The Byzantine Court
Source of Power and Culture - Papers from the Second International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium
9786055250171
Distributed for Koç University Press
The Byzantine Court
Source of Power and Culture - Papers from the Second International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium
The designation of Istanbul by the European Union’s Council of Ministers as the European Capital of Culture for 2010 was instrumental in the decision to focus on Constantinople in the Second International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium, which was held on 21–23 June 2010 at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The particular theme of the symposium, “The Byzantine Court: Source of Power and Culture,” was selected, on the other hand, in view of Constantinople’s essential role as Byzantine imperial capital soon after its foundation by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great on 11 May 330. The aim of the symposium was to evaluate, from administrative, political, social, economic, and religious perspectives, the impact of the political power that spread out from the Great Palace and, as of the twelfth century, from the Blachernai Palace to the rest of the empire, and to investigate the reflections of this power in the cultural sphere.
Presented in this volume are thirty out of the forty papers delivered at the Second International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium. The papers have been grouped under the following four section headings: “Byzantine Palace Architecture,” “The Byzantine Court as the Center of Imperial Power,” “Ceremonies at the Court and in the City,” and “Court Culture and Visual Arts.”
Presented in this volume are thirty out of the forty papers delivered at the Second International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium. The papers have been grouped under the following four section headings: “Byzantine Palace Architecture,” “The Byzantine Court as the Center of Imperial Power,” “Ceremonies at the Court and in the City,” and “Court Culture and Visual Arts.”
Table of Contents
PREFACE
Ömer M. Koç
EDITORS’ FOREWORD
Ayla Ödekan, Engin Akyürek, Nevra Necipoglu
OPENING SPEECH
Ayla Ödekan
1. BYZANTINE PALACE ARCHITECTURE
Berger, Albrecht / The Byzantine Court as a Physical Space
Denker, Asuman / Excavations at the Byzantine Great Palace (Palatium Magnum) in the Area of the Old Sultanahmet Jail
Crow, James / Water and the Great Palace in Constantinople
Niewohner, Philipp / The Rotunda at the Myrelaion in Constantinople: Pilaster Capitals, Mosaics, and Brick Stamps
Schreiner, Peter / The Architecture of Aristocratic Palaces in Constantinople in Written Sources
Redford, Scott / Constantinople, Konya, Conical Kiosks, Cultural Confluence Simon Malmberg
The New Palace of Mehmed Fatih and its Byzantine Legacy
2. THE BYZANTINE COURT AS THE CENTER OF IMPERIAL POWER
Magdalino, Paul / Power Building and Power Space in Byzantine Constantinople: The Ethics and Dynamics of Construction and Conservation
Littlewood, Antony R. / Palatial Gardens as Symbols of Imperial Power Alicia Walker
The Emperor as Cosmopolitan Ruler: Imaging Middle Byzantine Imperial Power
Auzepy, Marie-France / The Great Palace and the Iconoclast Emperors
Herrin, Judith / Female Space at the Byzantine Court
Schrijver, Frouke / Daily Life at the Blachernai Palace: The Servants of the Imperial Bedchamber (1261-1354)
Jacoby, David / Between the Imperial Court and the Western Maritime Powers: The Impact of Naturalizations on the Economy of Late Byzantine Constantinople
Necipoglu, Nevra / Circulation of People between the Byzantine and Ottoman Courts
3. CEREMONIES AT THE COURT AND IN THE CITY
Maguire, Henry / Art, Ceremony, and Spiritual Authority at the Byzantine Court Leslie Brubaker
Processions and Public Spaces in Early and Middle Byzantine Constantinople
Pitarakis, Brigitte / From the Hippodrome to the Reception Halls of the Great Palace: Acclamations and Dances in the Service of Imperial Ideology
Featherstone, J. Michael / De Cerimonlis: The Revival of Antiquity in the Great Palace and the ’Macedonian Renaissance’
Parani, Maria G. / Dressed to Kill: Middle Byzantine Military Ceremonial Attire
Koray Durak / Diplomacy as Performance: Power Politics and Resistance between the Byzantine and the Early Medieval Islamic Courts
Macrides, Ruth / Inside and Outside the Palace: Ceremonies in the Constantinople of the Palaiologo
4. COURT CULTURE AND VISUAL ARTS
Mullett, Margaret / Did Byzantium Have a Court Literature?
Karpozilos, Apostolos / History Writing as Political Propaganda in Late Byzantium
Markopoulos, Athanasios / The School in Byzantium: Structure and Problems
Mavroudi, Maria / Translations from Greek into Arabic at the Court of Mehmed the Conqueror
Jevtic, Ivana / Antiquarianism and Revivalism in Late Byzantine Court Culture and Visual Arts
Eser, Meryem Acara / Cultural Aspects of Power in the Byzantine Empire: The Court as Patron of Metal Art Objects
Bulgurlu, Vera / Byzantine Lead Seals Representing the Kanikleios of the Imperial Palace
CLOSING SPEECH
Ayla Ödekan
Ömer M. Koç
EDITORS’ FOREWORD
Ayla Ödekan, Engin Akyürek, Nevra Necipoglu
OPENING SPEECH
Ayla Ödekan
1. BYZANTINE PALACE ARCHITECTURE
Berger, Albrecht / The Byzantine Court as a Physical Space
Denker, Asuman / Excavations at the Byzantine Great Palace (Palatium Magnum) in the Area of the Old Sultanahmet Jail
Crow, James / Water and the Great Palace in Constantinople
Niewohner, Philipp / The Rotunda at the Myrelaion in Constantinople: Pilaster Capitals, Mosaics, and Brick Stamps
Schreiner, Peter / The Architecture of Aristocratic Palaces in Constantinople in Written Sources
Redford, Scott / Constantinople, Konya, Conical Kiosks, Cultural Confluence Simon Malmberg
The New Palace of Mehmed Fatih and its Byzantine Legacy
2. THE BYZANTINE COURT AS THE CENTER OF IMPERIAL POWER
Magdalino, Paul / Power Building and Power Space in Byzantine Constantinople: The Ethics and Dynamics of Construction and Conservation
Littlewood, Antony R. / Palatial Gardens as Symbols of Imperial Power Alicia Walker
The Emperor as Cosmopolitan Ruler: Imaging Middle Byzantine Imperial Power
Auzepy, Marie-France / The Great Palace and the Iconoclast Emperors
Herrin, Judith / Female Space at the Byzantine Court
Schrijver, Frouke / Daily Life at the Blachernai Palace: The Servants of the Imperial Bedchamber (1261-1354)
Jacoby, David / Between the Imperial Court and the Western Maritime Powers: The Impact of Naturalizations on the Economy of Late Byzantine Constantinople
Necipoglu, Nevra / Circulation of People between the Byzantine and Ottoman Courts
3. CEREMONIES AT THE COURT AND IN THE CITY
Maguire, Henry / Art, Ceremony, and Spiritual Authority at the Byzantine Court Leslie Brubaker
Processions and Public Spaces in Early and Middle Byzantine Constantinople
Pitarakis, Brigitte / From the Hippodrome to the Reception Halls of the Great Palace: Acclamations and Dances in the Service of Imperial Ideology
Featherstone, J. Michael / De Cerimonlis: The Revival of Antiquity in the Great Palace and the ’Macedonian Renaissance’
Parani, Maria G. / Dressed to Kill: Middle Byzantine Military Ceremonial Attire
Koray Durak / Diplomacy as Performance: Power Politics and Resistance between the Byzantine and the Early Medieval Islamic Courts
Macrides, Ruth / Inside and Outside the Palace: Ceremonies in the Constantinople of the Palaiologo
4. COURT CULTURE AND VISUAL ARTS
Mullett, Margaret / Did Byzantium Have a Court Literature?
Karpozilos, Apostolos / History Writing as Political Propaganda in Late Byzantium
Markopoulos, Athanasios / The School in Byzantium: Structure and Problems
Mavroudi, Maria / Translations from Greek into Arabic at the Court of Mehmed the Conqueror
Jevtic, Ivana / Antiquarianism and Revivalism in Late Byzantine Court Culture and Visual Arts
Eser, Meryem Acara / Cultural Aspects of Power in the Byzantine Empire: The Court as Patron of Metal Art Objects
Bulgurlu, Vera / Byzantine Lead Seals Representing the Kanikleios of the Imperial Palace
CLOSING SPEECH
Ayla Ödekan