Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society, 950-1100The imperial government over the central provinces of the Byzantine Empire was sovereign and, at the same time, apathetic, dealing effectively with a narrow set of objectives, chiefly collecting revenue and maintaining imperial sovereignty. Outside of these spheres, action needed to be solicited from imperial officials, leaving vast opportunities for local people to act independently without legal stricture or fear of imperial involvement. In the absence of imperial intervention provincial households competed with each other for control over community decisions. The emperors exercised just enough strength at the right times to prevent the leaders of important households in the core provinces from becoming rulers themselves. Membership in a successful household, wealth, capacity for effective violence and access to the imperial court were key factors that allowed one to act with authority. This book examines in detail the mechanisms provincial households used to acquire and dispute authority. |
Contents
Contents | 1 |
Imperial administration and Byzantine political culture | 5 |
Activities of the imperial administration | 43 |
Provincial households | 119 |
Contention and authority | 137 |
Conclusions | 165 |
| 181 | |
སྣུཎྜ རྣ མོ ཋ ཋ ཨཽ | 195 |
| 203 | |
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Alexander Kazhdan Alexios Komnenos Anatolia Angeliki Laiou appear Aratos aristocracy authority Basil Basil II behavior bishop brothers Byzance Byzantine Empire Byzantine society Byzantium Cadaster of Thebes ceremonies Ceremony Book Cheynet church Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus Constantinople core provinces cultivated described dispute documents economic edited eleventh century emperor estates Eudokia fisc fiscal administration formal Glykeria holy honor Ibid imperial administration imperial officials individuals Iviron John judge Kekaumenos kinship land landowner Lavra Lazaros Lefort Lemerle Litavrin Luke Magdalino Marcian Treatise Margaret Mullett medieval Michael military monastery monastic monks Mount Athos Mullett neighbors Nicolas Oikonomides Nikephoros Nikon Nikoulitzas ninth nomismata oikos one's owners paroikoi peasants person political culture prominent protospatharios provincial households registers relationships revenue ritual role Roman salaries seals siècle Sigillography significant social Sparta strategos taxation tenth century Theophylakt title-holders toparch twelfth century Typika Vatopedi village Washington Wassiliewsky