Fall of Constantinople

Introduction

The Fall of Byzantine Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 is one of those monumental events that has captured the imagination of historians, writers, bards, and poets the world over, both contemporary and modern. It signifies the definite conclusion of the Greco-Roman world, in the sense that Constantinople was seen by its inhabitants as the heiress of the cultural achievement of Rome, often called “second Rome” in Byzantine literature. Second Rome was in fact the original name of the new capital, highlighting the link with the old Rome and its importance as the new center of power. The term survives in the honorific title of the Ecumenical Patriarch, who is styled Αρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Νέας Ρώμης και Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης (Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch). The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 also signifies the destruction of a certain way of life that remained in existence for over 1,000 years and defined the post-Classical world. In that sense, 1453 is often used by historians and teachers of civilization as the conventional commencement of the modern era. This article explores the reception of the event by means of a bibliographical study.

General Overview

Philippides and Hanak 2011 is the panacea of this subject. Students who can afford only one book to start with will do well to choose this resource. An effort of monumental size and scope, it will serve the discipline well for many decades as both an introduction to the field and a valuable reference work.

Philippides, M., and W. K. Hanak. The Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453: Historiographical, Topographical, and Military Studies. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2011.
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Primary sources for this topic are comprehensively covered in this relatively new work. The wealth of primary sources would mean that they can only be obliquely and partially referred to in a bibliographical essay like this one and therefore give a more imperfect picture than if diverting the reader to this one major work, which may become a staple for scholars for years to come.
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Reference Works

Trapp, et al. 1976–1996 and Kazhdan 1991 are staples for the advanced student of Byzantium. Not only they have outlined areas of research, but they have also defined the field stylistically, especially in matters of transliteration.

Kazhdan, Alexander P. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 3 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
DOI: 10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A very useful starting point for those interested in Byzantium covering the entire chronology of the empire from the 4th century to the 15th. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium t has established itself as a standard among researchers not only for its accuracy of content but also for bibliographical style. Also available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Trapp, Erich, Mitarbeit von Rainer Walther, and Hans-Veit Beyer, eds. Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit. 14 vols. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1976–1996.
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This is the standard prosopographical reference work for the late Byzantine era and includes all major personalities and many obscure figures. It is particularly useful for PhD students mapping out their field of study and deciding their path within the discipline. The work is most impressive and accurate despite the fact that it commenced over thirty years ago.
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Nontraditional Resources

Nonacademic sources can also be valuable to scholars when they strive to grapple with lost civilizations and their reception. Two very different examples are suggested here, a novel (Pamuk 2005) and a liturgical work (Stergioulis 2003). The well-known pedagogical website on all things Byzantine is also included (Byzantium: Byzantine Studies on the Internet).

Byzantium: Byzantine Studies on the Internet. New York: Fordham University.
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Traditionally, and rightly, the first website Byzantinists recommend to each other. A wealth of information is organized here with great skill by Paul Halsall, who has done a great service to the discipline by displaying all this information to sources and other links. No one has managed to do better.
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Pamuk, Orhan. Istanbul: Memories and the City. Translated by Maureen Freely. London: Faber and Faber, 2005.
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This masterpiece from Orhan Pamuk rivals his earlier My Name is Red (New York: Knopf, 2001; originally published in Turkish in 1998) and will be attractive to all lovers of the city. Although not an academic work, it would be a great introduction to students as part of their pre-sessional summer preparation or as an addition to their academic bibliography. A great literary portrait.
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Stergioulis, Archimandrite Serapheim. ᾈσματικὴ ᾿Ακολουθία εἰς τοὺς ᾿Ανωνύμους Μάρτυρας τῆς ῾Αλώσεως τῆς Βασιλίδος τῶν Πόλεων Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Athens, Greece: Ekdosis Philologikos Syllogos Parnassos, 2003.
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Archimandrite Serapheim has composed an Asmatiki Akolouthia, that is to say a Sung Service to the anonymous martyrs, those who died during the Fall of Constantinople. A new work in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, this would be of direct interest to those who work on the Byzantine Rite or practice as chanters within the Eastern Church.
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Historical Background

In order to approach the events surrounding the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 with confidence and authority, it is essential for the student of the period to become acquainted with the historical and cultural context of the later Byzantine world. The works featured in this section are some of the finest publications dealing with that world and are chosen both for their erudition and clarity. Obolensky 1971 discusses Byzantium in relation to what the author defined as its Commonwealth, Harris 2007, Harris 2012, and Shepard 2012 focus on the capital city of Constantinople, the undeniable heart of the empire, while Harris 2010 offers a skeptical approach to the legend of the fall, and especially of the Last Emperor. Andriopoulou 2011 and Kyriakidis 2011 represent a new generation of scholars focusing on how Byzantines related to others through diplomacy and war, respectively.

Andriopoulou, Stavroula. “Diplomatic Communication Between Byzantium and the West Under the Late Palaiologoi (1354–1453).” PhD diss., University of Birmingham, 2011.
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A thorough study of Byzantine–Western relations with much-needed new research on the later period. Also contains many useful tables and statistics that can be utilized by others in order to build a more vivid picture of the last 100 years of Byzantium.
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Babinger, Franz. Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978.
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This book has been discussed in the past in terms of its problematic nature and legacy in light of a potential second volume that death prevented the author from issuing. The second edition had the editorial input of William C. Hickman and is enriched with footnotes and bibliographical recommendations. Overall, this is an important study of the times in which Mehmed lived. Originally published 1953.
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Harris, Jonathan. Constantinople. London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007.
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A portrait of the great city that promises to remain a classic for generations to come. The Queen of Cities is highlighted in this book for everything that it meant to the Byzantines, providing the reader with insightful glimpses of Byzantine perceptions.
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Harris, Jonathan. The End of Byzantium. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.
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An evocative look at the last days of an intensely singular civilization. Striking in its narrative from the outset, this book impresses upon its audience the complexity of socio-political affairs in the late Byzantine era with special reference to the Palaiologoi family and their celebrated Ottoman rivals.
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Harris, Jonathan. “Constantinople as City State, c. 1360–1453.” In Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World after 1150. Edited by Jonathan Harris, Catherine Holmes, and Eugenia Russell, 119–140. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
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A pioneering article about late Byzantine Constantinople that argues that the city operated much like its Italian naval counterparts. Drawing on cutting-edge research about Byzantine–Western relations, this piece discusses commercial and political loyalties of the protagonists of late Byzantine life.
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Kyriakidis, Savvas. Warfare in Late Byzantium, 1204–1453. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011.
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004206663.i-254Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This monograph is an excellent study of Byzantine warfare and has been welcomed with enthusiasm by military historians. The book describes the impact of the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade (1204) in terms of the impossible task of recovery that never fully materialized. It explains how an empire of increasingly reduced means maintained its traditional ideology and how that effected military operations.
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Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971.
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This iconic monograph first brought to the fore the term “Commonwealth” in connection with Byzantium. Powerful in both its conception and its execution, this book has altered perceptions of the Byzantine world since its publication and is still read widely by students and advanced scholars.
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Shepard, Jonathan. “Imperial Constantinople: Relics, Palaiologan Emperors and the Resilience of the Exemplary Centre.” In Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World after 1150. Edited by Jonathan Harris, Catherine Holmes, and Eugenia Russell, 61–92. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
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A majestic essay on Constantinopolitan culture, this fascinating piece shows how relics were used as part of standard Byzantine ideology and diplomacy and to what extent the Byzantines where prepared to exploit them. An apt reminder that religious culture needs to be considered as a crucial part of our appraisal of the Middle Ages.
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Last Centuries and Last Emperors

The rather neglected later Byzantine period is extremely interesting, both in terms of historical developments and diplomatic relations and its contribution to a broader European culture. Three of the pioneers of the discipline, George T. Dennis, Peter Charanis, and Donald M. Nicol, are among those featured here (see Dennis 1960, Dennis 1977, Charanis 1973, Nicol 1993, Nicol 1994, and Nicol 1996). Alongside Dennis 1960 and Dennis 1977, Barker 1969 focuses on the person of Manuel Palaiologos, one of the most important figures of the later period.

Barker, John W. Manuel II Palaeologus (1391–1425): A Study in Late Byzantine Statesmanship. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1969.
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A valuable biography of Manuel II with emphasis on his political ideology. Still unsurpassed, it is hoped that this important work will yield further research on this central figure of the Palaiologoi family and of the later period as a whole. Essential reading for all late Byzantinists and also good for those interested in ideas of kingship in the Middle Ages.
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Charanis, Peter. “The Strife among the Palaeologi and the Ottoman Turks, 1370–1402.” In Social, Economic and Political Life in the Byzantine Empire. Edited by Peter Charanis, 286–314. London: Variorum, 1973.
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One of several important studies by the great economic historian, this well-written piece will be very helpful to advanced students contextualizing the events that led to the inevitable taking of the Queen of Cities, including successive attempts of the Palaiologoi to bring resolution.
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Dennis, George T. The Reign of Manuel II Palaeologus in Thessalonica, 1382–1387. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, 1960.
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A compact but intense study on Manuel’s reign in Thessalonica, shedding light on his personality and times more broadly. Despite the brevity of his stay, Manuel made a considerable impact on the political and cultural life of the city and the years between 1382 and 1387 and therefore needs to be studied meticulously by those discussing Thessalonian life and culture.
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Dennis, George T., ed. The Letters of Manuel II Palaeologus: Text, Translation, and Notes. Corpus fontium historiae Byzantinae 8. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1977.
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Here the philosopher-king speaks for himself. This superb edition of Manuel II’s letters by George T. Dennis brings the man and his era to life and offers rich potential for textual, linguistic, and cultural analysis.
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Necipoglu, Nevra. Byzantium Between the Latins and the Ottomans: Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511576720Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Based on an older PhD thesis but updated with newer insights, this work combines close analysis with broader conclusions regarding Byzantine relations in the later period. It focuses on three areas geographically: Constantinople, Thessalonica, and the Morea. Covering the last 100 years, it describes a division of opinion and leanings, with a pro-Latin Byzantine elite and an anti-Latin populace and clergy.
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Nicol, Donald M. The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511583698Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A celebrated book on the last emperor of Byzantium by one of the greatest pioneers of late Byzantine studies. This biography is a marvelous first port of call for those new to late Byzantium or interested in how legends of the fall and of its heroic king have become part of folklore among the Balkan peoples.
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Nicol, Donald M. The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
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This is the work that arguably opened up the field of late Byzantine studies and is still invaluable for its superb narrative and clarity of prose. Depth of scholarship and storytelling skill come together seamlessly in this book. A must for all academic libraries.
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Nicol, Donald M. The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 1250–1500. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
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Ten short biographies that were once controversial among feminists for the use of terms such as “lady,” these portraits of female power are not only exemplary studies but also extremely useful pieces for teachers of Byzantium.
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Nicol, Donald M. The Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c. 1295–1383. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
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John Kantakouzenos is held responsible for a horrid civil war in the minds of many scholars, but in this magisterial biography Donald M. Nicol is not afraid to take his side. Highlighting his spirituality, piety, and the monastic ideal prevalent within Byzantine royal families, he shows the interiority of the emperor, who was also a historian.
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Runciman, Steven. The Fall of Constantinople, 1453. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, University Press, 1965.
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Steven Runciman is a pioneer of Byzantine studies with a wide following of admirers around the world. His books are popular with students and professors alike because of his effortlessly attractive prose. This particular work is significant among his achievements but often criticized because of his overreliance on a later source, known as pseudo-Sphrantzes, which at the time was believed to be contemporary.
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The Aftermath

Two opposing approaches are highlighted here. Mansel 1996 takes the Second Fall of Constantinople as the beginning of the modern era (1453) while Vakalopoulos 1970 starts with the First Fall, that to the Fourth Crusade (1204). Zeses 1980 and Blanchet 2008 offer portraits of Scholarios, while Setton 1956 discusses the Byzantine impact on the Renaissance.

Blanchet, Marie-Hélène. Georges-Gennadios Scholarios (vers 1400–vers 1472): Un intellectuel orthodoxe face à la disparition de l’empire byzantin. Paris: Institut français d‘études byzantines, 2008.
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A meticulous and significant study of Scholarios with emphasis on his role regarding the foremost religious question of his lifetime, the Byzantine position on the unification of the Churches in light of political need for Western help. This is an advanced study aimed at dedicated scholars who want to deepen their knowledge of this pivotal figure of the post-Byzantine era.
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Mansel, Philip. Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire, 1453–1924. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996.
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The great lover of the Levant, Philip Mansel uses much of his literary magic in this nostalgic narrative of the city’s history, which he chooses to open with its legendary Fall of 1453. Episodic, anecdotal, and vividly visual, this is a great introduction to the city’s desirability for the general reader or indeed the literary traveler.
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Setton, Kenneth M. “The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 100 (1956): 1–76.
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This is one of those articles they could easily have been a book in its own right. The student of the Renaissance who would like to explore the Byzantine beginnings of the movement will not find a better starting point. Significant, informative, and engaging, this article is one of the finest of its kind.
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Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E. Origins of the Greek Nation: The Byzantine Period, 1204–1461. Translated by Ian Moles. Rutgers Byzantine Series. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1970.
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This very scholarly work interprets the end of Byzantium as the phoenix from which modern Greek consciousness eventually emerged. It opens with the Fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 and ends with the fall of the last Byzantine outpost, Trebizond, which was surrendered by emperor David Megas Komnenos in 1461. Originally written in Greek.
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Zeses, Theodore. Γεννάδιος Β΄ Σχολάριος. Βίος-Συγγράμματα-Διδασκαλία. Thessalonica, Greece: Patriarchikon Idhrima Paterikon Meleton, 1980.
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A hefty literary biography that can serve as an exemplar for further publications on Byzantine intellectuals, many of which await to be undertaken. This book sheds light on the deeply interesting personality of Gennadios Scholarios, first Patriarch of Ottoman Constantinople, and his role in this difficult and understudied transition. As the title suggests, the author is concerned with the life, writings, and teaching of Scholarios, the latter referring largely to his leadership as well.
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Reception in Literature

The Fall of Constantinople was sung in folksong and lamented in literature. Its impact is as great as any single historical event, and the resulting artistic production still awaits its full appraisal. Philippides and Hanak 2011 has much to offer in this respect as with many other topics within this field. Alexiou 1974 is the classic monograph for laments in Greek; Saradi 1995 is a specialized study of the rhetorical topos of urban kallos (beauty), while Lambros 1908 (cited under Literature) is a fine example of a Byzantine lament.

Alexiou, Margaret. The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1974.
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A brilliant study of literary lament and with a lot to offer on the fall of cities. The Fall of Constantinople naturally features in this book, as this is the city that has produced the largest number of laments within the Greek tradition. A great cross between philology and literary history.
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Kallistos, Andronikos. “Μονωδία κῦρ Ἀνδρονίκου τοῦ Καλλίστου ἐπί τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει.” Neos Ellinomnemon 5 (1908): 109–269.
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An important but largely overlooked literary lament on the Fall of Constantinople by one of the greatest minds of the Byzantine Renaissance, the Aristotelian Andronikos Kallistos, a relative of fellow scholar and fellow refugee Theodoros Gazes. The foreshadowing of modern Greek folksong can be sensed in this beautiful work.
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Philippides, M., and W. K. Hanak. The Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453: Historiography, Topography, and Military Studies. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2011.
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A thorough and insightful account of everything related to the Fall of 1453 with a clear and comprehensive guide to the sources and modern studies on the subject, this has to be the first port of call for those interested in the topic of this essay. This work will prove to be a historiographical study of enduring value. A truly monumental work.
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Saradi, Helen. “The Kallos of the Byzantine City: The Development of a Rhetorical Topos and Historical Reality.” Gesta 34 (1995): 37–56.
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This article will serve as background to those wanting to understand the language of praise and lament in Byzantium. The two were often merged, and the laments for the Fall of Constantinople cannot be read without first understanding the concepts explained by Helen Saradi.
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Thessalonica and the Fall of 1430 as Counterpoint

In Byzantine literature the Fall of Thessalonica to the Ottoman Turks in 1430 seems to have been taken as an unfavorable omen that prefigured a dark destiny for the capital itself. The two cities were intertwined not only in terms of commerce and family ties but also in terms of their cultural and religious importance. Browning 1995 and Barker 2003 emphasize the uniqueness of the city; Dennis 2003 and Russell 2009 discuss aspects of ecclesiastical life; Vakalopoulos 1997 is the most comprehensive history to date; and Zachariadou 1996, Papadatou 1987, and Bakirtzis 2003 offer valuable overviews.

Bakirtzis, Charalambos. “The Urban Continuity and Size of Late Byzantine Thessalonike.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57 (2003).
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This interesting article explores the topography of late medieval Thessalonica with the sensitivity of the local historian. Much can be gained from it in terms of developing a more advanced geographical sense of the city and its importance in the locality, and it is written with considerable skill and attention to detail.
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Barker, John. “Late Byzantine Thessalonike: A Second City’s Challenges and Responses.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57 (2003): 5–33.
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Here John Barker raises the question of what it might mean to be a second city, a pertinent question for mayors of important urban centers around the world today. In terms of Byzantium, his assertion that Thessalonica was the second city has not been successfully challenged; it is therefore intriguing whether one can explain the relative absence of works dealing with its role within the empire.
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Browning, Robert. “Byzantine Thessalonike: A Unique City?” Dialogos 2 (1995): 91–104.
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In this article the medieval city of Thessalonica is identified for its unique importance by Robert Browning, perhaps the foremost exponent of Byzantine Greek among his generation. A concise piece that can introduce students of varying levels to a challenging new topic.
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Dennis, George T. “The Late Byzantine Metropolitans of Thessalonike.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57 (2003): 255–264.
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The personalities of the last metropolitans of Thessalonica and their place in the religious and cultural life of this important Byzantine center of letters and commerce are illuminated with great erudition by the late George Dennis. This is essential reading not only for political historians but for religious historians and theologians too.
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Papadatou, Daphne. “Political Associations in the Late Byzantine Period: The Zealots and Sailors of Thessalonica.” Balkan Studies 28 (1987): 3–23.
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Seen by some as proto-communists and by others as ultra-religious, the guilds known as the zealots of Thessalonica were affiliated with the medieval sailor community. This important study assesses their pivotal role in civil unrest and violence that can be read alongside comparable Western examples.
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Russell, Eugenia. “Symeon of Thessalonica and His Message of Personal Redemption.” In Spirituality in Late Byzantium: Essays Presenting New Research by International Scholars. Edited by Eugenia Russell, 33–43. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2009.
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Symeon was the last metropolitan of Byzantine Thessalonica and an important figure of leadership and comfort among the population of the city. His approach to the political and economical challenges of his time was to seek solace in spirituality and encourage those within his See to stay firm in their faith.
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Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E. Istoria tis Thessalonikis (316–1983). Thessalonica, Greece: Ekdoseis Kyriakidi, 1997.
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A crucial guide to the history of the city, it is saddening that this book has not been chosen for an English translation as yet. A wealth of information is enclosed in its pages, and it could be used in university courses on the history of Greece extensively in the whole of the English-speaking world, where much of the Greek diaspora is based.
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Zachariadou, Elizabeth A., ed. The Via Egnatia under Ottoman Rule (1380–1699): Halcyon Days in Crete II: A Symposium Held in Rethymnon 9–11 January 1994. Rethymnon, Greece: Crete University Press, 1996.
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A specialist subject that could make an ideal dissertation topic at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. Perhaps the most famous Roman road, the Via Egnatia has captured the imagination of historians, travelers, and artists, and its history is served extremely well in this laudable volume.
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Literature

The literature for the Fall of Thessalonica rivals that for the Fall of Constantinople and must be studied alongside it. It contributes to the same pool of folk culture that eventually forged the literary identity of early modern Greece. Lambros 1908 and Pilavakis and Vamvakas 1997 offer relatively unknown monodies for the Fall of Thessalonica; Russell 2010 discusses the better-known mournful works of John Anagnostes. Chasiōtēs 1997; Kaltsogiannē, et al. 2002 (through the use of primary sources); and Bianconi 2005 offer broader cultural perspectives. Mazower 2004 is a very well-received history starting with the Fall of Thessalonica and ending in the modern era.

Bianconi, Daniele. Tessalonica nell’età dei paleologi: Le pratiche intellettuali nel riflesso della cultura scritta, Dossiers Byzantins 5. Paris: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Centre d’études byzantines, néo-helléniques et sud-est européennes, 2005.
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A fine example of Italian scholarship, this monograph on Thessalonian culture under the Palaiologoi deserves to be read and translated widely. A great work of intellectual history that will be a faithful companion to the dedicated scholar of the early Renaissance.
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Chasiōtēs, I. K., ed. Queen of the Worthy: Thessaloniki, History and Culture. Athens, Greece: Paratiritis, 1997.
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Usefully translated into English (from Τοῖς  ἀγαθοῖς βασιλεύουσα Θεσσαλονίϰη: Ιστοϱία ϰαι Πολιτισμός) for its wider dissemination, this work delves into the cultural history of Thessalonica. The word βασιλεύουσα in the original title can be seen as controversial, as the Byzantines reserved the term for the capital, a honorific title that is usually translated into English as “the Queen of Cities.”
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Eugenikos, Mark. “Εάλω Θεσσαλονίϰη. Θϱήνος για την Άλωση του 1430.” Edited by Marios Pilavakis. Translated by Demetrius Vamvakas. Athens, Greece: Ekdoseis Papadimitriou, 1997.
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This volume includes a lament by the celebrated saint of the Eastern Church and Archbishop of Ephesus Mark Eugenikos, famous for his doctrinal integrity during the Council of Florence, and his younger brother John. Both laments are learned works with literary allusions common to Byzantine high literature and sermons.
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Kaltsogiannē, Helene, Sophia Kotzambassi, and Iliana Paraskeuopoulou, eds. Η Θεσσαλονίκη στη Βυζαντινή λογοτεχνία: ρητορικά και αγιολογικά κείμενα. Thessalonica, Greece: Kentro Vyzantinon Ereunon, 2002.
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A useful selection of rhetorical and hagiographical Byzantine texts selected by some of the leading experts in the field. This volume aims to illustrate how Byzantine Thessalonica was portrayed in contemporary literature and, through that, to accentuate its importance as a center of excellence.
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Lambros, Spyridon, ed. “Τϱεῖς  ἀνέϰδοτοι Μονῳδίαι εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν Τούρϰων ἅλωσιν τῆς Θεσσαλονίϰης.” Neos Hellenomnemon 5 (1908): 369–391.
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Three relatively unknown monodies (laments) for the Fall of Thessalonica (1430) written in vernacular medieval Greek. The term “monody” refers to a sung lament performed by one person. These laments have similarities to the ones written for Constantinople and need to be studied alongside them.
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Mazower, Mark. Salonica City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430–1950. London: HarperCollins, 2004.
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A very influential work that makes the case for the city’s cosmopolitanism. Again, Mark Mazower takes the end of Byzantium as the commencement of the modern era. Extremely well-produced and beautifully written, this is still perhaps Mazower’s flagship book.
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Russell, Eugenia. “Responses to the Fall of Thessalonica in 1430 by John Anagnostes in His Narration and Monody.” In St. Demetrius of Thessalonica: Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages. By Eugenia Russell, 133–145. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010.
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This is an essay about two works by John Anagnostes, in previous years mainly referred to as John the Reader, regarding the Fall of Thessalonica to the Ottomans in 1430. The essay gives a flavor of these works and places them in their literary and historical context.
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Post-Byzantine Culture

Post-Byzantine studies can be described as the study of Byzantine culture at the wake of the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and in light of its impact. It is a field with huge untapped potential, and currently the leading work in this area is Harris 1995. Several related works of significant scholarly merit are also presented in this section. Botley 2010 is a thorough and specialized study on Greek learning. Robins 1993 concentrates specifically on grammars. Housley 2012 investigates why the crusading ideal could not extend to the retrieval of the Queen of Cities. Geanakoplos 1962, Geanakoplos 1985, and Wilson 1992 offer learned narratives regarding activities in Italy, while Ziakas 1994 does the same for intellectual life in Thessalonica.

Botley, Paul. Learning Greek in Western Europe, 1396–1529: Grammars, Lexica, and Classroom Texts. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 100, Part 2. Darby, Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2010.
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A very learned account of Greek learning in the West, with individual entries and plenty of examples to assist the curious and thirsty Renaissance scholar. Essential for the understanding of the Byzantine contribution to Western societies and cultures as well as for Byzantine and post-Byzantine identity and ideology.
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Geanakoplos, Deno John. Greek Scholars in Venice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962.
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Geanakoplos is widely recognized as an early and important voice for Greek letters in the Renaissance. His pioneering work on the Greek émigrés has taken many guises, a tribute to his prolific output. The fact that this work concentrates on activity in Venice makes it particularly applicable to history modules, as Venice is found, increasingly, as a case study within Early Modern narratives aimed at undergraduates.
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Geanakoplos, Deno John. “A Byzantine Scholar from Thessalonike, Theodoros Gazes, in the Italian Renaissance.” In 20th Demetria, Exhibition of Historical Documents of Thessalonica. By Deno John Geanakoplos, 43–58. Thessalonica, Greece: Municipality of Thessalonica, 1985.
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This is a valuable intellectual biography of Theodoros Gazes, perhaps the most widely known post-Byzantine intellectual from Thessalonica. Gazes was revered among his contemporaries for his Greek Grammar, a bestseller of its time that was copied with great fervor during his lifetime and after his death. This Grammar was perhaps the most used in the whole of the Renaissance.
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Harris, Jonathan. Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400–1520. Camberley, UK: Porphyrogenitus, 1995.
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Apart from acknowledging the intellectual output of Greek teachers in western Europe, this monograph has shown how tradesmen, teachers, physicians, and other professionals have made a success of their departure from fallen Byzantium by forging a new life under difficult circumstances. The book concentrates on the nonliterary aspects of the Renaissance.
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Housley, Norman. Crusading and the Ottoman Threat, 1453–1505. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227051.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
When Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Europe was in denial. Efforts to initiate a crusade for its recovery saw three recruitment campaigns; none of which, however, bore any fruit. In his book describing the events, Housley argues that the crusading ideals belonged to a medieval world that started to fade and also for the weakness of the Renaissance papacy.
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Loomis, Louise Ropes. “The Greek Renaissance in Italy.” American Historical Review 13 (1908): 246–258.
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A pioneering article making the case for the importance of the Greek contribution to the flowering of what became known as the Renaissance of letters, culture, and, ultimately, the Renaissance of Man. As one would expect, it is localized (i.e., it concentrates on Italy). It deserves to be revisited.
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Robins, Robert Henry. The Byzantine Grammarians: Their Place in History. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1993.
DOI: 10.1515/9783110857221Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
At the heart of Byzantine teaching was the Grammar Book, and this monograph has made this curious fact plain. The Byzantines were rather obsessed with grammar, and grammatical facts and their robust approach to language teaching is a refreshing reminder that hard work and repetition have never had a substitute in learning a new skill. The questions it raises concern educationalists within and outside the field.
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Russell, Eugenia. Literature and Culture in Late Byzantine Thessalonica. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.
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This is the first book about Byzantine and post-Byzantine Thessalonian culture in the English language and highlights the importance of this urban center since its foundation and into the modern era. It also makes a contribution to reception studies through dealing with how the city was described in literary works.
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Wilson, Nigel. From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
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This work is a follow-up from this author’s earlier and better-known work, Scholars of Byzantium (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983), and has a similar, philological flavor. It concentrates on the Patristic tradition this time and discusses this aspect of Greek letters within the historical context of Renaissance Italy. Students of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, John of Damascus, and Dionysius the Areopagite will find much of interest here.
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Ziakas, Gregorios D. “Πνευματικός βίος και πολιτισμός της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά την περίοδο της Οθωμανικής κυριαρχίας.” In Χριστιανική Θεσσαλονίκη‚ Οθωμανική Περίοδος 1430–1912‚ Β΄. Thessalonica, Greece: Kentro Istorias Thessalonikis, 1994.
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Ziakas has done a superb job illustrating that not all talented Greek intellectuals sought refuge outside the Ottoman lands. His intellectual landscape of Ottoman Thessalonica with its impressively researched teachers and learned men can become a springboard for those who would like to explore that aspect of Renaissance learning in future works.
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Art History

Byzantine ideology was imprinted in the visual expression of this period, which—to the trained eye—can provide a wealth of information for the way the Byzantines perceived themselves. Nelson 1999 and Nelson 2004 explore themes of patronage in Byzantine art. Beckwith 1968 deals with the art of Constantinople, and Beckwith 1989 offers a fine comparative art history.

Beckwith, John. The Art of Constantinople: An Introduction to Byzantine Art 330–1453. London: Phaidon, 1968.
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This is an undisputed classic by a well-respected scholar and essential reading for all entrants to the fields of Byzantium and Byzantine art. The art of Constantinople is in many ways the history of the city too, and as visual histories are becoming more common within the field this book will continue to teach and inspire.
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Beckwith, John. Studies in Byzantine and Medieval Western Art. London: Pindar, 1989.
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In this book Beckwith contextualizes Byzantine art by setting it alongside Western paradigms. His is a crucially important but surprisingly rare approach, namely placing this magnificent but sometimes difficult to understand material in a wider and more familiar context before eventually appraising it.
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Kafescioglu, Cigdem. “Reckoning with an Imperial Legacy: Ottomans and Byzantine Constantinople.” In 1453: The Fall of Constantinople and the Change from the Medieval to the Modern Age. Edited by T. Kiousopoulou, 23–46. Irakleio, Greece: Crete University Press, 2005.
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A look at the physical element of the city and how architectural identity can be defined and explored. This chapter by art historian Kafescioglu discusses the Byzantine legacy in terms of material culture and is of interest to all scholars of the city; a valuable contribution to Kiousopoulou’s excellent volume. The volume as a whole should be consulted too.
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Nelson, Robert S. “Tales of Two Cities: The Patronage of Early Palaeologan Art and Architecture in Constantinople and Thessaloniki.” In Manuel Panselinos and His Age. By Robert S. Nelson, 127–140. Athens, Greece: University of Athens, 1999.
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Patronage has been an important factor in all studies of art history, and Byzantium is no different. This article illustrates the nature of art patronage very effectively while it also succeeds in linking the two great cities of Constantinople and Thessalonica in its elegant narrative.
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Nelson, Robert S. “Heavenly Allies at the Chora.” Gesta 43 (2004): 31–40.
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Here Nelson discusses how hagiographical imagery has been used in Byzantium to support the image and majesty of imperial families. Not only does the piety of emperors add to their legitimacy but also their divine authority is subconsciously underlined by psychological tricks.
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Literary Appraisals

A highly literary culture and one that saw itself as the inheritor of ancient civilization, Byzantium produced many eloquent works in several genres. Those corresponding to the Fall of Constantinople are highlighted in this section. Alexiou 2002, Megas 1953, and Philippides 2012 expand on the Greek literary tradition, and Hatzopoulos 2011, De Dobbeleer 2009, and De Dobbeleer 2012 look at the impact of the events on the people of eastern Europe.

Alexiou, Margaret. The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. 2d ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
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As mentioned earlier, this book on lament has claimed its place within Greek letters. A work that strides between the medieval and the modern, the old and the new, it presents deeply engaging materials and methodological challenges that can lead reception studies to new heights.
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De Dobbeleer, Michel. “Filtering History: Four (Purifying) Visions of the Meaning of Constantinople’s Fall.” In Beyond Binarisms. Edited by Eduardo de Faria Coutinho, 154–163. Discontinuities and Displacements: Studies in Comparative Literature. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Aeroplano Editora, 2009.
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This essay has a more ontological flavor, looking at literature that tries to explain the events of 1453. It reminds us of the momentous impact of the Fall of Constantinople and the effect it evidently had on the cosmology on those who witnessed it and those after them.
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De Dobbeleer, Michel. “Het epos van 1453? Nestor-Iskinders middeleeuws-Russische Verhaal over Constantinopel via literatuurwetenschappelijke (om)wegen.” PhD diss., University of Ghent, 2012.
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The leading study on the account of Nestor-Iskinder, this fine thesis looks at the work from the point of view of plot-making and literary theory. It makes use of a wide variety of sources on the Fall of Constantinople in order to analyze, compare, and illuminate this intriguing and relatively unknown piece of literature.
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Hatzopoulos, Marios. “Oracular Prophecy and the Politics of Toppling Ottoman Rule in South-East Europe.” Historical Review/La Revue Historique 8 (2011): 95–116.
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Prophecy has been one of the leading ways for Byzantines to cope with calamities. In this informative piece, Marios Hatzopoulos explains some of them and places them into a useful historical and ideological framework that can explain to the uninitiated several of the myths of the Ottoman world.
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Megas, Georgios A. “He Alosis tes Konstantinoupoleos eis ta tragoudia kai tas paradoseis tou laou.” L’Hellénisme Contemporain (1953): 245–255.
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This is a true landmark by a leading Greek scholar dealing with the songs and traditions recorded in Greek after the Fall of Constantinople and into the modern era. Meticulous, sensitive, and learned, it is a great omission within the field that a publisher has not taken it up for translation.
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Philippides, Marios. “Tears of the Great Church: The Lamentation of Santa Sophia.” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 52.4 (2012): 714–737.
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A substantial new study where Marios Philippides makes use of his profound and long-standing knowledge of his chosen subject. He gives a superb commentary of the variants he discusses, focusing on elements of religious culture and folklore that have been neglected previously.
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Identity

The debate regarding the nature of Byzantine identity is still open, and many distinguished scholars have taken part in it. The leading views on this topic are listed here in the hope that the interested reader might be able to join in with their own work. Holmes 2012; Kiousopoulou 2007; Tsougarakis 2012; Page 2008; and Papaconstantinou and Talbot 2009 are concerned with the Byzantine era while Harris 1999, Harris 2000, and Roudometof 1998 are on the post-Byzantine experience.

Harris, Jonathan. “Common Language and the Common Good: Aspects of Identity among Byzantine Émigrés in Renaissance Italy.” In Crossing Boundaries: Issues of Cultural and Individual Identity in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Edited by S. McKee, 189–202. Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 3. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1999.
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This is another article on Byzantine émigrés by Jonathan Harris, who has led the field with his research on the area for many years. Not only this individual essay but the volume as a whole, ably edited by Sally McKee, will be of great service to those interested in identity and selfhood as an intepretative lens for the study of the past.
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Harris, Jonathan. “Being a Byzantine after Byzantium: Hellenic Identity in Renaissance Italy.” Kambos: Cambridge Papers in Modern Greek 8 (2000): 25–44.
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This essay explores the notion of nationhood in several of its manifestations while placing post-Byzantine culture in a wider historical, political, and ideological context. It is a thought-provoking contribution to both the Renaissance and the forging of post-Byzantine studies as a recognizable subdiscipline.
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Holmes, Catherine. “‘Shared Worlds’: Religious Identities—A Question of Evidence.” In Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World after 1150. Edited by Jonathan Harris, Catherine Holmes, and Eugenia Russell, 31–59. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
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In this essay Catherine Holmes makes the case for commonalities within the late eastern Mediterranean world and for the need for a common vocabulary to express them. An inspiring spur to future scholars who are willing to take up her challenge.
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Kiousopoulou, Tonia. Βασιλεύς ή Οικονόμος: Πολιτική εξουσία και ιδεολογία πριν την άλωση. Athens, Greece: Polis, 2007.
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This book is also available as Antonia Kiousopoulou, Emperor or Manager: Power and Political Ideology in Byzantium before 1453 (translated by Paul Magdalino; Geneva: La Pomme D’or, 2011). It is a useful and detailed study of late Byzantine kingship and is based on painstaking analysis of data. Its main argument is that during the last centuries the Byzantine emperors were essentially powerless and were reduced to managing their losses.
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Page, Gill. Being Byzantine: Greek Identity before the Ottomans. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511496578Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Gill Page has written a brilliant study of identity that needs to be read more widely. This work on what it means to be Byzantine should be utilized not only by scholars of Byzantium but also those who work on modern Greek studies, early modern Europe, or ideas of transnationalism.
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Papaconstantinou, Arietta, and Alice-Mary Talbot. Becoming Byzantine: Children and Childhood in Byzantium. Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Symposia and Colloquia. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2009.
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Probably unique in its selection of topic, this important book discusses childhood in a Byzantine context. Its publication highlights the importance of a departure to a greater variety of subjects, including a closer look at Byzantine family life. Studies of a similar nature in earlier periods have set plausible methodological templates for such an undertaking.
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Roudometof, Victor. “From Rum Millet to Greek Nation: Enlightenment, Secularization and National Identity in Ottoman Balkan Society, 1453–1821.” Journal of Modern Greek Studies 16 (1998): 11–48.
DOI: 10.1353/mgs.1998.0024Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The boundaries of ecumenicalism, milleniarism, proto-nationalism, and secularism are hotly contested in this striking essay that discusses the role of the millet in the Ottoman world. The chronological framework, too, is telling: We begin with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and end with the conventional commencement of the Greek War of Independence by Palaion Patron Germanos in 1821.
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Tsougarakis, Nikiphoros I. The Latin Religious Orders in Medieval Greece, 1204–1500. Medieval Church Studies 18. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2012.
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The religious orders of medieval Greece were many and also prominent, despite the fact that they are now mostly forgotten. The Cistercians, the Benedictines, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Crociferi, and the Augustinian Friars are numbered among them. Nikiphoros Tsougarakis has brought their world to life in a thorough new study that highlights the activities of these Western fraternities in the Greek lands.
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Prosopography

Prosopographical contributions to Byzantine history have a long tradition, with one of the earliest and most prominent being Sathas 1868 and the pioneering Miller 1922 being another early exponent. If prosopography can be described as a form of very scholarly biography, perhaps its attractiveness to a modern audience can be newly emphasized. From the remaining works, the majority are dedicated to Byzantine exiles; see Harris 1995, Geanakoplos 1989, Cammelli 1942, and Powell 1939.

Cammelli, G. “Andronico Callisto.” La Rinascita 5 (1942): 104–121, 174–214.
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An excellent intellectual biography of Andronikos Kallistos by a great representative of the Italian school of scholarship, setting a very high standard for those who wish to follow in his footsteps. It can serve as a model for conducting case studies or biographical studies at an advanced level.
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Geanakoplos, Deno J. “Theodore Gaza, a Byzantine scholar of the Palaeologan ‘Renaissance’ in the Italian Renaissance.” In Constantinople and the West. Edited by Deno J. Geanakoplos, 68–90. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989.
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An important essay that places Theodore Gazes and his activities in an Italian context. This work is great companion reading for another essay by Geanakoplos: “A Byzantine Scholar from Thessalonike” (see Geanakoplos 1985, cited under Post-Byzantine Culture).
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Harris, Jonathan. “A Worthless Prince? Andreas Palaeologus in Rome, 1465–1502.” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 61 (1995): 537–554.
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Born on the year of the Fall, Andreas Palaiologos (b. 1453–d. 1502) was the last claimant of the Byzantine throne, son of Thomas Palaiologos (b. 1409–d. 1465) and grandson of Manuel Palaiologos (b. 1350–d. 1425). His story in exile is told by Jonathan Harris in this pioneering study.
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Harris, Jonathan. “Laonikos Chalkokondyles and the Rise of the Ottoman Turks.” Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 27 (2003): 155–157.
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In this study Jonathan Harris questions the received wisdom that the historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles (c. b. 1423–d. 1490), often called “the last Athenian,” was a classicizing author solely influenced by ancient Greek literature and thought and instead places him in a more pluralistic medieval context.
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Miller, William. “The Last Athenian Historian: Laonikas Chalkokondyles.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 42 (1922): 36–49.
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A wonderful piece of writing from one of the last exponents of Philhellenic scholarship and pioneers of journalism. As with all of William Miller’s writing, this essay contains much unutilized information that needs to be reappraised by a new generation of historians and critics.
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Nicol, Donald M. The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos ca. 1100–1560: A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1968.
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This is how all family history should be written. No hard work was spared in this precise and carefully presented collective biography of the Kantakouzenos family, one that seems to have held a special place in the heart of the celebrated scholar. It can be read in conjunction with The Reluctant Emperor.
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Powell, J. E. “Two Letters of Andronicus Callistus to Demetrius Chalcocondyles.” Byzantinische-Neugriechische Jahrbücher 15 (1939): 14–20.
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A very interesting essay that maintains the personal tone of the letters it studies. One can sense through its pages the interaction between the two teachers and the mental toughness needed in order to survive in the world in which they found themselves, largely against their wishes.
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Sathas, Constantine. Νεοελληνική Φιλολογία, Βιογραφίαι των εν τοις γράμμασι διαλαμψάντων Ελλήνων από της καταλύσεως της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας μέχρι της Ελληνικής Εθνεγερσίας 1453–1821. Athens, Greece: Typographeio Teknon Andreou Koromila, 1868.
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Pioneering and monumental, this work needs to grace every early modern library that can get hold of it. It is a treasure of information on the intellectual lives of post-Byzantine scholars, philosophers, teachers, and men of letters and an essential reference work for those embarking on new studies in the field.
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