Only one study on Byzantine maritime trade covering the eleventh and early twelfth century has ap... more Only one study on Byzantine maritime trade covering the eleventh and early twelfth century has appeared in the last twenty years or so. 1 This is rather surprising, given the vital role of maritime trade in the empire's economy, its significant evolution in that period, and important archeological discoveries providing new insights into its workings. Two facets of Byzantine maritime trade deserve our attention: firstly, its modes of operation, as well as the macro-and micro-economic domestic contexts in which it evolved; secondly, these same aspects in trade and shipping conducted by the empire's subjects in foreign waters. The first facet is at best mentioned in passing in studies dealing with the empire's ports, ships, itineraries, trade, or economy in the years 1025-118. 2 The second facet is largely overlooked, since it is still widely assumed, based upon Byzantine literary sources, that the Byzantines were reluctant to travel, feared the sea, were devoid of enterprising spirit, and awaited foreigners to supply them with the goods they needed. 3 These stereotypes were common among the Byzantine social élite and authors identifying with its values and attitudes or presenting them in their writings. However, despite 16. D. Jacoby, What do we learn about Byzantine Asia Minor from the documents of the Cairo Genizah?, in Η Βυζαντινή Μικρά Ασία : 6ος-12ος αι. = Byzantine Asia Minor : 6 th -12 th cent., [eds. N. Oikonomides and S. Vryonis, Jr.], Αθήνα 1998, pp. 83-91, repr. in Jacoby, Byzantium, Latin Romania and the Mediterranean (quoted n. 9), no. I, here pp. 84-6. 17. Jacoby, Silk in Western Byzantium (quoted n. 13), p. 475. 18. B. Pitarakis, Les croix-reliquaires pectorales byzantines en bronze, Paris 2006. 19. On the management of large domains and accounting, see J. Lefort, The rural economy, in EHB 1, pp. 231-310, here pp. 295-9; K. Smyrlis, La fortune des grands monastères fin du x e -milieu du xiv e siècle, Paris 2006, pp. 234-43; M. Kaplan, L'économie du monastère de la Kosmosôteira fondé par Isaac Comnène d'après le typikon
Page 1. Foreigners and the Urban Economy in Thessalonike, ca. 1150-ca. 1450 DAVID JACOBY oreigner... more Page 1. Foreigners and the Urban Economy in Thessalonike, ca. 1150-ca. 1450 DAVID JACOBY oreigners and foreignness in Byzantium have lately enjoyed much attention and have been the subject of a growing number of ...
The common emphasis in the study of Constantinople's economy in the Byzantine period is on the ci... more The common emphasis in the study of Constantinople's economy in the Byzantine period is on the city as consumption center. Its function as transit station is recognized, yet has not attracted the attention it deserves and has not been investigated so far. Constantinople's geographic location at the juncture of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Balkans and Asia Minor ensured the continuous transit of merchants, goods and ships. However, it is the conjunction of political, demographic and economic developments that determined the nature, origin, and destination of goods, as well as the evolving patterns, rhythm, and volume of transit. As a result, the contribution of transit to the city's economy varied widely from the tenth to the mid-fifteenth century. It is fitting to begin this brief discussion of transit with some macroeconomic considerations. Polybius, the Greek historian of the second century BCE, provides an important insight into the function of the city of Byzantion around 220 BCE. The city sought to control the movement of goods between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and to maximize its revenues from its functions as entrepôt and transit station. Honey, wax, salt fish, grain, cattle and slaves were shipped from the Black Sea, which in turn imported from the Mediterranean olive oil, wine, as well as grain in case of shortage. 1 Polybius dealt with the Black Sea from a Mediterranean perspective and did not take into account the exchange of goods between the borderlands of that region, the economies of which were to some extent complementary, nor east-west trade across the Bosphoros. The economic parameters of trade and transit recorded by Polybius remained more or less unchanged until the fourth century CE. The foundation of Constantinople as capital of the Roman Empire and the rapid increase in its population that followed generated important developments. Despite a demographic slump beginning with the plague of 542
Technological transfers are a cultural phenomenon. They occur in specific political, military, ec... more Technological transfers are a cultural phenomenon. They occur in specific political, military, economic, social and cultural contexts, which largely determine their nature, modalities, purpose, and implications. In order to understand the various facets of such transfers, their contexts have to be explored. This chapter deals with some aspects of cross-cultural transfers in three industrial fields, namely the weaving and dyeing of silk textiles, glassmaking, and the production of crossbows in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
VI L'art à l'époque de Justinien 59 Jean-Michel Spieser (Université de Fribourg) Dark-Age Literat... more VI L'art à l'époque de Justinien 59 Jean-Michel Spieser (Université de Fribourg) Dark-Age Literature 71 John Haldon (Princeton University) Early Frescoed Icons: a Case of Cultural Divergence between East and West 83 Beat Brenk (University of Basel) Prolégomènes à la littérature byzantine du IXe et du Xe siècle 93 Paolo Odorico (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) L'art byzantin aux Xe-XIe siècles : témoin des traditions et des relations 109 culturelles au Proche-Orient Marielle Martiniani-Reber (Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève) Komnenian Literature 121
S. brezeanu, La politique économique des Lascarides à la lumière des relations vénéto-nicéennes, ... more S. brezeanu, La politique économique des Lascarides à la lumière des relations vénéto-nicéennes, in: Études byzantines et post-byzantines, I, eds. E.
Only one study on Byzantine maritime trade covering the eleventh and early twelfth century has ap... more Only one study on Byzantine maritime trade covering the eleventh and early twelfth century has appeared in the last twenty years or so. 1 This is rather surprising, given the vital role of maritime trade in the empire's economy, its significant evolution in that period, and important archeological discoveries providing new insights into its workings. Two facets of Byzantine maritime trade deserve our attention: firstly, its modes of operation, as well as the macro-and micro-economic domestic contexts in which it evolved; secondly, these same aspects in trade and shipping conducted by the empire's subjects in foreign waters. The first facet is at best mentioned in passing in studies dealing with the empire's ports, ships, itineraries, trade, or economy in the years 1025-118. 2 The second facet is largely overlooked, since it is still widely assumed, based upon Byzantine literary sources, that the Byzantines were reluctant to travel, feared the sea, were devoid of enterprising spirit, and awaited foreigners to supply them with the goods they needed. 3 These stereotypes were common among the Byzantine social élite and authors identifying with its values and attitudes or presenting them in their writings. However, despite 16. D. Jacoby, What do we learn about Byzantine Asia Minor from the documents of the Cairo Genizah?, in Η Βυζαντινή Μικρά Ασία : 6ος-12ος αι. = Byzantine Asia Minor : 6 th -12 th cent., [eds. N. Oikonomides and S. Vryonis, Jr.], Αθήνα 1998, pp. 83-91, repr. in Jacoby, Byzantium, Latin Romania and the Mediterranean (quoted n. 9), no. I, here pp. 84-6. 17. Jacoby, Silk in Western Byzantium (quoted n. 13), p. 475. 18. B. Pitarakis, Les croix-reliquaires pectorales byzantines en bronze, Paris 2006. 19. On the management of large domains and accounting, see J. Lefort, The rural economy, in EHB 1, pp. 231-310, here pp. 295-9; K. Smyrlis, La fortune des grands monastères fin du x e -milieu du xiv e siècle, Paris 2006, pp. 234-43; M. Kaplan, L'économie du monastère de la Kosmosôteira fondé par Isaac Comnène d'après le typikon
Page 1. Foreigners and the Urban Economy in Thessalonike, ca. 1150-ca. 1450 DAVID JACOBY oreigner... more Page 1. Foreigners and the Urban Economy in Thessalonike, ca. 1150-ca. 1450 DAVID JACOBY oreigners and foreignness in Byzantium have lately enjoyed much attention and have been the subject of a growing number of ...
The common emphasis in the study of Constantinople's economy in the Byzantine period is on the ci... more The common emphasis in the study of Constantinople's economy in the Byzantine period is on the city as consumption center. Its function as transit station is recognized, yet has not attracted the attention it deserves and has not been investigated so far. Constantinople's geographic location at the juncture of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Balkans and Asia Minor ensured the continuous transit of merchants, goods and ships. However, it is the conjunction of political, demographic and economic developments that determined the nature, origin, and destination of goods, as well as the evolving patterns, rhythm, and volume of transit. As a result, the contribution of transit to the city's economy varied widely from the tenth to the mid-fifteenth century. It is fitting to begin this brief discussion of transit with some macroeconomic considerations. Polybius, the Greek historian of the second century BCE, provides an important insight into the function of the city of Byzantion around 220 BCE. The city sought to control the movement of goods between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and to maximize its revenues from its functions as entrepôt and transit station. Honey, wax, salt fish, grain, cattle and slaves were shipped from the Black Sea, which in turn imported from the Mediterranean olive oil, wine, as well as grain in case of shortage. 1 Polybius dealt with the Black Sea from a Mediterranean perspective and did not take into account the exchange of goods between the borderlands of that region, the economies of which were to some extent complementary, nor east-west trade across the Bosphoros. The economic parameters of trade and transit recorded by Polybius remained more or less unchanged until the fourth century CE. The foundation of Constantinople as capital of the Roman Empire and the rapid increase in its population that followed generated important developments. Despite a demographic slump beginning with the plague of 542
Technological transfers are a cultural phenomenon. They occur in specific political, military, ec... more Technological transfers are a cultural phenomenon. They occur in specific political, military, economic, social and cultural contexts, which largely determine their nature, modalities, purpose, and implications. In order to understand the various facets of such transfers, their contexts have to be explored. This chapter deals with some aspects of cross-cultural transfers in three industrial fields, namely the weaving and dyeing of silk textiles, glassmaking, and the production of crossbows in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
VI L'art à l'époque de Justinien 59 Jean-Michel Spieser (Université de Fribourg) Dark-Age Literat... more VI L'art à l'époque de Justinien 59 Jean-Michel Spieser (Université de Fribourg) Dark-Age Literature 71 John Haldon (Princeton University) Early Frescoed Icons: a Case of Cultural Divergence between East and West 83 Beat Brenk (University of Basel) Prolégomènes à la littérature byzantine du IXe et du Xe siècle 93 Paolo Odorico (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) L'art byzantin aux Xe-XIe siècles : témoin des traditions et des relations 109 culturelles au Proche-Orient Marielle Martiniani-Reber (Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève) Komnenian Literature 121
S. brezeanu, La politique économique des Lascarides à la lumière des relations vénéto-nicéennes, ... more S. brezeanu, La politique économique des Lascarides à la lumière des relations vénéto-nicéennes, in: Études byzantines et post-byzantines, I, eds. E.
Autour du Premier humanisme byzantin & des Cinq études sur le XIe siècle, quarante ans après Paul Lemerle, 2017
le colloque « À la suite de Paul lemerle : l’humanisme byzantin et les études sur le xie siècle q... more le colloque « À la suite de Paul lemerle : l’humanisme byzantin et les études sur le xie siècle quarante ans après », qui a eu lieu à Paris du 23 au 26 octobre 2013 et dont le volume que voici est issu, a été organisé avec l’aide du Collège de France, de l’Institut universitaire de France, de l’UMR Orient et Méditerranée et de l’université Paris-Sorbonne.
l’idée de réunir un colloque, ou plutôt deux colloques parallèles autour de deux œuvres majeures de Paul lemerle, Le premier humanisme byzantin, et les Cinq études sur le XIe siècle byzantin, est venue pour nous deux de constatations communes. Il s’agissait de rendre hommage à celui qui, par son enseignement, par ses travaux, par ceux aussi de ses élèves, par les institutions qui lui doivent leur naissance, a façonné les études byzantines en France telles que nous les connaissons. Il s’agissait aussi, pour tous deux, de l’expérience d’un enseignement, historique ou philologique, qui s’était appuyé pendant plusieurs décennies sur ces œuvres. Étaient-elles encore actuelles ? Quels correctifs leur apporter ? Comment, au cours des quarante ans et plus qui s’étaient écoulés, les questions évoquées dans ces deux ouvrages fondamentaux avaient-elles évolué ? Il n’a pas été difficile de trouver, à l’étranger ou en France, des collègues qui, familiers eux aussi avec l’œuvre si influente de Paul lemerle, ont accepté de nous rejoindre à Paris dans les locaux du Collège de France, et d’apporter leur contribution à cet hommage et à cette recherche.
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l’idée de réunir un colloque, ou plutôt deux colloques parallèles autour de deux œuvres majeures de Paul lemerle, Le premier humanisme byzantin, et les Cinq études sur le XIe siècle byzantin, est venue pour nous deux de constatations communes. Il s’agissait de rendre hommage à celui qui, par son enseignement, par ses travaux, par ceux aussi de ses élèves, par les institutions qui lui doivent leur naissance, a façonné les études byzantines en France telles que nous les connaissons. Il s’agissait aussi, pour tous deux, de l’expérience d’un enseignement, historique ou philologique, qui s’était appuyé pendant plusieurs décennies sur ces œuvres. Étaient-elles encore actuelles ? Quels correctifs leur apporter ? Comment, au cours des quarante ans et plus qui s’étaient écoulés, les questions évoquées dans ces deux ouvrages fondamentaux avaient-elles évolué ? Il n’a pas été difficile de trouver, à l’étranger ou en France, des collègues qui, familiers eux aussi avec l’œuvre si influente de Paul lemerle, ont accepté de nous rejoindre à Paris dans les locaux du Collège de France, et d’apporter leur contribution à cet hommage et à cette recherche.