Ravenna : capital of empire, crucible of europe / Judith Herrin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herrin, Judith, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (576 p.) : 65 color illus. 4 maps

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A riveting history of the city that led the West out of the ruins of the Roman EmpireAt the end of the fourth century, as the power of Rome faded and Constantinople became the seat of empire, a new capital city was rising in the West. Here, in Ravenna on the coast of Italy, Arian Goths and Catholic Romans competed to produce an unrivaled concentration of buildings and astonishing mosaics. For three centuries, the city attracted scholars, lawyers, craftsmen, and religious luminaries, becoming a true cultural and political capital. Bringing this extraordinary history marvelously to life, Judith Herrin rewrites the history of East and West in the Mediterranean world before the rise of Islam and shows how, thanks to Byzantine influence, Ravenna played a crucial role in the development of medieval Christendom.Drawing on deep, original research, Herrin tells the personal stories of Ravenna while setting them in a sweeping synthesis of Mediterranean and Christian history. From the Empress Galla Placidia and Theoderic the Gothic king, who both experienced being taken as hostages, to the amazing cosmographer of Ravenna and the doctor who strengthened expert Greek medical knowledge in Italy, Herrin demolishes the idea that the West just descended into the medieval "Dark Ages."Beautifully illustrated and drawing on the latest archaeological findings, this monumental book provides a bold new interpretation of Ravenna's lasting influence on the culture of Europe and the West.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of illustrations

A note on spellings

Maps

Table of competing powers in Ravenna

Introduction

1 The emergence of Ravenna as the imperial capital of the West

Part One 390– 450 Galla Placidia

2 Galla Placidia, Theodosian princess

3 Honorius (395– 423) and the development of Ravenna

4 Galla Placidia at the western court

5 Galla Placidia, builder and empress mother

Part Two 450– 93 The Rise of the Bishops

6 Valentinian III and Bishop Neon

7 Sidonius Apollinaris in Ravenna

8 Romulus Augustulus and King Odoacer

Part Three 493– 540 Theoderic the Goth, Arian King of Ravenna

9 Theoderic the Ostrogoth

10 Theoderic’s kingdom

11 Theoderic’s diplomacy

12 Theoderic the lawgiver

13 Amalasuintha and the legacy of Theoderic

Part Four 540– 70 Justinian I and the Campaigns in North Africa and Italy

14 Belisarius captures Ravenna

15 San Vitale, epitome of Early Christendom

16 Narses and the Pragmatic Sanction

17 Archbishop Maximian, bulwark of the West

18 Archbishop Agnellus and the seizure of the Arian churches

Part Five 568– 643 King Alboin and the Lombard conquest

19 Alboin invades

20 The exarchate of Ravenna

21 Gregory the Great and the control of Ravenna

22 Isaac, the Armenian exarch

23 Agnellus the doctor

Part Six 610– 700 The expansion of Islam

24 The Arab conquests

25 Constans II in Sicily

26 The Sixth Oecumenical Council

27 The Anonymous Cosmographer of Ravenna

Part Seven 685– 725 The two reigns of Justinian II

28 The Council in Trullo

29 The heroic Archbishop Damianus

30 The tempestuous life of Archbishop Felix

Part Eight 700– 769 Ravenna returns to the margins

31 Leo III and the defeat of the Arabs

32 The beginnings of Iconoclasm

33 Pope Zacharias and the Lombard conquest of Ravenna

34 Archbishop Sergius takes control

Part Nine 756– 813 Charlemagne and Ravenna

35 The long rule of King Desiderius

36 Charles in Italy, 774– 87

37 Charles claims the stones of Ravenna

Conclusion The glittering legacy of Ravenna

Notes

Acknowledgements

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691205120

0691205124

9780691204222

0691204225

OCLC:

1199584410