Health and Disease in Byzantine Crete (7th - 12 Centuries AD)
Daily life and living conditions in the Byzantine world are relatively underexplored subjects, often neglected in comparison with more visible aspects of Byzantine culture, such as works of art. The book is among the few publications on Greek Byzantine populations and helps pioneer a new approach to the subject, opening a window on health status and dietary patterns through the lens of bioarchaeological research. Drawing on a diversity of disciplines (biology, chemistry, archaeology and history), the author focuses on the complex interaction between physiology, culture and the environment in Byzantine populations from Crete in the 7th to 12th centuries.
Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry: Techniques for Creating Dimensional Necklaces and Bracelets
Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry shows how to create beautiful, dimensional silver, copper, and brass chains using simple tools. The main style is based on the elegant, classical Byzantine pattern, and uses the Golden Ratio to determine the circumference of a chain’s interlocking rings based on the thickness of the wire. Illustrated step-by-step directions show how to calculate the circumference of the rings, how to wrap wire into coils, how to cut, and finally, how to assemble the chain. Starting from the basic Byzantine, new chain makers can then progress to increasingly Byzantine variations
Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204
This volume of studies explores a particularly complex period in Byzantine history, the thirteenth century, from the Fourth Crusade to the recapture of Constantinople by exiled leaders from Nicaea. During this time there was no Greek state based on Constantinople and so no Byzantine Empire by traditional definition. Instead, a Venetian/Frankish alliance ruled from the capital, while many smaller states also claimed the mantle of Byzantium. Even after 1261 when the Latin Empire of Constantinople was replaced by a restored Greek state, political fragmentation persisted.
Mark Whittow presents a clear, up-to-date reassessment of the Byzantine empire during a crucial phase in the history of the Near East. Against a geopolitical background (superbly illustrated with fourteen maps), his book covers the last decade of the Roman empire as a superpower, the catastrophic crisis of the seventh century, and the means whereby the embattled Byzantine empire hung on in Constantinople and Asia Minor until the Abbasid Caliphate's decline opened up new perspectives for Christian power in the Near East.
The Chronicle of Theophanes - Anni Mundi 609566305 (AD 602-813)
The most important illuminating source that survived from the two centuries termed "the dark ages of Byzantium" is the chronicle of the monk Theophanes (d. 817 or 818). In it Theophanes paints a vivid picture of the Empire's struggle in the seventh and eighth centuries both to withstand foreign invasions and to quell internal religious conflicts. Theophanes's carefully developed chronological scheme was mined extensively by later Byzantine and Western record keepers; his chronicle was used as a source of information as well as a stylistic model. It is the framework upon which all Byzantine chronology for this period must be based.
