The fourth crusade

Michael Angold, author

Pearson Press

The fall of Constantinople to the Venetians and the soldiers of the fourth crusade in April 1204 was its climax. It ensured that Byzantium's days as a great power were over. It equally ensured that westerners would dominate the Levant - the lands of the old Byzantine Empire -until the end of the middle ages. This book asks just how important was the Fourth as a turning point in the Middle East.. The broad setting is the encounter of Byzantium with the West within the framework of the crusades. Differences of outlook and interest meant that this encounter was soon overburdened with mutual distrust. 1204 was some kind of a solution and created situations scarcely conceivable even two years before when the fourth crusade set sail from Venice.

Forrás: https://www.bookdepository.com/Fourth-Crusade-Michael-Angold/9780582356108

History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient

A Contribution to the History of Culture in the Near East

Arthur Vööbus, author

Peeters Verlag

It is a matter of deep regret that the interval , since the publication  of the second volume of this  work and now, has become so long. The second volume of this work appeared in 1960. That an inordinate lapse of time was beyond my control I have given a more detailed explanation elsewhere, one which I felt I owed readers 1

The previcus volumes have treated the bcginning of asceticism in Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia and the development of the movement and its expansion . They also have devoted much attention to the ascetic practices in ali of the variegated forros of mortification in which the Syrians have proved themselves. These practices , in the course of time , became deep-rooted traditions which have lasted more or Iess for centuries . Actually no new forros of ascetic expression were created in later times; these phenomena have been sufficiently covered and need no further discussion. It is time to direct attention to other issues which the movemen t of Syrian monasticism has produced.

Forrás: Preface

The Byzantines

Averil Cameron, author

Wiley-Blackwell Press

This book introduces the reader to the complex history, ethnicity, and identity of the Byzantines.

This volume brings Byzantium – often misconstrued as a vanished successor to the classical world – to the forefront of European history

Deconstructs stereotypes surrounding Byzantium

Beautifully illustrated with photographs and maps

Forrás: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Byzantines-p-9781405178242

The Embodied Icon

Liturgical Vestments and Sacramental Power in Byzantium

Warrent T. Woodfin, author

Oxford University Press

In spite of the Orthodox liturgy's reputation for resistance to change, Byzantine liturgical dress underwent a period of extraordinary elaboration from the end of the eleventh century onwards. As part of this development, embroideries depicting holy figures and scenes began to appear on the vestments of the clergy. Examining the surviving Byzantine vestments in conjunction with contemporary visual and textual evidence, Woodfin relates their embroidered imagery both to the program of images used in churches, and to the hierarchical code of dress prevailing in the imperial court. Both sets of visual cross-references serve to enforce a reading of the clergy as living icons of Christ. Finally, the book explores the competing configurations of the hierarchy of heaven as articulated in imperial and ecclesiastical art. It shows how the juxtaposition of real embroidered vestments with vestments depicted in paintings, allowed the Orthodox hierarchy to represent itself as a direct extension of the hierarchy of heaven.

Forrás: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-embodied-icon-9780199592098?cc=hu&lang=en&#

Hungarian Religion, Romanian Blood

A Minority's Struggle for National Belonging, 1920-1945

R. Chris Davis, author

The University of Wisconsin Press

Historical lessons pertinent to today's resurgent nationalisms

Amid the rising nationalism and racial politics that culminated in World War II, European countries wishing to "purify" their nations often forced unwanted populations to migrate. The targeted minorities had few options, but as R. Chris Davis shows, they sometimes used creative tactics to fight back, redefining their identities to serve their own interests.

Forrás: https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5709.htm

L'empereur et le moine

Rosa Benoit-Meggenis, author

MOM

Au lendemain de la crise iconoclaste, alors que les moines apparaissent comme les héros de l’orthodoxie restaurée, le patronage aristocratique et impérial des fondations monastiques permet l’émergence de grands monastères dans l’Empire byzantin. Le présent ouvrage s’intéresse aux relations des moines avec l’empereur, relations personnelles, spirituelles et institutionnelles qui sous-tendent ce patronage a priori paradoxal ; entre le IXe et le XIIIe siècle, les monastères bénéficiaient de privilèges importants alors même que les empereurs cherchaient à limiter l’emprise des puissants sur les terres, principalement pour des raisons fiscales.

Forrás: https://www.mom.fr/mom-editions/collections/tmo/lempereur-et-les-moines