Introduction. For the considerably weakened Byzantine state the reign of emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282–1328) was mainly a time of foreign policy failures and internal contradictions. These latter became noticeably aggravated at the very early 14th century against the background of the Turkish conquest to which Asia Minor was subjected and the simultaneous Catalan mercenaries’ revolt which hit the European part of the empire. During this period seven internal conflicts different in character and form are recorded. Our goal is to determine the content of these movements, specificity of their genesis and development, their consequences for Byzantium as well. Analysis and Results. As a result of the study we found out that the Turkish attacks and the Catalan revolt launched important economic, social and political processes which caused deepening of tension in relations between society and the state in Byzantium during this period. Among them we indicate: 1) the process of out-migration from Asia Minor to the European parts of the empire which was accompanied by extreme pauperization (and even lumpenization) of people who moved to Constantinople and its environs; 2) the process of destruction and marginalization of military contingents deployed in the east resulting in the loss of income and combat capability by soldiers; 3) the process of significant weakening of the centralized state control over remote regions worsened by the compelled circumstance of the war on two fronts. The effects of these processes directly reflected on the authority of the ruling emperor, weakened the position of power in the empire and took shape of numerous internal conflicts that had arisen and received (or had not received) development in this time. These conflicts had a significant impact on the destabilization of the domestic and foreign political situation in which the Byzantine state was during the first years of the 14th century. They touched many social groups to varying degrees, so that the period of time under study can justly be described as “society against power”.

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Introduction. The task of the study is to identify and characterize the means of popularization of the regional historical and cultural heritage on the example of archaeological monuments of Volgograd Oblast. Taking into account the need to diversify regional cultural and educational tourism, to actualize new practices in heritage tourism we consider it necessary to focus on the archaeological heritage unique for most regions. Due to its interactivity and the possibility of combining several forms of recreational and cultural and cognitive activities, archaeological tourism can also become one of the most promising forms of promotion of cultural and historical heritage. Developing a methodology for assessing the archaeological potential of the region in the field of tourism will allow us to understand the principle of formation of a unique geo-cultural image of the region as the basis of cultural and historical framework. Methods. Assessment of the archaeotourism potential of Volgograd Oblast is possible with a combination of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Weighted Linear Combination (WLC), and applied methods, such as the questionnaire and Geographic Information System (GIS). Analysis. We identified the criteria for assessing the archaeotourism potential of the region the number of which can be limited to 1 quantitative and 7 qualitative indicators ranked on an assessment scale with 4 rating points – 0, 2, 4 and 5. Since the selected evaluation criteria play an unequal role in the formation of the tourist potential of the territory, it was necessary to determine the weighted coefficients for each of them. Results. The development of archaeological tourism acting as the most accessible and most popular forms of popularization of cultural heritage will be provided by the development of the territory’s historical and cultural framework based on a comprehensive assessment of the tourist potential of the region. The methodology was proposed in the framework of this study. Authors’ contribution. V.A. Zolotovskiy prepared the part devoted to the actualization and identification of the research topic. P.I. Lysikov developed an adequate methodology for assessing the archaeotourism potential of the Volgograd Oblast.

Abstract. This research work is dedicated to the problem of dating of the Byzantine scholar and monk Maximos Planudes' letters to the general, pinkernes Alexios Philanthropenos and his companion, monk Melchisedek Akropolites. Our goal is to date these letters on the basis of their content and data from other sources and to reconstruct chronological sequence of their writing.The period of time when Alexios Philanthropenos was in office of dux of Thrakision (1293-1295) during which he conducted some military operations against the Turks of beyliks Germiyan and Menteєe has a special place in the history of the Byzantine-Turkish wars in the early Palaiologan era. At this time the Byzantine state made some of its last successful military efforts in this struggle. By studying this theme the present article makes a contribution to research the Byzantine wars against the Turks and the military art and military organization of the empire in the late 13 th century. Following the explicit consideration of some disputed items in dating of Maximos Planudes' letters to the persons mentioned above (42 letters) the author specifies the chronological sequence of their writing and clarifies the stages of the Alexios Philanthropenos' military activity in Asia Minor. This article also makes a contribution to using of epistolographic data in historical study.Key words: Byzantium, Alexios Philanthropenos, Maximos Planudes, Melchisedek Akropolites, epistolography. Аннотация. Настоящее исследование посвящено проблеме датировки писем византийского ученого монаха Максима Плануда к двум адресатам -полководцу Алексею Филанфропину и его спутнику, монаху Мелхиседе-ку Акрополиту. Его задача заключается в датировке этих писем на основании их внутреннего содержания и данных других источников и в восстановлении хронологической последовательности их написания. Citation. Lysikov P.I. The Letters of Maximos Planudes to Alexios Philanthropenos and Melchisedek