Title Imagining the Byzantine past : the perception of history in the illustrated manuscripts of Skylitzes and Manasses / Elena N. Boeck

Published New York : Cambridge University Press, 2015

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 314 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : color illustrations Contents Mystery, history, and materiality -- Engaging Byzantium, enraging Byzantium : Sicily, Bulgaria and the contestation of Constantinopolitan preeminence -- Narrative emplotments and patterns of prioritization : analyzing visual codes and structural modes -- Amplification as dialogue : the link between design and patronage -- Iconoclasm as narrative experiment : religion, politics, and memory -- A headstrong case for getting ahead : scrutinizing narratives of de-capitation -- Constantinople : story spaces or storied imperial places Summary Two lavish, illustrated histories confronted and contested the Byzantine model of empire. The Madrid Skylitzes was created at the court of Roger II of Sicily in the mid-twelfth century. The Vatican Manasses was produced for Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria in the mid-fourteenth century. Through close analysis of how each chronicle was methodically manipulated, this study argues that Byzantine history was selectively re-imagined to suit the interests of outsiders. The Madrid Skylitzes foregrounds regicides, rebellions, and palace intrigue in order to subvert the divinely ordained image of order that Byzantine rulers preferred to project. The Vatican Manasses presents Byzantium as a platform for the accession of Ivan Alexander to the throne of the Third Rome, the last and final world-empire. Imagining the Byzantine Past demonstrates how distinct visions of empire generated diverging versions of Byzantium's past in the aftermath of the Crusades Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-308) and index Notes Print version record Subject Scylitzes, John, active 1081. Synopsis historiarum. Manasses, Constantine, -1187. Synopsis historikē. Biblioteca apostolica vaticana. Manuscript. Vat. slav. 2 -- Illustrations SUBJECT Skyllitzes Matritensis -- Illustrations Skyllitzes Matritensis fast Synopsis historiarum (Scylitzes, John) fast Synopsis historikē (Manasses, Constantine) fast Subject Historiography -- Byzantine Empire History in art. Illumination of books and manuscripts, Byzantine. histories (visual works) HISTORY -- Europe -- General. Historiography History in art Illumination of books and manuscripts, Byzantine SUBJECT Byzantine Empire -- Historiography Subject Byzantine Empire Genre/Form Illustrated works Form Electronic book ISBN 9781316084472 1316084477 9781316384831 1316384837 9781107450011 1107450012

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