Being Byzantine: Greek Identity Before the Ottomans, 1200-1420

ISBN-13: 9780521871815 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 346 str.

Gill Page

Opis

In 1204, the Byzantine Empire was conquered by troops from western Europe ostensibly taking part in the Fourth Crusade. This was a hugely significant event for the subjects of the Empire, radically altering the Byzantines' self-image and weakening their state for the later conflict with the Ottoman Turks. Using the theory of ethnicity - a comparatively recent tool with regard to the pre-modern era - Gill Page provides fresh insight into the late Byzantine period, providing a corrective to nationalistic interpretations of the period of Frankish rule and more broadly to generally held assumptions of ethnic hostility in the period. A systematic analysis of texts in Greek from the period 1200 1420, from both ends of the social spectrum, is backed up by an in-depth study of Frankish rule in the Peloponnese to reveal the trends in the development of Byzantine identity under the impact of the Franks."

Recenzje

'… sophisticated, well-planned, and intelligent book … a major contribution to late Byzantine … history and historical thought, as well as to Byzantine language and the history of ideas.' The Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Spis treści

Introduction: the Frankish conquest of Greece; 1. Ethnic identity?; 2. Byzantine identities; 3. Niketas Choniates; 4. The thirteenth century: ambition, euphoria and the loss of illusion; 5. The nightmare of the fourteenth century; 6. Meanwhile, a long way from Constantinople …; 7. The long defeat; 8. Roman identity and the response to the Franks.