Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta

: The lost traces of the frescoes on the western frontage of the ascension Church in Žiča; On the lower layer of the façade mortar that once covered the western frontage of the Žiča katholikon, traces were registered of the figure of an archangel (the western face of the tower) and parts of ornamental friezes (southern wing of the narthex façade and the northern oculus). Consideration of the data provided in earlier documentation leads one to conclude that this referred to traces of painting done during the renewal of the Ascension Church in the time of Archbishop Danilo II. [[Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177036: Srpska srednjovekovna umetnost i njen evropski kontekst i br. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]

: The man of sorrows and the lamenting virgin; The frescoes of the Man of Sorrows and the lamenting Virgin in the church of Saint Demetrios at Markov Manastir (1376/77) are depicted in the western part of the naos, which is a departure from their usual location in the sanctuary. The paper, therefore, looks at the location of these frescoes in the context of the entire fresco program at Markov Manastir. What is distinct is a conceptual link between the frescoes in the sanctuary and the depiction of the Dead Christ and the Virgin on the western wall. The relationship between the Incarnation and the death of Christ is considered from a theological and liturgical standpoint. Related examples of icons whose iconographic and thematic solutions share the same conceptual tenets are also analyzed, as well as the influence of the texts read during the Passion Service on the placement of the frescoes of the Dead Christ and the Virgin. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177003: Medieval Heritage of the Balkans: Institutions and the Culture]

: The mixed life of Plato’s Philebus in Psellos’ Chronographia (6a.8); Michael Psellos (1018-1081) used neoplatonic ethics in Chronographia 6a8 in order to discredit Leo Paraspondylos. He was accused of being too strict and distant from the real world of politics. By claiming that the intellect also needs a natural environment, Psellos endorses the neoplatonic reading of Plato’s Philebus and at the same time the contemplation of nature of Maximus the Confessor. In other words he claims the Leo was neither a philosopher nor an accurate theologian and therefore could not be in charge of political affairs.

: The modern legal status of the Mount Athos; The peninsula of Athos in Chalkidiki became a center of organized monachal life in monasteries in the year 963, when with the initiative of the Byzantine emperor Nichephorus Phocas the Monastery of Great Laura was founded. Since that time Mount Athos (=MA) became the "Holy Mountain" and has attracted the moral and material support of the Byzantine emperors, various Orthodox countries and the flock till today. During this long period of more then one thousand years, MA was armed with a privileged legal status, the existence of which continues till now. The legal status of MA is based on three foundations: I. The law of the Hellenic Republic, II. The Public International Law, and III. The European Law. I. Fundamental significance for the status of MA have the provisions of article 105 of the Greek Constitution. Then is the Charter of MA, which is drawn up and voted by the Athonite monachal authorities and afterwards ratified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Greek Parliament. The Charter is a law of superior formal force in comparison to the other laws. According to the Constitution and the Charter, MA has an ancient privileged status and is a self-governed part of the Greek State, whose sovereignty remains intact. Spiritually MA is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, direct in the sense that the Ecumenical Patriarch is also the local bishop of MA The territory of the peninsula is exempt from expropriation and is divided among the twenty Athonite monasteries exclusively. The administrative power lies in self-administration of the first and the second degree. The first is exercised by the ruling twenty monasteries. This number may not be changed, nor may their position in the preeminence, nor towards their dependencies (skates, cells, hermitages). Nowadays all the monasteries are coenobitic, i.e. the monks share a common life and have no private property. The monasteries are administered by the abbot, the Elders' Assembly and the Brotherhood. Second degree administration is operated by: 1. the Holy Community. It is comprised by twenty monks members, each of whom represents one monastery, 2. the Holy Community's executive organ is the Hiera Epistassia, which comprises four monks drawn annually from four monasteries in rotation. The leader of the Hiera Epistassia is called the First (= Protos). The Hiera Epistassis also performs specific duties as police force, police court and municipality of Karyes, the capital town of MA The legislative power is in the hands of: 1. The Holy Community as far as concerns the Charter of MA, 2. the Extraordinary Biannual Twenty-Members Assembly, which draws up the regulative provisions, and 3. the Greek State, as far as concerns: a) the rights and the duties of the (civil) Governor of MA, b) the judicial power of the Athonite authorities, and c) the custom and taxation privileges granted by the State to MA The judicial power belongs to: 1. the monastic courts (the abbot with the Elders' Assembly), 2. the Holy Community, 3. the Hiera Epistassia, and 4. the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The observance of the regimes is in the spiritual field under the supreme supervision of the Patriarchate and in the administrative under the supervision of the State, which is also exclusively responsible for safeguarding public order and security. These responsibilities of the State are exercised through the (civil) Governor of MA, whose rights and duties are determined by common law. All persons leading a monastic life in MA acquire the Greek citizenship without further formalities, upon admission in a monastery as novices or monks. Also persons who are not Orthodox Christians or they are schismatic Orthodox are prohibited from dwelling in MA II. The first international treaty that recognized an international protection of the MA status was that of San Stefano (1878), but only for the Russian monks. The Treaty of Berlin (also 1878) recognized the same protection for all the monks who were not borne in the Ottoman empire. Its article n° 62,8 was as follows: "Les moines du Mont Athos, quel que soit leur pays d'origine, seront maintenus dans leurs possessions et avantages antérieurs et jouiront, sans aucune exception, d'une entière égalité de droits et prerogatives". This provision was repeated in the special treaties of Sèvres (1920) and then in the protocol of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). These treaties safeguarded the rights and the liberties of the non-Greek monastic communi ties in MA as follows: "La Grèce s'engage à reconnaître et maintenir les droits traditionnels et les libertés, dont jouissent les communautés monastiques non grecques du Mont Athos d'après les dispositions de l'article 62 du traité de Berlin du 13 juillet 1878". The same provision has been repeated in the Legislative Decree of 29.9/30.10.1923 "On the Protection of Minorities in Greece", article 13. III. Because a lot of provisions of the MA law are opposite to the principles of the European Union (for example the clausura to women, the special license in order to visit the peninsula, the taxation and customs privileges etc.), Joint Declaration n° 4 concerns MA was included in the Final Act (1979) of the Agreement concerning the accession of the Hellenic Republic in the European Economic Community, now-a days European Union. According to this Declaration, recognizing that the special status granted to MA, as guaranteed by the Greek Constitution, is justified exclusively on grounds of a spiritual and religious nature, the Community will ensure that this status is taken into account in the application and subsequent preparation of pro visions of Community law, in particular in relation to customs franchise privileges, tax exemptions, and the right of establishment. .

: The monastery entrance; This paper deals with monastic entrance as the liminal architectural element facilitating a transition between outer - lay and inner - sacred worlds. It examines the architectural design and spatial position of the monastery entrance as an articulation of its multiple functions, which apparently crystallized over a long period of time. By the eleventh century the function of a monastic entrance emerged into a codified model that included multiple activities. These undertakings necessitated a further elaboration of its architectural setting including visually recognizable symbolic and prophylactic elements. Symbolically charged visual content of an entrance communicated the messages to both lay people and the monks. For outsiders holy images displayed in the monastic entrance designated the abode for people who live under the protection of celestial beings. At the same time, for insiders (monks and nuns), they had multiple meanings both apotropaic and eschatological signifying an adventus into the other-world, which may open a path to salvation.

: The organic structure and effectiveness of the Byzantine fiscal system - a critical evaluation; This article investigates the organization and effectiveness of the Byzantine fiscal system and of the implementing government apparatus as constituent elements of the operative institutional framework of the economy. Emphasis is placed on: the conceptualization and architecture of the imperial budget; the established budgetary objectives and priorities; the method employed in the preparation and execution of the budget; the enacted tax structure, evolution over time, and associated incidence; the sources of revenue relied upon; dispassion in tax collection; the rationalization of tax concessions and relief; the extent of tax avoidance and remedial measures; the impact of an array of public expenditures on the economy; the socio-economic repercussions of tax enforcement policies and tactics; and the effectiveness of the fiscal system and of the implementing bureaucracy in achieving prescribed goals. It is hoped that the searching examination and ensuing evaluation of the instituted fiscal arrangements put into effect diachronically will provide valuable insights as to their genesis, adaptation over time to reflect changing circumstances, experiences and expediencies, and their ultimate effectiveness in light of the Byzantine economic, social, and political realities.

: The path to redemption; The church complex of the monastery at Peć achieved its final form with the projects undertaken by archbishop Danilo II (1324-1337). He began with the church of the Virgin Hodegetria (circa 1330) that would house his tomb. His sarcophagus was placed in the northwestern corner of the church below the vault of a small, elongated space. A shared narthex was added to the three monastery churches included in the Peć complex in the early 1330s. The western fazade of the church of Hodegetria displays a monumental image of the Mother of God above the entrance that leads from the narthex to the interior. The iconography of the Virgin in Peć has been compared to that of the Virgin as the Fountain of Life as well as with that of the icon of the Mother of God Zoodochos Pege from the homonymous monastery in Constantinople. Such imagery was not, however, associated with the sacrament of baptism and its role in salvation and resurrection. This paper argues that a shared association with the rite of baptism links the image of the Virgin Mary with the funerary function of the church and the tomb of Danilo II, reflecting Danilo II’s personal concern with the Last Judgment and salvation. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177032: Tradition, innovation and identityin the Byzantine world]

: The periphery against the center; The "mixobarbarians" in Paradunavon, confronted with the force of Pechengs entered under a new domination, a local and barbarian one, that replaced the central Byzantine administration. The centrifugal trends were expressed in this case by the settlement of a barbarian power in Paradunavon.

: The potential of the office of Domestikos ton Scholon VIII-X centuries; Tema rada odnosi se na razvoj funkcije Domestika Shola — najreprezentativnijeg predstavnika institucije vrhovne komande Carstva. U periodu 8-10. v., Domestik Shola prošao je četiri etape razvoja, u toku kojih je od najznačajnijeg zapovednika prestoničke tagme shola postao vrhovni zapovednik vojske u pohodu, pod čijom je komandnom vlašću bila i prestonička i provincijska vojska. Posle reforme institucije vrhovne komande (druga polovina 10. v) komandna vlast Domestika Shola postepeno se ograničava, ne samo usled podele te funkcije već i zbog ustanovljenja novih, čiji nosioci raspolažu istom ili sličnom komandnom vlašću (stratopedarh, stratilat). Već krajem 10. veka Domestik Shola gubi neposredno zapovedništvo nad elitnom tagmom shola, te njegova vojna vlast postaje slična onoj koja je proisticala iz tzv. vanrednih ovlašćenja.

: The preface to Nikephoros Bryennios' material of history; The paper analyzes Introduction to Nikephoros Bryennios' historical work Yleistoriaz, both its major part, written by an anonymous author, and its last chapter, which is the work of Bryennios himself. It is argued that the Introduction to Bryennios' History by Anonymous testifies the significance of the work in Byzantium of the Komnenoi, and that Nikephoros Bryennios chose consciously the title Material of History, in attempt to stress the objectivity and the truthfulness of his writing.

: The pronoia in the state of Serbian despots; The pronoia as type of land holding through Byzantium began to live in medieval Serbia. The aim of this paper is to study characteristics and diffusion of this kind of estate in the state under the rule of Serbian despots. I will make comparison with the functioning of the system of pronoia in Byzantium during the 15 century. It should be noted that this topic has already attracted the attention of researchers whose findings will be reconsidering. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177029: Srednjovekovne srpske zemlje (13-15. vek): politički, privredni, društveni i pravni procesi]

: The reform of Byzantine military and territorial organization under Justinian II; This paper offers a contribution to the research of the initial stages in the evolution of the thematic system. It focuses on the role of Emperor Justinian II in the formation of the new imperial military and territorial organization. Byzantine scholars have determined a long time ago that it is Justinian II who should be credited with the founding of new military districts (themes) in Hellas and Sicily. This paper, however, suggests that the formation of the themes in Thrace and Kibyrrhaiotai could also be considered a part of Justinian’s policy. In addition, the paper aims to highlight Justinian’s role in the formation of the frontier military and administrative system (the kleisourai of Strymon and Cappadocia), as well as in the reform of military and territorial organization in the Aegean basin. By creating new army units which were not based on the Late Roman heritage, Justinian essentially abandoned the principles that the Byzantine army had previously functioned on. Finally, the paper highlights the fact that the establishment of new thematic units under Emperor Justinian II was coupled with his extensive colonization measures. [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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