General works
Alexander P. Kazhdan (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3 vol. (1991), treats all aspects of Byzantine studies. Donald M. Nicol, A Biographical Dictionary of the Byzantine Empire (1991), is a useful reference work. The geography of the Byzantine Empire is treated in Alfred Philippson, Das byzantinische Reich als geographische Erscheinung (1939); and its church and theology in Hans-Georg Beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich, 2nd ed. (1977); and John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, 2nd ed. (1979, reissued 1987). Useful collections of translated extracts from primary sources are Ernest Barker, Social and Political Thought in Byzantium: From Justinian I to the Last Palaeologus (1957, reissued 1961); and Deno John Geanakoplos (compiler), Byzantium: Church, Society, and Civilization Seen Through Contemporary Eyes (1984).The following surveys and analyses provide brief introductions to Byzantine history and civilization: Norman H. Baynes and H.St.L.B. Moss (eds.), Byzantium: An Introduction to East Roman Civilization (1948, reissued 1969); J.M. Hussey, The Byzantine World, 4th ed. (1970); and Philip Whitting (ed.), Byzantium: An Introduction, new ed. (1981). Deeper study of Byzantine history should begin with George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, rev. ed. (1969, reissued 1980; originally published in German, 3rd ed., 1963); The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4, The Byzantine Empire, 2nd ed., 2 parts (1966–67), which contains extensive bibliographies; and John Julius Norwich, Byzantium, 3 vol. (1988–95). Various aspects of Byzantine history and civilization are discussed in Norman H. Baynes, Byzantine Studies and Other Essays (1955, reprinted 1974); Robert Browning, The Byzantine Empire, rev. ed. (1992); Franz Dölger, Byzanz und die europäische Staatenwelt (1953, reprinted 1976); H.W. Haussig, A History of Byzantine Civilization (1971; originally published in German, 1959); Alexander Kazhdan and Giles Constable, People and Power in Byzantium: An Introduction to Modern Byzantine Studies (1982); Cyril Mango, Byzantium, the Empire of New Rome (1980); and Steven Runciman, Byzantine Civilisation (1933, reissued 1994), and The Byzantine Theocracy (1977). A.A. Vasiliev, History of the Byzantine Empire, 324–1453, 2nd ed. rev. (1952, reissued 1980; originally published in Russian in different eds., 1917–25), is still of interest, although now somewhat out-of-date.
Ongoing research is found in these periodicals: Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies (annual), published in Birmingham; Byzantinische Zeitschrift (semiannual), published in Munich; Byzantion (semiannual), published in Brussels; Byzantinoslavica (semiannual), published in Prague; Dumbarton Oaks Papers (annual), published in Washington, D.C.; Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik (annual), published in Vienna; Revue des Études Byzantines (annual), published in Paris; Travaux et Mémoires (irregular), published in Paris by the Centre de Recherche d’Histoire et Civilisation Byzantines; and Vizantiĭskiĭ Vremennik (annual), published in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The empire to 867
The Roman and Christian background
H.St.L.B. Moss, “The Formation of the East Roman Empire, 330–717,” in The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4, part 1, 2nd ed. (1966), pp. 1–41, is an introduction to the problems discussed in this section. Further reading might include A.H.M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey, 3 vol. (1964, reprinted in 2 vol., 1986); Norman H. Baynes, Constantine the Great and the Christian Church (1930, reprinted 1975); Gilbert Dagron, Naissance d’une capitale: Constantinople et ses institutions de 330 à 451, 2nd ed. (1984); and the survey by Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, ad 150–750 (1971, reissued 1989; also published as The World of Late Antiquity: From Marcus Aurelius to Muhammad, 1971).
The 5th and 6th centuries
J.B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian (ad 395 to ad 565), 2 vol. (1923, reprinted 1963); and Ernst Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire, 2 vol. in 3, ed. by Jean-Remy Palanque (1949–59, reprinted 1968; vol. 1 originally published in German, 1928), give extensive and well-documented coverage of the whole period. Other works on the period are Averil Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, ad 395–600 (1993); John W. Barker, Justinian and the Later Roman Empire (1966, reissued 1977); and Robert Browning, Justinian and Theodora, rev. ed. (1987). The role of the demes and factions is analyzed by Alan Cameron, Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium (1976).
The 7th century and the Heraclian reforms
A readable survey of this and the following three centuries is Romilly Jenkins, Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, A.D. 610–1071 (1966, reissued 1993). A general overview of the 7th century is found in the essays collected in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 13 (1959, reprinted 1967). Additional studies are John F. Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture (1990); and Warren Treadgold, The Byzantine Revival, 780–842 (1988). Works on the foundation of the themes and on agrarian problems are Johannes Karayannopulos, Die Entstehung der byzantinischen Themenordnung (1959); and Paul Lemerle, The Agrarian History of Byzantium from the Origins to the Twelfth Century, trans. from French (1979). Byzantium’s relations with eastern Europe are discussed in Dimitri Obolensky, “The Empire and Its Northern Neighbours, 565–1018,” The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4, part 1, 2nd ed. (1966), pp. 473–518, and in his The Byzantine Commonwealth (1971, reprinted 1982).
The age of iconoclasm (717–867)
The standard survey remains J.B. Bury, A History of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil I, A.D. 802–867 (1912, reissued 1965). A good history of Iconoclasm is Edward James Martin, A History of the Iconoclastic Controversy (1930, reprinted 1978); and various aspects of the matter are treated in Anthony Bryer and Judith Herrin (eds.), Iconoclasm (1977). Of particular importance are the works of F. Dvornik: Les Légendes de Constantin et de Méthode vues de Byzance, 2nd ed. (1969), Les Slaves, Byzance et Rome au IXe siècle (1926, reprinted 1970), The Photian Schism: History and Legend (1948, reprinted 1970), and Byzantine Missions Among the Slavs (1970). H. Grégoire, “The Amorians and Macedonians, 842–1025,” in The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4, part 1, 2nd ed. (1966), pp. 105–192, is also useful. Relations between Byzantium and the Arabs are discussed in A.A. Vasiliev, Vizantiia i araby, vol. 1, Politicheskiia otnosheniia Vizantii i arabov za vremia Amoriĭskoĭ dinastii (1900), available also in a French translation, Byzance et les Arabes, vol. 1 (1935).
From 867 to the Ottoman conquest
The Macedonian era (867–1025)
Works covering this period include Robert Browning, Byzantium and Bulgaria (1975); J.B. Bury, The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century (1911, reprinted 1970); J.M. Hussey, Church & Learning in the Byzantine Empire, 867–1185 (1937, reissued 1963); Steven Runciman, A History of the First Bulgarian Empire (1930), The Eastern Schism (1955, reprinted 1983), and The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His Reign (1929, reissued 1988); Gustave Schlumberger, L’Epopée byzantine à la fin du dixième siècle, 3 vol. (1896–1905, reprinted 1969); A.A. Vasiliev, Vizantiia i araby, vol. 2, Politicheskiia otnosheniia Vizantii i arabov za vremia Makedonskoĭ dinastii (1902), available also in a French translation, Byzance et les Arabes, vol. 2 (1935); Albert Vogt, Basile Ier, empereur de Byzance (867–886) et la civilisation byzantine à la fin du IXe siècle (1908, reprinted 1973); and Arnold Toynbee, Constantine Porphyrogenitus and His World (1973).
Byzantine decline and subjection to Western influences (1025–1260)
The period of decline and renewal (1025–1180) is discussed in Michael Angold, The Byzantine Empire 1025–1204 (1984); Ferdinand Chalandon, Essai sur le règne d’Alexis Ier Comnène (1081–1118) (1900, reissued 1971), and Jean II Comnène, 1118–1143, et Manuel I Comnène, 1143–1180 (1912, reissued in 2 vol., 1971); Michael Angold, Church and Society in Byzantium Under the Comneni, 1081–1261 (1995); Paul Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180 (1993); and Demetrios I. Polemis, The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography (1968). Works on Byzantium and the Crusades are Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 3 vol. (1951–54, reprinted 1987); Kenneth M. Setton (ed.), A History of the Crusades, vol. 1–3 (1955–75); Ralph-Johannes Lilie, Byzantium and the Crusader States, 1096–1204 (1993; originally published in German, 1981); and Oktawiesz Jurewicz, Andronikos I. Komnenos (1970; originally published in Polish, 1962).
Studies of Byzantine subjection to Western influence (1180–1261) include Michael Angold, A Byzantine Government in Exile: Government and Society Under the Laskarids of Nicaea, 1204–1261 (1975); Charles M. Brand, Byzantium Confronts the West, 1180–1204 (1968, reissued 1992); Alice Gardner, The Lascarids of Nicaea (1912, reissued 1967); John Godfrey, 1204, the Unholy Crusade (1980); and Donald E. Queller, The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople, 1201–1204 (1977).
The empire under the Palaeologi (1261–1453)
A survey of the political and ecclesiastical history of the period is given by Donald M. Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, 2nd ed. (1993). Other works on particular periods and topics include Franz Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, 2nd ed. (1992; originally published in German, 1953); John W. Barker, Manuel II Palaeologus (1391–1425): A Study in Late Byzantine Statesmanship (1969); Ursula Victoria Bosch, Kaiser Andronikos III. Palaiologos (1965); Deno John Geanakoplos, Emperor Michael Palaeologus and the West, 1258–1282 (1959, reissued 1973); Herbert Adams Gibbons, The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire (1916, reissued 1968); Joseph Gill, The Council of Florence (1959, reprinted 1982), and Byzantium and the Papacy, 1198–1400 (1979); Oskar Halecki, Un Empereur de Byzance à Rome (1930, reprinted 1972); Angeliki E. Laiou, Constantinople and the Latins: The Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282–1328 (1972); Jean Longnon, L’Empire latin de Constantinople et la principauté de Morée (1949); John Meyendorff, Byzantium and the Rise of Russia (1981); William Miller, The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece, 1204–1566 (1908, reprinted 1979), and Trebizond, the Last Greek Empire (1926, reprinted 1969); Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) ca. 1100–1460 (1968), Church and Society in the Last Centuries of Byzantium (1979), Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations (1988, reissued 1992), The Despotate of Epiros, 1267–1479 (1984), and The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans (1992); Erich Trapp, Rainer Walther, and Hans-Veit Beyer (eds.), Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, 12 vol. (1976–95); Steven Runciman, The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century (1958, reissued 1992), The Fall of Constantinople, 1453 (1965, reissued 1990), The Great Church in Captivity (1968, reissued 1985), and The Last Byzantine Renaissance (1970); Kenneth M. Setton, "The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 100:1–76 (1956), and The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, vol. 1–2 (1976–78); Speros Vryonis, Jr., The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century (1971, reissued 1986); Ernst Werner, Die Geburt einer Grossmacht, die Osmanen (1300–1481), 4th rev. ed. (1985); Paul Wittek, The Rise of the Ottoman Empire (1938, reprinted 1971); Denis A. Zakythinos, Le Despotat grec de Morée, 2 vol., rev. ed. (1975); and John J. Yiannias (ed.), The Byzantine Tradition After the Fall of Constantinople (1991).
Donald MacGillivray Nicol