Global Byzantium: Papers from the Fiftieth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies

Description

Global Byzantium is, in part, a recasting and expansion of the old ‘Byzantium and its neighbours’ theme with, however, a methodological twist away from the resolutely political and toward the cultural and economic. A second thing that Global Byzantium – as a concept – explicitly endorses is comparative methodology. Global Byzantium needs also to address three further issues: cultural capital, the importance of the local, and the empire’s strategic geographical location. Cultural capital: in past decades it was fashionable to define Byzantium as culturally superior to western Christian Europe, and Byzantine influence was a key concept, especially in art historical circles. This concept has been increasingly criticised, and what we now see emerging is a comparative methodology that relies on the concept of ‘competitive sharing’, not blind copying but rather competitive appropriation. The importance of the local is equally critical. We need to talk more about what the Byzantines saw when they ‘looked out’, and what others saw in Byzantium when they ‘looked in’ and to think about how that impacted on our, very post-modern, concepts of globalism. Finally, we need to think about the empire’s strategic geographical position: between the fourth and the thirteenth centuries, if anyone was travelling internationally, they had to travel across (or along the coasts of) the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium was thus a crucial intermediary, for good or for ill, between Europe, Africa, and Asia – effectively, the glue that held the Christian world together, and it was also a critical transit point between the various Islamic polities and the Christian world. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction: The Future of Global Byzantium Notes References Chapter 1: Seen from across the Sea: India in the Byzantine Worldview The Concept of Worldview: Whose World and Whose View? The Tale of the Theban Scholastikos The Christian Topography A Ninth-Century Byzantine Sketch of India On the Reckoning of the Indians India across Time in the Byzantine Worldview Conclusion Notes References Chapter 2: Byzantium beyond Byzantium: What about Greek(s) in Eighth-Century Italy? 1 Introduction Easterners in Rome Mary in Central Italy The Hypapante: An Example The Hypapante: Early Western Homilies The Hypapante: The Sources The Hypapante: Ways of Transmission Autpertus and Greek(s) Conclusions Notes References Chapter 3: Silk in the Byzantine World: Technology and Transmission Figured Silks in Historical Context Research Approaches Technological Significance Research Programme Materials Weave Structure Design Classification Summary Textile Study Group Notes References Chapter 4: Composing World History at the Margins of Empire: Armenian and Byzantine Traditions in Comparative Perspective Notes References Chapter 5: Global Byzantium: Whirlwind Romance or Fundamental Paradigm Shift? Notes References Chapter 6: Global or Local Art?: The Mosaic Panels of Justinian and Theodora in S Vitale, Ravenna 1 Notes References Chapter 7: Movement and Mobility: Cotton and the Visibility of Trade Networks across the Saharan Desert Notes References Chapter 8: Maniera Greca and Renaissance Europe: More than Meets the Eye Notes References Web Links Chapter 9: Magical Signs in Christian Byzantium, Judaism, and Islam: A Global Language Introduction Intelligible Devices Unintelligible Devices Culturally Specific Devices Conclusion Notes References Chapter 10: How Global Was the Mediterranean in the Early Middle Ages?1 : A View from the Western Edge Early Slave Trade and Its Implications The Tenth-Century Trade Revival The New Global Patterns Notes References Chapter 11: Hegemony, Counterpower, and Global History: Medieval New Rome and Caucasia in a Critical Perspective Introduction Hegemony and New Rome Counterpower and Caucasia Towards an Anarchist History of Medieval New Rome and Caucasia Acknowledgement Notes References Chapter 12: What Is ‘Byzantine’?: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Construction of Identities on Byzantium’s Literary Frontiers Notes References Chapter 13: The Helladic Paradigm in a Global Perspective Notes References Chapter 14: Secluded Place or Global Magnet?: The Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai and its Manuscript Collection Current Holdings: The Old Collection Digging Deeper: The New Finds The Earliest Layer: Palimpsests Notes References Chapter 15: Early Byzantine Art in China: A Test Case for Global Byzantium Textual Evidence for Contact between Byzantium and China Chinese Art in Byzantium? Byzantine Art in China Chinese Imitations of Byzantine Art Byzantine Coins and Pseudo-Coins in Chinese Tombs: Some Hypotheses Early Byzantine Art: A Global Art Acknowledgement Notes References Chapter 16: Centre or Periphery?: Constantinople and the Eurasian Trading System at the End of Antiquity Late Antiquity: Modes of Production and Modes of Exchange Nomads and Traders in Late Antique Central Asia Sasanian Persia and the Late Antique Eurasian Trading System The Imperial Household and the Commercial Economy Conclusion: City of the World’s Desire? Constantinople and the Late Antique Eurasian Trading System Notes References Chapter 17: Transferring Skills and Techniques across the Mediterranean: Some Preliminary Remarks on Stucco in Italy and Byzantium The Church of Santa Maria in Valle, Cividale The Church of San Salvatore in Brescia Eastern Artisans? Reconstructing Byzantine Stucco Practice(s) Comparing Lombard, Byzantine, and Umayyad Stuccoes Conclusions Notes References Chapter 18: Import, Export: The Global Impact of Byzantine Marriage Alliances during the Tenth Century Cultural Effects Later Exogamic Practices Notes References Chapter 19: Conclusion: Post-Colonial Reflections and the Challenge of Global Byzantium Auja Hafir (Nessana) Post-Colonial Reflections Notes References Index