Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity
Writings of an Unexpected Emperor

Analyses the ideological writings of a scholarly and unusual Byzantine emperor dedicated to distinctively Orthodox Christian principles.

Meredith L. D. Riedel (Author)

9781107053076, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 August 2018

236 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.7 cm, 0.47 kg

The Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886–912), was not a general or even a soldier, like his predecessors, but a scholar, and it was the religious education he gained under the tutelage of the patriarch Photios that was to distinguish him as an unusual ruler. This book analyses Leo's literary output, focusing on his deployment of ideological principles and religious obligations to distinguish the characteristics of the Christian oikoumene from the Islamic caliphate, primarily in his military manual known as the Taktika. It also examines in depth his 113 legislative Novels, with particular attention to their theological prolegomena, showing how the emperor's religious sensibilities find expression in his reshaping of the legal code to bring it into closer accord with Byzantine canon law. Meredith L. D. Riedel argues that the impact of his religious faith transformed Byzantine cultural identity and influenced his successors, establishing the Macedonian dynasty as a 'golden age' in Byzantium.

1. The reign of Leo VI
2. Romans imitating Saracens?
3. The Byzantine Christian approach to war
4. The ideal Christian general
5. A new Solomon
6. Imperial sacrality in action
7. Leo VI as homilist
8. Byzantines as 'chosen people'
9. Byzantine Christian statecraft.

Subject Areas: Orthodox & Oriental Churches [HRCC8], Christian Churches & denominations [HRCC], Christianity [HRC], Religion & beliefs [HR], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: earliest times to present day [HBL], General & world history [HBG], History [HB], Humanities [H]