The Cambridge Companion to Constantinople

The collected essays explore late antique and Byzantine Constantinople in matters sacred, political, cultural, and commercial.

Sarah Bassett (Edited by)

9781108498180, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 March 2022

434 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.4 cm, 0.82 kg

From its foundation in the fourth century, to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth, 'Constantinople' not only identified a geographical location, but also summoned an idea. On the one hand, there was the fact of Constantinople, the city of brick and mortar that rose to preeminence as the capital of the Roman Empire on a hilly peninsula jutting into the waters at the confluence of the Sea of Marmora, the Golden Horn, and the Bosporos. On the other hand, there was the city of the imagination, the Constantinople that conjured a vision of wealth and splendor unrivalled by any of the great medieval cities, east or west. This Companion explores Constantinople from Late Antiquity until the early modern period. Examining its urban infrastructure and the administrative, social, religious, and cultural institutions that gave the city life, it also considers visitors' encounters with both its urban reality and its place in imagination.

Introduction Sarah Bassett
Part I. The Place and Its People: 1. Before Constantinople Thomas Russell
2. Urban Development and Decline, Fourth-Fifteenth Centuries Albrecht Berger
3. The People of Constantinople Anthony Kaldellis
Part II. Practical Matters: 4. Waters for a Capital: Hydraulic Infrastructure and Use in Byzantine Constantinople James Crow
5. The Supply of Food to Constantinople Raymond Van Dam
6. Constantinople: Building and Maintenance Enrico Zanini
7. The Defense of Constantinople Eric McGeer
Part III. Urban Experiences: 8. Imperial Constantinople Paul Magdalino
9. Residential Constantinople Albrecht Berger and Philipp Niewöhner
10. Commercial Constantinople Koray Durak
11. Sacred Dimensions: Church Building and Ecclesiastical Practice Vasileios Marinis
12. Sacred Dimensions: Constantinopolitan Monasticism Dirk Krassmüller
13. Sacred Dimensions: Death and Burial Mark Johnson
Part IV. Institutions and Activities: 14. The Administration of Constantinople Andreas Gkoutzoukostas
15. Philanthropic Institutions Timothy S. Miller
16. Schools and Learning Niels Gaul
17. Entertainment Marcus Rautman
Part V. Encountering Constantinople: 18. Medieval Travellers to Constantinople: Wonders and Wonder Nike Koutrakou
19. Pilgrimage to Constantinople Annemarie Weyl Carr
20. Encountering and Inventing Constantinople in Early Modern Europe Sean Roberts
21. Byzantium in Early Modern Istanbul Çi?dem Kafescio?lu.

Subject Areas: Medieval history [HBLC1], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], European history [HBJD]