Imperial ideology and political thought in Byzantium (1204-1330) / Dimiter Angelov.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Angelov, Dimiter, 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Propaganda.

History.

Politics and government.

Byzantine Empire--Politics and government--1081-1453--Sources.

Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine Empire--History--1081-1453--Sources.

Propaganda--Byzantine Empire--History--Sources.

Imperialism.

Physical Description:

xvii, 453 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

This is the first systematic study of Byzantine imperial ideology, court rhetoric, and political thought after the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204 - in the Nicaean state (1204-1261) and during the early period of the restored empire of the Palaiologoi. The book explores Byzantine political imagination at a time of crisis when the Empire ceased to be a first-rate power in the Mediterranean. It investigates the correspondence and fissures between official political rhetoric, on the one hand, and the political ideas of lay thinkers and churchmen, on the other. Through the analysis of a wide body of sources (some of them little known or unpublished), a picture of Byzantine political thought emerges which differs significantly from the traditionally accepted one. The period saw refreshing developments in court rhetoric and political thought - some with interesting parallels in the medieval and Renaissance West - which arose in response to the new historical realities.

Contents:

A note on style xi

Part I Official Ideology

1 Analyzing imperial propaganda 29

2 The imperial idea: continuity and change in the imperial image 78

3 Rhetorical theories of succession 116

4 The ideology of imperial government 134

5 The late Byzantine imperial panegyrists as lobbyists 161

Part II The Secular Thinkers

6 Tradition and innovation in theoretical texts 183

7 Theodore II Laskaris as a political thinker 204

8 The critics of the Palaiologoi: fiscal responsibility and elective kingship 253

9 The controversy on imperial taxation 286

10 Manuel Moschopoulos, Plato, and government as social covenant 310

Part III The Ecclesiastics

11 The emperor - subject to the church: late Byzantine hierocratic theories 351.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 424-445) and index.

ISBN:

0521857031

9780521857031

OCLC:

65207063

Online:

Publisher description