Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN
PEOPLES, ECONOMIES AND CULTURES, 400-1453
EDITORS
VOLUME 10
9
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BY
KRIJNIE N. CIGGAAR
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Preface .......................................................................................... ix
Maps ............................................................................................ xi
Introduction ................................................................................. 1
When the moment of writing the preface has come and a book is
about to be launched into the world of learning, the author usually
reviews the past few years and realises how much he or she is in-
debted to all those who, in one way or another, have assisted with
the task.
For this book the first stone was laid by Judith Herrin who sug-
gested the subject of the book to Messrs Brill of Leiden. I am grate-
ful to her and to the publishers for inviting me to write this book, a
study of the relations between Western Europe and the Byzantine
empire between 962 and 1204, which is meant to build a bridge
enabling both Western medievalists and Byzantinists to take a look
at the other half of medieval Europe.
In the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries people became more
and more aware of the differences between the Western and Eastern
halves of Europe. The subject has fascinated me since my days as an
undergraduate. Since then there has been a growing interest among
Western medievalists in the `other Middle Ages', the Middle Ages of
the Greek and Christian empire in the East.
Some chapters have been read by friends and specialists in their
fields. I am extremely grateful to Vera von Falkenhausen for having
read so carefully the chapter on Italy, and to Donald Nicol, Lennart
Ryden and Reiner Stichel for having done the same for the chapters
on Britain, Scandinavia and the German lands. They have saved me
from a number of errors, those remaining are entirely my responsi-
bility. I am also grateful to the anonymous `censor' of this book,
who made stimulating remarks and suggestions to improve the book.
A book like this needs to be richly illustrated, and I thank the
libraries and museums, friends and relatives, and private institutions
for their courtesy in sending photographs and for giving permission
to publish them.
There are many others who need to be mentioned here for their
help. The staff of the University Library, Leiden, has always been
very friendly and helpful, and so were many colleagues and pupils
who helped me with technical problems. Julian Deahl, my editor at
Brill's, did his best to turn the language into more beautiful English.
X PREFACE
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Corinth Athens Mosul
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CYPRUS
Damascus
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
EIEY Jerusalem
Cherson
Ragusa B LACK=SEA
,,,(Dubrovnik)
Philippopolis
Adrianople Trebizond
Constantinople
11;
4
thens
Corinth
CRETE
MEDITERRANEAN
CYPRUS
,Holy Apostles ::, foreign concessions
Aqueduct of
Valens
Acropolisf /
Chal koprateia
°St.lrene
®St.Sophia
Forum of M- 'Ct at ue o f J usti n i an
Constantine% GreatS
St.Euphemia Palace A
Hippodrome
Harbour
of Sophia
INTRODUCTION
Relations between the West and Byzantium and their cultural and
political consequences form the subject of this book. This is not the
first publication on such relations nor will it be the last one. The
subject is vast and it has to be limited in time and space.
The historical setting of this work is the period from 962 to 1204,
its geographical setting is Western Europe. The Slav world, with its
own identity, languages, culture and Orthodox Christianity which
was part of the Byzantine cultural commonwealth, is not included.
As direct neighbours of the Byzantines the Slavs had other sorts of
relations with them, not infrequently in the form of military confron-
tations. Outremer, the territories conquered by the Latin crusaders
in the East, where the Greek world impinged directly on the life of
the Latins, will also be excluded. Here too clashes and confronta-
tions often created an atmosphere different from that which, in times
of peace, set the tone of contacts between East and West in the
Byzantine empire, and more significantly in Constantinople, capital
of the Eastern empire.
Several chapters, some of a general character, some of a more
`national' character, will discuss the Byzantine-Western relations, and
the effects they had on the life and culture of Western nations.
The period from 962 to 1204 was important in the history of
Western Europe. The early Middle Ages, for which source material
is scarce, slowly gave way to a period in which new initiatives and
an interest in the outside world became more important and source
material more abundant. The Carolingian empire had come to an end
owing to internal divisions. In France the Capetians came to power,
in Germany the Western empire found its successor in the Saxon
dynasty of the Ottonians, which succeeded in giving a new shape to
Western Europe and stimulated its cultural life. They exercised power
and assumed the imperial throne when Otto I was crowned emperor
in 962, in Rome. The existence, again, of two empires, the Byzantine
empire and the Roman empire of the Ottonians, was to play a de-
cisive role in a period when both tried to gain hegemony in Europe.
Contacts, contracts and confrontations, positive and negative, are
keywords in this process. The wish of the Ottonians to imitate the
grand style of the Byzantine emperors played its own role. Only on
the southern frontier, in Italy, were the Ottonians direct neighbours
of the Byzantines. Some military confrontations took place but as-
tonishingly enough there were few battles, few prisoners of war and
little war booty. In Ottonian times problems were often solved dip-
lomatically, which paved the way for the long-lasting influence of a
cross-fertilization that was fostered by friendly contacts.
Shortly before, in 959, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959)
had died. He was one of the most cultured and learned rulers of
Byzantium who had stimulated the compilation of several compendia
of learning and diplomacy. On his instructions Byzantine princesses
were no longer allowed to go abroad and marry foreign rulers. After
his long and stable reign, a succession of military leaders occupied
the throne for longer or shorter periods. And so it was possible
for Otto II, son of the emperor Otto I, to wed in Rome, in 972, in
the presence of the pope, a Byzantine princess who was related to
the reigning imperial family in Constantinople. She was to solve the
problem of the two empires by bringing together the two reigning
families by marriage. Her son Otto III was to marry Zoe, daughter
of Constantine VIII (1025-1028), brother of Basil II (976-1025).
She had already landed in Bali (southern Italy), in 1001, when she
heard that her fiance had died of a mysterious disease, and so she
returned to Constantinople. Hopes for unification were doomed to
fail for the immediate future now that the Ottonian dynasty had
come to its end.
During the period under discussion political power and economic
power slowly but inexorably shifted from East to West. Source ma-
terial on economic developments is, however, very poor. It is as yet
unclear whether this economic shift happened thanks to or in spite
of the crusades, international expeditions which can be seen as long-
term investments of time, money and energy, if one judges from a
distance of hundreds of years. The Latin conquest of Constantinople
in 1204, in which the majority of Western nations took part, on
both Greek and Latin sides, formed the finale in this process of a
weakening of the East on one hand and a strengthening of the West
on the other.
Openmindedness, a willingness to travel (and many routes led to
Byzantium in those days), to learn and to accept, even to adapt,
elements of foreign cultures, including that of Byzantium, had
been factors in the eventual conquest by the Western armies of the
Byzantine capital. Western Europe, fragmented as it was into nu-
merous realms with their own feudal rulers and dynasties, and expe-
riencing frequent changes of political alliances and territorial changes,
had nevertheless succeeded in organising a number of expeditions
to the East. In Byzantium the dynasties of the Comnenians and
Angeloi were faced with these masses of Westerners passing through
their lands. The first three Comnenians, Alexius I (1081-1118),
John Comnenus (1118-1143) and Manuel Comnenus (1143-1180)
were strongwilled rulers who were able to deal with the masses of
crusaders and pilgrims; their successors were less energetic and less
successful.
In the fragmented West the church of Rome, with its `interna-
tional' organisation of bishoprics, abbeys and monasteries, and by its
policy of nominating and transferring its Latin-speaking and Latin-
writing servants all over Western Europe, had greatly contributed to
stimulating the departure of thousands and thousands of inhabitants
of Western Europe to the East where they could see for themselves
the growing weakness of the Greek empire. The church of Rome
became an `international' power. Another factor in Western Europe
in `cementing' the Eastern connection were the ruling families. Their
various matrimonial policies and longstanding crusading connections
had given them some familiarity with the Eastern lifestyle.
The Byzantine empire was a large and unified empire where clas-
sical Greek was the official language, although the spoken language
was occasionally used for written texts. Power was concentrated in
Constantinople, the age-old capital where the emperor and a net-
work of civil servants, recruited among all social classes, firmly held
central power in their hands. Nevertheless the empire was slowly
being corroded from within. Landowning families and the mili-
tary had different interests. Strife and struggle were the result of
these tensions which weakened the position of the central power and
its services. Emperors came and went, until the throne, open to all
with ambition, power or pretensions, came into the hands of the
4 INTRODUCTION
' P.E. Schramm, 'Der Titel "Servus Jesu Christi" Kaiser Ottos III', BZ 30, 1930,
p. 424.
5 M. Deanesly, in History (The Journal of the Historical Association), New Series 35,
1950, p. 262; cf. Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 5, n. 15. (repr. from Saeculum 5, 1954,
p. 196).
6 P. Classen, `Das Konzil von Konstantinopel 1166 and die Lateiner', BZ 48,
1955, p. 364.
' G. Duby, Guerriers et paysans, Paris 1973, p. 12. A historiographical survey of the
growing interest in Byzantium and in Byzantine-Western relations remains to be
written.
6 INTRODUCTION
contact. These last fifty years it has become clear that the Ottonians
played a considerable role in the process of adoption and adaptation
of Byzantium to the Western tastes and ideals. The Ottonian world
was impressed by the splendour of the Byzantine empire. The fre-
quent exchange of embassies and above all the arrival of Theophano
and her followers, which resulted in a period of continuous contact
with the Eastern world, contributed to an atmosphere in which
Westerners were willing to imitate the style and structures of the
Byzantine empire. Receptivity was essential in this process. Even if,
from time to time, one might speak of `second-hand' influence, it is
clear that the Ottonian world possessed enough Byzantine models to
find inspiration there.
This growing fascination with Byzantium's influence on its neigh-
bours has led to a great number of detailed studies, but so far gen-
eral surveys have been scarce. One of the reasons may be that it
seems too early to publish such general studies since so many gaps
have still to be filled. But without a number of general studies which,
of course, have to be updated from time to time, it is difficult to find
the signposts and other landmarks to further study.
In 1966 Dj. Geanakoplos published his book Byzantine East and
Latin West. Its long subtitle explains his interest in ecclesiastical and cul-
tural aspects.' A number of congresses and symposia have taken place
in recent years.' Some surveying articles have become classics in their
fields, such as P.M. McNulty and B. Hamilton's article `Orientale lu-
men et magistra latinitas: Greek influences on Western monasticism
(900-1100)', dealing with Orthodox monks travelling to the West.'°
In Renaissance and Renewal in the twelfth century, attention is paid to
relations between Byzantium and the Romanesque world, a period
in which Byzantium played an important role." Art historians had
already tried to resume the outlines of Byzantine influence upon the
arts in the West, both in style and in iconography. Outstanding are
K. Weitzmann's `Various aspects of Byzantine influence on the Latin
countries from the sixth to the twelfth century', published in the
Dumbarton Oaks Papers of 1966 and O. Demus' book Byzantine art and
the West, published in 1970.
s Geanakoplos, passim.
The Meeting of two worlds; Byzantium and the West; Byzantium and its
neighbours, see the list of abbreviations.
1° See the list of abbreviations.
Ed. R.L. Benson/G. Constable, Cambridge, Mass., 1982.
INTRODUCTION 7
cultures does vary between times, places and individuals, and even
groups.14
The discussion of Byzantine influence in Western Europe was re-
opened in 1976 by P. Brown, in the context of Late Antiquity when
Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity went their separate ways.
He warned, and with reason, against the assumption that Byzantium
possessed a superior culture which graciously poured down her gifts
onto the West where an `inferior' culture was eagerly waiting for
them. He introduced the interesting metaphor of cultural hydraulics,
which has now become a classic, when he wrote that `the east tends
to be treated as a distinct and enclosed reservoir of superior culture,
from which the occasional stream is released, to pour down hill-by
some obscure law of cultural hydraulics-to water the lower reaches
of the West'.15 This hydraulic metaphor is quoted more than once
without taking into account or questioning what the author had in
mind when using the term `obscure law'. The obscure law may rep-
resent the system of devices in modern hydraulic systems which, in
the Middle Ages, and possibly in modern times as well, stand for
psychology and politics. But I will leave this interesting discussion
to others. Psychologists may help historians to uncover the process
of these devices in individuals and in societies, when elements from
abroad, from the outer world, are adopted, absorbed, adapted, re-
jected, denied and even ignored deliberately.
P. Brown made clear that Byzantine influence should not be taken
for granted too easily, neither in the arts nor anywhere else, since the
early Middle Ages had a common heritage. Roman Antiquity had
created a substratum of Roman culture in great parts of Europe and
had left spolia all over medieval Europe. This view had already been
developed by art historians who referred to the broken classical tra-
dition in some parts of Western Europe, and by others who, long
before, had discerned Byzantine influences in Ottonian times, not
only in the arts but in other fields as well." The period of the early
Middle Ages, with far fewer texts, is a period for which P. Brown's
warning may be more relevant than the period under discussion here,
but the warning has to be taken seriously. Sometimes the hydraulic
system of P. Brown was interpreted as a system of communicating
vases, without the `obscure law' which prompted its functioning.
This was also the case at the International congress held in Oxford
in 1984 which discussed the relations between Byzantium and the
West between ca. 850 and ca. 1200. The papers of the congress
were published in 1988. Opposing views, statements rather, were
expressed by scholars working in different fields, but no real discus-
sion took place."
In her article on Eastern influence on Western monasticism M. Dunn
concluded that `To accept a notion of contemporary Byzantine
influence on the West reflects an assumption of eastern cultural superi-
ority and the peculiar view of cultural transmission recently deplored
in a slightly different context by Peter Brown ... By the eleventh
century, in any case, the West had no need of such dubious sources
of inspiration. Western society embarked on a period of social, eco-
nomic and intellectual ferment, the church attempted to reform it-
self. It is to these processes and to Western monastic tradition that
we should look when seeking to explain the rise of the new houses
and orders of the period'.1e This is not the place to give a full analy-
sis of this passage. Suffice to say here that it is not always a question
of need to receive or undergo inspiration or influence from other
cultures. Sometimes influences operate more autonomously.
The opposite view was held by T. Avner who dealt with the
influence of Byzantine manuscript painting on the illustrations of
manuscripts produced in the royal scriptorium of King Louis IX of
France. She concluded her paper with the following words: `The study
of Old Testament iconography in the Middle Ages has repeatedly
demonstrated that while Byzantine biblical illustration was unrespon-
sive to Western art, century after century it acted as a reservoir of
iconographic and stylistic ideas which were absorbed and assimilated
by the West as by a dry sponge. This continuous input enriched the
latter's repertoire and often affected the course of its development'.19
20 C.M. Brand, Byzantium confronts the West, 1180-1204, Cambridge, Mass., 1968,
is often referred to without the period in question. The meeting of two worlds, pub-
lished in 1986, expresses an attitude of openmindedness of scholars who did regard
contacts between East and West in a more positive way.
INTRODUCTION 11
23 M. Barbazan, Fabliaux et Contes, Paris 1808, II, p. 406-407; see also Longnon.
INTRODUCTION 13
and leave out the criticism which one finds more than once and
which is often expressed, although not exclusively, in a political con-
text. It may be useful to make a few remarks about all four catego-
ries mentioned above.
1. The group of Byzantines who were willing to accept Western
features was rather small. Western influence in Byzantium was rare
and superficial, as A. Kazhdan made clear.24 They are to be found
among the Comnenians and in some Byzantine aristocratic circles,
where elements of Western knightly life, like jousting for instance,
became popular in the course of the twelfth century. Many Western-
ers lived then in Constantinople, rank at the court lived Western
aristocrats and, not to forget, the Western wives of Manuel Comnenus
and of some of his relatives. Elements of feudal life had already been
introduced and exploited by Alexius I Comnenus who had asked
the leaders of the First Crusade to become his liegemen.25 This asym-,
metry between Byzantium and the West was already established by
A. Grabar who had found very few instances of Western influence
in the arts of Byzantium.26 Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica
praised the women of his town who helped to defend it against
the Norman attack in 1185, and he compared them with the Ama-
zons of Antiquity, which was quite unusual for a Byzantine. Accord-
ing to the archbishop the history of these fighting ladies needed
revision. He may have remembered the visit to Constantinople of
Western armed ladies, among whom the queen of France, Eleanore
of Aquitaine, who had joined the crusading armies and who some-
times took part in military expeditions. Women bearing arms had
hardly been appreciated by the Byzantines so hitherto.27 Some liter-
ary influences may have found their way to Byzantium at that
to be taken into account, but these are even more anonymous and
untraceable. Sometimes admiration of the arts of Byzantium caused
Greek artists and Greek materials to come to the West.
Individual cases of contact and influence, and the presence of
Byzantine objects or Western objects with Byzantine influence, shall
mostly be discussed in the chapters dealing with the various parts of
Western Europe. Often their presence can only lead to provisional
interpretations and conclusions. It seems useful to bring together the
material for specific areas in separate chapters which have a some-
what selfcontained character. In such a framework a number of cross-
references and repetitions are necessary. I have chosen the following
regions: The Northern Countries, Britain, the Holy Roman empire,
France, Italy and the Iberian peninsula. Artificial as the choice may
be it has, apart from certain inconveniences-the anachronistic terms
used sometimes, and the fact that some areas nowadays `house' sev-
eral 'nations'-certain advantages. Each area had, in the context of
Western European medieval history, its own political history and its
own network of local rulers, part of the feudal pyramidal system with
its infinite fragmentation. More than once does one see the emer-
gence of monarchies. In some cases modern states were `formed',
and the vernaculars of these countries and areas became means of
communication which stimulated the genesis of literary texts. The
`national' past started to play a role. Secondary literature often con-
centrates on regional problems and is written in the languages spo-
ken nowadays in these parts of the world. Already in the Middle
Ages the vernacular languages of these areas produced sources rel-
evant to our subject and these have often remained unknown to the
general student of the Middle Ages because of their inaccessibility,
linguistically and materially.
These chapters form a sort of compilation, or inventory, of Byzan-
tine influence in a specific area, an enumeration of facts and fictions,
and of research carried out so far. They have an almost self-contained
character. Uniformity cannot yet be reached in these chapters, be-
cause the degrees of contacts varied widely. After a short historical
introduction mention shall be made of those who travelled to
Constantinople and of the Greeks who came to the West. The vari-
ous fields of influence shall be discussed, resulting in a description of
the situation around 1204.
To date no separate surveys of a given country's relations with the
Byzantine empire have been published, except in the case of Italy.
INTRODUCTION 17
the time I have had to rely on the work of others, sometimes I have
used the results of my own research, published or unpublished. If
sometimes anecdotal detail has been used, it was done because of a
lack of other solid source material. The discovery of new material
may confirm the experience of individual travellers who were im-
pressed by the picturesque element in Byzantine life and lifestyle. It
should be remembered that stereotyped opinions existed among
Westerners and Byzantines about each other. The Greeks were often
considered to be arrogant and effeminate, the Latins were, in the
eyes of the Greeks, uncultured people.36 From the earliest times the
Greeks cherished feelings of contempt for and superiority towards
other people, including the `barbarians' from the West. Alas we can-
not here go into the ultimately fatal consequences of this attitude for
the Greeks.
Writing a survey means making a choice, a personal choice be-
tween the many facts and facets known about Byzantine-Western
relations. In my choice a number of leading motifs have played a
role: money, mercenaries and manuscripts, politics, princesses and
presents, travellers, translations and transfers of relics. It has not been
my purpose to cast a Byzantine spell over Western Europe, where
other influences from abroad were also active during the period under
discussion, but Byzantium played an important role in stimulating
the Renaissance in 12th-century Western Europe, directly and indi-
rectly. Future research has to determine how decisive the Byzantine
role was in this process in a period when the East was considered by
some Westerners to hold the fount of wisdom, from which all West-
ern learning sprang
. quoniam ex Grecorum fontibus omnes
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
' Aerts, p. 65; B. Bischoff, `The study of foreign languages in the Middle Ages',
Speculum 36, 1961, p. 219.
2 e.g. H. Ohler, Reisen im Mittelalter, Munich 1986; M. Rowling, Everyday life of
medieval travellers, London/New York 1971 (inaccessible); cf. J. Richard, Les recits de
voyages et de pelerinages, Turnhout 1981; cf. G. Weiss, Byzanz. Kritischer Forschungs- and
Literaturbericht 1968-1985, Sonderheft, Historische Zeitschrift, 14, Munich 1986, p. 241,
on various Byzantine roads. For southern Italy, V. von Falkenhausen, `Reseaux routiers
et ports dans 1'Italie meridionale byzantine (VP-XIe s.)', IIpaxtiixa tiov A' &eOvovs
avµrcoaiov, `H xa9gµeptivT 1 atio ed. C.G. Angelide, Athens 1989, p. 711 31,
eadem, 'Taranto', in Itinerari e centri urbani nel rnezzogiorno normanno-svevo, ed. G. Musca,
Bari 1993, p. 459s.
22 CHAPTER ONE
4 D.E. Queller, The office of ambassador in the Middle Ages, Princeton 1967; for a list
of Greek ambassadors to the West, see Lounghis; Laurent, p. 24462 (nos. 492-
528), for the Bureau of the Barbarians, p. 233, for the curator of the ambassadorial
24 CHAPTER ONE
lodgings. For the anonymous letter in the Chronicle of Magnus of Reichersberg, see
MGH SS XVII, p. 511-12 (speaks of an Eastern mission to Constantinople). See
also Obolensky.
s E.g. M. Balard, 'Amalfi et Byzance (Xe-Xlle siecles)', TM 6, 1976, p. 88, refers
to Gisulf of Salerno staying with Pantaleon, an Amalfitan merchant living luxuri-
ously in Constantinople.
6 Book of the Eparch; Lilie, passim.
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM 25
e Michael Psellos had Celts among his students, MB V, p. 508, cf. Gautier,
p. 154, n. 3; otherwise no detailed information exists on the presence of Western
scholars in Byzantium. On John of Basingstoke in Athens, H J. de Jonge, `La
bibliotheque de Michel Choniates et la tradition occidentale des Testaments des XII
patriarches', in Studies on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, ed. M. de Jonge, Leiden
1975, p. 97-106 (repr. from Nederlands Archief voor Kerlcgeschiedenis 53, 1973, p. 171-
80), cf. Wilson, p. 164. See also ch. The Holy Roman empire, for 'Herzog Ernst',
who was sent there for his education.
10 Walter Map, p. 179.
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM 27
from other places in the West and have found refuge in the derelict
(?) Western quarter, possibly after the massacres, `quia non toti genii
Alemannorum et Francigenarum, sed paucis quibusdam extorribus,
et maxime incognitis'.'1
Official pilgrims, not to mention all those who because of an ad-
venturous and curious mind (and desire to see beautiful places and
buildings) often travelled under the disguise of pilgrims, benefitted
from certain privileges in journeying to Byzantium. Before their de-
parture they had applied for leave from their superiors and had taken
part in the officium peregrinorum. They enjoyed a certain protection,
especially when asking for accommodation. Travelling through West-
ern Europe they enjoyed all sorts of privileges, such as exemptions
from taxes and cheap lodging in some places. Charitable founda-
tions existed to assist devout pilgrims. Larger groups of pilgrims, like
those of 1064, obtained further favours and privileges as a result of
the diplomatic preparations made by their leaders.12 This was even
more the case with the thousands of crusaders. Their leaders, like
Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, when preparing
the Second Crusade, organised travel through foreign lands by ex-
changing embassies with those rulers through whose lands they had
to pass. Transit rights, market rights, the prices of foodstuffs and
even rates of exchange could be settled before the actual departure
took place. Logistics then became less problematic although difficulties
tended to crop up from time to time due to unforeseeable events.
The crusaders, although not allowed to enter Byzantine towns except
in small groups and forced to camp in the open air for most of the
time, were cared for by their religious and military leaders. Odo of
Deuil, secretary to Louis VII of France in 1147, gives practical infor-
mation on the passage of a large crusading army and its logistics.13
11 Tafel/Thomas, I, p. 209. See also note 39 infra for Liutprand's meeting with
Latin-speaking beggars.
12 E.g. E. Joranson, `The great German pilgrimage of 1064-1065', in The Crusades
and other historical essays presented to D.C. Munro, New York 1928, p. 3-43; Honorius of
Autun, PL 172, c. 152, speaks of beautiful places ('amoena loca, aut decora aedificia');
for pilgrims see e.g. E.-R. Labande, `Recherches sur les pelerins dans 1'Europe des
XIe et XII` siecles', CCM 1, 1958, p. 159-69, 339-47; F. Garrisson, `A propos des
pelerins et de leur condition juridique', Etudes d'histoire du droit canonique, dediees a
Gabriel Le Bras, II, Paris 1965, p. 1165-89.
13 Orderic Vitalis, X, 12, Chibnall, V, p. 276-7 (First Crusade); Odo of Deuil,
Waquet, p. 28s., 35, 40 (Berry, 25s., 40-1, 50) for the market facilities during the
Second Crusade.
28 CHAPTER ONE
Information about the route, the costs and other aspects of the
journey could be obtained from fellow-travellers. Detailed guide-books
about the journey East, like the one for the pilgrimage to Santiago
de Compostela in Spain, did not exist." Some lists of distances be-
tween cities circulated in the West and so did a number of descrip-
tions of Constantinople. Some of these had been translated from the
Greek, others were the work of Western authors. The description of
Saint Sophia which occurs in the work of some 12th-century English
writers clearly derived from the Patria Constantinopoleos, a 10th-century
compilation."
Details about the journey East can be found in a great variety
of sources. Ambassadorial reports have mostly been lost. Such re-
ports seem to have been copied in the West and sent around to
other chanceries." Scattered evidence of practical details of the jour-
ney can be found in chronicles, letters, wills, Vitae, funerary inscrip-
tions, diplomas, contracts and a number of objects that found
their way to the West. Some travellers `left' souvenirs by writing
their names in Saint Sophia and elsewhere. Indirectly contacts
with Byzantium are expressed in many aspects of Western civilisa-
tion, proof of a continual toing and froing by Westerners and East-
erners alike.
Since travelling was dangerous in those days, especially in Asia
Minor where the Turks formed a permanent threat, and life expect-
ancy was low, one had to make practical arrangements for one's
affairs before leaving home for a longer period. This was a problem
croisades', CCM 10, 1967, p. 345-59; J. Richard, `Le transport outre-mer des croises
et des pelerins XIIe-XVe siecles', in Maritime Aspects of Migration, ed. K. Friedland,
Cologne/Vienna 1989, p. 27-44. C£ J. Koder, Der Lebensraum der Byzantiner. Historisch-
geographischer Abriss ihres mittelalterlichen Staates im ostlichen Mittelmeerraum, Graz etc., 1984,
with map.
15 Guide du pelerin.
16 Ohler, op. cit. (n. 2); Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terrae, ed. J J. Tierney, Dublin
1967; A. Berger, Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinopoleos, Bonn 1988. For the
description of Saint Sophia see ch. Britain. A Greek description of the churches and
relics of Constantinople was translated into Latin, Ciggaar, `Description de Constan-
tinople traduite par un pelerin'; for another description, eadem, `Description', and
eadem, `Tarragonensis 55', for a late 11th-century description of Constantinople;
Riant, Exuviae, II,. p. 211s., for some brief descriptions. For travellers to Byzantium
see also J. Ebersolt, Constantinople byzantine et les voyageurs du Levant, Paris 1918, and
van der Vin, passim.
17 Diplomatic reports seem to have circulated among Western rulers and their
chanceries: both the Gesta Henrici secundi and Roger of Hoveden preserve a letter of
the emperor Manuel to Henry II of England and a letter written by French envoys
to king Philip Augustus of France (see e.g. ch. Britain).
30 CHAPTER ONE
1e M. Balard, Its croisades. Les noms, its themes, its lieux, Paris 1988 (inaccessible).
See L. Riley-Smith/J. Riley-Smith, The crusades: idea and reality, London 1981;
G. Constable, `The financing of the crusades in the twelfth century', in Outremer,
p. 64-88.
19 C£ G. Vikan, Byzantine pilgrimage art, Washington 1982; idem, `Pilgrims in Magi's
clothing: the impact of mimesis on early Byzantine pilgrimage art', in The blessings
of pilgrimage, ed. R. Ousterhout, Urbana/Chicago 1990, p. 97-107.
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM 31
gold can also be found in the Lives of the Ottonian rulers and their
relatives. The dowry of Theophano, the Greek princess who married
Otto II in 972, consisted in part of silver and gold.20
Notwithstanding the fact that the export of Byzantine gold and
gold coins was prohibited, Byzantine gold money was found all over
Western and Northern Europe. Smuggling, gifts and dowries seem
to have contributed to their `export' to the West.2' The besant or
nomisma, weighting ca. 4.31 grammes, was the international cur-
rency of those days. Byzantine coins were remarkable. Their iconog-
raphy, depicting Christ, the Virgin, saints and worldly rulers, was
attractive to foreigners. People seem to have cherished the small 'im-
ages', mementos of their journey to the East. Numbers of pierced
coins have been found and others are referred to in written sources,
revealing that they were used as jewelry or as religious mementos. In
the course of time the gold was often melted down or `carried' back
to the East to finance another journey or settle an account. Refer-
ences in chronicles, diplomas and in secular literature are proof of
the presence of Byzantine gold in the West. The royal abbey of Saint
Denis had a stock of besants: from a certain period onwards the
French kings were obliged to make an annual gift to the Abbey of
4 besants. This gift may have had some symbolic connection with
the relics of St Denis the Greek patron-saint of the abbey. Other
abbeys may have built up stocks of besants in other ways. It need
not surprise us that in 1146, when preparing his crusade, Louis VII
of France asked for and obtained some 500 besants from Saint Benoit
sur Loire.22 Sometimes, however, the term besant seems to designate
gold coins from other than Byzantine sources, and one has to be
20 Lexikon des Mittelalters, I, s.v. Bankwesen; F.E. Harmer, Anglo-Saxon writs, Manches-
ter 1952, passim; B. Bischoff, Mittelalterliche Schatzverzeichnisse, Munich 1967, passim;
M. Bloch, `Le probleme de l'or an moyen age', Annales d'histoire economique et sociale
5, 1933, p. 19s., who refers to the minting of `false' gold besants in Western coun-
tries. Cf. Chretien de Troyes, Cliges, p. 105, v. 3445 (Owen, 139); G. Stumpf, Der
Kreuzzug Kaiser Barbarossas, Munich 1991, p. 47-8.
2' Harald's Saga, ch. 16, in Heimskringla, tr. Magnusson/Palsson, p. 64 (Hollander,
590).
22 Hendy; Bloch, art. cit. (n. 20), esp. p. 15; idem, Les roil thaumaturges, Paris 1961,
p. 240, n. 2, and H.F. Delaborde, `Pourquoi Saint Louis faisait acte de sewage a
Saint-Denis', Bulletin de la Societe Nationale des Antiquaires de France, 1897, p. 254-7;
P. Spufford, Handbook of medieval exchange, Woodbridge 1986, index s.v. besant (Acre,
Alexandria, Armenia etc.). For gold in Western literature and civilisation, see
L'or au Moyen Age (monnaie, metal, objets, symbole), = Senefiance 12, Aix-en-Provence 1983,
passim.
32 CHAPTER ONE
27 Spufford, op. cit. (n. 22), p. 286; B. Kisch, Scales and Weights, New Haven/
London 1965, p. 150s.; see also RBK, III, s.v. Gewichte; Le Besant de Dieu de Guillaume
le Clerc de Normandie, ed. P. Ruelle, Brussels 1973.
28 Aerts, p. 649; L. Delisle, Le Cabinet historique 23, 1877, p. 10-15; W J. Aerts,
`Froumund's Greek: an analysis of fol. 12v of the Codex Vindobonensis Graccus
114, followed by a comparison with a Latin-Greek wordlist in MS 179 Auxerre fol.
137v ff.', in The empress Theophano, ed. A. Davids, Cambridge 1995, p. 194-210; cf.
Bloch, art. cit. (n. 20), p. 15, who mentions large amounts of besants in Auxerre);
cf. Bischoff, art. cit. (n. 1), esp. p. 218-19. The wordlists of Ripoll have not yet been
studied systematically (see ch. The Iberian peninsula). For linguistic realia in the
reports of Liutprand of Cremona, Koder/Weber, p. 23s.
29 M. Triantaphyllidis, Neoellenike grammatike, Athens 1938, I, p. 195-6; G. Thomson,
The Greek language, Cambridge 1960, p. 51-2.
34 CHAPTER ONE
Donatus had ever been translated into Greek and this is found in a
late 10th-century manuscript. Knowledge of Greek was not widely
spread in Western Europe in those centuries as has been demon-
strated by W. Berschin.30 Occasionally Greek exotica and phrases for
daily use are found in literary texts.31
Merchants with a knowledge of Greek (one feels tempted to call
them bankers since they often functioned as such) and other people
with international contacts were active as interpreters, in East and
in West. Literary sources refer to people knowing Greek and a West-
ern vernacular. In Chretien de Troyes' Cliges the duke of Saxony
sends a messenger knowing German and Greek to the emperor of
Constantinople: `Ceste chose li dus prochace/Et fet par un suen dru-
guemant,/qui greu savoit et alemand' (vv. 3912-3915).32
In Byzantium the job of interpreter was an official function. A
number of interpreters' seals, including the seal of the Great Inter-
preter Michael have been preserved (ill. 2).33 Diplomacy was one
weapon of Byzantine politics and there was thus a need for good
and reliable interpreters, for service at the court, in the chancery
and for receiving foreign missions, and for employment in missions
abroad. Western sources sometimes refer to them. There were, for
example, special interpreters for the Varangians, the foreign merce-
naries in the army, and for the fleet commander.34 On informal
interpretum'; G. Zacos, Byzantine lead seals, compiled and ed. by J.W. Nesbitt, Berne
1984/5, no. 706, gives the name of a certain Ecpevt (Sven?) as interpreter of the
English.
35 S. Runciman, 'The, visit of king Amalric I to Constantinople in 1171', in
Outremer, p. 157, n. 16 (refers to Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 147 (Bonn, p. 191; Grabler,
Die Krone der Komnenen, 190), where Bertha of Sulzbach corrects the interpreter
who is severely punished for having made mistakes in the emperor's speech). After
the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1203 Agnes of France refused to speak
French with the crusaders, Robert de Clari, Lauer, p. 54 (Longnon, 222). For
bilinguism see also Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 183.
36 Guide du pelerin, p. 64-5.
37 E.g. Gautier, p. 144. Anna Comnena speaks of Greek officers who guided the
crusaders through Byzantine territory, assisted by interpreters speaking Latin, Alex-
iad, X, v, 8 (Leib, IT, p. 209; Sewter, 310-11).
38 Wilson, p. 151, 192. For Tzetzes' text see H. Hunger, `Zum Epilog der
36 CHAPTER ONE
Theogonie des Johannes Tzetzes', BZ 46, 1953, p. 305, vv. 10-15, for the Engl. tr.
Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 259.
s9 Liutprand, Legatio, p. 564 (cf. Wright, 262) who ambiguously translates `the
poor of Latin speech', which can be misleading; Riant, Exuviae, I, p. 104-6 (Engl.
tr. in Riley-Smith, op. cit. (n. 18), p. 173).
4° Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 36 (Berry, 44-5).
41 B.M. Kaczynski, `Some St Gall glosses on Greek philanthropic nomenclature',
Speculum 58, 1983, p. 1008-17. The anonymous Work on geography, written between
1128 and 1137, uses the words nosokomion and xenodochium, J. Wilkinson e.a., Jerusa-
lem pilgrimage, 1099-1185, London 1988, p. 200 (`Nosokomion is the hospice which
cares for the sick people taken into it from the squares and alleys').
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM 37
42 Anna Comnena, X, vii, 3, X, vii, 4 (Leib, II, p. 214, 215; Sewter, 314s., 315s.).
For ports and customs see H. Antoniadis-Bibicou, Recherches sur les douanes a Byzance.
L"octava, le `kommerkion' et its commerciaires, Paris 1963, map 4, opp. p. 208.
38 CHAPTER ONE
46 Vita Lietberti, PL 146, c. 1466-7; after an initial visit to Thessalonica to see the
relics of St Demetrius; cf. S. Runciman, `The pilgrimage to Palestine before 1095',
in Setton, I, p. 76.
41 PL 149, c. 961-2; cf. Runciman, ibid., p. 77; H.EJ. Cowdrey, The age of abbot
Desiderius. Montecassino, the papacy, and the Norman in the eleventh and early twefh centuries,
Oxford 1983, p. 209 (Anna Dalassena acted as regent to her son Alexius I Comnenus;
idem, `Pope Victor and the Empress A.', BZ 84/85, 1991/1992, p. 43-48). For a
different interpretation of the sender and the addressee, S. Runciman, `Le "Pro-
tectorat" byzantin sur la Terre Sainte au XIe siecle', Byz 18, 1948, p. 207-15.
49 Vita S. Symeonis, auctore Ebenvino, AASS Jun. I, p. 89; Haskins, `Canterbury monk',
p. 295 ('quosdam ibi viros de patria sua suosque amicos repperit qui erant ex familia
imperatoris').
49 Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 37, 39, 53, 56 (Berry, 44-5, 50-1, 82-3, 90-1);
Cinnamus, p. 80 (Brand, 67; Rosenblum, 63).
5o Davidson, p. 263.
40 CHAPTER ONE
5' Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 570s., 578; after the Latin conquest they took
possession of the hospice of Saint Sampson, T.S. Miller, `The Sampson Hospital of
Constantinople', Byz Forsch 15, 1990, p. 128-129; Haskins, `Canterbury monk',
p. 295 (`wade ... et ad hospicium tuum revertere').
52 J. Riley-Smith, The knights of St John in Jerusalem and Cyprus, c. 1050-1310, Lon-
don 1967, p. 36-7; The Letters of Peter the Venerable, ed. G. Constable, Cambridge,
Mass., 1967, nos. 75, 76, p. 208-210; cf. J. Gay, `L'abbaye de Cluny et Byzance au
debut du XIIe siecle', EO 30, 1931, p. 86.
ss Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 35-6 (Berry, 42-3).
54 RHG XV, p. 800 ('abbas Hugo S. Mariae'); c£ Janin, Eglises et monasteres,
p. 578.
11 P. Schreiner, `Untersuchungen zu den Niederlassungen westlicher Kaufleute
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM 41
im byzantinischen Reich des 11. and 12. Jahrhunderts', Byz Forsch 7, 1979, p. 179;
R.J. Lilie, `Die lateinische Kirche in der Romania vor dem vierten Kreuzzug', BZ
82, 1989, p. 202s.
ss Constantelos; P. Gautier, 'Le typicon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator', REB 32,
1974, p. 1-145 (Greek text with French tr.); R. Volk, Gesundheitswesen and Wohltatigkeit
im Spiegel der byzantinischen Klostegypika, Munich 1983; Symposium on Byzantine medicine,
ed. J. Scarborough (= DOP 38, 1984) gives varied information. See for the period
under discussion e.g. A. Kazhdan, `The image of the medical doctor in Byzantine
literature of the tenth to twelfth centuries', ibid., p. 43-51; T.S. Miller, The birth of
the hospital in the Byzantine empire, Baltimore/London 1985; J.P. Thomas, Private reli-
gious foundations in the Byzantine empire, Washington 1987.
42 CHAPTER ONE
one could stay three nights in succession.57 Some hospices were pri-
vate charity works: the Spoudaioi, a semi-religious community as it
seems, had hospices in Jerusalem and in Constantinople. 58
Food distribution was organised by church authorities in times of
famine. Foreigners and poor travellers may have benefitted from this
form of charity. According to the Life of St Eutychius, patriarch of
Constantinople in the time ofJustinian and former bishop of Amasea,
foreign citizens were allowed to partake. In the early 14th century
patriarch Athanasius of Constantinople organised soup kitchens for
the poor, asking the emperor to provide him with wood for the
cooking. The foundation story of the hospital in Constantinople of
Saint Sampson, the man who cured the emperor Justinian, was
incorporated in the Latin translation of the Greek description of the
capital, suggesting that the institution also functioned as an hospice
and that Westerners could. stay there. Otherwise such an interest is
difficult to explain.59
Although faith-healing was very popular in Byzantium, where the
many sanctuaries and saintly hermits attracted crowds of sick people,
medical care in the modern sense of the word was available as well.
The same is true of hospitals, although the difference between hospices
and hospitals is not always very clear in the sources. Sometimes
hospitals were part of a monastery. In the Pantocrator monastery in
Constantinople, a 12th-century imperial foundation, there were male
and female doctors, the former being better paid than their colleagues
who attended the women's section."
64 Fulcher of Chartres, p. 175-6 (Ryan, 78); Anna Comnena, XI, ii, 10 (Leib, III,
p. 16; Sewter, 340); Histoire anonyme de la Premiere Groisade, ed. L. Brehier, Paris 1964,
p. 26-7 (`ut nullum nostrorum sinerent intrare muros civitatum'), with French tr.
66 Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 46 (Berry, 66-7), `portas urbis multitudini obserabant',
they closed the city gates to the throng.
66 For bishop Ealdred of Worcester, ch. Britain, note 22; for glass cameos, RBK,
III, s.v. Kameen; for silk, Lopez, `Silk industry'; see also note 19 supra.
CHAPTER TWO
1 Fulcher of Chartres, p. 176 (Ryan, 79). Much of the following chapter is based
upon Janin, Constantinople byzantine; see also van der Vin; RBK, IV, s.v.
Konstantinopel.
2 H. Lamprecht, Untersuchungen fiber einige englische Chronisten des zwOen and des
beginnenden dreizehnten Jahrhunderts, Torgau (Breslau) 1937, p. 116s. For the olive-oil
crisis in Western Europe see J.L. Nelson, `Symbols in context: rulers' inauguration
rituals in Byzantium and the West in the early Middle Ages', in The Orthodox churches
and the West, ed. D. Baker, Oxford 1976, p. 118-19 (= Studies in Church History 13,
46 CHAPTER TWO
The land routes had the advantage that adaptation to the Byzan-
tine way of life, which they met already in southern Italy and in the
Balkans, occurred gradually. Religious life could be observed at one's
leisure at the various halts along the route and travellers would some-
times encounter a pillar saint as witness to a different concept of the
religious life. And finally, at the end of their long journey, the trav-
ellers stood before the massive, kilometer-long walls of Constantinople
or waited aboard a ship for permission to enter and drop anchor in
one of the harbours of the imperial city, which was built on seven
hills like its predecessor Rome. Here was another world for which
one had to obtain permission to enter. The bulk of the crusaders,
although they claimed that they were travelling for religious pur-
poses, were not given permission to enter the imperial town. If,
however, they were allowed to visit the town, they were admitted in
small groups, visiting a limited number of sanctuaries.
The sights and attractions of Constantinople were, and still are,
too numerous to describe in a single book, let alone in one chapter.'
The Byzantines themselves were well aware of the attractions of their
capital and of its cultural radiation. Thus we shall limit our discus-
sion to these highlights and refer to those sights and phenomena
that, at one time or another, appealed to Western visitors. Not all
their impressions have been written down. Many lived with the
memory of a unique journey, still retaining an admiration for what
they had seen in far-away Byzantium. Admiration easily leads to
imitation. This was most certainly the case with many Western visi-
tors who marvelled at what they saw in Constantinople and the rest
of the Byzantine empire.
Depending on their social status, Western visitors could become
acquainted with a large variety of aspects of Byzantine life and cul-
ture. Whereas ambassadors, both from the church and from secular
rulers, were often received at court, it is clear that merchants moved
in different circles. The average pilgrim, if he was allowed to enter
the town at all (and the entrance fee must have been fairly high),
only paid a visit to the best-known sanctuaries and their collections
of relics. The palaces he would only see from the outside. A few
public buildings were more easily accessible to the `barbarians' from
1976); Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 36 (Berry, 42-3). H. Maguire, Art and eloquence in
Byzantium, Princeton 1981, p. 42-52.
s E. Fenster, Laudes Constantinopolitanae, Munich 1968, index, p. 372-9, s.v. Bib-
liotheken, Garten, Dachgarten, etc.; c£ RBK, IV, for example s.v. Konstantinopel.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 47
the West, but many simply lacked the time to venture into all the
places so important to Byzantine life. Seeing the Byzantines in the
streets was in itself quite an experience. There, on the public squares
mentioned by Fulcher of Chartres, and on the broad avenues of the
city, they went about their affairs. One could catch a glimpse of
court life when the emperor and his suite rode out to attend some
religious ceremony in one of the many churches or chapels of the
town, and there would be parades, displays of luxury and ceremo-
nial of the court.4
By virtue of its size alone Constantinople enjoyed an enormous
prestige in contemporary European eyes. It was the biggest town
any one could expect to see, its circumference being some 25 kilo-
meters, as we learn from the work of Benjamin of Tudela, with some
375,000 inhabitants at its maximum.5 Jerusalem and Rome were
important religious centres but they were nothing if their wealth of
relics was compared with that of Constantinople. The hundreds of
churches with their relics formed one of the major attractions to
Western visitors. Religion worked like a magnet. And so did the rulers
of Byzantium whose radiant splendour outshone that of the rulers of
Rome and Jerusalem.
Veneration of relics was a widely-spread practice in both East and
West. Sometimes a critical attitude was discernible in the West and
doubts were expressed about the authenticity of relics and the reli-
gious views one had to adopt. Such qualms did not, however, pre-
vent the departure of large numbers of pilgrims.' Indeed, religion
served or could serve as the pretext for travel eastward and for ad-
venture seeking. This was certainly the case with mercenaries and
others who lived at a time when one often had to ask permission
from one's superiors to leave home.
All over the Byzantine empire there were sanctuaries, safeguard-
ing precious relics. There were religious centres on Mount Athos,
traveller. Large groups may have taken their own guides with them,
or have made use of resident Westerners. A good example of the
existence of such legends is provided by the church of Saint Sophia
in Constantinople. Its building history was transformed into an inter-
esting tale. During the construction, miracles took place and the church
even had a special angel to guard it. This tale, the diegesis, was trans-
lated into various languages-Russian, Persian and even Turkish. The
works of two late 12th-century English historians, Radulphus de Diceto
and Radulphus Niger (to whose work it was probably appended)
contain fragments of the tale in Latin. Sometimes a curious detail
taken from the diegesis indicates that the author may have obtained
his information from a local guide.13
But it was more than a simple interest in churches and their
inventories. There was an interest in the Orthodox world, its liturgy
and its theology. Those who stayed in an orthodox/monastic guest-
house (xenodocheion) attended the Greek liturgy and saw its implements.
Icons played an important role in the liturgy. They were carried
around during the service. Nor did their healing powers go unno-
ticed by foreigners. The icons of the Pantocrator, the Virgin and
other venerated pictures were carried in procession through the streets
of Constantinople. The public held in special veneration the icons of
the Virgin who played such a prominent part in Byzantine religious
life. She was the guardian of the town, she was the Mother of God,
the Theotokos.14
Not everybody was able to grasp the meaning of the Greek liturgy
and its Greek wording. The French abbot, Azenaire of Massai (near
Bourges), declared that in his younger days, in the early 11th cen-
tury, he had heard the name of St Martial during a liturgy he had
attended in Saint Sophia. Louis VII, king of France, witnessed a
liturgy to celebrate the feast of St Denis, during which the clergy
held large tapers decorated with gold and a great variety of colours.ls
The music and chanting of the Eastern church was found attractive
13 E. Vitti, Die Erzahlung fiber den Bau der Hagia Sophia in Konstantinopel. Kritische Edition
mehrerer Versionen, Bochum 1986 (see also ch. Britain); Dagron, p. 191-264.
14 Statues of Christ and the Theotokos did not exist in contemporary Byzantine
art, cf. C. Mango, `Antique statuary and the Byzantine beholder', DOP 17, 1963,
p. 53-75; c£ R. Grigg, 'Byzantine credulity as an impediment to Antiquarianism',
Gesta 26, 1987, p. 3-9.
15 Acta concilii Lemovicensis, PL 142, c. 1356; cf. R.L. Wolff, `How the news was
brought from Byzantium to Angouleme; or, the pursuit of a hare in an ox cart',
BMGS 4, 1978, p. 179; Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 46 (Berry, 68-9).
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 51
16 Odo of Deuil, ibid.; Justinian formed a choir of 100 women singers in Saint
Sophia, see Dagron, p. 252, and Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 549-50; see also
N.K. Moran, Singers in late Byzantine and Slavonic painting, Leiden 1986, passim;
E. Wellesz, Eastern elements in Western chant, Oxford 1947, p. 168, and passim, for all
sorts of remnants of Greek liturgy in the West and the introduction, reintroduction
sometimes, of Greek elements in later times. The Western church had preserved,
from the earliest times, certain Greek elements. The many questions and problems
concerning musical interaction between East and West are still largely unsolved. For
the many `religious' differences between East and West, see e.g.. J. Darrouzes, 'Le
memoire de Constantin Stilbes contre les Latins', REB 21, 1963, p. 50-100.
" Constantelos, p. 86; Beck, p. 106, 522; J. Beaucamp, `La situation juridique de
la femme a Byzance', CCM 20, 1977, p. 150; E. Patlagean, `Byzance, le barbare et
1'heretique', in Ni Juif ni ]rec. Entretiens sur le racisme, sous la direction de Leon Poliakov,
Ecole des Hautes Etudes et Sciences Sociales, Paris/The Hague 1978, p. 82-3;
J. Herrin, `Women and the church in Byzantium', Bulletin of the British Association of
Orientalists 11, 1979-80, p. 8-14; Darrouzes, ibid., p. 75.
52 CHAPTER TWO
1fl H. Delehaye, Its saints stylites, Brussels/Paris 1923, passim; Robert de Clari,
Lauer, p. 89 (Longnon, 249); Beck, p. 138, 462.
19 DJ. Constantelos, 'Physician-Priests in the medieval Greek church', The Greek
Orthodox Review 12, 1966-7, p. 141-53.
20 Frolow, Relique; idem, Reliquaires.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 53
ranks, were distributed. A state pension, paid out in gold, was an-
other attraction of a successful career. Sometimes the emperors
awarded pensions to foreign visitors, but in such cases they tended
to be gifts to sweeten foreigners or gifts in return for a gift which the
emperor had just received, or payment of some sort of indemnity.
All these ceremonies provided a good show for foreigners who could
be easily impressed by the wealth and power of the emperor, unac-
customed as they were to such brilliant receptions in their own coun-
tries in the West, where life was much more simple.28
Leaders of the crusades, who were unaware of the devaluation of
titles and the gold besant taking place sometimes under their very
eyes, were promised logistical support and sometimes received official
titles during receptions at the court; others were adopted as sons of
the emperor. Ambassadors received official letters, called sacra (term
to designate letters sent abroad and written in the imperial chan-
cery), during official receptions. Such Greek documents were a plea-
sure to the eye and contributed to the splendour of the court and to
the reception in which they were handed over. Often they were written
in golden letters on purple parchment, or in red ink, another pre-
rogative of the emperor. They were sealed with the imperial gold
seal at a time when Western rulers used a seal of wax. A Byzantine
imperial seal was a thing of beauty. The weight varied according
to the rank of the addressee, following rules which were laid down
in the book called De administrando imperio, another publication of
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Rulers of the West were only en-
titled to a seal of lesser weight. But even then it was beautiful and
expressed that curious Byzantine mixture of state and religion, of
secular and clerical life, by carrying the portrait of the ruler and the
image of Christ, of the Virgin or of a saint. Imperial seals show
similarities with the centrally minted coinage of the Byzantine state,
where we see the same iconography. Whenever money was distrib-
uted to foreign visitors it was mainly money minted in gold, express-
ing the wealth and power of the Byzantine empire.29
so Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 169s. (relic of the veil of the Virgin, regarded
as the pallium of the town), p. 203s. (the icon of the Virgin Hodigitria), painted by
St Luke according to tradition.
31 For example, Psellos, II, p. 37s. (Sewter, 228s.); Cinnamus, p. 263s. (Brand,
198; Rosenblum, 169s.).
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 59
Persian coins. They despised fresh air, fine houses, meadows and
gardens; the charm of all that meant nothing to them, in contrast to
Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055), one of Zoe's husbands,
who spent large sums of money on gardens, palaces and churches,
building, altering, replanning and rebuilding them. Around the church
of St George of the Mangana he installed hanging gardens.32 Gar-
dens were planted with flowers many of which were unknown in the
West-tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and anemones. It seems only too
natural that Byzantine ladies loved picking flowers, a habit one meets
occasionally in the Western roman courtois. Manuscript paintings of
flowers were less numerous in the East than in the West in the later
Middle Ages however. Water-works brought coolness in a climate that
could be very hot in summertime. Water basins and fountains, sim-
ple or monumental, sprinkled their waters around and ponds served
as drinking places for the birds in the parks. Even on the provincial
estates of private citizens, parks were laid out and waterworks
installed. Roof gardens were installed where space was lacking. The
Byzantines loved birds in their houses and gardens, real or artificial.
Artefacts decorated fountains and water basins. Parrots, pigeons, fal-
cons, cranes (kept in captivity for hunting), swans, geese and pea-
cocks walked and flew around. All these specimens were frequently
represented in manuscript painting and in the arts. Trees provided
shade and bore fruits unknown in the West: figs, almonds, pome-
granates, to name but a few, or they were much more abundant
than in the West, like cherries, pears and peaches. The emperor
lived in an earthly paradise. He was the lord of mankind and of the
birds, of the entire animal world, of creation itself. The emperor
created a world of his own.33
On their way the crusaders and other travellers would have seen
32 Psellos, I, p. 147s., II, p. 56-7, 61-3, 70 (Sewter, 185s., 246, 252, 259), pos-
sibly used in the tradition of a classical topos. Zoe, who loved dwarf olives and white
bay trees, apparently cultivated them, Attaleiates, p. 49 (Gregoire, p. 356-7).
ss O. Schissel, `Der byzantinische Garten', Vienna 1942, Sitzungsberichte der Akademie
der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philos.-hist. Masse, 221, 2, passim; L. de Beylie, L'habitation
byzantine, Grenoble/Paris 1902, p. 142, 143, 145; Vryonis, p. 266; Z. Kadar, Surviv-
als of zoological illumination in Byzantine manuscripts, trans. T. Wilkinson, Budapest 1978,
passim; D. Hennebo, Garten des Mittelalters, new ed. by N. Ott, Zurich 1987; cf. A.R.
Littlewood, `Romantic paradises: the role of the garden in the Byzantine romance',
BMGS 5, 1979, p. 95-114. Byzantine writers often used flowers in descriptions and
as topoi. In the early 13th century, Epirus was compared with a rose garden, R.J.
Loenertz, `Lettre de George Bardanes, metropolite de Corcyre, au Patriarche oecu-
menique Germain II, 1226-1227 c. [1228c.]', EEBS 33, 1964, p. 116 (= idem, Byzantina
60 CHAPTER TWO
poisonous snakes, turtles, gentle and interesting to see, and once arrived
in Constantinople they could see even more exotic animals. For the
emperors had created a zoo, which housed all sorts of animals. One
of the best-known Western ambassadors to the Byzantine court was
the Italian, Liutprand of Cremona. His first diplomatic mission took
place in 949, on behalf of king Berengar of Italy, and resulted in the
writing of the Antapodosis, an enthusiastic report of his journey to
Byzantium. His second mission, in 968, on behalf of Otto I, emperor
of the German empire, was less pleasant and less successful, produc-
ing the embittered report called the Legatio. In 968 he was invited by
the emperor Nicephorus to visit the imperial zoo, located on the
Asian mainland some 25 kilometers from Constantinople. Liutprand
was not, or did not want to be, very enthusiastic. He does not men-
tion any exotic animals, but may have done so on purpose, out of
bitterness and jealousy.34
Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055) was a model Byzantine
emperor who loved gardens and parks and who ordered rare ani-
mals from abroad. He once received an elephant and a giraffe from
India, and the populace of the capital were invited to see them in
the Hippodrome, as we are told by two Greek writers. Foreigners
must have seen them as well. We do not hear how long the animals
survived the long journey. From these reports we can conclude that
such animals were the exception in Byzantium, not the rule.35 Ele-
phants are supposed to have good memories, but so do artists. El-
ephant motifs decorated the mosaics of the Great Palace and were
found on `modern' silks and other works of art. Examples of Byzan-
tine silks with an elephant pattern can still be seen in Western trea-
suries, in Aachen and Siegen (Germany). They have also survived in
miniature paintings. The craft of ivory-working depended on the
importation of elephants's tusks from India and Africa.36 India was
et Franco-Graeca, ed. P. Schreiner, Rome 1970, p. 499). C£ Maguire, op. cit. (n. 2),
p. 47-8, 50-1, 107-8, 125.
34 Liutprand, Legatio, p. 557s. (Wright, 256-7); cf. G.A. Loisel, Histoire des menageries
de l'Antiquite a nos jours, Paris 1912, I, p. 140-5; J. Theodorides, 'Les animaux des
jeux de l'Hippodrome et des menageries imperiales a Constantinople', Byzantinoslavica
19, 1958, p. 73-84.
3s Attaleiates, p. 48-9 (Gregoire, p. 357-8); M. Haupt, `Excerpta ex Timothei
Gazaei libris de animalibus', Hermes 3, 1869, p. 15 (Engl. tr. F.S. Bodenheimer/
A. Rabinowitz, Timotheus of Gaza, On Animals, Paris/Leiden, n.d. [1949], p. 31.
36 E.g. A. Muthesius, `A practical approach to the history of Byzantine silk weav-
ing', JOB 34, 1984, pl. 8, 9 (Aachen silk); e.g. Monumenta Annonis, catalogue, Co-
logne 1975, p. 181, D 22a (Siegen silk); G. Brett e.a., The Great Palace of the Byzantine
TIIE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 61
one of the main markets for ivory and elephants. This was also true
for lions and leopards. When the crusaders attacked Constantinople
in 1101, lions and leopards were released by the emperor to frighten
off the Western attackers. The lions were killed, the leopards saved
themselves by leaping over the inner walls of the town.37 Both types
of animals were incorporated into the decoration of textiles and other
art forms, ceramics etc. The fountain installed by Justinian in Saint
Sophia showed a great variety of animals. The 12th-century Byzan-
tine writer Constantine Pantechnes describes a hunting party organ-
ised by the emperor Manuel Comnenus (1143-1180) in which use
was made of leopards, trained for the chase.38 Lions were much more
common in Byzantium, both in the physical sense, real or artificial,
and as decorative motifs in the arts. More than once a man was set
to prove his courage and become a hero by fighting a lion, as did
the crusaders in 1101. Harald Hardrada, the Norwegian prince, exiled
to Byzantium in the 1030s, also had to fight a lion, according to
some sources. Hardigt, an Anglo-Saxon refugee, sent as an emissary
to the emperor by his rebellious compatriots, had to confront one
in the palace court. Whether real or imaginary, such tales could well
fit -Constantinopolitan ambiance. Benjamin of Tudela, who visited
Constantinople in 1161/1162, wrote that at Christmas there were
many spectacles in the Hippodrome and that `lions, leopards, bears,
and wild asses, as well as birds which have been trained to fight
each other, are also exhibited. All this sport, the equal of which is
nowhere to be met with, is carried on in the presence of the king
and the queen'. The Byzantines certainly did not spend their Christ-
mases in a tranquil fashion, watching as they did, animals devouring
each other, instead of lieing down peacefully together as was the
prophecy."
Many of the less wealthy visitors and travellers who were not
emperors, London 1947, pl. 31, 41; A. Cutler, `The elephants of the Great Palace
mosaic', Bulletin de l'association internationals pour l'etude de la mosaaque antique 10, 1985,
p. 125-38. Kadar, op. cit. (n. 33), pl. 165, nos. 2, 3; pl. 166, no. 1; pl. 212, nos.
2, 3; pl. 213 (elephants); A. Cutler, The craft of ivory, Washington 1985.
3' Orderic Vitalis, X, 20, Chibnall, V, p. 330-1; Loisel, op. cit. (n. 34), p. 143.
Walter Map, p. 450-1, wrote in the 12th century that the king of India was famous
for his precious stones, lions, leopards and elephants, the emperor of Byzantium and
the king of Sicily for their gold and silks.
38 Loisel, op. cit. (n. 34), p. 143; Hunger, I, p. 185-7. For ceramics, c£ Byzantine
art, catalogue, no. 605 (= Splendeurs de Byzance, catalogue, Brussels 1982, no. C 4).
39 Ciggaar, `Emigration anglaise', p. 323, 337-8; Benjamin of Tudela, p. 12-13
(Sharf, 135).
62 CHAPTER TWO
that was the only place in the West where antique statues could be
seen and monumental sculpture itself was extremely rare in the West
until the 10th century.
All these statues in the Greek capital were stately, not static, giv-
ing its own special charm to the town. Many had been, for various
reasons, destroyed by the Byzantines themselves. The year 1204 was
even more crucial when the crusaders melted down large numbers
of them in order to use the bronze for their coinage, as we are told
by Nicetas Choniates in his De signis, an enumeration of the statues
that disappeared in 1204. Some of them, however, were saved and
reached the West. The four horses, now on the roof of San Marco,
Venice, came from Constantinople.46
Public utilities were well organised and available to both residents
and visitors. The water works were unique in medieval Europe. Water
was brought into town by an aqueduct which towered high above
the town, and by underground conduits. From there, it was distrib-
uted to open and covered cisterns, to the many bathhouses and to
public distribution points. Examples of open cisterns are the Aspar
cistern (244 x 85m), the Aetius cistern (152 x 152m) and the Mocius
cistern (170 x 147m). Byzantines loved going to a bathhouse, dis-
cussing their affairs, and relaxing at the same time; in so doing they
were preserving traditions current in classical Rome, but which had
often received in Byzantium a religious ambiance.47
The rich lived in stately houses with porticos and balconies .41 On
the streets wealth was displayed by the silk garments, worn by the
rich. These silks were decorated with exotic patterns, woven or em-
broidered. And if the materials used in such clothing did not change
very much over the centuries, the same can possibly be said of their
46 Preger; Constantinople in the early eight century. The Parastaseis Syntomoi chronikai, ed.
A. Cameron/J. Herrin, Leiden 1984; Dagron; Nicetas, van Dicten, p. 647-55 (Bonn,
p. 854-68; Grabler, Die Kreuzfahrer, p. 231-242); A. Cutler, `The De Signis of
Nicetas Choniates: a reappraisal', American Journal of Archaeology 72, 1968, p. 113-18;
G. Dagron/J. Paramelle, 'Le "Recit merveilleux, tres beau et profitable sur la colonne
du Xerolophos"', TM 7, 1979, p. 491-523; Mango, art. cit. (n. 14), ibid.
4' Janin, Constantinople byzantine, p. 198-225; A. Berger, Das Bad in der byzan-
tinischen Zeit, Munich 1982; P. Magdalino, `Church, bath and Diakonia in medieval
Constantinople', in Church and people in Byzantium, ed. R. Morris, Birmingham 1990,
p. 165-88; thermal springs, hot and cold, provided drinking water, and possibly
led Liutprand to his statement that the emperor drank `bathwater', Legatio, p. 561
(Wright, 259).
48 C£ M. Angold, `Inventory of the so-called palace of Botaneiates', in Byzantine
aristocracy, p. 254-66.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 65
the same period. Byzantine gold coins found particular favour in many
Western eyes, prompting a greed that was to become fatal in the
end (ills. 4 a, b, c, d, e). Visitors had to pay cash if they were to buy
in the de luxe shopping centres in the town, where goldsmiths, jew-
ellers, silk merchants, perfume dealers and bankers had their little
shops. All these transactions were regulated by the Eparch, the pre-
fect, of the town, whose instructions had been written down in the
10th-century Book of the Eparch. Small coins of bronze/copper could
be used to buy exotic fruits and vegetables, bread and wine, in the
local food markets and shops.50 Beautiful fruit could be found in
abundance. According to the late 12th-century Spanish traveller
Benjamin of Tudela, Byzantium was so abundant in good fruits, in
bread, in meat and in wine, that every inhabitant of the capital
`could eat and drink beneath their vine and their fig-trees'
The Byzantines liked good food, rich meals and other culinary
spectacles.52 A great variety of vegetables and fruit, unknown to the
West, were at their disposal. All sorts of wine, sometimes blended
with other products, were enjoyed at their tables. They could season
their food with various herbs which grew in their gardens and in the
fields, such as thym and rosemary etc., which, in the West, were mainly
ss Gautier, no. 5, p. 131-3, no. 6, p. 133-4, no. 9, p. 140, no. 29, p. 182-3;
A. Karpozelos, `Realia in Byzantine epistolography', BZ 77, 1984, p. 20-37.
54 Food in change. Eating habits from the Middle Ages to the present day, ed. A. Fenton/
E. Kisban, Edinburgh 1986, for some general ideas.
ss Liutprand, Antapodosis, p. 490-2 (Wright, 209-10).
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 67
water.56 Mercenaries simply had to eat the food the army provided
for them. This food must have been of such quality and variety as
to be acceptable to an army that so frequently saw action in battle
and that had to be kept in a continuous state of war-readiness.57
Contacts, via the Byzantine world, with new foodstuffs and new
forms of cooking did influence the West, but evidence is almost non-
existent so far. Some of the crusaders of 1204 enjoyed the delicacies
of Byzantium in the wake of their victory. Others simply stuck to the
food they knew and to their own cooking-pot.58
Women in Byzantine society, and especially in Constantinople, had
a more prominent and visible presence than in the West. It was
their voluptuousness which, if we are to believe the so-called spuri-
ous letter of Alexius I to the count of Flanders, lured Westerners
into a fresh adventure. Official Greek instructions endeavoured to
keep Greek women out of sight of ambassadors. In Constantinople
there was a category of highborn ladies to be met in the streets, on
their way to church or to the bathhouse, or simply on a shopping or
business expedition, who were and remained a mystery for the ma-
jority of Western travellers. Often they were veiled and only showed
themselves in public when accompanied by a relative or by servants.59
Some women worked as doctors, nurses and shopkeepers. Woman
visitors, accompanying their husbands, were nursed by females if they
fell ill and were admitted for care to an hospital or to a convent. It
was not always necessary to speak the language to perceive the
differences in the status of women between East and West.
56 Liutprand, Legatio, p. 561 (Wright, 259); Koder/Weber, p. 85-98. For drunken
crusaders see e.g. Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 36, 46 (Berry, 42-3, 66-7); E. Jeanselme,
`L'alcoolisme a Byzance', Bulletin de la Societe franfaise d'histoire de la medecine 18, 1924,
p. 289-95.
57 T. Kolias, `Essgewohnheiten and Verpflegung im Byzantinischen Heer', in
Byzantios. Festschrift H. Hunger, Vienna 1984, ed. W. Horandner, p. 193-202.
58 Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 594 (Bonn, p. 786-7; Grabler, Die Kreuzfahrer, p. 173).
se G. Buckler, `Women in Byzantine law about 1100 A.D.', Byz 11, 1936,
p. 391 416; J. Grosdidier de Matons, `La femme dans l'empire byzantin', in Histoire
mondiale de la femme, III, Paris 1967/1974, ed. P. Grimal, p. 11-43; A.E. Laiou, `The
role of women in Byzantine society', JOB 31, 1, 1981, p. 233-60 (Akten des XVI.
Internationalen Byzantinistenkongresses). Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De legationi-
bus, PG 113, c. 636 (cf. Obolensky, p. 59-60 (15-16)). For the reference to Byzan-
tine women in the letter of Alexius I, which may be a Western forgery, see Guibert
de Nogent, Gesta Dei per Francos, RHC Occ., IV, Paris 1879, p. 133 (cf. Laudes
Constantinopolitanae, op. cit. (n. 3), p. 165). Most authors were clerics who probably
refrained from commenting on women. E. Joranson, `The problem of the spurious
letter of emperor Alexius to the count of Flanders', American Historical Review 55,
1960, p. 811-32. Bibliography on Women in Byzantium, T. Gouma-Peterson (ed. e.a.)
1990, Wooster (Ohio), available on Internet.
68 CHAPTER TWO
En route one would have seen Byzantine women sharing the work
and responsibility of the house, the farm or the business with their
husbands. Information about these women is, understandably enough,
defective. Above all women in Byzantium stood the Theotokos, the
Mother of God, as the Greeks called her. She, the Virgin, was highly
venerated. Her icons were carried around in procession, working
miracles and wonders. The cult of the Virgin was slow to develop in
the West. Her omnipresence in Byzantium must have struck every
foreigner. From the earliest times travellers would have seen her
portrait on icons, mosaics, frescoes and coins. They had witnessed
religious ceremonies of all kinds celebrating the Virgin, patron saint
of Constantinople, the New Rome. If there was a celestial empress,
it was she. She governed the town and saved it from the attacks of
its enemies. The Orthodox East was familiar with the story of the
Virgin who, as a little girl, was brought to the Temple for further
instruction. And she was indeed often represented as a young girl, or
rather as a small adult, and only once, in a 14th-century mosaic in
the Saviour in Chora (in Constantinople) was she represented with a
book in front of her. It is possible that this iconographic representa-
tion, found in Chartres in the late 12th century (the Virgin with her
mother Anna, clearly an oriental innovation) was based on an old
Byzantine tradition.60 In all such representations she was depicted as
an almost sexless person, as indeed were other women saints. During
the 9th and 10th centuries the Lives of some of these had been set
down in writing and although they may not have been known in the
West, Westerners-may have seen them in pictures, icons, devotional
texts and the like. Then there were the patrons of churches and
chapels, empresses and aristocratic ladies who had themselves por-
trayed in their newly founded sanctuaries.61
Women enjoyed a number of legal rights most of which were
unknown in the West. They remained proprietors of their marriage
goods and of inheritances received after marriage. If widowed, they
administered their own property, were given custody of their children
and of their children's possessions. They could make their own wills.
Irene and the Muse. Irene, a foreigner, had to learn Greek. The
dedication page of the manuscript, which probably contained a full-
page miniature portrait of her, is unfortunately missing."
In the provinces women were also sometimes educated. In 1059
the provincial magnate Boilas stated in his will that some books were
to be left to his two daughters for chanting, reading and learning. A
century later a Jewish-Byzantine woman was able to write letters."
Many women, in Constantinople and in the provinces, however, were
too poor to receive any education at all. It seems logical that trav-
ellers' reports do not discuss the learning of Byzantine women, their
beautiful dresses being much more obvious to foreign visitors than
their knowledge. But the meeting of East and West could not re-
main fruitless for long. Literacy in the West among laymen, includ-
ing the ruling class, was extremely low, and that of women in the
early Middle Ages even lower. Nevertheless each made its mark on
the other. Anna Comnena remarks on the Western women (and
children!) who accompanied their husbands during their travels. She
was rather shocked by their courage and bravery, by the way they
rode their horses and moved freely in the world, even taking part in
hostilities. Western women, like Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of the
French king Louis VII, who was introduced to the Byzantine court
and aristocracy, must have carried home with them the memory of
the learned and well-educated Byzantine princesses; Those coming
from the West or elsewhere to marry a highly placed Byzantine official
or future ruler like Irene Comnena, mentioned above, were set to
learn the Greek language and other essential accomplishments. They
were trained to undertake administrative duties should they ever have
to share the future position of their husbands or fiancees. And they
had to be strong willed women, who, if necessary, were able to act as
regents for their minor children. A number of Byzantine princesses
67 G. Vikan, Gifts front the Byzantine court, Washington 1980, p. 1-8 (Lectionary of
Catherine Comnena); 0. Lampsidis, `Zur Sebastokratorissa Eirene', JOB 34, 1984,
p. 91-105; I. Spatharakis, `An illuminated Greek grammar manuscript in Jerusalem.
A contribution to the study of Comnenian illuminated ornament', JOB 35, 1985,
p. 231-44 (with ills.); for women addressees cf. M. Vogel/V. Gardthausen, Die grie-
chischen Schreiber des Mittelalters and der Renaissance, Leipzig 1909, nos. 115, 287 (cf.
A. Cutler, `The social status of Byzantine scribes, 800-1500. A statistical analysis
based on Vogel-Gardthausen', BZ 74, 1981, p. 334 (in a later period one finds
occasionally women copyists); H. Hunger, Schreiben and Lesen in Byzanz. Die byzantinische
Buchkultur, Munich 1988.
68 Lemerle, Cinq etudes, p. 24-5 (Engl. tr. Vryonis, p. 270); Sharf, p. 174.
72 CHAPTER TWO
had already come to the West.69 In 972 the first Byzantine princess
had arrived in the West. She was Theophano, who, in accordance
with Byzantine institutions and as stipulated probably in the mar-
riage contract, was crowned alongside her husband, Otto II, the future
ruler of the German empire. The marriage and coronation ceremony
took place in Rome in 972.
Literacy was much more common among Byzantine families than
among their counterparts in the West.70 Children who were to be
educated and who mainly belonged to the upper classes, started their
elementary education between the age of four and seven." The cen-
tralized administration of the empire required large numbers of well-
trained civil servants. The result was that the church no longer had
a monopoly in learning. Top careers in the service of the state were
much in demand in aristocratic circles, but often there was a simple
interest in learning and writing that prompted parents to seek an
education for their children. Children from more simple backgrounds
were sometimes sponsored by well-doers and could climb the social
ladder. One did not have to be born to the purple to become an
emperor or a high state official, as the career of many an emperor
and functionary proves. Eustathius Boilas, the man who, as we saw,
left books to his daughters, stipulated in his will (1059) that the boys
of the newly freed family servants and slaves should learn the `holy
letters', thus enabling them to have a wider perspective in the world.
Such teaching was probably the responsibility of a local priest, who
in his turn had to be educated. Boilas, however, may have taken
with him into exile in Cappadocia, a priest from the capital who was
a learned man. Other boys were sent to private schools in the towns,
a much more expensive afFair. Complaints are sometimes made about
school boys who, in stead of following their lessons, were spotted by
relatives at the birdmarket of Constantinople, taking an interest in
quails and partridges. The early 10th-century teacher whose corre-
spondence was copied afterwards and who apologizes for this behav-
iour admits that children prefer games while their fathers want their
children to make progress. How to combine the two?72
In the Great Palace of the emperors mosaics have been preserved
representing children playing their games.73 Acclamations for a school-
master, recited by the pupils, have been preserved, curiously enough,
in Latin transcription, in a 12th-century manuscript in Cambrai.74
The emperor Alexius I who himself studied the Bible with his wife
Irene Doucas, established a school for orphans where Latin children
and pupils of other nationalities could be educated.75
Higher education was given at various institutions in Constanti-
nople. Before the 11th century schooling took mainly place in private
schools where old traditions were preserved. The 11th century marks
a Renaissance of the great schools. The Schools of Philosophy and
of Law were founded in 1045 by Constantine IX Monomachus, having
as their principals John Xiphilinus and Michael Psellos. It goes with-
out saying that from now on such schools were subject or could be
subject to a form of control by the state. The Patriarchal School,
instituted by the end of the century, may have been an answer of
the church to the more wordly orientated curriculum and research
of the other schools. An independent search for truth and a predilec-
tion for Plato seem to have prompted more than one trial on con-
troversial ideas and on Orthodoxy during the Comnenian dynasty.
John Italus, from Sicily, and who never mastered the Greek lan-
guage as a real Byzantine, could easily become a victim. His former
embassy to the Norman Guiscard was an easy target, especially as
relations with the Nor-mans grew worse and worse. Higher education
was concentrated in Constantinople. For a student or a scholar this
had its advantages and disadvantages. If one was unhappy with the
teaching system or with its content, or if one had been expelled for
some reason, or even exiled to the provinces as happened after such
trials and in difficult times, there was no alternative. All roads to
further education were blocked. A rare individual scholar living some-
where in the provinces may have felt inclined to help but this would
have been the exception. In the West where wandering scholars
became the rule, a completely different situation prevailed; many
different centres of learning existed.76
A concentration of learning had the advantage of a concentra-
tion of libraries. Western scholars and students who wanted to widen
their knowledge had to go to Constantinople and, if allowed to do
so, could search around in the libraries. The libraries of the Patriarch-
ate, the Palace, the monasteries and the Schools, offered a wide choice.
There were also private libraries among the wealthy and cultured
families which may have been accessible to visitors. An example of
a private library is that owned by Nicholas Callicles, the doctor who
treated the emperor Alexius I. Even in the provinces such libraries
did exist, as we have seen. Boilas, whom we mentioned above, pos-
sessed dozens and dozens of books. Books were expensive, especially
if illustrated and beautifully bound. Boilas had a `holy Gospel, writ-
ten in gold letters throughout, containing golden pictures of the four
evangelists, with enamel decorations, a purple binding and silver-gilt
plaits. It has a buckle, painted letters, and also a scene from the feast
of the Nativity. It has eighty-nine small clasps inlaid with gold'. If
such rich books could be found in a private library in Cappadocia
(its owner was an exile from the capital, it is true), how was one to
imagine the richness of manuscripts in the libraries of the capital
itself ? Starting a library was an expensive affair, often an investment
76 Recently much research has been done on Byzantine schooling. J.M. Hussey,
Church and learning in the Byzantine empire, 867-1185, New York 1963; R. Browning,
`The patriarchal school at Constantinople in the twelfth century', Byz 32, 1962,
p. 167-202, and 33, 1963, p. 11-40; Lemerle, Humanisme; P. Speck, The kaiserliche
Universitat von Konstantinopel, Munich 1974; R. Browning, `Enlightenment and repres-
sion in Byzantium in the eleventh and twelfth centuries', Past and Present 69, 1975,
p. 3-23; Lemerle, Cinq etudes, p. 1-248; W. Conus-Wolska, 'Les ecoles de Psellos
et de Xiphilin sous Constantin IX Monomaque', TM 6, 1976, p. 223-43; eadem,
`L'ecole de droit et l'enseignement du droit a Byzance au XF siecle: Xiphilin et
Psellos', TM 7, 1979, p. 1-107.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE 75
in private learning. Some people copied out their own books, in order
to save the heavy expenses involved."
Sometimes an ambassador was presented with a beautiful manu-
script for his ruler. But most foreigners who wanted manuscripts had
to buy them or copy them. And if they copied, they had to under-
take a long period of time-consuming labour in this capital of learn-
ing. We do hear of foreigners coming to Byzantium to study and to
search for manuscripts. Michael Psellos, first a private teacher who
possibly owned his own library, once boasted that he counted among
his students Arabs, Persians, Egyptians, Ethiopians and Celts, the latter
being members of some Western nation.78 The anonymous French
author of the Pilgrim's guide to Santiago, written before 1173, tells us
that he found the Greek Life of St Eutropius, together with the
Lives of some other saints, in the Schola greca of Constantinople. This
school is mentioned in no other source but may in fact be one of the
already known schools, in which some teaching of Greek was offered
to foreigners. The Frenchman translated the text into Latin.79 Shortly
after 1204, Angemer, who as a young boy had emigrated with his
parents from Troyes (France) to Constantinople, searched the librar-
ies of Constantinople for more information on the relics of St Helen.
Angemer had learnt Greek and was now bilingual. It seems that
libraries were open to bona-fide visitors.80
The abbey of Saint Denis sent out monks to look for manuscripts
which they were to bring to France and which they probably had to
buy on the local book market. The abbey was especially interested
in the writings of St Denis-St Dionysius in Greek-patron saint of
the abbey. St Denis was easily confused with Dionysius the Areo-
pagite.81 There were bookshops in town and books could be copied
on order by a scribe if a specific text was not available.82 The num-
ber of lay copyists was increasing, although the majority were monks,
" Guillou, art. cit. (n. 52), p. 8; Vryonis, p. 269-70, who even possessed a `small
book for the road'; Lemerle, Cinq etudes, p. 24-5; N.G. Wilson, `The libraries of
the Byzantine world', GRBS 8, 1967, p. 53-80 (= Griechische Kodikologie and Text-
iiberlieferung, ed. D. Harlfinger, Darmstadt 1980, p. 276-309).
78 MB, V, p. 508; Gautier, p. 154, n. 3; Wilson, p. 164.
79 Guide du pelerin, p. 64-5, could the author be identical with one of the men sent
by the abbey of Saint Denis?
81 G. Constable, 'Troyes, Constantinople, and the relics of St Helen in the thir-
teenth century', in Melanges R. Crozet, Poitiers 1966, II, p. 1035-41.
81 See ch. France.
82 Speck, op. cit. (n. 76), p. 104, n. 73; Byzantine books and bookmen. A Dumbarton
Oaks Colloquium, Washington 1975, passim.
76 CHAPTER TWO
The period discussed in this book differs greatly from the periods
mentioned and discussed by historians of late Antiquity. This is true
of the Ottonian period and its aftermath in the 11th century, and of
the 12th century, the period of Romanesque and Renaissance, which
were studied by K. Weitzmann in his survey of Byzantine influence
on the West. The occasional contacts of earlier periods are followed
by mass contacts. One could almost speak of mass tourism to Con-
stantinople. More and new social groups came to play a role in the
forging of contacts with the East, by travelling, by corresponding
and otherwise: pilgrims, crusaders, mercenaries and other employees,
refugees, merchants, court functionaries and ambassadors, church offi-
cials and of course the new knightly class. They all came to Con-
stantinople on a pilgrimage, a crusade or a mission.
The majority of such travellers were impressed by the greatness of
Byzantium, regardless of the social group to which they belonged.
Among the pilgrims, crusaders and mercenaries one finds repre-
sentatives of all the social classes of Western Europe. Most of them
did not leave a written account, nor did they have antiquarian tastes
as is sometimes thought. And so we have to rely on contemporary
chroniclers and historians who travelled to the East in the company
of the crusading armies, with groups of pilgrims or with an indi-
vidual ruler. There were also historians and chroniclers who reported
what they had been told once their patrons or others had safely
returned home from their journeys to Constantinople. More than
once have they given a biased and one-sided report. Crusaders in
2 W. Ohnsorge was one of the pioneers in the field. See the list of abbreviations.
Rentschler, I, p. 343, and n. 145, made the suggestion that a study of Theophano
in contemporary sources and her `reception' by historians up to the present day
would be a rewarding enterprise. I have made a first attempt to do this under the
title `Theophano: an empress reconsidered', in The Empress Theophano. Byzantium and
the West, ed. A. Davids e.a., Cambridge 1995, p. 49-63.
' The Quedlinburg treasure which disappeared during World War II has now
returned to Germany.
5 Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne, in Byz 64, 1994, p. 232-33.
80 CHAPTER THREE
e Rentschler, I and II; such a survey for the 12th century is a desideratum.
Gerbert of Reims, Weigle, Ep. 187 (Lattin, no. 231, p. 296, `Not silent, more-
over, is the subtlety of a mind conscious of itself since, as I might say, oratorically
you have shown its oratorical capabilities as flowing from itself and its Greek foun-
tain'); Rentschler, I, p. 345.
s Rentschler, I and H. For the term lumen we have the well-known example from
the letter of William of St Thierry to the brothers of the Mont Dieu, ed. J.M.
Dechanet, Paris 1975, p. 144-145.
9 Ad Heinricum IV Imperatorem libri VII, MGH SS XI, p. 617; c£ Rentschler, II,
p. 152; Lounghis, p. 233; see also below Everard of Ypres.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES 81
" Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, s.v. Varangians; see also recently J. Shepard,
`The Uses of the Franks in Eleventh-Century Byzantium', ANS 15, 1993, p. 275-
305; for the reign of Manuel Comnenus, Magdalino, p. 231-232.
1e See ch. The Northern Countries.
19 Ciggaar, `Marginalia'.
84 CHAPTER THREE
20 Marquis de la Force, 'Les conseillers latins d'Alexis Comnene', Byz 11, 1936,
p. 153-165; Walter Map, p. 178-179; William of Tyre, p. 1020-1021 (also in the
French version, RHC Occ., I, p. 1079-1080).
21 For the Normans, J. Shepard, `Aspects of Byzantine Attitudes and Policy to-
wards the West in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries', in Byzantium and the West,
p. 67-118, and G.A. Loud, `Byzantine Italy and the Normans', ibidem, p. 215-233;
for the Italian cities, see Lilie, and for the earlier period see also Nicol, and
U. Schwartz, Amalfi im frilhen Mittelalter, Tubingen 1978.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES 85
23 See e.g. A. Bryer, `The first Encounter with the West, 1050-1204', in P. Whitting,
Byzantium: an Introduction, New York 1971, p. 83-110; A.E. Laiou, `Byzantium and
the West', in Byzantium. A world civilization, ed. A.E. Laiou e.a., Washington 1992,
p. 61-79.
24 Ferluga, passim; for the auctoritas imperialis see note 33 infra. Baudri de Bourgeuil,
historian of the First Crusade, wrote that Alexius asked this oath ingeniously ('Haec
imperator ingeniose quaerere', RHC Occ., IV, p. 25 (= PL 166, c. 1078).
25 See note 20 supra.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES 87
that the large groups of poor people who did not attend the official
receptions, or receive rich presents such as silks and gold coins, had
to resort to storytelling, accentuating the luxury of palaces and churches
and other official buildings which they, if they were allowed into the
town, could only see from the outside. These `superficial' and oral
reports seem to have become interesting topoi for oral traditions, often
ending up in oral literature, both secular and religious. Traces of
these oral traditions have to be sought in legends, in miracle stories
and in all sorts of literary texts in the vernaculars. One should look
for them even in courtly romances and in epic texts, where the magic
and miracles were supposed to impress the audience, even if they
sometimes knew better after personal visits to the imperial court. Not
every form of magic could be performed by the Greeks, but it was
nice to let phantasy follow its own course. The storms and the snow
produced in the Pelerinage de Charlemagne and in Girart de Roussillon
must have originated in the minds of people who had these things
from hearsay and who simply wanted to stress the magical powers of
Byzantium and enhance their own literary works. Miracle-working
icons were more slowly introduced into the vernacular literatures of
Western Europe, where this form of religious devotion was never
really accepted. And so Byzantium became the realm of magic and
miracles in literary texts.26 Personal observations, a term used by
K. Weitzmann for the discoveries made by art historians who de-
tected Byzantine features in Western art, are necessary for those who
deal with literature in the vernaculars. A small detail may more than
once reveal a glimpse of Byzantium, as people wanted to remember
it. They may help in future to outline the enthusiasm which the
common people in Western Europe felt for the Byzantine world and
which was exploited by the litterateurs. Patterns of influence may then
be uncovered. The authority, real or imagined, of certain topoi may
then possibly be traced back to its Byzantine origins.
In Ottonian times a selected group of courtiers had experienced
frequent cultural contacts with the Byzantine court due to the numer-
ous embassies and rich gifts which were exchanged. Such contacts
became frequent again in the course of the 12th century, especially
during the reign of Manuel Comnenus. The marriage policy of the
26 Pelerinage de Charlemagne, ed. A.J. Cooper, Paris 1925, p. 22-23, vv. 378-379
(with modern French trans.); Girart de Roussillon, ed. W.M. Hackett, 3 vols., Paris
1953-1955, I, p. 16-17 (tr./ed. M. de Combarieu/G. Gouiran, Paris 1993, p. 56-57).
88 CHAPTER THREE
27 The dowry of Eudocia Comnena who eventually married the ruler of Montpel-
lier fell into the hands of king Alfonso II of Aragon, her original fiance, which
prompted two different reactions among contemporary troubadours. Bertrand de
Born speaks with admiration of the dowry, the gold and silver, and the sets of
armour, whereas Peire Vidal prefers as a fiancee for the king a young girl from
Castille above all the gold from Byzantium (see ch. The Iberian peninsula). For the
marriage policy, Magdalino, p. 201-217.
28 Vincent of Prague, Annales, ed. W. Wattenbach, MGH SS XVII, 1861, p. 682;
K. Ciggaar, `Une princesse de Boheme a Constantinople', Byzantinoslavica 55, 1995,
in the press.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES 89
29 Liutprand, see list of abbreviations, and ch. The Holy German empire, and
ch. Italy.
so Gesta Henrici secundi, II, p. 51-53; Roger of Hoveden, Chronica, ed. W. Stubbs,
RS 51, 1868-1871, II, p. 355-356 (Ebels-Hoving, p. 248); see also ch. Britain and
ch. France).
31 P. Classen, Burgundio von Pisa. Richter, Gesandter, Ubersetzer, Sitzungsberichte der
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 1974,
4, passim; Saint John Damascene, De fide orthodoxa, ed. E.M. Buytaert, New York
1955, p. xx s., x1ii. The term antecessores in this context needs to be researched
systematically.
90 CHAPTER THREE
At the same time they wanted a sort of defence against too much
influence from Byzantine theologians and Byzantine learning. A careful
study of the prologues to the translations made by these scholars and
their disciples should produce interesting results relevant to the atti-
tudes adopted by scholars in Western Europe who considered Byzan-
tium as almost an authority in theological matters and in other fields
of learning as well. To this complex of translations should be added
the translations of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, sponsored by
Ramon de Moncada, member of the noble family which patronized
Santes Creus (in Catalonia) and later, in the 13th century, the trans-
lation of the Liturgy of St Basil by Nicholas of Otranto. Apart from
a certain element of curiosity there must have been a sincere wish to
become familiar with these texts, texts of great authority in the Byz-
antine church.38 Only after more detailed studies will it be possible
to determine the influence of this group in the cultural and scientific
developments of Western Europe in the 12th century, a century which
has so often been called a century of Renaissance. The real charac-
ter of a renaissance is a return to original texts, and that is what a
group of Western scholars attempted to do when they were con-
fronted with an interpretation of texts not accepted by the Church.
Although there was a general admiration, for the glory and power
of Byzantium and although, for a certain number of scholars, Byz-
antium was the fountain-head of learning, the Renaissance of 12th-
century Europe, the blossoming of art, learning, and of literature,
followed other lines of inspiration as well. Different opinions have
been expressed about the sources of inspiration for this renewal in
Western Europe. C.H. Haskins, one of the first to play a prominent
role in determining the factors of this revival, concentrated on for-
eign influences, Greek and Arabic, whereas modern scholars tend to
see a return to the classical heritage of Rome. The last word on this
complicated process of development has not yet been said. There
need to be many more detailed studies which pay proper attention
to Byzantium. It is the vocabulary used by 12th-century Western
writers which should be studied more systematically, and which could
yield interesting results.39
40 See note 33. It is possibly in such a context that we should consider the at-
tempts of the Byzantine emperors of the 12th century to 'reconquer' the crown of
the West, P. Classen, `Die Komnenen and the Kaiserkrone des Westens', Journal of
Medieval History 3, 1977, p. 207-24.
41 PL 202, c. 232.
94 CHAPTER THREE
42 For the problem in general see W. Goez, Translatio imperii. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte
des Geschichtsdenkens and der politischen Theorien im Mittelalter and in der fruhen Neuzeit,
Tiibingen 1958; for the 12th-century approach of the problem, and the role of
Manuel Comnenus and Frederick Barbarossa, R.L. Benson, `Political Renovatio: two
models from Roman Antiquity', in Renaissance and Renewal, p. 339-386, and
Magdalino, p. 83-95.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES 95
43 Chretien de Troyes, Cliges, vv. 28s. (Owen, 93); see also A.G. Jongkees, `Translatio
studii: les avatars d'un theme medieval', in Miscellanea Mediaevalia in memoriam J.F.
Niermeyer, Groningen 1967, p. 41-51. Shortly before Worstbrock, art. cit. (n. 32) had
discussed its origins in classical Antiquity. For Chretien's interest in Byzantium, see
e.g. J. Stiennon, `Histoire de l'art et fiction poetique dans un episode du Cliges de
Chretien de Troyes', Melanges R. Lejeune, I, Gembloux 1969, p. 695-708; K.N. Ciggaar,
`Chretien de Troyes et la "matiere byzantine": les demoiselles du Chateau de Pesme
Aventure', CCM 32, 1989, p. 325-331, and eadem, `Encore une fois Chretien de
Troyes et la "matiere byzantine": la revolution de femmes au palais de Constantinople',
ibidem, 38, 1995, p. 267-274; M.A. Freeman, The poetics of Translatio Studii and
Conjointure. Chretien de Troyes' Cliges, Lexington 1979 (inaccessible); Bloch, I, p. 111-12
(see also ch. Italy).
44 Chretien de Troyes, ibidem. The translatio militiae could also be qualified as a
translatio virtuum, cf. Ebels-Hoving, p. 207, who drew attention to the Itinerarium Regis
Ricardi, ed. W. Stubbs, RS 38, 1864, p. 45. Benjamin of Tudela, p. 13; Kaiserchronik,
ed. E. Schroder, MGH SS qui vernacula lingua usi Bunt, I, 1895, p. 330, vv. 13729
s. (cf. M. Huby, `La place de Byzance dans la "Chronique des Empereurs"', in
Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, ed. D. Poirion, Paris 1986, p. 183); Walter Map,
p. 178-179, `nothing of soldierly honour has appeared among them (i.e. the Greeks)
96 CHAPTER THREE
the crusades and the new knightly class in Western Europe, which
had its own experiences of Outremer and of the Eastern lifestyle of
the colonies, and had some knowledge of Byzantine life.45 They needed
a justification for their presence in the newly conquered lands. Later,
in the early 1260s, Rutebeuf referred to the translatio militiae when he
appealed for help when the Holy Land was in danger.46 There may
also be a correlation between `chevalerie' and the Christianization of
the knights of the Round Table who, in the interpretation of Robert
de Boron, became soldiers of Christ. They came to the West to preach
the Gospel. In the Grail version of Robert de Boron's Joseph ou Conte
A Graal, Joseph of Arimathea is introduced as a knight, a `soudoiers'
of Pilate, who, in the feudal tradition of asking. a boon, requests the
body of Christ. This made J. Frappier conclude that Joseph of
Arimathea and his successors were the first of a long line of knights,
Christian knights. Robert de Boron probably spent some time in
Outremer, in Cyprus and possibly elsewhere. He may have stressed
the fact that the crusaders lived according to old traditions and old
rights. The Round Table became a Christian table, and eventually
the table of the Last Supper.47 The members of the New Table, as
introduced in Robert de Boron's Merlin, became the legitimate heirs
since the days of Achilles', p. 450-451, `the Greeks were useless in warlike matters'.
For the beginnings of the knightly `career', see C. Morris, `Equestris Ordo: Chivalry
as a vocation in the twelfth century', Studies in Church History 15, 1978, p. 87-96.
45 This new social class with crusading contacts and connections, impressed by
Eastern luxury, had to be given an ideal, of which the Oriental component was to
be a part. Once back in the West, where life was sober, they had to find a new
lifestyle in harmony with the rest of Western society, where they had to be a sta-
bilizing factor. The desired new lifestyle, idealized in fictional literature, may have
worked as an illusion to temper their political ambitions. See also G. Duby, `The
culture of a knightly class: audience and patronage', in Renaissance and Renewal,
p. 248-262.
46 Rutebeuf complained that `chevalerie', which had so long stayed in France,
had almost disappeared, E. Faral/J. Bastin, Oeuvres completes de Rutebeuf, Paris 1959,
I, Complainte de Constantinople, p. 419-430, esp. vv. 121-127.
4' J. Frappier, 'Le Graal et la chevalerie', Romania 75, 1954, p. 165-210, esp.
188s.; Robert de Boron, Le Roman de l'Estoire dou Graal, ed. W.A. Nitze, Paris 1927
(repr. 1971); Estoire de Merlin, in The Vulgate version of the Arthurian romances, ed. H.O.
Sommer, Washington 1908, II, e.g. p. 449. The translatio of the Grail is the translatio
of the mystery of the Liturgy. Leo Tuscus had already translated the Liturgy of St
John Chrysostom. Between 1166 and 1171 the Franks of Jerusalem discussed the
Eastern Liturgy with the Jacobites, H./R. Kahane, `Robert de Boron's Joseph of
Arimathea. Byzantine Echoes in the Grail Myth', JOB 38, 1988, p. 330-331;
K. Ciggaar, `Robert de Boron en Outremer? Le culte de Joseph d'Arimathie dans
le monde byzantin et en Outremer', in Polyphonia Byzantina. Studies in Honour of Willem
J. Aerts, ed. H. Hokwerda e.a., Groningen 1993, p. 152; eadem, Joseph of Arimathea
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES 97
in the service of Pilate', Zeitschrift fiir Romanische Philologie 111, 1995, p. 417-421.
48 Jongkees, art. cit. (n. 43), p. 49. Abbot Suger, On the Abbey Church of St-Denis and
its art treasures, ed./trans./ann. E. Panofsky, Princeton 1979, 2d ed., p. 44-45,
64-65, 142.
49 L. Delisle, in Journal des Savants 1900, p. 725s.; Berschin, p. 278-279 (in 1167
William medicus brought Greek books from Constantinople to Saint Denis).
10 H. Kahane/R. Kahane, Justinian's Credo in Western medieval literature', BZ
98 CHAPTER THREE
too much talk of Justinian's law, and that the law of the Lord was
silenced."
7. Translatio imperatorum. Closely related to the translatio iuris is the
translatio imperatorum. In the Kaiserchronik, an anonymous chronicle written
in German around 1150, the Byzantine emperors Heraclius and
Justinian are represented as Roman emperors, living and working in
Rome, even before the empire had become Christian. The anony-
mous author(s) make them Roman emperors and deny them any
status as Byzantine emperors. In fact they have become Western
emperors. It is not clear yet if this was done on purpose or simply
due to historical neglect or ignorance, but the fact is worth mention-
ing.54 In the West the Emperor Justinian had a very good reputa-
tion. He was the builder of Saint Sophia, he was responsible for the
codification of laws, and his military conquests had almost restored
the Roman Empire.55
The complex of translationes constitutes an ideology in 12th-century
thinking among intellectuals, I think. It was a non-aggressive and
intelligent way of appropriating a Byzantine heritage to which the
West felt entitled in more than one way. The sometimes covert
admiration for the Greeks of Antiquity, for Byzantium and for Pal-
estine, the culture of the Eastern Mediterranean with which the cru-
saders (and most of them were French) were in frequent contact,
was compensated for by the idea that all its positive attributes and
features had migrated to the West. The Renaissance of Western
Europe, which seems to have been concentrated on its Roman heri-
tage and its culture, was indirectly based on its Greek counterpart.
The West has built, I think, an ideology in which everything of in-
terest moved from East to West, and was there to stay, especially in
France. The ambivalence of this ideology may have escaped those
who were active in propagating it. It was a sort of defence system,
or rather fortification, for use against the Byzantines and their pre-
tensions. Further study along these lines may reveal interesting results.
Occasionally these translationes led to internal conflicts in Western
5 Adam of Bremen, II, 22, p. 252-3, IV, 1, p. 434-5. Wollin/Jumne had a Greek
colony and from Haithabu ships left for Greece.
B
Cnagas, German tr. A. Heusler, in Isl¢ndisches Recht, Germanenrechte 9, Weimar
1937, I, 6, p. 19.
' Cecaumenus, Vasilievsky/Jemstedt, p. 97, Litavrin, p. 284 (Beck, 140-41), cf.
P. Lemerle, `Prolegomenes a une edition critique et commentee des "conseils et
recits" de Kekaumenos', Academie Royale de Belgique, Classe des Lettres et des sciences morales
et politiques 54, 1960, p. 63; T. Hagg, `En bysantiner beseker Bergen', in Hellas og
Norge, ed. 0. Andersen e.a., Bergen 1990, p. 221s. (inaccessible).
11 Brehier, Institutions, p. 248.
106 CHAPTER FOUR
They certainly were beautiful: the official phrasing was pure calligra-
phy and the bulls bore the image of the emperor and of Christ. The
gold was probably melted down and the beautiful purple texts used
as decoration. Elsewhere they were used as altar-cloths (ch. The Holy
Roman empire). It is likely that earlier embassies were sent to recruit
soldiers. Otherwise it is difficult to explain how diplomas of the Danish
king Valdemar I (1131-1182) sometimes betray Byzantine influences
in their wording and ideas, elements unique in Western Europe and
used by the basileis alone. The king behaves as a father towards his
subjects, caring for their religious ideas and even for their very reli-
Their ambassadors brought precious gifts like silks, possibly
gion.'
9 The Saga of king Sverri of Nonvay, Engl. tr. J. Sephton, London 1899, ch. 127,
p. 157, cf. Riant, Expeditions, p. 309, n. 2. For Old Norse literature in general see
G. Turville-Petre, Origins of Icelandic literature, Oxford 1953; J. de Vries, Altnordische
Literaturgeschichte, 2 vols., Berlin 1964/7; for the `road to the East', see M. Schlauch,
Romance in Iceland, Princeton 1934, p. 69-94. T. Riis, Les institutions politiques centrales
du Danemark, 1100-1332, Odense 1977, p. 75, n. 48, p. 77, n. 55.
10 Brehier, Institutions, p. 254. Precious materials in Danish wall paintings
(A. Andersson, L'art scandinave, II, Zodiaque 1968, p. 224) may be explained this
way or as a gift to visiting sovereigns. This may be the case with precious perfumes
as well. Bishop Absalon bequeathed a gold bowl filled with musk to king Cnut,
Testamenter fra Danmarks Middelalder indtil 1450, ed. K. Erslev, Copenhagen 1901, p. 4.
" Grettir's Saga, Engl. tr. D. Fox/H. Palsson, Toronto 1974, ch. 90, 91, 92,
p. 183-6.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES 107
prelates. Merchants too may have joined such groups for security
reasons. It is true that the names of `grand people' have been more
often preserved than those of the humble folk who outnumbered them
and who remained anonymous. This does not mean that the latter
were less open to impressions of foreign and exotic countries. But
certain aspects of Byzantine life, the banquets, the grand receptions,
the display of riches and relics, were less accessible to them than to
their leaders, who, thanks to their social status, moved more easily
into `upper-class' circles. Royal persons and their relatives, mostly
pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, were given glorious receptions at
the palaces. The machinery of Byzantine diplomacy worked smoothly
in order to impress foreign visitors and to draw them into the Byz-
antine political network and bend them to their will.
Griss Saemingsson was probably a lone traveller who spent some
time in Byzantium in the 970s, where he was in the service of the
emperor. After his return to Norway he settled as a farmer in Ice-
land, which accounts for his presence in Landnkmabok (The Book of
Settlements). Already in the late 10th century the Greek army comprised
large contingents of foreign mercenaries. Griss was not the only man
from Scandinavia, nor first nor last to earn gold in Byzantium and to
return home.12 Gold seems to have tempted the Northerners and
was one reason to attract Varangians, mercenaries from Russia and
Scandinavia, who formed a sort of brotherhood. Varangians served
in the palace as a bodyguard or in the regular army, in their own
regiment. They took part in the numerous campaigns throughout
the Empire, serving the emperor in suppressing internal revolts or
fighting his numerous hostile neighbours. They were often recruited
from refugees, outcasts, criminals, exiles or adventurers. Often they
were young and unmarried, wanting to make a living elsewhere.
Sometimes, the motivation was simply a need to travel.13
Bolli Bollason, a wealthy man, left his wife Thordis and his daugh-
ter Herdis in Iceland, took along a mass of money, boarded ship
and settled down for a journey that would bring him in the end to
Constantinople. This happened in the late 1020s or early 1030s. He
went abroad saying, according to the Laxdaela Saga (written around
12 Hallfredar Saga, ed. E.O. Sveinsson, Reykjavik 1933, p. 144, of which no trans-
lation exists; Blondal/Benedikz, p. 194-5.
13 Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder, XIX, Copenhagen/Malmo 1975,
s.v. Varjagar. For the early period it is difficult to distinguish between Russians and
Scandinavians.
108 CHAPTER FOUR
1245): `I have always wanted to travel to southern lands one day, for
a man is thought to grow ignorant if he doesn't ever travel beyond
this country of Iceland'. When he returned to Iceland, he had a very
happy reunion with his wife. He was dressed so magnificently, when
he returned home, that the women he met on the way could not
keep their eyes off his splendid clothes.14 He, a chieftain, dressed him-
self in exotic, Greek or Eastern clothes, impressing his compatriots.
People wanted to travel and encounter different lifestyles. Serving in
the imperial army or palace was one way to do it.
Being away from home sometimes created problems. Once when
the Greek army was in winterquarters in the Thracian theme, in the
year 1034, a Varangian tried to rape a local woman who finally
managed to kill him with his own sword. His friends wanted to settle
the conflict, probably according to their own customs or law: all the
property of the soldier was given to the woman. The Greek chroni-
cler John Scylitzes wrote that this was something worth telling; the
scene was even illustrated in Greek manuscripts (ill. 5). Was it so
exceptional to pay compensation for a misdeed? The behaviour of
the Varangians has been interpreted as reflecting the Northern way
of life. And indeed in sagas compensation is often paid to the victim
of a crime. It is remarkable how many women make an appearance
in the sagas, not only as victims, but also as independent persons,
able to cope with daily problems, even when the husband went to
far away countries like Byzantium.15 According to Byzantine law the
woman was given the possessions of the man who had violated her.
In this case she had killed him, which may have changed the situa-
tion according to Byzantine law.
Harald Sigurdsson, half-brother of king Olaf of Norway (who was
to be canonized shortly later), was one of the most illustrious Va-
rangians. He left Norway as a refugee in the early 1030s after the
battle of Stiklestad, at the young age of 15 or 16. Around 1034 he
'6 Heimskringla, The Saga of Harald Sigurtharson, ch. 24, Hollander, p. 596. Byzantine
co-rulership was known in the North if one goes by coins (see below) and by other
references (see note 68). Harald and Magnus had a coin minted giving both their
names, K. Skaare, `Heimkehr eines Waragers', Dona Numismatica, Walther Havernick
zum 23. Januar 1965 dargebracht, Hamburg 1965, p. 99-111.
" Davidson, p. 207-29, Blondal/Benedikz, p. 54-102. See also note 7.
e Saga of Saint Olaf, The Tale of Eymund Hringsson, in Flateyjarbok, ed. C.R. Unger,
Christiania 1862, II, ch. 100, p. 124. Robert Cook, New Orleans, made a transla-
tion of this passage for me. See also Blondal/Benedikz, p. 15s. Mercenaries worked
for gold, silver and clothing. 4
110 CHAPTER FOUR
Sigurd was in a position to carry home his gifts and his private
purchases in the Greek capital. Scandinavian, Arabic and English
sources record how he safely returned home to Norway.24 The altar
front he had ordered in Greece, i.e. Byzantium, was made of bronze
and silver, beautifully gilded, and set with enamels and jewels. Noth-
ing is known about its iconography. On that same occasion the
patriarch of Constantinople gave him a `plenary missal, written in
golden letters'. Was it a lectionary with miniatures? An exchange of
gifts had taken place already. The Norwegian king left his dragon-
headed ships in Constantinople. The gilded dragon heads, which were
detachable, were exposed in a Constantinopolitan church (frontis-
piece). From Jerusalem he brought a relic of the Holy Cross. To
house all these treasures Sigurd built the Holy Cross church at
Konungahelle. Varangians sent precious gifts to the sanctuaries of
St Olaf, as we learn from the 0laf's Saga.25
Was it the glorious and attractive life of the metropolis, as de-
scribed by her father and his companions, that made his daughter
Christine decide to run off to Byzantium with her lover Grimr rusli?
They stayed a couple of years and had children. Other information
about the princess and her journey unfortunately are lacking. One
may presume that Grimr took service with the emperor who was
always in great need of experienced soldiers as the Scandinavians
were. Her uncle Erik was in the service of the emperor Manuel
Comnenus (1143-1180). Did her uncle Eystein (1103-1123), co-ruler
with her father, intend an imitation of the Byzantine ruler when he
had himself portrayed in marble? Was it a family tradition to go to
Constantinople? It seems to have been so.26
Pilgrimages were also `organised' by church men like Nicholas
Bergsson, future abbot of Thingeyrar, a Benedictine monastery in
the northern part of Iceland. In 1150 he travelled to Rome, Jerusa-
lem and Constantinople, and on his return home wrote a guidebook.
The list of relics and churches he saw in Constantinople gives an
impression of his interests. In Old Icelandic Saint Sophia became
24 Heimskringla, The Saga of the Sons of Magnus, ch. 10s.; Hollander, p. 695s.; Blondal/
Benedikz, p. 136s.; Davidson, p. 262.
25 Heimskringla, The Saga of the Sons of Magnus, ch. 32, Hollander, p. 714; Olaf's Saga
Hins Helga, ed. and German trans. by A. Heinrichs e.a., Heidelberg 1982, p. 215.
26 Heimskringla, The Saga of Magnus Erlingsson, ch. 30, Hollander, p. 812-13; Blondal/
Benedikz, p. 217-18; The Saga of king Sverri of .Norway, op. cit. (n. 9), ch. 59, p. 75.
For the marble in the Historical Museum in Bergen, see M. Bindheim, Norwegian
Romanesque decorative sculpture, 1090-1210, London 1965, p. 22, and fig. 80.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES 113
27 Riant, Exuviae, II, p. 215 (Icelandic text with Latin trans.), cf. B.E. Gelsinger,
`The Mediterranean voyage of a twelfth-century Icelander', The Mariner's Mirror 58,
1972, p. 155-65, Davidson, p. 259. Varangian regiments were scattered over the
empire; at Bali, for example, a Varangian church was dedicated to St Nicholas,
Blondal/Benedikz, p. 111-12.
28 Historia de profectione Danorum in Terram Sanctam, in Scriptores minores Historiae
Danicae medii aevi, ed. M. Cl. Gertz, Copenhagen 1920, II, p. 490-1, `Habetur
namque illic, uti dignum est, in veneratione summa dei genitricis imago, que Grecorum
more pulcherrimo decore picta continetur in tabula; quam `Eudoxam', id est: Bonam
Gloriam, suo appellant idiomate, vulgari.autem vocabulo Eidideram (= Hodigitriam)
dicunt. Singulis autem diebus, ut asserunt, a vico defertur in alium, comitantibus
utriusque sexus turbis innumeris cum incenso, ut vapor cremati thuris in alias videatur
auras evolare. Pro sanctitate vero et reverentia mixta timori hanc nemo, qui hoc
seculum diligit, suis presumit gestare manibus, verum a cellulis solitariam vitam agentes
viri religiosi educuntur, ut earn baiulent. Tertia namque feria singulis septimanis
angelico mote circumacta in conspectu totius vulgi, velut quodam rapta turbine, sui
ipsius portitorem eodem impetu secum circumvenit, ut oculos intuentium mira
celeritate pene fallere videatur, cunctis more suo pectora tundentibus et clamantibus:
'Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison'; see also Ciggaar, `Tarragonensis 55', p. 138-9, 140.
114 CHAPTER FOUR
ever bring home other small objects of devotion like amulets? If so,
they must have been lost or melted down.
We have seen how sovereigns were given rich presents and gifts,
including relics. Such objects also reached the North as ambassado-
rial presents. Since the average pilgrim could not afford costly objects,
they must have circulated in the rather closed circuit of officials, rulers
and rich people. We should perhaps look at those Byzantine ivories
and enamels which are in Scandinavian collections or have 'north-
ern' characteristics. Two such Byzantine/Byzantinizing ivories have
runic inscriptions, proof of their early arrival in Scandinavian hands
given that runes were hardly used after the 11th century. The first is
an 11th-century ivory Crucifixion in the National Museum of Copen-
hagen. Originally it may have been a bookcover or portable altar.
On its back is an inscription in Norse runes: Jesus.32 The second is
an 11th-century Hodigitria Virgin, in the former Kaiser Friedrich
Museum/Deutsches Museum, Berlin. Its Icelandic runic inscription,
still partly a mystery, spells out the names of Paulina and Rake.33
The National Museum of Copenhagen houses some more objects
from Byzantium whose origins can sometimes only be guessed at.
There is an ivory horn, c. 1100, with hunting scenes and portrayals
of war. Enamelled rings, dating from the same period, may be re-
garded as less expensive souvenirs. Very beautiful and precious is the
Dagmar cross, which, according to tradition, came from the grave of
queen Dagmar (d. 1212). This enamelled reliquary cross probably
incorporated a relic of the Cross. Elsewhere I have argued that it
reached Denmark as the gift of a Byzantine emperor to the Danish
court as part of a deal for the recruitment of mercenaries; the Roskilde
cross, another Byzantine cross, is a gold cross set with numerous
precious stones and pearls.34 Archaeology, medieval texts and mod-
em scholarship have occasionally revealed Byzantine `imports' that
sometimes seem to have later got lost.
F.R. Martin, in his History of Oriental Carpets, referred to some beau-
tiful Byzantine embroideries in the Reykjavik Museum and suggested
that motifs in Northern tapestries and textiles derive from Eastern
32 Goldschmidt/Weitzmann, I, p. 32, nos. 28a, b; II, pl. IX, 28a, b, cf. Danmarks
Middelalder, op. cit. (n. 29), p. 25, no. Q. Cf. Ruprecht, op. cit. (n. 21), p. 159.
33 Goldschmidt/Weitzmann, I, nos. 29a, b, p. 32-3; II, pl. IX, 29a, b; cf. Norsk
Tidskrift for Sprogvidenskab 13, 1945, p. 307s.
34 Danmarks Middelalder, op. cit. (n. 29), p. 22-5; K. Ciggaar, `Denmark and
Byzantium from 1184 to 1212', Mediaeval Scandinavia, forthcoming.
116 CHAPTER FOUR
35 F.R. Martin, A history of oriental carpets, Vienna 1909, p. 140, 142, 144, cf.
Andersson, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 376, 378.
3s Laxdaela Saga, op. cit. (n. 14), ch. 77, p. 236, cf. Davidson, p. 105-6. The
Griskir/Giskir hat mentioned in sagas may be another import from Byzantium
where sometimes hats were the fashion. Silk garments were worn by Scandinavians,
e.g. Nal's Saga, ch. 84, 120, 123, trans. M. Magnusson/H. Palsson, Harmondsworth
1960, p. 180, 248, 255; A.I. Hagg, `Birkas orientaliska praktsplagg', Fornvdnnen 78,
1983, p. 204-23, esp. 221 (Engl. summary).
37 A. Geijer, `Sidenvavnaderna i Helige Knuts Helgonskrin i Odense Domkyrka',
Aarbeger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1935, p. 156-7; Riis, op. cit. (n. 9),
p. 196-7, with colour p1.; Andersson, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 24-5, suggests his wife
Adela, then married to Roger of Apulia, as the donatrix in 1101, AASS, Iulii III,
c. 142. F. Lindahl, `Om Absalons gravklaedning', Nationalmuseets Arbddsmark 1973,
p. 153s.; E. Ostergard, `Nogle menstrede silketejer fra danske relikviegemme', Hikuin
6, 1980, p. 83-92 (inaccessible to me, reference I owe to Mrs. Lindahl).
38 See note 10.
39 Adam of Bremen, III, 17, p. 348-9; F. Macler, `Armenie et Islande', Revue de
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES 117
the Byzantine empire which is quite possible given the regular toing
and froing of Varangians. As king of Norway he adopted a mon-
etary system clearly based upon the Byzantine system and unique in
Scandinavia. He brought home a large amount of gold, as coin and
as bullion. According to tradition and legend, part of this treasury
was found by king Harold of England after Harald's defeat at
Stamford Bridge: `At rex Norwegie Haroldus, qui cum rege Hibernie
peremptus erat, 300 naves magnas habuit, insuper massam auri,
quam de Grecia adduxerat, cuius pondus vix iuvenes 12 recta cervice
levarent'. In Norway he introduced standardized silver coins, centrally
minted, even if the silver percentage fell from 90% to 20%.40 We
can perhaps disregard the suggestion that this debasement was due
to Harald's acquaintance with the emperor Michael IV (1034-1041)
who, as a former money-changer, had the reputation of being a
counterfeiter. Recent analyses prove that Michael IV, whose surname
Katalaktes (= money changer) was known in the North,
did not debase Byzantine gold coins any more than did his immedi-
ate predecessors and successors .4' Byzantine influence can also be
detected in the iconography of Scandinavian coins, in Denmark,
Sweden, Finland and Norway. Close parallels can be drawn with
Byzantine silver coins, the miliaresia. It was very common in Byzantium
to portray the emperor with a co-ruler, colleague, son or wife. Around
1000 such portrayals can be found on coins minted at Sigtuna, which
clearly imitate coins issued by Basil II and Constantine VIII, even
though such portrayals in no way were appropriate to the political
situation in Sweden where Olof Skotkonung was sole ruler. Many
more imitations of Byzantine coins have been found in Sweden .41 In
1'histoire des religions 44, 1923, p. 239; M.M. Larusson, `On the so-called "Arme-
nian" bishops', Studia Islandica 18, 1960, p. 37.
40 Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder, II, Copenhagen/Malmo 1957, s.v.
Bysantinska mynt. K. Skaare, Coins and coinage in Viking-age .Norway, Oslo etc., 1976,
p. 65-8; B. Malmer, `The Byzantine empire and the monetary history of Scandinavia
during the 10th and 11th centuries', Pays du Nord, p. 128; Skaare, art. cit. (n. 16),
ibid.; Annalista Saxo, MGH SS VIII, p. 695; Adam of Bremen, scholium 83 (84),
p. 394; I. Hammarberg/B. Malmer/T. Zachrisson, Byzantine coins found in Sweden,
London 1989.
4' E.g. Heimskringla, The Saga of Harald Sigurtharson, ch. 3, Hollander, p. 579; one
may have believed rumours or his own boasting.
42 Malmer, art. cit. (n. 40), p. 126-7; eadem, art. cit. (n. 20), p. 9-28; eadem, `A
small chain of Scandinavian Byzantine imitations from the early 11th century',
Florilegium numismaticum, Studia in honorein U. Westermark edita (= Numismatika Meddelanden
38), Stockholm 1992, p. 283-7.
118 CHAPTER FOUR
49 Anker, op. cit. (n. 22), p. 331, 389, 394s., 451-2; A Bugge, `Et unikum av en
stavkirke', liking 9, 1945, p. 141.
49 Anker, ibid., p. 394.
50 E.g. E. Piltz, `Schwedisches Mittelalter and die Byzantinische Frage', Konsthistorisk
Tadskrift 1981, p. 17-32.
51 E.g. A. Grabar, `Penetration byzantine en Islande et en Scandinavie', Cahiers
archeologiques 13, 1962, p. 296-301; A. Cutler, 'Garda, Kallunge, and the Byzantine
tradition on Gotland', Art Bulletin 51, 1969, p. 257-66 (the much debated heart-
shaped motif already occurred on imported silks, Campbell, op. cit. (n. 22), p. 102,
no. 356.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES 121
but are difficult to date more precisely as is so often the case with
Scandinavian art. Paintings on wooden boards were found at Eke and
Sundre. They were parts of the interior of former wooden chur-
ches or were part of altars. Wall-paintings with Byzantine influence
have also been found on the mainland of Sweden, at Torpa, some
100 km west of Stockholm, where we find another Last judgement
scene. All these paintings have been recently studied by Swedish
scholars. Their impact on local art is however difficult to determine
by lack of contemporary art.52
From Sweden we cross to Denmark, to Sealand. During the 12th
century Byzantine iconography shows up from time to time in mural
paintings. The idea of more direct contacts between Denmark and
Byzantium is again stressed more often recently. Iconographical
elements may have travelled from the Orthodox world directly to
Denmark. This hypothesis gains support from the presence in these
paintings of precious materials, such as lapis lazuli and malachite,
which are extremely rare in the rest of Western Europe and may
have come directly from the East as well.53 However, scholars have
only recently become generally acquainted with Danish wall-paint-
ings as Ulla Haastrup has pointed out in two recent publications on
iconographical problems.54 The most striking examples are a Theo-
tokos Hodigitria at Malov, near Copenhagen, and scenes from the
New Testament at Jorlunde, somewhat more distant from the Dan-
ish capital. Many Danish wall-paintings have been lost, others are
still hidden and have yet to reveal their secrets. We should not jump
to conclusions, but the concentration of these new ideas and themes
and of the costly materials, apart from malachite which is only
found in Jylland, are found in the circles of the influential Snare and
Hvide families, which probably maintained close relations with the
court. The dominant role of blues, which sometimes provide the
52 T. Malmquist, `Byzantine wall-paintings in Sweden', in 'Aytkpcoga ari gvrlgil
E'LDXtavo IIeXexavi8 , ed. P. Asemakopulu-Atzaka e.a., Thessalonica 1983, p. 228-
46. She gives a survey of all frescoes in Sweden in Byzantine 12th-century frescoes in
Kastoria. Agioi Anargyroi and Agios Nikolaos tou Kasnitzi, Uppsala 1979, p. 160-2;
E. Piltz, La Suede. La region de Gotland. I. Garda. H. Kdllunge (Corpus de la peinture
monumentale byzantine), Uppsala 1989, p. 1-27.
53 See notes 34 and 54.
54 Andersson, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 243-86, esp. 244, 275-6, 278; U. Haastrup,
`Byzantine elements in frescoes in Zealand from the middle of the 12th century',
Pays du Nord, p. 315-31, and fig. 1; eadem, `Die seelandischen romanischen
Wandmalereien in Slaglille, Soderup and Fjenneslev', Hafnia 6, 1979, p. 106 43,
esp. 109, who regards the Virgin at Malov as an `Andachtsbild'.
122 CHAPTER FOUR
Andersson, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 342-3, 346, pl. 217, 218.
se J. Roosval, `Byzantios eller en gotlandsk stenmastare pa 1100-talet', Fornvdnnen
11, 1916, p. 220-37; idem, Die Steinmeister Gotlands, Stockholm 1918; Cutler, art. cit.
(n. 51), p. 257.
59 Andersson, op. cit. (n.31), p. 23, 295, 335-6. F. Lindahl, Dagmar korset Ore- og
Roskilde korset, Copenhagen 1980, p. 12-15 (front and backcover). Frolow, Relique,
no. 282, refers to T. Kielland, Norsk Guldsmedkunst i middelalderen, Oslo 1927, fig. 24.
See also Frolow, Reliquaires, p. 125-6; cf. Pays du Nord, p. 135, pl. 20, nos. 19,
21, 22. An 11th/12th-century double-armed cross in the Stockholm bishopric (Frolow,
ibid., no. 278) comes from a sale in the USA, Ammann, art. cit. (n. 30), p. 32.
124 CHAPTER FOUR
61 Andersson, ibid., p. 289-330; in the case of the Svenneby statue (ibid., pl.
181), Ottonian Germany has been seen as the source of inspiration.
61 Letter of 2/5/84 of A. van Arkel-de Leeuw van Weenen. The sermon was
translated and studied by G. Turville-Petre, `The Old Norse homily on the dedica-
tion', Mediaeval Studies 11, 1949, p. 206-18. For post-Iconoclast Byzantine symbolism
of a church see G. Mathew, Byzantine aesthetics, London 1963, p. 93. See also P.H.
Brieger, `England's contribution to the origin and development of the Triumphal
Cross', Mediaeval Studies 4, 1942, p. 85-96; H. Agustsson, `Hus i homiliu. Bref til
nordmanna um kirkjudagspredikun', Skirnir 148, 1974, p. 60-89; N. Labrecque-
Pervouchine, L'iconostase. Une evolution historique en Russie, Montreal 1982, p. 37, n. 6;
for the altar in the West with its `all-seeing' principle see for example Bishop,
p. 24-5.
62 M. Repo, `The heritage of the Byzantine menology in the Finnish Orthodox
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES 125
Annalar, ed. J. Finnsson, Christiania 1868, III, p. 510, 511, 518. Landnamabok, The
Book of Settlements, tr. H. Palsson/P. Edwards, Manitoba 1972, ch. 2, p. 16 (Leo and
Alexander), p. 19-20 (is the year 6073 = 874, an erroneous reference to Byzantine
chronology?).
69 (Musset, ibid., refers to G. Sigurs, These dacdylographiee, Paris IV, 1975, p. 231).
In Iceland and in Norway (Bergen) farms were called Miklagarth, Landnamabok,
ibid., ch. 250, p. 106, The Saga of king Sverri ofAorway, op. cit. (n. 9), ch. 76, p. 96-7,
Blondal/Benedikz, p. 222. For gullboluskra, A. van Arkel-de Leeuw van Weenen,
Mediaeval Scandinavia, forthcoming. For Thorstein, Grettir's Saga, see note 11. Lemerle,
art. cit. (n. 7), p. 64, discusses polutasvarf; for rotlakan and krabbasnar, Arne, op. cit.
(n. 30), p. 215. G.T. Dennis, Three Byzantine military treatises, text, tr., and comm.,
Washington 1985, passim; Cook, art. cit. (n. 67).
70 Nal's Saga, op. cit. (n. 36), ch. 81, p. 176; Blondal/Benedikz, p. 97.
" E.g. Heimskringla, The Saga of Harald Sigurtharson, ch. 14, Hollander, p. 588; ibid.,
The Saga of Hakon the Broadshouldered, ch. 20, Hollander, p. 786-7. 0lafs Saga Hins
Helga, op. cit. (n.25), ch. 92, p. 213s.; F. Metcalfe, Passio et miracula B. 0lavi, Oxford
1881, p. 77. The church of St Thorlac, bishop of Skalholt, Iceland, was built shortly
after the Latin conquest in 1204, K. Ciggaar, `St Thorlac's in Constantinople', Byz
49, 1979, p. 428-46. Saint Mary Varangiotissa is mentioned later, Janin, Eglises et
monasteres, p. 158.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES 127
name Halfdan and Are (both male names), the latter gives some details
of the journeys of the Varangians.72 Another inscription, in Greek
and now lost, deserves our attention. In the 19th century it was found
in Istanbul on a brick near Fethiye Camii (former Pammacaristos
church) not far from the former church of the Holy Apostles. The
inscription reading INGBAPF has been very ingeniously interpreted
as 'Ivyf k' ou] Bap[eyyou], i.e. a stone commemorating an English
Varangian.73 When Blondal's work on the Varangians was translated
in 1978, it became clear that the expedition led in the 1030s by
the Swedish chieftain Ingvar produced a number of memorial stones
due to the heavy losses suffered. The stone found in Istanbul prob-
ably referred to one of Ingvar's companions who was lucky enough
to get as far as Constantinople.74
Intermarriage meant that the Scandinavians in Constantinople lost
their identity within one or two generations. If Old Norse left any
trace at all in Greek, then military terminology would seem to be a
good place to begin a search.
The Byzantines would have been able to become acquainted with
at least another form of the artistic expression of the North, if we
consider the runes as art: woodcarving. The ships in which North-
erners travelled were sometimes beautifully decorated. The Heims-
kringla says that king Sigurd, when he left Constantinople, gave his
ship to the emperor who placed the gilded dragon head of the king's
ship in Saint Peter's church.75 There exists a beautiful medieval min-
iature of Constantinople showing such a ship at anchor, probably
going back to an earlier model (frontispiece).
One curious episode remains to be told. When king Erik left Con-
stantinople to go to Jerusalem the emperor Alexius ordered two
BRITAIN
name was. Between 983 and 1016 Symeon, an eastern hermit, trav-
elled to Britain. In the 1030s a Greek monk called Constantine lived
at Malmesbury. He planted a vineyard and loved working in it;
he ended his life peacefully in England, according to William of
Malmesbury who wrote a century later. The memory of this holy
man was alive long after his death.' Some scholars believe that dur-
ing the Conqueror's reign a Greek goldsmith was active in the coun-
try (see below). Sometimes the Greek emperors sent ambassadors,
but the sources do not always state their nationality. Edgar possibly
received an embassy from the Byzantine emperor and so perhaps
did Edward the Confessor. A Byzantine lead seal of John Raphael
(1060-1080), depicting the Virgin holding the Christ Child, found at
Winchester, suggests contacts during his reign or the reign of the
Conqueror.' King Henry I and his wife Mathilda received a Byzan-
tine embassy sent by Alexius Comnenus, which brought presents and
relics. Ulfricus of Lincoln, an imperial servant and an Englishman to
judge at least by his name, was one of the envoys. Greek legates
may have accompanied him.' In the 1170s there were regular am-
bassadorial contacts between Henry II (11541189) and Manuel
Comnenus (1143-1180). Sometimes the Greeks came to the Angevin
territories in France, sometimes they came all the way to London.
The Pipe Rolls give information about the expenses involved. The
purpose of an embassy which arrived at Angers (France) in the early
1170s was to find a marriage partner for Manuel's daughter. Henry
did not follow the advice of his men and turned down the proposal,
and the Greeks returned home unsuccessful. Several Greeks visited
England and left an impression of what Greeks were like.6
Instead of following the journeys of a long series of individual
travellers to Constantinople we will mainly discuss in this chapter
the reign of a few rulers who, even if they did not go to Constantinople
s Liber Vitae: Register and Martyrology of New Minster and Hyde Abbey, ed. W. de Gray
Birch, London 1892, p. 33 (Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 548, regards ajohannes Grecus
of Hildesheim as a man who had possibly visited Greece, Grecus being cognomen
rather than an indication, of nationality); Liber Eliensis, ed. E.O. Blake, London 1962,
p. 73, 396; Vita S. Simeonis monachi et eremitae in monasterio Padolironensi, AASS Jul. VI,
p. 331; William of Malmesbury, De gestis pontificum Anglorum, ed. N.E.S.A. Hamilton,
RS 1870, p. 415-6.
' V. Laurent, `Byzance et 1'Angleterre au lendemain de la conquete normande',
The Numismatic Circular 71, 1963, p. 93-6.
6 Chronicon monasterii de Abingdon, ed. J. Stevenson, RS 1858, II, p. 46.
6 Vasiliev, 'Manuel Comnenus', p. 234s.
132 CHAPTER FIVE
' For the Anglo-Saxon period in general see F. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford
1971, 3rd ed.; W. de Gray Birch, `Index of the styles and titles of English sover-
eigns', in Report of the first annual meeting of the Index Society, London 1879, p. 52s.;
Lopez, `Probleme des relations', p. 161s. See also A. Wilmart, `La legende de Ste
Edith en prose et vers par le moine Goscelin', AB 56, 1938, p. 39 ('Edgarus, Anglici
orbis basileus').
9 Lopez, ibid., p. 159s.
BRITAIN 133
p. 120, 123, who explicitly refers to the Byzantine coronation ritual; S. Salaville,
'Les textes grecs du "Te Deum"', EO 13, 1910, p. 208-213. For the Greek litanies
in the Aethelstan Psalter, see Bishop, p. 140-2 (R. Deshman, 'Anglo-Saxon art after
Alfred', Art Bulletin 56, 1976, p. 176s., discusses the Byzantine influence in minia-
tures of the Psalter). See also P. Stafford, `The King's wife in Wessex, 800-1066',
Past and Present 91, 1981, p. 3-27.
12 K. Leyser, `Die Ottonen and Wessex', Fruhmittelalterliche Studien 17, 1983,
p. 73-97; see also R. Deshman, `Christus rex et magi reges: Kingship and Christology
in Ottonian and Anglo-Saxon art', Fruhmittelalterliche Studien 10, 1976, p. 367-405.
13 Wilmart, art. cit. (n. 7), p. 43.
Ibid., p. 86s. Cf. C. Nordenfalk, `The draped lectern. A motif in Anglo-Saxon
evangelist portraits', in Intuition and Kunstwissenschaft, Festschrift H. Swarzenski, Berlin
1973, p. 93.
15 L. von Ledebur, Ober die Frauensiegel des deutschen Mittelalters, Berlin 1859;
D. Menadier, `Die Munzen and das Munzwesen der deutschen Reichsabtissinnen
BRITAIN 135
There is an `imperial' setting for this royal family with its taste for
luxury, the arts and a grand lifestyle. Recently oriental silks have
been found in England, in York, which belong to the late 10th cen-
tury and provide evidence of commercial links with the East. A
Byzantine eagle-silk of the 9th/ 10th century is kept in the treasury
of Canterbury cathedral.16
Before passing on to the reign of Edgar's grandson, king Edward
the Confessor (1043-1066), we ought to mention the intriguing pos-
sibility that in the 1030s, not long before Edward's accession, the
English church introduced into its liturgical calendar the celebration
of some feasts of the Virgin: the Oblation (Presentation) and the
Conception. Both feasts were first celebrated in Winchester, a centre
of cultural activities with an open horizon to the world beyond the
Channel. From Winchester these Marian feasts spread to Canter-
bury and Exeter; the rest of Western Europe however did not cel-
ebrate them at this time. It has been suggested that southern Italy
was the source from which they originated, but Byzantium itself could
have directly inspired the Anglo-Saxon church. Contacts could well
have been varied and complicated. It is not always possible or even
necessary to specify the exact route along which ideas travelled."
Like some of his predecessors, Edward styled himself as basileus
and, what is more important, on his royal seal where he is described
as basileus Anglorum. Edward's seal is the earliest English royal seal
which has been preserved. Its form and technique are unique in
Western Europe: it is only resembled by the papal and Byzantine
way of sealing documents: double-sided and loosely attached.18 The
seal mentioned above of John Raphael, an imperial dignitary, reflects
contacts between Winchester and Byzantium, before or after the
Norman conquest. Edward did not go to the East himself, as had
Sven Godwinsson, his brother-in-law. The latter died in Constantinople
im Mittelalter', Zeitschrii t fur Numismatik 32, 1920, p. 201 Is., 214, 268; R. Ellis, Monastic
Seals, 1986, I, are all inaccessible.
16 A. Muthesius/P. Walton, `A silk reliquary pouch from Coppergate', Interim Bulletin
of the York Archaeological Trust, 6.2. 1979, p. 5-6 (cf. Anglo-Saxon England 13, 1984,
p. 86); F.L. May, Silk textiles of Spain, New York 1957, p. 49; Lopez, `Probleme des
relations', p. 153.
17 M. Clayton, `Feasts of the Virgin in the liturgy of the Anglo-Saxon church',
Anglo-Saxon England 13, 1984, p. 209-233.
18 De Gray Birch, art. cit. (n. 7), ibid.; R.L. Poole, `Seals and documents', in
Studies in chronology and history, ed. R.L. Poole/A.L. Poole, Oxford 1934, p. 107s. For
the reign of Edward, K. Ciggaar, `England and Byzantium on the eve of the Norman
conquest (the reign of Edward the Confessor)', ANS 5, 1982, p. 78-96.
136 CHAPTER FIVE
before he ever reached Jerusalem, his ultimate goal.19 But there were
other ways in which information about events in far-away Byzantium
reached England. According to his Vita the king once saw in a vision
or a dream the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus turn over in their cave.
He wanted to verify this and sent ambassadors with gifts to the
Byzantine emperor on whose territory the miracle had happened.
The story itself may be pure legend. But it may have reminded
audience and readers of some form of diplomatic contact with a
Byzantine ruler.20 The Icelandic saga of king Edward and the 12th-
century historian William of Malmesbury both repeat the story and
give verifiable details: a list of Byzantine emperors, the name of the
rebellious pretender Maniakes (in 1043; his name is otherwise un-
known in Western Europe, except in Scandinavia), the mention of
`overseas' Saxons and the use of the term sacra to describe the letter
sent by the Greek emperor to his bishop in Ephesus. The returning
envoys confirmed the king's vision and may have brought home a
message and gifts from the Greek emperor. The king's tomb in West-
minster Abbey has revealed contemporary Byzantine silks and a unique
Byzantine enamelled pectoral cross. In the 17th century the cross
was lost, but it had already been described in detail. On one side it
bore the Crucifixion, on the other side a depiction of St Zachary.
The reliquary was intended to contain a fragment of the Holy Cross
and must have been, for this reason alone, an imperial gift.21
According to tradition Edward was a pious king who, like some of
his predecessors, was keenly interested in ecclesiastical affairs. F. Bar-
low speaks of `imperial aspirations and ideas in the Anglo-Saxon
church of the eleventh century'. There was indeed a certain familiarity,
limited as it may seem, with the Eastern church: an assumption of
the sacral character of kingship and the introduction of the Marian
feasts.22 Other elements may yet be discovered once further aspects
of the period are seen in a Byzantine light. In particular the position
of the Virgin and Marian iconography in the arts deserve more atten-
tion: the Dormition had already been used in the Benedictional of
19 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, tr. G.N. Garmonsway, London 1953, p. 182, s.a. 1052
[1053]; Runciman, Crusades, I, p. 47, lets him die in Anatolia.
20 The Life of Edward the Confessor, ed. F. Barlow, London 1962, p. 67-71.
21 William of Malmesbury, I, p. 275; G. Vigfusson, Icelandic sagas, RS 1887, I,
p. 388-400 (Engl. tr. G.W. Dasent, RS 1894, III, p. 416-28); Ciggaar, art. cit.
(n. 18), p. 89s.; Byzantium, op. cit. (n. 2), no. 166, p. 151s.
22 Barlow, op. cit. (n. 10), p. 21, 33.
BRITAIN 137
St Aethelwold and may have served as a starting point for later use.
A number of ecclesiastics travelled to the East among whom were
bishop Ealdred of Worcester and a monk Aethelwine who bought a
precious pall for St Dunstan when he was in Constantinople.23
With the death of king Edward in 1066, Anglo-Saxon art and
Anglo-Saxon history slowly but gradually lose their insular character.
New impulses reach the country, making it difficult to date many an
objet d'art. A number of publications have been devoted to various
aspects of Byzantine influence upon the arts: sculpture (the York
Madonna), metalwork, miniature painting, pottery (its yellowish-green
glaze), coinage etc. Style and iconography play a major role in such
research: angels with their hands covered by napkins very clearly
follow a Byzantine tradition. The seal of Sophronius II, patriarch of
Jerusalem, found at Winchester, also contained this iconographical
idiosyncrasy, and the hands of the Magi in the Aethelwold Benedic-
tional are covered in the same way. Evidence of any regular passage
of artists between England and Byzantium has yet to be found. Small
objects brought home from the East are likely to have been a major
source of inspiration.24 Such objects were particularly likely to have
made a special impact if they contained some attractive iconogra-
phical element which was unfamiliar to Western eyes. St Wulfstan
(1009-1095) owned a Byzantine coin which had been pierced by the
Holy Lance (kept in Constantinople) and which worked miracles. This
information is again provided by William of Malmesbury who wrote
the saint's Vita in the 12th century.25 Pierced coins often lose their
value to coin collectors, but they do tell us that in former days people
used them for decoration and sometimes venerated them as objects
of pious devotion. Such coins often had religious motifs-sometimes,
as with many Byzantine coins, depicting Christ, the Virgin, or vari-
ous of the saints and sometimes a simple cross-and this made them
appropriate for use by prelates and other ecclesiastics. Technological
influences are more difficult to determine.
The year 1066 is a landmark in England's history. Harald Hardrada,
the Norwegian king and Byzantine veteran, tried, in vain, to seize
the English throne after Edward's death. He died at the battle of
Stamford Bridge, leaving on the battlefield a mass of Byzantine gold,
his personal treasury, at least according to legend.26 King Harold of
England now had to face the other claimant, Edward's kinsman duke
William of Normandy. William won the battle of Hastings, in Octo-
ber 1066, and became the new ruler of England.
William's career, from duke of Normandy to king of England, clearly
shows that he sometimes took as a model for his kingship Byzantium
and its highly regarded basileis. This need not surprise us. More than
one medieval ruler looked for a model to the Eastern empire. How-
ever, William. the Conqueror seems to have taken matters to rather
greater lengths, introducing all sorts of Byzantine elements and sym-
bols. The Normans were no strangers in Constantinople. Had not
William's father, duke Robert the Magnificent, visited Constantinople
on the way to Jerusalem? In literature this visit was probably magnified
and embellished in the telling, becoming a sort of literary topos. The
duke had been received very well by the Byzantine emperor. There
was, on both sides, a display of wealth and splendour. After his visit
to Jerusalem, Robert had intended to return to beautiful Constan-
tinople, but he died at Nicaea, just across the Sea of Marmara, where
he was buried in the church of Saint Mary. The duke's companions
are likely to have recounted the marvels and technology of the East
on returning home to Normandy (see ch. France). Normans often
served in the Byzantine army as mercenaries. Young noblemen served
at the Byzantine court (see ch. France). Orderic Vitalis reports that
a `royal clerk' of English origin travelled to Jerusalem before enter-
ing the monastery of Saint Wandrille (Normandy). This Ingulf, later
abbot of Croyland, is sometimes described as the secretary of duke
William. In Constantinople he would have been received by the
31 Eadem, `Emigration anglaise', p. 301-342; c£ REB 14, 1956, p. 130, and 18,
1960, p. 79.
BRITAIN 141
colony, situated somewhere on the Black Sea coast, with towns called
New London, New York, was part of the Byzantine Reconquista of
this area. Religious and political conflicts with the Byzantine govern-
ment began to develop, but eventually peace and a modus vivendi were
reached with the newcomers. English soldiers in the Greek army are
explicitly mentioned in Greek exemption charters (tax exemptions)
and by Greek historians like Anna Comnena. They often served in
special regiments, always on the move through the large Byzantine
empire from one garrison to another, from one harbour to another.
Their qualities as mariners seem to have been appreciated. A certain
Hardigt, mentioned in the Loon chronicle, became commander of the
fleet.32
We are however less well informed about their private life. We
know that one of them, a former inhabitant of Canterbury, made a
career in Constantinople as a court official. He married a wealthy
Greek lady. The Vita of St Augustine of Canterbury does not men-
tion his name, but tells us that he built a private chapel like many
wealthy Byzantines, dedicated to the saint, where a miracle took place.
He may in this case be identical to a certain Coleman of the Loon
Chronicle who also had a chapel in Constantinople. Another Miracle
linked to the Vita mentions a party of Englishmen who travelled from
Constantinople to Venice. The party included scholars, lay people
and ecclesiastics.33 Was it a political manoeuvre of William to get rid
of his opponents by letting them emigrate? The Chronicle of Laon records
that some emigrants prepared the ships with which they were to sail
abroad, having sold their lands. Such preparations take time and
cannot be accomplished overnight.
William now concentrated upon the administration of the newly
conquered kingdom. Occasionally he used the title basileus, and slowly
he changed the iconography associated with the coins of his prede-
cessors. The front-facing bust becomes more popular, expressing royal
dignity and importance. Such `Frontalitat', in the words of A. Hauser,
'4A. Hauser, Sozialgeschichte der mittelalterlichen Kunst, Munich 1957, p. 17; The Oxford
Dictionary of Byzantium, s.v. frontality; RBK, II, s.v. Frontalitat.
35 E. Fernie, `The effect of the Conquest on Norman architectural patronage',
ANS 9, 1987, p. 71s.
36 P. Grierson, Byzantine coins, London 1982, p. 31, 200; English Romanesque art,
1066-1200, catalogue, London 1984, nos. 394, 402, 403, 405; Ciggaar, `Marginalia',
p. 61. For Gisulf II of Salerno who did the same, see ch. Italy.
37 A j. Robertson, The laws of the kings of England from Edmund to Henry I, ed. and
tr., Cambridge 1925, p. 242-3 (English historical documents, II, 1042-1189, ed. D.C.
Douglas/G.W. Greenaway, London 1953, p. 400). For the occasional mutilation by
BRITAIN 143
blinding in the laws of Cnut, English historical documents, I, c. 500-1042, ed. D. Whitelock,
London 1955, p. 423 (Robertson, ibid., p. 190-1; Stenton, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 685-6.
se M. de Bouard, Guillaume le Conquerant, Paris 1984, p. 425; Domesday Studies.
Novocentenary conference (Winchester 1986), ed. J.C. Holt, Woodbridge 1987, for ex-
ample R.H.C. Davies, `Domesday Book: continental parallels', p. 15-39, esp. p. 17,
who refers to the existence of a Greek cadaster, see also note 39 below. Cf.
D. Clementi, `The framework of the Survey. Notes on Norman Sicilian surveys', in
V.H. Galbraith, The making of Domesday Book, Oxford 1961, p. 55-8, who is inclined
to see the Byzantine model as an example for both the Normans of Sicily and the
Anglo-Normans.
s9 N.G. Svoronos, `Recherches sur le cadastre byzantin', Bulletin de Correspondance
Hellenique 83, 1959, p. 1-166.
41 William of Malmesbury, II, p. 333.
144 CHAPTER FIVE
" C.R. Dodwell, Anglo-Saxon art. A new perspective, Manchester 1982, p. 169. The
popularity of bestiaries in England and elsewhere in Western Europe should be
researched more systematically in the light of Byzantine influences.
42 English Romanesque art, op, cit. (n. 36), passim; see also note 36.
as Haskins, `Canterbury monk', p. 293-5.
BRITAIN 145
" De processione spiritus sancti contra Graecos liber, PL 158, c. 285-326 (see also
c. 259s., c. 541s.); Annales S. Disibodi, MGH SS XVII, p. 15 (letter to the bishop of
Naumburg, who had had the visit of some Greeks); The Sermo de conceptione Beatae
Mariae, PL 159, c. 319-24, and the Tractatus de conceptione B. Mariae virginis, ibid.,
c. 301-18, are spuria going under his name (cf. Bishop, p. 238-260; see also S J.P.
van Dijk, `The origin of the Latin feast of the conception of the blessed Virgin
Mary', The Dublin Review 1954, p. 251-67, 428-42). F. Barlow, The English church,
1066x1154, London 1979, p. 195, refers to Greek monks from Italy who could
have introduced the feast of the Immaculate Conception before the Conquest. See
also R.W. Southern, Saint Anselm and his biographer. A study of monastic life and thought,
1059-c. 1130, Cambridge 1963, p. 122, 234-5; Runciman, Eastern Schism, p. 71s.;
J. Gauss, `Anselmus von Canterbury. Zur Begegnung der Religionen', Saeculum 17,
1966, p. 277.
45 0. Pacht, `The illustrations of St Anselm's prayers and meditations', Journal of
the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 19, 1956, p. 68-83, esp. 83, and ills. 23a, b. The
Byzantine physiognomy of the illustrations in one of the manuscripts, the Admont
Stiftsbibliothek 289 (1160), may be due to the Byzantine leanings of the Salzburg
school of that time.
BRITAIN 147
The letter and seal are now lost and unfortunately the gifts were not
described. This may have just been a polite letter carried home by
a returning Englishman or it may have contained a request or a
message carried by someone who was on temporary leave. Was its
purpose to recruit soldiers? The English court was fond of eastern
silks as we learn from a legal text, attributed to the reign of Henry I,
the Liber Ordinacionum: the king's chamberlain had the first choice of
merchandise brought to the port of London. Mention is made of
`piece preciuse ou pailles de Costentinoble' (another version reads: peres preci-
ouses, ou payles de paleis), i.e. material made in the imperial workshops.47
In the 1130s Henry's daughter Mathilda made a present of pre-
cious gifts to the abbey of Le Bec in Normandy according to an
interpolation of Orderic Vitalis in Guillaume de Jumieges' Gesta Norman-
norum ducum. Some of them had been given to her by her father,
`dans ei tam diversa donaria, materia artificioque pretiosissima, quae
Bizantium percara haberet'. They were either Byzantine artefacts or
they were considered very precious by the Byzantines.48
At the beginning of the 12th century, a century typified as an age
of renewal, rebirth and even Renaissance, there was an interest in
the human body, the human mind, human knowledge, human skills
46 See note 5; J.A. Green, The government of England under Henry I, Cambridge 1986,
does not discuss Henry's relations with Byzantium.
47 M. Bateson, `A London municipal collection of the reign of John', EHR 17,
1902, p. 495, 496, 499. See also Poole, op. cit. (n. 27), p. 89. The emperor Leo I
(457-474), speaks already of artifices palatini, Lopez, `Probleme des relations', p. 143.
48 Guillaume de Jumieges, p. 303 (van Houts, II, p. 244/5).
148 CHAPTER FIVE
50 William of Malmesbury, II, p. 410, 411, 412s., 424-5; R.M. Thomson, William
of Malmesbury, Woodbridge 1987(?), is inaccessible.
51 J.M. Canal, El libro De laudibus et miraculis Sanctae Mariae' de Guillermo de Malmesbury,
Rome 1968, no. 32, p. 132s., no. 50, p. 166s. (where the author writes that the sun
goes down into the ocean: prono iam in oceanum sole, where other versions give ad
occasum vergente), no. 51, p. 168s.; Henry I's daily mass was a Mass of Our Lady, cf
van Dijk, art. cit. (n. 44), p. 435; Barlow, op. cit. (n. 44).
150 CHAPTER FIVE
57 C.H. Haskins, `England and Sicily in the twelfth century', EHR 26, 1911,
p. 433-47, 641-65; idem, Studies, ch. IX, `The Sicilian translators of the twelfth
century', p. 155-193 (translation activities started earlier).
58 Roger of Hoveden, II, p. 102-4 (Engl. tr. H.T. Riley, London 1853, p. 419-23,
inaccessible); Gesta Henrici secundi, I, p. 128-30; Vasiliev, 'Manuel Comnenus', p. 236s.
59 The Great Roll of the Pipe, vol. 28, London 1907, p. 125; Vasiliev, ibid., p. 243.
BRITAIN 153
p. 118-19, speaks of a permanent `oil crisis' in the Middle Ages. Could this scarcity
be the reason why chroniclers mention the wealth of olive trees?
63 Mathew Paris, Chronica Majora, ed. H.R. Luard, RS 1880, I, p. 284-7; Berschin,
`Majestas-Tituli', p. 301, n. 9; cf. van der Vin, p. 157-9, 201; de Jonge, art. cit. (ch.
Travelling to Byzantium, note 9), passim.
fi4 Preger, I, p. 74-108; Ralph de Diceto, I, p. 91-4, 98-9; R. Anstruther, The
chronicles of Ralph Niger, London 1851, p. 189-90 (H. Krause, Radulhus Niger. Chronica.
Eine Englische Weltchronik des 12. Jahrhunderts, 1985, inaccessible).
BRITAIN 155
Master, the Amalekite Master and the Leaping Figures Master, are
all influenced by Byzantine art and technique. This influence is clearly
discernible in the facial features of the prophets: the faces express a
deep and dramatizing seriousness, a `Byzantine sadness'. The tech-
nique of rendering the highlights is again an imitation of Byzantine
techniques. Canterbury was another centre of miniature painting where
Byzantine and Byzantinizing influences were very active."
Frescoes are rather rare in this period. There is a curious relation-
ship between the murals in the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre in Win-
chester Cathedral, which depict scenes from the life and Passion of
Christ, and the Byzantinizing frescoes of Sigena (Spain) which are
attributed to an English artist who is held to have studied the
mosaics of Sicily before setting off to work in Spain. Another fresco
in the Byzantine tradition is to be found in Canterbury Cathedral,
in the chapel of St Anselm, where the figure of St Paul with the
viper reminds one of a mosaic in the Palatine chapel, Palermo, dated
around 1150. Sometimes the model for the Canterbury fresco is seen
in `Byzantine' Italy, in Lombardy, in the frescoes of San Vincenzo at
Galliano.72 Wherever and whatever the model may have been, the
Byzantine inspiration indicates a new or renewed taste for Eastern
Byzantine art. The originals were probably too far away to serve as
models and may have been replaced by models in Byzantine out-
posts in Western Europe. Some of the patrons like Henry of Blois
had travelled widely and may have wanted to compete with other
patrons of art. It may not be purely coincidental that Henry of Blois
had himself depicted in proskynesis on an enamel which once deco-
rated the shrine of St Swithun and is now preserved in the British
Museum. Was he perhaps trying to compete with Byzantine rulers
or with abbot Suger of Saint Denis, whom we find in proskynesis in
one of the stained-glass windows in his church?73 The ruling classes
were familiar with the Byzantine world, and if not on the basis of
direct personal experience, then at least by the various international
contacts they maintained.
" W. Oakeshott, The two Winchester Bibles, Oxford 1981, esp. Section B, 'Byzan-
tine influences in the Winchester Bible', p. 122-3, pls. 165-76; English Romanesque
art, op. cit. (n. 36), p. 85, and nos. 64, 64a, 64b; Demus, p. 154.
72 Oakeshott, ibid.; Dodwell, p. 151. For a colour plate of the Canterbury fresco,
see English Romanesque art, op. cit. (n. 36), p. 51, dated to the third quarter of the
12th century (other datings are current).
73 English Romanesque art, op. cit. (n. 36), no. 277b (the enamel has been attributed
to other bishops of Winchester called Henry, cf. Wormald, op. cit. (n. 70), p. 125.
158 CHAPTER FIVE
" G. Zarnecki. `A 12th century column-figure of the standing Virgin and Child
from Minster-in-Sheppey, Kent', Kunsthistorische Forschungen Otto Pdcht zu Ehren zu seinem
70. Geburtstag, Salzburg 1972, p. 208-213; L. Rodley, `An aspect of Byzantine influence
on Western art', in England in the twelfth century (Harlaxton Symposium 1988), ed.
D. Williams, Woodbridge 1990, p. 183-92, makes the interesting suggestion that
the appearance of inscriptions in works of art was inspired by Byzantine art.
75 C.L. Wrenn, A study of Old English literature, London 1967, p. 1-4, 6, 16 (for
earlier Greek cultural influences); Gui de Warewic, ed. A. Ewert, Paris 1932-3, 2 vols.;
cf. E. Mason, `Fact and fiction in the English crusading tradition: the earls of Warwick
in the twelfth century', Journal of Medieval History 14, 1988, p. 81-95.
BRITAIN 159
76 AASS Maii VI, p. 410 (St Augustine is also mentioned in the calendar of the
Melisend psalter which comes from Jerusalem, in History of the crusades, IV, The art
and architecture of the crusader states, Madison 1977, p. 128); Ciggaar, `Emigration anglaise',
p. 321; R. Janin, 'Les sanctuaires de Byzance soul la domination latine', REB 2,
1944, p. 169 (Sancta Maria de Scota).
77 Ciggaar, ibid., p. 313-14.
78 Hendy, p. 361.
79 J. Verpeaux, Pseudo-Kodinos, Traite des offices, Paris 1966, p. 209-10.
80 Byzantine lead seals, by G. Zacos, compiled and ed. byJ.W. Nesbitt, Bern 1984/5,
II, no. 706.
91 DJ. Geanakoplos, Interaction of the `Sibling' Byzantine and Western cultures in the
Middle Ages and Italian Renaissance (330-1600), New Haven 1976, p. 194.
82 See ch. The Northern countries, note 77.
160 CHAPTER FIVE
FRANCE
from Mount Sinai who came to collect subsidies from the Norman
ducal court, in particular from duke Richard.' Various Greek monks
and bishops visited French monasteries in the course of the 11th and
12th centuries. We find them at the Mont Saint Michel, Cluny, Toul,
Angouleme, Tours, Dijon and elsewhere. Among them were St
Symeon of Trier and St Symeon the Hermit. A few of them settled
in the West and some of them died there during the journey. We
find them in every corner of Europe. Hospitality in monasteries gave
them the possibility of propagating Greek ideas, the Greek language,
the Greek Liturgy and the belief of the Orthodox world. Greek art-
ists are thought to have been active at Dijon where the church of
Saint Benign was rebuilt by William of Volpiano at the beginning
of the 11th century.'
Occasionally Greeks took service with the crusading army. During
the First Crusade a certain Elias left the imperial army at Thessalonica
and went over to Hugh of Vermandois, brother of king Philip I of
France. Some of these Greek civil servants may have come to France
with their new masters.'
A number of Greek ambassadors came to France. Some of them
were involved in the preparation of the First Crusade as we will see
below. King Louis VII (1137-1180) was the first ruler who, during
the period under discussion here, according to the sources, who re-
ceived Greek envoys. In the year 1146, when the preparations were
taking place for the Second Crusade he received a letter from the
Greek emperor, probably carried by Greek messengers. Odo of Deuil
speaks about these contacts in his report on the crusade which he
sent to abbot Suger of Saint Denis. The letter was written in such a
way as to flatter the king: `on a long scroll the emperor inscribed
extravagant flattery and, calling our king his "holy friend and brother",
made a great many promises which he did not fulfill'.' At Regensburg,
en route to the East, the French king once more received Greek mes-
sengers, among whom a certain Demetrius and a certain Maurus.
Odo gives a description of the fashions in clothing of the Greeks
' Dudo of St Quentin, De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum, ed. J. Lair,
Caen 1865, p. 127; Ebersolt, Avant les croisades, p. 79; McNulty/Hamilton,
p. 197s.
McNulty/Hamilton, p. 197-9, 203, 204-5, 208, 214.
a Anna Comnena, X, vii, 3 (Leib, II, p. 213; Sewter, 314).
Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 22 (Berry, 10-11); Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 395s.;
Epistola Manuelis ad Ludovicum, RHG XVI, p. 9.
FRANCE 165
who, and it must have struck him, wore short silken garments with
tight sleeves. The poor wore clothes of the same style but of cheaper
material. The French king, we are told, did not like the flattering
formulas used by the Greeks.' The letter is called sacris/sacrae, the
official name for an imperial letter of the Byzantine chancery. We
will speak later on of the king's journey in Constantinople.
In the years 1160-1165 several Greek embassies came to Italy
and to France. Pope Alexander III was engaging in European poli-
tics by urging Louis VII to form an alliance with Manuel Comnenus
against the German empire. The Greeks travelled via Montpellier,
St Gilles (dept. du Gard) and Chartres to Paris. Several letters and
embassies were exchanged but apparently without result. Benjamin
of Tudela, travelling in the late 1160s, mentions Greek merchants in
Montpellier. In the early 1170s Greek envoys travelled through France
on their way to the English court. An exchange of courtesies with
the French king must have taken place in order to obtain permission
for transit, if French royal lands had to be traversed. The birth of a
daughter to the French king may have stimulated the pope to take
on the role of matchmaker when, in a letter to archbishop Henry of
Reims, he suggests a marriage between a son of the emperor Manuel
and the baby daughter of the king.'
At the end of the decade more colourful and dramatic events take
place. The Byzantine princess Eudocia Comnena, granddaughter of
the emperor John II Comnenus and niece of the reigning emperor
Manuel, arrived in southern France. Her intended husband, a prince
of Aragon who held lands in Provence, rejected her for political
reasons. William VIII of Montpellier solved the diplomatic problem
by marrying her. Her dowry, consisting of coin, silver and gold, must
have been highly attractive to him. Her beauty and learning were
sung and praised by Provencal troubadours, but the marriage was
an unhappy one and Eudocia ended her days in the nearby abbey
of Aniane. She was just one of several Byzantine princesses sent
abroad, with their lady attendants, for political and diplomatic reasons
and who more than once ended their days in reclusion and in bit-
terness. Her daughter was to marry Peter of Aragon, thus bringing
15 W. Cahn, `The Psalter of Queen Emma', Cahiers Archeologiques 33, 1985, p. 72-
85. Charles the Bald had already been impressed by Byzantium, Annales Fuldenses,
MGH SS I, p. 389.
16 Gerbert of Reims, Weigle, no. 111, p. 139-140; A.A. Vasiliev, `Hugh Capet's
letter in 988 to the Byzantine emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII', DOP 6,
1951, p. 229-46.
FRANCE 169
17 Rodulfus Glaber, The Five Books of the Histories, ed., Engl. tr. J. France, Oxford
1989, p. 202-3 (= ed. M. Prou, Paris 1886, p. 108); Frolow, Relique, no. 155,
p. 244; Guillaume de Jumieges, p. 112-13 (he takes a seat but this was not done at
the imperial court, see below Odo of Deuil on the Greek legates standing in pres-
ence of a ruler).
18 Andre de Fleury, Vie de Gauzlin, abbe de Fleury, ed. R.-H. Bautier/G. Labory, Paris
1969, p. 80s., 136s.; X. Barral i Altet, `Commanditaires, mosaistes et execution
specialises de la mosaique de pavement an Moyen Age', in Artistes, artisans et produc-
tion artistique an Moyen Age, Colloque international, 1983, Actes du colloque, ed. X. Barral i
Alter, I. Les hommes, Paris 1986, p. 256, 265.
170 CHAPTER SIX
On their way to the Holy Land they were well received by the Greek
emperor. They were shown the rich treasures and the collections of
relics. Rich presents, silks and coin, were distributed among the
Western leaders and practical and logistical support promised for the
rest of the journey. In return they had to do hommage to the em-
peror which some refused to do. Alexius was certainly urged by his
Latin advisors to introduce this Western feudal custom at the Byzan-
tine court should the crusaders pass through his capital.1°
A very enthousiastic description of the Byzantine capital was given
by Fulcher of Chartres who travelled in the company of his lord
Stephen of Blois of whom we will speak below more extensively.
Fulcher tells how his company was splendidly received at the court,
which enabled him to visit Constantinople, a privilege not enjoyed
by all the crusaders. The Greeks did not want all the Western 'lo-
custs' to enter their towns. Fulcher was impressed by the many
monasteries and palaces, the gold and silver, the textiles, the holy
relics and the monuments. He writes
Oh what a noble and beautiful city is Constantinople! How many
monasteries and palaces it contains, constructed with wonderful skill!
How many remarkable things may be seen in the principal avenues
and even in the lesser streets! It would be very tedious to enumerate
the wealth that is there of every kind, of gold, of silver, or robes of
many kinds, and of holy relics. Merchants constantly bring to the city
by frequent voyages all the necessities of man. About twenty thousand
eunuchs, I judge, are always living there.20
Not every Western visitor was that enthousiastic about the town and
its inhabitants. Nor was every Greek so pleased at the coming of the
crusading army. Feelings of disappointment and bitterness were ex-
pressed by the emperor's daughter Anna Comnena in the Alexiad
where she discusses the behaviour of some French nobles. She mocked
Hugh of Vermandois, the king's brother, who asked in advance for
a splendid reception. The fact that her father used such receptions
to sweeten the French in order to make them his vassals, did not
change her contempt for some Western leaders. She did have a certain
admiration for Western women, whom she also may have seen in
19 Marquis de la Force, 'Les conseillers latins d'Alexis Comnene', Byz 11, 1936,
p. 153-65; Ferluga, p. 104s.; cf. L. Buisson, Eroberrecht, Vasallitat and byzantinisches
Staatsrecht auf dem ersten Kreuzzug, Hamburg 1985.
20 Fulcher of Chartres, p. 176-7 (Ryan, 79). For the crusade in general, Runciman,
Crusades, I, passim, and Setton, I, p. 220s.
FRANCE 171
the crusading army, and this because of their courage. She also
comments on the incidents which occurred at court with `rustic'
crusaders. After an unpleasant incident during which a Latin had
seated himself on the imperial throne, like a badly behaved tourist,
the offender had muttered that it was absurd that the emperor should
be seated while the French leaders were standing. The emperor Alexius
asked his interpreter to translate what the man had said and, when
the latter asked permission to leave, he told him how to behave with
the Turks. It is clear that some Westerners were ignorant of or did
not want to adapt to Byzantine court ceremonial. This ignorance or
unwillingness was to last a very long time, whether it was due to a
lack of diplomatic savoir-faire, to ideological differences or to plain
bloody-mindedness.21
Before the Second Crusade when Louis VII was the leader of the
French contingent we do not hear of official visits by French officials
to the Byzantine court. We already encountered Louis VII at Re-
gensburg where Greek envoys came to meet him and hand him let-
ters from their emperor. When the king entered Byzantine territory
he was, according to Odo of Deuil, properly received. A rather detailed
account of the expedition is given. The clergy always came out to
meet the royal party with icons and insignia, their first confrontation
with the Orthodox world. Eleanor, the queen, accompanied her hus-
band on the journey. Although she is hardly ever mentioned in Odo's
report she must have taken part in all the festivities prepared for her
husband. Eleanor came from a highly cultured family. Her grand-
father William VII, count of Poitou (duke William IX of Aquitaine)
and one of the first troubadours, had travelled to the East more than
once. He had certainly been in Constantinople.22 Eleanor contributed
to the cultural development of the royal court which under the Cape-
tians had been rather provincial. She probably richly endowed the
abbey of Saint Denis.23 Her background, the ducal court of Aquitaine
with its wide orientation, stimulated her interest in the arts. Now,
21 Anna Comnena, X, v, 4s. (Leib, II, p. 206s.; Sewter, 307s.); Leib, `Occidentaux',
p. 35s.
22 Odo of Deuil, passim. C£ Anna Comnena, XI, viii, 2 (Leib, H1, p. 37; Sewter,
356, for the Greek clergy coming out in their vestments with crosses and the Gos-
pels, to meet the crusaders); Leib, `Occidentaux', p. 39.
23 R. Lejeune, `Role litteraire d'Alienor d'Aquitaine et de sa famille', Cultura neolatina
14, 1954, p. 5-57, esp. p. 46, for an interesting reference to the queen of Aquitaine
and England as 'Aquila bispertita' by Richard of Poitiers (J. Michelet, Historiens de
France, II, p. 420); E. Greenhill, `Eleanor, abbot Suger and St Denis', in Eleanor of
Aquitaine, patron and politician, ed. W.W. Kibler, Austin 1976, p. 81-113.
172 CHAPTER SIX
during the three weeks in which she stayed in and near Constantinople,
she could see everything with her own eyes. Assisted by interpreters
the two reigning families met over dinner parties, sightseeing tours
and religious ceremonies. The French witnessed the celebration of the
feast of St Dionysius, patron saint of the royal abbey at Saint Denis. A
Greek translation of the Latin Passio even eulogised the city of Paris!
The king received rich presents.24 The year before Manuel had married
the Bavarian Bertha of Sulzbach, whose sister was married to the
emperor Conrad III. The two ladies, Bertha and Eleanor, exchanged
letters during the period in which the royal couple stayed near Con-
stantinople. Later Manuel Comnenus was to marry Maria of Antioch,
daughter of Raymond of Poitiers, a relative of Eleanor.
Not everybody was allowed to enter the town and for good rea-
son. Once, when the army had already crossed to the other side of
the Bosporus, the display of gold and silver by the moneychangers
so excited a Fleming that he attempted to seize as much as he could.
Peace had to be reestablished between Greeks and Latins. One of
the conditions was that Louis should send one of Eleanor's ladies-in-
waiting to marry a nephew of the emperor. The lady in question
was secretly helped to escape from the camp in order to avoid an
unwanted marriage. She probably had a fiance' in the French army.
Odo, future abbot of Saint Denis (1151-1169) certainly was criti-
cal of the Greeks and their greed. He also disliked the dirt and the
darkness of the Constantinopolitan streets, and he does not fail to
mention the criminals lurking in the back-alleys of the town. Criminal
is also his view of the rates of exchange which became ever more
disadvantageous for the crusaders. The king had to write to Suger at
Saint Denis to send more money. Unfortunately we do not know
how the money, cash or in the form of silver and gold, was sup-
posed to reach the French army.25 Suger, who must have heard all
the stories about the marvels and splendours of Constantinople, started
to write a Life of Louis VII, but left it unfinished, not mentioning the
journey to Constantinople.26 William of Tyre is another informant
about the royal visit in his Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum.27
The Greek historian John Cinnamus gives an equally scant report of
the royal visit. He speaks of receptions in the imperial palace and
mentions the Philopation palace as the lodging-place of the royal
guests. The historian Nicetas Choniates is even more restricted in his
comments, even if, remarkably enough, he calls the French queen
`Goldfoot' (Xpva0,movs),28
Odo is the only source to report that during the journey poor
pilgrims or crusaders ('people condemned to servitude') took service
with the Greeks. Elsewhere he says, not without some satisfaction,
that `mercenaries do not suffice to a people without forces of its
own'.29 This statement takes us on a small excursus about the vari-
ous nationalities working in Byzantium. It is not always easy to dis-
tinguish between French, Italians, Normans etc. Normans, both from
Normandy and from southern Italy, worked in the Byzantine empire
in fairly large numbers, often as mercenaries, and sometimes holding
functions at court. Occasionally one finds a reference to a Provencal,
like William Claret.30 At the end of the 12th century a family from
Courbetaux (Troyes) left France, taking with them their little son
Angemer. They fled the misery at home. There must have been more
people like them to do so. After 1204 such families could be very
useful to the new rulers of Constantinople.31
Let us return to Louis of France. When some years later he was
asked to send his daughter to Byzantium he knew what he was doing.
He may even have felt flattered at the request since he had seen the
wealth and luxury of the imperial court himself. At an earlier stage
the pope had supported the marriage alliance. The girl could be
instructed about her future home and in the royal abbey of Saint
Denis there was some knowledge of Greek so that she could learn
the basics of that language before setting of1:32
details in his chronicle, in Chronicles of the reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I, ed.
R. Howlett, IV, RS 1889, p. 307; Diceto, I, p. 430-1; Hoveden, II, p. 355-6;
Brand, p. 22-3.
33 Rigord, ibid., p. 107.
34 Gesta Henrici secundi, II, p. 51s.; Hoveden, II, p. 355-6; Diceto, II, p. 58-9.
3s Rigord, op. cit. (n. 32), p. 162-3; Frolow, Relique, no. 461, p. 387-8.
36 Cf. K.M. Setton, `The Byzantine background to the Italian Renaissance', in
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 100, 1956, p. 31, n. 9.
FRANCE 175
37 E. Panofsky, Abbot Suger on the abbey church of St-Dens and its art treasures, Princeton
1946, p. 46-7, 64 (65), and ill. 18. I hope to come back to Hugh's visit to Constan-
tinople.
38 Le Pelerinage de Charlemagne, ed. AJ. Cooper, Paris 1925 (with modem French
tr.; M. Tyssens, Le voyage de Charlemagne a Jerusalem et a Constantinople, Gand 1978);
R. Folz, Le souvenir et la legende de Charlemagne dans ['empire germanique medieval, Paris
1950, p. 134-42, 179-81; J. Horrent, Le Pelerinage de Charlemagne. Essai d'explication
litteraire avec des notes de critique textuelle, Paris 1961, p. 55s.; Kohler, p. 402; Seidel,
p. 49-54. For French medieval literature see recently J.H. Fox, A literary history of
France. I. The Middle Ages, London 1974, or D. Poirion, Precis de littirature francaise du
Moyen Age, Paris 1983 (references I owe to K. Busby).
11 Diceto, I, p. 430-1.
176 CHAPTER SIX
In the 1160s monks from the abbey, where Odo of Deuil now
held the abbacy, travelled to the East and to Constantinople to col-
lect manuscripts. Others were commissioned to do the same. If such
monks came from Saint Denis it is only natural that, coming from
the royal chancery, they would also carry.letters to the Byzantine
court in order to exchange courtesies and try to profit of the good
relations. Some of these manuscripts were translated into Latin. The
works of Dionysius Areopagita were much in demand, as he shared
the name of the patron saint, St Denis. We know of at least two
monks from Saint Denis who translated Greek texts into Latin: a
monk called William, and another William, a future abbot (1173-
1186). John the Saracen was a monk from Poitiers but he worked
for Saint Denis. Robert of Melun, English by birth, spent most of
his scholarly and teaching life in France, at Melun and in Paris. In
the preface of his Sententiae (1152-1160) he refers to his teacher of
Greek whose teaching career was not particularly successful in Rob-
ert's view. At the same time he blames his contemporaries for insert-
ing Greek expressions into their Latin texts. At the abbey of Saint
Denis there was a long-standing tradition of Greek, limited as it may
have been from time to time. This tradition started in Carolingian
times, when Byzantinizing forces were active, and was now becom-
ing more developed. There was some teaching of Greek and even in
the Liturgy there were a few Greek elements. Whether there is a
connection with Robert of Melun is not yet clear. Nothing is known,
unfortunately, about the presence of illustrated Greek manuscripts or
of manuscripts that could have had their own influence on miniature
painting in the abbey or elsewhere.41
The inventories of its treasury do not explicitly mention the pres-
ence of Byzantine objects before 1204. But a careful study of the ob-
jects that once belonged to Saint Denis has revealed that Byzantine
artefacts were present there and that Western artefacts underwent a
40 R.M. Martin, Oeuvres de Robert de Melun, III, Louvain 1947, p. 36, line 25,
p. 41; cf. Anastos, p. 132-3; Ebersolt, Apres les croisades, p. 12; R. Weiss, To
studio del greco all' abbazia di San Dionigi durante it Medioevo', in Medieval and
Humanist Greek, collected essays by R. Weiss, Padova 1977, p. 44-59; Berschin, p. 56
(n. 64), 57 (n. 68), 254, 277-9, 288, 294. For a possible link to England, D. Luscombe,
`The reception of the writings of Denis the pseudo-Areopagite into England', in
Tradition and change. Essays in honour of At. Chibnall, Cambridge 1985, p. 137-140. See
also the concluding chapter for an anonymous translation of the Vita of St Eutropius;
M. Huglo, 'Les chants de la Missa Green de Saint-Denis', in Essays presented to
E. Wellesz, ed. J. Westrup, Oxford 1966, p. 74-83. For the library D. Nebbiai-Dalla
FRANCE 177
Wilson, `Books and readers in Byzantium', in Byzantine books and bookmen. A Dumbarton
Oaks colloquium, Washington 1975, p. Is.
44 Ebersolt, Pendant les croisades, p. 84; L. Brehier, La sculpture et les arts mineurs
byzantins, Paris 1936 (repr. London 1973), p. 74, 75 (Troyes), 97, 98, 100. For
Byzantinizing wall-paintings in the cathedral of Auxerre, Dodwell, p. 78, and ill. 95.
45 G. Schlumberger, `Deux chefs normands des armees byzantines au XF siecle',
Revue historique 16, 1881, p. 289-303; L. Brehier, 'Les aventures d'un chef normand
en Orient au XF siecle', Revue des tours et conferences 1912 (annee scolaire 1911-2),
p. 172-88. The presence of so many Norman mercenaries invited Byzantine com-
ments, Hermans, art. cit. (n. 2), passim.
FRANCE 179
46 Ebersolt, Avant les croisades, p. 79; McNulty/Hamilton, p. 193s. For the early
history of Normandy see D. Bates, Normandy before 1066, London/New York 1982.
For the bishop of Rouen, Runciman, Civilization, p. 294 (I have not been able to
confirm this statement).
4' Guillaume de Jumieges, p. 112-13 (van Hours, II, p. 82/3); Wace, Le Roman de
Rou, ed. AJ. Holden, Paris 1970, I, p. 275s.; E.M.C. van Houts, `Normandy and
Byzantium in the eleventh century', Byz 55, 1985, p. 544s.; Ciggaar, `Byzantine
marginalia', p. 44; B.S. Bachrach, `The pilgrimage of Fulk Nerra, count of the
Angevins, 987-1040', in Religion, culture, and society in the early middle ages. Studies in
honor of R.E. Sullivan, Kalamazoo 1987, p. 205-217.
4e Guillaume de Jumieges, p. 168 (van Houts, II, p. 118/19).
49 John Scylitzes, p. 467, 468, 484-6 (German tr., idem, Ende des Bilderstreits and
Makedonische Renaissance. Anfang 9. bis Mitte 10. ,7ahrhundert, Graz 1983, inaccessible);
Attaleiates, p. 191s. See also note 45.
180 CHAPTER SIX
were sent to the West. Some of the Norman mercenaries even founded
principalities of their own in Asia Minor and a few seem to have
had aspirations to the Byzantine throne.
Some Normans returned to Normandy. They had survived the
hardships of their military life and did not want to end their days in
foreign lands. They could transmit new ideas, new techniques and
new military tactics. Young noblemen served at the Byzantine court.
Odo and Robert were sons of Odo I Stigand, steward to the ducal
household. During his three-year stay in Constantinople Odo junior
became a well-trained doctor and veterinarian who spoke foreign
languages very well. He was probably a commander in the imperial
guard during the reigns of Isaac I Comnenus (1057-1059) and
Constantine X Doucas (1059-1067). On his return home he became
a ducal steward himself, but he soon died in 1062. His brother Robert
brought home gold (coined or uncoined, we do not know), precious
stones and relics of St Barbara. Other Norman nobles may have
been `sent' by the Norman leaders in order to acquire a military
training and become familiar with Byzantine technology and Byzan-
tine court life. William was well prepared for his invasion of England!
The organisation of his army and of the camp at Dives-sur-Mer as
well as the horse transports all reflect the importation and impor-
tance of Byzantine techniques.50
Before the beginning of the battle at Hastings the Normans were
exhorted by a man, a mysterious man it is true, who recited or sung
a song about Roland, Charlemagne's favorite baron. The episode
has puzzled scholars. It is known that duke William sometimes took
Charlemagne as an example. But ordering such a song before the
battle may reflect a tradition in the Byzantine army.51 William's grand-
father, William himself and his immediate entourage were all per-
fectly aware of what was going on in the Byzantine empire and its
army. They knew perfectly well the traditions and institutions of the
Byzantines. However we have to leave William whose career will,
from now on, be centred on British soil.
caennaises, Caen 1967, no. 29, p. 141. In the Musee des Antiquites, Rouen, there is
a beautiful marble slab representing the Baptism, but it cannot be connected to a
Norman-Byzantine relationship, as it is a 19th-century acquisition via the antique
market, cf. Brehier, op. cit. (n. 44), p. 63-4, plate X; Byzantine art, catalogue, no.
16, p. 134 (letter of 10/12/1987).
ss H. Gregoire, `La chanson de Roland et Byzance ou de l'utilite du grec pour
les Romanistes', Byz 14, 1939, p. 265-316; Heisig, art. cit. (n. 51), p. 161-78; Kohler,
p. 405; Seidel, p. 41-8; U.T. Holmes, `Coins of Old French literature', Speculum 31,
1956, p. 316-20, a first attempt to trace `besants' in literature; R. Louis, 'Les ducs
de Normandie dans les chansons de geste', Byz 39, 1969, p. 393, n. 1.
FRANCE 183
and master of England, Apulia and Sicily, did have the same dream.
He had indeed imperial traditions, in lifestyle and in government. Is
there a double mystery in the Chanson de Roland?56
Normandy has preserved another Greek `dictionary'. Greek words
and phrases, again written in Latin characters, are to be found in a
manuscript from the Mont Saint Michel, now at Avranches, Biblio-
theque Municipale, no. 236, fo. 97v. When asking for a drink, wine,
water or milk, the traveller had to say: 'dos me piin, inari ke neron
ke galan (da mihi bibere vinum et aquam et lac)'. The presence of
the Venetian monk Anastasius for more than a year at Mont Saint
Michel and nearby may have stimulated an interest in the Greek
language (ill. 12).57
Another manuscript in Normandy (Avranches, Bibliotheque Mu-
nicipale, no. 50, fo. 1, written between 980 and 1000) shows a double-
headed eagle, Byzantine motif par excellence, which needs more, study
especially in its Western context.58
After the Conqueror's death in 1087 Normandy passed into the
hands of his son Robert II who lost his heritage in 1106 to his brother
Henry I, king of England (1100-1135). From that time onwards the
history of Normandy became part of the history of England as a
province `outre-mer'. The crusades became a continental affair. Bishop
Arnulf of Lisieux was the most prominent Norman in the crusade of
1147 if we are to believe Odo of Deuil.
Many Normans left Normandy and so did Adela, the Conqueror's
daughter, when she married Stephen I of Blois around 1080. She is
one of a series of prominent ladies in 12th-century France who pa-
tronized the arts. For the House of Blois, with its ramifications to
Chartres, Champagne, Reims and elsewhere, one could almost use
the term `gout byzantin', to characterize its cultural interests. Trav-
elling to Constantinople and listening to stories about it became a
family tradition. Adela had already made her `family contribution'.
Her husband was one of the leaders of the First Crusade in whose
company Fulcher of Chartres travelled and worked. Stephen was well
who had just returned from a journey to the East and a visit to
Constantinople. The count supplied the author with details for his
work. This has led some scholars to the hypothesis that he brought
to Flanders translations of Greek `mystery' texts or of the Historia of
William of Tyre. Others think that the Perceval is a roman courtois a
double entendre: all sorts of contemporary events in Byzantium can be
sought there. Was there a hidden invitation to a Quest for relics? Is
it any wonder that Robert of Boron, whose antecedents are other-
wise unknown, also went to the East, possibly to Cyprus, where
eventually he may have found inspiration for his Estoire dou Graal?68
Count Thibaud V of Blois (1152-1191), brother of Henry the
Liberal and of William of the White Hands (archbishop of Char-
tres, Sens and Reims), participated in the Third Crusade. He died at
Acre in 1191. Gautier d'Arras had dedicated to him his Eracle (1176-
1181). Admiration for Byzantine culture, politics and diplomacy is
manifest in this work. Some of the sources are clearly Byzantine.
The suggestion has been made that the author himself had been in
Constantinople. His description of the statue of the emperor Eracle
clearly applies to the equestrian statue of the emperor Justinian in
Constantinople. This statue was also described in the Roman de Troie
of Benoit de Sainte Maure (later translated into Greek, but so far
unpublished) and by Robert of Clari after the victory of the crusad-
ers' army in 1204 (frontispiece). There was in 12th-century Western
Europe a marked interest in sculpture. Examples of this art could be
seen in Rome and in Constantinople. Like the Chanson de Roland and
the Pelerinage de Charlemagne the Eracle is a piece of mystification. Its
oriental setting, again a description of palaces and mosaics is based
on clear observation. But this time there is also a political message
or ideology: Byzantium had to repel the heathen invaders from its
territory. The House of Blois, obliged by duty and tradition to keep
69 Gautier d'Arras, Eracle, ed. G. Arnaud de Lage, Paris 1976; Fourrier, p. 207-
75; Robert de Clari, ch. 86, p. 86; 0. Sohring, `Werke der bildenden Kunst in
altfranzosischen Epen', Romanische Forschungen 12, 1900, p. 576s.; P. Frankl, The
Gothic literary sources and interpretations through eight centuries, Princeton 1960, p. 159-77,
197-204; Kohler, p. 402; Seidler, p. 100-104; Janin, Constantinople byzantine,
p. 74-6. E. Jeffreys is preparing an edition of the Greek translation of the French
Roman de Troie.
7° Robert de Clari, ch. 53, p. 54; Villehardouin, II, ch. 249, p. 50, ch. 403,
p. 214, ch. 413, p. 226, ch. 423, p. 236 (Shaw, 92, 133, 136); Longnon, p. 79s.
FRANCE 189
" A. Bouillet, Liber miraculorum Sancte Fidis, Paris 1897, p. 240-2; Ebersolt, Avant
les croisades, p. 82; McNulty/Hamilton, p. 205.
72 Vita S. Symeonis, auctore Eberruino, AASS Iunii, I, p. 91; McNulty/Hamilton,
p. 198.
73 J. Goupil de Bouille, Le cartulaire de Bourgueil, X siecle, La Perree [1983], A 25;
idem, Le cartulaire de Bourgueil, XT siecle, [1984], B 7 (which I saw at the abbey of
Liguge by the kindness of Dom J. Bequet); J. Martindale, `Conventum inter Guil-
lelmum Aquitanorum et Hugonem chiliarchum', EHR 84, 1969, p. 528, 541, 543.
Tours had preserved some Eastern chants, Wellesz, p. 192s. (whether the levita
Laurentius influenced the term `levites' in the charters is not known, ibid., p. 16);
B.S. Bachrach, `Toward a reappraisal of William the Great, duke of Aquitaine (995-
1030)', Journal of medieval history 5, 1979, p. 11-21; for the reference to the Tours
charters I am indebted to George Beech.
190 CHAPTER SIX
Byzantine ivories. This leads to the conclusion that in the late 10th
century and early 11th century there was at Limoges a `gout byzantin'.
Byzantine or Byzantinizing models may have stimulated the local
production of works of art.76 It is not yet possible to decide whether
this influence worked directly or indirectly. The same is true when
we examine possible influences upon liturgy and music." In the sec-
ond half of the 11th century the so-called Second Bible of Saint
Martial was produced at Limoges, now in Paris (Bibliotheque
Nationale, Lat. 8). The Bible shows marks of Byzantine infuence: the
iconography of Sophia (the Holy Wisdom) and the presence of a
double-headed eagle, but so do other manuscripts from Aquitaine
and neighbouring areas.78 These manuscripts take us to the 12th
century when painting, wall painting and miniature painting, came
into full bloom in France. Byzantine influences are discernible, some-
times blended with Carolingian traditions. Saint Hilaire and the
Baptistery of Saint Jean at Poitiers, and especially the nearby beau-
tiful 11th and 12th century wall-paintings of Saint Savin, are ex-
amples of the new style. The so-called damp-fold style (the lines of
the bodies are clearly marked by the numerous `accentuated' dra-
peries) is one of its characteristics. Iconography plays a special role.
The Byzantine infuence upon miniature painting, in all its complex-
ity, has been firmly established by J. Porcher in various areas of
France, including Aquitaine.79
In the 12th century other art forms were developed or redeveloped.
There was a growing interest in enamels and various workshops
emerged, in Limoges and elsewhere. The importation of Byzantine
enamels may have played a stimulating role. Beautiful objects invite
imitation. Rulers like Eleanor had a keen interest in the arts and
may have been impressed by the icons and enamels which they saw
in the East when they were travelling through the Byzantine empire.
Fulk, father of Geoffrey Plantagenet, had become king of Jerusalem
and this created lively contacts with his home base. The term `gout
Plantagenet' has been coined in a study of the various enamels pro-
duced in the Angevin empire, an empire which extended its cultural
impact as far as Spain. Byzantine elements can be seen in the style,
technique (an `imitation' of the cloisonne technique so popular in
Byzantium) and iconography of these enamels. For decorative purposes
the jig-saw motif ('rinceau vermicule') was used as were variations of
the trefoil, the so-called Byzantine flower motif (orchid motif or even
palm-leaf). The disposition of the cloisons in concentric circles and
triangles to render parts of the human body also betray a Byzantine
influence, which produces the damp-fold style not only in miniature
painting but even in enamelling. Sometimes Byzantine spolia were
used. The portable altar of Sainte Foy, Conques, shows that such
enamels were available. It has been suggested that the positioning of
enamels and precious stones on this altar follows the style of certain
Byzantine icons. One of the best-known enamels and the largest one
to have been preserved in Western Europe (0.63 x 0.33m) is the
funerary plaque representing Geoffrey Plantagenet, now in the Musee
de Tesse, Le Mans. Its date, the workshop where it was made and
the patron for whom it was made are unknown, but the `gout
Plantagenet' is clearly present. The colour program and the clothing
of the ruler, called princeps in the inscription (expressing the love of
`old' titles) have been compared with those on Byzantine enamels.
The original vertical position of the plaque/portrait has been linked
to the portraits of saints and emperors on the walls of Byzantine
churches. In his right hand Geoffrey once held a golden sword. This
may be a reminiscence of the two great icons of St Michael (10th/
12th century) in the treasury of San Marco, Venice. They may have
come from the imperial palace in Constantinople. In one icon the
saint holds the sword in his left hand; in the other icon the sword is
in his right hand, a sword that is free of its background, projecting
a shadow onto photographs. The lions (or leopards?) on the ruler's
shield could express an oriental `gout'. Enamelled plaques from an
altar of Grandmont abbey (now in ruins) are another example of
Byzantinizing features. The plaques of the altar are now in the Musee
de Cluny, Paris.80
80 M.-M. Gautier, `Le gout Plantagenet', XXP congres d'histoire de fart, Bonn 1964,
FRANCE 193
Berlin 1967, p. 139-55; eadem, Emaux du Moyen Age occidental, Fribourg 1972, nos.
34, p. 75-7, 40, p. 82s.; eadem, `t'art, savoir-faire medieval et laboratoire moderne
a propos de l'efigie funeraire de Geoffroy Plantagenet', in Comptes-rendus de l'Academie
des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1979, p. 105-3 1; S./M. Nikitine, L'email Plantagenet, Nancy
1981, with colour plate. For the icons, K. Wessel, Die byzantinische Emailkunst,
Recklinghausen 1967, nos. 28, p. 91-3, 30, p. 94-7, and The treasury of San Marco,
catalogue, London 1984, nos. 12, p. 141-7, 19, p. 171-5 (both with colour plates).
81 R. Graham, English ecclesiastical studies, London 1929, p. 215 and plate X, opp.
p. 214; T.S.R. Boase, English art, 1100-1216, Oxford 1953, p. 98; D.G. Shepherd,
`La dalmatique d'Ambazac. Dossier de recensement', Bulletin de liaison du centre inter-
national d'etude des textiles anciens, no. 11, janvier 1960, p. 11-29.
82 C. Enlart, `Les eglises a coupoles d'Aquitaine et de Chypre', Gazette des Beaux-
Arts 13, 1926, p. 29-52; C. Daras, `Les eglises a file de coupoles derivees de la
cathedrale d'Angouleme en Aquitaine', CCM 6, 1963, p. 55-60; M. Durliat, `La
cathedrale Saint-Etienne de Cahors. Architecture et sculpture', Bulletin monumental
137, 1979, p. 285-340; D. Talbot Rice, The Byzantine element in late Saxon art, Oxford
1947 (The William Henry Charlton memorial lecture, November 1946), p. 5, com-
pares the church of Issoire, south of Le Puy, with the church of Saint Mary
Pammacaristos, Constantinople.
83 J. Philippe, Le monde byzantin dans l'histoire de la verrerie, F-XVP siecle, Bologna
1970, p. 148 (lamp at Angers).
84 M. Schapiro, Romanesque art. Selected papers, I, London 1977, `A relief in Rodez',
p. 301, n. 37 (= Studies in Western art, Acts of the 20th international congress of the history
of art, I, Romanesque and Gothic art), ed. M. Meiss e.a., Princeton 1963.
194 CHAPTER SIX
85 Lejeune, art. cit. (n. 23), p. 5-57; eadem, `La femme dans les litteratures francaise
et occitane du )U an XIIIe siecles', CCM 20, 1977, p. 201-217; E.M. Jeffreys,
`The Comnenian background to the Romans d'Antiquite', Byz 50, 1980, p. 455-86,
eadem, `The Sebastokratorissa Eirene as literary patroness: the monk Iakovos', JOB
32, 1982, p. 63-71.
86 Sohring, art. cit. (n. 69), p. 592-7; J. Frappier, `Remarques sur la peinture de
FRANCE 195
la vie et des heros antiques dans la litterature francaise du XIIC et du XIIIP siecle',
in L'humanisme medieval dans les litteratures romanes du XIT au XIV` siecle, Actes et colloques,
Paris 1964, p. 19; Kohler, p. 396-7. My unpublished university thesis, Leiden 1966,
deals with some of these topoi. I hope to come back to the French epic Girart de
Roussillon and its Byzantine setting.
a' Marie de France, Lais, ed. J. Rychner, Paris 1968 (1981), p. 135, v. 122s.
88 Demus, p. 111-12.
89 J. Gay, `L'abbaye de Cluny et Byzance an debut du XIIP siecle', EO 30, 1931,
p. 84-90; McNulty/Hamilton, p. 199, 204-5, 208, 212; Chronique de l'Abbaye de Saint-
Benigne de Don, ed. E. Bougaud, Dijon 1875, p. 152 (cf. Altera Vita sancti Guillelmi, PL
141, c. 864, for monks from Ravenna); AASS April, III, p. 648-53. There exists an
11th-century lead seal of John, archbishop of Corinth, V. Laurent, Le corpus des
sceaux de l'empire byzantin. V. L'eglise, Paris 1963, no. 562, p. 419.
196 CHAPTER SIX
New York 1964, ch. XI, 'Cluny and the Italo-Byzantine style', p. 41-53 (he sees
influence via Rome); C. Oursel, La miniature du XII` siecle a l'abbaye de Citeaux;, Dijon,
1926, p. 37, 41s., 57-9 (who refers to the use of Greek `spuria' in all these manu-
scripts).
96 The Letters of Peter the Venerable, ed. G. Constable, Cambridge, Mass., 1967, I,
nos. 75, 76, II, p. 148, 292; cf. Orderic Vitalis, Chibnall, II, p. 202, V, p. 38; Dom
B. Gariador, Les anciens monasteres benedictins en Orient, Lille/Paris 1912, p. 94s.;
D. Talbot Rice, Some Byzantine motifs in Romanesque sculpture', Byz 39, 1969,
p. 172s., sees Byzantine influence in the capitals of the Charite sur Loire and else-
where.
97 C. Waddell, `The reform of the liturgy from a Renaissance perspective', in
Renaissance and renewal, p. 103; McNulty/Hamilton, passim; Geanakoplos, Byzantine
198 CHAPTER SIX
East and Latin West, p. 45 (n. 70), 48; Dom R. Rios, 'Benedictine contacts with the
Eastern church', Eastern Churches Quarterly 4, 1941, p. 250s.; J. Leclercq, 'Les rela-
tions entre le monachisme oriental et occidental dans le haut moyen age', in Le
millenaire du Mont Athos, II, Chevetogne 1963, p. 53s.; Seidel, p. 27s.
98 Ed. A. Hilka, Gottingen 1933, cii-cvi, p. 54, v. 1301s.; Fourrier, p. 447-85;
Seidel, p. 109-110.
99 Byzance et la France medievale, op. cit. (n. 76), nos. 119-29.
100 L. Delisle, Le Cabinet des manuscrits de la Bibliotheque imperiale, Paris 1868, I,
p. 317; cf. Ebersolt, Pendant les croisades, p. 12, n. 2; Berschin, p. 179. Another
manuscript had a Greek alphabet with the Greek numerals, J. Mangeart, Catalogue
des manuscrits de Valenciennes, Paris/Valenciennes 1860, no. 189, p. 178. The treasury
possessed relics from the East like a double-armed cross from Jerusalem, Ebersolt,
FRANCE 199
105 Tafel/Thomas, I, p. 208-9; Dolger, Regesten, no. 1590; Brand, p. 199; Gun-
ther of Pairis, Historia Constantinopolitana, in Riant, Exuviae, I, p. 102 (German tr.
E. Assmann, Cologne/Graz 1956, inaccessible); Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 575,
suggests that the Provencal merchants had a church of their own; cf note 101.
106 Berschin, art. cit. (n. 102), c. 341.
CHAPTER SEVEN
With the coronation of Otto of Saxony by the pope in 962 the Holy
Roman empire was born. The ceremony took place in Rome, em-
phasizing German influence in Italy, or at least in parts of the Ital-
ian peninsula. The new empire, emerging from the ruins of the
Carolingian empire, claimed to be its legitimate successor. Hence its
further hegemony in Western Europe, Charlemagne's former em-
pire. Its vast territories stretched from the North Sea far into Italy
where Venice, Rome, Monte Cassino and Sicily still felt the impact
of Byzantine culture. The German empire had an itinerant court
although attempts were made to settle in Rome as a more or less
permanent basis by Otto III and Frederick Barbarossa. The Alps
divided the vast empire in two parts and formed an obstacle in win-
tertime when the mountains were covered with snow. The frontiers
were fluid and open. In the eastern parts of the empire raids were
organised against the barbarians living in the east, and these resulted
in the gradual colonization of these areas. New bishoprics like
Magdeburg were founded. In church affairs, by nominating bishops
and by founding bishoprics, the first emperors enjoyed considerable
success and influence. These activities contributed to the develop-
ment of a coherent internal structure in the empire, but this was
undermined in the end by troubles over the investiture, feudal prob-
lems etc. Feudal ties with Burgundy and Lotharingia opened chan-
nels of influence into areas which nowadays belong to France, and
which thus fall more or less out of the scope of this chapter. Large
areas of lands, like Saxony, Bavaria and the Eastmarch (called nowa-
days Austria) were held by powerful ducal families, liegemen of
the emperor. The ruling families were all related to one another, a
situation which invited problems but also the building up of power-
blocks. Hungary and southern Italy, the latter in the hands of the
Crusade of 1147 was a joint venture of the French king Louis VII
and the German king Conrad III. The latter was accompanied by
his half-brother, the historian Otto of Freising, who in his turn was
the uncle of young Frederick Barbarossa who had joined the com-
pany, together with duke Welf VI and many Germans of lesser rank.
The Third Crusade of 1189 was, as far as the land route was con-
cerned, the affair of Frederick Barbarossa who this time was not
allowed to visit the Greek capital, as it was suspected that he would
launch an attack against the emperor. He died in Asia Minor, in
1190, on the way home, without ever having revisited Constantinople.
The year 1203 saw Germans arrive at Constantinople, who took part
in the attack on the capital and its final capture.
There was a constant traffic between the two empires, official and
unofficial. Greek texts regularly refer to Germans and their country,
to those who travelled through their land and to those who served
as mercenaries in the Byzantine armed forces. In the Book of Ceremo-
nies of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus we find the expressions
ptj Eu wviaS and pBatiovprl
Ti to designate German rulers. In the
De administrando imperio Otto the Great (Otto I) is described as fr
bpa-yyia; titjs xai The inhabitants are called 'AAaµavot or
Ngn'tcoi (Germans), (Saxons), 'AXagavoticexot/Tcexot (Czechs),
'Oatpixtot (Austrians); 'AXagavia is used to indicate the country in
general. The Danube was called Aavov(3to; in Greek and even the
river Rhine had its equivalent in Greek `Ptjvoc.4
No over-all survey exists of relations between Byzantium and the
German empire. A wide variety of themes had been studied by
W. Ohnsorge whose articles were collected into the three volumes
Abendland and Byzanz, Konstantinopel and der Okzident and Ost-Rome and
der Westen. A wealth of information can be found in the indices to
these volumes. P. Lamma wrote the history of the relations between
the Comnenian emperors and the Staufer. G. Cames has given a
survey of the artistic and political relations between the two empires
in his book on Romanesque painting in Germany. Art historians have
Arab world U. Philippe, Le monde byzantin dans l'histoire de la verrerie, Bologne 1970).
Alexius I sent a crystal goblet to Henry IV, see below. For coins see for example,
K. Langosch, Waltharius. Ruodlieb. Marchenepen, Basel/Stuttgart 1967, 3rd ed., p. 133,
373s. (cf Leyser, `Tenth century', p. 43); Kaiserin Theophanu. Prinzessin aus der Fremde
des Westreichs Grosse Kaiserin, ed. G. Wolf, Cologne 1991; Kaiserin Theophanu. Begegnung
des Ostens and Westens um die Wende des ersten Jahrtausends, ed. A. von Euw/P. Schreiner,
2 vols., Cologne 1991; Vor dem Jahr 1000. Abendldndische Buchkunst zur Zeit der Kai-
serin Theophanu, catalogue, Cologne 1991; Die Begegnung des Westens mit dem Osten, ed.
0. Engels/P. Schreiner, Sigmaringen 1993; The empress Theophano. Byzantium and the
West at the turn of the first millennium, ed. A. Davids e.a., Cambridge 1995.
8 B. Bischoff, Mittelalterliche Schatzverzeichnisse, Munich 1967, index, s.v. Graeciscus,
Graecus, Grecia.
208 CHAPTER SEVEN
at that time, and may have become acquainted with this medium by
these contacts. The Catalonian altar frontals seem to have been an ex-
ception. Painted portraits of Byzantine emperors are referred to from
time to time in the sources. Hadwig was later able to teach Greek to
Burchard, future abbot of Saint Gall. She translated a few religious
texts into Greek for him before she died in 994. Otto's brother Bruno
knew some Greek, which he had learnt from Balderich, bishop of
Utrecht. Later he practised his Greek by conversing with visiting
Greeks.9
Adam of Bremen mentions Greeks living at Wollin (Jumne, up in
the north). Ships from Haithabu sailed to Greece. The north also
saw the arrival of a certain Paulus, a foreigner (a Greek?) who had
lived in Byzantium and who offered to mint Byzantine gold coins
for the bishop of Hamburg.10 A Greek bishop attended the synod
of Pohlde in 1029. Wandering monks came to the West and some of
them settled and died in the German empire, like St Symeon of
Trier. He built a little chapel near the Porta Nigra, in Trier, where
he died in 1035. Alagrecus, apparently a Greek by birth, came from
Jerusalem to Mainz in 1049. Some Greeks seem to have settled in
German monasteries. The presence of Greek nationals or of Ger-
man mercenaries who had acquired Greek status may explain the
claims to be judged according to the law of the Greeks which one
seems to see from time to time. The surname Grecus is a mystery
and may refer to one of these categories. Fashion, liturgy and ascetism
(as described in the Life of Adalbert of Prague) seem to have affected
the West, but this aspect deserves more study. A connection may be
seen with the presence of a Greek prayer in a 10th-century Sacra-
mentary written in Fulda. So many Greeks came to Germany in the
first half of the 11th century that the bishop of Hildesheim, Godehard,
allowed them to stay only two nights at the ecclesiastical hospices."
Greek artists worked in Germany. Some time after 1015 the vaulted
chapel of Saint Bartholomew's in Paderborn was built by Greeks
('per Grecos operarios'), at least in the written tradition, and so was
9 Ekkehardi IV. Casus s. Galli, ed. H.F. Haefele, Darmstadt 1980 (with German
tr.), ch. 90 (p. 184-5), ch. 94 (p. 194-5); Ruotgeri Vita Brunonis, ed. I. Ott, MGH SS,
Weimar 1951, ch. 4 (5); Vita Iohannis Gorziensis, MGH SS IV, p. 370.
10 Adam of Bremen, II, 2 (p. 252-3); IV, 1 (p. 434-5), scholium 77/78 (p. 372-3).
Vita prior Godehardi, MGH SS XIII, p. 193, 207; Vita Symeonis, auctore Eberwino,
AASS, Jun. I, p. 90, 93; Jocundus, Translatio S. Servatii, MGH SS XII, p. 89; McNulty/
Hamilton, p. 197s., 202, 206, 207, 211, 214, 216; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 547-8;
A. Jacob, `La traduction de la Liturgie de saint Basile par Nicolas d'Otrante', Bul-
letin de l'Institut beige de Rome 38, 1967, p. 49.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 209
'? Vita Meinwerci, MGH SS XI, p. 139 (from 1009 to 1036 Meinwerk was bishop
of Paderborn), cf. L. Grodecki, L'architecture ottonienne, Paris 1958, p. 173-5; G. Mietke,
Die Bautdtigkeit Bischof Meinwerks von Paderborn and die fruhchristliche and byzantinische
Architektur, Paderborn 1991; Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 4, 15, fig. 1; Demus,
p. 79; A. Michel, 'Der kirchliche Wechselverkehr zwischen West and Ost vor dem
verscharften Schisma des Kerullarios (1054)', Ostkirchliche Studien 1, 1952, p. 146.
13 Berschin, `Drei griechische Majestas-tituli', p. 299-309 (with ills.).
14 H. Keussen, Topographie der Stadt Koln, Bonn, 1910, I, p. 14, 59; II, map 3 of
Cologne, ca. 1000; Mazal, no. 217; W J. Aerts, `The knowledge of Greek in West-
ern Europe at the time of Theophano and the Greek grammar fragment in ms.
Vindob. 114', in Byzantium and the Low Countries, p. 78-103. It is possible that
in the late 10th century a rabbi of Greek descent lived in Mainz, FJ. Tschan, Saint
Bernward of Hildesheim. His life and times, Notre Dame, Indiana 1942, p. 29, n. 25
('Kolonymos ben Meschullam').
210 CHAPTER SEVEN
But she brought with her to the West a large dowry and a Byzan-
tine upbringing. Her dowry was impressive and her personality has
spoken to the imagination of her contemporaries and of modem men.
She introduced luxury and an imperial style to the German empire
and set the fashion for women by wearing rich vestments and jew-
elry. After her death she appeared in a vision to a nun and con-
fessed her shame at having done so. Peter Damian accused her of
mysterious dealings with John Philagathus, the Greek teacher of her
son Otto III.15 Efforts have been made to reconstruct her dowry and
to identify items of her household goods." Theophano brought with
her a suite of Greeks, among whom monks and ladies in waiting,
some of whom settled permanently in the West. Philagathus, prob-
ably a Greek from southern Italy, died at Fulda, in prison, after an
eventful life during which he had even tried to seize the papal throne,
an alarming thing to do for a man who had Greek blood and be-
lieved in Orthodoxy. The monk Gregory, the spiritual father of Otto
III, who was head of the monastery of Burtscheid (near Aachen),
may also have come from southern Italy. In Burtscheid, in the church
of St John the Baptist, there is still a 10th/11th-century Byzantine
mosaic icon representing St Nicholas, in the church treasury. Through-
out the period discussed in this book Greeks came and lived in the
German empire. As late as 1201 an exiled Greek emperor, Alexius
IV, came to Germany to ask for help to win back his throne. Through
his sister he was related to the German rulers. His coming to the
West did not help him. Instead Constantinople fell into the hands
of the Western crusaders. In June 1204, after the second capture of
Constantinople, we find a Greek in the company of the bishop of
Passau who received a mission from Byzantium.17
15 Otloh, Liber visionum, MGH SS XI, p. 385 (cf ibid., IV, p. 888); PL 144,
c. 253 (P. Corbet, Les saints ottoniens, Sigmaringen 1986, p. 71, n. 8, speaks of adultery).
16 H. Wentzel, `Hypothesen fiber den Brautschatz der Theophano', AKB 40, 1971,
p. 15s.; 43, 1972, p. I ls.; 44, 1973, p. 43s.; idem, `Alte and altertumliche Kunstwerke
der Kaiserin Theophano', Pantheon 30, 1972, p. 3s.; H. Westermann-Angerhausen,
`Spuren der Theophanu in der ottonischen Schatzkunst?', in Kaiserin Theophanu,
op. cit. (n. 7), II, p. 193-218 (= Wolf, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 263-78).
17 Vita Gregorii abbatis Porcetensis, MGH SS XV, p. 1187-99; McNulty/Hamilton,
p. 191, 200s.; for some of these Greek monks in German lands, A. Bayer, `Griechen
im Westen im 10. and 11. Jahrhundert: Simeon von Trier and Simeon von
Reichenau', in Kaiserin Theophanu, I, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 335-41; A. Krickelberg-
Piitz, `Die Mosaikikone des H1. Nikolaus in Aachen-Burtscheid', AKB 50, 1982,
p. 10-141; H. Heger, Das Lebenszeugnis Walthers von der Vogeiweide. Die Reiserechnungen
des Passauer Bischofs Wolfger von Erla, Vienna 1970, p. 95, 97, 105, 141, 179, 186.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 211
Liutprand's bitter report in the Legatio and the graffiti he left in his
lodgings in Constantinople. Another mission, under the leadership of
Gero, the archbishop of Cologne, met with success and the Byzan-
tine bride arrived in Rome in 972. In the marriage diploma she
appears as consors imperii. This qualification must have been part of
the treaty between the two imperial families, between the two em-
pires. The purplecoloured diploma, written in gold ink, on an elabo-
rated background imitating a decoration of medallions on a precious
silk, is preserved today and is now in Wolfenbuttel, in the Nieder-
sachsisches Staatsarchiv. It has been suggested that Byzantine influ-
ence is manifest in so far as a document was given to confirm the
marriage contract. Byzantium had a long and strong tradition of the
written, documented word.22
In 974, after the death of Otto I, Theophano appears as co-imperatrix
and soon became imperatrix. She became co-ruler with her husband,
intervening in donations, making her appearance in numerous diplo-
mas and travelling with him through the vast empire. In 983, after
the death of her husband, she became the regent for their infant son
Otto III, which was only too natural given that she was an empress
of Greek birth. In this she was probably also following Byzantine
tradition. Co-rulership was regarded as a typically Greek institution
as we learn from a letter sent to Egbert, archbishop of Trier, on that
occasion. There was a wish to introduce co-rulership during the
regency over Otto III, to diminish Theophano's influence. Regency
was wellknown in Byzantium, and could be exercised by the mother
of a future ruler. Both Otto II and Otto III used the title imperator
Romanorum, proclaiming themselves to be the equals of their Byzan-
tine colleagues.23 Their ideology was to accept and to adapt Byzan-
tine institutions to their purposes and for their court. Titles, secular
and spiritual, were important in Byzantine court life. In this they
had their counterpart in the Ottonians. Spiritual brothers and sons
can be found among the Western rulers and ecclesiastics: the duke
of Bavaria, the rulers of Hungary, Venice, Poland, and possibly the
comital family of the county of Holland belong to the new category
of Byzantinizing titles and `oficials'.24 Court titles followed in due
time, and they even used all sorts of Greek denominations for them-
selves.25
Double portraits of rulers, the king/emperor and his wife, appear
in the 970s. The portrait of Otto II and Theophano has been pre-
served on ivories and two lead medallions, and on a lost manuscript
decoration once in Magdeburg. In Byzantium imperial couples were
represented together. In the German empire such portraiture was
used to propagate a new court style and the ambitions of the new
dynasty. The coronation ivory of Otto II and Theophano in the
Musee de Cluny, Paris, with its inscription in Latin and Greek, is a
wellknown example. A small figure (usually presumed to be John
Philagathus) lies in proskynesis (complete prostration) at their feet. In
miniature painting the portrait is sometimes found in a dedication
scene. Occasionally the vellum was painted purple and also the use
of gold ink reminds us of the imperial Byzantine chancery.26 Even
the regalia of the Ottos were inspired by Byzantium. Their crown, or
that of their successors, with prependilia (strings of pearls hanging along-
side the head on both sides) and enamelled plaques, was an idea
taken from Byzantium.27 The use of metal seals, lead and gold, en-
hanced the idea of emperorship modelled on the eastern model.28
Kaiserin', Melanges L Dujcev, Paris 1979, p. 84, n. 4, stresses the role of Theophano's
interventions.
24 Cf. K.N. Ciggaar, `The empress Theophano (972-991): political and cultural
implications of her presence in Western Europe, in particular for the county of
Holland', in Byzantium and the Low Countries, p. 33-76.
25 P.E. Schramm, Kaiser, Rom and Renovatio, Leipzig 1929 (repr. Darmstadt 1984),
index, p. 315-16, s.v. Beamte, p. 323-4, s.v. Kaiser; T. Vogelsang, Die Frau als
Herrscherin im hohen Mittelalter, Gottingen etc., 1954, p. 28.
26 P.E. Schramm, Die deutschen Kaiser and Konige in Bildern ihrer Zeit, Leipzig 1928
(new ed. by P. Berghaus e.a., Munich 1983, nos. 91, 92, 93; ibid., no. 94, a now
lost fresco from Rieti, Italy, is regarded as a portrait of Otto II and Theophano),
pl. 65, 66; P.E. Schramm/F. Mutherich, Denkmale der deutschen Konige and Kaiser, Munich
1962, nos. 73, 74, 75, etc. Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon, III, 1, ed. W. Trillmich,
with German tr., Darmstadt 1975, p. 96; Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 14-19.
27 See note 26.
2e Ohnsorge, Abendland, e.g. p. 42, 273s., 288s., 304s., 310s., 357s., 528s.;
214 CHAPTER SEVEN
The coins of the first emperors do not yet show such influence. From
996 Otto III introduces his portrait onto coins struck at the Strasbourg
mint. The so-called Adelheid-denarii, carrying the names of Adelheid
(regent for Otto III after the death of Theophano in 991) and of
Otto, reflect the idea of an imperial couple.29 When Otto II had
died he was buried in Rome in a sarcophagus with a red porphyry
covercle.3o
Otto III, once crowned emperor by the pope in Rome, in 996,
was infatuated by the idea of Byzantine court style. He conversed
with ascetics and brought them into his inner circle of advisors, for
example, Gregory of Burtscheid and John Philagathus both mentioned
above. He even claimed the right to nominate the pope and felt
urged to Christianize the eastern marches of his empire. In all this
he was imitating his Greek 'relatives'.31 He wanted a real porphyro-
genita for his wife. Several embassies were exchanged before success
was achieved. His Greek bride arrived at Bari, the last Byzantine
stronghold in southern Italy, only to find out that Otto III had just
died of a mysterious disease. This last embassy to be sent which had
brought back the Byzantine princess in 1002, was led by Arnulf,
bishop of Milan. The story goes that once in Constantinople he had
shod the horse, given to him by the Western emperor, with golden
horseshoes. When he paraded through the Constantinopolitan streets,
the populace could thus see the wealth of Otto III. It is true that
gold, by its softness (unless the percentage of gold was very low)
was not ideal for horseshoes on a permanent basis. True or not, it
is a charming story, leaving us with the impression of the attempt of
a Western delegate to compete with eastern splendour. Storytelling
was a good medium.32 Otto III died without leaving a successor to
the throne. The dream of the Ottonian dynasty was nearly over.
Henry II (1002-1024), another grandson of Otto I who was married
to Cunegunde of Luxemburg, became the new ruler. The marriage
remained childless and there was no need to send for a Byzantine
princess.
The Ottonian period is not the best known period of the Western
Middle Ages. During this period, however, Byzantine influence was
strongly felt in the German empire, from where it spread to neigh-
bouring areas. Monasteries played an important role in this. They
had often been founded by the Ottonian rulers, provided with ab-
bots and abbesses of princely origin, and had received large gifts for
their treasuries, among which were Byzantine objects. The ruling
families of the empire, dukes, counts and others, had all become
acquainted with the Byzantine world when treasures and traditions
were displayed at the itinerant court. The wonders of Byzantium
travelled through the empire. The three daughters and the son of
Otto II and Theophano contributed to it in their own ways. The
new rulers, Henry II and Cunegunde, followed the ideology of their
predecessors, behaving as real emperors, imitating in more than one
way the Byzantine emperors.33
Religious life was affected by the arrival of new relics. The intro-
duction of new saints was an interesting phenomenon. St Nicholas
had previously been practically unknown in Germany. Then the
monastery of Aachen-Burtscheid was dedicated to this Byzantine saint.
His Vita was written in the 11th century by Otloh, who lived at
Saint Emmeran, Regensburg.34 There followed a real blossoming of
`Kaiserin Theophanu, the Ottonen and der Beginn der St. Nikolaus-Verehrung in
Mitteleuropa', in idem, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 27-38.
3s Corbet, op. cit. (n. 15), passim.
36 J Prochno, Das Schreiber- and Dedikationsbild in der deutschen Buchmalerei, Leipzig/
Berlin 1929, no. 83; J. Weitzmann-Fiedler, `Zur Illustration der Margaretenlegende',
Munchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 17, 1966, p. 30s. (fac-simile ed. of the manu-
script, with an introd. by C. Hahn, Graz 1988).
3' Vita Sanctae Cunegundis; MGH SS IV, p. 821; see also Bischof, op. cit. (n. 8),
no. 54, p. 62, where the abbess Hitda donated icones in the early 11th century.
38 A. Suhle, 'Der byzantinische Einfluss auf the Munzen Mitteleuropas vom 10.
bis 12. Jahrhundert', in Aus der byzantinischen Arbeit der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik,
ed. J. Irmscher, Berlin 1957, II, p. 286s.; V. Hatz, `Die byzantinischen Einfliisse auf
das deutsche Munzwesen des 11. Jahrhunderts', Zeitschri/1 fur Archkologie 12, 1978,
p. 145-62; The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, s.v. frontality; A. Hauser, Sozial-
geschichte der mittelalterlichen Kunst, Munich 1957, p. 17; RBK, s.v. Frontalitat.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 217
in gold ink, the Heinricianum which is now lost.39 On the altar table
which he probably donated to Basel, now in the Musee de Cluny,
Paris, he and his wife are represented as tiny persons in proskynesis
before Christ, in Byzantine style. The decorative metalwork is in-
spired by Byzantine motifs. In his Gospel Book, Vatic. Ottob. 74, fo.
193v, made in the early 1020s at Regensburg for Monte Cassino, he
had himself portrayed as a Byzantine emperor, in costume, in atti-
tude and in style, complete with the crown with prependilia. This min-
iature was a political document. The emperor wished to impose his
authority at Monte Cassino where he had just nominated a new
abbot and where he was superseding the former Byzantine presence
in the abbey. Political struggle for power and influence on southern
Italy found its expression here.40
Hierarchy, power and the arts are closely related in such minia-
tures, coins and liturgical objects like altars, the outward signs of
ruling power. It was not only the ideology of his `Byzantinizing'
predecessors which he followed so closely; there was also the attrac-
tion of real Byzantine objets d'art.
Illustrated Greek manuscripts, like Lectionaries, Gospel Books or
Psalters, had a special impact. Some of such manuscripts were doubt-
less brought to the West by Theophano and her suite. The Dormition
of the Virgin, iconographically a typical Byzantine scene, appears for
example in a Reichenau Gospel Lectionary, Wolfenbiittel Cod. 84.5,
fo. 79v. The Crucifixion scene in a Sacramentary for Henry II, is
again Byzantine in its iconography and even carries the appropriate
Greek inscription H CTAYOPtoCIC (Munich, Staatsbibliothek, Cod. Lat.
4456, fo. l5r).41 In Henry II's Evangeliary, written between 1012
and 1014 (Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Bibl. 95, fo. 7v-8r), the king
offers the text to the Virgin who is called Theotokos in the Greek
way: ECA MARIA OEOTOCOE.42
Byzantine models were available, which is hardly surprising if we
remember the dowry of Theophano, the Byzantine taste of her son
and the many contacts existing between East and West, and the re-
sulting embassies which travelled back and forth carrying gifts in
abundance. Henry II died without leaving a son or daughter and
thus came an end to the glorious Ottonian dynasty.
Ottonian art incorporated elements of Byzantine art. The Gospels
of Otto III were decorated with a Byzantine ivory representing the
Dormition (Munich, Staatsbibliothek, Cod. Lat. 4453; ill. 14). The
Ottonian rulers and, at their command, the artists, used what they
appreciated in Byzantine art. They made their own selection from
the iconography of the Christian East. Exotic lettering in the form of
Greek inscriptions, also used in manuscript texts for the nomina sacra
and for other words, mysterious to many, was one of their choices.43
Bishops, abbots and abbesses were also patrons of the arts. The
archbishop Egbert of Trier (977-993) is a good example of an eccle-
siastical patron of the arts, who was willing to introduce Byzantine
elements. His Psalter, now in Trier (Stadtbibliothek, no. 9), betrays
such Byzantine influence. Before becoming archbishop Egbert was
chancellor at the court and stood in close contact with the imperial
taste and traditions. He probably accompanied Otto II and Theophano
on their travels through Italy.44
Two daughters of Theophano became influential abbesses. They
too patronized the arts: Adelheid was abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1045),
Sophia in Gandersheim (d. 1039). They were also active in Gernrode,
Essen and Elten. Their niece Theophano, granddaughter of the
empress Theophano, was abbess of Essen. In Essen, to take one
example of a convent, there was a strong Byzantine element. Parts
of the Greek liturgy were preserved here for a long time, and the
church has preserved to the present day a large part of its treasure.
The four impressive processional crosses have spolia of Byzantine
enamels; the crosses betray the influence of Byzantine cloisonne enam-
elling technique, as well as other features that were not part of
Ottonian art. For the seven-armed candelabra, standing in the church,
a model can be sought in the imperial palace of Constantinople.
43 Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 16, ill. 29; P. Stotz, `Esse velim Graecus ...
Griechischer Glanz and griechische Irrlichter im mittelalterlichen Latein', in Die
Begegnung des Westens mit dem Osten, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 433-51.
44 M. Buchthal, `Byzantium and Reichenau', in Byzantine art, lectures, p. 43-58.
For the Egbert Psalter, cf. Lexikon des Mittelalters, s.v. codex Egberti; Schatzkunst Trier,
catalogue, Trier 1984, no. 27; F. Ronig, `Egbert, Erzbischof von Trier (977-993).
Zum Jahrtausend seines Regierungsantritts', in Festschrift 100 Jahre Rheinisches Landes-
museum, Trier, Mainz 1979, p. 347-65.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 219
The technology used to fit together the various parts and the casting
of the bronze led to a search abroad, in the East. A Byzantine crafts-
man is thought by some to have been active in Essen producing the
candelabra. Byzantine technology was in many ways superior to that
of the West. The goldcovered statue of the seated Virgin, the Golden
Madonna, has puzzled historians and art historians. The statue seems
to be one of the first full-scale sculptures in the medieval West. The
cult of the Virgin, which was stimulated by the arrival of Theophano
and other Greeks, seems to have spread around, slowly but gradu-
ally. More research is needed before we can reach conclusions about
the cult of the Virgin in the West. Smaller items were kept at Essen,
such as the gold seal of the emperor Michael VII (1056-1057).45
Byzantine ivories and enamels were used for decoration. Other
spolia (seals, cameos, gems, coins etc.) followed in due time or were
cherished as little treasures. At an early stage, before the end of the
10th century, these artefacts made an impact upon the minor arts,
on ivory carving for instance (as is the case with an ivory in the
treasury of Osnabruck), and on manuscript painting (imitation of silk
patterns in miniatures).46 Much research has been done and remains
to be done to detect Byzantine and Byzantinizing influences and
elements in Ottonian art. Bishops played an important role as we
have seen already. Other bishops, like for example Bernward of Hil-
desheim, deserve more attention in this respect.47
'9 Bertholdi narratio quomodo portio sanctae crucis Werdeam peroenerit, MGH SS XV,
p. 768-70 (cf. Suevia Sacra, catalogue, Augsburg 1973, no. 118; in 1122 the monk
Berthold went to Constantinople to find a confirmation of its authenticity); Schramm,
art. cit. (n. 32; 1924), p. 472, n. 1. For Conrad's seals cf. Ohnsorge, Abendland,
p. 289, 358s., 531; Frolow, Relique, nos. 203, 206 (now in Donauworth, Swabia).
so Adam of Bremen, III, 32 (31), p. 174; M. Uhlirz, `Neue Forschungen uber
Theophanu', Atti del 3. Congresso internazionale di studi sull' alto medioeoo 3, Spoleto 1959,
p. 551-3 ('Conrad should be a son of Otto III'), cf. Drogereit, art. cit. (n. 45),
p. 112; Wolf, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 207-11; Ohnsorge, `Waren die Salier Sachsenkaiser?',
in Konstantinopel, p. 227-51.
51 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 316-32; Bischoff, op. cit. (n. 8), no. 128, p. 130;
M. Schulze-Dorlamm, Der Mainzer Schatz der Kaiserin Agnes aus dern mittleren 11. Jahrhundert.
Neue Untersuchungen zum sogenannten `Gisela-Schmuck', Sigmaringen 1991.
52 Vita Annonis, MGH SS XI, p. 479 (Frolow, Relique, nos. 223, 234, p. 275,
279); Lounghis, p. 230-1.
222 CHAPTER SEVEN
bishop's death, says that he received gifts from the king of Greece.
This could also refer to the period after 1062 when the archbishop
acted as regent and tutor to Henry IV whose mother had been sent
to Rome, in order to get her out of the way. In Anno's Vita and in
his entourage Byzantine elements have been preserved. His chasuble
was made of purple Byzantine silk, an enamelled reliquary in the
form of a patriarchal cross (a double armed cross) is considered by
many art historians as being Byzantine enamel-work. In the treasury
of Siegburg Byzantine silks like the famous, now destroyed (?), lion
silk originate from Anno's shrine.53 Shortly after his death, around
1077, a Greek Psalter was written for Saint Gereon, Cologne, a mon-
astery which the archbishop had recently enlarged. The Psalterion,
now in the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek (Cod. theol. gr. 336)
contains four miniatures on a golden background, the script being
partly in gold as well. On fo. 1 r St Gereon is represented as a Byz-
antine warrior saint. There is also an Enthroned Virgin with Child,
a Crucifixion scene and an enthroned king David. The position of
this small Psalterion, measuring only 11.1 x 8.8 cm, in the develop-
ment of miniature painting in Cologne workshops is interesting.54
Henry IV felt that diplomatic contacts with the East were impor-
tant. Bishop Benno II of Osnabriick (died in 1088) organized a Greek
language school at Osnabriick, meant as a sort of training centre for
diplomats and ecclesiastical envoys. Benno had been in Constantinople
himself, in the company of bishop William of Strasbourg, when they
were making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The cathedral treasury pre-
serves a few objects that can be linked with Byzantium, directly or
indirectly, and which may be the result of these contacts.ss
Although marriages among ruling families were at this time mainly
political contracts, they also functioned as stimulants of the arts by
the exchange of ambassadorial gifts and dowry gifts. Gifts of land
were mostly out of the question in the case of Byzantine princesses,
instead gold, silver and artefacts were brought to the West. This was
valid for other ruling families in Western Europe, but for the Ger-
man empire, with its political interests in Italy, it was to be taken
into account even more.
A new attempt at a marriage alliance between East and West is
seen in the 1080s. The Comnenian family had succeeded in seizing
the Byzantine throne. It was a large family and this size was going
to be useful for some time by maintaining power and official func-
tions within the family and by incorporating into their midst, through
matrimonial connections, other influential families in Byzantium and
abroad. Marriage partners were easily available. Alexius I Comnenus
wrote to Henry IV that he did not yet have a son of his own but
that a nephew, the son of one of his brothers (a sebastocrator), was a
pleasant and brilliant boy who should gladly marry Henry's daugh-
ter. Twice Anna Comnena mentions this planned engagement but
nothing come of it since we never hear of it again. Alexius who, in
his own words, said that the marriage should be `formidable to our
enemies and with God's help invincible', needed German support
against the Normans who now formed a danger to Byzantium. They
already had conquered Byzantine territories in Italy. Anna repro-
duces parts of a letter, sent by her father to Henry IV. To support
his German colleague, or rather to finance his military expeditions
in Italy, Alexius agreed to send some 144,000 pieces of gold and a
hundred pieces of purple cloth. A further 216,000 pieces of gold
were to be forwarded to the German ruler' once he arrived in Lom-
bardy. Byzantine diplomacy used money to support allies to attack a
common enemy. Cash money was only part of the deal. The em-
peror also sent the `salaries of the twenty dignities conferred'. By this
we have to understand a sort of Byzantine state pension. The letter
was brought by Constantine Choirosphaktes, probably in 1081. He
was the head of the Bureau of the Dignities. As personal gifts the
emperor sent, as a pledge of his good will, `a gold pectoral cross set
with pearls; a reliquary inlaid with gold containing fragments of various
saints, identified in each case by a small label; a cup of sardonyx
and a crystal goblet; an astropelekis (?) attached to a chain of gold;
and some wood of the balsam tree'. Benzo of Alba gives a slightly
different account of the relics. Was there a better way of buying
alliances?56 We find here all the things appreciated by Western rulers
66 Anna Comnena, III, x (Leib, I, p. 133s.; Sewter, 126-8), V, iii (Leib, II, p. 14;
Sewter, 160-1); Benzo d'Alba, Ad Heinricum IV imperatorem, MGH SS XI, p. 606,
224 CHAPTER SEVEN
and their subjects: relics, silks, jewelry, crystal and titles (with the
salary belonging to some of them). The latter were thus simply gifts
in money, a salary so to speak. The greater part of this money was
probably melted down. It has been suggested that these coins, Romanati,
were coins of Romanus III Argyrus (1028-1034), coins that had not
yet suffered from a process of debasement which apparently had gone
unnoticed in the West. But hardly any coin of Romanus III has
been found in the West, and thus one has to be careful when making
statements about the iconographical influence of these coins, the more
so since they may have been struck under another emperor Romanus.
It is not known where Alexius I obtained all these coins and if he
sent them in gold, the export of which was prohibited, or in silvers'
The iconography of Byzantine coins did indeed influence Henry
IV's issues at Regensburg in the late 1080s. In 1084 he was crowned
emperor, a good occasion to enhance his new dignity with a new
style and iconography. Gold bulls were occasionally issued by the
king. On at least one occasion he issued a gold coin, which may be
regarded as `Spielerei', a nice occasion to imitate the Byzantine
emperor.58 One of Alexius' envoys was Abelard whose brother Her-
mann lived in Constantinople as a refugee. He is one example of the
many Western families who had relatives in the Byzantine capital,
for one reason or another.59
As king Henry IV had witnessed the great German pilgrimage of
1064-1065, as emperor he saw the departure of the German crusaders,
664; Frolow, Relique, no. 245; Bibicou, p. 65, 70; Lemerle, `Roga', p. 97 (Dolger,
Regesten, no. 1077).
57 A gold coin of Romanus III was found with the Gisela treasure in Mainz,
0. von Falke, Der Mainzer Goldschmuck der Kaiserin Gisela, Berlin 1913, p. 1 (seen in
the context of Conrad U's matrimonial plans for his son; see note 51 for an earlier
dating of the Mainzer Schatz). Elsewhere I hope to come back to these coins. German
sources speak of large quantities of money, cf. Bernoldi chronicon, MGH SS V, p. 440
('maximam pecuniam').
58 Hatz, art. cit. (n. 38), p. 148s.; W. Hahn, `Regensburger Denare mit dem
Bildnis Kaiser Heinrichs IV. im byzantinischen Stil als Schlussmunzen in nordischen
Schatzfunden', in Pays du Nord, p. 117-24 (thinks that gold coins were sent). In
some areas (Byzantine) gold coins were used or just mentioned, cf. K. Hennepohl,
`Goldzahlungen in Westfalen im 11. bis 13. Jahrhundert', Hamburger Beitrage zur
Numismatik 3, 1949, p. 15 (H. Dannenberg, Die deutschen Munzen der Siichsischen and
Frdnkischen Kaiserzeit, Berlin 1876, 2 vols., no. 797a; ibid., no. 1385, a gold coin of
Henry II); Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 539 (2 gold seals of Henry IV). In many diplo-
mas of Freising a (traditional?) Byzantine coin is mentioned, T. Bitterauf, Die Traditionen
des Hochstifts Freising, Munich 1909 (repr. Aalen 1967), II, e.g. nos. 1609, 1611, 1618,
1625 etc. (cf. index, s.v. bisanticus).
59 Lounghis, p. 247, n. 2.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 225
6o Ekkehard, p. 134-5.
61 Quellen zur Geschichte Kaiser Heinrichs IV, ed. I. Schmale-Ott, Darmstadt 1963
(with German tr.), p. 412-15; cf. J. Braun, Das christliche Altar, Munich 1924, II,
p. 95. Other German sources refer to rich gifts sent by the Greek emperor, for
example Ekkehard, p. 96 ('legati Grecorum venerunt, munera multa et magna in
auro et argento vasisque ac sericis afferentes'). See also Seidel, p. 25.
62 Otto of Freising is one of the sources who mentions the marriage, I, 25
(p. 168-9), I, 26 (p. 170s.), III, 6 (p.404-5); Chalandon, Comnene, II, p. 169-72,
209-212, 259-62; Iamma, p. 55; W. orandner, Theodoros Prodromos. Historische Gedichte,
Vienna 1974, p. 319-22.
63 Cinnamus, p. 87 (Brand, 72); see also note 65.
226 CHAPTER SEVEN
last word has certainly not yet been said. In the meantime Conrad
III had asked permission to build a church for the Germans in
Constantinople. Details had to be discussed. It is very likely that
permission was given to build such a sanctuary.14
The marriage eventually toke place in 1146, and Bertha was called
Irene in Byzantium. She had probably stayed the whole time in Con-
stantinople, waiting for decisions to be reached concerning her future.
At least three Western missions came to discuss the marriage and
other problems.65 The following year the crusading armies approached
Constantinople where they were not made very welcome because of
their lack of discipline. The Greeks were afraid of an attack on the
capital. The same court poet once more wrote a poem, now to warn
the emperor to return to his capital to defend it against the Western-
ers and get rid of the crusading armies. On a personal level contacts
were more cordial and warmhearted. Bertha wrote letters to the
French queen Eleanor while the latter was in Constantinople and
before her arrival there: `interdum imperatrix regine scribebat'. The
now widowed Conrad III was taken care of by Manuel himself during
his illness after having returned to Constantinople from Ephesus.66
Thanks to Irene's prominent position Greek historians are eloquent
on her. Among them are Nicetas Choniates and Cinnamus. She was
pious and courageous. Once, in the senate, she spoke out on the
bravery of her husband; on another occasion she helped get hold of
a traitor. When recovering from an illness she ordered a poem to be
written by Theodorus Prodromus; she made a precious gift to the
Virgin. This was not the only poem in which Prodromus refers to
her. She was indeed interested in literature. John Tzetzes dedicated
to her his Chiliads and in 1147 an allegorical commentary on the
Iliad and Odyssey. The palace which Manuel built in the Blachernes
quarter was named after her.67
(Brand, 36-7, 44, 81, 102, 154); Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 53, 107, 115, 544 (Bonn,
p. 73s., 140, 151, 720; Grabler, Die Krone der Komnenen, 89, 145, 155; idem, Die
Kreuzfahrer, 251); Horandner, op. cit. (n. 62), index. s.v. Irene; Hunger, Profane
Literatur, I, p. 136, II, p. 60; Janin, Constantinople byzantine, p. 126-7; C. Diehl,
Figures Byzantines, Paris 1908, II, p. 170-91.
68 Wibald, nos. 243, 245, 411 (p. 363, 367, 550); Chalandon, Comnene, II,
p. 326, 339.
69 Wibald, nos. 410, 411 (p. 549-50); Cinnamus, p. 135 (Brand, 106); Chalandon,
Comnene, II, p. 326-72; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 424. A study of Wibald and his
Greek connections would be welcome. He had lived at Monte Cassino where he
had probably learnt his Greek. At Corvey, in the new abbot's rooms, he had or-
dered the Greek inscription `Know thyself': `Scriptum est ibi Grecis litteris illud de
templo Apollinis: Scito to ipsum', Wibald, no. 167 (p. 287). He wrote several letters
to the Greek court. After his second mission he died at Monastir (Macedonia) in
July 1158; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 416.
228 CHAPTER SEVEN
73 Annales Mellicenses, MGH SS IX, p. 504; Cinnamus, p. 236, 261 (Brand, 178,
196); Chalandon, Comnene, II, p. 307-8, 594, n. 5; Neumann, op. cit. (n. 4),
p. 65-8, 69 (Greek text; German tr., Heilig, p. 245-252), cf. RHC Grecs, II, p. 552,
768, 771-2; Heilig, passim, esp. 244, for an unpublished poem on her visit to
Constantinople; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 443, 446, 465, 543, 548; P.K. Enepekides,
230 CHAPTER SEVEN
few merchants from the German empire who are known by their
names, travelled to the East where he visited Greece and probably
stayed for a while in Constantinople.83 Many merchants did make
the landtrip to the city. Byzantine artefacts easily found their way to
Regensburg. It is thought that the Regensburg Madonna was painted
on the model of an icon.84
We now have to return to Frederick Barbarossa. History repeated
itself when, in the early 1170s, matrimonial negotiations were re-
started. A son of Barbarossa was to marry a Greek princess. Several
embassies were exchanged but again the project failed. The bishop
of Worms, Conrad of Sternberg, went to Constantinople accompa-
nied by Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and, from 1156 onwards,
duke of Bavaria as well. They travelled with a great train.85 In 1186
Barbarossa's son, the future Henry VI, and chosen as rex Romanorum
in 1169, married, in Palermo, not a Byzantine princess but Constance,
daughter of the deceased Roger II and heiress to the Norman lands.
'Byzantine' territory was now within the reach of the German em-
pire. The import of Byzantine and Byzantinizing artefacts from Sic-
ily to the German empire started soon after the marriage.86 A year
later Barbarossa left for the East for the second time in his life,,when
he joined the Third Crusade. This time he was not made welcome
in Constantinople. On the way back, in 1190, he died in Cilicia, on
Byzantine territory. `Das Erlebnis Byzanz', the Byzantine `experience',
had played an important role in his life and politics. One of his
companions wrote to the Greeks, during the crusade, that the Ger-
mans did not like the idea of calling the Greek emperor `saint',
'Dominus vester sanctum se appellat'. The numerous embassies ex-
changed during his long reign and that of his predecessors brought
a number of Byzantine objects to the German court.87
83 Recent French tr. by H. Harboun, Les voyageurs juifs du Moyen Age, XIP siecle,
Aix-en-Provence 1986, p. 185; Sharf, p. 154. Liutprand, in the Antapodosis, p. 486s.,
refers to a certain Liutfrid from Mainz who was involved in the Levantine trade.
84 Demus, p. 207; C. Salm, `Neue Forschungen uber das Gnadenbild in der alten
Kapelle in Regensburg', Munchner,7ahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 13, 1962, p. 49-62 (less
clear).
85 Annales Colonienses Maximi, MGH SS XVII, p. 783; Arnoldi Chronica Slavorum,
MGH SS XXI, p. 116s.; Chalandon, Comnene, II, p. 596; Ohnsorge, Abendland,
p. 469; see also J. Irmscher, `Friedrich I. Barbarossa and Byzanz', in Byzantium
and its neighbours, p. 38-42.
86 Chalandon, Domination normande, II, p. 386-7 (Games, op. cit. (n. 5), p. 22).
87 Tageno, in MGH SS XVII, p. 510; E. Eickhoff, Friedrich Barbarossa im Orient,
Tiibingen 1977; idem, `Die Bedeutung der Kreuzziige fur den deutschen Raum', in
234 CHAPTER SEVEN
Letters and seals from the Byzantine emperors were kept in the
chancery. Barbarossa and his son Henry VI were clearly inspired by
Byzantium when they issued their own gold seals. The material used
and even more the iconography were imitated from Byzantine use,
from seals and other artefacts like reliquaries that had found their
way into the West. It was the ceremonial, representative style of an
emperor in full regalia, seated on a throne, that became the new fash-
ion. This is also visible in the minor arts, for example in reliquaries
that were ordered by Barbarossa. On the Charlemagne arm-reliquary,
Beatrix of Burgundy, the wife of Frederick Barbarossa, carries a
double-armed cross, another expression of Byzantinism. Henry VI
gave a similar cross to Richard Lion-Heart, and other examples of
such crosses can easily be found. A Virgin with Child forms the
centre-piece of the Charlemagne reliquary. The goldsmith seems to
be identical with the maker of the imperial seals and could very well
be Geoffrey of Huy, who worked for abbot Wibald. In 1186 the
cathedral of Spoleto was given an icon of the Virgin by Barbarossa.
The icon seems to have come from Byzantium."
Frederick Barbarossa was not an art-loving patron nor a literary
amateur. Yet he is said by some to be the addressee of the so-called
Letter of John the Priest, sent to the emperor Manuel Comnenus.
This letter, an almost literary creation, dating back to the years 1150-
1160, seems to be a forgery, written and/or translated by Christian,
bishop of Mainz. The bishop who knew Greek was sent to Constan-
tinople on an unsuccessful mission in the late 1160s and he probably
hated the Greeks for it. The contents of the Letter are a description
of a mysterious Orient, with revolving palaces, and a scenery in which
Die Zeit der Staufer, catalogue, Stuttgart 1977, III, p. 244-7. Curiously enough Fred-
erick Barbarossa himself is invested with a halo in a stone sculpture in Freising, c£
Schramm, op. cit. (n. 26; ed. Berghaus, no. 218, p. 268-9, see also no. 95, p. 198),
and occasionally his own palace is called the `Sacred Palace', N.M. Haring, `The
"Liber de Differentia naturae et personae" by Hugh Etherian and the letters ad-
dressed to him by Peter of Vienna and Hugh of Honau', Mediaeval Studies 24, 1962,
p. 18. Others did not question the Greek emperor's qualifications, j j. Ryan, `Letter
of an anonymous French Reformer to a Byzantine official in South Italy: De simoniaca
heresi (MS Vat. lat. 3830)', Mediaeval Studies 15, 1953, p. 239 (ca. 1050?).
88 J. Deer, `Die Siegel Friedrichs I. Barbarossa and Heinrichs VI. in der Kunst
and Politik ihrer Zeit', in Byzanz and das abendlandische Herrschertum, Sigmaringen 1977,
p. 196-234; S.G. Mercati, `Sulla santissima Icone nel duomo di Spoleto', Spoletium
3, 1956, p. 3-6. The term monocrator was used for Barbarossa in the Gesta Friderici of
Geoffrey of Viterbo, MGH SS XXII, p. 310 (cf. Schramm, op. cit. (n. 25), p. 327,
index, s.v. monocrator); Ebersolt, Pendant les croisades, p. 85, mentions a double-
armed cross found at Cologne.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 235
elephants, lions, leopards and other beasts were present, which turns
it into an almost literary document. Byzantine titles like apocrisiarius,
archimandrita, (archi)protopapa(s), are used. There was more than one
occasion to despise the Greeks by calling them Graeculi, and to criti-
cize the emperor for being venerated as a God, a criticism we have
just seen expressed by one of Barbarossa's companions during the
crusade. Many more Westerners disliked the Greek emperor for
behaving like God. The Letter became popular in Germany, Eng-
land, France, Italy and elsewhere in Europe.89 Frederick Barbarossa
showed an interest in Roman law (the law of Byzantium) and so
were his lawyers. But the interrelation between the Byzantine and
Bologna law students is still unclear.90
Henry the Lion had been one of the parties involved in the
Privilegium minus. He received the duchy of Bavaria, lands of his an-
cestors. By his mother Henry was a grandson of king Lothar III
(king, 1125-1137; emperor 1133-1137). He and his cousin Frederick
Barbarossa belonged to the influential families in the empire which
were all competing for power. Henry the Lion had even once been
designated by Barbarossa as his successor. This may have been the
reason why Manuel Comnenus sent a Greek mission to Brunswick,
home of the Saxons, in 1164.91 In 1172 Henry went on a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, visiting Constantinople on his outward and return
journeys, and joining Conrad of Sternberg, bishop of Worms, on his
outward journey. On that occasion he may have joined the discus-
sions on the proposed marriage between the Comnenian princess
and Frederick Barbarossa's son. He was probably not yet ready to
think about such possibilities for his own family.92 Henry the Lion
arrived in the Greek capital with such splendour that the Greek
historian Cinnamus wrote about him that `the duke of the Saxons, a
numerous and prosperous people, came to Byzantium with a very
great suite in order to reconcile the king of the Germans'. Henry
had married in 1168 Mathilda, daughter of Henry II of England
and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was a distinguished guest at the Byz-
antine court, having powerful connections and relations all over
Western Europe. The Chronicle of Arnold of Liibeck tells us that there
was a splendid reception in a hunting lodge, outside the town, where
tents of precious materials, and with golden decorations (we meet
such descriptions in several romances in the European vernaculars
as well) had been put up in the gardens. The Latin clergy, under the
leadership of the bishops Conrad of Sternberg and Conrad of Liibeck,
used the occasion to discuss theological problems with their Greek
colleagues, one of the topics being the Procession of the Holy Spirit.
By doing so they followed in the footsteps of bishop Anselm of
Havelberg who had twice discussed theological problems with the
Greeks in Constantinople. After having received many costly silk
garments for himself and his companions, duke Henry set off for
Jerusalem. There he donated mosaics, a typical Byzantine medium,
to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. On the journey home he vis-
ited several Turkish leaders and received once more precious gifts:
silks, exotic animals like camels and even a leopard. He again visited
Constantinople and the emperor who this time gave him precious
and much coveted relics.93 Indeed, there are Byzantine relics and
objects in the Well treasury (Welfenschatz), now partly in the Kunst-
gewerbe Museum, in Berlin. Enamelwork in the treasury, like the
Eilbertus altar, imitates, in technique, in style and in decorative motifs
(the step-pattern) Byzantine cloisonne enamel. The figures of the Old
Testament kings Melchisedek and Hosea are almost genuinely Greek.
An enamelled reliquary in the form of a domed church imitates
Byzantine reliquaries. The famous and beautiful Well Cross is a double
cross, the inner cross being Byzantine in shape, curiously resembling
ruling Greek family of the Comneni/Angeli and one of the widely spread relatives
of Eleanor came too late to initiate a cultural network all over Europe.
93 Arnoldi Chronica Slavorum, MGH SS XXI, p. 120-5; Annales Colonienses Maximi,
MGH SS XVII, p. 785; Cinnamus, p. 286 (Brand, 214); Chalandon, Comnene, II,
p. 596-601; E. Joranson, `The Palestine pilgrimage of Henry the Lion', in Mediaeval
and historiographical essays presented to J.W. Thompson, ed. J.L. Cate/E.N. Anderson,
Chicago 1938, p. 146-225.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 237
p. 7-9, 117-21. THE. Szklenar, Studien zum Bild des Orients in vorhofischen deutschen Epen,
Gottingen 1966, p. 151-82; idem, in Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters, Verfasserlexikon,
III, Berlin/New York 1981, c. 1170-91. One wonders if in this context we could refer
to the refugee prince spoken of by Cecaumenus (ibid., c. 1171, and below note 110).
98 Konig Rother was not translated into modern German. Various editions exist,
for example T. Frings/J. Kuhnt, Konig Rother, Bonn 1922, cf. Szklenar, ibid.,
p. 113-44; idem, in Verfasserlexikon, ibid., V, 1985, c. 82-94; D. Rocher, `Le "Roi
Rother", une caricature allemande des Byzantins an XIIQ siecle', in Medieoales 12,
1987 (= Toutes les routes menent a Byzance, ed. E. Patlagean), p. 25-31.
99 P.F. Ganz, Graf Rudolph, Berlin 1964; idem, in Verfasserlexikon, ibid., III,
c. 212-6 (no modem trans.); c£ Szklenar, op. cit. (n. 97), p. 216-9.
240 CHAPTER SEVEN
ioo D. Hennebo, Garten des Mittelalters, Munich/Zurich 1987, 2nd rev. ed., p. 117-
33 (mainly based on German material; the same survey could be made with French
sources). H. Lichtenberg, Die Architekturdarstellungen in der mittelhochdeutschen Dichtung,
Munster 1931, is somewhat disappointing. See also H. Franz, Das Bild Griechenlands
and Italiens in den mittelhochdeutschen epischen Erzahlungen vor 1250, Berlin 1970, p. 13s.
(concentrates on classical Greece).
101 Verfasserlexikon, op. cit. (n. 97), does not yet include this name; Walther von
der Vogelweide. Gedichte. Ausgewahlt, iibersetzt, P. Wapnewski, Frankfurt 1976, no. 39
(p. 131), and no. 45 (p. 143), for references to contemporary events in Byzantium.
The English translation by M. Fitzgerald Richey, Selected poems of Walther von der
Vogelweide, Oxford 1948, is inaccessible.
102 Brand, p. 190, and n. 7. for Western sources, e.g. Annales Admuntenses, MGH
SS IX, p. 587; Arnold of LUbeck, Chronica Slavorum, MGH SS XXI, p. 217; Cames,
op. cit. (n. 5), p. 22-4; Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 536 (Bonn, p. 711; Grabler, Die
Kreuzfahrer, p. 110). In Philip's tomb in the cathedral of Speyer were found two
gold embroidered medallions with Greek inscriptions, either Sicilian, either Byzan-
tine, Schramm/Mutherich, op. cit. (n. 26), no. 190. See also note 117.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 241
103 Herrad of Hohenbur& Hortus Deliciarum, R. Green e.a., Leiden 1979, p. 32s.; Cames,
ibid.
104 P .E. Schramm, `Herrschaftszeichen: gestiftet, verschenkt, verkauft, verpfandet',
Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Gottingen, I, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, 1957, p. 183
(c£ BZ 51, 1958, p. 466). Irene Angela was buried in Lorsch.
105 Dodwell, p. 160-72; W.F. Volbach, 'Byzanz and sein Einfluss auf Deutschland
and Italien', in Byzantine art, lectures, p. 89-120. See also note 47.
'06 A. Raft, `About Theophilus' blue colour `Lazur', Studies in conservation 13, 1968,
p. 1-5. For a gift of this pigment to Petershausen by the bishop of Venice in 983,
cf. S. Waetzoldt, `Systematisches Verzeichnis der Farbnamen', Munchner Jahrbuch der
bildenden Kunst 3/4, 1952/3, p. 153 (where also mention is made of the mid 12th-
century Salzburg manuscript (Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. a.X1.4) qualifying it as `lazur
grecum', cf. G. Swarzenski, Die Salzburger Malerei, Text Band, Leipzig 1913, p. 61);
J. Plesters, `Ultramarine blue, natural and artificial', Studies in conservation 11, 1966,
p. 74; malachite occurs in frescoes in Kappel (Oberschwaben), Karner of Perschen
(Oberpfalz) and in the cathedral of Verden, Aller (West Germany), cf. RJ. Gettens/
E. West Fitzhugh, `Malachite and Green verditer', Studies in conservation 19, 1974,
p. 19-20.
242 CHAPTER SEVEN
was a Greek monk, or that the text was translated from the Greek.
Nowadays it is thought that the author is to be identified with the
goldsmith Roger of Helmarshausen who lived at the beginning of
the 12th century. Whoever he was, the author says in the prologue
to his reader that he `will find here whatever kinds of the different
pigments Byzantium possesses and their mixtures'.107
Byzantine habits, Byzantine ideas and Byzantine terms were intro-
duced at the imperial court and elsewhere, and were not without
cultural impact.1 ' Private visits between relatives took place from
time to time. But family relations never led to the conquest or peaceful
acquisition of Byzantine lands, let alone to the Byzantine throne and
crown. The last attempt to obtain influence in Byzantium was in
1203/1204. The Fourth Crusade was, especially for the German
contingent, an excuse to strenghten their claims, since they had taken
care of Alexius IV. Philip of Swabia, however, did not take the cross
himself. His opponent and relative, Otto IV of Brunswick, son of
Henry the Lion, was very active at the time. The Germans, although
they returned Alexius IV to Constantinople, were to play a minor
role in the events. Relics were their reward. Church leaders were
active in obtaining them. Abbot Martin of Pairis (Alsace) and bishop
Krosigk of Halberstadt obtained their share of the war booty. Philip
of Swabia was given some important relics of the Cross, of which he
donated some to monasteries.'09
The crusading Germans eventually met compatriots before the walls
of Constantinople. These had been expelled from the city and now
joined the crusading army. Whether they had been mercenaries in
the Greek army we do not know. The deterioration of the internal
situation of the empire in the years 1203/1204 had a clear effect on
those Germans living in the Byzantine capital. From old times the
German empire had been a reservoir for the recruitment of merce-
nary forces. Exiles could seek hospitality in Byzantium. The Greek
107 J.G. Hawthorne/C.S. Smith, Theophilus. On divers arts, New York 1963 (Engl.
tr.), p. 13; C.R. Dodwell, Theophilus. De diversis artibus, ed. and tr., London 1961,
p. 4, see also the index s.v. Byzantium, Constantinople, Greeks. One day a Greek
monk Theophilus may be found in one of the many confraternity books still un-
published.
108 The term 'porfirogenitus' is used by Burchard, bishop and count of Munster,
to designate abbot Nicholas of Siegburg, Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 487.
109 Longnon, Compagnons, p. 227-50; Gunther of Pairis, in Riant, Exuviae, I,
p. 57-126; Frolow, Relique, nos. 457, 466, 469, 934, 988. Cf. J. Flemming, Byzantinische
Schatzkunst, Berlin 1979, for the treasuries of Halberstadt and Quedlinburg.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 243
names like Basilius and Constantinus and kept them in the West, in diplomas of
1154, 1163, 1167, 1168, Jordan, op. cit. (n. 95), p. 38, 96, 109, 112. See also
Ohnsorge, ibid., p. 482, n. 82, for a Gerhardus who called himself `Greek', for the
law? See below note 115; Byzantine aristocracy, p. 265, without references, however.
114 Tafel/Thomas, I, p. 208-9; Dolger, Regesten, II, no. 1590; Brand, p. 199.
For the church, Otto of Freisi4g, I, 25 (p. 168-9); Janin, Eglises et monasteres,
p. 575; Riant, Exuviae, I, p. 102 (Gunther of Pairis).
15 Dolger, Regesten, nos. 1609, 1610; Brand, p. 210. C£ note 113 for another
Gerardus, called the Greek, in a diploma of 1181.
16 Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 478 (Bonn, p. 630; Grabler, Die Kreuzfahrer, 45), for
the annual payment of five thousands pounds of gold.
11' B. Hemmerdinger, `MEFAE KOMNHNOE. Calque de Hohenstaufen', Byz 40, 1971,
p. 33-5, who suggests that Henry VI's one-headed eagle was the model for Alexius
III Angelus Comnenus (1195-1203); R. Macridis, `What's in the name Megas Komnenos',
Archeion Pontou 35, 1979, p. 238-45.
118 F. Wielandt, `Miinzfund aus Thrakien zur Kreuzzugszeit', Jahrbuch fur Numismatik
and Geldgeschichte 22, 1972, p. 58.
CHAPTER EIGHT
' Anna Comnena, XII, i, 2 (Leib, III, p. 53-4; Sewter, 53-4). I am very grateful
to Vera von Falkenhausen who has read this chapter, added a number of biblio-
graphical references and saved me from a number of errors.
246 CHAPTER EIGHT
cultural and political ties, and S. Borsari, Venezia e Bisanzio nel XII
secolo. I rapporti economics (Venice 1988). F. Thiriet concentrated on
the commercial empire of the city.2
The northern cities and their commercial links with the Byzantine
empire have been studied by R J. Lilie. A detailed study of Genoa's
dealings with Byzantium has recently been published.' Ch.H. Haskins
was a pioneer for 12th-century translation activities in northern Italy
and in Sicily.' Southern Italy and its Byzantine and Norman rulers
have also long interested scholars, who have included F. Chalandon,
J. Gay, and later R. Hiestand, V. von Falkenhausen and A. Guillou.
F. Bertaux long ago wrote about the arts of southern Italy. Among
art historians the term Italo-Byzantine style, a term which is not too
well defined, but is of itself revealing for certain tendencies, has
become current. In recent times the art historians 0. Demus and
E. Kitzinger have unravelled many of the mysteries of Italian and
Byzantine art, exploiting the eastern connection.' The recent stan-
dard work on Monte Cassino gives ample evidence of the cultural
and artistic, and even political and religious contacts which this im-
portant religious house maintained with the East.'
The documents on this subject are numerous and of various types.
There is a great variety of letters, chronicles, imperial chrysobulls,
legal texts, Saints' Lives, political treaties, theological writings, in-
scriptions, ambassadorial reports, town archives and works of art.
Sometimes the contemporary translations made of Greek texts give
2 Venezia e Bisanzio, catalogue, Venice 1974; The Treasury of San Marco, Venice, cata-
logue, London 1984 (published in various languages); D.M. Nicol, Byzantium and
Venice. A study in diplomatic and cultural relations, Cambridge 1988; F. Thiriet, La Romanie
Venitienne au Moyen Age, Paris 1959.
s Lilie, passim; G.W. Day, Genoa's response to Byzantium, 1155-1204. Commercial
expansion and factionalism in a medieval city, Urbana/Chicago 1988.
' Haskins, Studies, ch. 9, The Sicilian translators of the twelfth century, p. 155-
193, and ch. 10, North-Italian translators of the twelfth century, p. 194-222.
s J. Gay, L'Italie meridionale et l'empire byzantin depuis l'avenement de Basile ler jusqu'a la
prise de Bari par les Normands (867-1071), Paris 1904 (repr. New York 1960); Chalandon,
Domination normande; Lamma; R. Hiestand, Byzanz and das Regnum Italicum im 10.
Jahrhundert, Zurich 1964; V. von Falkenhausen, Untersuchungen fiber die byzantinische
Herrschaft in Sfiditalien vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert, Wiesbaden 1967; eadem, La
dominazione bizantina nell' Italia meridionale dall' IX all' XI secolo, Bari 1978; e.g.
A. Guillou, Culture et societe en Italie byzantine (VP-XF s.), London 1978; E. Bertaux,
L'art dans l'Italie meridionale, Paris 1904, 2 vols. (repr. in 3 vols., Rome 1968, inacces-
sible); W.F. Volbach, 'Byzanz and sein Einfluss auf Deutschland and Italien', in
Byzantine art, lectures, p. 89-120; Demus, passim; Kitzinger, The art of Byzantium
and the medieval West, part IlI, p. 271s.
6 Bloch, passim.
250 CHAPTER EIGHT
the Italian side, although a few Greek mercenaries worked for the
enemy. Artists were usually Greeks who worked as mosaicists, paint-
ers, floor layers, marble workers and silk weavers in various places
in Italy. Scholars and manuscript hunters came from Italy to Byz-
antium; in this case there was probably no trade in the opposite
direction. Many people, like the crusaders, were merely transient
travellers and could see for themselves what life in Byzantium was
like. In short, hundreds, thousands of people travelled between the
two worlds.
Large communities of Italians lived in Constantinople and else-
where in the Byzantine empire. They were so numerous that we
need not discuss here where contact was possible. Contacts were a
necessity, they could not be avoided. There was every opportunity to
get to know the other world and to become well acquainted with it
to the extent of absorbing ideas and ideals from the Greek world.
The intensity of these contacts may be the very reason for the exist-
ence of certain prejudices, which we find throughout the period under
discussion.'
The many contacts between East and West stimulated friendship
and understanding, but also animosity, feelings of hatred and hostile
confrontations. In this chapter we can only discuss a limited number
of power centres in Italy which maintained a network of contacts in
the Byzantine world.
We shall start in Rome, the former capital of the Roman empire.
Through the centuries Rome remained a centre of religious and
political power. We have referred already to the question of pri-
macy, a problem not easily capable of solution, which was to last for
centuries. For the Byzantines Rome was the primus inter pares of the
five patriarchates, the others being Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria
and Constantinople. By assuming the role of coronator, the papacy
reinforced its position in Western Europe.
We have to return to the year 962, a date given in the title of this
study. In that year Otto the Great (Otto I), a Saxon noble, came to
Rome to be crowned emperor of the Western empire, just as
Charlemagne had been crowned in 800. Otto had subdued king
Berengar II of Italy. The Western empire was once again a political
8 E.g. H. Hunger, Graeculus perfidus. TmX6s lraµo5. It sensa dell' alterit¢ nei rapporti
greco-romani ed italo-bizantini, Rome 1987 (Unione internazionale degli Istituti di
Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell' arte in Roma, Conferenze 4, inaccessible).
252 CHAPTER EIGHT
fact. The Greeks were not pleased to see the rise of a new Western
dynasty that might become a threat to their territory and their am-
bitions and claims in Italy. And the Byzantines, Realpolitiker as they
were, tried to preempt difficulties by proposing a marriage alliance.
They were successful after several embassies had been exchanged.
Liutprand, the man who left two fascinating reports of his travels to
Constantinople, and whose father had already been an emissary of
king Hugh to Constantinople and served more than one ruler, was
a member of them.' At this time the history of the papacy was closely
linked to the fortunes of the Ottonian dynasty. So, when the Greek
princess Theophano arrived in Rome in 972 to marry Otto II, she
was probably crowned empress by the pope during the marriage
ceremony. For the time being the new alliance consolidated good
relations with the East even if, in 982, Otto II, unsuccessfully, invaded
Byzantine Calabria. The Greeks were not forced to give up their
rights in southern Italy and if necessary they would fight for them.
We have discussed part of Theophano's career in the chapter deal-
ing with the Holy Roman empire. Her role became more active after
the death of Otto II in 982, when she acted as a regent for young
Otto III, who was half Greek, half German. With her itinerant house-
hold, which comprised several Greeks, Theophano regularly travelled
to Rome. There she was to find an even more Hellenic ambiance. A
Greek community lived on the Forum. Several Greek monasteries
had survived down the centuries. During the period of iconoclasm
Greek monks had fled to Italy to live a more peaceful life. By the
10th century vocations were fewer and some monasteries had been
closed or taken over by Latin communities. Some Greeks had fled
from the south where Arab invasions were a regular occurrence. Some
9 Educated at the court of king Hugh of Italy, Liutprand (c. 920-c. 972) was
chancellor of Berengar II by whom he was sent to Constantinople in 949 at the
request of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. A year later, after a conflict, he took
refuge at the court of Otto I who made him bishop of Cremona in 961. In the
meantime, in 962/3, Otto I had defeated king Berengar II at San Leo and deportated
him to Bamberg. Liutprand was again sent to Constantinople in 968 to arrange a
marriage alliance between the imperial families. His mission was not successful. His
journeys to Constantinople are recorded in his Antapodosis which was dedicated to
bishop Recemund of Elvira, in Spain (VI, i s., p. .484) and the Legatio. Cf. J.N.
Sutherland, The mission to Constantinople in 968 and Liutprand of Cremona',
Traditio 31, 1975, p. 55-81; eadem, Liutprand of Cremona, bishop, diplomat, historian.
Studies of the man and his age, Spoleto 1988; J. Koder/T. Weber, Liutprand von Cremona
in Konstantinopel, Vienna 1980.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 253
1° B. Hamilton, `The city of Rome and the Eastern churches in the tenth cen-
tury', OCP 27, 1961, p. 5-26; McNulty/Hamilton, passim; J.-M. Sansterre, Les mains
grecs et orientaux a Rome aux epoques byzantine et carolingienne, Brussels 1980, 2 vols.
" da Costa-Louillet, art. cit. (n. 7), p. 138; Hamilton, ibid., p. 12; Historia et
Laudes SS. Sabae et Macarii iuniorum e Sicilia, auctore Oreste, patriarcha Hierosolymitano, Rome
1893 (inaccessible); Life of St Nilus, PG 120, c. 15-165 (recent edition by G. Giovanelli,
Life of St Nilus of Rossano (d. 1004), Grottaferrata, inaccessible).
254 CHAPTER EIGHT
who had fled Syria and arrived in Rome in 977, introduced the cult
of St Alexis, an Eastern saint. Since it was a dual monastery, the
monks may have soon felt the need to have access to a Latin version
of the saint's Life, and may not have been aware that a Latin Vita
did already exist in Castilian monasteries, earlier in the 10th century
(see ch. The Iberian peninsula). A Latin Life was written on the basis
of Greek sources and Alexis became a prominent saint in Rome and
in other parts of the West. In the late 11th century episodes of the
saint's life were depicted in San Clemente, Rome. It has been ar-
gued that some elements of the iconography point to Byzantine
influence. They may derive from Greek or Greek influenced manu-
scripts, from Monte Cassino for example. The monastery of Sant'
Alessio was founded largely on the basis of donations made by the
local ruling classes and by the imperial family.12
The exchange of spiritual ideas, living a life of a hermit and the
emphasis on manual labour among Greek monks, has not yet been
systematically studied in the wider context of Western monasticism.
One wonders if there ever can be an answer to questions about the
transmission of spiritual ideas. But one must assume that an exchange
of ideas must have profited both parties. Italian monks were wel-
come to settle on Mount Athos, in the monastery established by the
Amalfitans. It is clear that the Greek liturgy and Greek liturgical
objects like icons were familiar to large groups of people in Rome,
in several religious houses, and elsewhere in Italy.13
There was an ambiance of respect and of willingness to accept or
to learn from different theological ideas, regardless the external char-
acter of such beliefs.
Otto III's immediate successors concentrated more on their Ger-
man affairs than on their Italian affairs. The papacy was left with
more freedom to formulate its own politics. The 11th century is partly
characterised by the schism between the Eastern and Western churches
which started in 1054. In that year a papal delegation deposited a
bull of excommunication against the Constantinopolitan patriarch on
the altar of Saint Sophia. This is not the place to discuss the schism.
The subject has provoked a wealth of literature, which express different
views about the reactions and motives of both parties involved. The
atmosphere of tolerance quickly deteriorated, a process hastened
by all sorts of political events and political ambitions. It must be
admitted that in contrast to Constantinople where the Latin churches
were temporarily closed, the Greek churches of Rome remained
open.14 The schism caused more and more bitterness, leaving not
much space for a compromise. When at the end of the 11th century
the pope sent a crusading army instead of the mercenaries which he
had been asked to send by the Byzantines, the gap was no longer to
be bridged. With papal blessing the Greek emperor Alexius Comnenus
was forced to welcome into his land some of his most hated ene-
mies, the Norman leaders from southern Italy. It was even more
aggravating that the crusading armies behaved rather badly when
passing through Greek territory. Their conquest of former Byzantine
lands and cities caused much resentment, because the crusaders con-
sidered these as their own lands. The point of no return was almost
reached. True, the papacy suffered from internal conflicts and troubles
at home, but the reformed papacy turned out to be more powerful
than ever before. The organisation of the crusades worked as a cata-
lyst. At the end of the century an artistic revival took place in Rome.
The works of art that have survived, the paintings of San Clemente
and of the chapel of San Sebastian in the Old Lateran palace for
example, and in areas around Rome are not, however, the work of
Greek artists. The same is true of the manuscript paintings in the
Giant Bibles and the few panel paintings that have been preserved.
The latter were most certainly inspired by icon painting; a number
of highly venerated icons were present in Roman churches. With a
few exceptions the same can be said of the contemporary mosaics in
some of the churches, although occasionally a particular detail or
element seems to be genuinely Byzantine in style and iconography.
The enthroned Virgin in the apse of Santa Maria in Trastevere seems
to go back to the icon of Santa Francesca Romana (in Santa Maria
recovered lands that had been laid waste during the Arab invasions.
The abbey was situated in an area where the territorial claims of the
papacy, and of Western and Byzantine rulers overlapped. The abbey
and its rulers had to find a balance amidst this turmoil. At Monte
Cassino there was an interest in the Greek world. St Nilus was re-
ceived into the abbey in the late 10th century and was asked to sing
the liturgy in Greek. He was granted some land by the abbey at
Valleluce for his own community. Greek influence remained strong
in the abbey even after the emperor Henry II, successor of Otto III,
had succeeded in fastening his grip on the abbey by nominating a
new Latin abbot."
The abbey, a monastic state, continued its relations with Byzantium.
The papal legation that set out for Constantinople in 1054 also vis-
ited Monte Cassino on the way. On the return journey, it brought
gifts from the emperor Constantine IX Monomachus, an annual
pension of two pounds of gold. An effort to obtain goodwill? Or a
simple continuation of an existing good relationship? The Greek
emperors tried to maintain a network of political and religious rela-
tions, a network which included Monte Cassino, by whatever means
they had: gold and silks. Desiderius of Monte Cassino was sent on a
reconciliatory mission to Constantinople in 1057/8. It seems to be a
sign of a willingness to repair the breach. But the pope died and the
mission was stranded in Byzantine Bari, from which it returned
home. In the late 1060s Desiderius started the rebuilding of the abbey
church. He made it a rival of Saint Sophia of Constantinople, as we
learn in a poem written by one of his friends, archbishop Alfanus of
Salerno. The archbishop, a former monk of Monte Cassino, had
been in Constantinople and had seen Saint Sophia himself. 18 How
did Desiderius achieve his goal? The abbot, wanting to have the best
craftsmen available, sent a mission to Constantinople to recruit
mosaicists, painters, marbleworkers to lay the decorative floors, and
artists well versed in all the other handicrafts such as metalwork,
23 Chronica monasterii Casinensis, op. cit. (n. 19), III, ch. 39, p. 415-6 (731), `dona
quamplura ... insuper ... auri libras viginti quattuor et pallia quattuor'; IV, ch. 17,
46, p. 485s., 514 (770, 785), `libras octo solidorum michalatorum' (possibly debased
gold coins, cf. Pays du Nord, p. 119); Bloch, Monte Cassino I, p. 110-112; for
ambitions for the Western crown, cf. P. Classen, `Die Komnenen and die Kaiserkrone
des Westens', Journal of Medieval History 3, 1977, p. 207s.; H.-D. Kahl, `Romische
Kronungsplane im Komnenenhaus?', Archiv fur Kulturgeschichte 59, 1977, p. 259-320,
esp. 262s.; F. Trinchera, Syllabus Graecarum membranarum, Naples 1865.
24 Frolow, Relique, nos. 205, 227; H.M. Willard, `The staurotheca of Romanus
at Monte Cassino', DOP 30, 1976, p. 57-64, with ills. This is the only preserved
Greek object in the abbey; it probably arrived at the end of the 10th century. Some
abbots of earlier times had travelled to Constantinople, like abbot John in the late
9th century, and possibly abbot Theobald (1022-1035), cf. M. Inguanez, 'Monte-
Cassino e l'Oriente nel Medioevo', Atti del IW Congresso nazionale di Studi Romani,
Rome 1938, I, p. 1-38, inaccessible.
25 Influence on 'Greek monastic life may have filtered through Monte Cassino.
M. Dunn, `Eastern influence on Western monasticism in the eleventh and twelfth
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 261
centuries', in Byzantium and the West, p. 245-59, gives a survey of known facts.
For the apocryphal saying, Bloch, I, p. 112, Engl. tr., who refers to editions hardly
available outside Italy; see also idem,. `Peter the Deacon's vision of Byzantium', Setti-
mane di studio del centro italiano di studi dell' alto medioevo, 34, Spoleto 1988, p. 797s.;
see also note 25.
26 See note 23.
262 CHAPTER EIGHT
Was the Father greater than the Son? Such was the issue. Latins,
residing in Constantinople, were influential in the debate. Hugh
Etherian, a theologian from Pisa who had lived in Constantinople,
took an important share and left his mark on the final conclusion,
according to his brother Leo Tuscus who, possibly by that time al-
ready, worked as an interpreter at the court of Manuel Comnenus.
Again loyalties changed, and the result was nil. Manuel turned down
the Latin request to kill Greek heretics."
In the late 12th century the Liturgies of St Basil and St John
Chrysostom were translated more than once. In southern Italy an
anonymous translation was made. Nicholas of Otranto made a new
translation of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom on the basis of that
made by Leo Tuscus. There was a marked interest in the spiritual
life of the Eastern church.3o
In the end no party gave in and the schism continued. Pope Inno-
cent III supported the crusaders when they captured Constantinople
in 1204. Here was a chance to reunite the churches, be it in a less
peaceful way. The reunion of the two empires, a possibility in the
early 13th century after the capture of Constantinople, was a differ-
ent matter. Its fate lay in the hands of the Venetians who, from the
very beginning, had sponsored the expedition. It was to their advan-
tage to nominate an `independent' ruler, the count of Flanders. In-
nocent III was active in letting the new situation work to his own
advantage. The new patriarch, a Venetian, would be more easy to
handle than any of his Greek predecessors. The pope and the cru-
saders of the Fourth Crusade were depicted in mosaic (ill. 16). The
results of the crusade did not last long: in 1261 the Greeks restored
their own church in Constantinople.31
29 Classen, art. cit. (n. 23), p. 214s.; idem, `Das Konzil von Konstantinopel 1166
and die Lateiner', BZ 48, 1955, p. 339-68. A. Dondaine, `Hugues Etherien et le
concile de Constantinople de 1166', Historisches Jahrbuch 77, 1957, p. 473-83. When
asked to burn (!) Byzantine heretics who adhered to the Bogomil/Cathar heresy, the
emperor refused to do so. Elsewhere I hope to come back to this.
30 A. Strittmatter, `Missa Grecorum, Missa sancti Iohannis Crisostomi. The oldest
Latin version known of the Byzantine Liturgies of St Basil and St John Chrysostom',
Traditio 1, 1943, p. 79-137; A. Dondaine, `Hugues Etherien et Leon Toscan',
Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du Moyen Age 19 (annee 27) 1952, p. 119-120;
A. Jacob, `La traduction de la Liturgie de saint Basile par Nicolas d'Otrante', Bulletin
de l'Institut historique beige de Rome 38, 1967, p. 49-107; c£ d'Alverny, art. cit. (n. 18),
p. 433.
31 G. Matthiae, Mosaici medioevali delle chiese di Roma, Rome 1967, II, no. 280. The
last period of relations between the papacy and Byzantium is covered by G. Hagedorn,
264 CHAPTER EIGHT
`Papst Innocenz III. and Byzanz am Vorabend des Vierten Kreuzzugs (1198-1203)',
Ostkirchliche Studien 23, 1974, p. 8-9, and J. Gill, Byzantium and the papacy, 1198-1400,
New Brunswick 1979, p. 1-47.
32 Nicol, op. cit. (n. 2), p. v; for a survey of relations see also Brand, p. 195-206;
A. Pertusi, 'Venezia e Bisanzio: 1000-1204', DOP 33, 1979, p. 1-22; M.E. Martin,
`The Venetians in the Byzantine empire before 1204', in Byzantium and the West,
p. 201-214.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 265
ss Lilie, p. 1-49.
34 Johannes Diaconus, Chronicon Venetum, MGH SS VII, p. 26; 0. Demus, The
church of San Marco in Venice. History, architecture, sculpture, Washington 1960, p. 69-70.
266 CHAPTER EIGHT
sent military assistance to the Byzantines.35 John, the dope' son, was
nominated co-ruler according to a tradition in Byzantium by which
Basil II and Constantine VIII formed such a partnership. For his
education he was sent to Constantinople, where he married an aris-
tocratic lady, Maria Argyropoula. Her brother was the later emperor
Romanus III (1028-1034). Such matrimonial alliances were to bind
Venice more strongly to Byzantium and their common interests were
well served. In those times Byzantine claims in southern Italy and its
actual conquest, were important elements in Byzantine politics. A
reliable ally in northern Italy and in the Adriatic Sea was of major
importance. The Greek emperors may have speculated that the
Orseolo family would continue to maintain its influence in local
politics, and would impose itself as a sort of dynasty, once co-rulership
had been introduced. Family interests were counterbalanced by state
interests. The dowry of Maria must have been considerable, and must
have consisted of gold, silver, jewelry and some liturgical objects, like
icons, a Psalter, a Gospel Book, a reliquary etc. She also brought
relics of St Barbara. The young couple, once it had returned to Venice,
fell victim to the plague in 1006. John Orseolo, his wife Maria and
their son Basil all died. After the death of his brother Otto, who had
also been to Constantinople, and who was doge from 1008 to 1026,
there was no male heir left, and the Orseolo dynasty came to an
end. Maria's dowry was probably split up between the treasuries of
various religious institutions. The story of Peter Damian about a
pretentious, highborn Greek lady who led a too sophisticated life in
Venice (she even had eunuch servants and took special baths) for
which she was duly punished by a premature death, seems to refer
to Maria Argyropoula.36 It may be useful to refer here to Peter
Damian's interests in Byzantium, even if he did not like the lifestyle
of its upper classes. In the 1060s he was in correspondence with the
monastery of the Amalfitans in Constantinople to congratulate the
brothers on their loyalty to Rome after the schism. He collected
legends on the Virgin via Stephen, a cardinal-priest, who had served
as a papal legate to Constantinople, and who may have there be-
come familiar with the veneration of the Virgin.37
When better text editions with indices will become available it may be easier to
study his interests in Byzantium.
se Lilie, p. 8-16; Anna Comnena, VI, v, 10 (Leib, II, p. 54; Sewter, 191).
39 Nicol, op. cit. (n. 2), p. 52; Runciman, Civilization, p. 161.
268 CHAPTER EIGHT
40 Demus, op. cit. (n. 34), passim; idem, The mosaics of San Marco in Venice, Chi-
cago 1984, I, i, esp. p. 1-53 (with many ills.); E. Miintz, `Les artistes byzantins dans
1'Europe', Revue de fart byzantin 4, 1893, p. 186 (cf. A.L. Frothingham, 'Byzantine
artists in Italy from the sixth to the fifteenth century', American Journal of Archaeology
9, 1894, p. 39-40), and recently J.O. Richardson, The Byzantine element in the architec-
ture and architectural sculpture of Venice, 1063-1140, Ann Arbor 1989, xerox diss., Princeton
University, inaccessible.
41 X. Barral i Altet, Les mosaiques de pavement medieoales de Venise, Murano, Torcello,
Paris 1985 (cf. Byz 57, 1987, p. 300-302); Wettstein, op. cit. (n. 21), p. 69; cf.
H. Stern, 'Le pavement de la basilique de Pomposa (Italie)', Cahiers archiologiques 18,
1968, p. 157-169, for earlier Byzantinizing mosaics.
42 Matthiae, op. cit. (n. 20), p. 97-107, ills. 81-135; Bloch, Monte Cassino, I,
p. 164-6, refers to a recent restauration of the early 12th-century doors by Leo da
Molino. The doors were mounted on cypresswood. Such wood was more likely to
be used in Byzantium than in Venice.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 269
crowning piece of this work was the Pala d'Oro, which arrived from
Constantinople in the early 12th century. The altar table has been
several times restored. Enamels of various periods, including those
stolen during the sack of Constantinople in 1204, have been incor-
porated in the course of time. It still remains to be decided whether
parts of the original golden altar (if it had enamels) have been re-
cycled as well.43
The treasury of San Marco is a paradise for amateurs of Byzan-
tine art. The date of arrival of the treasures is, in most cases uncer-
tain. Before 1204 many Byzantine liturgical objects arrived in Venice
for the large Greek colony in Venice. The merchant republic loved
gold and wanted to flaunt its wealth and power by displaying costly
objects of gold and silver in its city churches. This love of relics
stimulated the making of rich reliquaries of which some may have
been made in Constantinople.44
Greek spolia (spoils), especially the pieces of sculpture which were
used in San Marco, arrived at unknown times, and may not have
been part of the pre-1204 church. On the other hand one should
not forget that Byzantine architectural elements found their way to
Western Europe. Parts of the former church of St Polyeuctus in
Constantinople were used in Aquileia and in Venice possibly before
1204, as it seems. Some spolia may have reached Venice after sea
raids before 1204.45
Byzantine art and especially mosaic art radiated from Venice to
Torcello, Murano, Trieste, Ferrara and Ravenna (Basilica Ursiana).
These mosaics are now being studied and will be published as a
follow-up to O. Demus' monumental work on the mosaics of San
Marco.46 In those times the industry of glass-making (tesserae are
43 Il tesoro di San Marco, La Pala d'Oro, ed. H.R. Hahnloser, Florence 1965;
0. Demus, `Zur Pala d'Oro', JOB 16, 1967, p. 263-79; J. Deer, `Die Pala d'Oro
in neuer Sicht'. BZ 62, 1969, p. 308-44.
44 See note 2; H.F. Brown, `The Venetians and the Venetian quarter in Con-
stantinople to the close of the twelfth century', Journal of Hellenic Studies 40, 1920,
p. 68-88; Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 571-3; idem, Constantinople byzantine,
p. 247-9.
45 Demus, op. cit. (n. 34), p. 109s.; e.g. R.M. Harrison, `A Constantinopolitan
capital in Barcelona', DOP 27, 1973, p. 297, 299, 300; idem, Ein Tempel fur Byzanz,
Zurich 1989, p. 80, 96s., 132 (also available in English).
46 Demus, ibid., I, i, p. xi. The mosaics of Torcello will be published by I. An-
dreescu, cf eadem, `Torcello. I. Le Christ inconnu. II. Anastasis et Jugement Dernier:
tetes vraies, tetes fausses', DOP 26, 1972, p. 183-223 (with ills.); eadem, `Torcello.
III. La chronologie relative des mosaIques parietales', DOP 30, 1976, p. 245-341,
270 CHAPTER EIGHT
often made of glass) may have been introduced into Venice or have
received new stimuli from the artists who worked at Monte Cassino.
The distinction between Venetian glass and Byzantine glass is some-
times very problematic.47
For its commercial contacts Venice needed interpreters. Some of
its inhabitants, Venetians or immigrant Greeks, are known to have
functioned as such. A certain Anastasius of Venice (d. 1085), active
on Mont St Michel and in a number of communities of the West,
was respected for his knowledge of Greek. James of Venice, who
lived in Constantinople in the 12th century, translated several works
by Aristotle. Such people may have brought Greek manuscripts to
Venice for themselves, for the Venetian authorities or for the Greek
community.48
Venice was a transit port for Western mercenaries and would-be
mercenaries who were exempted from certain taxes if they were
intending to serve in Byzantium. The transmission of certain ideas
(warfare etc.) may have been effected through these channels, but
this point deserves to be studied further.
After many factional vicissitudes the Venetian families finally stood
firmly united in the defence of their commercial empire and their
common prosperity. United they built their fleet and united they lived
in the Venetian quarter of Constantinople from where, in 1170/1171,
they attacked the Genoese. They suffered material losses when they
were expelled from the town. But as they were indispensable to the
Greek emperors, they were welcomed back some time afterwards.
Their arrogance had not however diminished, according to the
Byantines, and their wealth became greater still. They were to be
compensated for their losses, which made them even more hate-
ful in the eyes of the inhabitants of the Greek capital. To them it
looked as if all the profits went to the Westerners. The mass attack
on the Latins in 1182 is not mentioned in Venetian sources. The
Venetians may have missed it thanks to their temporary expulsion.
with ills. The mosaics from the old basilica Ursiana, Ravenna, are now in the
Archiepiscopal Museum in Ravenna. For Ferrara see Venezia e Bisanzio, op. cit.
(n. 2), no. 42.
47 D. Buckton, `The mass-produced Byzantine Saint', in The Byzantine Saint, ed.
S. Hackel, London 1981, p. 187-9 (for glass medallions).
48
Vita S. Anastasii, PL 149, c. 423-34; McNulty/Hamilton, p. 205; L. Minio-
Paluello, `Iacobus Veneticus Grecus, canonist and translator of Aristotle', Traditio 8,
1952, p. 265-305 (repr. in idem, Opuscula: the Latin Aristotle, Amsterdam 1972,
p. 189-228; d'Alverny, art. cit. (n. 18), p. 435-6; Berschin, p. 257s.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 271
Nevertheless the 12th century was an age of love and hate between
Greeks and Venetians, which ended in the plundering and devasta-
tion of 1204. At the end of the 12th century the doges imitated
Byzantine coins: the seated Christ, and St Mark giving a banner to
doge Enrico Dandolo (1192-1205), imitating Christ crowning the
emperor, a scene which occurs on Byzantine coins.49
Venice had competitors in northern Italy. The next republic join-
ing the economic race was Pisa, which grasped the opportunity when
the Byzantines needed help against their enemies. It is possible that
already at the end of the 11th century the city received a gift from
Alexius Comnenus for the building of the cathedral. Three chrysobulls
were given to Pisa, to grant commercial privileges and state the
conditions for military help: in 1111, 1170 and 1192. The three
Comnenian emperors Alexius I, John and Manuel Comnenus were
involved, followed by Isaac II Angelus. The Pisans also obtained a
quarter in Constantinople, in addition to being paid in cash, with
pensions and with a number of pallia for the ecclesiastical authorities.
Pisan coins sometimes have Greek inscriptions indicating the prestige
of Byzantine coinage in this city state. No Byzantine titles were con-
ferred on Pisans; instead they obtained places in Saint Sophia and in
the Hippodrome. The new situation was greatly advantageous to Pisa
and its development.5o
Several Pisans worked as interpreters, in Constantinople and else-
where. Burgundio of Pisa who attended the theological debate with
Anselm of Havelberg in 1136, in the Pisan quarter and later in Saint
Sophia, translated several Greek works into Latin. Classical authors
like Hippocrates, early Byzantine texts such as the sermons of John
Chrysostom were among them. Burgundio lived alternately in Pisa
and in Constantinople. The already mentioned brothers Hugh Etherian
and Leo Tuscus were active in the second half of the 12th century, and
were even more many-sided than their compatriot. They translated
theological works, secular literature (the Oneirocriticon, a dreambook,
for example) and possibly Greek chronicles. They took an active part
in theological disputes and seemed to have had a network of corre-
spondents, who included Aimery, the Latin patriarch of Antioch, Peter
of Vienna and Hugh of Honau. They both wrote on controversial
theological topics.51
The cultural impact of the Byzantine connection on Pisa has not
yet been studied. It has been suggested that Byzantine influence can
be seen in the late 11th-century cathedral which was commissioned
from a Greek architect or an Italian who, according to S. Guyer,
had travelled to Byzantium and changed his Italian name Buschetos
into the more Greek sounding Busketos. The dome of the church, if
it is part of the original church, the cruciform plan and the decora-
tion of encrusted marbles point to the East. It could well be that
here again we are dealing with an antiquarian taste, i.e. an imitation
of earlier, antique forms. The style of churches in the area around
Antioch would have set the example in this specific case. If so, it is
again a stimulus from the Byzantine world that was influential. In
the Baptistery of the town, which was built a century later, Byzan-
tine sculpture decorates the doorways. One should bear in mind,
however, that Byzantine sculpture poses quite difficult problems in
its dating, and that the occurrence of all sorts of spolia and the pres-
ence of stonecarvers at Monte Cassino and their Italian pupils, are
other complicating factors about which the last word has not yet
been written.52
At a very late stage Manuel Comnenus, matchmaker for the im-
perial family, showed an interest in Pisa. Byzantium tried to bring
about a matrimonial alliance with one of the leading families in town.
op. cit. (n. 3). For the Kalamanos palace, Brand, p. 210, 214, 218, and M. Angold,
`Inventory of the so-called Palace of Botaneiates', in Byzantine aristocracy, p. 254-66.
56 Brand, p. 18s., 29, 34, 36, 45; See also W. Haberstumpf, 'Ranieri di Monferrato:
ricerche sui rapporti fra Bisanzio e gli Aleramici nella seconda meta del XII secolo',
Bolletino storico-bibliografco subalino 81, 1983, p. 603-39 (inaccessible); Day, op. cit.
(n. 3), p. 9s., 28s., 32, 53-8, 86, 91, 111, 124.
57 Brand, p. 80-1, 84, 274 (for Conrad), p. 228, 234, 236, 239, 244, 258-9 (for
Boniface); see also recently M. Gallina, `L'Amicizia tradita, ovvero la prigionia in
Monferrato di un sovvrano bizantino nell' "Amicitia" di Boncompagno da Signa',
Bollettino Storico-Bibliographico Subalpino 88, 1990, p. 337-63 (I owe this reference to
Vera von Falkenhausen; inaccessible, cf. BZ 86/7, 1993/4, p. 217, indicating that
cultural aspects are mentioned).
5s Cf. S. Epstein, Wills and wealth in medieval Genoa, 1150-1250, Cambridge, Mass.,
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 275
1984; Frolow, Relique, nos. 448 and 449, are spoils of 1204, apparently a very
small share.
59 P. Classen, `Mailands Treueid fur Manuel Komnenos', Akten des XI. Internationalen
Byzantinistenkongresses, Munich 1958, Munich 1960, p. 79-85.
6o Cinnamus, p. 102, 170, 288-9 (Brand, 82, 130, 215-6); D. Abulafia, 'Ancona,
Byzantium and the Adriatic, 1155-1173', Papers of the British School at Rome 52, 1984,
p. 195-216; Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 575. See also J.-F. Leonhard, Die Seestadt
Ancona im Spatmittelalter Politik and Handel, Tiibingen 1983, esp. p. 38-85; Ancona e
Bisanzio, catalogue, Ancona 1992, inaccessible.
276 CHAPTER EIGHT
civil law which was based on Roman law. The same is true, mutatis
mutandis, for canon law. Ecclesiastics from both sides who strived
for the reunification of the divided church must have been aware of
the differences. Some twenty-five years ago DJ. Geanakoplos sug-
gested that Byzantine law left its traces in the seacodes of the Italian
cities, the first being the seacode of Amalfi (southern Italy), one of
Byzantium's first commercial partners. No systematic research was
carried out after the suggestion was made. The 12th-century renais-
sance of legal studies in Bologna should not be ignored by law his-
torians who want to tackle this problem. Some new perspectives may
be opened up in this fields'
No overall survey exists of the influence of Byzantine art on northern
and central Italy. Places like Venice, Torcello and Rome did act as
filters of Byzantine influence into surrounding areas, but the chan-
nels along which the process took place are not yet clear. Wandering
artists may have played a certain role. Many Byzantine objects exist
in churches, in museums and possibly in private collections as well,
but their historical context is often uncertain. So far attention has
been paid to places where Byzantine influence is clearly discernible.
J. Wettstein has studied some sanctuaries where this influence is
manifest. She discusses the paintings of the Baptistery of Novara of
the end of the 10th century (the Ottonian period) and the paintings
in the church of Galliano (near Milan) of the 11th century, patron-
ized by a Milanese prelate. We cannot be sure of the channels along
which both sanctuaries received the `Byzantine impulse' 12
In southern Italy the situation was different. After the' Byzantine
reconquest in the 9th and 10th centuries the Greek emperors took a
firm grip on their Italian possessions until these were finally conquered
by the Normans. Bali, the last Byzantine stronghold, was lost in 1071.
Calabria and the south of Apulia were Byzantine in administration,
63 L. Safran, `Redating some Italian frescoes: the first layer at S. Pietro, Otranto,
and the earliest paintings at S. Maria della Croce, Casaranello', Byz 60, 1990,
p. 307-333.
64 Der Alexanderroman des Archipresbyters Leo, untersucht and hrsg. F. Pfister, Heidel-
berg 1913, p. 8s.; Die Historia de preliis Alexandri magni, ed. H J. Bergmeister, Meisenheim
am Glan, 1975, p. VIIa and 2b; Lupus Protospatarius, who wrote a chronicle of
Bari for the period 860 to 1102 (MGH SS V, p. 52-63), had a Byzantine title. See
also note 66.
278 CHAPTER EIGHT
65 von Falkenhausen, Untersuchungen, op. cit. (n. 5), p. 10-12, 29-31, 34-8; eadem,
`I1 ducato di Amalfi e gli Amalfitani fra Bizantini e Normanni', Atti del Congresso
Internazionale di Studi Amal/itani, Ama fi 3-5 luglio 1981, Atti i, 1986, p. 9-3 1; Runciman,
Eastern schism, p. 45 (Greeks living in Amalfi); Balard, art. cit. (n. 20), passim;
Pertusi, art. cit. (n. 13), p. 217s.; it is curious that Sancta Maria Latinorum, their
church in Constantinople, possessed miracle working relics of St Pantaloon (Pante-
leimon), patron saint of Pantaleone, a rich merchant residing in the Greek capital,
cf. Ciggaar, `Une description de Constantinople traduite par on pelerin anglais',
p. 262. See now also V. von Falkenhausen, `La chiesa amalfitana nei suoi rapporti
con l'imperio bizantino (X-XI secolo)', in the press, for an Amalfitan conference
volume.
66 `Nota in Miraculum a S. Michaele Chonis patratum', AB 9, 1890, p. 201-3
(cf. ibid., 8, 1889, p. 287-329); Pertusi, ibid., p. 234; Follieri, art. cit. (n. 13), p. 361,
thinks that he was identical with Leo, the founder of the monastery (985-990), brother
of Pandolfo II of Benevento (cf. Siegmund, p. 270-1; Berschin, p. 252). The follow-
ing references to translation activities were given by Vera von Falkenhausen,
P. Chiesa, `Ambiente e tradizioni nella prima redazione latina della leggenda di
Barlaam e Josaphat', Studi Medievali, 3rd ser., 24, 1983, p. 521=44; idem, `Une
traduzione inedita di Anastasio Bibliotecario? Le "Vitae" latine di Sant' Anfilochio',
ibidem, 28, 1987, p. 879-903; idem, 'Le traduzioni dal greco: 1'evoluzione della
scuola napolitana nel X secolo', not yet published.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 279
67 Matthiae, op. cit. (n. 20), passim; Bloch, Monte Cassino, I, p. 155-161, III, ills.
18, 19; Ciggaar, in Byzantium and its neighbours, p. 13-20; Johannes monachus, Liber
de Miraculis, ed. M. Huber, Heidelberg 1913; A. Hofineister, 'Der LTbersetzer Johannes
and das Geschlecht Comitis Mauronis in Amalfi. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der
byzantinisch-abendlandischen Beziehungen besonders im 11. Jh.', Historische Vier-
tejahrschrift 27, 1932-3, p. 225-84, 493-508; Siegmund, p. 193-4, 219, 244, 266-9
(cf. Follieri, ibid., p. 361); Berschin, p. 253s.
6e Amatus of Monte Cassino, ed. V. de Bartholomaeis, Padua 1935, p. 207-9;
R. Louis, 'Les duos de Normandie dans les chansons de geste', Byz 28, 1958,
p. 399; Lentini, art. cit. (n. 18), passim; Ad Guidonem fratrem principis Salertani, PL 147,
c. 1258; Bloch, Monte Cassino, I, p. 93s., 95-6; Ph. Grierson, `The Salernitan coinage
of Gisulf II (1052-77) and Robert Guiscard (1077-85)', Papers of the British School at
Rome 24, 1956, p. 37-59.
280 CHAPTER EIGHT
69 Bloch, ibid., I, p. 93s.; d'Alverny, art. cit. (n. 18), p. 422, 426; Berschin,
p. 254-5; G. Baader, `Early medieval Latin adaptations of Byzantine medicine in
Western Europe', DOP 38, 1984 (Symposium on Byzantine medicine), p. 259;
R. Browning, `Greek influence on the Salerno school of medicine', in Byzantium and
Europe (First International Byzantine conference, Delphi 1985), Athens 1987, p. 189-
94; Chretien de Troyes, Cliges, v. 5746s., p. 175 (Owen, 171). See also N.G. Wilson,
`The Madrid Scylitzes', Scrittura e Civiltd 2, 1978, p. 209-219, for a 12th-century
Greco-Italian ms. with references to Salerno's medical school.
70 P. Peeters, `La premiere traduction latine de "Barlaam et Joasaph" et son original
grec', AB 49, 1931, p. 276-312, esp. p. 276-88; Berschin, p. 252; H.-G. Beck,
Geschichte der byzantinischen Volksliteratur, Munich 1971, p. 38s.
71 da Costa-Louillet, art. cit. (n. 7), passim. One may also think of Norman Sicily
as a translation centre in the 12th century.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 281
72 Matthiae, op. cit. (n. 20), p. 93-5, ills. 71-80; c£ M. English-Frazer, `Church
doors and the gates of paradise: Byzantine bronze doors in Italy', DOP 27, 1973,
p. 160; Kitzinger, art. cit. (n. 21), passim; Grierson, art. cit. (n. 68), passim.
" For the oath of fidelity to the pope see Chalandon, Domination normande, I,
p. 170s.; Grierson, ibid.
282 CHAPTER EIGHT
74 Gay, op. cit. (n. 5), passim; Chalandon, ibid.; von Falkenhausen, op. cit. (n. 5);
R.H.C. Davis, The Norman and their myth, London 1976, p. 71-101; for a recent
survey see G.A. Loud, `Byzantine Italy and the Normans', in Byzantium and the
West, p. 215-33; 0. Demus, The mosaics of Norman Sicily, London 1949 (1950);
E. Kitzinger, `Norman Sicily as a source of Byzantine influence on Western art in
the twelfth century', in Byzantine art, lectures, p. 121-47; V. von Falkenhausen,
'Der byzantinische Einfluss auf die Institutionen der normannischen Staaten in
Suditalien des 11. and 12. Jahrhundert', announced for Byzantium and its neighbours,
possibly to be published later.
75 Gay, op. cit. (n. 5), p. 451, 470, 535, 536 (n. 2); Blondal/Benedikz, p. 111,
186; c£ Anna Comnena, V, iv, 1 (Leib, II, p. 17; Sewter, 163).
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 283
76 Anna Comnena, passim, esp. I, x, 1-I, xvi, 9 (Leib, I, p. 37-62; Sewter, 53-
72, esp. 54, 195); for the marriage project, H. Bibicou, `Une page d'histoire dip-
lomatique de Byzance an XF siecle: Michel VII Doukas, Robert Guiscard et la pen-
sion des dignitaires', Byz 29/30, 1959/1960, p. 43-75 (for the seal, p. 58-9), and
V. von Falkenhausen, 'Olympias, eine normannische Prinzessin in Konstantinopel',
in Bisanzio e l'Italia, Raccolti di studi in, memoria di Agostino Pertusi, Milan 1982,
p. 56-72 (inaccessible); A. Engel, Recherches sur la numismatique et la sigillographie des
Normands de Sicile et d'Italie, Paris 1882, p. 82, inaccessible. Some of the letters relat-
ing to the marriage project were translated by C. Sathas, `Deux lettres inedites de
284 CHAPTER EIGHT
visit to Constantinople; Leib, IT, p. 234; Sewter, 329); XIII, ix s. (Leib, III, p. 119,
125s.; Sewter, 419, 425). A. Gadolin, `Prince Bohemund's death and apotheosis in
the church of San Sabino, Canosa di Puglia', Byz 52, 1982, p. 124-53; M. Falla
Castelfranchi, `Contributo alla conoscenza dell' edifizia religiosa nella Longobardia
meridionale. I. Canosa Longobarda (con un' appendice sulla cattedrale', Quaderni
dell' Istituto di Archeologia e Storia Antica dell' Universitd degli Studi V. D'Annunzio'-Chieti, 3,
1982/3, p. 201-46 (inaccessible; cf. A. Wharton Epstein, `The date and significance
of the cathedral of Canosa in Apulia, South Italy', DOP 37, 1983, p. 79-90); Mattbiae,
op. cit. (n. 20), p. 109; see also Runciman, Crusades, I, passim; cf. W.F. Volbach,
`Oriental influences in the animal sculpture of Campania', The Art Bulletin 24, 1942,
p. 172-80.
8° La Vie de Saint Cyrille le Philiote, moine byzantin, ed. E. Sargologos, Brussels 1964,
p. 154, 380-1 (with French tr.); cf. D. Abrahamse, 'Byzantine views of the West in
the early crusade period: the evidence of hagiography', in The meeting of two worlds,
p. 194. The editions of the Life of St Christodoulos, where one finds the relevant
passage in ch. 15 (ed. I. Sakkelion/C. Boines, Athens 1884, and E. Vranousses,
Athens 1966), are both of difficult access, cf. BHG 303.
81 Cinnamus, p. 37, 67, 98, 118, 140 (Brand, 38, 58, 80, 94, 110); H. Wieruszowski,
`Roger II of Sicily, Rex-Tyrannus, in twelfth-century political thought', Speculum 38,
1963, p. 62s.; E. Caspar, Roger II (1101-1154) and die Gtindung der normannisch-sizilischen
Monarchie, Innsbruck 1904, passim (inaccessible).
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 287
were the official languages. For obvious reasons the Byzantine and
Byzantinizing elements are our concern, even if Arab culture and
Byzantine culture had many things in common. Roger's aim to be-
come ruler of Byzantium expressed itself in various ways. Sources of
information about Byzantine imperial style were easily available to
him: Greeks who worked in his service. Greek notaries were active
in the chancery where a number of diplomas in Greek were issued
for Greek inhabitants and Greek institutions such as religious houses.
The Greek imperial style in the Norman chancery, its use of red ink
for the name of the ruler and the occasional use of gold seals with
inscriptions in Greek, is clearly discernible. The gold and lead seals
represented him as a Byzantine ruler, with loros and crown with
prependilia, sometimes with the Theotokos with Child on the obverse
side, the inscriptions partly in Greek, like MP ®Y.84 His silver coins
were concave like some Byzantine gold coins. They offer the same
iconography of a ruling basileus, sometimes accompanied by a co-
ruler, his son, holding a double-armed cross. Christ figures on the
other side of this type of coin. On some of his gold coins he intro-
duced the text IC XC NIKA, heralding his belligerent ambitions,
and again in close imitation of the Byzantine inscriptions."'
Greeks were also active in his army. We know of at least two
Greek commanders of the fleet, Christodoulos and George of Antioch.
Christodoulos founded a church, the latter was famous for his mili-
tary and cultural achievements. George of Antioch, who seems to
have been brought up in the `Norman fief' of Antioch, was active
during Roger's reign, during which Eugenius was born (see below).86
In 1112 George of Antioch joined Roger II and became an extremely
successful and wealthy man who built a church in Palermo which
was decorated with Byzantine mosaics. The king had expressed his
wish for lavish decoration. The mosaic work which, in programme
87 Demus, op. cit. (n. 74), p. 73-90; Beckwith, p. 262s., with ills.; E. Kitzinger,
`On the portrait of Roger II in the Martorana in Palermo', Proporzioni 3, 1950,
p. 30-5, with ills. (repr. in idem, The art of Byzantium and the medieval West,
p. 320-6); E. Kitzinger, I mosaici di Santa Maria dell' Ammiraglio a Palermo, Washing-
ton/Palermo 1990, pl. XXIII, cat. no. 71, p. 315-18 (with thanks to prof. Kitzinger
for the reference).
ee G. Rossi Taibbi, Filagato da Cerami. Omelie per i vangeli domenicali e le feste di tutto
l'anno, I, Palermo 1969, p. 174 (cf. PG 132, c. 541, 952); Kantorowicz, op. cit.
(n. 85), p. 163s.
290 CHAPTER EIGHT
on the Old Testament. Even their political ambitions were more than
once expressed in mosaic work. The dating of many of these mosa-
ics is very difficult. Hardly anything is known about the artists who
made them, and the origin of the material, the tesserae. Later resto-
rations and repairs have not eased the task of art historians in deter-
mining their dating and style.92
The church of Cefalu was the burial church of Roger II. Like his
cousin Bohemund he wanted to equal the Byzantine rulers, even in
death. Roger II was buried in a red porphyry tomb, and so were his
successors. 93
Unlike the papacy and the patrons of Monte Cassino who wanted
to make use of Byzantine artists to return to early Christian art, the
Norman ruler wanted to introduce contemporary Byzantine art into
his realm. He wanted to keep `in touch' with the Byzantine world
and its artistic developments, he wanted to be a real part of it. This
attitude also expresses his political views; he does not look back into
the past, but looks forward to the future.94
His son William I (1154-1166) continued work on Cefalu and its
mosaics. He concluded a peace treaty with the Byzantines to settle
problems raised during the campaign of 1147. In the years 1158/
1159 embassies were exchanged between Constantinople and Pa-
lermo. Compensation was to be paid for war damage and the pris-
oners of war were to be set free, except for those working in the silk
industry. The latter were apparently essential to maintain the new
lifestyle of the Norman court. Whether or not they were free to settle
in Palermo, is an unanswered question.95 One of the Sicilian ambas-
sadors was Henricus Aristippus, a Latinborn south Italian who knew
Greek. He brought back from Constantinople, as an imperial gift for
the Sicilian ruler, a manuscript of Ptolemy's Almagest. Aristippus was
one of the leading intellectuals at the Norman court. He trans-
lated Greek texts into Latin, such as the Meno and Phaedo of Plato.
It is now thought that he also brought to Sicily a copy of the History
of John Scylitzes.96
92 Demus, op. cit. (n. 74), p. 3-24; idem, Byzantine art and the West, p. 121s.,
for the choice of the medium and its implications.
93 J. Deer, The dynastic porphyry tombs of the Norman period in Sicily, Washington 1956,
p. Is., 85s., and passim.
94 Kitzinger, art. cit. (n. 16), p. 96s.
95 Chalandon, Domination normande, II, p. 253-4; Dolger, II, nos. 1416, 1417,
1420; Cinnamus, p. 172 (Brand, 132s.).
96 Haskins, Studies, p. 161s.; Berschin, p. 273; Wilson, art. cit. (n. 69), p. 217s.;
292 CHAPTER EIGHT
Sevicenko, `The Madrid manuscript of the Chronicle of Skylitzes in the light of its
new dating', in Byzanz and der Westen, ed. I. Hutter, Vienna 1984, p. 117-30.
9' Cf. K.A. Kehr, Die Urkunden der normannisch-sicilischen Konige, Innsbruck 1902,
p. 239s. (inaccessible); Enzensberger, op. cit. (n. 84).
98 Chalandon, Domination normande, IT, p. 358-9, 371-3; J. Parker, `The at-
tempted Byzantine alliance with the Sicilian Norman kingdom (1166-7)', Papers of
the British School in Rome 24, 1956, p. 86-93; Romuald of Salerno, MGH SS XIX,
p. 436 ('indiscusso manente', is the term used), 439.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA 293
Greek. The Virgin seems to have kept her Greek titles. To her William
II offered the church, a scene laid out in mosaic. The hybrid char-
acter is revealed by the Greek inscription accompanying the Virgin
and the Latin inscription which designates the Norman king. The
king is clad in Byzantine imperial robes, with loros and crown with
prependilia. Elsewhere in the church, the king is crowned by a Majes-
tic Christ, dressed in the same fashion. This time his imperial ambi-
tions were manifest and were not left to the initiative of one of his
subjects. '9
Hostilities against the Byzantine empire were resumed. Manuel had
died in 1180. Leadership was now in the hands of the usurper
Andronicus. In 1185 the Sicilians invaded Byzantine territory. Some
Greek islands and Dyrrachium were conquered. The capture of
Thessalonica in that same year was a real threat to the Byzantines.
Eustathius, archbishop of the town, has left a description of the plun-
dering and of Sicilian misdeeds against the population. From
Thessalonica the troops and the fleet went to the north, to Constan-
tinople, trying to make use of the confused political situation. But
the Greeks stood once again united against the Normans, killed
Andronicus and installed Isaac II Angelus on the throne. The Normans
had to retire. Once more the Greeks had successfully resisted their
enemies. loo
One of the influential civil servants at the court of Palermo was
now the Greek-born Eugenius of Palermo. In earlier days when he
had befriended Nilus Doxapatres, he was active in translating Greek
texts into Latin. He may have continued these activities. He em-
barked upon a brilliant career, ending up as admiral of the fleet. His
impact on the intellectual life in the Norman kingdom was consider-
able. He had assisted with the translation of the Almagest. Via the
Arabic text he `revived' an already existing Greek version of Stephanites
and Ichnelates, a story that was popular in East and West. The chro-
nology of his activities and those of his friends is, however, unprecise,
which makes it difficult to place him in his proper context.101
99 Demus, op. cit. (n. 74), p. 91-177; E. Kitzinger, I mosaici di Monreale, Palermo
1960, e.g. p1. 3 (coronation), pl. 1/2/4 (dedication to the Virgin), pl. 96 (St Thomas
of Canterbury); Beckwith, p. 267s.
'00 Eustathios of Thessaloniki, The capture of Thessaloniki, Engl. tr./ed. J.R. Melville
Jones, Canberra 1988, esp. p. 112s.; Ostrogorsky, p. 400.
101 Haskins, Studies, p. 171s.; Berschin, p. 273-4; E. Jamison, Admiral Eugenius of
Sicily, his life and work, and the authorship of the Epistola ad Petrum and the Historia Hugonis
Falcandi Siculi, London 1957, p. 38, n. 1, and esp. p. 56-79.
294 CHAPTER EIGHT
The Pyrenees did not always form a barrier between France and the
Iberian peninsula. At the time of the Carolingian empire there was
an opening southwards. Charlemagne extended his influence into the
Spanish March (Marca Hispanica), the area corresponding to mod-
em Catalonia. This area was to focus attention on the Mediterranean
world, which was eventually to result in relations throughout the
Mediterranean.
When he confronted the heathens in Spain Charlemagne estab-
lished a military base here, reminders of which can be found in the
Chanson de Roland. But the Spanish March was never integrated into
the Carolingian empire. It was divided into a number of counties
whose rulers were interrelated. In the course of time the Carolingian
connection was lost.
The people living on the Iberian peninsula were a mixture, with
different religions and different languages, living in different cultural
worlds. In the north, in the various principalities, lived Christians
who spoke the local vernacular and were sometimes conversant with
Latin. The Arabs who had conquered Cordova in 711 lived in the
south. The Umayyad Caliphate of Cordova united those who ad-
hered to Islam, spoke Arabic and lived a sophisticated cultured life
very similar to that of the Byzantines. The Cordovan court was a
centre where learning was of great importance. After the collapse of
the Caliphate the Arabic world was split up in a number of small
realms, the Taifa realms.
The frontier between the Christian north, with the county of
' Benjamin of Tudela, p. 12 (Sharf, 135); The travels of An Jubayr, tr. RJ.C.
Broadhurst, London 1952, p. 347.
296 CHAPTER NINE
4 J.K. Demetrius, Greek scholarship in Spain and Latin America, intr. L.N. D'O1wer,
Chicago 1965, Part X, Byzantine studies and modern Greek studies, p. 115-29;
S.C. Estopanan, Bizancio y Espana, Barcelona 1943, 2 vols., is not relevant for our
period.
5 E.g. R. Collins, Early medieval Spain. Unity in diversity, 400-1000, London 1983;
J.F. O'Callaghan, A history of medieval Spain, Ithaca/London 1975.
298 CHAPTER NINE
6 De administrando imperio, p. 98-9, 102-3, and index; Anna Comnena, VI, x-xi
(Leib, II, p. 73; Sewter, 205), XII, ix (Leib, III, p. 82; Sewter, 392), XIII, xiii (Leib,
III, p. 95; Sewter, 401); Scylitzes, p. 42; Tamarion, p. 54-5 (Baldwin, 15, 45).
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 299
' K.F. Stroheker, `Das spanische Westgotenreich and Byzanz', Bonner Jahrbucher
163, 1963, p. 252-74; J.N. Hillgarth, `Coins and chronicles: propaganda in sixth-
century Spain and the Byzantine background', Historia 15, 1966, p. 483-508; cf.
RBK, III5 1978, c. 152-202, s.v. Hispania; X. Barrat i Altet, La circulation des monnaies
sueoes et oisigotiques, Munich 1976, p. 64-6 ('Monnayage byzantin et monnaie byzantine
dans la Peninsule Iberique'); for an 8th-century chronicle, the Chronica Byzantina-
Arabica, see J. Gil, Corpus Scriptorum Muzarabicorum, 2 vols., Madrid 1973, p. 7-54,
and C.E. Dubler, `Sobre la cronica Arabigo-Bizantina de 741 y la influenzia bizantina
en la Peninsula Iberica', Al-Andalus 11, 1946, p. 283-349 (inaccessible); H. Schlunk,
`The crosses of Oviedo: a contribution to the history of jewelry: northern Spain in
the ninth and tenth centuries', The Art Bulletin 32, 1950, p. 91-114. For the Beatos
mss tradition and its complexity (Islamic and Eastern Christian elements), cf. Actas
del simposio para el estudio de los codices del "Comentario al Apocalipsis" de Beato de Liebana,
3 vols., Madrid 1977-80, e.g. P. de Palol, `Precedentes hispanicos e influencias
orientales y africanas en la decoracion e ilustracion de los Beatos', II, p. 117-33 (for
architectural elements and liturgical objects). I think that elements like the proskynesis,
covered hands, open hands lifted in prayer etc., deserve to be researched for a
Byzantinizing context. Cf. A. Ferreiro, The Visigoths in Gaul and Spain, A.D. 418-711,
bibliography, Leiden 1988, s.v. Byzantium. J. Herrin, The formation of Christendom,
Princeton 1987, p. 222, refers to an inscription on a refectory's wall which exhorts
the monks not to drink eastern wines, which seems to represent an `eastern' taste at
the time (cf. J. Vives, Inscripciones Cristianas de la Espana Romana y Visigoda, 2nd ed.,
Barcelona 1969, no. 353), and ibid., p. 221, she refers to an Eastern monk called
Martin.
s Liutprand, Antapodosis, VI, 4, p. 486-7 (the work was dedicated to the Spanish
bishop Recemund of Elvira, near Granada, who had travelled to Constantinople on
an official mission.
300 CHAPTER NINE
9 Vasiliev, op. cit. (n. 3), II, p. 187 (extracts from Ibn Juljul), c£ J. Vernet, Ce que
la culture doit aux Arabes d'Espagne, Paris 1985 (French tr. of the Spanish edition,
Barcelona, 1978).
10 E. Levi-Provencal, `Relations diplomatiques entre Byzance et Cordoue', Actes
du Ve congres international des etudes byzantines, Alger 1939 (published as extracts, Paris
1940), cf. Demetrius, op. cit. (n. 4), p. 122. Reference is made to rich archives in
Northern Africa, CCM 19, 1976, p. 83.
11 H. Stern, Les mosaiques de la grande mosquee de Cordoue, Berlin 1976, p. 1-2, 22,
25, 27-30, 38, 43-4, 46-7; Splendeurs de Byzance, catalogue, Brussels 1982, p. 226, cf.
A. Grabar, `Un exemple de collaboration byzantine et arabe an Xe siecle a Cordoue',
Cahiers Archeologiques 27, 1978, p. 201-4; Ibn Adhari (= Ibn Idari), Histoire de l'Afrique
et de l'Espagne, tr. E. Fagnan, Alger 1904, II, p. 382, 383, 392, supported by Idrisi,
a 13th-century writer, whose work was translated into Spanish by A. Blaquez, Idrisi,
Geograjia de Espana, Valencia 1974, p. 202 (50); F.P. Bargebuhr, `The Alhambra palace
of the eleventh century', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institute 19, 1956, p. 214,
251, n. 71. The presence of such columns, with capitals, or their Arabic counter-
parts, may have inspired later pre-Romanesque sculptors in northern Spain and
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 301
from there have `travelled' to southern France. Some of the pillars may have been
`removed' to the north, others may have been sold by the Cordovan rulers, cf. note
41 below.
12 A. van de Put, `Ceramics and glass', in Spanish art (R.R. Tatlock e.a.), London
1927, p. 72.
13 E. Levi-Provencal, Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane, I, Cairo 1944, p. 401; Ibn
Hayyan, Anales Palatinos del Califa de Cordoba al-Hakan II, tr. E. Garcia Gomez, Madrid
1967, p. 93.
1a AASS Jul. VI, p. 331; McNulty/Hamilton, p. 197. L. Vazquez de Parga/J.M.
Lacarra/J. Uria Riu, Las peregrinaciones a Santiago de Compostela, Madrid 1948-9
(3 vols.), I, p. 45-6.
15 Historia Silense, ed. J. Perez de Urbel/A. Gonzalez Ruiz-Zorrilla, Madrid 1959,
p. 191-2 (Florez, op. cit. (n. 2), XVII, p. 312, not mentioned by Vazquez e.a., ibid.
16 PL 149, c. 429; cf. McNulty/Hamilton, p. 205. St Romuald of Ravenna, friend
of Otto III, also lived as a hermit in the Pyrenees in the late 990s, cf. Peter Damian,
Vita beati Romualdi, ed. G. Tabacco, Rome 1957, ch. 4-5 (inaccessible).
17 Vita Meletii, ed. V. Vasilievsky, Pravoslavn# Palestinski Sbornik 6/2, 1886, p. 44
(inaccessible), cf. D. Abrahamse, `Byzantine views of the West in the early crusade
period: the evidence of hagiography', in The meeting of two worlds, p. 193.
302 CHAPTER NINE
lower rank. Among the Spanish participants there was also Elvira of
Aragon, wife of count Raymond of Toulouse. She bore him a son in
Constantinople, according to Orderic Vitalis, the Anglo-Norman
historian.20
We have referred to Spanish mercenaries in the Norman army. In
the eastern Mediterranean all the options were open to the adven-
turous spirit. Spanish adventurers may have taken service with the
Byzantines.
Spanish and Portuguese merchants came to Thessalonica to the
fair of St Demetrius, as we read in the Greek satire Timarion, written
around 1150. A few years later Benjamin of Tudela saw compatri-
ots, merchants, in the Byzantine capital." Somewhat later St Martin
of Leon travelled to Jerusalem and Constantinople where he bought
a silk chasuble and devotionalia.22 Another Spanish traveller, Ibn Jubayr
of Granada, went to the East in 1184/1185. He is one of only a few
Arabs known by name to have visited Byzantine territory. He did
not see the capital but anchored some Greek islands. Once in Sicily
he was summoned to report on the political situation in Byzan-
tium, a situation that had considerably changed after the death of
Manuel Comnenus in 1180. His information, although inaccurate
(Constantinople was never captured by the Arabs or Turks in the
12th century) shows an interest in Byzantine affairs, both in Sicily
and in Arabic Spain. Ibn Jubayr described his interview with king
William II the Good of Sicily as follows: `His first question to us had
been for news of Constantinople and what we knew of it, but alas
we had nothing we could tell him. We shall give news of it later'.
He may have been keeping his information for his compatriots, and
was not willing to tell more to the Sicilian king- 21
20 L./J.Riley Smith, The crusades. Idea and reality, 1095-1274, London 1981, p. 14,
37-8, 40; Sigebert de Gembloux, MGH SS VI, p. 367 (cf. P. Knoch, Studien zu
Albert von Aachen, Stuttgart 1966, p. 116, 124); for John of Wurzburg, cf. T. Tobler,
Descriptions terrae sanctae, Leipzig 1874, p. 154-5 (= PL 155, c. 1082; Engl. tr. in
Jerusalem pilgrimage, 1099-1185, ed. J. Wilkinson e.a., London 1988, p. 265); Albert
of Aix, VIII, 41, 47-8, p. 582, 584-5 (French tr. M. Guizot, Histoire des croisades par
Albert d'Aix, Paris 1824, II, p. 36, 39-40; Runciman, Crusades, II, p. 35, n. 1, and
H.E. Mayer, Bistumer, Kloster and Stifle im Konigreich Jerusalem, Stuttgart 1977, p. 48);
Orderic Vitalis, Chibnall, V, p. 277.
21
?imarion, p. 54-5 (Baldwin, 15, 45); Benjamin of Tudela, p. 12, s.v. Sepharad;
Sharf, 135); Hunger, Profane Literatur, II, p. 151-4.
22
Vita sancti Martini, PL 208, c. 13.
23 The travels of Ibn Jubayr, op. cit. (n. 1), p. 13, 326s., 330, 346, 347, 354-6,
388-9.
304 CHAPTER NINE
then elected bishop for the Val d'Aran, in the Spanish Pyrenees. On
that occasion Greeks may have come to northern Spain. The Cathars
spread as far as Tortosa of which Ramon de Moncada was lord and
master. He may have been interested to learn about the Eastern
heretics.26
In October 1177 Ramon (Raymond) de Moncada contracted a
loan at Pisa, probably meant to finance a commercial voyage on
behalf of Alfonso II of Aragon to Constantinople. We can ask our-
selves whether there was not a link with the marriage project, and
with the religious conflict in northern Spain. In the 1170s Ramon
was in Constantinople at the court of Manuel Comnenus where he
asked Leo Tuscus to make a translation of the Liturgy of John
Chrysostom. In the monastery of Santes Creus, sponsored by the
Moncada family, one finds a late 12th-century copy of a description
of Constantinople. This indicates an interest in the topography of
the Greek capital. However, the records are no help to determine
the exact identity of the man or of his dealings. In the Archives of
Barcelona many documents from Alfonso's reign remain unpublished.
The king at least got hold of the gold and silver from Eudocia's
dowry, as one of his enemies, the troubadour Bertrand de Born,
relates. He reviled the Spanish ruler for his uncouth behaviour. Peire
Vidal, another troubadour, praised the king for preferring a Castilian
girl to large amounts of gold. In 1174 Alfonso had married Sancha
of Castille. Nothing would have prevented a medieval ruler from
repudiating a newlywed wife. Unfortunately we do not know the
identity of Eudocia's original fiance, who could have been Alfonso
II, his brother Ramiro, count of Provence, or some other relative.27
In 1204 Maria, Eudocia's daughter, was married to Peter II, king of
Barcelona-Aragon, and Montpellier became part of the Spanish king-
dom. The ambitious ruling family at last had an imperial Byzantine
of spring in its midst. Yet the marriage ended in divorce and Maria
ended her days in Rome, in 1213.28
What happened to Eudocia's personal belongings? Her dowry must
have been impressive, apart from the already mentioned gold and
silver. Were they scattered over southern France? Did her daughter
inherit part of it, taking it to Spain and into her Roman exile? The
original dowry could explain the presence of some of the Byzantine
objects in Spain, for example the mosaic icon of St Nicholas in Vic
(Episcopal Museum), the 10th-century ivory with the Deesis scene,
once in Vic, later in a Parisian collection (see below), and the 11th-
century ivory horn in Zaragoza or an 11th-century serpentine Anastasis
(Resurrection), in Ciudad Real. And the surviving fragments and
references to silk, where did they come from? Such artefacts must
have made an impact on the arts in Catalonia .21
We have spoken of the county of Barcelona, its commercial activi-
ties and its candidacy for the hand in marriage of a Byzantine prin-
cess for a member of its ruling family. Barcelona was becoming a
centre of political power and interest. The name Catalonia first ap-
peared in the second half of the 12th century. After the collapse of
the Caliphate its successors, the Almoravids, frequently invaded north-
ern Spain but they were unable to resist the advancing Christian
reconquest. By contrast the small Almoravid principalities became
vulnerable to northern invasions.
After its capture in 985 by Al-Mansur, the powerful minister of
Hisham II (976-1009), Barcelona had risen from its ashes. Its terri-
tory was expanding. In 1090 Tarragona was conquered, in 1148
Tortosa, and Lerida in 1149. Barcelona developed as an urban cen-
tre with a demand for luxuries. Luxury goods are also mentioned in
wills of the period which followed on the events of 985. The ties
with France where the Capetians had taken over political power were
loosened. In 1137 the county of Barcelona and the kingdom of Aragon
like the names of the Greek islands, Andros, Athos (in both manu-
scripts), Rhodo (for Rhodes) are interesting in this respect. Yet as
long as these glossaries are not published it is difficult to draw con-
clusions about any points of linguistic or commercial interest in them.36
The Glossarium mediae latinitatis Cataloniae, of which the letters A to D
have been published, may become a goldmine in this respect. Some
interesting Greek imports are: anthropo, basileus, chrona (.2), ciclatono and
constantinatus.37
Leo, the imperial envoy to Rome in the 990s, wrote to a friend in
the imperial chancery in Constantinople that even in France and in
Spain the victories of the Byzantines were known. Around the year
1000 there was a certain familiarity with the Greek world and its
language, but the channels through which information reached Spain
remain unknown.36
The same applies to artistic contacts. One can only speculate about
the presence of Greek manuscripts in the Iberian peninsula. During
the period under discussion Byzantine art exerted an influence on
various artforms in Catalonia. This is particularly clear in fresco paint-
ing. The style, the iconography, the subject and sometimes a combi-
nation of these, contribute in various ways to give the onlooker the
impression of a Byzantine or Byzantinizing character. Good examples
are the frescoes in the two churches of Taull and those of the churches
of Pedret and Urgel, now easily accessible in the Museum of Cata-
lonian art (Museo de Arte de Catalufla), in Barcelona. Representa-
tions of the Christ Pantocrator, the bearded Christ, the Enthroned
Virgin, the six-winged cherubim, give a Byzantine impression not
only by reason of their suggestivity but also by their monumentality,
taking into consideration the smallness of the churches. The blue
background of several of these frescoes or the predominance of blues
in Granada. If so, they found a new home, first in the south, and
later in northern Spain where they may have led to new inspiration.
In this context it is good to reconsider J. Porcher's thesis that the
palm/palmette/palmleaf motif, popular on some of the capitals just
mentioned, may have reached southern France via northern Spain.
There is still another route for the arrival of such capitals. In the
church of San Justo y Pastor, Barcelona, an early Byzantine capital
with a Greek monogram now serves as a font which, according to
R.M. Harrison, came from Sarachane (Saint Polyeuctus) in Con-
stantinople together with a capital in the Archaeological Museum,
Barcelona. He suggested that during the Latin occupation spolia were
carried to the West or later by the Catalan company. We do not
know at what point the church fell into decay and began to be used
as a quarry for building materials. There was an `export' of building
material and spolia to western Europe. Building elements were also
taken to the West during the Latin occupation.41
If there was regular trade between Barcelona and its hinterland
and Byzantium what was being traded? One suggestion has been
that there was an export trade in Spanish paper. But Spanish mer-
chants may also have supplied the Byzantines with ivory, the material
for a newly blooming art industry. There was a curious blossoming
of this art in Spain, in both the Islamic south and the Christian
north, which suggests that the material was easily available. The
Timarion says that Spanish merchants brought beautiful textiles to
Thessalonica, in particular beautiful coverlets. Were these perhaps
cheaper quality silk weavings for supply to the Greek home market?
Or did these textiles come from elsewhere? And what did the Span-
ish merchants carry back home? There was a demand for luxuries,
for genuine Byzantine silks and possibly for exotic foodstuffs. Gold
thread was imported from Cyprus. Spices may also have been in
demand. The legend of Theodorus and Abraham, incorporated in
an 11th/12th-century description of Constantinople (which goes back,
45 Bertaux,. art. cit. (n. 29), p. 311; F. Steenbock, Der kirchliche Prachteinband im
friihem Mittelalter, Berlin 1965, nos. 67, 68 (p. 160-1), ills. 94, 95; another Spanish-
made ivory, Goldschmidt, IV, no. 97, p. 29-30, and pl. XXXI, betrays Greek
influence in iconography (Descent of the Cross), inscription and presence of double-
armed cross, cf. Perrier, art. cit. (n. 42), p. 33; A. Kingsley Porter, `The tomb of
Dona Sancha and the Romanesque art of Aragon', The Burlington Magazine 45, 1924,
p. 175; R. Crozet, `L'art roman en Navarre et en Aragon. Conditions historiques',
CCM 5, 1962, p. 48.
46 Ars Hispaniae, V j. Gudiol Ricart/J.A. Gaya Nuno, Madrid 1948, p. 122, 131.
47 M. Schapiro, `From Mozarabic to Romanesque in Silos', The Art Bulletin 21,
1939, p. 312-74 (repr. in idem, Romanesque Art. Selected papers, I, New York 1977,
p. 97, n. 209); cf. A. Krickelberg-Piitz, `Die Mosaikikone des hl. Nikolaus in Aachen-
Burtscheid', AKB 50, 1982, p. 31; Junyent, art. cit. (n. 39), p. 38.
48 N. D'Olwer, `La litterature latine au XIe siecle', in La Catalogne a 1'epoque
romane, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 209 (Ripoll, ms. no. 40, Archives of the Crown of Aragon).
49 CJ. Bishko, `The abbey of Duenas and the cult of St Isidore of Chios in the
county of Castille (10th-11th centuries)', in Homenaje a Fray Justo Perez de Urbel, Abadia
de Silos 1977, II, p. 345-6, 350, 361 (repr. in idem, Spanish and Portuguese monastic
history, 600-1300, London 1984. At Martorell (Catalonia), cf ibid., p. 361, his relics
were venerated. The codex Vigilanus (or Albeldensis) made in 976 in Navarre men-
tions the Byzantine date in its calendar (see also below note 54). One wonders
whether Chios occurs in the Ripoll glossaries. The Venetians succeeded in getting
hold of the relics of the saint in 1125, when they looted relics from his shrine on
Chios, Nicol, p. 79.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 315
At the end of the period under discussion the fine frescoes of the
chapter house of Sigena (prov. Huesca), now in the Museum of Ca-
talonian art, Barcelona, were made. These monumental and beauti-
ful frescoes resemble frescoes in the Balkans and 12th-century mosaics
on Sicily, all profoundly inspired by Byzantine art. Even if they were
painted by English artists as has sometimes been assumed, and even
if their models should be sought in Sicily, they betray that willingness
to introduce Byzantine art, Byzantine elements, a Byzantine expression
of religious feelings, and Byzantine iconography, into the royal complex
of Sigena. The immense melancholy of the prophets and saints of
these frescoes must have appealed to the royal patrons. The Nativity
and the Visitation are among the representations that are very Byz-
antine. It might be fruitful to look for more direct contacts with the
Byzantine world in these Byzantinizing paintings, which in their turn
affected works of art in the region. The artists who worked at Sigena
are thought to have been trained in a Byzantine environment.50
Sigena has taken us to the hinterland, to more inland routes, in
the direction of the kingdom of Navarre and Leon-Castille where
Byzantine influence and contacts with the Byzantine world were,
understandably enough, less prominent than in the coastal regions.
Wandering monks and pilgrims visited these regions on their way to
Santiago de Compostela. Two Spanish princesses were married to
Sicilian rulers who lived in a Byzantinizing ambiance and tried
to compete with the Greek emperors: Elvira of Castille, daughter
of Alfonso VI, was married to Roger II (1130-1154), Margaret of
Navarre, daughter of Garcia IV Ramirez, was the wife of William I
the Bad (1154-1166). Artists travelled from the coastal lands to these
kingdoms and brought new ideas.51
The codex Vigilanus/Albeldensis written in Navarre in 976 seems to
offer indirect proof of such relations, in that it mentions the Byz-
antine calendar date for the feast of St Isidore of Chios in northern
Spain. The presence of Byzantine objects influenced at least one ivory
of the shrine of St Aemilianus, made before 1076, in the monastery
church of San Millan de la Cogolla. The Enthroned Christ, now in
so Demus, p. 165, 192-3; W. Oakeshott, Sigena: Romanesque paintings in Spain and the
Winchester Bible artists, London 1972 (lavishly illustrated, e.g. pl. 53, 55), passim, esp.
p. 113; English Romanesque art, 1066x1200, catalogue, London 1984, no. 87, p. 134
(cf. Ars Hispaniae, op. cit. (n. 39), VI, p. 123s., 247, 253).
51 J. Gudiol Ricart, 'Les peintres itinerants de 1'epoque romane', CCM 1, 1958,
p. 191-4.
316 CHAPTER NINE
52 Roulin, art. cit. (n. 29), p. 103; Goldschmidt, IV, p. 2, nos. 84p/q, and
pl. XXIV; K. Weitzmann, Catalogue of the Byzantine and early mediaeval antiquities in
the Dumbarton Oaks collection, Washington 1972, III, no. 32, p. 86; Perrier, art. cit.
(n. 42), p. 110. The stiff proskynesis occurs already in the Beatos mss tradition.
Ss Ars Hispaniae VI, op. cit. (n. 39), p. 353, and fig. 382.
54 A. Sanchez Candeira (ed. E. Saez), "El regnum-imperium" leones hasta 1037, Madrid
1951, p. 36, 37, 65; c£ R. Menendez Pidal, El imperio hispanico y los cinco reinos,
Madrid 1950, p. 52-4. For the portrait J. Dominguez Bordona, Die spanische Buchmalerei
vom siebten bis siebzehnten yahrhundert, Leipzig 1930, I, plate 26; Collins, op. cit. (n. 5),
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 317
p. 243-4 (cf P.E. Schramm, Die deutschen Kaiser and Konige in Bildern ihrer Zeit, 751-
1190, new ed. P. Berghaus e.a., Munich 1983, p. 196). O.H.J. Huffier, `Die mittel-
alterliche Spanische Kaiseridee', in Estudios dedicados a Menendez Pidal, V, Madrid
1954, p. 366, 371-2, 389; it may be revealing that his predecessors of the 9th
century ordered circus games to be represented on the porch of San Miguel de
Lillo, cf J. Gardelles, 'Les palais dans 1'Europe occidentale chretienne du Xe au
XIIe siecle', CCM 19, 1976, p. 131.
55 Bishko, art. cit. (n. 49), passim.
56 T.F. Ruiz, `Une royaute sans sacre: la monarchie castillane', Annales ESC 39,
1984, p. 429-53; e.g. Gesta comitum Barcinonensium, op. cit. (n. 26), p. 43, `De Petro [I],
rege Aragonum [d.d. 1094] (Petrus qui inter filios maior erat et ibidem, mortuo patre,
in regem fuerat elevatus)'; W. Ensslin, `Torqueskronung and Schilderhebung bei der
Kaiserwahl', Klio 35, 1942, p. 268-98; G. Ostrogorsky, `Zur Kaisersalbung and Schil-
derhebung im spatbyzantinischen Kronungszeremoniell', Historia 4, 1955, p. 246-56
(repr. in Das byzantinische Herrscherbild, ed. H. Hunger, Darmstadt 1975, p. 94-108);
C. Walter, `Raising on a shield in Byzantine iconography', REB 33, 1975, p. 138,
158s.; P.E. Schramm, `Die Kronung im katalanisch-aragonischen Konigreich',
Homenatge a A. Rubio i Lluch, III, Barcelona 1936, p. 575-98, is unavailable to me.
57 P.E. Schramm, Las insignias de la realeza en la edad media Espanola, Madrid 1960,
p. 30.
318 CHAPTER NINE
58 May, op. cit. (n. 29), p. 4, 7, 13, 22, 30, 39-49, 51, 66-7, 113-114; Beckwith,
`Tissues', p. 351, and fig. 30. Silks containing linen are mostly Spanish products, cf.
D.G. Shepherd, `La dalmatique d'Ambazac. Dossier de recensement', Bulletin de
liaison du centre international d'etude des textiles anciens 1960, p. 18-19 (she refers to her
article `The textiles from Las Huelgas de Burgos', Bulletin of the Needle and Bobbin Club
35, 1951, p. 19-22, which is inaccessible to me). For the portrait in the ms. Tumbo
menor de Castilla, fo. 15, Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid, F. Soldevila, Historia
di Espana, I, Barcelona 1952, p. 266.
59 Schlunk, art. cit. (n. 7), p. 114, refers to Byzantinizing capitals north of the
Duero river, made after real (?) Byzantine models, cf. idem, art. cit. (n. 41), p. 243-4.
6o D.M. Robb, `The capitals of the Panteon de los Reyes, San Isidoro de Leon',
The Art Bulletin 27, 1945, p. 166, n. 5; Ars Hispaniae, VI, op. cit. (n. 39), p. 195;
Espana Sagrada, op. cit. (n. 2), vol. 36, p. clxxxix, p. 4. Their marriage in 1032 had
united Castille and Leon; Dodwell, p. 196-7, and pls. 229-30. There is also an
impressive Pantocrator, cf. Ars Hispaniae, VI, op. cit. (n. 39) pl. 125.
61 Michelin Guide, Portugal, p. 53.
62 Haskins, Studies, p. 67, 156; d'Alverny, art. cit. (n. 27), p. 444-57; Berschin,
p. 277-9, 288. It is my guess that John Saracenus, active in France in the 1160s as
a translator of Greek texts into Latin, who had travelled to Greek lands, had con-
nections with or came from Toledo or another Spanish centre of learning.
63 Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, no. 52, p. 143-50, and colour plate III; its iconography
has not yet been considered in the context of Spanish art.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 319
Coming to the 12th century one finds the same pattern of dispa-
rate remarks and references in scholarly publications. In the arts one
finds only a few scattered remarks. D. Talbot Rice noticed a Byzan-
tine style in paintings in the regions of Leon and Valladolid, without
giving exact references.64 In the monastery of Santo Domingo of Silos
(Burgos region), on the way to Santiago, a few Byzantine spolia have
been detected, which date to the period around 1100. In one of the
reliefs Christ is rendered as superhuman in scale, oversized in com-
parison with the disciples who include the doubter Thomas. Parallels
can be found in Byzantine mosaics. In the Silos Beatos manuscript
(BL Add. 11695, fo. 2), finished in 1109, the struggle of St Michael
with the devil is an iconographical element paralleled in Byzantine
and Armenian art.65 Not far from Burgos another royal Pantheon
was built, Las Huelgas. Here Byzantine and Byzantinizing silks have
been found, some of which display the double-headed eagle discussed
above. This element comes back in some of the capitals. They seem
to offer proof of Byzantine influence, in art and style, on Spanish
rulers of the 12th and 13th (?) centuries.66 In the Old Cathedral of
Coimbra (Portugal), built between 1140 and 1175, Byzantine capi-
tals decorate some of the gallery's pillars.67
By 1100 Romanesque art was developing in Spain. Lack of evi-
dence for direct artistic contacts with the Byzantine world makes it
difficult to draw firm conclusions. For the time being it seems pref-
erable to consider 12th-century Spanish art in the international con-
text of Romanesque art which absorbed, at various times and at
various degrees, so many Byzantine elements.68
In 1203/1204 Spaniards had participated in the capture of Con-
stantinople. Later the help of the Order of St James was requested
by the emperor Baldwin II, but the request was made in vain.69
However, it was not the end of the presence of Spaniards in the
East. Catalan commercial activity spread out all over the Mediterra-
nean and the Catalan company was in the service of the Byzantine
emperors."' The Spanish church in the Greek capital may result from
the immigration of these mercenaries and merchants.71 The same
can be said for the surname/family name Hispanos, `Ionavoc.72
In Spain we see the same web of close relations with the Byzantine
world and its impact. The import tax on silk called bisante may have
been in operation during the period under discussion. The term greciscos
had been in use from ancient times, apparently to designate imported
silk cloth.73 The marriage in 1219 of Ferdinand III of Castille with
Beatrix, daughter of the German emperor Philip of Swabia and his
Greek wife, the princess Irene Angela, daughter of the emperor Isaac
II Angelus, may have played a certain role in this process of inter-
action of which the dates are different to determine. Beatrix's uncle,
Alexius IV, had governed the Byzantine empire for a short while.
Beatrix had been raised in a family with Byzantine and Byzantinizing
traditions, and aspirations. She may have brought to Spain some
Byzantine artefacts and even some Byzantine 'institutions' .14
Catalan merchants brought Greek slaves to Catalonia in the 14th
century. They may have left by some accounts traces in the lan-
guage and in other aspects of daily life.75 These various individuals,
slaves and merchants and others, coming to the peninsula at various
times and with various purposes, may have brought with them the
Byzantine artefacts, precious or of less value, which one finds scattered
over the country.
The pilgrim's road to Santiago de Compostela was an important
communication channel with the Spanish hinterland. And so were the
great monasteries, Ripoll, Jaca, San Milan de la Cogolla, Las Huelgas
(Burgos), Santo Domingo de Silos and San Isidoro de Leon. Much
same may apply to Greek crosses in heraldry, cf. A l'epoque des cathedrales, catalogue,
Gerona 1988, no. 81, ca. 1300 (the Cruilles family).
70 E.g. K.-M. Setton, The Catalan domination of Athens, 1311-1388, Cambridge, Mass.,
1948; J.N. Hillgarth, The problem of a Catalan Mediterranean empire, 1229-1327, London
1975.
" REB 4, 1946, p. 176-7; Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 576.
72 Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, Vienna IV, 1980, no. 8317.
" May, op. cit. (n. 29), p. 4, 66 (reference to the bisante in 1273).
74 E.g. Chronique latine des rois de Castille jusqu'en 1236, op. cit. (n. 25), p. 99; for a
possible contemporary introduction of the double-headed eagle, Schramm, op. cit.
(n. 57), p. 44.
71 A. Rubio i Lluch, `Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der griechischen Sklaven in
Katalonien im XIV. jahrhundert', BZ 30, 1930, p. 462-68.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 321
S. Matlas de Salou
CHAPTER TEN
' N.M. Haring, `The Liber de diversitate naturae et personae by Hugh of Honau',
Archives d'Histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen age 37, 1962, p. 120 (Haskins, Studies,
p. 210). References to sources can be found through the general index.
2 Gerbert of Reims, Weigle, no. 186, p. 222 (Lattin, p. 294-5, 296-7); cf.
Rentschler, I, p. 345.
3 See note 1.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 323
' P.E. Schramm, The deutschen Kaiser and Konige in Bildern ihrer Zeit, 751-1190, new
324 CHAPTER TEN
was not widely spread arts and images became important. The
Ottonian rulers promoted co-rulership to strengthen the position of
their dynasty and they used the system of spiritual relationship with
other rulers to confirm their supremacy. They used titles copied from
Byzantium. True, they did not use the title basileus as did some Spanish,
Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman rulers, but this would have been
too risky given their frequent contacts with the Byzantine court.
Western sources seldom used the term basileus to designate the Greek
emperors. This may have been done on purpose in order to ques-
tion, indirectly it is true, the unequalled position of the Greek em-
perors.' The title `emperor of the emperors', in Greek characters, on
a bookcover formerly in Essen, was appropriate to designate Christ
who stood at the top of the hierarchy of heavenly and earthly power.'
Occasionally Otto III was given a genuine Byzantine title such as
`born in the purple', purpura natus, indicating that he was born as son
of a reigning emperor, but this title was as near as one was expected
to come to the use of official titles of the Byzantine emperors with-
out insulting them.' Later, in the 12th century, the term porphyrogenitus
was used for abbot Nicholas of Siegburg who was, according to some,
a real ecclesiastical `prince'.' Another import from the Byzantine court
ceremonial was the proskynesis. Visitors had to prostrate in front of
the Greek emperor as we learn from Liutprand of Cremona. On the
coronation ivory with Otto II and Theophano, where the rulers are
crowned by Christ, the patron, the tiny person in the left hand corner,
lays in proskynesis before the rulers. Archbishop Everger of Cologne
adopted this attitude in the manuscript which he offered to St Peter
and St Paul. In the 12th century the proskynesis reappears when ab-
ed. by P. Berghaus e.a., Munich 1983, no. 94, p. 195-6, no. 95, p. 198, no. 218,
p. 268-9. For the Spanish rulers see also F. Soldevila, Historia de Espana, I, Barcelona
1952, p. 138, 266, with ill.; see also note 37 infra. For frontality in Byzantine art,
and in consequence for Western art as well, see The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium,
s.v. frontality, and A. Hauser, Sozialgeschichte der mittelalterlichen Kunst, Munich 1957,
p. 17.
s In the late 11th century a certain Pantaleon from Amalfi, who had connections
with Constantinople, referred to the Greek emperor as the basileus, Benzo of Alba,
Ad Heinricum IV, ii, 7, MGH SS XI, p. 615, and so did Hugh of Honau, see note 1.
6 Th. Rensing, `Zwei Ottonische Kunstwerke der Essener Munsterschatzes', Wes#'alen
40, 1962, p. 49, 52s. (with ill.)
' Bruno of Querfurt, Vita Adalberti, ch. 18, ed. H. Bielowski, in Monumenta Poloniae
Historiae, I, 1864, p. 205 (ed. H. Karwasinka, Monumenta Poloniae Historica, N.S.,
IN, Warsaw 1969, p. 23).
' Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 487.
BYZANTIUM; FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 325
hot Suger of Saint Denis, who rebuilt the abbey church, had himself
represented in this attitude in the window with the scene of the An-
nunciation; bishop Henry of Winchester was represented in the same
way on an enamel. Other examples can easily be brought forward
during the period under discussion.'
The arrival of Theophano in the West and her prominent posi-
tion as wife of the German emperor must have reinforced the adop-
tion and imitation of Byzantine ideas and ideals which eventually
spread all over Western Europe. After her husband's death she used
Byzantine institutions to maintain her influential position. The luxury
which she brought with her played its own role, and so did the re-
ligious devotionalia which she, her companions and the numerous
embassies travelling forward and backward, brought to the West. In
religious and artistic life Byzantine influence was even more intense.
Large groups of people became familiar with Byzantine religious
iconography on bookcovers, portable altars, reliquaries and other
devotionalia which were on show in church treasuries and in the
churches themselves. The often beardless Christ of Carolingian times
was definitely replaced by the bearded Christ of the Byzantines. The
enthroned Christ in Majesty, the Pantocrator, was becoming the
fashion. If represented with earthly rulers, patrons, monks and others,
Christ towered high above them. These new dimensions express the
new `hierarchy' between Christ and mankind, another expression of
the Byzantine way of thinking. In Romanesque art the Christ in
Majesty was often part of a tympanum, or he was represented in the
apse of a church, as in Berze-la-Ville.10 The Deesis, another Byzan-
tine iconographical element, in which the Virgin and St John in-
tercede with Christ who is standing in their midst (the symmetrical
disposition is another Byzantine feature) was also introduced in the
West via the Ottonians. Examples are the marriage contract of Theo-
pbano and the Prayerbook of Otto III, but this iconographical element
never became popular in the West. A Romanesque painting in Den-
mark, at Malrv, offers one of the few Western examples of the Deesis,
which may be explained by direct contact between Denmark and
Byzantium rather than by Ottonian models. Other iconographical
" E.g. RBK, I, s.v. deesis; Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunst, III, 1199-1204; Reallexikon
der christlichen Ikonographie, I, 497-8; Th. von Bogyay, `L'adoption de la Deisis dans
fart en Europe centrale et occidentale', Melanges offerts a S. de Vajay a l'occasion de son
cinquantieme anniversaire, ed. P. Briere, Braga 1971, p. 65-70 (inaccessible), cf. REB
38, 1980, p. 261-9; H. Wentzel, `Das byzantinische Erbe der ottonischen Kaiser.
Hypothesen caber den Brautschatz der Theophano', AKB 43, 1972, p. 16, ills. 13/14.
12 Bielowski, op. cit. (n. 7), p. 190; Beckwith, ill. 97; Vor derv Jahr 1000. Abendldndirche
Buchkunst zur Zeit der Kaiserin Theophanu, Cologne 1991, no. 32, p. 122 (Heidelberg,
Universitatsbibliothek, Cod. Sal. IXb, fo. 40v).
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 327
artefacts with such themes dating to the 10th century have been
preserved in German treasuries and libraries, and elsewhere.13
True there were some highly venerated icons of the Virgin in
Roman churches, but they remained Byzantine `relics' in the West-
ern world. The Marian cult, in art, in hymns, sermons, miracles and
prayers, developed in 10th-century Ottonian Germany from where it
radiated all over Western Europe. It was a gradual development and
it did not include all iconographical types of the Virgin.14 In travel
reports one finds an interest in the Virgin, in miracle working icons
and relics. Icons did not become part of Western life if we are to
judge from the description by Nicholas of Thingeyrar, the Icelandic
bishop who described a Virgin with Child, and the report of the
12th-century Danish expedition to Jerusalem which minutely described
an icon of the Hodigitria in one of the Constantinopolitan churches.
The anonymus Mercati several times mentions icons of Christ and of
the Virgin. However, the terminology is not always very clear: imago,
icona, ycona, are used to describe icons and other representations, and
are thus entered in indices.15 In the anonymous Greek miracles which
were translated in late 11th-century Constantinople by the monk John,
icons play a role as well, and so they did in miracles adapted or
`invented' by William of Malmesbury. The latter was fully aware
that even in the 12th century the Greek veneration of icons and of
the Virgin had its impact on the West, when he wrote: `Cedunt indi-
genae sanctae matri Domini et gaudent se ab ea favore superari. Cur-
runt ad imaginem in omnibus necessitatibus, referenturque efficaces
votorum effectus. Fervor Graecorum in amorem dominae invitavit et
accendit nostros, et ut pleraque alia, ita istud venerationis exemplum
a Graecis manavit in latiare solum'.16 Greek icons had come to the
West but their history is generally unknown."
13 See the publications by H. Wentzel, mentioned in ch. The Holy German empire;
Goldschmidt/Weitzmann, passim.
14 For the arts see for example D. Gaborit-Chopin, Elfenbeinkunst im Mittelalter,
Berlin 1978, p. 84, ill. 80, p. 100, ill. 101.
15 Ciggaar, `Description de Constantinople traduite par un pelerin', p. 266, s.v.
Maria Deipara, imagines, ibid., p. 265, s.v. lesus Christus, imagines; see also eadem,
`Tarragonensis 55'.
1G Johannes Monachus, Liber de Miraculis, ed. M. Huber, Heidelberg 1913, p. 3s.;
J.M. Canal, El libro `De laudibus et miraculis Sanctae Mariae' de Guillermo de Malmesbury,
Rome 1968, p. 132s., 166s.; the icon of the Virgin in the Blachernae church in
Western literature asks for a detailed study.
17 Vita Sanctae Cunegundis, MGH SS IV, 1841, p. 821 ('icona de auro et lapidibus
preciosissimis'; in the 11th century the abbey of Monte Cassino received icons from
328 CHAPTER TEN
around 1160, are more isolated cases, but connections with the Byz-
antine East are not unlikely. For the bronze door of Bonanno at
Pisa, a Byzantine ivory could well have served as model for the
Dormition scene.21 In the course of the 12th century the Dormition
of the Virgin became linked with her coronation as queen of heaven.
This scene occurred in late 10th-century Anglo-Saxon England, in
the Benedictional of St Aethelwold (BL, Add. 49598, fol. 102v), but
it left only one offspring; a Byzantine model from Ottonian Ger-
many is not very likely in this case .21 Henry of Winchester reintro-
duced the theme in the Winchester Psalter, in a sort of diptych, but
the Virgin is not crowned or receiving a crown.22 Such `new' icono-
graphical themes deserve to be studied in a wider context of liturgy
and theology.
In Ottonian Germany we also find the first `full size' statue of the
Virgin with Child, the Golden Madonna of Essen, with its beautiful
offspring of statues of the Virgin in the Rhineland, like the Imad
Madonna which was made around 1060 and is now in the Diocesan
Museum, Paderborn. A satisfying explanation of the beginnings of
sculpture in 10th-century Western Europe has yet to be given. West-
erners were not familiar with statues, except in Rome and another
few places, where a number of classical statues could still be seen. In
Constantinople, however, many statues lined the streets and were
standing on public squares. They are often described by travellers.
One of the most popular statues, the equestrian statue of the emperor
Justinian, is time and again referred to in descriptions of the town
and appears, in a disguised form, in Old French romances of the
12th century (frontispiece). Was it the great number of carved ivories
in Ottonian Germany, both Byzantine and Western made, that stimu-
lated patrons and artists alike to try one's hand at a more full size
Virgin, who should better fit her position as empress of heaven and
earth? Sculpture took long to develop in Western Europe. In East
and in West artists lacked the skill, the ambition or the technology
20 O. Demus, The mosaics of Norman Sicily, London (1949) 1950, p. 73s.; R. Valiant,
Aquilee et les origins byzantines de la Renaissance, Paris 1963, p. 45-53; Mazal, no. 394,
p. 491-2, and ill. 30; Propylaen Kunstgeschichte, H. Fillitz, Das Mittelalter, I, Berlin 1985,
p. 242, and ill. 307 (for the bronze door of Bonanno).
21 R. Deshman, `Christus rex et magi reges: kingship and Christology in Ottonian
and Anglo-Saxon art', Fruhmittelalterliche Studien 10, 1976, p. 397s.
22 L. Reau, Iconographie de fart chretien. H. Iconographie de la Bible. H. Nouveau Testa-
ment, Paris 1957, p. 601-14; an up-to-date survey of such an iconographical theme
is a desideratum.
330 CHAPTER TEN
23 Lasko, p. 104, 105, 137, and ills. 97, 98, 142. The small reliquary of Ste Fides
(Foy), Conques, cannot be regarded as sculpture. The use of the term statua may be
interesting for our subject, see also note 69.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 331
25 Schramm/Berghaus, op. cit. (n. 4), nos. 81-83, and p. 186s.; Ohnsorge, Abend-
land, p. 288-99, 325-32, 362s.; idem, Konstantinopel, p. 225s.
26 E.H. Kantorowicz, Laudes regiae. A study in liturgical acclamations and medieval ruler
worship, Berkeley 1946 (repr. 1958), p. 172, n. 67 (for the title basileus in acclama-
tions for William the Conqueror); H.EJ. Cowdrey, `The Anglo-Norman laudes re-
giae', Viator 12, 1981, p. 37-78, esp. 44, 53, 70, 73, 75, 77 (for the Virgin).
27 Lopez, `Probleme des relations', p. 160-1; for the various titles and ranks dis-
cussed in this passage, see Guilland, Recherches.
28 La Chronique de Sainte-Barbe-en-Auge, ed. R.N. Sauvage, Caen 1906, p. 57-8;
G. Schlumberger, `Deux chefs normands des armees byzantines an XF siecle. Sceaux
de Herve et de Roussel de Bailleul', Revue historique 16, 1881, p. 289-303; Cecaumenus,
Vasilievsky/Jernstedt, p. 97 (Litavrin, p. 284, Beck, 141).
29 J. Martindale, `Conventum inter Guillelmum Aquitanorum comes [sic] et
Hugonem chiliarchum', EHR 84, 1969, p. 528, 541, 543; Chronica de gestis consulum
Andegavorum, ed. P. Marchegay/I. Salmon, 2 vols., Paris 1856/71.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 333
were translated from Greek into Latin, others were `invented' in the
West. She played an important part in the Life of many saints. Even
the Byzantine emperor was saved by her according to a Latin Miracle
which may have been a translation of an original Greek version,
unless it was a Western creation. In the arts and in the imagination
of Western people the Virgin Mary slowly changed from an auto-
cratic and severe lady into a more heavenly queen who indulgently
looked down upon the believer. No longer did she have that austere
and staring look in her eyes which was so characteristic for Byzan-
tine art, no longer was she the authoritative heavenly person. The
Virgin became more human or, to repeat the words of Herman de
Valenciennes in his Bible rimee, composed at the end of the 12th century
Roine seras ici, et ou ciel coronnee;
Marie, de toi iert granz joie demenee,
Sor toutes les rofnes seras to honoree (vv. 3331-33)32
The fragmentation of Western Europe into numerous kingdoms and
smaller realms stimulated the demand for a sole ruler. Above all
kings and queens, all princes and princesses and lesser nobles, stood
at the top of the celestial hierarchy the heavenly rulers, Christ
Pantocrator and Mary, queen of heaven, to whom the devotee could
have recourse in times of distress. Worldly powers, competing and
strifing for influence and power, needed a spiritual leader at the top.
There was a marked difference between Byzantine influences on
the arts during the period under discussion. The Ottonian artists of
the 10th and 11th centuries adopted, Romanesque artists of the 12th
century adapted. The imitation of Byzantine models in the 10th
century was sometimes so close, so `accurate', that it is difficult to
distinguish between a Byzantine artefact of inferior quality and a
Western imitation, as for instance the ivory carving of a Virgin with
Child in Osnabruck which is considered as Byzantine by some, as a
Western product by others.33 Imitation was the order of the day, not
only for images of the Virgin and of Christ, but for apostles and
saints as well. This continued far into the 11th century.34 Interesting
examples are the apostles St Peter and St Paul who occurred on
panels of portable altars which, once broken up, were used as book-
covers of Gospel Books, Psalters etc. In their new context they were
accessible to large groups of people. The so-called Psalter of Cune-
gunde, wife of Henry II, has Byzantine ivories with the two saints
accompanied by Greek inscriptions which give their names. The
dedication miniatures of the Lectionary of archbishop Everger of
Cologne give the bishop in proskynesis before the saints who are now
sitting on thrones. Their names are rendered in defective Greek (ills.
23a, b).35
The process of imitation, lasting well into the 12th century, came
to an halt with the growing intellectualism at the developing univer-
sities. The Nominalist theologians and philosophers with their critical
attitude, may have influenced artists and patrons at the same time.
There were other groups of people in society who no longer accepted
things at their face value. These points have to be searched more
systematically. The society changed and this was felt in many ways.
A sort of artistic `confrontation' with Byzantium took place which
made theologians (of whom we shall speak below), artists and patrons
more independent in their choice of what they liked in Byzantine
religious art: the style, the colouring, the iconography, the content.
Artists and patrons became aware of what they liked in their models.
Byzantium was everywhere but always in a changing appearance.
Different waves of Byzantine influence manifested themselves in vari-
ous ways and resulted in a great variety of `Byzantine presence' all
over Western Europe. This Byzantine `colouring' of Western medi-
eval art was the reason that in the early 19th century the name
Byzantine art was given to what we call nowadays Romanesque art.
Another form of artistic imitation goes back to the late 10th cen-
tury: the use of Greek (often defective Greek) inscriptions in works of
34 Goldschmidt, passim; Gaborit-Chopin, op. cit. (n. 14), p. 84, ill. 80 (enthroned
Virgin), p. 118, ill. 134 (apostles), p. 197, no. 98 (Majestas Domini), and no. 100
(saints).
35 Goldschmidt/Weitzmann, II, nos. 65, 66; K. Weitzmann, `Die byzantinischen
Elfenbeine eines Bamberger graduale and ihre ursprungliche Verwendung', in Studien
zur Buchmalerei and Goldschmiedekunst des Mittelalters, Festschrift fur K.H. Usener, Marburg
an der Lahn 1967, p. 11-20 (= idem, Byzantine book illumination and ivories, London
1980, VII, p. 11-20), VIII, p. 3s., 7-9; P. Bloch/H. Schnitzler, Die ottonische Kd1ner
Malerschule, Dusseldorf 1970, II, p. 155; Goldschmidt/Weitzmann, II, nos. 121-7,
for seated apostles.
336 CHAPTER TEN
36 L. Rodley, `The writing on the Wall (or not): an aspect of Byzantine influence
on Western art', in England in the twe(h century. Proceedings of the 1988 Harlaxton sym-
posium, ed. Daniel Williams, Woodbridge 1990, p. 185s.
37 Reusing, art. cit. (n. 6), p. 44s.; Prochno, op. cit. (n. 9), p. 83; Gospel Book of
Henry II (1007-1014), Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Bibl. 95, fo. 8r (ill. in e.g. Schramm/
Berghaus, op. cit. (n. 4), no. 125, p. 216. Gerhoch of Reichersberg in a letter writ-
ten in 1163/1164 to bishop Everard of Bamberg, PL 193, c. 550, 'Mariam non
Theotochon sed Christotochon dici ... voluit'. An inventory of the term Theotokos in
liturgical and theological texts would be helpful. See also note 18. For an illustration
of the tympanum, K. Ciggaar, `The empress Theophano (972-991): political and
cultural implications of her presence in Western Europe for the Low Countries, in
particular for the county of Holland', ill. 11, in Byzantium and the Low Countries in the
tenth century, ed. V.D. van Aalst/K.N. Ciggaar, Hernen 1985.
3a The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, s.v. ornament; J. Trilling, The medallion
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 337
style, New York/London 1985 (inaccessible). The basilissa type of the Virgin needs
more study in relation to the crowned Virgin in Western art; for the double-headed
eagle see Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, s.v. eagles, and C. Chotzakoglou,
Byzantinoslavica 56, 1995 (in the press).
39 For relics of the Cross, Frolow, Reliquaires, and idem, Reliques; Haskins, 'Can-
terbury monk', p. 295. In 1002 the German emperor Henry II received relics of St
Andrew, Chronicon S. Andreae Castri Cameracesii, MGH SS VII, p. 530; William the
Conqueror gave relics of St Andrew to the abbey of the Sainte Trinite, Caen,
L. Musset, Les actes de Guillaume le Conquerant et de la reine Mathilde pour les abbayes
caennaises, Caen 1967, p. 141. J. Wortley is preparing a study on relics in Constan-
tinople before 1204, A.M. Talbot, Faith healing in late Byzantium, Brookline, Mass.,
1983, p. 132.
40 G. da Costa-Louillet, `Saints de Sicile et d'Italie meridionale aux VIIIe, IXe et
338 CHAPTER TEN
to have been a deliberate choice. Here we can only give a few ex-
amples. In Ottonian circles St Demetrius and St Pantaleon became
known. The former, already popular by the annual fair at Thessa-
lonica, occurs on a number of reliquaries which are preserved in
German treasuries. His relics were venerated in Normandy as well,
where stories about his battles were told, according to Orderic Vitalis
who wrote his Ecclesiastical History in the 12th century.41 The medical
saint Pantaleon (in Greek: Panteleimon) had a church in Cologne
where his relics had been translated by archbishop Gero of Cologne.42
A century later there was a renewed interest in this saint, probably
stimulated by the de Maurone comite family from Amalfi. Several
of its members were called Pantaleon, some of whom even had
their residence in Constantinople. In Ravello, not far from Amalfi,
a church was dedicated to the saint and on the bronze doors of
the church of Atrani, donated by the same family, the saint was
portrayed. One wonders if this family of patrons stimulated a trans-
lation of the Life of St Pantaleon;43 the Life of St Irene was trans-
lated for Lupus, a member of the family who lived in the Greek
capital.44 A Life of St Margaret by pseudo-Theotimus, for example,
was translated in Ottoman Germany but remains unpublished. The
pseudo-Greek inscription of its dedication miniature has drawn at-
tention from art historians, but its relation to the text is not yet clear
(ill. 13). In Ottonian Germany there was also a marked interest in
St Nicholas, a well known Byzantine saint whose popularity soon
spread all over Western Europe, in Germany, in France (where a
Xe siecles', Byz 29/30, 1959/60, p. 89-173. A survey of translations made before
1204 would be most welcome, cf A. Siegmund, Die Uberlieferung der griechischen christlichen
Literatur in der Lateinischen Kirche bis zum zwo'lften Jahrhundert, Munich/Pasing 1949;
E. Follieri, `I rapporti fra Bizanzio e l'Occidente nel campo dell' agiografia', Proceed-
ings of the XIIIth International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Oxford 1966, ed. J.M. Hussey
e.a., Oxford 1967, p. 355-62.
4' H. Wentzel, 'Byzantinische Kleinkunstwerke aus dem Umkreis der Kaiserin
Theophano', AKB 44, 1973, p. 57s.; J. Hemming, Byzantinische Schatzkunst, Berlin
1979, p. 67; Musset, op. cit. (n. 39), mentions relics in Caen in ca. 1100, `De pulvere
et ossibus sancti ... Demetrii ... De oleo ... de sancto Demetrio'; Orderic Vitalis,
Chibnall, III, p. 216-17.
42 Hugonis Chronicon, MGH SS VIII, p. 374: a portrait of the saint is depicted in
the Gospel Book of Saint Pantaleon, Cologne, between 1140 and 1150, Monumenta
Annonis, catalogue, Cologne 1975, p. 231, 236, and Ornamenta ecclesiae, catalogue,'
Cologne 1985, II, E 76, p. 291.
43 G. Matthiae, Le porte bronzee bizantine in Italia, Rome 1971, p. 92, and fig. 70,
where the saint is depicted (see also fig. 104, door of San Marco).
44 Berschin, p. 253. In 1136 the church of Saint Irene, in the Pisan quarter, was
used for a theological debate between Westerners and Greeks.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 339
an Eastern saint whose Life, cult and artistic context are known in a
wider context.
Stimulated by the military expeditions against the heathen in Spain
and in the Eastern Mediterranean, there was a growing interest in
military saints from the 10th century onwards. Orderic Vitalis men-
tions a monk from Avranches who told `vivid stories of the conflicts
of Demetrius and George, of Theodore and Sebastian, of the The-
ban Legion and Maurice its leader, and of Eustace, supreme com-
mander of the army and his companion, who won the crown of
martyrdom in heaven'. Such remarks show that the West became
familiar with Eastern saints. In times of war and battle supernatural
help was needed; the northern Varangians had their own saints to
whom they could appeal for help, St Olaf and St Thorlac. Other
Westerners had to find their own military saints.50
There is just one step from religious texts such as saints' Lives to
more profane and literary texts, or to quote M. Chibnall, `they rep-
resent a point in eleventh-century culture where hagiography shaded
into epic and even romance'.51 This was the case of the Life of St
Alexis and of some miracles which were translated into Latin and
into the vernaculars. One of the most popular texts in the Middle
Ages was the romance of Barlaam and Joasaph which was more
than once translated into Latin and in the vernaculars. As late as the
beginning of the 13th century a French translation was made after a
Greek original found on Mount Athos.52
Literature in Latin had a limited audience and a limited reader-
ship since most people were illiterate and because church people, at
least in the 10th and 11th centuries, were not really interested in
secular and fictional literature. It is only in the 12th century that we
see a noticeable change: a more positive attitude towards secular
subjects becomes clear. Literature in Latin, which has too often been
neglected by medievalists, should be studied in a wider context in
order to see where and when cross-fertilization with vernacular lit-
eratures took place, and to find out to which extent contacts with
faraway countries and their way of life did affect Latin literature.
Literary texts in Latin and in the vernaculars often travelled on parallel
59 E.H. Zeydel, Ruodlieb. The earliest courtly novel (after 1050), with Engl. trans., Chapel
Hill [1959], p. 66-7 (vv. 321s., 340s.), with ills.
54 A. Labbe, L'architecture des palais et des jardins dans les chansons de geste. Essai sur le
theme du roi en majeste, Paris/Geneva 1987, p. 142, 161, 172s., etc.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 343
55 E.R. Curtius, European literature and the Latin Middle Ages,.London 1953, ch. 10,
The ideal landscape, p. 183-202 (trans. of the German edition, Europaische Literatur
and Lateinisches Mittelalter, Bern/Munich 1969, 7th ed., p. 176-90), where the indices
leave out Constantinople and the Greeks); M. Bloch, La societe feodale, I, Paris 1939,
p. 155.
56 Ciggaar, `Emigration anglaise', p. 323, 337-8; Orderic Vitalis, Chibnall, V,
p. 330-1.
57 Digenes Akrites, ed./Engl. trans., J. Mavrogordato, Oxford 1956, p. 217.
sa Engl. trans. in H. Waddell, Mediaeval Latin lyrics, Harmondsworth (1952), 1964,
p. 173; PL 197, c. 1137s., for Hildegard of Bingen.
344 CHAPTER TEN
s9 De rebus Alsaticis ineuntis saeculi XIII, MGH SS XVII, p. 236; G. Pniower, Uber
die Entwicklungsgeschichte and Bedeutung der Dendrologie, Leipzig 1955, p. 33 ('Eastern trees
should have been taken to the West', the book is, unfortunately, inaccessible);
J. Fisher, The origins of garden plants, London 1982, p. 38 (for the 12th century) is of
a general interest, without giving many source references or the exact period in
which specific plants are supposed to have come to the West.
so J Richard, `La vogue d'Orient dans la litterature occidentale du moyen age',
Melanges R. Crozet, I, Poitiers 1966, p. 557-61.
6 Alexander the Great in the Middle Ages. Ten studies on the last days of Alexander in.
literary and historical writing, ed. W J. Aerts e.a., Groningen 1977; Berschin, p. 206.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 345
Eastern churches. The editor of the Greek text was convinced that
Byzantine religious theatre had its origins in the Liturgy and the
Feasts of the Orthodox church and that there is a connection with
religious theatre in the West. This interesting suggestion has yet to
be proven by specialists, but first some unpublished texts should be
made available.66
Literature and religion were both influenced by Byzantium. Lit-
erature, however, is often more concrete than religion, since texts
reveal foreign influences. Religion, with its many unrecorded tradi-
tions and ceremonials which lived their own lives, is less prompt in
giving away the secrets of foreign influences. Exact references to
contacts with the Eastern churches are scarce. We have to assume
that the process of cross fertilization worked indirectly as well. West-
ern monasteries received Greek monks who could peacefully and
fruitfully exchange ideas with their Western brothers. Generally speak-
ing hospitality and hostility exclude one another. Mutual respect and
interest are more likely elements of monastic life, at least when there
was a willingness to meet the other half of Christendom. It was a
meeting rather than a confrontation in such cases. The coming of
Greek monks to the West has been seen as the stimulus for monastic
reform in the late 10th and the first half of the 11th century. Impor-
tant monastic centres as Monte Cassino, Cluny, the dual houses in
Rome, Saint Gall and others were the places where an exchange of
ideas took place. Latin monasteries existed on Mount Athos, in the
Byzantine empire and elsewhere in Outremer. Contacts with the
Greeks and their long tradition of monastic life may have stimulated
or restimulated manual work in the Reform monasteries and the
renewal of contemplative life. It is not clear yet if there is a relation
between the Reform movement in the West and periods of repres-
sion in Byzantium. Eastern monks and intellectuals who were victims
to trials had to seek intellectual freedom outside the Byzantine em-
pire where learning was concentrated in Constantinople. In the West
scholars could move freely from one place to another to widen their
knowledge.67 The Liturgy in some monasteries was affected by these
66 A.C. Mahr, The Cyprus Passion Cycle, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1947, p. 15-16.
67 R. Rios, `Benedictine contacts, ancient and modern, with the Eastern churches',
The Eastern Churches Quarterly 4, 1940/ 1, p. 244-55; McNulty/Hamilton, esp. p. 204-5;
J. Leclercq, 'Les relations entre le monachisme oriental et le monachisme occidental
dans le haut Moyen Age', in lie Millenaire du Mont Athos, 963-1963, II, Chevetogne
1963, p. 49-80; M. Dunn, `Eastern influence on Western monasticism in the eleventh
348 CHAPTER TEN
and twelfth centuries', in Byzantium and the West, p. 245-59, is not convinced of
such influence; R. Browning, `Enlightenment and repression in Byzantium in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries', Past and Present 69, 1975, p. 3-23.
68 Ohnsorge, Konstantinopel, p. 230; McNulty/Hamilton, p. 214.
69 PL 158, c. 285, cf J. Gauss, `Anselmus von Canterbury. Zur Begegnung der
Religionen', Saeculum 17, 1966, p. 277s.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING 349
towns in this period. The building of large cisterns, such as we find in Constantinople
from old days onwards, must have been too difficult to build. The first known sys-
tem of waterworks in the West seems to date to the 13th century.
76 Ferluga, passim, for feudal law in Byzantine politics.
352 CHAPTER TEN
the form of seeds. Foreign plants were cultivated in the Alsace and
probably elsewhere; Westerners were aware of the different ways of
preparing food as we learn from Liutprand of Cremona.79
Linguistics are another field the impact of which on the West is
yet difficult to grasp. Liutprand of Cremona used many Greek terms
in his reports some of which have entered the Western vernaculars
and the Latin language. Inscriptions in works of art made the West
familiar with terms as basileus, Theotokos, (h)agios, Anastasis, Staurosis etc.
A survey of all these imports is difficult to give since dictionaries of
medieval Latin are far from complete. The same goes for people
with the surname Grecus. Were they Greek, or had they travelled to
the Greek empire, or did they have a knowledge of Greek?8°
For a number of disciplines Byzantium played a role, but it is not
yet clear how profoundly Western intellectuals were affected by Byz-
antine science. For the arts, the most visible form of human expres-
sion, this has been researched very thoroughly although a number of
questions remains unsolved. In the 12th century Byzantine art was
adapted to Western art and tastes, and it mutated into different styles
and iconographies, in both religious and secular art. The various
waves of Byzantine influences should not be generalized too easily,
even if, at the beginning of the 12th century, we see a style that is
characterized by the accentuation of the human body (the dampfold-
style), which was followed by a period in which a more serene and
classicizing style can be detected. Individualism and the fragmentation
of Western Europe had their own impact on these Byzantine `waves',
but Byzantium was, in the words of 0. Demus, magistra Europae.81
D
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7. Last jUdgernent.
woodcarving from
Platatunga, Iceland
9. Entombment of Christ, St Alhan's Psalter, lip. -18
10. The arrival of the French princess Agnes in Constantinople
1 I. Cathedral of Sees. Normandy
VtNO n
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15. St lhcrapon, 12th-century Byzantine stcatitc
16. Fragment of a floor mosaic (1213)
from San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna
17. Fragment of the Porta di San Clemente, San Marco (Venice)
1$a. Fragment of bronze doors, Amalli
18b. Christ. St Paul and I',Intalcun, uI bronze doors of San Paolo
licuri Ic \ I cc c. Rcnnc
I 9. (rcation ii I \\orkl. \Iniiiralc, abbcv chuich. e1 it 11 83
20. Crucifixion, late Oth/early
I 1th-century Byzantine ivory;
1
Brehier, Institutions: L. Brehier, Les institutions de l'empire byzantin, Paris 1949 (repr. 1970)
Byz: Byzantion
Byzantine aristocracy: The Byzantine aristocracy, IX to XIII centuries, ed. M. Angold,
Oxford 1984
Byzantine art, catalogue: Byzantine art, a European art, catalogue, Athens 1966
Byzantine art, lectures: Byzantine art, a European art, lectures, Athens 1966
Byzantium and the Low Countries: Byzantium and the Low Countries. Aspects of art and
history in the Ottonian era, ed. V. van Aalst/K.N. Ciggaar, Hernen 1985
Byzantium and its neighbours: Byzantium and its neighbours from the mid-9th till the 12th
centuries (Bechyne, September 1990), ed. V. Vavrinek, Prague 1993 (= Byzantinoslavica
54, 1993)
Byzantium and the West: Byzantium and the West: c. 850-c. 1200, ed. J.D. Howard-
Johnston, Amsterdam 1988 (= Byz Forsch 13, 1988)
Byz Forsch: Byzantinische Forschungen
BZ: Byzantinische Zeitschrift
CCM: Cahiers de Civilisation Medievale, XQ-XIP siecles
Cecaumenus: Cecaumeni Strategicon et incerti scriptoris de officiis regiis libellus, ed.
B. Vasilievsky/V. Jernstedt, St Petersburg 1896 (repr. Amsterdam 1965); ed.
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Aristokraten, Graz etc. 1956 (1964)
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INDEX
CP = Constantinople
Aachen 134, 202, 237-239, 240; Aelis, wife of Thibaud V of Blois 185
treasury 60 Aemilianus, St, shrine 315; see also
Abd-al-Rahman III 300 San Milan de la Cogolla
Adelard, Byzantine envoy to the aemulatio 81, 101
West 224 Aethelstan, Psalter 133; miniatures
Abingdon, monastery 147; see also 134 n.11; Greek litanies 133
John Chrysostom Aethelwine, monk 137
Aboul Hassan al-Harawi 32 n.25 Aethelwold, St 132; Benedictional
Abraham, money-lender, see 133, 136s., 137, 329
Theodorus merchant Africa 60, 184
Absalon, bishop of Roskilde, agios (or hagios, Greek ayioq), in
archbishop of Lund 106 n.10, Western sources 158, 190, 353
;116, 119 Agnes, wife of Henry III, German
Achilles 96 n.44 emperor 221
Acre 31 n.22, 287 Agnes, daughter of king Louis VII
Adalbert, bishop of Bremen 103, 116 of France 24, 35, 166, 173, 175,
Adalbert of Prague 253; Vita 208, 188, 273
326 Aimery of Limoges, Latin patriarch of
Adam of Bremen 104, 105, 208 Antioch 90, 91, 93, 272
Adela, wife of Roger of Apulia Aimon de Varennes 34 n.31, 198
116 n.37 Ajax 26
Adela of Blois, daughter of William Alagrecus 208
the Conqueror 181, 183, 184, 345 Alain de Lille 14 n.28
Adelard of Bath 66, 150, 352 Alamanikon 244
Adelheid, wife of Otto I 211, 214 Alani 354
Adelhheid, abbess of Quedlinburg 218 Albans, St, Psalter 150s.
Adelheid, sister of Bertha of Sulzbach, Albert of Aix 38, 302
abbess of Klosterneuburg 228, 230 Albert I, bishop of Meissen 43 n.61
Ademar of Chabannes 189s. Aldruda of Bertinoro 275
admiratio 101 Alexander the Great, Life 344; Romance
Admont, Admont Bible 230; ofAlexander 277; see also translations
loros 230 (see also imperialia and Alexander, Byzantine emperor
liturgica); manuscript 146 n.45; (912-913) 126 n.68
paten 230 Alexander III, pope 165
adoption (political, religious and Alexander, Greek prince in Chretien
spiritual) 56, 164, 182, 184, 211, de Troyes' Cliges 158; see also
213, 230, 265, 324; see also Chretien de Troyes
imperialia, Familie der Konige Alexander, chaplain of Stephen of
Adrianople, Latin monastery 40 Blois 184
Adriatic 264, 266, 267, 275, 283 Alexander romance, see Alexander the
Adso 100 n.56 Great, and translations
Aegisif (Saint Sophia) 113, 126; Alexandria 31 n.22, 251
see also CP Alexiad, see Anna Comnena
Aelfric of Eynsham 133 Alexis, St, cult 254, 339; images 339;
Aelfthryth, wife of king Edgar legend 151; Life 151, 254, 339,
132, 133 340; see also translations
368 INDEX
cemeteries (xenotapheia) 43; see also 182 n.54; Crucifixion 114, 115,
Antioch and CP 136, 157, 222, 308 n.35, 313, 326;
Cephalonia 283 Descent of the Cross 314 n.45,
ceramics (pottery) 61 and n.38, 137, 326; Entombment 151; Last
300, 301, 310, 351 Judgement 120, 121, 122, 123,
Cerdafia, count of 302, 308 196, 326 (see also general index);
ceremonial, see Book of Ceremonies, and Last Supper 308 n.35; Nativity
imperialia 308 n.35; Pentecost 133;
Cerullarius 302 Transfiguration 197; see also
chalices, see liturgica basileus, and spuria
Champagne 183 Christian, bishop of Mainz 234, 346
Chanson de Roland 182s., 187, 238, Christina of Markyate 150, 151
295, 342 Christine, daughter of king Sigurd the
chansons de geste, see epic literature Crusader of Norway 112
Charite-sur-Loire 40, 197 n.96 Christmas (day) 54, 61, 139, 240
charity and philanthropic institutions, Christodoulos, St, Life 286
ch. 1 and ch. 2 passim; see also CP, Christodoulos, commander of the
and Spoudaioi Sicilian fleet 288
Charlemagne 51, 79, 93, 139, 175, Chronicle(s) of Monte Cassino 259,
180, 182, 201, 245, 246, 251, 342; 267; see also Leo of Ostia
arm reliquary 234; see also Chronicon Laudunense 140, 141, 159
Carolingian(s) Chrysobulls, official diploma with gold
Charles the Bald 168, 178 seal, see seals
Chartres 165, 183, 188; Virgin with, Chrysotriclinium, see CP
St Anna 68 Chumunianus 166, 167
cherubim 309 church decoration, furniture 193,
children 21, 43, 71, 72, 163, 173, 179 349s. and passim; see also
Chios 314 architecture, liturgica, and
Choniates, see Michael, Nicetas woodcarving
Chretien de Troyes 100, 238, 342, Cilicia 233
343, 346; Cliges 34, 94, 158, 185, cinnamon, see spices
199 n.102, 238, 280, 352; Roman de Cinnamus, see John Cinnamus
Perceval 32 n.26, 186, 187, 346; circusgames, see CP, and imperialia
Yvain 186, 243 n.lll, 351 Citeaux, manuscript painting
Christ, iconography, passim, esp. 52; 196, 336
bearded Christ 196, 209, 309, 325; Ciudad Real 306
beardless Christ 325; blessing Civetot 40, 140, 197
Christ 177; crowning Christ 271; Clairvaux 91
Deesis 306, 313, 325, 326; clamis (aurotextae clamides) 134; see also
enthroned Christ (Christ in Majesty, imperialia
Majestas Domini, Pantocrator) 196, Clermont, council 169
209, 232, 271, 289, 309, 315s., Cluny 40, 146, 156, 164, 195-198,
318 n.60, 325, 334, 335 n.34; images 347; abbey church 195, 350; Last
(coins, devotionalia, icons, pendant Judgement 196; see also Peter the
crosses, seals etc.), passim, esp. 52, Venerable
138, 330; statue 125; red Cnut, St, king of Denmark 104,
reliquaries, passim; Holy Cross 52, 106 n.10, 116
111, 112, 119, 136, 160, 168, 179, Cnut, king of England 143 n.37
181, 221, 242, 313, 337 and 6.39; codex Vigilanus/Albeldensis 314 n.49,
Passion relics 186 (Holy Lance 315, 316
53) 137); see also CP; scenes from Life, Coel, king 150; see also St Helena
Anastasis (Resurrection) 139 n.27, Coimbra 296, 301, 319
306 (see also spuria); Ascension coinage, coins, passim esp. 30s.,
122, 308 n.35; Baptism 133, 65s., 69, 83, 138; central mint 117,
INDEX 373
Botaneiates (Kalamanos Palace) 227, 240, 266, 278, 288, 294, 299,
243, 273; Boucoleon Palace 174; 324, 330, 331; see also imperialia
Imperial Palace (Great Palace) with Convey 227; Greek inscription
Bureau of the Barbarians 23, 227 n.69
38 n.43, 55; Bureau of the Dignities Cosmas, Greek monk 189s.
55, 223; gardens 55, 58, 59; councils, see various places
library 298; small Hippodrome court ceremonial, see imperialia
55; polo field 55; and Triclinium crafts, craftsmen, see artists, and
(Chrysotriclinium) of the Magnaura technology
with throne 243; and automata 55, Cremona 246; see also Liutprand of
73, 186; Philopation Palace 173; Cremona
women quarters 56; sanctuaries, Cretans, Cretes 354
icons and relics, Holy Apostles 48, Crispin, see Milo, Robert
58, 62, 119 n.47, 265, 267, 285, Cross, Holy, church dedications,
350; Saint Augustine of Canterbury see Konungahelle; crosses (pendant
and Saint Nicholas 49; Saint crosses, encolpia etc.), passim; see
George of the Mangana 59; Saint also Bamberg, Braga, Dagmar
Irene (in Pisan quarter) 338; Saint Cross, Edward Cross, Roskilde
Mary of the Blachernae 327 n.16; Cross and Welff Cross; double-armed
Saint Mary of the Latins (of the crosses (patriarchal crosses) 49,
Amalfitans) 40, 266; Saint Mary 123 and n.59, 155, 198 n.100,
of the Pharos (Great Palace) 48; 199, (222), 234 and n.88, 330,
Saint Mary de Scota 159; Saint 331; groundplan in architecture,
Mary Varangiotissa 126 n.71; see Cluny; see also motifs;
Saint Nicholas, see Saint Augustine; Greek-cross plan, see architecture;
Saint Olaf 126; Saint relics, see Christ
Pammacaristos (Fethiye Camii) Cross of Lorraine 199
127, 193 n.82; Pantocrator 42; crowns, see imperialia
Saint Peter 127; Saint Polyeuctus Crucifixion, see Christ
269, 312; monastery of the Saviour crusaders, crusades, passim
in Chora (Kahriye Camii) 68; Cugat (Catalonia), Deesis 313
Saint Sophia 29, 32, 48, 50, 58, (Byzantine bronze reliquary)
97, 99, 112s., 126, 148, 175, 186, Cunegunde, wife of Henry II,
255, 257, 271, 280, 289 (see also German emperor 215, 216;
diegesis); Saint Thorlac 126 n.71; Psalter 335
church of the Germans 226, cupola, see architecture, domed
244; church of the Provencals churches
200 n.105; church of the Spanish Cuxa (Catalonia) 307
320; icons 48 and passim; relics Cynethrith, wife of king Offa 134
46, 48, 49, 148, 160 and passim; Cyprus 96, 111, 113, 155, 307 n.30,
see also Christ 346; gold thread 312; see also
Constantinus, name in the West 244 n. 113 Paphos
copper 82 Cyril of Phileas, St, Life 286
Cordova 295, 298, 299, 300, 301,
302, 307, 351; Greek artists 300, Daci, see Danes
311; mosque 300; Medina Dagmar, queen of Denmark, Dagmar
az-Zahra 300 Cross 115
Corinth 48, 287, 350; Latin Damietta 43 n.61
monastery 40 Danelaw 130
Cornwall 129, 148 Danes 38, ch. 4 passim, 354
coronation ceremonies, see imperialia, Danube (area) 28, 204, 230
and Ordo of 973 David, king (enthroned) 222
co-rulership in Western Europe 109 De administrando imperii, see Constantine
and n.16, 112, 168, 202, 211, 212, VII Porphyrogenitus
INDEX 375
Deesis (Christ between the Virgin and, 218, 256, 259, 278, 328 and n.19,
St John), see Christ 329; see also Theotokos
de Maurone comite (or Pantaleone), double-armed cross, see patriarchal
Amalfitan family 84, 278, 328, cross, and motifs
333, 338; see also Lupus, Maurus double-headed eagles, see motifs
and Pantaleo(n) double portraits in the West 132,
Demetrius, St, cult 48, 338, 340; 213, 316, 323, 336; see also
images 338; oil 181, 338 n.41; imperialia
relics 39 n.46, 181 double rulership, see co-rulership
Demetrius, Byzantine envoy to the dragon-heads (Norse ships) 112, 127
West 164 dragons, see animals
Denis, St, (St Dionysius) 9, 50, 75, dromund 126, 199 and n.102
176; Passio 172; relics 31 Dudo of St Quentin 163
Denmark, ch. 4 passim, 140, 145 Duecento Italy 349
De profectione Danorum 113 Dunstan, St, pall 137
Descriptio Constantinopolis, 12th-century dyestuffs, see pigments
description of CP 48 Dyrrachium (Durazzo) 267, 283, 285,
Desiderius of Monte Cassino 286, 293
257-259, 267, 349; see also Monte
Cassino and Sant' Angelo in Formis eagles, see animals, and motifs
De virtute aquilae, see translations Ealdred of Worcester 441 n.66,
diaconesses 51 137, 139
diegesis, tale of the building of Saint Eastmark (Austria) 201, 229
Sophia in CP 50, 148, 154; see Eastway, see Austrvegr
also translati ons Echternach Gospelbook 209
Digenis Akrites 343 Edgar, king of England 130, 131,
Dijon 100, 164, 350; Saint-Benign 132, 133
164, 195, 196, 308 Edith, daughter of king Edgar of
Dionysius the Areopagite 75, 176; England 132, 134; Life, written
relics 232 n.82 by Goscelin 134
Dionysius, St 97, 172; see also St Edmund, St 155
Denis, Saint Denis, and Dionysius Edward, king of England 131,
the Areopagite 135s., 138, 331; Life 136, 140;
Dioscurides 300; see also translations Saga 110, 136; Cross of
Dives-sur-Mer (Normandy) 139, 180 king Edward 136
Dniepr 103 Egbert, archbishop of Trier 212, 218;
dodekaeorton (Twelve Feasts of the Psalter 218
Byzantine Church), see Liturgica Egmond abbey, tympanum 336
Dol, nobleman from 195 Egnatian road 28
Domenico Contarini, doge of Egypt, Egyptians 62, 75, 206 n.7
Venice 267 Eilbertus altar 236
Domenico Silvio, doge of Venice 267 Eindredi the Younger 39
domes 344, (topos in fiction), see also Eke (Gotland) 121, 122
architecture, domed churches Ekkehard of Aura 225, 243
Domesday Book 143; see also cadaster Eleanor of Aquitaine 13, 71,
Donatus, Latin 33s.; Greek 153, 72 n.69, 152, 171-173, 185,
154, 209 188, 189, 194, 226, 235 n.92,
doors, bronze (bronze casters) 84; 236, 238, 323, 342s., 346
see also Amalfi, Atrani, Augsburg, Eleanor, wife of Alfonso VIII of
Canosa, Hildesheim, Monte Cassino, Barcelona-Aragon 318, 323
Rome, Salerno, Venice (San Marco), Elias, Greek scribe in Cologne 209
and technology Elias, Greek who joined the
Dormition (Assumption) of the Virgin crusaders 164
in the West 133, 136s., 156, 217, Elten 218
376 INDEX
altar (frontals) in the West 112, 279, 282, 283, 285, 288, 289, 292,
123, 349 (see also Konungahelle, 293, 308, 316, 324, 331, 333, 335,
Monte Cassino, Speyer, Venice, 336, 338, 353
San Marco); bulls, see seals; Greek manuscripts in Western Europe
horseshoes 214s., 220s.; ink 212, 75, 89, 90 n.33, 97 and n.49, 100,
213, 217, 222; seals 224, 331; 101, 112, 123, 133, 153, 176, 222,
(see also imperialia); gold thread 312 230, 259, 291, 308, 348
Golden Horn, see CP Greek names 237, 244, n.113
Goscelin, author of the Life of Greek numerals 154
Edith 134 Greeks, passim; Greeks in the West,
Goslar, gold seal 221 passim, esp. 300, 347
Gospel Book of Echternach, see Gregory of Cassano, St, abbot of
Echternach Burtscheid 210, 214
Gospel Book of Henry II, see Gregory the Illuminator, St
Henry II, German emperor relics 125
Gospel Book of Henry the Lion, Grettir's Saga 106
see Henry the Lion Grimr rusli 112
Gospel Book of Otto III, see Otto III Griss Saemingsson, Norwegian 107
Gospel Book of, St Pantaloon, see Guercio family, Genoa 273;
Cologne see also Baldovino
Gothic art 120, 130, 241 Gui de Warewic 158
Gotland 104, 114, 120, 122 Gui, see also Guy
Gottweig. monastery 230; Greek Guibert de Nogent 47, 67 n.59
icon 230 guide-books, guides 29, 37, 39, 40,
`gout byzantin', ch. 6 passim 48, 49, 50; see also Pilgrim's Guide to
Graeculi 235 Santiago
graffiti212; see also runic inscriptions Guillaume le Clerc 32s., 181 n.52
Graf Rudolf 239 Guillaume de Jumieges 34 n.34,
Grkgks (Icelandic laws) 105 147, 169
Grail and Grail literature 14 n.28, Guiscard, see Robert Guiscard
96, 97, 186, 195, 346 Gulf of Satalia 345
Granada 299 n.8; Alhambra 312 gullboluskrk 126; see also seals (gold)
Grandmont abbey, treasury 190, 192s. Gunther, bishop of Bamberg 203;
Grecus, cognomen 208, 353; see also silk shroud 203
Andreas Grecus, Gerardus Grecus, Gunther of Pairis 36
Gerhardus Grecus, Johannes Grecus Guy of Amiens 15 n.34, 139
of Hildesheiin, Marcus Grecus Guy, see also Gui
Indriomeni, Oruc the Greek, Sigurd
the Greek; see also Alagrecus Hadrian's Wall 129
Greek, knowledge of (in the West) Hadwig, niece of Otto I 203,
33, 34, 173, (174), 178s., 180, 199, 207, 208
207, 208, 227, 234, 284, 298, 346, Haithabu 208
349; wordlists 33 and n.28, 34, 75, Halberstadt 202; treasury 242 n.109
183, 231 (see also Avranches, Halfdan, in runic inscription 127
Auxerre, Regensburg, Ripoll); halo (nimbus) 323; of Western
language school in Osnabriick 222 rulers 234 n.87, 316, 318; see also
Greek alphabets 190, 198 n.100 imperialia
Greek artists, see artists Hamburg, bishop of 208
Greek Fathers 15, 89, 96, 97, 230, Harald Hardrada, king of Norway
347, 353; see also various names 25, 61, 83, ch. 4 passim, 138, 142,
Greek inscriptions (characters) in 243, 332; Saga 25, 83
the West 33, 85, 192, 209, Harald's Saga, see Harald Hardrada
213, 216, 217, 218, 227 n.69, Harald Sigurdsson, see Harald
240 n.102, 268, 271, 276 n.61, Hardrada
INDEX 379
Hugh, bishop of Laon 175 117, 140, 168, 231, 246, 247, 324,
Hugh of, St, Pol 62 n.43, 350 n.74 330 (see also general index); court
Hugh of Vermandois 37, 164, ceremonial, see Book of Ceremonies,
169, 170 crown 54, 139s.; double-headed
Hugo, abbot of the Latin monastery in eagle 317 (see also motifs); double
Adrianople 40 portraits, see portraits and general
Hugues de Berze 12 index; Familie der Ko'nige 88, 184,
Humbert, cardinal 302 211, 213, 324 (see also adoptions);
Hungarians, Hungary 28, 201, 202, frontality (Frontalitat) 323, 330s.,
203, 213, 229, 231 331 (see also portraits); games
hunting parties, see falconry, imperialia, 13 n.24, 22, 58; gardens 58, 59,
and motifs 289 (see also CP); gold ink 212,
Hvide family 121 213 (see also gold); halo, see
nimbus, hunting parties 22, 58,
Iberian pensinsula, Iberians 161; 61; iconographical `hierarchy'
ch. 9 passim (in size) 175, 289, 293, 319, 325;
Ibn Fadlan 111 n.22 imperial costumes: chlamys (long
Ibn Hayyan 301 purple cloak) 134; loros (gold band
Ibn Idari 300 around shoulders and waist) 230,
Ibn Jubayr 295, 303 288; prependilia (strings of pearls
Ibn Juljul 300 n.9 along the cheeks) 54, 213, 217,
Iceland, Icelanders, ch. 4 288, 289, 293, 323, 331; red buskins
passim, 140 54; skaramangion (outer tunic) 54;
icona (ycona) in Western sources 216 joint rulership, see co-rulership,
and n.37, 327, 349; see also icons laudes 140, 289, 317 (see also
iconoclasm 13 n.26, 252, 299 general index); nimbus 323
iconographical `hierarchy', see imperialia (see also general index); palaces,
icons, passim, esp. 349; Greek icons see CP; portraits (and double
in the West 192, 230, 234, 255, portraits) 49, 54, 69, 112, 128,
258, 261, 306, 313, 327 and n.17; 141s., 146, 168, 192, 207, 208,
see also St Augustine of Canterbury, 213 and n.26, 217, 248, 289
Burtscheid, Gottweig, Monte (see also coins and seals); processions
Cassino, and Spoleto 58; proskynesis 54, 55, 175 (see also
Idense, church, use of lapis lazuli 241 general index); purple (red) 212
Idrisi 300 and passim, red ink 57, 288; red
imperialia (and regalia) adoption 56, porphyry (sarcophagus) 62, 291,
57 (see also Familie der K5nige); (red sandstone 214 and n.30);
besants 30, 31 and passim (see also regency, see general index, sacra
general index); Book of Ceremonies, see (imperial letters) 57, 136, 331
Constantine VII; Bureau of the (see also general index); seals (gold)
Barbarians and Bureau of the 34, 57, 106, 288, 331 (see also
Dignities, see CP; chrysobulls 288 general index); shield-raising 317;
(see also seals); circus games spiritual brotherhood, see adoption
317 n.54 (see also games); coinage/ and imperialia, throne, see CP;
coins 65, 83, 142s.; Michalati (gold titles 56, 57, 223; augustus/
coins) 260 n.23; miliaresia (silver augusta 134; basileus 53, 106,
coins) 110, 117; Persian coins 132, 134, 135, 138, 141, 279
(darics) 63; Romanati (gold coins) (see also general index);
224; Otto-Adelheid coins, see isapostolos 53; porphyrogenitus
general index; coronation 58, 70, (-ta) 215, 253, 349; sanctus 54,
72, 139, 168; coronation by Christ 233, 234, 322 (see also general
or Theotokos (Virgin) 216, 271, 289, index); zoos 60, 343, 354; see also
293, 324, 330, 341 (see also Ordo motifs, and symmetry
of 973); co-rulership 69, 108, imperial silken standard of Isaac
INDEX 381
John Scylitzes 104, 108, 179, 291, 310; see also Hildesheim, Idense,
298 Petershausen, and pigments
John, Spanish monk in CP 302 Last Judgement in Western
John Tzetzes 35, 226 Europe 122, 123, 326; see also
John of Wiirzburg 302 Cluny, Flatatunga, Gotland,
John Xiphilinus 73 Kallunge, Sundre, Torpa, and Christ
John, monk in Constantinople 278, Latin, knowledge of Latin in
327; see also translations Byzantium 35, 36, 166, 167
joint-rulership, see co-rulership, and Latin philanthropic institutions, see CP
imperialia and various place names
Jerlunde (Denmark) 121 Latins, name for Westerners, passim
Joseph of Arimathea 96, 346 Lattakia (Laodicea) 39
Joseph, monk of Canterbury 39, 40, laudes in the West 140, 289, 317,
144, 337 332; see also imperialia
,Judaei, see Jews laws and legal texts (studies) 89, 93,
Judith, queen of Bohemia 88 98, 104, 105, 108, 112, 119, 130,
Jumieges, abbey 181 n.53 132, 133, 142, 147, 153, 154, 176,
Justinian I, Byzantine emperor 235, 275, 276 and n.61, 351;
(527-565) 42, 48, 98, 99, 248, jurisdiction over Westerners 229,
298; Credo 97; laws 93, 97, 98; 267, 351; see also Bologna, Book of
see also translations, statue see CP the Eparch, Grragas, Justinian,
Landnamab6k, Liber Ordinacionum,
Kaiserchronik 95, 99 Privilegium minus, School of Law,
Kallunge (Gotland) 120 Seacodes, Ten Articles
Kalundborg (Denmark), church 119 Laxdaela Saga 107s., 116
(Greek-cross plan); see also lead 129, 148; lead medallions 213;
architecture lead seals 131, 137;
Karlamagnussaga 125 n.67 Le Bec, abbey 145, 147, 181, 189;
Kaufungen, monastery 216 see also William, novice
Kilidj Arslan II, sultan of Iconium Lechfeld 203
(1155-1192) 186 Lectionary of Everger, see Everger,
Kirjalax, 1. Alexius I Comnenus; archbishop of Cologne
2. Icelandic name used for various legal studies, see laws
Byzantine emperors 125 Le Mans, see Geoffrey Plantagenet
Klosterneuburg 228 (enamel)
Knights of St John, see St John Leo I, Byzantine emperor (457-474)
Konig Rother 239 147 n.47
Kolskegg Hamundarson 126 Leo VI, Byzantine emperor. (886-912)
Konungahelle (Norway), Krosskirkja 126 n.68
112, 119, 349; see also Holy Cross Leo, monk on Athos 278; see also
Krosigk, bishop of Halberstadt 242 translations
Leo da Molino 268 n.42
La Charite-sur-Loire 197 Leo of Naples 277; see also
Ladislas II, king of Bohemia 88 translations
Lake Ladoga 103 Leo of Ostia 259; see also Chronicle of
Lambeth Bible 151 Monte Cassino
Lance, Holy, see Christ, coins Leo, Greek envoy to Rome 309
(pierced), and Grail Leo Tuscus 84, 90, 93, 96 n.47, 263,
Landnamab6k (Book of 271, 305; see also translations
Settlements) 107, 125 Leon, kingdom and town 296,
Landulfo Butrumile 280 318, 319, 323; San Isidoro (royal
Laon 140 pantheon) 318, 320; Leon-Castille
lapis lazuli 76, 177 (icon); use of 315s.
lapis lazuli 121, 241 and n.106, Leopold VI 231
INDEX 383
Siegburg 202, 222, 348; spices 44, 312s., 343, 352; cinnamon
treasury 222 343, 352; gloves 66; pepper 66,
Siegen 202; treasury 60 343, 352
Sigebert of Gembloux 302, 343, 345 Spoleto, icon 234
Sigedwoldus, Greek bishop spolia 8, 64, 100, 192, 269, 272,
(of Winchester?) ' 130 311s., 319, 351; see also architecture
Sigelchaita 281, 282 Spoudaioi 42, 52
Sigena (Spain) 157, 315 spouts, see natural phenomena
Sigtuna (Sweden) 117, 118; Saint spuria (linguistic Greek) 34 n.31,
Olaf 119 197 n.95, 198, 217, 309 and n.36
Sigurd the Crusader, king of Norway and n.37, 353; Anastasis 353; clamis
66, Ills., 119, 127, 149, 349 134; pole 341; Staurosis 217, 353;
Sigurd the Greek 110; sword 110; see also agios, basileus, basileus
see also Grecus, cognomen basileon, bisante, hagios, icona (ycona),
silks, silk pallia, passim, esp. 56s., sacra, Theotokos
purple silks 116, 222; silk weavers Stamford Bridge 117, 138
287, 291, 314, 317, 319; see also statua, statues (sculpture) 50 n.14,
technology 62-64, 123s., 137, 158, 160 n.83,
Silos, Santo Domingo 319, 320; 184, 187, 194, 272, 316, 318,
Beatos ms 319; St Nicholas 319 n.59, 329s., 349 n.70; see also
(altar) 314 animals (lions), Christ, CP, Stone
silver (bullion, coins) 30, 32, carving, Theotokos, and topoi
114 n.31 and passim steatite (soap-stone) artefacts in the
Simeon, see Symeon West 114, 232, 318
Skalholt (Iceland), see St Tho'rlac Steigar-Thorir 109
skaramangion, see imperialia Stephen, St, relics 314; see also
Skripou (Greece) 311 translations
Slangerup (Denmark) 111 Stephen of Blois 86, 169, 170, 181,
Slavs 1 183, 184, 346
Snare family 121 Stephen of Mortain, king of
Snorri Sturluson 102, 104, 127, 128 England 184
Sofia, duke of 39 Stephen, commander of the Varangian
Solignac 193 (domed church) guard 39
Solsona (Solsona), painted altar Stephen, papal envoy to CP 266
frontals 310 Stiklestad 108
Sophia, St, Holy Wisdom 191; glass stone carving 258, 272; see also
medallions 44 n.66, 52; and CP, artists, and technology
church of Saint Sophia Strasbourg 214
Sophia Lascaris, wife of Sturla Sighvatsson 110
Frederick II 231 Sturlunga Saga 110
Sophia, abbess of Gandersheim 218 Sturluson, see Snorri Sturluson
Sophronius II, patriarch of styles, `anatomical' style, so-called
Jerusalem 137, 139 dampfold-style, cloisonne style,
Sore (Denmark) 116 nested fold style, v-nested style,
Sorrento 277 passim, esp. 352
Spain, Spaniards 24, 29, 157, Styliane, daughter of Michael
192, 193, ch. 9 passim; Spanish Psellos 70
March 295 46, 51, 63
stylites (pillar saints)
Sparta, Latin monastery 40 80, 322
subtilitas graeca
Spes, Byzantine lady 106, 126 Suger, abbot of Saint Denis 97, 157,
Speyer 225; Byzantine altar 225, 162, 164, 172, 175, 177, 325s.
349; cathedral (and tomb of Philip Sundre (Gotland) 121, 122, 123
of Swabia) 225, 240 n.102, 241; Sven Estrithson, king of Denmark 118
golden (Byzantine) crown and Sven Godwinsson, brother-in-law of
diadem 241 Edward the Confessor 135
392 INDEX
14, 40, 51, 145, 182, 247, 255, relics of St Demetrius 39 n.46;
262, 348 (see also Bull of fair24, 303, 338
Excommunication); Trinity (Holy) 90, Thibaud V, count of Blois 185, 187
348; see also liturgica Thierry of Flanders 166
Theophano, wife of Otto II 2, 6, Thierry VI, count of Holland 336
15, 31, 72, 79, 88, 134, 168, ch. 7 Thingeyrar (Iceland), see Nicholas
passim, 323-325, 336, 351 of Thingeyrar
Theophano, abbess of Essen 218 Thomas, St 190, 319
15 n.34,
Theophilus, De diversis artibus Thomas of Canterbury, St 293 n.99,
241s., 351 294
Theotokos, Madonna, St Mary, Mother Thordis, Icelandic woman 107
of God, Virgin Mary, passim, esp. Thorlac St, bishop of Skalholt 104,
68, 114, 135s., 145s., 149, 156, 219, 126 n.71, 337, 340; Saint Thorlac,
326s., ch. 10 passim; coins 31, see CP
138; dedications 120, 293, 307, Thorstein Asmundarson, Norwegian
351 and passim; devotionalia, passim; traveller 106, 126
icons 50, 58 n.30, 68, 113, 149, Thrace, Thracesian theme 28, 38,
327; ivories, passim; legends and 108, 188, 198, 244
miracles 149, 266, 333; patron of Thule 129
CP 68; seals 52, 138 icoparaphy tigers, see animals
and qualifications, basilissa type Timarion 298, 303, 312
(imperatrix augusta), chief of saints and tin 129, 148
archangels 332; crowned Virgin titles, Byzantine and Byzantinizing
133, 157, 237, 326, 329; empress of titles for Westerners or used by
the angels 326; enthroned Virgin Westerners: apocrisiarius 235;
(see also basilissa type) 222, 255, archimandrita 235; (archi)protopapa(s)
309, 326, 334, 335, 336; Hodigitria 235; basileus, see general index; caesar
(and with Child) 58 n.30, 113, 274; chiliarchus 332; consul 332,
115, 121, 131, 146, 158, 222, 234, 333; couropalates 333 and n.30;
237, 255, 288, 316, 326, 327, 329; dishypatus 333; domesticus of the
see also icons, statues, and Christ, Excubitoi 243; hypatus 333;
Deesis, Virgin in Glory 156; hypertimus/os 267, 333; katepan 284;
Orans 118, 177; with, St krites 284; magister 179, 332, 333;
Peter 132; Marian Feasts, see manglavites 332; monocrator 236;
7heotokos, scenes from life, Marian nobelissimu 283, 333; patrician/
cult, see Theotokos_ passim, scenes patrikios 278, 333; porfirogenitus/
from li e, Annunciation 175, 325; porphyrogenitus 242, 324; proconsul
Assumption (see Dormition); 333; protonobilissimus 333;
Conception 134, 145, 146; protosebastus/tos 267, 280, 333;
Dormition 133, 136, 156, 328 protospatharius 332, 333 (used as
(see also general index); Nativity cognomen 277 n.64); purpura natus
74, 315; Oblation (Presentation) 324; sebastos 285; spatharius 243;
135; Visitation (Annunciation) spatharocandidatus 332, 333; stratelates
315; statues in the West 137, 219, 332; thalamepoulos 332;
316, 329 (Essen, Paderborn, vestiarites 332
Tudela, York) Toledo 296, 298s., 316, 318;
Theotokos (name) in Western bishop 302, 316, 318; cathedral
sources 196, 216, 217, 237, 293, (steatite with the Twelve Feasts,
326s., 328, 336; see also spuria see also liturgica) 318
Therapon, St 232 tolls 30, 39
Thessalonica 28, 39 n.46, 48, topoi 87, 342s.; see also automata,
164, 225, 274, 281, 293, 312; domes, gardens, horseshoes (golden),
Saint Demetrius 319 n.64; cult locus amoenus, magic, and princesses
of St Demetrius 48, 181; Torcello 268, 276
394 INDEX
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