Description
Book SynopsisAccording to Byzantium''s leaders, their imperial order anchored in Constantinople was the centre of excellence - spiritual, moral, material and aesthetic. They rewarded individuals willing to join, and favoured outside groupings prepared to cooperate militarily or politically. Interactions with outsiders varied over place and time, complicated by the sometimes differing priorities of Byzantine churchmen and monks on or beyond Byzantium''s borders. These studies consider the dynamics of such interactions, notably the interrelationship between the Bulgarians and their Byzantine neighbour. The Bulgarians'' reaction to Byzantium ranged from ''contrarianism'' to the systematic adaptation of Byzantine religious orthodoxy, ideals of rulership and normative values after Khan Boris'' acceptance of eastern Christianity. For their part, Byzantine rulers were readier to do business with their Bulgarian counterparts than official pronouncements let on, occasionally even adopting aspects of Bulga
Trade Review'Having read this book, the researcher will have a fresh understanding of the way in which the Emperor spread the Word of Christianity: with the zeal of a real Apostle (at least apparently), but doing it only upon the request of the potentate.' Byzantinoslavica
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction: Centres old and new, the uses of Byzantium to emerging elites; Spreading the word: Byzantine missions; Slavs and Bulgars; Symeon of Bulgaria - peacemaker; The ruler as instructor, pastor and wise: Leo VI of Byzantium and Symeon of Bulgaria; A marriage too far? Maria Lekapena and Peter of Bulgaria; Tzetzes' letters to Leo at Dristra; Byzantine writers on the Hungarians in the 9th and 10th centuries; Byzantium and the steppe-nomads: the Hungarian dimension; Crowns from the basileus, crowns from heaven; Otto III, Boleslaw Chobry and the 'happening' at Gniezno, A.D. 1000: some possible implications of Professor Poppe's thesis concerning the offspring of Anna Porphyrogenita; Conversions and regimes compared: the Rus' and Poles ca. 1000; Manners maketh Romans? Young barbarians at the emperor's court; Addenda and corrigenda; Bibliography; Index.
