The Social History of Byzantium

Western civilization owes an incalculable cultural and historical debt to the Byzantine Empire. Before falling to the Ottoman Turks in the mid–fifteenth century, the empire flourished for more than a thousand years, bridging the ancient and modern worlds. Byzantium profoundly influenced the pattern of cultural and political development in the lands it occupied and had an enduring influence on neighboring societies.

A Social History of Byzantium delves into a crucial and often neglected strand of Byzantine studies the social history of the eastern Roman Empire. Drawing on a wealth of new research and with original essays by leading scholars, this groundbreaking work addresses a wide range of interconnected topics and offers illuminating insights into our knowledge of Byzantine society. Exploring such issues as family life, social structure, religion, class, gender, and imperial power, this book reveals the complex social structure woven throughout the Byzantine world.

Notes on Contributors.

Foreword.

List of Abbreviations.

Maps.

1. Towards a Social History of Byzantium (John Haldon, Princeton University).

2. Men, Women, Eunuchs: Gender, Sex and Power (Liz James, University of Sussex).

3. Family Structure and the Transmission of Property (Angeliki Laiou, University of Harvard).

4. The Social Function of the Law (Bernard Stolte, University of Groningen).

5. Social Relations and the Land: The Early Period (Peter Sarris, University of Cambridge).

6. Land and Power in the Middle and Later Period (Peter Frankopan, University of Oxford).

7. The Producing Population (Michel Kaplan, University of Paris 1).

8. Social Élites, Wealth and Power (John Haldon, Princeton University).

9. Court Society and Aristocracy (Paul Magdalino, University of St Andrews).

10. The Church and Society (Michael Angold, University of Edinburgh).

11. A Monastic World (Alice–Mary Talbot, Dumbarton Oaks).

Glossary of Byzantine/Medieval Terms.

Index.

John Haldon is Professor of Byzantine History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, and is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of late Roman and Byzantine social, economic, and institutional history. His books include Warfare, State, and Society in the Byzantine World (1999), Byzantium: A History (2000), Byzantium at War (2002) and The Oxford Handbook of Byzantium Studies (editor with E. Jeffreys and R. Cormack, 2008).

"Until now, the social history of Byzantium has remained a neglected field. Professor John Haldon has put together a team of leading international Byzantinists, each of whom addresses his or her own specialised area. The book will be a critical tool for anyone who wants to understand Byzantium."
Averil Cameron, University of Oxford

"The great merit of this volume is its openness to larger methodological debates about socio–economic history and state structures. For the first time in a comprehensive study, Byzantine society is treated as an integral part of the world history of the Middle Ages."
Claudia Rapp, University of California, Los Angeles