Initial Publication Date: December 3, 2012
HIST 233: Cultures of Empire: Byzantium, 717-1453
Instructor: Bill NorthHistory Fall 2010
Course Description
Heir to the Roman Empire, Byzantium proved to be one of the most enduring and fascinating polities of the medieval world. Through written and visual evidence, we will examine the central features of Byzantine history and culture from the period of Iconoclasm to the Empire's fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, concentrating on the nature and function of imperial rule; Byzantine aesthetics and religiosity; Byzantium's relations with the Latin West and Islam; and the changing nature of the Byzantine thought world.