusta seem to suggest an increasing stress on the empress' political role, which cannot be found in the previous donation of 861 […] A diploma issued in Venosa on 25th May 869, granted to Angelberga five curtes situated in the northeast of Italy. The document presents Angelberga as “amantissimam coniugem nostram Angilbergam imperatricem augustam”; and requesting the grant of the curtes: “eiusdem dulcissimae coniugis nostrae petitioni serenitatis aurem libentissime accomodantes praescriptas res”.

What needs to be underlined is the introduction of several queenly titles, which were not particularly common before Angelberga. This must be related to the new situation of the chancery: to the freedom chancellors had to invent – or reinvent – the diplomatic lexicon. Secondly, these titles echoed imperial authority. Their use was related to the historical moment in which they were employed, a moment of complex negotiations with the Byzantine empire. The expedition in southern Italy intensified the relations between the two empires, as the Byzantines also had interests in that area. In 871 Louis II sent a letter, probably written by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, to Basil I, replying to a previous missive of the Byzantine emperor, which has not survived. Louis’ letter discusses various matters, namely the military campaign and the patriarchate. However, its core is represented by Louis II’s claim legitimately to call himself emperor, which the basileus was questioning. Louis argued that he had the right to be called emperor, as his father and grandfather were emperors, and most importantly, as he had been consecrated by the pope. The letter shows that Basil did not want to recognize the legitimacy of Louis’ imperial title and hence that the language of authority was a very significant issue in these years. The language we find in Louis II’s charters in this period – also with regard to his wife’s titles - can be related to these discussions. The use of consors imperii – a solemn title, both because of its Roman origin and its use in Carolingian diplomatics – and of other titles that echoed political significance can be seen as an attempt to use a more formalized political language. This language would have stressed imperial authority in a period in which the relations with the Byzantine empire were extremely significant for Louis II."

Roberta Cimino, Italian Queens in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries (PHD Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2014)

[aubreycumin666]

Don’t know anyone like them out there but I’m postin anyways

Belisarius and Mundus protecting Justinian in Nika Roit!

[charlesoberonn]

Very fond of the new trend of calling the Later Eastern Roman Empire AKA the "Byzantine" Empire the New Roman Empire.

It differentiates it enough from the classical Roman Empire centered on Rome itself without denying its "romanness".

Also, the original name of Constantinople was Nova Roma (lit. New Rome) so its fitting to call the Roman Empire centered around the city the New Roman Empire.

[memories-of-ancients]

Gold necklace, Byzantine, circ 500-550 AD

from The Penn Museum

[blueiscoool]

Byzantine Amethyst Cameo of Christ Pantokrator Byzantine · 11th - 12th century A.D.