Women of Byzantium

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19095

Women played key roles in Byzantine society: some ruled or co-ruled the empire, and others commissioned art and buildings, went on pilgrimages, and wrote. This engrossing book draws on evidence ranging from pictorial mosaics and inscriptions on the walls of churches to women’s poetry and histories, examining for the first time the lives, occupations, beliefs, and social roles of Byzantine women. In each chapter Carolyn L. Connor introduces us to a single woman—from the elite to the ordinary—and uses her as a springboard to discuss Byzantine society. Frequently quoting from contemporary accounts, Connor reveals what these women thought of themselves and their lives and how they remembered the lives of women who had lived earlier. Informative, sympathetic, and engagingly written, this book is a window into Byzantine culture and women’s history that has never before been opened.

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date August 2004 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300099577

EISBN 9780300251227

Illustrations 68

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Map of the Early Christian and Byzantine World
Map of Byzantine Constantinople
Saint Thekla with Wild Beasts and Angels
Ampulla with Saint Thekla Between Beasts, from Egypt
Coin of Aelia Flaccilla, obverse and reverse
Statuette of Aelia Flaccilla (?), from Constantinople (?)
Coin of Pulcheria, obverse and reverse
Translation of Relics
Panel of an imperial diptych with the Empress Ariadne
Coin of Athenais Eudocia, obverse and reverse
Coin of Pulcheria and Marcian, obverse and reverse
Coin of Licinia Eudoxia, obverse and reverse
Coin of Galla Placidia, obverse and reverse
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, detail of vault with starry sky mosaic
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Procession of female saints
Saint Mary of Egypt, west face of wall between apse and prothesis, Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa
Riha Paten
Medallion with the Annunciation
Marriage Belt
Octagonal Marriage Ring with Holy Site Scenes
Bust surrounded by grapevines
Peacock niche with grapevines in spandrel
Peacock body
Anicia Juliana with personifications, frontispiece in Dioscurides, De Materia Medica
Peacock, Manuscript of Dioscurides, De Materia Medica
Empress Theodora, Antonina, and Joannina, south wall of sanctuary, San Vitale
Justinian and his retinue, including Archbishop Maximian
Theodora and her retinue
Gold crossbow fibula (brooch)
Necklace and earrings
Lunate necklace
Jeweled bracelet
Head of Theodora (?)
Samson Panel
Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Empress Zoe
Crown of Constantine IX Monomachos
The Widow Danielis Being Carried on a Litter
Tyche of the city of Gibeon, detail, Joshua Roll
David composing the Psalms, Paris Psalter
Israelite women dancing, Paris Psalter
Adam and Eve, detail
Virgin and Child
Saints Thekla, Constantine, and Helena, Agatha, Anastasia, Febronia, and Eugenia, west wall of narthex, south bay, Hosios Loukas Katholikon
Saints Irene, Catherine, Barbara, Euphemia, Maria, and Juliana, west wall of narthex, north bay, Hosios Loukas Katholikon
Interior view of cave church with female saints, Church of Kiliçlar, Kusluk
Interior view of cave Church with female saints: Anastasia, Church of Kiliçlar Kusluk
Saints Andronikos, Athanasia, Mavra, Barbara, Marina, and Anastasia, west wall of Church of the Panagia
Saint Anastasia with donor, Saint Irene, Saint Demetrios, and Saint Anna with donor, narthex, south half, Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa
Empress Zoe and Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus with Christ, Hagia Sophia
Saint Anastasia Pharmakolytria with donor, Anastasia Saramalina, Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa
Saint Anna with donor, Anna the Deaconess, Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa
Saints Barbara, Catherine, Irene, Athanasia, and Andronikos, south and west walls, Church of the Archangel, or Panagia Theotokos
Saints Constantine and Helena, north wall, Church of the Archangel, or Panagia Theotokos
Deesis composition with donors Polos and Madelena and their children, north wall, Church of the Archangel, or Panagia Theotokos
Madelena and her daughters, detail of deesis composition, north wall, Church of the Archangel, or Panagia Theotokos
Nicephorus Botaniates and Maria of Alania blessed by Christ, Homilies of Saint John Chrysostom
The emperor John II Konmenos and the empress Irene with the Virgin and Child, Hagia Sophia
Christ Blessing in Empress Theophano and Emperor Otto II
Initial facing pages of the Lincoln College Typikon; left: Constantine Palaeologus and Irene Komnene Branaina; right: John Synadenos and Theodora Palaeologina
Joacheim the Monk and Theodule the Nun, with the Child Eurphrosyne Between Them, Lincoln College Typikon
Facing pages of the Lincoln College Typikon; left: Theotokos of Sure Hope holding Christ Child; right: Theodule and Euphrosyne
Theodule and Euphrosyne, Lincoln College Typikon
Typicon of the Convent of Our Lady of Good Hope at Constantinople with the nuns of the convent
Deesis mosaic, east wall of inner narthex, Kariye Djami
Melane the Nun, detail of deesis mosaic, east wall of inner narthex, Kariye Djami

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Contents

Contents

Author

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19096

Free

~I would like to acknowledge the financial assistance of the University Research Council at the University of North Carolina in helping subsidize the production of color plates. At Yale University Press I would like to thank Harry Haskell in particular for his patience, understanding, and helpful good humor in seeing this book through to...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19097

~Everyone has a story. Given a chance to tell it, most people will recount the events that shaped their lives in explaining how they arrived at where they are. At any given time one’s life-story is necessarily a composite view of his or her life up to that time, seen from a perspective that defines successes and failures, choices and chance happenings, hopes...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.xi-xv

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19098

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Early church, ca. 30-600Women saints in artByzantine Empire--Civilization--To 527Arts, Byzantine

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Part I: Late Antiquity (250–500 CE)

Situated in a time of fundamental change, Thekla’s story characterizes a shift away from the old norms of antiquity...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.1-12

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19099

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Early church, ca. 30-600Women saints in artByzantine Empire--Civilization--To 527Arts, Byzantine

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1. Ascetic Women and Religious Life in Early Christianity: Macrina

~ The emperor Constantine’s adoption of Christianity signaled by his Edict of Milan of 313 issued in a period of momentous change. The edict ordained that...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Early church, ca. 30-600Christian women saints--BiographyByzantine Empire--Civilization--To 527Christian hagiography

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.13-28

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19100

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2. Pilgrimage: Egeria

~ People were on the move in the early centuries of the Christian era to an extent which is difficult to imagine, and the realities of long-distance travel are hard to reconstruct. One important motivation for travel was the desire to go on religious pilgrimage, to venerate holy places, to see and walk where the saints and personnages...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Early church, ca. 30-600Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages--JerusalemByzantine Empire--Civilization--To 527

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.29-44

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19101

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3. Female Imperial Authority: Empresses of the Theodosian House: Galla Placidia

~ The stolid profiles of the women of the Valentinian and Theodosian dynasties as they appear on coins minted during the late fourth and fifth centuries offer slight hints at some of the issues behind these images. Coinage was a traditional mode of projecting emperors’ images throughout the empire, indicating in its formulaic...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.45-72

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19102

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Empresses--Byzantine Empire--BiographyCoins, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Civilization--To 527Empresses in art

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Part II: Early Byzantium (500–843)

In an article published in 1983 Judith Herrin sums up the state of inquiry on Byzantine women and the most productive approaches for assessing women’s place...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.73-77

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.008

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19103

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Byzantine literature--History and criticismByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Arts, Byzantine

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4. Saints and Sinners: Women at Risk: Mary of Egypt

~ Behind much of the literature of conversion is the great New Testament penitent, Mary Magdalene, the repentant prostitute who bathed Jesus’ feet...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500Christian women saints--BiographyByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Arts, Byzantine

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.78-93

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.009

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19104

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5. Women and Artistic Patronage: Anicia Juliana

~ Just as ancient texts provide constant challenges of determining authorship and interpretation, so buildings and other works of art in Byzantium present an analogous problem: that of determining their sponsorship or patronage. It is particularly problematic to...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.94-116

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.010

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19105

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Women art patronsVotive offeringsByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Arts, Byzantine

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6. The Challenge of Theodora

~ The empress Theodora (527–48), wife of the emperor...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.117-145

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.011

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19106

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Empresses--Byzantine Empire--BiographyMarriage (Byzantine law)Byzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Arts, Byzantine

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7. Ordinary Women in the Orbit of Theodore of Sykeon

~ While the Secret History is revealing about the “real” Theodora and women at the top of society in Constantinople, ordinary women of this time are also accessible in rare...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.146-158

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.012

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19107

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Christian saints--BiographyCity and town lifeByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081

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Part III: The Middle Byzantine Period (843–1204)

On March 11, 843, a joyful procession filed through the streets of Constantinople led by the empress Theodora, widow of the emperor Theophilus...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.159-165

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.013

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19108

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Icons--CultIconoclasmByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Byzantine Empire--Civilization--1081-1453

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8. Women’s Monasticism: Irene of Chrysobalanton

~ The procession with icons through the streets of Constantinople on March 11, 843, signaling the Triumph of Orthodoxy was indeed a new...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.166-181

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.014

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19109

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500Christian women saints--BiographyByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081

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9. Women in Art: The Byzantine Image of Female Sanctity: Helena

~ In the middle Byzantine period of the ninth through...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.182-206

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.015

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19110

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Christian women saintsArts, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Byzantine Empire--Civilization--1081-1453

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10. Imperial Women and Marriage: Zoe

~ The standard list of Byzantine emperors found in texts about Byzantium makes no reference to the women who coruled as Augustae, who carried out the roles of wife, mother, and empress. Lynda...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.207-237

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.016

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19111

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Empresses--Byzantine Empire--BiographyMarriage (Byzantine law)Byzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Marriage customs and rites, Medieval

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11. The World of Anna Komnene: Anna’s Passionate Voice in the Alexiad

~ The Alexiad, written by the imperial princess Anna Komnene, is the story of the dynamic reign of her father, Alexios I Komnenos, from 1081 to 1118.In this chapter, in order to accommodate readers, I...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.238-262

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.017

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19112

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Byzantine Empire--Civilization--Classical influencesWomen authorsByzantine Empire--Civilization--1081-1453Emperors--Byzantine Empire--Biography

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Part IV: Late Byzantium (1204–1453)

The occupation of Byzantine territories by the Fourth Crusade from 1204 to 1261 ended in the retaking of the capital by Michael VIII Palaeologus...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.263-267

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.018

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19113

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Crusades--13th-15th centuriesArts, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Civilization--1081-1453

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12. Founding Mothers and the Testimony of the Typika: Theodora Synadene

~ In this chapter I deal with a rare instance in which a person from the distant past emerges vividly through a single preserved object or work of art. This was the casewith Anicia Juliana and her...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.268-308

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.019

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19114

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Monastic and religious life of women--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500Women art patronsByzantine Empire--Civilization--1081-1453Arts, Byzantine

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13. Epilogue: The “Lady of the Mongols”

~ From Thekla of Iconium and the success of her text in the earliest Christian times to Theodora Synadene in her fourteenth-century monastic retreat, we have noted that sources concerning women depict Christianity as a defining factor in their lives. Throughout late antiquity and the long history of the Byzantine Empire, Christian...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.309-316

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00178.020

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19115

Chapter subject tags:Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500Women--HistoriographyByzantine Empire--Civilization--527-1081Byzantine Empire--Civilization--1081-1453Arts, Byzantine

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