Imagining the Byzantine Past

Abstract

Imagining the Byzantine Past 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. elena n. b oeck is Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at DePaul University. Her research interests broadly encompass cross-cultural exchange, contestation of established cultural narratives, and the function of appropriation in medieval court culture. Her previous publications have explored topics ranging from Byzantine art to Russian engravings in the eighteenth century to the nineteenth-century representation of Byzantium on the Parisian stage.

A change of heart? Theophilos on his deathbed

“…44 Through Theophilos' last action (the kissing of an icon), Theodora secured her husband's post mortem memory, 45 and signalized the end of Iconoclasm. 46 For Theodora it was important that Theophilos should have a positive image: her claim to the throne relied on it, 47 because she needed the support, not only of the iconophiles, but also of the iconoclast party, who would be unwilling to see their emperor condemned. 48 Pseudo-Symeon is the second writer to maintain Theophilos' conversion.…”