Author: Mark Masterson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 135113521X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
The presence and importance of same-sex desire between men in the Byzantine Empire has been understudied. While John Boswell and others tried to open a conversation about desire between Byzantine men decades ago, the field reverted to emphasis on prohibition and an inability to read the evidence of same-sex desire between men in the sources. Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Homosociality, and Brotherhood in the Medieval Empire challenges and transforms this situation by placing at centre stage Byzantine men's desiring relations with one another. This book foregrounds desire between men in and around the imperial court of the 900s. Analysis of Greek sources (many untranslated until now) and of material culture reveals a situation both more liberal than the medieval West and important for its rite of brother-making (adelphopoiesis), which was a precursor to today’s same-sex marriage. This book transforms our understanding of Byzantine elite men's culture and is an important addition to the history of sex and desire between men. Between Byzantine Men will appeal to scholars and general readers who are interested in Byzantine History, Society, and Culture, the History of Masculinity, and the History of Sexuality.
Between Byzantine Men
Author: Mark Masterson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 135113521X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
The presence and importance of same-sex desire between men in the Byzantine Empire has been understudied. While John Boswell and others tried to open a conversation about desire between Byzantine men decades ago, the field reverted to emphasis on prohibition and an inability to read the evidence of same-sex desire between men in the sources. Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Homosociality, and Brotherhood in the Medieval Empire challenges and transforms this situation by placing at centre stage Byzantine men's desiring relations with one another. This book foregrounds desire between men in and around the imperial court of the 900s. Analysis of Greek sources (many untranslated until now) and of material culture reveals a situation both more liberal than the medieval West and important for its rite of brother-making (adelphopoiesis), which was a precursor to today’s same-sex marriage. This book transforms our understanding of Byzantine elite men's culture and is an important addition to the history of sex and desire between men. Between Byzantine Men will appeal to scholars and general readers who are interested in Byzantine History, Society, and Culture, the History of Masculinity, and the History of Sexuality.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 135113521X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
The presence and importance of same-sex desire between men in the Byzantine Empire has been understudied. While John Boswell and others tried to open a conversation about desire between Byzantine men decades ago, the field reverted to emphasis on prohibition and an inability to read the evidence of same-sex desire between men in the sources. Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Homosociality, and Brotherhood in the Medieval Empire challenges and transforms this situation by placing at centre stage Byzantine men's desiring relations with one another. This book foregrounds desire between men in and around the imperial court of the 900s. Analysis of Greek sources (many untranslated until now) and of material culture reveals a situation both more liberal than the medieval West and important for its rite of brother-making (adelphopoiesis), which was a precursor to today’s same-sex marriage. This book transforms our understanding of Byzantine elite men's culture and is an important addition to the history of sex and desire between men. Between Byzantine Men will appeal to scholars and general readers who are interested in Byzantine History, Society, and Culture, the History of Masculinity, and the History of Sexuality.
Between Byzantine Men
Author: Mark Masterson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351135228
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
The presence and importance of same-sex desire between men in the Byzantine Empire has been understudied. While John Boswell and others tried to open a conversation about desire between Byzantine men decades ago, the field reverted to emphasis on prohibition and an inability to read the evidence of same-sex desire between men in the sources. Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Homosociality, and Brotherhood in the Medieval Empire challenges and transforms this situation by placing at centre stage Byzantine men's desiring relations with one another. This book foregrounds desire between men in and around the imperial court of the 900s. Analysis of Greek sources (many untranslated until now) and of material culture reveals a situation both more liberal than the medieval West and important for its rite of brother-making (adelphopoiesis), which was a precursor to today’s same-sex marriage. This book transforms our understanding of Byzantine elite men's culture and is an important addition to the history of sex and desire between men. Between Byzantine Men will appeal to scholars and general readers who are interested in Byzantine History, Society, and Culture, the History of Masculinity, and the History of Sexuality.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351135228
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
The presence and importance of same-sex desire between men in the Byzantine Empire has been understudied. While John Boswell and others tried to open a conversation about desire between Byzantine men decades ago, the field reverted to emphasis on prohibition and an inability to read the evidence of same-sex desire between men in the sources. Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Homosociality, and Brotherhood in the Medieval Empire challenges and transforms this situation by placing at centre stage Byzantine men's desiring relations with one another. This book foregrounds desire between men in and around the imperial court of the 900s. Analysis of Greek sources (many untranslated until now) and of material culture reveals a situation both more liberal than the medieval West and important for its rite of brother-making (adelphopoiesis), which was a precursor to today’s same-sex marriage. This book transforms our understanding of Byzantine elite men's culture and is an important addition to the history of sex and desire between men. Between Byzantine Men will appeal to scholars and general readers who are interested in Byzantine History, Society, and Culture, the History of Masculinity, and the History of Sexuality.
"When Brothers Dwell in Unity"
Author: Stephen Morris
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476622140
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
In the world of early Byzantine Christianity, monastic rules acknowledged but discouraged the homosexual impulses of adult males. What most disturbed monastic leaders was adolescent males being accepted as novices; adult men were considered unable to control their sexual desires for these "beautiful boys." John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople (397-407), virulently denounced homosexuality, but was virtually the only Byzantine cleric to do so. Penances traditionally attached to heterosexual sins--including remarriage after divorce or widowhood--have always been much more severe than those for a variety of homosexual acts or relationships. Just as Byzantine churches have found ways to accommodate sequential marriages and other behavior once stridently condemned, this book argues, it is possible for Byzantine Christianity to make pastoral accommodations for gay relationships and same-sex marriage.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476622140
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
In the world of early Byzantine Christianity, monastic rules acknowledged but discouraged the homosexual impulses of adult males. What most disturbed monastic leaders was adolescent males being accepted as novices; adult men were considered unable to control their sexual desires for these "beautiful boys." John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople (397-407), virulently denounced homosexuality, but was virtually the only Byzantine cleric to do so. Penances traditionally attached to heterosexual sins--including remarriage after divorce or widowhood--have always been much more severe than those for a variety of homosexual acts or relationships. Just as Byzantine churches have found ways to accommodate sequential marriages and other behavior once stridently condemned, this book argues, it is possible for Byzantine Christianity to make pastoral accommodations for gay relationships and same-sex marriage.
Justinian's Men
Author: David Alan Parnell
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137562048
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
This book explores the professional and social lives of the soldiers who served in the army of the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century. More than just a fighting force, this army was the setting in which hundreds of thousands of men forged relationships and manoeuvred for promotion. The officers of this force, from famous generals like Belisarius and Narses to lesser-known men like Buzes and Artabanes, not only fought battles but also crafted social networks and cultivated their relationships with their emperor, fellow officers, families, and subordinate soldiers. Looming in the background were differences in identity, particularly between Romans and those they identified as barbarians. Drawing on numerical evidence and stories from sixth-century authors who understood the military, Justinian’s Men highlights a sixth-century Byzantine army that was vibrant, lively, and full of individuals working with and against each other.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137562048
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
This book explores the professional and social lives of the soldiers who served in the army of the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century. More than just a fighting force, this army was the setting in which hundreds of thousands of men forged relationships and manoeuvred for promotion. The officers of this force, from famous generals like Belisarius and Narses to lesser-known men like Buzes and Artabanes, not only fought battles but also crafted social networks and cultivated their relationships with their emperor, fellow officers, families, and subordinate soldiers. Looming in the background were differences in identity, particularly between Romans and those they identified as barbarians. Drawing on numerical evidence and stories from sixth-century authors who understood the military, Justinian’s Men highlights a sixth-century Byzantine army that was vibrant, lively, and full of individuals working with and against each other.
Brother-making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium
Author: Claudia Rapp
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195389336
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
Among medieval Christian societies, Byzantium is unique in preserving an ecclesiastical ritual of adelphopoiesis, which pronounces two men, not related by birth, as brothers for life. It has its origin as a spiritual blessing in the monastic world of late antiquity, and it becomes a popular social networking strategy among lay people from the ninth century onwards, even finding application in recent times. Located at the intersection of religion and society, brother-making exemplifies how social practice can become ritualized and subsequently subjected to attempts of ecclesiastical and legal control. Controversially, adelphopoiesis was at the center of a modern debate about the existence of same-sex unions in medieval Europe. This book, the first ever comprehensive history of this unique feature of Byzantine life, argues persuasively that the ecclesiastical ritual to bless a relationship between two men bears no resemblance to marriage. Wide-ranging in its use of sources, from a complete census of the manuscripts containing the ritual of adelphopoiesis to the literature and archaeology of early monasticism, and from the works of hagiographers, historiographers, and legal experts in Byzantium to comparative material in the Latin West and the Slavic world, Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium examines the fascinating religious and social features of the ritual, shedding light on little known aspects of Byzantine society.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195389336
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
Among medieval Christian societies, Byzantium is unique in preserving an ecclesiastical ritual of adelphopoiesis, which pronounces two men, not related by birth, as brothers for life. It has its origin as a spiritual blessing in the monastic world of late antiquity, and it becomes a popular social networking strategy among lay people from the ninth century onwards, even finding application in recent times. Located at the intersection of religion and society, brother-making exemplifies how social practice can become ritualized and subsequently subjected to attempts of ecclesiastical and legal control. Controversially, adelphopoiesis was at the center of a modern debate about the existence of same-sex unions in medieval Europe. This book, the first ever comprehensive history of this unique feature of Byzantine life, argues persuasively that the ecclesiastical ritual to bless a relationship between two men bears no resemblance to marriage. Wide-ranging in its use of sources, from a complete census of the manuscripts containing the ritual of adelphopoiesis to the literature and archaeology of early monasticism, and from the works of hagiographers, historiographers, and legal experts in Byzantium to comparative material in the Latin West and the Slavic world, Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium examines the fascinating religious and social features of the ritual, shedding light on little known aspects of Byzantine society.
Byzantine Armies 886–1118
Author: Ian Heath
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 56
Book Description
The Byzantines had a remarkably sophisticated approach to politics and military strategy. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they learnt very early in their history that winning a battle did not necessarily win a war, and they frequently bought off their enemies with treaties and bribes rather than squander men and matériel in potentially fruitless campaigns. The Byzantine army of the 10th and early 11th centuries, at the height of its power and efficiency, was the best-organised, best-trained, best-equipped and highest-paid in the known world. This splendid book by Ian Heath examines the Byzantine Armies from 886-1118, including the lusty, hard-fighting, hard-drinking 'barbarian' Varangian guard.
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 56
Book Description
The Byzantines had a remarkably sophisticated approach to politics and military strategy. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they learnt very early in their history that winning a battle did not necessarily win a war, and they frequently bought off their enemies with treaties and bribes rather than squander men and matériel in potentially fruitless campaigns. The Byzantine army of the 10th and early 11th centuries, at the height of its power and efficiency, was the best-organised, best-trained, best-equipped and highest-paid in the known world. This splendid book by Ian Heath examines the Byzantine Armies from 886-1118, including the lusty, hard-fighting, hard-drinking 'barbarian' Varangian guard.
Unrivalled Influence
Author: Judith Herrin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691153213
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
Explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, this title focuses on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691153213
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
Explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, this title focuses on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters.
Relations between East and West in the Middle ages
Author: Derek Baker
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 141283290X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
In the Roman Empire, relations between East and West meant connections between the eastern and western parts of a unified structure of empire. Romans sometimes complained about the corrupting influence on their city of Greeks and Orientals, but they employed Greek tutors to educate their sons. People did not think of the eastern and western parts of the empire as being separate entities whose relations with each other must be the object of careful study. Even at the moment of the empire's birth, there was a clear idea of where the Latin West ended and the Greek East began. This began to change with Constantine, when the Roman Empire was split in two, with Rome itself in decay. This volume, first published in 1973, derives from a colloquium on medieval history held at Edinburgh University. Its theme was the fl uctuating balance-of-power of Latin West and Greek East, Rome and Constantinople. The book starts with Justinian's attempt to reunite the two halves of the old Roman Empire and then goes on to consider the polarization of Christianity into its Catholic and Orthodox sectors, and the misunderstandings fostered by the Crusades; and ends with the growing power and conquests of Islam in the fourteenth century. The contributions included in Relations between East and West in the Middle Ages are: Old and New Rome in the Age of Justinian, by W. H. C. Frend; The Tenth Century in Byzantine-Western Relationships, by Karl Leyser; William of Tyre, by R. H. C. Davis; Cultural Relations between East and West in the Twelfth Century, by Anthony Bryer; Innocent III and the Greeks, Aggressor or Apostle? by Joseph Gill; Government in Latin Syria and the Commercial Privileges of Foreign Merchants, by Jonathan Riley-Smith; and Dante and Islam, by R. W. Southern.
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 141283290X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
In the Roman Empire, relations between East and West meant connections between the eastern and western parts of a unified structure of empire. Romans sometimes complained about the corrupting influence on their city of Greeks and Orientals, but they employed Greek tutors to educate their sons. People did not think of the eastern and western parts of the empire as being separate entities whose relations with each other must be the object of careful study. Even at the moment of the empire's birth, there was a clear idea of where the Latin West ended and the Greek East began. This began to change with Constantine, when the Roman Empire was split in two, with Rome itself in decay. This volume, first published in 1973, derives from a colloquium on medieval history held at Edinburgh University. Its theme was the fl uctuating balance-of-power of Latin West and Greek East, Rome and Constantinople. The book starts with Justinian's attempt to reunite the two halves of the old Roman Empire and then goes on to consider the polarization of Christianity into its Catholic and Orthodox sectors, and the misunderstandings fostered by the Crusades; and ends with the growing power and conquests of Islam in the fourteenth century. The contributions included in Relations between East and West in the Middle Ages are: Old and New Rome in the Age of Justinian, by W. H. C. Frend; The Tenth Century in Byzantine-Western Relationships, by Karl Leyser; William of Tyre, by R. H. C. Davis; Cultural Relations between East and West in the Twelfth Century, by Anthony Bryer; Innocent III and the Greeks, Aggressor or Apostle? by Joseph Gill; Government in Latin Syria and the Commercial Privileges of Foreign Merchants, by Jonathan Riley-Smith; and Dante and Islam, by R. W. Southern.
Relations Between East and West in the Middle Ages
Author: Roger Minshull
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351493930
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 169
Book Description
In the Roman Empire, relations between East and West meant connections between the eastern and western parts of a unified structure of empire. Romans sometimes complained about the corrupting influence on their city of Greeks and Orientals, but they employed Greek tutors to educate their sons. People did not think of the eastern and western parts of the empire as being separate entities whose relations with each other must be the object of careful study. Even at the moment of the empire's birth, there was a clear idea of where the Latin West ended and the Greek East began. This began to change with Constantine, when the Roman Empire was split in two, with Rome itself in decay.This volume, first published in 1973, derives from a colloquium on medieval history held at Edinburgh University. Its theme was the fl uctuating balance-of-power of Latin West and Greek East, Rome and Constantinople. The book starts with Justinian's attempt to reunite the two halves of the old Roman Empire and then goes on to consider the polarization of Christianity into its Catholic and Orthodox sectors, and the misunderstandings fostered by the Crusades; and ends with the growing power and conquests of Islam in the fourteenth century.The contributions included in Relations between East and West in the Middle Ages are: Old and New Rome in the Age of Justinian, by W. H. C. Frend; The Tenth Century in Byzantine-Western Relationships, by Karl Leyser; William of Tyre, by R. H. C. Davis; Cultural Relations between East and West in the Twelfth Century, by Anthony Bryer; Innocent III and the Greeks, Aggressor or Apostle? by Joseph Gill; Government in Latin Syria and the Commercial Privileges of Foreign Merchants, by Jonathan Riley-Smith; and Dante and Islam, by R. W. Southern.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351493930
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 169
Book Description
In the Roman Empire, relations between East and West meant connections between the eastern and western parts of a unified structure of empire. Romans sometimes complained about the corrupting influence on their city of Greeks and Orientals, but they employed Greek tutors to educate their sons. People did not think of the eastern and western parts of the empire as being separate entities whose relations with each other must be the object of careful study. Even at the moment of the empire's birth, there was a clear idea of where the Latin West ended and the Greek East began. This began to change with Constantine, when the Roman Empire was split in two, with Rome itself in decay.This volume, first published in 1973, derives from a colloquium on medieval history held at Edinburgh University. Its theme was the fl uctuating balance-of-power of Latin West and Greek East, Rome and Constantinople. The book starts with Justinian's attempt to reunite the two halves of the old Roman Empire and then goes on to consider the polarization of Christianity into its Catholic and Orthodox sectors, and the misunderstandings fostered by the Crusades; and ends with the growing power and conquests of Islam in the fourteenth century.The contributions included in Relations between East and West in the Middle Ages are: Old and New Rome in the Age of Justinian, by W. H. C. Frend; The Tenth Century in Byzantine-Western Relationships, by Karl Leyser; William of Tyre, by R. H. C. Davis; Cultural Relations between East and West in the Twelfth Century, by Anthony Bryer; Innocent III and the Greeks, Aggressor or Apostle? by Joseph Gill; Government in Latin Syria and the Commercial Privileges of Foreign Merchants, by Jonathan Riley-Smith; and Dante and Islam, by R. W. Southern.
The Perfect Servant
Author: Kathryn M. Ringrose
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226720160
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
The Perfect Servant reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium. Kathryn Ringrose uses the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time she explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium from 600 to 1100. Accepted for generations as a legitimate and functional part of Byzantine civilization, eunuchs were prominent in both the imperial court and the church. They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and were considered uniquely suited for important roles in Byzantine life. Transcending conventional notions of male and female, eunuchs lived outside of normal patterns of procreation and inheritance and were assigned a unique capacity for mediating across social and spiritual boundaries. This allowed them to perform tasks from which prominent men and women were constrained, making them, in essence, perfect servants. Written with precision and meticulously researched, The Perfect Servant will immediately take its place as a major study on Byzantium and the history of gender.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226720160
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
The Perfect Servant reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium. Kathryn Ringrose uses the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time she explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium from 600 to 1100. Accepted for generations as a legitimate and functional part of Byzantine civilization, eunuchs were prominent in both the imperial court and the church. They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and were considered uniquely suited for important roles in Byzantine life. Transcending conventional notions of male and female, eunuchs lived outside of normal patterns of procreation and inheritance and were assigned a unique capacity for mediating across social and spiritual boundaries. This allowed them to perform tasks from which prominent men and women were constrained, making them, in essence, perfect servants. Written with precision and meticulously researched, The Perfect Servant will immediately take its place as a major study on Byzantium and the history of gender.