medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I'm basically in agreement with Diana here. But I would add that the processes by which the Roman Empire of the East entered its medieval phase (comprising what are now usually called as its Middle Byzantine and Late Byzantine periods) took place over the course of two centuries. Consequently, you will find responsible scholars placing the ancient/medieval demarcation at different points along this temporal continuum, either early in it (reign of Justinian, which I find too early), or midway (reign of Maurice), or late (reign of Heraclius). Certainly by the end of the reign of Heraclius many of the empire's salient medieval features are in place (abandonment of Latin as an official language of the empire; formal designation of the emperor as _basileus_; population overwhelmingly Orthodox; beginning of the theme system of governmental organization and territorial defence; territories restricted to approximately what they will be at their greatest extent in the future, under
Basil II).
Best,
John Dillon
On Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 6:26 pm, Diana Wright wrote:
>
> As a Byzantinist, I would say that world does not well fit into Late
> Antiquity or Early MA. I am in the group that believes "Byzantine" is
> a
> culture that evolved from the shocks of the Islamic advance & so it is
>
> Late Antique/Late Roman, becoming Byzantine in the 7th century with
> Heraclius (610-641). There are early/middle/late Byzantine periods
> where there are clear shifts within the culture of the Eastern Empire,
>
> but it parallels the West and like the Islamic world, cannot be
> subsumed
> within western categories.
>
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