HIST2320 History of the Byzantine Empire

• Introduction

The Roman Empire made a lasting impact on the entire Western world that can still be felt today. Traditional narratives of Roman history usually end in A.D. 476, when the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed. However, this is only half the story: the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, survived for another thousand years, lasting until the end of the Middle Ages. Along the way, it experienced glorious triumphs, shocking disasters, and challenges that reshaped both the Empire and the course of European history.

This course will introduce you to the story of the Byzantine Empire, the modern name that we use to refer to the medieval Eastern Roman Empire. Beginning with its origins in the late Roman period (c. A.D. 500), it will cover the entire period up to its eventual destruction by the Ottoman Turks in A.D. 1453. In addition to narrative history, the course will also introduce you to key themes and ideas from Byzantine culture and society such as law, religion, art, and literature. By studying both primary sources and modern scholarship, you will develop a firm understanding of Byzantine history and an appreciation of its place within the wider history of pre-modern world empires.

• Learning Goals

This course has three main goals:

1. To teach you the fundamentals of Byzantine history: key dates, events, places, beliefs, innovations, etc.
2. To familiarise you with the most important historiography and methodology in the study of Byzantine history.
3. To help you develop the fundamental skillset and sensibility of a historian: how to understand primary sources, how to think critically about historical narratives, and how to effectively communicate your analysis to others. 

• Need Help?

It’s ok to ask for it! I know that you have probably not studied this subject before. If you have any difficulties with the readings, assignments, discussions, or any other aspects of the course, let me know and I will be happy to help you – that is what I am here for. You can always email me, come to my open-door hours (see below), or just ask a question in class.

1. Introduction: Byzantium in World History   (4 Sep 2024)

Nathanael Aschenbrenner and Jake Ransohoff (edd.), The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe (Washington, D.C., 2021), Introduction.

2. Justinian’s Empire  (11 Sep)

Fiona K. Haarer, Justinian: Empire and Society in the Sixth Century (Edinburgh, 2022), ch. 4: ‘Church and State’; ch. 5: ‘Governing the Empire’.

   18 Sep (Week 3)    Public Holiday – No Class!

3.Crisis of the Seventh Century   (25 Sep)

John F. Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture, rev. ed. (Cambridge, 1997), Introduction; ch. 12: ‘Conclusion: The Transformation of a Culture’.

4. Icons and Ideology: The Isaurians  (2 Oct )

Leslie Brubaker and John F. Haldon, Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era c. 680–850: A History (Cambridge, 2011), ch. 12: ‘Iconoclasm, Representation, and Rewriting the Past’.

Jás Elsner, ‘Iconoclasm as Discourse: From Antiquity to Byzantium’, The Art Bulletin 94.3 (2012): 368–394.

5. Macedonian Renaissance  (9 Oct )

Neil Churchill, Power and Representation in Byzantium: The Forging of the Macedonian Dynasty (London, 2024), Introduction; ch. 9: ‘Constantine VII and the Re-invention of the Dynasty’.

6. From Retreat to Reconquest  (16 Oct)

Georgios Theotokis, The Norman Campaigns in the Balkans 1081–1108 AD (Woodbridge, 2014), ch. 3: ‘The Byzantine Army of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries’.

7. Byzantium and the Crusades  (23 Oct)

Jonathan Harris, ‘Byzantium and the First Crusade: Three Avenues of Approach’, Estudios bizantinos 2 (2014): 125–141.

Athina Kolia-Dermitzaki, ‘Byzantium and the Crusades in the Komnenian Era: Perception and Reality’, in Byzantium and the West: Perception and Reality (11^th–15^th c.), edd. Nikolaos G. Chrissis, Athina Kolia-Dermitzaki, and Angeliki Papageorgiou (London, 2019), 59–83.

8. Komnenian Restoration  (30 Oct)

Peter Frankopan, ‘Kinship and the Distribution of Power in Komnenian Byzantium’, The English Historical Review 122.495 (2007): 1–34.

Judith Herrin, Margins and Metropolis: Authority Across the Byzantine Empire (Princeton, NJ, 2013), ch. 5: ‘The Collapse of the Byzantine Empire in the Twelfth Century: A Study of a Medieval Economy’.

9. The Fourth Crusade and Its Aftermath  (6 Nov)

David Jacoby, ‘The Greeks of Constantinople under Latin Rule 1204–1261’, in The Fourth Crusade: Event, Aftermath, and Perceptions, ed. Thomas F. Madden (London, 2016), 53–73.

Michael Angold, The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context (New York, 2014), ch. 9: ‘The Orthodox Revival’.

10. Byzantine Recovery  (13 Nov)

Savvas Kyriakidis, Warfare in Late Byzantium, 1204–1453 (Leiden, 2011), ch. 1: ‘Warfare and Imperial Propaganda’.

 11. Palaiologan Renaissance  (20 Nov)

Sofia Kotzabassi, ‘Introduction: Intellectual Life in the Palaeologan Period: Persons, Genres and Trends’, in A Companion to the Intellectual Life of the Palaeologan Period, ed. Sofia Kotzabassi (Leiden, 2023), 1–14.

Ivana Jevtić, ‘Art in Decline or Art in the Age of Decline? Historiography and New Approaches to Late Byzantine Painting’, in Late Byzantium Reconsidered: The Arts of the Palaiologan Era in the Mediterranean, edd. Andrea Mattiello and Maria Alessia Rossi (London, 2019), 31–52.

Norman Russell, ‘The Hesychast Controversy’, in The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium, edd. Anthony Kaldellis and Niketas Siniossoglou (Cambridge, 2017), 494–508.

12. Epilogue: Fall of Constantinople, End of Byzantium?   (27 Nov)

Han Lamers, Greece Reinvented: Transformations of Byzantine Hellenism in Renaissance Italy (Leiden, 2015), ch. 1: ‘A Hellenic Alternative: The Emergence of Greekness in Byzantium’.

Final Exam : T. B. A.

• Assessment Overview

Your performance in the course will be evaluated on the cumulative basis of four main types of assessment, weighted as follows:

Map and Timeline Quiz              10%
Reading Quizzes (× 2)                 20%
Class Participation                      20%
Final Exam                                    50%

Your final letter grade will be determined by your overall course percentage. You will not be graded on a curve. Grades will be assigned according to the following set thresholds:

A     90%                 C+   65%
A-   85%                  C     60%
B+  80%                  C-    55%
B     75%                  D     50%
B-   70%                  F     <50%

• Grade Descriptions

A                    Exceptional: Exceeds expectations. Demonstrates impressive knowledge, clarity, analytical ability, and a firm grasp of course material.

A-                  Strong: Has most of the qualities of A-grade work but has some minor areas for improvement.

B (+/-)         Good: Shows a solid understanding of course material. Has some flaws in writing or argumentation and may contain minor errors or misunderstandings.

C (+/-)         Satisfactory: Demonstrates an acceptable level of knowledge but suffers from lack of clarity, misunderstandings, historical errors, or weak argumentation.

D                  Unsatisfactory: Achieves the minimum passing grade but fails to meet most expectations of knowledge and argumentation.

F                  Fail: Does not meet basic expectations of knowledge, understanding, and/or timeliness in submission.

• Grade Appeals

You can find information on the grade appeals process here: http://www.res.cuhk.edu.hk/en-gb/general-information/procedures-for-dealing-with-student-complaints.

I deal with grade appeals on a case-by-case basis. I am happy to correct your grade if there has been a technical error or oversight. Otherwise, you should be aware that grading is entirely at my discretion. I do not accept appeals just because a student disagrees with their grade.

• Quizzes

There will be a total of three short quizzes during term time: one map and timeline quiz, and two reading comprehension quizzes. These will last about 20 minutes each. At the start of term, you will receive a sheet with a list of 20 historical terms and 20 geographical terms; you will need to research and learn each of these terms for the map and timeline quiz, which will be held in the last lecture on 27^th November. The reading quizzes will be held in the second and fourth tutorials of term and will ask you to answer short questions to test your general understanding of the ideas, arguments, and concepts in the readings; you do not have to memorise specific details.

• Tutorials and Class Participation

In addition to weekly lectures, there will be four tutorials during the term. These will be focused on discussing the content and ideas of the assigned homework readings. Active participation in class discussions is an important part of the course and your learning experience. Although the main opportunity for discussions will come during tutorial sessions, you will also have the chance to make comments and ask questions during lectures. Discussion participation in both tutorials and lectures will comprise 20% of your course grade.

To be clear, participating in discussions means that you will actually have to speak. Sitting in silence is not participation and will not count towards your participation score. But don’t worry! You don’t have to be an expert (or even knowledgeable) about a topic to join in the discussion. Any kind of contribution, even if it is just a simple comment or a question, will count as participation and will thus add to your course grade. So, don’t be shy!

• Final Exam

The course will end with a final 3-hour exam held during the exam period at the close of term. This will consist of a set of 3 primary source analysis questions and one essay question (you will be able to choose from a selection of five topics). These will test your understanding of the main themes and concepts that we have studied in lectures and readings.

The primary source questions will present you with excerpts of primary source texts that we have read in class; you will then have to explain historical details about the source, its content, and why it is significant. The essay questions will require you to draw on your overall knowledge and understanding of the course themes to produce a persuasive argument supported by relevant historical evidence. I will give you more details about the exam (and advice on how to answer the questions) later in the term.

• World History Seminar

This term, the History department will be holding the sixth series of its World History Seminar. This will take place online on Zoom roughly every two weeks for a lecture by a leading world historian. At the end of the lecture, members of the audience will have the chance to engage in a Q&A with the speaker. A complete schedule of events, with topics, dates, and times, will be released soon.

Since this seminar has a clear relevance to our course, I would like you to attend no fewer than three meetings of the World History Seminar. You should also ask at least one question during one of the Q&A sessions. Your attendance and participation in this seminar will form part of your overall participation grade for this course. If you are unable to attend three meetings of the World History Seminar, you may supplement it with attendance at the RIH Digital Humanities Talk Series.

• Attendance and Absences

You are expected to attend all lectures and tutorial sessions. For every class that you miss without my permission, 1% will be deducted from your final course grade. If you have a valid reason for being absent from a lecture or tutorial (such as a doctor’s appointment), please contact me as soon as possible to ask for permission.

• Course Readings

Each week you will be assigned approximately 30–40 pages of reading, which you should complete after the relevant lecture. This will consist of articles and book chapters by experts in Byzantine history that explore important aspects of the week’s theme. All required course readings will be posted on the Blackboard course website at the beginning of the semester. You will not need to acquire any course materials yourself.

For a general introduction to the subject, I can recommend the following (non-compulsory) books, all of which are available in the CUHK library or online:

Crone, Patricia. Pre-Industrial Societies: Anatomy of the Pre-Modern World. London, 2015.

Herrin, Judith. Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. London, 2007.

James, Liz. A Companion to Byzantium. Oxford, 2010.

Jeffreys, Elizabeth, et al., edd. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford, 2008.

Laiou, Angeliki E., ed. The Economic History of Byzantium from the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century, 3 vols. Washington, D.C., 2002.

Shepard, Jonathan, ed. The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500–1492. Cambridge, 2008.

Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church, 3^rd ed. London, 2013.

• Add/Drop Period

During the second and third weeks of term (9^th–20^th September), students are allowed to change their course enrolments by adding and dropping courses. You are welcome to either add or drop this course during that period for any reason. Please note that it is not possible to drop the course after the add/drop period unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. if a medical emergency or similar makes it impossible for you to continue the class).

• Plagiarism and Academic Ethics

Studying at university requires a high standard of professionalism and honesty in your academic work and personal conduct. This falls under the broad category of academic ethics, which I take very seriously (and so should you). I expect you all to behave in an honest and respectful manner in class and in your assignments. Unethical behaviour, including plagiarism, will not be tolerated. You can find more information on university policy at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

If you are unsure about the definition of plagiarism or academic ethics, feel free to ask me and I will be happy to discuss it with you in more detail.

The use of generative A.I. tools is closely related to issues of plagiarism and academic ethics. While there are legitimate ways to use A.I. to help you learn, it is important that you do not use A.I. to replace learning. You may use A.I. to aid in your personal study if you wish, but you should be aware of its limitations and problems: it has not studied our course material, it makes frequent mistakes, and the quality of its output is not as good as you might think. Always make sure to double-check what an A.I. tells you against reputable, peer-reviewed, academic sources. You may not use A.I. to produce any of your graded assignments for this course.

Also, please do not use A.I. to write emails to me. If you send me an A.I. email, I will not respond.

I try to set aside time every Friday afternoon between 2 and 5pm for ‘Open Door Hours’, when students can come and see me in my office without an appointment. This is a chance for you to come and talk to me about anything you want, even if it is not related to the course. If you cannot make it on Friday afternoon, you are always welcome to make an appointment to see me at another time. Just send me an email and I will arrange a time to speak with you in my office (Fung King Hey Building, Room 123).

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

• In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic contents.
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.