Being Byzantine
Greek Identity Before the Ottomans, 1200–1420

New interpretation of the medieval history of Greece over the period 1200–1420, focusing on the ethnic identity of the Greeks.

Gill Page (Author)

9780521871815, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 October 2008

344 pages, 6 b/w illus. 2 maps
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm, 0.68 kg

'… sophisticated, well-planned, and intelligent book … a major contribution to late Byzantine … history and historical thought, as well as to Byzantine language and the history of ideas.' The Journal of Interdisciplinary History

In 1204, the Byzantine Empire was conquered by troops from western Europe ostensibly taking part in the Fourth Crusade. This was a hugely significant event for the subjects of the Empire, radically altering the Byzantines' self-image and weakening their state for the later conflict with the Ottoman Turks. Using the theory of ethnicity - a comparatively recent tool with regard to the pre-modern era - Gill Page provides fresh insight into the late Byzantine period, providing a corrective to nationalistic interpretations of the period of Frankish rule and more broadly to generally held assumptions of ethnic hostility in the period. A systematic analysis of texts in Greek from the period 1200–1420, from both ends of the social spectrum, is backed up by an in-depth study of Frankish rule in the Peloponnese to reveal the trends in the development of Byzantine identity under the impact of the Franks.

Introduction: the Frankish conquest of Greece
1. Ethnic identity?
2. Byzantine identities
3. Niketas Choniates
4. The thirteenth century: ambition, euphoria and the loss of illusion
5. The nightmare of the fourteenth century
6. Meanwhile, a long way from Constantinople …
7. The long defeat
8. Roman identity and the response to the Franks.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]