Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta
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Publisher: Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
ISSN: 0584-9888
eISSN: 2406-0917
Pages
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- On the status of the Vlachs of Hellas in the theme system
- The paper analyzes the military-administrative position of the Vlachs of Hellas in the thematic organization of the Byzantine Empire. Two of their leaders - Nikoulitzas and the archōn Sthlabōtas Karmalakēs - are mentioned by Kekaumenos in his text. Although there is no surviving testimony about the administrative rank of the unit composed of the Vlachs of Hellas, an analysis of the information provided in sources of various provenances indicates that a Vlach archontia was established in Hellas during or in the early 10th century, and transformed into the theme/province of Blachie in the second half of the 11th or over the course of the 12th century, as was the case with similar Slavic formations. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]
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- On the threshold of certainty
- The katholikon of the Hosios Loukas monastery, built around the first quarter of the eleventh century, has a narthex with a mosaic decoration on its west side. The Incredulity of Thomas is included amongst the scenes of the Passion. This paper examines the iconographic, liturgical, and dogmatic roles of the Incredulity within the context of the overall program and the liminal space of the narthex. This monumental representation evidences how depictions of the Incredulity engaged with changing beliefs concerning the senses and faith. In particular, I focus on the implications of the believer’s bi-directional movement through the narthex on entering and exiting the church. Iconographically, the representation of a door behind Christ and His wound are understood as symbolic conformation of His divine nature and a marker of the path believers should follow to attain salvation. As a confirmation of Christ’s dual nature, the Incredulity of Thomas is read in relation to funerary and Eucharistic contexts as relating to the narthex of Hosios Loukas.
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- On the working process in writing of the Neumed book and its function in the Byzantine chant tradition
- The paper represents a kind of contribution to the methodology considering the phenomenon of music literacy. It suggests some guidelines to be observed for future research. Acquired findings of the main reasons for the emergence of the Neum notation as well as of the shaping process of the chanting book during the first stage of the written musical tradition (from the end of the 10th to the middle of the 11th centuries) served as a starting point, but it was pointed out who might have been a scribal team member, what professional qualification he was expected to have and what was an organization of rewriting process like, depending on type of manuscripts that served as copying models. An interpretation of chanting book function was also presented and its main purpose in liturgical life practice after the establishing of the middle Byzantine Neum notation.
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- On year of journey of Prince Stefan Lazarević to Sivas
- This article discusses the issue of historical context and chronological elements related to the content of Introduction to the Novo Brdo Code issued by despot Stefan Lazarevic in the year 1412. Special attention has been paid to determining the date of journey of Stefan Lazarevic, at the time when he was still prince, to Sivas where he had to subjugate and renew vassalage to sultan Bayezid I. Until now this event, mentioned in the Introduction to the Novo Brdo Code, has been placed in different time frames. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177025]
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- Once again on the fragment of a fresco in Vatopedi
- As an iconographic theme, the representation of the embraced apostles Peter and Paul appears even in Early Byzantine art and symbolizes the universal Christian ideas of communion, concord and love. Based on its stylistic features, the fragment from Vatopedi can be dated to the very end of the 12th century and most probably belonged to the earliest preserved fresco paintings in the main church.
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- Orestes and Pylades in Byzantine historiography
- This article analyzes two instances where Byzantine historians Anna Komnene and Nikephoros Gregoras used a syntagm about intimate and dedicated friendship between two ancient Greek mythological heroes, Orestes and Pylades. In The Alexiad it is a story about the brotherly relations between Alexios and Isaac Komnenoi, and in the Roman Histories Nikephoros Gregoras compares them to two contemporary rulers, two very close allies - the Byzantine emperor John Kantakouzenos and the Seljuk emir Umur. In both instances Byzantine writers very skillfully employed the metaphor about the friendship of Orestes and Pylades.
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- Paideia i nasleđe helenske kulture u inauguracionoj besedi Dimitrija Halkondila
- (italijanski) Nell'articolo l'autore cerca di identificare, tra gli elementi della tradizione retorica tardoantica greca, i principali argomenti con i quali Demetrio Calcondila, uno dei maggiori esponenti dell'umanesimo bizantino della seconda meta del Quattrocento nell'Occidente, si e servito nella sua elaborazione del significato della cultura greca (paideia) non solo per quanto riguarda la civilta europea occidentale, ma anche quella cristiana in generale. Ora, il suo discorso, pronunciato nell'anno 1463 in occasione dell'inaugurazione della cattedra di studi greci all'Universita di Padova rappresenta una testimonianza di primo grado sull'adozione della cultura greca nell'Occidente durante il periodo rinascimentale. Partendo dall'edizione di testo del discorso, pubblicato da Geanakoplos (cfr. n. 1 dell'articolo), e possibile individuare certe particolarita che distinguono il concepimento, da parte di Calcondila, dell'importanza di educazione greca per la formazione di future generazioni di intellettuali nell'ambiente culturale dell'Occidente latino. Demetrio sottolinea anche il vantaggio da ricavare dallo studio di poeti ellenici, soprattutto Esiodo, per le altre artes liberales nel curriculum scolastico, cosi come la disposizione delle discipline dentro il sistema scolastico tardobizantino (cfr. n. 9). L'argomento cruciale della parte esortativa del discorso e il tentativo che lo sforzo, necessario per impossessarsi di queste discipline, ci si giustifici con profitto da esse ottenuto. Questo viene realizzato facendo riferimento al famoso verso sull'acquisizione di virtu attraverso lavoro duro, che e un passo tratto dal poema didattico esiodeo di Opere e giorni, v. 289. La forma sotto la quale questo verso e riportato in greco e molto scorretta, pero Calcondila ne ha proposto, poco piu sotto, una traduzione esatta. Fenomeno, quest'ultimo, abbastanza raro nell'impiego retorico di detti formativi (gr. gnwmai, lat. sententiae). Tra i pochi autori classici, i quali hanno usato il procedimento del genere, si annovera il piu grande grammatico latino, Prisciano di Cesarea, nella sua versione degli eserzici preliminari di retorica ermogeniana, sotto il titolo di Praeexercitamina. Qui lo stesso verso egli ha tradotto dal greco senza molta destrezza, cosicche il verso in latino apparve molto male, trovatosi in contrasto con lo stile elegante del latino (la cosiddetta latinitas). E percio che Prisciano non puo essere considerato quale modello direttamente adoperato da parte di Calcondila. L'impiego del verso citato, nell'ambito della tradizione parenetico- -encomiastica, presso gli scrittori greci, sia quelli bizantini che quelli classici, e abbastanza frequente. Eccone qualche esempio eclatante. Alla meta del Quattrocento Giovanni Eugenico questo topos lo utilizza nella sua Descrizione di Trapezunto, riferendosi al verso esiodeo gia menzionato (cfr. n. 18). Nel secolo dodicesimo, Eustazio di Salonicco lo impiega, all'occasione, perche esalti le imprese dell'imperatore Manuele I. D'altra parte, l'autore anonimo degli scolii ad Aftonio cita questi versi in valore di argomenti, messi nel contesto di un'altro esercizio preliminare quello di dimostrazione (kataskeuh). Simile elaborazione di questo motivo viene intrapresa anche dal platonico Massimo di Tiro, nel quadro della proposizione (qesij), con la quale si cerca di corroborare l'affermazione sulla preminenza della vita attiva sopra quella contemplativa. Peraltro, gia Luciano di Samosata aveva notato che questi versi diventarono convenzionali nelle declamazioni retoriche, e tale sviluppo del loro significato possiamo rintracciare partendo dalla Repubblica e dai Leggi platonici, attraverso le Reminiscenze di Senofonte, fino al Corpus etico di Plutarco. Nel suo discorso inaugurale, in qualita di argomento a contrario, Calcondila riporta anche il verso 287 dello stesso poema esiodeo, e lo traduce in latino. Per il simile procedimento egli, molto probabilmente, si e ispirato al saggio Sull'ebbrezza di Filone di Alessandria, dentro il quale questi versi sono stati utilizzati nel contesto simile, cioe rilevando il contrasto tra virtu ed ignoranza (cfr. n. 37). L'altro modello per l'uso del tema presso Demetrio puo ritenersi il celebre scritto di Basilio di Cappadocia a proposito, visto che quest'ultimo ci sta elaborando il rilievo dell'educazione di gioventu cristiana, basata sulla letteratura pagana. Insomma, la conclusione principale, riguardo alla tecnica compositiva di Demetrio, deriverebbe dal fatto che il suddetto pensiero esiodeo appare anche quale testimonianza degli antichi (marturia palaiwn) dentro il manuale ermogeniano di Progumnasmata, dove si trova appunto per quanto riguarda il procedimento d'elaborazione di una chria, in questo caso quella espressa attraverso la sentenza pseudoisocratea che le radici dell'educazione sono amare, ma che i suoi frutti, invece, sono dolci. A parte i luoghi tratti da alcuni poeti appartenti alla cosiddetta Commedia attica nuova, la metafora di sapienza e di impegno emerge, tra i romani anche presso Catone il Vecchio e si riconferma con il lessico adoperato da Demetrio ai vari posti del suo discorso inaugurale scritto in latino. Infine vanno inoltre menzionate anche delle particolarita che segnalano la meticolosita che Calcondila dimostra nei confronti dello stile elevato (gr. semnothj). Termine, quest'ultimo, cui e stata prestata grande importanza da parte di Ermogene, nell'ambito della sua teoria sopra le Idee (varieta di stile), la quale, poi, avrebbe in gran parte influenzato diversi prodotti letterari rinascimentali, sia quelli scritti in latino che quelli in lingua volgare.
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- Painters of the endowments of the Lazarević dynasty
- Postavlja se pitanje umetničkog porekla zografa koji su oslikali zadužbine Lazarevića, Ravanicu kneza Lazara, Ljubostinju kneginje Milice i Resavu despota Stefana. Traga se za srodnim slikarstvom nastalom u tom vremenu i pretpostavlja da su slikari većinom pristigli iz Vizantije, moguće iz Soluna ili njegovog okruženja.
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- Patriarch Ephrem
- Patriarch Ephrem, monk and hermit, writer and saint, Bulgarian-born but twice the leader of the Serbian Church (1375-78 and 1389-92), is an outstanding figure of the late medieval Balkans. His "life and works" are discussed here in the light of hagiological texts and the information provided by various types of sources with the view to drawing some historically relevant conclusions. The main source of information about Ephrem's life and activity are the eulogies, Life and service composed by bishop Mark, his disciple and loyal follower for twenty-three years. Making use of hagiographical topica combined with plentiful data of undoubted documentary value, he relates the story of Ephrem's life through all of its major stages: from his birth and youth to his withdrawal from the world and taking of a monk's habit. Of formative influence were his years on the Holy Mount Athos, where he experienced different styles of monastic life, coenobitic, as well as solitary, which he practiced in the well-known hermitages in the heights of Athos. The further course of Ephrem's life was decided by the turbulent developments in the Balkans brought about by the Ottoman conquests. In that sense, his biography, full of forced and voluntary resettlements, is a true expression of the spirit of the times. Forced to flee Mount Athos, Ephrem made a short stay in Bulgaria and then, about 1347, came to Serbia, where he spent the rest of his life. An eminent representative of the monastic elite and under the aegis of the Serbian patriarch, he spent ten years in a hesychastria of the Monastery of Decani. For reasons of security, he then moved to a cave hermitage founded specially for him in the vicinity of the Patriarchate of Pec. It was in that cell, where he lived for twenty years powerfully influencing the monastic environment, that his literary work profoundly marked by hesychast thought and eschatology, was created. Ephrem twice accepted the office of patriarch in the extremely complex, even dramatic, political and social circumstances created by the conflict between the patriarchates of Serbia and Constantinople, on the one hand, and rivalries between local lords, on the other. There is a difference of interpretation as to his role as the holder of patriarchal office. The latest findings appear to suggest that Ephrem, as an exponent of Mount Athos, loyal to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and close to Vuk Brankovic, was unacceptable to the Lazarević dynasty who emerged victorious in the power straggles in Serbia. Their victory was crowned with the creation of the cult of the holy prince Lazar, a Kosovo martyr. Although a supporter of the defeated side, patriarch Ephrem, as an unquestionable spiritual authority and very deserving personage, was included among the saints shortly after his death. His cult, however, had never been made complete. He was given a Life and service, but the attempted elevation of his body, i.e. creation of the cult of his relics, was thwarted. The reasons, political in nature, were given in the form of a coded hagiographical message in his Life composed by bishop Mark, an active protagonist in all the events. .
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- Patriarch Peter III of Antioch (1052-1056) and the Church crisis of 1054
- During the Church crisis in the middle of the 11th century, which divided the Christian world, the Patriarch Peter III of Antioch (1052-1056) found himself in the role of an intermediary between eastern and western Christiandom. This paper examines relationships between the Patriarch Peter III of Antioch with the Churches of Constantinople and Rome. It aims to provide an analysis of the theological argumentation presented in his epistles to prominent Eastern and Western bishops.
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- Patriarchs of Constantinople in the acts of the archbishop of Ohrid Demetrios Chomatenos
- Demetrios Chomatenos, the archbishop of Ohrid, mentions several patriarchs of Constantinople in his numerous acts, particularly those whose decisions were used in the deliberations of his archbishopric's court. An analysis of the fashion in which the patriarchs of Constantinople were referred to in the official acts of the archbishop of Ohrid is conducted in order to offer a more nuanced picture of Chomatenos' stance toward his spiritual adversary in Nicaea and a comparison with the ways in which he addressed his contemporary, the Nicene patriarch Germanos.
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- Pedeset godina Soluna, od 1280. do 1330
- The author has undertaken a study of Salonica during the reign of Andronicus II based mainly on new information found in sources published after the appearance of Tafrali's work on Salonica in the fourteenth century. She analyses the political, social and cultural aspects, and concludes with new perspectives on the government of Salonica, the wealth of the Church and rifts in society before 1330. She also draws attention to the extraordinary intellectual vitality of the city and the beginnings of humanism.