Imagining the Byzantine Past
The Perception of History in the Illustrated Manuscripts of Skylitzes and Manasses

The first comparative, cross-cultural study of medieval illustrated histories that engages in a direct, confrontational dialogue with Byzantine historical memory.

Elena N. Boeck (Author)

9781107450011, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 November 2018

352 pages, 72 b/w illus. 20 colour illus. 3 maps
24.5 x 17 x 2 cm, 0.63 kg

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.

Introduction
1. Mystery, history and materiality
2. Engaging Byzantium, enraging Byzantium: Sicily, Bulgaria and the contestation of Constantinopolitan pre-eminence
3. Narrative emplotments and patterns of prioritization: analyzing visual codes and structural modes
4. Amplification as dialogue: the link between design and patronage
5. Iconoclasm as narrative experiment: religion, politics and memory
6. A headstrong case for getting ahead: scrutinizing narratives of de-capitation
7. Constantinople: story spaces or storied Imperial places
Afterword.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD], Literature & literary studies [D], History of art & design styles: from c 1900 - [ACX], The arts [A]