BYZANTINE HISTORY II (1081-1453)

Course Information
TitleΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΗ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΙΙ (1081-1453) / BYZANTINE HISTORY II (1081-1453)
CodeΙΒΥ602
FacultyPhilosophy
SchoolHistory and Archaeology
Cycle / Level1st / Undergraduate, 2nd / Postgraduate
Teaching PeriodWinter/Spring
CommonNo
StatusActive
Course ID280004804

Class Information
Academic Year2020 – 2021
Class PeriodSpring
Faculty Instructors
Weekly Hours3
Total Hours39
Class ID
600184298
Course Type 2016-2020
  • Scientific Area
Course Type 2011-2015
Specific Foundation / Core
Mode of Delivery
  • Distance learning
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
  • Greek (Instruction, Examination)
  • English (Examination)
Prerequisites
General Prerequisites
It is recommended that this course be attended after the successful completion of the course HBY 101
Learning Outcomes
Upon the 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.
General Competences
  • Apply knowledge in practice
  • Make decisions
  • Work autonomously
  • Work in teams
  • Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
  • Be critical and self-critical
  • Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The objective of this course is knowledge, comprehension, analysis and critical evaluation of historical facts and phenomena of the late Byzantine period. In particular, it examines the political-military-church history, the administrative institutions, the social-economic structures and perceptions of the period under study. Emphasis is also given to the way the imperial power is exercised, the state control is applied, the developments on the Byzantine political ideology which occur at that time. The course also includes a presentation of selected sources and modern studies and a methodological approach and analysis of relevant excerpts. 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 Politico-military events in Asia Minor and the West: 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 overthrow of the political and territorial status and the struggle for the restoration of the Byzantine empire (1204-1261): 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 Revision of the characteristics of palaeologan period - Analysis of the factors that led to the gradual weakening and final fall of the Byzantine empire – Instructions for the examinations - Presentation of voluntary projects undertaken by students
Keywords
political history, ecclesiastical history, economic evolutions, social evolutions, Later Byzantine period, administrative system
Educational Material Types
  • Slide presentations
  • Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
  • Use of ICT in Course Teaching
  • Use of ICT in Communication with Students
Description
The teaching of the course is done through lectures and the use of visual material (excerpts from literary sources, documents and seals, maps and images in Power-point). The sources are analysed and commented by the students. Attending the course is considered to be essential. Students may choose to undertake a written project on a topic assigned by the tutor.
Course Organization
ActivitiesWorkloadECTSIndividualTeamworkErasmus
Lectures391.3
Reading Assigment168.55.6
Exams2.50.1
Total2107
Student Assessment
Description
Written or oral examination: 100%. Τhe examination explores not only the acquisition of knowledge but also the comprehension. The latter can be achieved either by commenting excerpts or maps or by answering essay questions. If a student optionally undertook to submit a written project, he/she is not exempt from a written or oral examination. The paper is taken into account for the total grade.
Student Assessment methods
  • Written Exam with Short Answer Questions (Summative)
  • Written Exam with Extended Answer Questions (Summative)
  • Oral Exams (Summative)
Bibliography
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
• Χριστοφιλοπούλου Αικ., 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 (ελλ. μτφρ. Ι. Παναγόπουλος, επιστ. επιμέλεια Ε. Χρυσός, τ. 3, Αθήνα 2012).
Additional bibliography for study
• Angold M., Η βυζαντινή αυτοκρατορία από το 1025 έως το 1204. Μια πολιτική ιστορία, Cambridge 1995 (ελληνική μετάφραση Ευ. 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. • Cheynet J.-Cl. (επιστ. επιμ.), O Βυζαντινός κόσμος, τ. 2 (641-1204), Paris 2006 (ελλ. μτφρ. Α. Καραστάθη, επιμ. Γ. Μωυσείδου κ.ά., Αθήνα 2011). • Γιαννακόπουλος Κ. Ι., Βυζαντινή Ανατολή και Λατινική Δύση, Oxford 1966 (ελλ. μτφρ. Αθήνα 1974). • Hussey J. M. (επιστ. επιμ.), The Cambridge Medieval History, t. IV: The Byzantine Empire, Part I: Byzantium and its Neighbours - II: Government, Church and Civilization, Cambridge 1966-1967. • Κιουσοπούλου Τ., Βασιλεύς ή Οικονόμος: πολιτική εξουσία και ιδεολογία πριν την Άλωση, Αθήνα 2007. • Laiou A. – Morrisson C. (επιστ. επιμ.), Le monde Byzantin, τ. III: L’Empire grec et les voisins, XIIIe - XVe siècle, Paris 2011. • 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 αυτοκρατορίας, 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.
Last Update
27-02-2021