Eastern Approaches to Byzantium Papers from the Thirty-Third Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, March 1999

The eastern frontier of Byzantium and the interaction of the peoples that lived along it are the themes of this book. With a focus on the ninth to thirteenth centuries and dealing with both art history and history, the essays provide reconsiderations of Byzantine policy on its eastern borders, new interpretations and new materials on Byzantine relations with the Georgians, Armenians and Seljuqs, as well as studies on the writing of history among these peoples. Presenting research from Russia and Georgia as well as Europe and the USA, the contributors stress the interaction and interdependence of all the peoples along this frontier zone, and consider the different ways in which the political and cultural power of Byzantium was appropriated. They provide important comparative evidence for the relationship between local and Byzantine cultures, and open up new avenues for research into the history of eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus. The volume arises from the thirty-third Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies held at the University of Warwick in March 1999.

Contents: Introduction, Antony Eastmond; The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of Islamization from the 11th through the 15th century: the book in the light of subsequent scholarship, 1971-98, Speros Vryonis Jr; Byzantium’s eastern frontier: Constantine VII, Caucasian openings and the road to Aleppo, Jonathan Shepard; How the east was won in the reign of Basil II, Catherine Holmes; La conception militaire de la frontière orientale (IXe-XIIIe siècle), Jean-Claude Cheynet; History writing in the east: Some reflections on Seljuq historiography, Carole Hillenbrand; The concept of history in medieval Armenian historians, Robert W. Thomson; From bumberazi to basileus: writing cultural synthesis and dynastic change in medieval Georgia (K’art’li), Stephen H. Rapp Jr; Byzantines: Bearing gifts from the east: imperial relic hunters abroad, Liz James; Art chrétien en Anatolie turque: le témoignage de peintures inédites à Tatlarin, Catherine Jolivet-Lévy; Georgians: Newly discovered early paintings in the Gareja desert, Zaza Skhirtladze; Byzantium and its eastern barbarians: the cult of saints in Svanet’i, Brigitta Schrade; Georgian perceptions of Byzantium in the 11th and 12th centuries, Giorgi Tcheishvili; Stalin and Georgian enamels, David Buckton; Armenians: The visual expression of power and piety in medieval Armenia: the palace and palace church at Aghtamar, Lynn Jones; Imperial aspirations: Armenian Cilicia and Byzantium in the 13th century, Helen C. Evans; Seljuqs and Turkomans: Turkoman and Byzantine self-identity. Some reflections on the logic of title-making in 12th- and 13th-century Anatolia, Rustam Shukurov; Seljuqs before the Seljuqs: nomads and frontiers inside Byzantium, Pamela Armstrong; Index.

Anthony Eastmond is Reader in the History of Byzantine Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK