Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course the students are expected to know and comprehend the political, military, religious, economic and social realities of the late Byzantine period. They will also be able to analyze and critically evaluate historical phenomena. The methodological approach and analysis of relevant sources enables students to identify and collect historical evidence, to include it in the historical context and assess its importance for the historical knowledge and research.
Course Content (Syllabus)
The course focuses on the political, ecclesiastic, economic and social history of the later Byzantine period as well as the administrative system of the Byzantine state. Emphasis is given on the presentation of the relevant primary sources and the modern bibliography and on the methodological approach and analysis of the sources.
Week #1 Byzantium during the transitional period 1025-1081 - The ascend of the Komnenian dynasty (1081-1185) - The characteristics of the period - Presentation of sources and modern studies
Week #2 The loss of the eastern provinces and the struggle to recover them (political-military developments in Asia Minor) - Byzantium and the Normans (the loss of Southern Italy and the threat in the Balkans) - The first three Crusades, direct and indirect consequences for Byzantium - Sources, Selected bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of an extract from a relevant source
Week #3 Politico-military events in the Balkans in the times of Komnenoi (1081-1185) and Angels (1185-1204): The threat of Petzenegoi, the Hungarian factor, the efforts of the Serbs for indeperndence, the reestablishment of the Bulgarian state - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #4 Central and provincial administration in the 11th-12th centuries (organisation and reforms, effectiveness and shortcomings) - Army (organisation and recruitment)
Week #5 Judicial System - Economy - Society (1081-1204)
Week #6 The conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade - the establishment of the Latin Empire of Constantinople and the feudal vassal states - The foundation of the Greek states of Nicaea and Epirus and the struggle for the reestablishment of the Byzantine Empire - The transformation of the State of Epirus into the empire of Thessalonike - the ideological-political conflict of the empires of Nicaea and Thessalonike - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #7 The reign of Michael VIII Palaeologos: internal situation and external enemies - the Arseniatic schism and its political dimensions (1261-1310) - The Church Union in 1274; the conflict between unionists and anti-unionists (1274-1283) - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #8 The reign of Andronikos II Palaiologos - Byzantium in the internal and the international context - The Civil War between the two Andronikoi Palaiologoi (protagonists, causes, events, dimensions, consequences) - The reign of Andronikos III Palaiologos (reform measures, foreign policy) - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #9 The civil wars in the period of 1341-1354. The political and social dimensions - The Zealots movement in Thessalonike - The hesyhast controversy and its involvement in the political events of the period - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #10 The last Byzantine century (1354-1453): The Ottoman threat during the reign of John V Palaeologos - New dynastic strives - The policy of Manuel II Palaeologus in response to the Ottoman threat - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #11 The Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-1439); the conflict between unionists and anti-unionists - The fall of Constantinople and the completion of the Ottoman conquests - Sources, Select bibliography - Analysis and interpretation of a relevant excerpt
Week #12 Social groups in the palaeologan period – The social crisis of the 13th-15th centuries - Political thought - The decrease of the central authority and the decay of state coherence in the 14th and 15th centuries - The cultural and political identity of the Byzantines in the late Byzantine period
Week #13 Presentation of the (optional) projects by students - Revision and preparing for exams
Keywords
political history, ecclesiastical history, economic evolutions, social evolutions, Later Byzantine period, administrative system
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
• Χριστοφιλοπούλου Αικατερίνη, Βυζαντινή Ιστορία, τ. Γ΄ (1081-1204), Θεσσαλονίκη 2001.
• Καραγιαννόπουλος I., Ιστορία βυζαντινού κράτους. Ιστορία υστέρας βυζαντινής περιόδου (1081-1453), Μέρος πρώτο: Τελευταίες λάμψεις (1081-1204), Θεσσαλονίκη 1999.
• Ostrogorsky G., Ιστορία του βυζαντινού κράτους, München 1963 (ελληνική
Additional bibliography for study
• Angold M., Η βυζαντινή αυτοκρατορία από το 1025 έως το 1204. Μια πολιτική ιστορία, Cambridge 1995 (ελληνική μετάφραση Ευαγγελία Καργιανιώτη, Αθήνα 1997).
• Brand C. M., Byzantium confronts the West, 1080-1204, Cambridge Massachusetts 1968.
• Βρυώνης Σ., Η παρακμή του μεσαιωνικού Ελληνισμού στην Μικρά Ασία και η διαδικασία εξισλαμισμού (11ος – 15ος αι.), Berkeley – Los Angeles – London 1986, ελλ. μτφρ. Κάτια Γαλαταριώτου, [ΜΙΕΤ] Αθήνα 1996, β΄ έκδ. 2000.
• Γιαννακόπουλος Κ. Ι., Βυζαντινή Ανατολή και Λατινική Δύση, Oxford 1966 (ελλ. μτφρ. Αθήνα 1974).
• Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους, τ. Η΄-Θ΄.
• Hussey Joan M. (έκδ.), The Cambridge Medieval History, t. IV: The Byzantine Empire, Part I: Byzantium and its Neighbours - II: Government, Church and Civilization, Cambridge 1966-1967.
• Κιουσοπούλου Τόνια, Βασιλεύς ή Οικονόμος: πολιτική εξουσία και ιδεολογία πριν την Άλωση, Αθήνα 2007.
• Nicol D. M., Βυζάντιο και Βενετία, Cambridge 1999 (ελλ. μτφρ. Χριστίνα-Αντωνία Μουτσοπούλου, Αθήνα 2004).
• Nicol D., To τέλος της βυζαντινής αυτοκρατορίας, London 1979 (ελλ. μτφρ. Μ. Μπλέτας, Αθήνα 1997).
• Nicol D., Οι τελευταίοι αιώνες του Βυζαντίου 1261-14532, Cambridge 1993 (ελληνική μετάφρ. Στ. Κομνηνός, Αθήνα 1996).
• Nicol D., Church and society in the last centuries of Byzantium, Cambridge - New York 1979.
• Wittek P., H γένεση της οθωμανικής αυτοκρατορίας2, London 1971 (ελλ. μτφρ. Ε. Μπαλτάς, Αθήνα 1991).
• Σαββίδης Α., Ιστορία του Βυζαντίου, τ. Γ΄ (1025-1461), Αθήνα 2003.
• Ζακυθηνός Δ. (επιστ. επιμ.), Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους, τ. Θ΄ (1071-1453), Αθήνα 1972.
• Ζακυθηνός Δ., Το Βυζάντιον από του 1071 μέχρι του 1453, Αθήνα 1972.