Bøger i Medieval Mediterranean serien

The Akathistos Hymn, the most famous work of Byzantine hymnography, has been enshrined in the Orthodox liturgy since the year 626, and its image of the Virgin Mary has exerted a strong influence upon Marian poetry and literature. Anonymous, undated and highly rhetorical, the hymn has presented a challenge to scholars over the years.This study has been undertaken by an innovative method. The approach brings new insights to the era which brought forth the hymn, and the metaphorical image of the Virgin becomes conceptually accessible to the modern-day reader. The investigation leads to the conclusion that the Council of Ephesus (431) constitutes the most likely historical context for the hymn's composition.The book will be of value to all scholars of early Byzantine and Marian studies.

Demetrius Kydones was a leading political and intellectual figure in fourteenth-century Byzantium, know especially for his translations of Aquinas and pro-western attitudes. This book examines Kydones career and writings in order to see what light they

In Honorius III et l'Orient (1216-1227), Pierre-Vincent Claverie offers a large-scale study of the oriental policy developed by Pope Honorius III at the time of the Fifth Crusade.

"The postal system of the Byzantine Empire, the cursus publicus or dromos, was a pony express-style system of routes and relays, capable of moving messages at up to 100 miles (160 km) per day. In this fascinating book, Jason Fossella describes the infrastructure, operations, and administration of the dromos. Drawing on sources as varied as papyri, seals, inscriptions, and ancient histories, the author examines how the dromos was integrated into Byzantine society and influenced the development of Byzantine diplomacy, ceremony, and religion, demonstrating that it played a key role in the development of Byzantine imperial power"--

This volume presents a new history of Orsanmichele, covering the centuries before the Renaissance. It explores the Florentine grain market, the piazza of Orsanmichele and its loggias, and Orsanmichele's important confraternity and Madonnas during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.