Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta

: Deconstructing the narrative, constructing a meaning; In the present article I offer a narratological approach to Byzantine historiography and an aim to elucidate the key elements of narrative theory that would be useful for investigating medieval Byzantine histories and their complex narrative structures. The focus is put on the key narratological aspects - genre, author, text and the audience - as those elements represent the core of literary criticism and contemporary studies of Byzantine literature. Through useful examples from the Alexiad, I intend to show how this theoretical vehicle functions and I hope to open a new field of scholarly communication on the matter of approach towards Byzantine historiography.

: Der terminus προνοητησ in der Byzantinischen verwaltung; The article examines on the basis of the small number of essential literary and sigillographic evidence the scope and duties of the προνοηταí (as a terminus technicus) in the Byzantine administration. The earliest evidence comes from the 6th century, the latest from the 12th. Already in the Early Byzantine period the scope of their activities is fixed: administration of domains and municipal and fiscal administration. Acting in the capacity of stewards of private and official real estate these people were responsible for collecting and transmitting taxes to the responsible department, minus an allowance for themselves. Their colleagues in the municipal and provincial administration were revenue officers with special authority. In the provincial administration of the 11th the pronoetai were sometimes also άναγραφείς in their region. Till now we know only one example of a commander of a thema who was at the same time also a προνοητής (Eustathios Charsianites). The προνοηταί τού δημοσίου (scil. fiscus) were authorized to exact outstanding taxes. A special case is the προνοητής of the alms-house of Michael Attaleiates in Rhaidestos, because he was the highest administrator of all its estates and dependencies. Normally the προνοηταί were administrators of a lower rank in the domains, subject to the οίκονόμος or the κουράτωρ.

: Deserts and holy mountains of medieval Serbia; Essential concepts in Christian thought and practice, the desert and holy mountain denote a particular kind of monastic and sacral space. They are secluded from the world, intended for asceticism, and ambivalent in nature they are inhospitable and menacing zones populated with demons, but also a monastic paradise, places for spiritual conversion and encounter with the divine. From earliest times, deserts and holy mountains had a few distinguishing characteristics. All forms of monastic life, from communal to solitary, were practiced side by side there. Monks of a special make-up and distinction known as holy men who were also often founders of illustrious communities, future saints and miracle-workers acted there. Furthermore these locales were important spiritual and bookmaking centre's, and therefore, strongholds of Orthodoxy. When trying to research Serbian material on this topic, we face a specific situation: few surviving sources on the one hand, and devastated monuments on the other. The ultimate consequence is that the entire subject has been neglected. Therefore the study of the Serbian deserts and holy mountains requires a very complex interdisciplinary approach with systematic field work as its essential part. It should address the following issues: corroboration, on the basis of written sources, of the reception of the concept of the monastic desert and holy mountain in a particular, regional, context; the distinct means and mechanisms employed in their physical realization; interpretation of their function; the recognition of patterns preserved in the surviving physical structures. Even the results obtained so far appear to be relevant enough to become included in the sacral topography of the Christian world. The author of this study gives particular attention to the detailed analysis of written sources of various genres - diplomatic sources, hagiographic material, liturgical texts, observation notes - in order to establish the meaning and the function of the monastic locales labeled as deserts and holy mountains (and, in a limited number of cases, also known as caves). The most important conclusions that may be drawn would be the following: the terms are interchangeable and were used both in a broader and a narrower sense, but in either case in reference to the space intended for higher forms of monastic life. A particularly broad range of meanings had the term desert which could refer to a distinct locale, as a rule a river gorge, or a mountain inhabited by hermits, but also a cave hermitage, the hesychasterion of a coenobitic community. The distinct forms of monastic life in such areas were communities of two or three or a few monks, organized as a skete or as a cell. In the deserts and mountains hermits primarily pursued the practice of 'agon and hesychia', but were also engaged in manuscript copying - an important peculiarity of Serbian eremitic monasticism. Finally, such locales were thought of by their dwellers as spiritual cities and the narrow path leading to Heavenly Jerusalem. The other thematic focus is an analysis of spatial patterns and architectural structures based on the relevant examples studied so far. Different types of monastic communities functioning as deserts were considered, from the point of view of their spatial situation and their relationship to the coenobia. In this context, field research identified examples of the so-called internal deserts, which was reconfirmed by the records from written sources. Special attention was given to the mechanism for creating a holy mount in the Serbian environment, according to the recognizable, athonite model. Also analyzed were architectural solutions characteristic of Serbian monastic deserts, from the simplest ones such as wooden huts and walled-up caves to monumental multi-storied edifices, equipped with different features. Finally, the conclusions that have been reached serve as a basis for defining future priorities in the field research of this topic.

: Despot Lazar Branković; Despot Lazar Branković was a son of despot Đurađ Branković and despoina Jerina (Irina), born Cantacuzenus. He was in exile with his parents in 1439-1444, in Hungary, Italy, Ragusa, Zeta. He married Helen, the daughter of Thomas Paleologus, despot of Morea in 1446. At that occasion he was crowned with the crown of despots, because his older brothers, Grgur and Stephen, had been blinded. Thus he became the heir to the Serbian throne and his father’s co-ruler. When despot Đurađ died, on December 24th, 1456, he became a Serbian ruler. In the extremely difficult political conditions, he maneuvered between Turkey and Hungary. He entered a hard dispute with his mother, who was supporting the blind Grgur in his attempts to seize the power. He was poisoned by the nobility, which blamed him for alleged matricide.

: Despot Stefan and Byzantium; The topic of this paper is one aspect of the relationship between Serbia and Byzantium at the beginning of the 15th Century, during the so-called "despot period" of the reign of Stefan Lazarević (1402-1427), namely the fate of the Byzantine title of Despots' in Serbia against the background of the political situation in the Balkans at the time of Turkish domination. Knez Stefan (1377-1427), Knez Lazar's son, received the title of Despotes according to the procedure long ago established at the Byzantine Court. In Byzantium, this title, which was second in rank only to the title of the Emperor, used to be endowed to the relatives of the imperial dynasty, it was not hereditary and did not depend on the territory ruled by the bearer of the title. It was a personal court title of the highest rank in Byzantium. This honor was bestowed upon the young Knez Stefan in summer of 1402 after his return from the battlefield of Angora (Ankara), where Sultan Beyazid I suffered a disastrous defeat from the hands of the Tatars. The Serbian Knez was solemnly received in Constantinople, a marriage between himself and a sister of the Byzantine Empress was arranged and John VII Palaeologus, the co-regent of the then-absent Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, endowed him with the title of Despotes. Knez Stefan carried this title till the end of his life. It was held in great honors in Serbia and was broadened in meaning to designate a ruler's title in general, remaining alive among the Serbs even after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Stefan Lazarević received the dignity of a Despotes once more, in 1410 in Constantinople. All this notwithstanding, the political situation in the South-East of Europe at the beginning of the 15th Century was all but favorable. Some Christian states were conquered by the Turks (Bulgaria), some were vassals of the Sultan (Byzantium, Serbia). Everything depended on the Ottomans. At the time of dynastic conflicts in the Turkish Empire (1403-1413) as well as afterwards, the political interests of Byzantium and Serbia were different, even at times contrary. What they had in common was the attempt to find allies in the West, especially among the countries which had an interest to fight against the Turks, so an initiative was raised to form a Christian League to that effect. Despot Stefan, in his capacity as a vassal of the Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxembourg, took part in the negotiations the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaelogus held in Buda with his host (1424). This was the last meeting of the Serbian Despotes with the Byzantine Emperor. The title of Despotes had changed with respect to the Byzantine norms. Despot Stefan became the Despotes of the Kingdom of Rascia (Raška), as the Kingdom of Serbia was called in the West. The personal title of the Byzantine Imperial Court was thus transformed in accordance with the non-Byzantine traditions of the Serbian political ideology. .

: Die Biene und ihre Produkte in der Kunst und im Alltagsleben (Frühchristliche und byzantinische Zeit); Die vorliegende Arbeit ist in zwei Teile geteilt: den kunst- und kulturhistorischen Teil. Im ersten Teil werden Darstellungen uber Bienen Bienenzucht, Honig und Wachs seit der fruhchristlichen bis zur spatbyzantinischen Zeit vorgefuhrt. Daher ist es als Beitrag in der "Ikonographie" der Biene wahrend dieser Zeit zu verstehen. Im kulturhistorischen Teil werden Informationen uber die Bienenzucht, den Handel mit Honig und Wachs sowie ihre vielfaltige Anwendung von der byzantinischen Gesellschaft an Hand der primaren Quellen, des Standes der Forschung und der archaologischen Funden erwahnt. Damit ist erwunscht ein moglichst gutes Bild der byzantinischen Bienenzucht wieder zu geben und die Nutzung der Bienenprodukte in Byzanz anschaulich zu machen.

: Die Nomoi Stratiotikos, Georgikos und Nautikos; (nemački) Die drei im Titel genannten Rechtssammlungen werden in der Sekundarliteratur gewöhnlich parallelisiert und im historischen Ambiente der Ecloga (741) angesiedelt. Der Nomos Stratiotikos kann jedoch nicht später als in der Mitte des 7. Jh. entstanden sein. Überdies sind die strukturellen Unterschiede zwischen den drei Sammlungen beträchtlich.

: Die Siedlungsstruktur der Region Melnik in spätbyzantinischer und osmanischer Zeit; The Byzantine and Old Slavonic charters on the city of Melnik and its surrounding area for the period between 1216/1259 and 1395 have not been analysed so far according to the "Central Place Theory". On the one hand this analysis shows clearly the limits in the localization of toponyms mentioned in the charters. On the other hand it is possible to discern that the urban catchment of the city in the Late Byzantine period was not that spacious as postulated in the secondary literature, but has to be revised on the basis of the present findings in favor of a spatially limited catchment.

: Die byzantinische Gesellschaft im Spiegel ihrer Quellen; This paper goes about the question which parts of the Byzantine population were mostly mentioned in the sources and which not. This shall be treated on the basis of the data collected in the „Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit„.

: Die macht des historiographen - Andronikos (I.) Komnenos und sein bild; In the church of the Forty Martyrs at Constantinople Andronikos Komnenos (emperor 1183-1185) was depicted. The image led to various interpretations, but the historical sequence (based on Nicetas Choniates) and a passage written by Nicolas Mesarites offer another solution: Alexios II. was crowned by Andronikos, who performed as protector of the young emperor.

: Die privilegienurkunden Kaiser Alexios’ III. Angelos fur das Chilandar-Kloster (1198, 1199); The Serbian history of the monastery Chilandariu starts with two preserved privileges, addressed to the monks Symeon and Sabas, the former Great Župan of Serbia Stefan Nemanja and his son Rusticus. The texts have undergone their historical analysis and are basic for the history of the Serbian influence on Mount Athos. A critical edition of both documents with black-white photos is published in the collection of the Archives de l’Athos. Still missing is a mere diplomatic analysis of the documents, how the Byzantine Emperor and his chancery judged the value and importance of these documents. Indicators are the language register (and rhetorisation) and the script. To elaborate this aspect, the two privileges are examined in comparison of the other documents of the imperial chancery under the dynasty of the Angeloi.

: Dioclea between Rascia and Byzantium in the first half of the twelfth century; The conflict between Rascia and Dioclea began in the reign of King Bodin of Dioclea (1081-1099) and it was brought to an end during the rule of Stephen Nemanja, Grand Zhupan of Serbia about 1185. The historical sources, primarily the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, give no indication of the causes of this conflict, nor do they explain why Byzantium found it necessary to intervene from time to time in Dioclea or Rascia. Although the family relations of the Rasican and Dioclean dynasties frequently provoked one state to interfere into the internal affairs of the other, they were certainly not the main generator of this century-long conflict. Since it was a process of long duration, it is quite likely that the main cause of the war between Rascia and Dioclea had to do with economic considerations, and the paper discusses this possibility. The rulers of Dioclea wanted to secure the raw materials for the maritime towns, primarily Cataro, which they had acquired around the middle of the eleventh century, and they sought to achieve that by conquest and the expansion of their influence in the inland regions — in Travounia, Bosnia and Rascia. On the other hand, Serbia had become rapidly more powerful in the early twelfth century, and its rulers sought to impose their control on these maritime towns as nearest centres of commerce and production. During this contest, Byzantium interfered only when the geostrategic stability in the broader territory of the Balkan Peninsula seemed to be brought into question and when Dioclea or Rascia established closer links with the Venetians, Hungarians or Normans, thus jeopardizing its interests. Byzantium looked upon Rascia and Dioclea as its western outposts and was therefore anxious to have a reliable ruler in Rascia, so that it could control the Niš — Braničevo — Belgrade route to Hungary. Similarly, a dependable ruler in Doclea was a guarantor of the safety of the theme of Dyrrachion and of unimpeded communication with the remaining Byzantine possessions in the middle part of Dalmatia.

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