Authority in Byzantium

Dr Pamela Armstrong is Director, Oxford Byzantine Ceramics Project, Member of the Sub-faculty of Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, and Member of Common Room, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK.

• Contents: Preface; Introduction; Part I The Authority of the State: Aspects of moral leadership: the imperial city, and lucre from legality, Jonathan Shepard; Trial by ordeal in Byzantium: on whose authority?, Ruth Macrides; A case study: the use of the nominative on imperial portraits from Antiquity to Byzantium, Sergey Ivanov; Response, Susan Reynolds. Part II Authority in the Market-Place: Displaying the emperor’s authority and kharaktèr on the marketplace, Cécile Morrisson; The authority of the Eparchos in the markets of Constantinople (according to the Book of the Eparch), Johannes Koder; Response, Chris Wickham. Part III The Authority of the Church: Coming of age in Byzantium: agency and authority in rites of passage from infancy to adulthood, Jane Baun; The authority of the Church in uneasy times: the example of Demetrios Chomatenos, archbishop of Ohrid, in the state of Epiros, 1216-1236, Günter Prinzing; Response, Miri Rubin. Part IV Authority within the Family: Family ties, bonds of kinship (9th-11th centuries), Christine Angelidi; The limits of marital authority: examining continence in the lives of Saints Julian and Basilissa, and Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, Anne P. Alwis; Response, Janet Nelson. Part V The Authority of Knowledge: Knowledge in authority and authorised history: the imperial intellectual programme of Leo VI and Constantine VII, Paul Magdalino; The authority of knowledge in the name of the authority of mimesis, Charalambos Bakirtzis; On whose authority? Regulating medical practice in the 12th and early 13th centuries, Dionysios Stathakopoulos; Response, Alexander Murray. Part VI The Authority of the Text: Believe it or not: authority in religious texts, Albrecht Berger; From the workshop of Niketas Choniates: the authority of tradition and literary mimesis, Alicia Simpson; ’And many, many more’: a 16th-century description of private libraries in Constantinople, and the authority of books, Marc D. Lauxtermann. Part VII Exhibiting A

'This is a wonderful collection of papers.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review 'A prize for diversity of content can be awarded to the contributors.' English Historical Review