THE
MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN
PEOPLES, ECONOMIES AND CULTURES, 400-1453
EDITORS
MICHAEL WHITBY (Warwick)
PAUL MAGDALINO, HUGH KENNEDY (St. Andrews)
DAVID ABULAFIA (Cambridge)
BENJAMIN ARBEL (Tel Aviv)
MARK MEYERSON (Notre Dame)
VOLUME 10
9
Q
r
!
8"
16
S
li
View of Constantinople from the..Votitia dignitalum
WESTERN TRAVELLERS
TO CONSTANTINOPLE
The West and Byzantium, 962-1204:
Cultural and Political Relations
BY
KRIJNIE N. CIGGAAR
'Jw
4
r
I-:
I
,!
X683
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ciggaar, Krijna Nelly.
Western travellers to Constantinople : the West and Byzantium,
962-1204: cultural and political relations / by Krijnie Ciggaar.
cm. - (Medieval Mediterranean, ISSN 0928-5520 : v. 10)
p.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9004106375 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Byzantine Empire-Civilization. 2. Europe-Civilization-Byzantine influences. 3. Voyages and travels. 4. Byzantine
Empire-Relations-Europe. I. Title. II. Series.
1996
DF546.C54
96-19020
949.5-dc2O
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Ciggaar, Krijnie:
Western travellers to Constantinople : the West and Byzantium,
962 - 1204: cultural and political relations / by Krijnie Ciggaar.
- Leiden ; New York ; K61n : Brill, 1996
(The medieval Mediterranean Vol. 10)
ISBN 90-04-10637-5
NE: GT
ISSN 0928-5520
ISBN 90 04 10637 5
© Copyright 1996 by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by E.J. Brill provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
Danvers MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
Virent Constantinoble, une citez vaillant,
Les cloches e les egles e les punz relusanz,
Destre part la citet, demie Hue grant,
Trovent vergers plantez de pins e lorers blans:
La rose i est florie, Ii alburs e l'aiglens,
Le voyage de Charlemagne a Jerusalem et a
Constantinople, 12th-century anonymous,
vv. 262-266
CONTENTS
Preface ..........................................................................................
Maps ............................................................................................
Introduction .................................................................................
1. Travelling to Byzantium ...................................................
II. The Attractions of Constantinople ..................................
III. Auctoritates and Translations .........................................
IV. The Northern Countries ..................................................
V. Britain ................................................................................
VI. France ................................................................................
VII. The Holy Roman Empire ...............................................
VIII. The Italian Peninsula .......................................................
IX. The Iberian Peninsula ....................................................:.
X. Byzantium: Fountain of Life and Learning ....................
ix
xi
1
21
45
78
102
129
161
201
245
295
322
List of Byzantine Emperors ....................................................... 355
List of Illustrations ...................................................................... 357
List of Abbreviations /Bibliography ............................................ 359
Index ............................................................................................ 367
PREFACE
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 indebted 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 suggested the subject of the book to Messrs Brill of Leiden. I am grateful 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
In a work which deals with East and West it is almost impossible
to use a consistent and logical system for transliteration. I have tried
more than once to avoid shocking Western readers by a `literal' transliteration of Greek names and terms (as is becoming usual among
modern Byzantinists) with which they are not yet familiar.
To all who helped me and supported me during the preparation
of this work I dedicate this book which, I hope, will narrow the gap
between the Western Middle Ages and the Byzantine empire, and
will reveal how much the West owes to Byzantium, in many fields
and in many ways.
Leiden, November 1995
MAPS
1. The Byzantine Empire in 962.
2. The Byzantine Empire in 1204.
3. Map of Constantinople.
Syracuse
Corinth
.Thebese
Dyrrachium
°
L3 Smyrna
Attalia
Nicaea
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
CRETE
Athens
hessalonica
idrianople
Constantinople
EIEY
CYPRUS
BLACK SEA
Jerusalem
Damascus
Mosul
9rt)
Trebizond
MEDITERRANEAN
11;
Ragusa
,,,(Dubrovnik)
Corinth
4
CRETE
thens
Constantinople
Adrianople
Philippopolis
CYPRUS
B LACK=SEA
Cherson
Trebizond
Harbour
of Sophia
Hippodrome
Palace A
Great
®St.Sophia
Ct at ue o f J usti n i an
S
'
/
°St.lrene
Chal koprateia
Acropolisf
foreign concessions
Forum of M-
::,
Constantine%
St.Euphemia
Aqueduct of
Valens
,Holy Apostles
INTRODUCTION
...
dicunt redeuntes..., Ralph of Coggeshall'
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 confrontations. 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 confrontations 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
1 Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon anglicanum, ed. J. Stevenson, RS, 1857, p. 149.
2
INTRODUCTION
empire and the Roman empire of the Ottonians, was to play a decisive 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 astonishingly enough there were few battles, few prisoners of war and
little war booty. In Ottonian times problems were often solved diplomatically, 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 material 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 longterm 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
2 De administrando imperii, ch. 13, 11. 107-9, p. 70s.; A. Toynbee, Constantine
Porphyrogenitus and his world, London 1973.
INTRODUCTION
3
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 numerous realms with their own feudal rulers and dynasties, and experiencing 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 `international' organisation of bishoprics, abbeys and monasteries, and by its
policy of nominating and transferring its Latin-speaking and Latinwriting 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 classical 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 network 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 military 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
Comnenians. It is of course true that even in such a large, unified
empire, where conservatism was highly valued and was the prevailing influence, changes took place in life and culture.' During the
reign of the Comnenians internal weaknesses became more visible
once military aid was sought in the West; the Italian cities gladly
provided such help in return for commercial privileges. Internal division and external threats so weakened the Byzantine army that it
was no longer able to resist the crusaders who wanted to restore a
legitimate heir to the Greek throne. And, what was even worse, they
conquered the imperial city a second time, in 1204, now for their
own benefit. The Greek emperor went into temporary exile to Nicaea
in order to rule the Asian remnants of the once so glorious empire.
Marriage partners were sought to bridge the `gap' between the two
empires which co-existed on Byzantine soil, but once again attempts
failed to result in any tangible alliance.
In the meantime, between 962 and 1204, many changes had taken
place in Western Europe and Byzantium. Different sorts of contacts
produced different sorts of influences. Sometimes these contacts have
left clear marks, for example in the presence of Byzantine artefacts
in Western treasuries, or by Western artefacts in Byzantium, although
the latter are fewer in number. Nor is it always clear how and when
such objects arrived in the West. The effect of the presence of Byzantine objects on the people of the time is difficult to judge. Some
source material has yet to be really used; sometimes it has already
been lost and we only possess vague indications. Concrete models
are useful in drawing conclusions, but there are some indirect references which hint at contacts between East and West. Memories and
story-telling also transmitted Byzantium to the West, without always
leaving direct or concrete traces.
There is a growing interest in the life and culture of Byzantium.
Great research projects, such as the prosopography of the Palaeologan
period, new text editions, the publications of large collections of seals
and the recently published Dictionary of Byzantium for example, lay a
more solid basis for future research. The relations of Byzantium with
its neighbours, and the effects of the meeting of these worlds, have
also become the objects of more intensive study in recent times. It is
no longer considered exotic to look for Byzantine influence in Western
history and culture. Diplomacy, politics, literature, various art forms,
a Kazhdan/Epstein, ch. V, `Byzantium and alien cultures', p. 167-96.
INTRODUCTION
5
may all now be set against a Byzantine background. In 1930 P.E.
Schramm had already remarked how necessary it was to study Byzantine history and Western European history together, to see their
differences and the things they had in common.'
One had to wait until after World War II before this line of
research became more popular and more frequently exploited.
W. Ohnsorge, one of the pioneers in the field, with some satisfaction repeated the words of M. Deanesly who in a review wrote that
`It is becoming increasingly apparent, that the history of medieval
Western Europe cannot be studied adequately without reference to
the history of the Byzantine empire, with which it was so constantly
interconnected culturally and economically, and, during certain phases, so closely linked politically'.' In 1955 P. Classen resumed an
article on church relations by saying that `Je mehr griechische Gedanken and Methoden die lateinische Wissenschaft aufnimmt and
verarbeitet, um schliesslich im 13. Jh. die grossen Systeme der Hochscholastik aufzubauen, desto unabhangiger and selbstandiger kann
das Abendland neben dem Hort der griechischen Uberlieferung in
Byzanz stehen'.6 More recently the well-known French medievalist
G. Duby referred to the interrelations between Byzantium and Western Europe saying that `I'Europe ne fist jamais separee [de Byzance]
par des frontieres etanches; elle en subit constamment l'influence et
la fascination'.' In the Dictionary of the Middle Ages and the Lexicon des
Mittelalters Byzantium is well represented.
Too often and too simplistically pilgrims and crusaders are held to
be solely responsible for establishing contacts with Byzantium and
transmitting its cultural heritage to the West. Scholars are now also
focussing attention on other `carriers' of culture, other social groups
and other channels of transmission. For it had become clear that
crusaders and pilgrims could not have been in a position to transmit
certain aspects of Byzantine culture with which they had not been in
' 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 frequent 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 neighbours 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 cultural 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 lumen 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
Several times I have used the term Byzantine influence, following
in the footsteps of distinguished Byzantinists who used the term in
the title of their publications. These publications were the result of
discoveries and of research they and others had made in various
Western art forms. It made 0. Demus conclude that Byzantium was,
as far as the arts of the Romanesque period were concerned, the
magistra Europae.12 But contemporaries hardly ever commented on
foreign influences in products of art. Therefore the artefacts have
to speak for themselves. The finished state of a work of art has
the advantage that it can no longer take another form, it cannot
change, unlike writers who, in the course of their lives, can change
their minds and adopt other views and attitudes, thus explaining
the ambivalence and inconsistency of many medieval and later authors. Another point which one has to consider is the availability of
an object or a text. Silks which were sent as official gifts or were
bought in Constantinople and were used as shrouds could hardly
exert a permanent influence. The same is true of texts which, sometimes in a single copy or in a `closed' library, were not available to
a larger public.
It is true that the term influence ('presence' would sometimes be
a better term to use) is sometimes used too quickly and too easily,
especially where Byzantine and Byzantinizing influences are concerned.
A careful use of these terms can be of great benefit to enlighten
the complexity of the problem. The terms influence, acculturation, adaptation, adoption, borrowing etc. etc. are used to indicate
the presence of foreign elements and have sometimes their own
connotation. The process' of influencing and of being influenced, of
actively copying elements of other cultures or rejecting them, is complex and complicated. This holds true of every period in history, in
ancient times and in modern times. The vocabulary used by contemporaries varied and had its own special context.13 The Middle
Ages were no exception. The admiration for and rejection of other
12 Weitzmann, passim; 0. Demus, `Vorbildqualitat and Lehrfunktion der byzantinischen Kunst', in Stil and Uberlieferung in der Kunst des Abendlandes, Akten des 21.
Internationalen Kongresses fir Kunstgeschichte, I, Berlin 1967, p. 92-98 (one should like to
find such a qualification in a contemporary text). See now also Byzantine East, Latin
Westt Art historical studies in honour of Kurt Weitzmann, ed. D. Mouriki, to be published
in Princeton, 1995.
13 For the classical vocabulary see e.g. FJ. Worstbrock, `Translatio artium. Uber
the Herkunft and Entwicklung einer kulturhistorischen Theorie', Archiv fiir Kulturgeschichte
47, 1965, p.
l s.
8
INTRODUCTION
cultures does vary between times, places and individuals, and even
groups.14
The discussion of Byzantine influence in Western Europe was reopened 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 represent 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, rejected, 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 tradition 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
14 The history of the 'Byzantinische Frage', the acceptance of Byzantine influence
in the Middle Ages and in modem times, is a fascinating subject, and should be
studied more systematically in its political and cultural context.
15 P. Brown, `Eastern and Western Christendom in late Antiquity: a parting of
the ways', in The Orthodox Churches and the West, ed. D. Baker, Edinburgh 1976
(= Studies in Church History 13, 1976), p. 1-24, esp. 5.
16 W. Messerer, Ottonische Einze#iiguren unter byzantinischen Einfuss (Studien zur Byzantinischen Frage in Ottonischer Zeit), thesis Munich 1949, p. 177 (resume in BZ 52, 1959,
p. 32-60, esp. 57).
INTRODUCTION
9
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 discussion 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 superiority 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, economic and intellectual ferment, the church attempted to reform itself. 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 analysis 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
" Byzantium and the West, passim.
e M. Dunn, `Eastern influence on Western Monasticism in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries', ibidem, p. 245-259, esp. 258 259.
19 T. Avner, `Septuagint Illustrations of the Book of Judges in Manuscripts of the
Court School of Saint Louis', ibidem, p. 297-317.
10
INTRODUCTION
With this statement we are back to the water works of hydraulics.
For miniature painting, a field already thoroughly studied by various
renowned scholars, Byzantium was the sole model, the reservoir full
of examples, since Byzantium provided a hardly ever interrupted
stream of book illustration from ancient times onwards. Where else
had the Christian West to look for such models? For certain aspects
of the arts the statement mentioned above hardly needs discussion.
From these two statements it is clear that scholars themselves are
influenced by their field of studies, by the special topic they have
selected and perhaps, in one way or another, by unknown motives,
such as prejudices. Students may sometimes be influenced too easily
by the tides of widely known books in their field of studies.20 There
is, however, no need to resort to compromises, since every case should
be studied on its own merits.
A short and very clear article by M. McCormick, published in
1987, made clear how complicated the process of influence was during the early Middle Ages. McCormick prefers to speak of Byzantine
contributions to Western culture, in various times, in various places
and in various social groups. Like P. Brown he emphasized the existence of a Mediterranean culture, impregnated with Roman elements, thus offering a sort of late antique matrix. For the early Middle
Ages he distinguished three periods. The first period extends from
the fifth until somewhere in the seventh century. The second comprises the seventh and eight centuries, and the third period is the
period of the Carolingians. He made clear that in these early times
state symbolism, an important part of the life and prestige of rulers,
played an important part in the process of adopting symbols and
semiotics, because the emperors of Rome had been succeeded by
rulers in East and in West, creating the so-called Zweikaiserproblem,
which caused all sorts of competition between the emperors of East
and West. State symbolism in the West paid a large tribute to
Byzantium. In contrast to other aspects of public life, state symbolism is well `documented', in spite of the relatively few written sources.
Images and symbols are important sources of information and they
do often replace the lack of written material. This scarcity of texts,
however, prevents us from seeing more clearly who stimulated the
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, published in 1986, expresses an attitude of openmindedness of scholars who did regard
contacts between East and West in a more positive way.
INTRODUCTION
11
import or introduction of elements of Byzantine life and culture: why,
when and where they found their way into the West.21 McCormick
concluded his article with the remark that any study of Byzantium's
share in the formation of early medieval civilization would have to
differentiate the Byzantine contribution in time, space, social strata
and content. This view can easily be extended to other periods.
For the period 962-1204 we dispose of large amounts of written
documents. But only rarely are they explicit as far as the introduction of foreign elements in Western society are concerned. More than
once they mention the presence of Greeks, artists and others, of Greek
objects, or other contacts without telling what exactly these people
did in the West, why they came and how long they stayed and, even
more important, what their feelings and reaction were; this is also
the case of the arrival of objects. In the few cases where authors
refer to Byzantine sources and the reason why Westerners used them,
one has to be very careful not to extrapolate such data. For some
groups Byzantium was a reservoir of models, for others it was a centre
of arrogance or, even worse, of mendacity.
In 1980 DJ. Geanakoplos gave a resume of recent research in the
field, and since then a great number of articles and studies dealing
with Byzantium's impact on the West have seen the light.22 In many
of these publications a specific object, a specific topic or text passage
is studied. They are scattered over a wide variety of reviews or are
`hidden' in national or local publications; the same goes for objects
which are kept sometimes in local museums, small and obscure church
treasuries and private collections, not always easily accessible to the
interested reader. A good initiative was the republication, in three
separate volumes, of a great number of articles of W. Ohnsorge dealing
with relations between Byzantium and the Holy Roman empire:
Abendland and Byzanz (1958), Konstantinopel and der Okzident (1966) and
Ost-Rom and der Westen (1983), which helped the interested reader find
his way through this area of darkness, particularly thanks to useful
indices. Such publications are an incentive to further research.
21 M. McCormick, `Byzantium's Role in the Formation of Early Medieval Civilization: Approaches and Problems', Illinois Classical Studies 12, 1987, p. 207-220.
For state symbolism see also idem, Eternal Victory. Triumphal Rulership in late Antiquity,
Byzantium and the early Medieval West, Cambridge 1986.
22 DJ. Geanakoplos, `Important recent research in Byzantine-Western relations:
intellectual and artistic aspects, 500-1500', in Charanis Studies. Essays in honor of Peter
Charanis, New Brunswick, NJ., 1980, p. 60-78.
12
INTRODUCTION
For practical reasons it is useful to divide history in periods which
are marked, at the beginning and the end, by special events. For the
subject under discussion here another subdivision could be made,
since no general survey of the subject exists yet. We are dealing with
two different worlds, with two entities: the Byzantine empire and
Western Europe, fragmented as the latter was. Here is hardly room
to go into every detail of this complex problem. Grosso modo it is
possible to distinguish four settings: 1. Byzantines who were willing
to accept and introduce Western influence. 2. Byzantines who were
unwilling to accept or adopt such influence. 3. Westerners who were
unwilling to accept and adopt elements of Byzantine culture, and 4.
Westerners who were willing to let Byzantium play a cultural role in
their world.
It is clear that these categories offer all sorts of varieties, since
people and collectivities are frequently ambivalent and inconsistent
in their opinions. Personal comments on ideas and views are lacking
most of the time and therefore one cannot be too categorical in judging
people according to this subdivision. It is possible that a person is
full of admiration for other cultures. But admiration is not identical
to imitation, due sometimes to a lack of money or of skill, or for other
unknown reasons. And thus it is possible that a person who greatly
admires another country, another culture, consciously or unconsciously,
does not introduce any of its elements into his own culture. The
opposite holds good too. One does not usually accept what one rejects, but, there are interesting and intriguing exceptions to this rule.
Generally speaking, however, admiration and enthousiasm easily lead
to borrowing. This does not prevent one from criticizing certain aspects
which one considers to be negative. An interesting example of this
variant is a French nobleman, Hugues de Berze, who expressed his
admiration for the wealth and grandeur of Constantinople where
he had spent some time, while at the same time he mentions the
tragic fate of four successive emperors. He seems to give an exemplum:
money is no guarantee of happiness and power, whereas poverty is
no mark of inferiority: `Qar je vi en Constantinoble/Qui taut est
bele et riche et noble,/Que dedenz un an et demi/Quatre Empereres,
puis les vi/dedens un terme toz morir/de vil mort'.23 Such descriptions
of Constantinople undoubtedly contributed to its legendary image in
East and in West. In this survey, however, I shall stress the admiration
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 context. It may be useful to make a few remarks about all four categories 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 Amazons 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 sometimes 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
24 Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 180-183, who mentions chivalric games as one of the
rare Western elements in Byzantine society.
25 L. Buisson, Erobererrecht, Vasallitat and byz.antinisches Staatsrecht auf dent ersten Kreuzzug,
Hamburg 1985; see also Ferluga; Magdalino, p. 106s., 226.
26 A. Grabar, `L'Asymetrie des relations de Byzance et de 1'Occident dans le
domaine des arts au Moyen Age', in Byzanz and der Westen, ed. I. Hutter, Vienna
1984, p. 9-24 (there seems to be a parallel with the small number of Greeks coming to the West, although quantity does not always stand for quality). At the Oxford
Congress of 1984, however, D. Buckton argued convincingly that the technique of
cloisonne enamel was an import from the West at the end of Iconoclasm.
27 Eustazio di Tessalonica, La Espugnazione di Tessalonica, ed. S. Kyriakidis, Palermo
1961, p. 90; K.N. Ciggaar, `La dame combattante: theme epique et theme courtois
au temps des croisades', in Aspects de l'epopee romane, H. van Dyk/W. Noomen (ed.),
Groningen 1995, p. 121-130.
14
INTRODUCTION
time, but Western influence in literature seems to belong to later
periods.28
2. The Byzantines who were unwilling to let in any Western
influence must have been far larger in number than those who had
contacts with the West or with Westerners. Western influence during
the period under discussion was minimal. It was certainly not always
a form of contempt for the non-Greeks, the Barbarians. Most of the
time it was probably simply a question of indifference or neglect of
everything not Greek. The consequences of such an attitude need
not be our concern here. Byzantium had no tradition of actively
propagating its own culture or of actively combatting foreign people
or foreign elements in its society.
3. A great number of Westerners were unwilling to be influenced
by Byzantium and rather criticized and openly rejected certain aspects of Byzantine life, its learning and its culture. The schism of
1054, when the churches of East and West parted ways, stimulated
feelings of criticism and bitterness on both sides. The qualification of
Byzantium as Grecia mendax certainly deserves the attention of schol-
ars who want to discuss the more negative attitude of Westerners
towards Byzantium. The period of the Crusades played an important role in this process. The group of those who rejected Byzantium,
interesting as this group may be for the history of Western Europe,
shall not be our concern here, although we shall refer to them from
time to time. The group of those who utterly rejected Byzantium is
as interesting for the history of Western Europe as the group of those
who were willing to receive Byzantine impulses.29 One wonders how
many Westerners did not feel at ease when contemplating the wealth
of the Greeks, perhaps unjustly feeling inferior to them. Sometimes
this wealth was seen as decadent and pernicious/nocuous. Otloh,
author of the Liber visionum, reports the well-known story of a nun
28 Arthurian literature was known in Constantinople according to Alain de Lille.
But the concept of a ruler sitting at the Round Table with his vassals did not fit
into the ideology of Byzantine rulers, R.S. Loomis, `The Modena Sculpture and
Arthurian Romance', Studi Medievali 9, 1936, p. 10; the 13th-century Greek transla-
tion of such an Arthurian tale was therefore not produced in 13th-century Greek
Constantinople but in Latin ruled Cyprus, P. Breillat, `La Table Ronde en Orient.
Le poeme grec du vieux chevalier', Melanges d'Archeologie et d'Histoire 55, 1938,
p. 308-340, esp. p. 326, n. 2; K.N. Ciggaar, `Guenevere in a gynecee: the Greek
version of an Arthurian tale' (forthcoming).
29 E.g. Rentschler, II, p. 124; A.E. Laiou, `Byzantium and the West', in Byzantium.
A world civilization, ed. A.E. Laiou e.a., Washington 1992, p. 61-79.
INTRODUCTION
15
who had seen the empress Theophano in a dream. The empress
told her that now, after her death, she was being punished for having introduced luxury and jewelry to the West.30 Peter Damian condemned the luxurious lifestyle of a Byzantine princess, probably Maria
Argyropoula, who came to live in Venice with her husband John
Orseolo, the dope's son.31 Bernard of Clairvaux who in his Apologia
rejects the presence of exotic animals in the decoration of cloisters,
may belong to this group. Where else could these unknown animals
have come from than from Byzantium, in the form of silks and other
luxurious items?32 Other Westerners criticized the learning of Byzantium, especially in theological matters. The Renaissance of 12thcentury Western Europe seems to have looked back to Rome rather
than to Greece.33
4. I shall mainly deal with those Westerners, in Western Europe
and in Constantinople, who were willing to introduce all sorts of
elements and aspects of Byzantine culture or who simply referred to
the Byzantines and their Christian ancestors, the Greek Fathers, as
the auctoritates, even if they sometimes seem to belong to the foregoing category.34 Many of them never expressed personal feelings of
appreciation or of sympathy. In all its complexity I shall try to describe
them in this book. Unfortunately most of them have left no individual
memoir or autobiographical details about the journey or the social
group to which they belonged or the company with whom they travelled to Constantinople. For in those times carriers of culture had
often to travel alone, see things for themselves and learn in isolation.
It was only a small category of people who could avail themselves of
information by correspondence. Oral reports were another element
so Otloh of St Emmeran, Liber visionum, MGH SS XI, p. 385.
31 PL 145, c. 744; Nicol, p. 46-47. On other levels he was more positive about
Byzantium, cf. K.N. Ciggaar, `Families and factions: Byzantine influence in some
Italian cities', in Byzantium and its neighbours, p. 15.
32 Apologia ad Willelmum, Sancti Bernardi opera, ed. J. Leclercq/H.M. Rochais, III,
Rome 1963, p. 106 (Engl. tr. in C. Rudolph, The `Things of Greater Importance'. Bernard
of Clairvaux's Attitude toward Art, Philadelphia 1990, p. 282-3. Bernard's abhorrence of
exotic decoration representing lions, dragons, tigers, warriors and huntsmen, could
well derive from a critical attitude toward Byzantine luxury.
ss See e.g. Anastos, passim. See also ch. Auctoritates and Translationes.
34 One of the few examples is Theophilus, De diversis artibus, ed. C.R. Dodwell,
London 1961, with Engl. tr., s.v. Greeks. Another example is Guy of Amiens, the
author of the much debated Carmen de Hastingae Proelio, c. 1100, ed. C. Morton/
H. Muntz, Oxford 1972, v. 760, p. 48-49, for the crown of William the Conqueror,
`Grecia prudentem dirigit arte fabrum' (Greece inspired a smith skilled in the art),
cf. Ciggaar, `Marginalia', p. 58s.
16
INTRODUCTION
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 somewhat selfcontained character. In such a framework a number of crossreferences 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 emergence 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 concentrates 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 relevant 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 Byzantine 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, because 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 various 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
In spite of the artificiality of the choice it seems useful to put together a number of known facts, in order to trace, in future, the
interrelations between East and West in a wider context. To study
medieval history, with its relative scarcity of documentary material,
one needs to study whatever material does survive in order to see
more clearly if there are patterns of impact of foreign cultures. The
chapters dedicated to `national' history may be read separately by
the student interested in a specific area, who may, I hope, find inspiration for further research. Anecdotes and picturesque details may
sometimes be more relevant in a national or regional perspective
than in the wider context of Western Europe. They may sometimes
reveal the `identity' of the people involved rather than being general
phenomena. New material, to be found and discovered in a 'national' context, may confirm the validity of anecdotal information.
It will be clear that for all these areas, for all these countries, Byzantium's contribution to cultural and political developments has been
different and uneven, and has often been studied in dissimilar ways.
Sometimes the vernacular literature has been thoroughly studied
already, sometimes the coinage of a specific area or even of a specific ruler, or the life of refugees leaving a country in difficult times.
Such research remains to be done for other vernacular literatures,
for other coinages and other aspects of `national' life. The gaps are
thus also different in the various chapters. Not every chapter will
therefore have the same structure. Frontiers were in flux in the Mid-
dle Ages and have been changing ever since. In the Middle Ages
travellers did not stop at frontiers, nor did Byzantine influence. In
order to see the great waves and tides of Byzantine influence which
passed over Western Europe we shall review, in a final chapter, the
heyday of Byzantine influence in certain areas and in special fields,
such as the arts. It will then become more clear where research has
been inadequate, and where possibilities may he for further fruitful
research.
Contacts, negative and positive, had to be established in person.
People had to travel in order to report what they had seen or experienced. Thousands of people, of all social classes, often accommodated by the network of religious charitable institutions, travelled to
Byzantium. The problems they had to face will be dealt with in a
separate chapter, and so will the attractions of the Byzantine capital.
The Byzantines realised that myriads of people came to their lands,
and that their city was a melting-pot of many nations.
18
INTRODUCTION
Many of the Western travellers became permanent residents in the
country which they visited as tourists or where they worked. In Constantinople there lived large communities of Western Europeans often
designated as 'Latins'. The Greeks, mainly ambassadors and wandering
monks, were less likely to travel to the West and to settle there permanently, although a few small Greek colonies existed in the West. Theirs
was an empire that was the centre of the world, or so they thought.
Many sources, Greek and Western, bear witness to the mass `migration' which took place in the Middle Ages. Chronicles, ambassadorial
reports, letters, saints' Lives, runic inscriptions, sagas, literary texts,
contracts, diplomas, objets d'art, coins, seals, precious clothes and
many more sources tell us what interested all these people, what
struck them as unusual and what stayed in their memories. Together
they give us an idea of the way Western travellers saw Byzantine
society, and the effects these contacts had on the West. Every Byzantine `presence' is an interesting case. Even the smallest object such
as a Greek seal, once attached to a letter, a parcel or a precious silk,
may have its own history, and testify to the wide range of contacts.
What its influence was on the seal of the country where it was found,
is a different story which cannot yet always be told. More than once,
however, one can determine the influence of an artefact by consid-
ering it in its new `national' context. The official ambassador who
was received at the imperial court and the simple pilgrim who contented himself with a small and inexpensive religious memento, all
had their own story to tell, their own experiences to remember, once
they had safely returned home.
Secondary literature is as varied and at times as inaccessible to
the interested reader as are the primary sources. These publications
sometimes reflect changing interests among scholars. Changing fashions can explain the ignorance of older publications, not to mention
references to objects and manuscripts that have since been lost, and
which are sometimes equally `forgotten'.
This book can only give a survey of the broad lines of research
that has been carried out in a number of fields. It can only be a
rough sketch, the definite contours of which are not yet clear. The
limited framework of this book does not allow us to give full bibliographical references although attempts have been made to refer to
the recent literature and to translations whenever possible.35 Most of
35 The Byzantinische Zeitsehrift gives a yearly bibliography of all publications on
Byzantium and adjoining fields; section 7 H deals with the `Byzantinische Frage'.
INTRODUCTION
19
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 impressed 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 cannot here go into the ultimately fatal consequences of this attitude for
the Greeks.
Writing a survey means making a choice, a personal choice between 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 indirectly. 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 Western learning sprang
. quoniam ex Grecorum fontibus omnes
Latinorum discipline profluxerunt...37
36 Ebels-Hoving, see list of abbreviations.
31 N.M. Haring, Tiber de diversitate naturae et personae proprietatumque
personalium non tam Latinorum quam ex Graecorum auctoritatibus extractus by
Hugh of Honau', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen age 37, 1962, p. 120
(Haskins, Studies, p. 210).
CHAPTER ONE
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
da mihi panem da mihi piscem DOSME PSOMI..
DOSME OPSARIN, 11th-century anonymous'
At a time when telecommunications and technology were at a less
advanced stage than today contacts between various parts of the world
had to be established in person. The sending of letters and objects
could help to increase one's knowledge of the outside world, but
postal services, if they existed at all, were slow and irregular. It was
necessary to travel to see foreign countries, and energy, time and
money had to be invested to see the world.
Among travellers to Byzantium and the Byzantine world one can
distinguish several categories. These would include ambassadors and
pilgrims (lay persons and ecclesiastics), refugees and fugitives, mercenaries and merchants, artists (in particular writers) and scholars, and
finally the many crusaders who travelled from all over Western Europe
to Jerusalem and who often stopped over at Constantinople or elsewhere on Byzantine territory. Such crusaders, laymen and clerics,
soldiers and private people, men and women, and even children,
travelled in the years 1096, 1147, 1189 and 1203. All had their own
reasons for leaving home, often with more than one objective in mind.
The desire to see the world and its riches, to experience nature, to
wander at buildings and ruins was not an invention of the Middle
Ages. Unfortunately we seldom know the physical act of travelling in
those days.2
'
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
ed. C.G. Angelide, Athens 1989, p. 711 31,
1 atio
eadem, 'Taranto', in Itinerari e centri urbani nel rnezzogiorno normanno-svevo, ed. G. Musca,
Bari 1993, p. 459s.
CHAPTER ONE
22
The majority of the travellers, with the exception of fugitives and
some refugees, preferred to travel in groups for safety reasons. The
mounting of a pilgrimage or crusade led people to join a specific
group.
Before setting off to the East, on a long and difficult journey,
practical preparations had to be made.' Decisions had to be made
about financing and about the route. The category of travellers to
which one belonged did tend to be decisive in such matters. We will
briefly discuss the various categories of travellers and their preparations for the journey, their privileges and favours, the lobbying power
before and during the journey.
People from all social classes, from all parts of Western Europe
travelled to Byzantium. Royalty, church leaders, common people and
even the poor and destitute joined the eastern `expeditions' as one
may sometimes call them. Charity in all its forms played a considerable role for the less privileged in pilgrimages and crusades.
A list of the thousands and thousands of travellers going to and
through the Byzantine empire during the period under discussion is
not available and will never be. Relatively few travellers left any record
of their journey. Some classes and groups did benefit from special
favours.
Royalty and members of the ruling classes of Western Europe who
visited Constantinople, often on their way to Jerusalem or in the
course of the journey home, were well received by the Greek rulers.
Some were accommodated in the imperial palace or elsewhere in
town in luxurious housing or other imperial guest-houses. Visits to.
the imperial court could vary greatly in length, depending on the
political situation and the purpose of the visit. The Greek emperor
could show a more than usual interest in a specific visitor. In such
cases an official programme of entertainments was laid on with all
its traditional ceremonial: exchange of gifts, receptions, dinner parties, games and hunting parties, etc. Some Western ruling families
traditionally cultivated this Eastern `connection', especially families
with longstanding crusader links. They were in a position to develop
a taste for the East. Western relatives of the imperial family, like
the sister of Bertha of Sulzbach who came to stay with her sister,
s Bernard of Clairvaux, in a letter to Manuel Comnenus, speaks of the great
distance between the emperor and himself, PL 182, c. 672 ('longo terrarum spatio
et vastissimi mans interjectu remotus').
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
23
became temporary members of the imperial household (ch. The Holy
Roman empire). Byzantine princesses who had been married off to
foreign rulers returned home on special occasions, as did Theodora,
niece of Manuel Comnenus who had married the duke of Austria
(ch. The Holy Roman empire).
Church officials, sent by the authorities in Rome or elsewhere, on
official business for church meetings, for theological debates or on
private visits, could easily find accommodation in one of the Western
monasteries in Constantinople and in a few places outside the capital. Papal envoys may occasionally have been given housing by the
Patriarch himself. Before 1054 Western ecclesiastics were certainly
welcome in the majority of the Greek monasteries.
Ambassadors, envoys and diplomats, whose official status in the
Middle Ages is far from clear, flocked to the Greek capital. Permanent ambassadors hardly existed in those times, except in a few Latin
settlements. With the installation of more Western colonies the situation gradually changed. Originally envoys as well as certain other
categories of foreigners, had to report to the Bureau of the Barbar-
ians which directed them to special lodgings where they could be
supervised more easily by the. Greek authorities. They had already
been subject to various controls during their journey through Byzantine territory where, from time to time, they had to report to the
authorities. The envoy Liutprand of Cremona was almost kept prisoner in Constantinople during his unsuccessful mission of 968 in
which he was to find an imperial princess for Otto II of Germany.
On rare occasions, and apparently as a special favour, a beautiful
palace in the centre of town was placed at the disposal of specially
honoured guests. Only few Latin ambassadors enjoyed this privilege,
a conclusion which we may draw from an anonymous letter sent
from the East where mention is made of a `palatium optimum in
media civitate Constantinopoli', where Saladin's envoys were lodged
in 1189. In due time official envoys were received at the imperial
court. Gifts were exchanged and letters of accreditation were presented. The purpose of the actual mission was delicately brought to
the fore. The Byzantine court insisted on decorum and on ceremonial,
perfect means for making an impression on foreigners.4 Western
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. 492528), for the Bureau of the Barbarians, p. 233, for the curator of the ambassadorial
24
CHAPTER ONE
ambassadors accompanied Western princesses destined to marry
members of the Greek imperial family. Bertha of Sulzbach and Agnes
of France came to Byzantium escorted by Greek and Western diplomats. Other envoys came to discuss peace treaties and commercial
privileges or to ask for transit permits and market rights for their
rulers. Depending on the sort of mission, the favours and privileges
accorded to the visiting ambassadors varied. With the growing importance of the Western enclaves in Constantinople where relatives,
friends and business contacts could offer hospitality, Byzantine diplomacy had to look to more subtle means to impress diplomats and to
adapt to the new situation, or make them more dependent.'
In the course of time groups of Latin merchants also found lodgings in the Western colonies. Originally they had been obliged to
stay in the so-called metata, official hostels where their buying and
selling of goods was supervised and where they had to pay commercial taxes on their business dealings. For safety reasons merchants
preferred to travel in groups. If they travelled by ship, they probably
stayed on board on entering Greek ports, having no need for hostels.. As long as no banking system existed they were more or less
obliged to carry large amounts of money and this forced them to
take precautions not only en route but also in the places where they
stopped for any length of time. Commerce in Constantinople was
originally regulated by the so-called Book of the Eparch, a set of rules
and laws implemented by the Prefect of the town. At a later date tax
exemptions were given to various Italian communes who usually had
to provide military aid in return. The fair at Thessalonica (to which
merchants of some nationalities were directed along special routes)
attracted merchants from countries as far away as Spain. Commercial contracts concluded in the Latin quarters of Constantinople reveal the names of citizens of Venice, Pisa and other Italian towns
who had come to Byzantium to conduct business. Benjamin of Tudela
who travelled in the 1170s left a report of such a business trip (ch.
The Iberian peninsula).'
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 luxuriously in Constantinople.
6 Book of the Eparch; Lilie, passim.
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
25
Other important groups of travellers were refugees and other
immigrants. Southern Italy provided a stream of Greek-speaking people
and others who, harrassed by Arab and Norman invasions, came to
Constantinople. From Western Europe various groups of refugees
travelled eastward. Anglo-Saxons left England after the Norman
conquest of their country in 1066; most have remained anonymous
although a few names have been preserved. Scandinavians left the
North to seek jobs, money and adventure in far-off countries, as far
afield as Byzantium. All over Europe, at one time or another, people
sought to flee poverty or political instability at home. Others fled to
escape revenge or punishment for their crimes. Taking service in the
Byzantine army was one of the rare possibilities for making one's
living in the East. If one survived the dangers and hardships of military
life one could, if one wished and if the situation home had changed
for the better, return to one's country. Savings could be carried home,
even if gold had to be changed into silver since the export of gold
was officially forbidden. We do not know if (gold) savings by Westerners were deposited in the Western quarters of the city and created
an internal banking system for future travellers and for commercial
purposes. Harald Hardrada, the later Norwegian king who served as
a mercenary in Byzantium sent his gold savings to Novgorod according to the Harald's Saga.' In Venice recruiting officers for the
Byzantine army were guaranteed free passage. Future mercenaries
were to benefit from the same right of passage, which may have
been used again for the return journey."
In most cases political exiles who took refuge in Byzantium had to
earn a living. This may also have been the case with young Western
nobles who travelled to Byzantium for a period of training, to improve both their military skills and their general education. Some of
them obtained court functions and came back with interesting Byzantine titles. Other Latins worked as advisors at the imperial court
which regularly dealt with Western affairs, and needed information
about the feudal system prevalent in Western Europe. An illicit love
affair, not accepted by the family, could sometimes prompt a couple
' E.g. Ciggaar, `Emigration anglaise'; eadem, `Refugies et employes occidentaux
an XIe siecle', Medievales 12, 1987, p. 19-24 (= Toutes les routes menent a' Byzance, ed.
E. Patlagean, with other articles on the subject); cf. Marquis de la Force, 'Les
conseillers latins du Basileus Alexis Comnene', Byz 11, 1936, p. 153-65; see also
note 21.
9 Brand, p. 198; Dolger, 1578 (e.g. PG 135, c. 466).
CHAPTER ONE
26
to travel to Constantinople where they could live a quiet and anonymous life. Yet all these people had to make a living and it was the
army that gave it to them.
Scholars, students and artists travelling eastward in search of libraries, manuscripts and inspiration were not very privileged either.
As most were clerics they generally did not have large amounts of
money at their disposal, unless they were sent with the specific pur-
pose of buying books. The army was hardly a solution for their
financial problems. Christian charity must have been their only option. They may have been active in their own fields, teaching, copying manuscripts, translating texts from one language into another,
but information about their living conditions does not exist.'
And finally all sorts of obscure travellers found their way to
Byzantium. The metropolis attracted people from very different back-
grounds. With a touch of disdain and irony Walter Map wrote,
between 1181 and 1192
Now there were living in Constantinople, on Manuel's invitation, people
who went by name of Franks-really driven from almost every nation-
whom the Greeks for envy persecuted with extreme hate. For to such
extent was their strength drained away by the Trojan war that since
Ajax, against whose worth craft unjustly prevailed, there is nothing in
any Greek to be proud of, nothing excellent: so weak are they that
even the dregs of all nations and the very abjects of the people are an
object of envy to them. For we know that the fugitive bands of proscribed and condemned have had recourse thither, and those whom
their inborn vice has exiled from their homes have attained such
influence among the Greeks that their envy now burns against them as
if they were Trojans come to life again."
From an official diploma we learn that at the same time the German quarter housed a number of destitute people, who were unable
to make their contribution to the taxes due to the Byzantine authorities. As they were not all `Germans' or `Franks' some may have come
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 adventurous 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 departure 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 Western Europe they enjoyed all sorts of privileges, such as exemptions
from taxes and cheap lodging in some places. Charitable foundations 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 exchanging 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 information 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
It was thus possible to undertake some planning before setting off
on the journey. More difficult was the decision as to which route to
choose. The political and economical situation in an area (warfare,
revolts, drought, famine etc.) could cause all sorts of problems which
had to be anticipated. If one was well informed one could choose an
alternative route. Generally speaking travel by land routes was cheaper
than travel by sea route, as passage on board a ship or a ferry had
to be paid for, and in some cases the ships had to be provided by the
travellers, which made the journey even more costly. Poor people had
to travel overland and use ships as little as possible. But even then
there was a variety of routes. The Scandinavians, great sailors as they
were, could sail the Russian rivers, the so-called Eastway (Austrvegr),
or follow the Westway (Vestrvegr), sailing through the North Sea, passing Gibraltar and crossing the Mediterranean. A visit to Rome could
then form part of the journey, the Romavegr. This was also a popular route for the inhabitants of the British Isles and of Northwestern
Europe. They could also travel overland, via southern Germany where
Regensburg developed as an important and economically prosperous cross-roads, a staging-point for rest and resupplying. Along the
Danube numerous monasteries provided various facilities for pilgrims
and other travellers. Then followed Hungary and the rest of the
Balkans until Byzantine territory was reached in Thrace. From there
on the road led straight on to Constantinople. The journey through
Italy, sometimes with a stop-over in Sicily (which could also form
part of the sea-route) offered a chance for Normans from Normandy
itself, Norman England and even from Scandinavia to visit Norman
relatives who had settled there in the course of the 11th and 12th
centuries. From southern Italy one had to cross to the mainland of
Greece, join the Egnatian road and go to Constantinople via Thessalonica. One could also travel overland to one of the major Mediterranean ports in Italy-Venice, Genoa, Pisa or to Marseille or
Barcelona, and then board a ship heading for Constantinople or another Byzantine port, or even for Jerusalem itself. From the end of
the 11th century the Italian towns expanded their ferrying activities,
a trade that proved to be very profitable. Those who travelled overland
could gradually familiarize themselves with life in the Byzantine empire.
The journey back home offered the same range of possibilities for
travel and often a different route was chosen for the return journey.14
" Riant, Expeditions, p. 62s.; M. Mollat, `Problemes navals de l'histoire des
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
29
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 between cities circulated in the West and so did a number of descriptions 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 journey 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 civilisation, proof of a continual toing and froing by Westerners and Easterners alike.
Since travelling was dangerous in those days, especially in Asia
Minor where the Turks formed a permanent threat, and life expectancy 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. Historischgeographischer 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
confined mainly to the wealthy who had to make arrangements for
their property, and to those who had made loans or mortgaged property to raise the cash to pay for the journey. Making a will was the
very least one had to do. Contracts were drawn up to settle conditions for loans and mortgages. Religious institutions often crop up in
such dealings either as providers of money, or as future beneficiaries
of donations." Once the `money' had been raised there was another
problem to be solved: how to ensure one's solvency en route? One
had to pay for food, accommodation, tolls, entrance fees. Guides
expected money for their services and hospitals and doctors had often
to be paid for. Gifts had to be made to sanctuaries and devotionalia
were bought by many religious travellers, even if more luxurious items
were the prerogative of the better-off.19
Given that a banking system as such hardly existed at this time,
some form of `internal' banking or credit system for commercial
purposes may well have been practised. It is likely that important
cash deposits existed in the Latin quarters of Constantinople, which
enabled Western travellers, especially those from the `nations' possessing such quarters, to obtain money in cash. Carrying cash was
dangerous in those days, except in the case of large and armed groups
who could defend themselves. Travelling with cash was thus to be
avoided as much as possible. In the 11th and 12th centuries no official
gold coinage was minted in Western Europe. In most areas of the
West gold coins were not even available. In order to save weight
during the journey one was forced to take gold in bullion, in combination with silver coins and silver bullion. Part of Frederick Barbarossa's silver bullion has been found (ill. 1). The West possessed
large amounts of gold in royal, monastic, private and other treasuries as is clear from wills and the use of gold in the arts. Golden altar
frontals were the fashion and so were golden crowns, crosses,
bookcovers and other regalia and devotionalia. The Ottonian rulers had
a predilection for gold, the result of their desire to imitate the golden
splendour of their Byzantine rivals. References to large amounts of
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 currency of those days. Byzantine coins were remarkable. Their iconography, depicting Christ, the Virgin, saints and worldly rulers, was
attractive to foreigners. People seem to have cherished the small 'images', 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. References 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, Manchester 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 countries. 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
careful in drawing conclusions. Silver in bullion and in coin was a
more usual form of payment in the West than in the Byzantine empire
where silver coins hardly existed. Western silver coins have been found
in hoards, deposited on Byzantine territory. These silver coins, taken
to change for Byzantine bronze coinage for daily expenses, must have
been melted down in the course of time.23
Odo of Deuil reports that the crusaders of 1147 carried gold and
silver. During the journey merchants, alias money-changers, travelled
along with the crusader's army, and even formed part of it as St
Bernard had recommended. After arrival on Byzantine territory one
had to follow the official Byzantine regulations for bankers and moneychangers, laid down in the Book of the Eparch: no business on street
corners, no black market.24 There was an official bureau de change for
foreigners, in the centre of town, near Saint Sophia. There the money-
changers were sitting behind their tables with large amounts of besants and precious stones.25 An exception to these regulations was
made when the crusading army of Louis VII was refused entry to
Constantinople. The money-changers set up their stalls in the open
air, on the Asian side of the Bosporus. It made Odo of Deuil exclaim that `their tables gleamed with gold and were groaning with
the silver vessels which they had bought from us'. The covetousness
aroused in some crusaders by the sight of all this wealth provoked a
riot and made the money-changers flee back to Constantinople. Odo
of Deuil complains of falling exchange-rates after the departure of
the army from the capital.26
Very little concrete information about rates of exchange is available. Byzantine weights, however, have been preserved in great numbers. In the early 13th century the term besant, expressing power
and distinction, was used by Guillaume le Clerc in his work Le Besant
23 English silver pennies of Henry II have been found on Rhodes, Hendy,
p. 361; Symion le Nouveau Thiologien, Traitis thiologiques et ithiques, ed. J. Darrouzes, II,
Paris 1967, p. 386-8.
24 Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 27 (money changers; Berry, 22-3), 62 (gold, silver;
Berry, 104-5). En route Louis asked the abbey of Saint Denis to send money ('pecunia'),
RHG XV, p. 488; cf. Book of the Eparch, p. 233-5.
25 van der Vin, II, p. 536 (travel report by Aboul Hassan al-Harawi, `les statues
qui se trouvent dans le marche du change'; Robert de Clari, Lauer, p. 89 (van der
Vin, II, p. 549; Longnon, 249).
26 Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 35, 49 (Berry, 67, 73s.). I would like to suggest that
the description of a town with all its money and gold gleaming in the streets in
the Roman de Perceval by Chretien de Troyes, could well reflect Constantinople, ed.
W. Roach, Paris 1959, p. 169, v. 5755s. (Owen, 450).
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
33
de Dieu, referring to the unum talentum of the New Testament (Matthew xxv, 15-28).27
Some people prepared themselves for the journey by taking lan-
guage lessons. Greeks living in the West, like St Symeon of Trier
who was educated in Constantinople, and had served as a guide in
Jerusalem, could act as teachers. Moreover, Westerners, who had
learnt Greek while working in Byzantium, could pass on their knowl-
edge to others. Odo of Mezidon, for example, was reputed for his
knowledge of Greek'(ch. France). In the Italian commercial centres
lived professional translators who could do the job. A few places in
Western Europe housed large groups of Greek-speakers either as
immigrants or as original inhabitants: Venice, Sicily and southern
Italy. A few wordlists, obviously meant for travellers, have been preserved. An 11th-century manuscript at Avranches (Normandy), in the
Bibliotheque Municipale, gives Greek phrases in transcription with
their Latin equivalents. One learns to ask for bread, for drink (water,
wine, milk) and simple words like horse, bed, house, clothes etc. The
manuscript comes from the abbey of Mont Saint Michel. Another
wordlist, ,_in a 12th-century manuscript, now in the Bibliotheque
Municipale of Auxerre, comes from the abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif,
in Sens. This wordlist gives greetings, `bonus dies tibi/calos ymera
si', etc. To ask the way one should say: `Ubi est via/Po ne strata'?
With the help of this list one could buy all sorts of necessities .2' A
Greek-Latin dialogue in a manuscript of the year 1158 is also interesting for its contents. The traveller is invited to come and see a
friend, but first the concierge has to be dealt with. These phrases are
given in both Greek and Latin characters.29 To acquire a good knowl-
edge of the language one had to depend on a teacher, since no
complete Greek grammar existed. Only a fragment of the Latin
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 demonstrated 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 Western 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 druguemant,/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 Interpreter 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 mercenaries in the army, and for the fleet commander.34 On informal
30 B. Bischoff, `Das griechische Element in den abendlandischen Bildung des
Mittelalters', BZ 44, 1951, p. 27-55; Berschin, passim; W J. Aerts, `The knowledge
of Greek in Western Europe at the time of Theophano and the Greek grammar
fragment in Vindob. 114', in Byzantium and the Low Countries, p. 78-103.
31 E.g. Aimon de Varennes, Florimont, ed. A. Hilka, Gottingen 1932, vv. 1301-3,
'Li dus davant le roi ala/Et en grezois le salua: "Calimera vasilio!"', text of the end
of the 12th century; c£ Fourrier, p. 482-5; E. Schulze-Busacker, `French conceptions of foreigners and foreign languages in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries',
Romance Philology 41, 1987, p. 38-41.
32 Chretien de Troyes, Cliges, p. 119 (Owen, 146); Fourrier, p. 157.
33 E.g. D.A. Miller, `The Logothete of the Drome in the Middle Byzantine period. The corps of interpreters', BZ 36, 1966, p. 449-58 (in that period Latin played
a different role); Laurent, p. 230-3, nos. 467-71 (interpreters of the Varangians),
p. 540, no. 991 (interpreter of the fleet), for the Great Interpreter, no. 471 (cf. REB
29, 1971, p. 44).
34 Liutprand, Legatio, p. 564 (Wright, 263, for the Greek interpreter); Guillaume
de Jumieges, p. 112 (van Houts, II, p. 82/3), `per interpretem', during the visit of
Robert the Magnificent of Normandy to Constantinople; Haskins, `Canterbury monk',
p. 295, used an English friend, living there, as his interpreter, `qui eorum interpres
erat'; Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 44 (Berry, 58-9), Manuel and Louis VII communicated through an interpreter, `loquuntur per interpretem'. William of Tyre, XVIII,
30, Huygens, p. 855 (RHC Occ., I, p. 873) mentions a `maximus palatinorum
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
35
occasions members of the imperial family who were of foreign origin, like Bertha of Sulzbach and Agnes of France, could serve as
interpreters.35 The official interpreters were often recruited from among
the foreign communities living in Constantinople. Greeks must also
have been active in the interpreter service, where loyalty was essential.
Nothing is known of the scola Grecorum, an institution in Constantinople
which, according to the Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago (Guide du pelerin),
possessed its own library, and where some language teaching may
have been given.3s
The Greeks, who considered their empire to be the centre of the
world, were not keen on learning languages, even if they realised
that few people outside their realm could cope with their language.31
Latin was not widely known, either in educated circles or among the
people in the street. From time to time one does find linguistic 'refer-
ences'. John Mauropous, who lived in the 11th century, had a certain knowledge of Latin and so did John Tzetzes who showed off his
linguistic skills in a polyglot treatise on how to greet foreigners, including Westerners. He transcribes the Latin sentences in Greek
characters and then gives their Greek translation:
To a Latin I speak in the Latin language:
`Welcome, my lord, welcome, my brother:
Bene venesti, domine, bene venesti, frater.
Wherefrom are you, from which theme do you come?
Unde es et de quale provincia venesti?
How have you come, brother, to this city?
Q[ulomodo, frater, venesti in istan civitatem?
On foot, on horse, by sea? Do you wish to stay?
Pezos, caballarius, per mare? Vis morare?'38
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, Alexiad, 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
Liutprand of Cremona met Latin-speaking beggars near his Constantinopolitan lodgings, who may have been poor Latins living in the
Greek capital. The French abbot Gunther of Pairis describes the
plundering of the town in 1204 and mentions a local priest who had
problems expressing himself in Latin: He was asked to reveal the
hiding-place of the relics of his church, and wanting to placate the
intruder by speaking his language, the old priest did his best to mollify
the stranger. Animosity towards the invaders must have played its
own role.39 Westerners were well aware of the necessity of speaking
languages. Odo of Deuil remarks that `when one person accuses
another in a very loud voice without understanding him, there is a
brawl' .4' The growing interest in learning languages must have helped
the West to bring about its advances in learning, commerce and
technology.
We have spoken of preparations for the journey and of the possibilities open to some groups of travellers on the journey to Byzantium,
and when staying in the capital. The mass of the pilgrims and other
individuals, however, had to shift for themselves to find food, accommodation and medical help. They had to rely on religious institutions, private charity and possibly on commercial activities as well.
They could choose from inns, pilgrim hostels (xenones), monasteries
with dormitories or other accommodation, and even the open air.
Greek philanthropic institutions were known in the West where a
`philanthropic nomenclature' circulated. The list included the Greek
words xenodochium, ptochotrophium, nosochomium, gerontochomium and
brephotrophium. The first word of this series, xenodochium, glossed as id
est locus venerabilis in quo peregrini suscipiuntur, found its way into Latin
and was widely used in Western Europe. It was the most important
word for a traveller, both in East and in West. The other words
were mostly seen as curiosities in the West and were not often used."'
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., Jerusalem 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
Travelling through foreign countries was made easier if guides were
available. At the beginning of a journey in Western Europe local
guides could easily be obtained; travelling further eastwards became
more complicated. One may assume that, even in Western Europe,
combined use could be made of local guides and experienced `longdistance' travellers or guides. These could be Westerners or Greeks.
Recruiting officers sent by the Byzantine authorities, former expatriate employees, returning ambassadors, were only part of a wide
variety of possibilities, although the social status of the travellers was
a factor in the ultimate choice. Official escorts sometimes came to
the West to accompany Western princesses to the Greek capital where
they were to marry Greek princes. In such cases it would be a mixed
company of Greeks and Latins that travelled to Constantinople.
When arriving at the border there were formalities to be dealt
with. The Byzantine empire was a large and unified empire, which
tried to protect its borders as best as it could. There was, at times,
a very efficient coastguard, but in the course of time the navy became increasingly weaker and control became more difficult. In the
12th century in particular Byzantium had come to rely more and
more on foreign naval forces and the passage of foreigners became
less controllable. Anna Comnena twice reports how Westerners were
intercepted by the coastguard during the First Crusade. The Greeks,
alarmed at the coming of the crusaders, set up controls on the Western
coasts. Hugh of Vermandois was shipwrecked on the Dalmatian coast
and was saved by the Byzantine coastguard. Richard, another army
leader, was intercepted further south. Not all seaports were open to
foreigners and foreign ships. One may presume that `commercial'
ports, i.e. ports where taxes were levied on merchandise, also functioned as ports of entry for travellers from the West.42 On sea and
land there were systems to control incoming travellers. It is very likely
that the coastguard and its landbased counterpart were in close contact with the excise department, whose duty it was to control merchants and to collect taxes, and with the Bureau of the Barbarians
in the capital. Reports were probably sent to Constantinople and
official guides were provided for special categories of travellers, such
as ambassadors. In the heyday of the Byzantine empire there thus
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
existed a network of control posts where passports and transit visas
had to be presented or had to be applied for:43 The return journey
also required such formalities. Sometimes permission was asked in
Constantinople during an official visit when the rest of the journey
still lay ahead, sometimes it was requested at the border, as Albert of
Aix, historian of the First Crusade, reports. Robert of Normandy,
who visited the imperial court in 1035 asked permission to continue
his journey through Asia Minor, count Robert I of Flanders applied
for permission to travel through Thrace on his way home. The leaders of the crusade of 1101 also waited until they were in the Byzantine capital. Sometimes letters were written in advance to obtain
guarantees for the return journey. This was done by Philip Augustus
who was frightened by the prices he had had to pay during his journey to Jerusalem in 1189, and who hoped to be asked to pay less if
he travelled through Byzantine lands. It is obvious that official persons could produce written documents, i.e. letters with the imperial
seal which could easily convince the border authorities of the status
of the visitor.44 The average traveller probably had to content himself with less official documents. At the end of the 12th century a
group of Danish travellers carried an exit permit, a sort of stamped
paper.45
Travellers had to report to certain control posts, established in or
near fortified towns. Sometimes permission to leave the country was
not given so easily. This seems to have happened in 1055 to bishop
43 H. Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer, Paris 1966, passim; Antoniadis-Bibicou, ibid.,
for commercial taxes and control stations. For Byzantine institutions, Brehier, postal
services, the Bureau of the Barbarians etc. For Byzantine views on foreigners and
measures against them, e.g. K. Lechner, `Byzanz and the Barbaren', Saeculum 6,
1955, p. 292-306; R.S. Lopez, `Foreigners in Byzantium', Bulletin de l'Institut Belge de
Rome 44, 1974, p. 341-52.
44 Guillaume de Jumieges, p. 113 (van Houts, II, p. 82/83); Albert of Aix,
p. 559; Orderic Vitalis, X, 12 and X, 20, Chibnall, V, p. 276-7, 326-7; Gesta
Philippi Augusti, ed. H.F. Delaborde, Paris 1882/6, I/II, p. 216, inaccessible. See also
Annales Altahenses, ed. E. Oefele, MGH SS, in usum scholarum, 1891, p. 66-7.
4s De profectione Danorum in Hierosolymam, in Scriptores Minores Historiae Danicae Medii
Aevi, II, Copenhagen 1920, ed. M. Cl. Gertz, p. 362, `Peractis igitur omnibus, quorum gratia viatores nostri advenerant, cum honore recedunt, obsequium sibi parantibus
nobilissimis regni curialibus, qui dicuntur Weringae regni sigillo muniti; non enim
fas est terram egredi absque litteris dimissoriis, quia per urbes munitissimas iter est
exeundi'. See also G. Vikan/J. Nesbitt, Security in Byzantium. Locking sealing and weigh-
ing, Washington 1980, p. 25s. The `stamp' may be identical with the `sigillion' of
the Pisan envoys who left Constantinople in 1199, cf. Antoniadis-Bibicou, op. cit.
(n. 42), p. 48; Miklosich/Muller, III, p. 48.
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
39
Lietbert of Cambrai who wanted to leave Lattakia (Laodicea).46 One
may presume that travellers had to pay for these documents. The
existence of tolls and exemptions from tolls for pilgrims within the
Greek empire, is not well documented. From a letter probably written in 1087 by pope Victor III (the former abbot of Monte Cassino,
where pilgrims enjoyed hospitality in great numbers and where information on travel conditions was easily available) to the empress
Anna Dalassena, we learn that pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre had
to pay fees to Byzantine `officials' in the Byzantine Empire and in
the Holy Land. Sometimes gold was required, and it is for this reason that the pope speaks of `oppression of pilgrims and of the poor'.47
Greek guides could be useful for finding one's way to charitable
institutions. Occasionally one finds references to private persons help-
ing and guiding pilgrims. Symeon of Trier, the Greek monk who
had come to live in the West, was brought up in Constantinople and
had served as a guide to pilgrims in Jerusalem. The Canterbury monk
of the late 11th century was helped by a friend who worked in the
imperial household of Constantinople.4S References to official guides,
provided by the authorities, can be found in Western sources. Odo
of Deuil refers to Greek guides who were to accompany the crusaders
through Thrace and Asia Minor. The duke of Sofia, Michael Branas
(?), had escorted the French to Constantinople. After they had passed
into Asia Minor the Greek emperor did not send the guides he had
promised ('promessos duces itineris'). The German crusaders even
accused the Greek guide, a certain commander of the Varangian
guard (akolouthos) called Stephen, of having betrayed them.49 Eindredi
the Younger, a former Varangian who visited Orkney in 1148 offered
himself as a guide to a party of pilgrims and was accepted as such.so
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 "Protectorat" 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
Guides could be helpful to find the way through the labyrinth of
religious institutions and charitable offices in the Byzantine empire.
A limited number of Latin institutions could offer help to needy travellers. In the Latin quarters of the capital, churches and monasteries
played their own role. After 1054, when the gap between Eastern
and Western churches grew wider still, Latins were probably less
welcome in Greek monasteries, at least at times when tension was
great. A number of Varangian churches, belonging to the AngloSaxon and Scandinavian communities, could assist compatriots who
needed help (ch. The Northern countries; ch. Britain). The Canterbury monk, for example, may have lived in a hospice belonging to
a Western community. In the 12th century the Knights of St John
had a hospice in Constantinople.51
Scattered evidence reveals the existence of Latin institutions outside the capital. In Antioch wealthy Amalfitan merchants had founded
a hospice. During the First Crusade, Alexius Comnenus, needing
Western help to besiege Nicaea, promised to build a Latin monastery and a hospice for poor Franks. In letters of the late 1130s to the
Greek emperor and Patriarch the abbot of Cluny, Peter the Venerable, asked for the restitution of the Latin monastery of Civetot. This
monastery, belonging to the Charite-sur-Loire (daughter-house of
Cluny), may be identical with the monastery promised by Alexius.
Civetot is situated on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara, not
far from Nicaea.52 Odo of Deuil speaks of a Latin settlement (not
necessarily a religious institution) near Philippopolis: `Outside the walls
of Philippopolis was located a fine settlement of Latins who sold a
great many supplies to travellers'.53 Adrianople had a Latin monastery in 1163, according to a letter addressed to its abbot, Hugo, who
had served as an envoy to Manuel Comnenus.54 On the Pelopponese
Latin monasteries existed in Corinth (1146) and in Sparta (1168)."
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, London 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
Far more numerous were Greek philanthropic institutions. All over
the Byzantine empire, as far afield as the Holy Land, a chain of
Greek monasteries and convents offered hospitality to pilgrims. There
was a great variety of Byzantine philanthropic institutions. These may
have worked for the benefit of travellers and to better their own
financial positions. The daily practices of these institutions have still
to be revealed. Westerners were familiar with the vocabulary of Greek
philanthropic institutions as we have seen.
In recent years a growing number of studies on Byzantine philan-
thropy has been published. Information about this subject can be
found in Saint's Lives, in chronicles and especially in the foundation
charters of Greek monasteries, the so-called ypica. Such documentation as exists refers mainly to the institutions of the capital; on charity in the province we are less well informed.56 There was a great
number of small inns (hospices), called xenones or xenodocheia. One could
find them all over the empire, in cities and on major roads. Some
were privately owned, some were religious foundations. Often such
hospices accommodated men separately from women. One may presume that in most cases, if the pilgrim had money, he had to pay for
accommodation. Rich people, members of the ruling classes and
church leaders, sometimes deposited money with the inns to help
poor compatriots. This was done in Western Europe by Scandinavian kings, who may have done the same in the Holy Land and in
Byzantine hospices. The number of imperial foundations and restorations of xenodocheia increased in the 11th century. This was probably
due to an increase in the number of travellers and of mercenaries
coming to the Byzantine empire.
Monasteries and convents formed an extended network and had
their own traditions of hospitality. The typica give information on
rules and regulations, food distribution, medical care etc. Normally
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 religious foundations in the Byzantine empire, Washington 1987.
42
CHAPTER ONE
one could stay three nights in succession.57 Some hospices were private 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."
57 Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 557-63; Constantelos, s.v. xenones (the xenon
near the Sophiana harbour accommodated about one hundred people who could
stay a number of nights without being charged); Volk, ibid., s.v. Fremder, Beherbergung/Bewirtung.
58 S. Petrifies, 'Le monastere des Spoudaei a Jerusalem et les Spoudaei de
Constantinople', EO 4, 1900/1, p. 225-31 (Beck, p..138-9); Volk, op. cit. (n. 56),
p. 92. For lay confraternities c£ J. Nesbitt/J. Wiita, `A confraternity of the Comnenian era', BZ 68, 1975, p. 360-84 (devotion and mutual help were the goal).
59 The correspondence of Athanasius I, patriarch of Constantinople, ed., tr., comm.,
A.-M. Talbot, Washington 1975, p. 196, no. 78; Lopez, art. cit. (n. 43), p. 344; for
the Life of St Eutychius by Eustratius, PG 86, c. 2344 (BHG 657); Constantelos, s.v.
food. For the hospice of Saint Sampson, Ciggaar, `Description de Constantinople
traduite par un pelerin', p. 260-2 ('ubi possint hospitari infirmi et peregrini et ubi
possint repausare et habere ibi stipendia sua'); Miller, art. cit. (n. 51), p. 101-135.
61 Miller, op. cit. (n. 56), passim; for the Pantocrator monastery with its women's
section, ibid., p. 14s.; Constantelos, p. 171s.; for the hospice of Saint Sampson where
women stayed upstairs and men downstairs, Ciggaar, ibid.
TRAVELLING TO BYZANTIUM
43
In spite of fairly good medical care many travellers died en route.
Some were buried in Latin churches, some in local Greek churches.
Burials could cost a fair amount of money, especially when influential
leaders died on the way. Sometimes the body was carried home, to
the West, which must also have been a costly affair. Those who died
on the road were often buried along the roadside. For the very poor
who died in Constantinople or in Antioch there were special pauper's
cemeteries, the xenotapheia.61 For Westerners living and working in
Constantinople it was the same. Anglo-Saxons who worked for the
Byzantine emperor, were buried in or near their church: this is clear
from a number of tombstones that were unfortunately lost in the
19th century.12 For Scandinavians who died in the East, runestones
were sometimes set up in their native country, commemorating their
names and their adventures. Orphanages accepted children of Westerners. Alexius Comnenus founded an orphanage where, among oth-
ers, Latin boys could be educated. These must mainly have been
children of former state employees.63
The majority of philanthropic institutions were located in towns.
The question remains whether Western travellers were allowed to
make use of them. The crusading armies and larger groups of pilgrims had to remain outside the towns. They were only allowed to
enter towns in small groups in order to visit the sanctuaries. Constantinople and the other Byzantine towns were fortified and could
control the access of foreign travellers. Practical information on
61 Constantelos, s.v. xenotapheia, p. 2745. Robert of Normandy was buried in
Nicaea in the church of Saint Mary, Guillaume de Jumieges, p. 114 (van Houts, II,
p. 84/5), `sepultus est etiam a suis in basilica sanctae Mariae intra menia ipsius
civitatis'; king Erik of Denmark (d. 1103) wanted to be buried in the main church
of Baffa (Paphos), Cyprus (giant, Expeditions, p. 161-2); bishop Alvisus of Arras
who died during the Second Crusade was buried in the church of Saint George
outside Philippopolis (Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 37-8; Berry, 44-7); bishop Wibald
of Stavelot, envoy of the German emperor who died at Monastir, was carried back
to the West (ch. The Holy Roman empire); bishop Albert I of Meissen died in
Greece in 1152 as envoy of Conrad III, Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 424 (Annales
Palidenses, MGH SS XVI, p. 86, without further details); Frederick Barbarossa was
buried in Tarsus (1190), probably in the cathedral, Eickhoff, p. 162, to give just a
few examples. In 1219 an Italian left 5 besants for his burial at Damietta, cf. RileySmith, op. cit. (n. 18), p. 174.
62 Ciggaar, `Emigration anglaise', p. 313s.; for runestones, see ch. The Northern
Countries.
63 Anna Comnena, XV, vii, 8 (Leib, III, p. 218; Sewter, 495); the participation
of children in the First Crusade struck Anna Comnena, ibid., X, v, 6 (Leib, II,
p. 208; Sewter, 309); for children in the Second Crusade, Chalandon, Comnene, II,
p. 272, with references to Western sources.
44
CHAPTER ONE
procedures is almost non-existent. Did one have to pay for a daily
permit? How did this affect the Western quarters which could be
entered from the seaward side and in consequence had a `border'
with the rest of Constantinople? Which people were allowed to enter, those who had plans for expensive shopping (silks, spices, perfumes) or devout pilgrims wishing to make substantial donations?
During the First Crusade the crusader army camped outside the
walls of Constantinople. Five or six people at a time, every hour,
were allowed to enter the city according to Fulcher of Chartres. When
the crusaders were near Nicaea they were allowed to enter in groups
of ten. During the rest of the journey towns were closed to them
and food was brought outside to temporary markets.64 The same
happened during the Second Crusade when royal persons and leaders were magnificently entertained while the rest of the army remained outside the city.65
We only have indirect evidence as to what shopping travellers did
in Greek towns, where an industry of devotionalia had developed from
ancient times. Ecclesiastics sometimes bought silk pallia for their
churches at home. Others contented themselves with items more
moderately priced, such as amulets and other religious mementos, in
clay or other less expensive materials.6fi They all had in common
that they spent money in the Byzantine empire, contributing to its
economy. This is an aspect hardly touched upon so far by scholars
dealing with travel in the Middle Ages. The journey through Byzantine territory lasted at least a few weeks, during which a certain amount
of money had to be spent to cover the costs of food, accommodation
and transport. What exactly the profits were for the Byzantine
economy can only be speculated on, but they must have been considerable since thousands and thousands of travellers came all the
way to Constantinople.
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
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
THE SEVEN HILLS AND THE SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL
Oh what a noble and beautiful city, Fulcher of Chartres'
Travelling was slow in the Middle Ages. On passing the Byzantine
frontiers, Western Europeans who had set out on their journey could
slowly become acquainted with the Byzantines and their lifestyle, for
there was a long way before they reached the Byzantine capital. The
travellers could enjoy the agreeable spring weather so praised by
Byzantine writers, the summer heat or the particular charms of au-
tumn in that part of the world. Even if we lack references to the
reactions of most medieval travellers to the climate, this does not
mean that it provoked no emotions. The absence of such reactions
is no evidence of any strong dislike of the summer heat or the climate in general.
En route could be seen the olive trees which produced the oil so
scarce and dear in North-Western Europe, where it was mainly used
for church rituals. Unfamiliar trees and flowers bordered the routes
along which they. travelled. On the roads they would meet donkeys
carrying people and goods. The verges abandoned in snakes, turtles,
scorpions and other wild beasts. In taverns one could occasionally
see charmed snakes, less harmful than those encountered during the
journey. Water-spouts were seen in the Mediterranean by those who
travelled on ships. People saw and had to eat fish unknown to them
from their home countries. The food changed gradually and whether
one liked it or not, one had to eat it in order to keep alive.2
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 Byzantine 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 sometimes encounter a pillar saint as witness to a different concept of the
religious life. And finally, at the end of their long journey, the travellers 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 purposes, 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 discussion 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 visitors 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 culture. 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. Bibliotheken, 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 ceremonial 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 kilometers, 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 religious views one had to adopt. Such qualms did not, however, prevent the departure of large numbers of pilgrims.' Indeed, religion
served or could serve as the pretext for travel eastward and for adventure 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, safeguarding precious relics. There were religious centres on Mount Athos,
4 Fulcher of Chartres, p. 176 (Ryan, 79).
5 Benjamin of Tudela, p. 12 (Shad, 135); D. Jacoby, `La population de Constantinople a 1'epoque byzantine: un probleme de demographic urbaine', Byz 31,
1961, p. 81-109 (repr. idem, Sociite et demographie a Byzance et en Romanie latine), Lon-
don 1975, p. Is.
6 P. Guth, Guibert von Nogent and die hochmittelalterliche Kritik an der Reliquienverehrung,
Ottobeuren/Augsburg 1970; c£ J.F. Benton, Self and society in medieval France. The
Memoirs of abbot Guibert of Nogent (1064?-c. 1125), ed. with an introd. and notes by
J.F. Benton, the trans. of C.C. Swinton Bland revised by the editor, New York
1970, p. 29.
48
CHAPTER TWO
founded in 966, and on Mount Galesius, north of Ephesus, to name
just a couple. Thessalonica with its annual fair and its local cult of
St Demetrius was also an attractive town. There were the towns
mentioned in the New Testament Athens, Corinth, Nicaea, Ephesus,
Antioch and so many others-all on regular pilgrim routes. In Constantinople, however, the largest collection of important relics, those
of the Passion, were to be seen in Saint Sophia, the famous sixthcentury domed church built by the emperor Justinian, one of the
wonders of the world, and in the chapel of the Virgin of the Pharos
in the imperial palace. Saint Sophia was a church visited by almost
all foreigners who admired its dimensions, its riches, its holiness and
its relics. Some even left their names on the walls or on the balustrades
(ill. 3). Churches like that of the Holy Apostles, a five-domed church,
were another attraction. And it may have been a question of magic
or pure imagination but, according to some Western reporters, these
domes revolved above their heads! And all over the town there were
relics in church treasuries. Some Western visitors have written down
and described the relics they saw. It is unlikely that they did so simply
to show off or to impress their readers. Not only was the material,
the parchment, too expensive for such a showing off, but it would
have been rather pointless at a time when the mass of Westerners
were illiterate. Their main purpose was probably to instruct other
travellers. The first list of the relics and sanctuaries of Constantinople
known to have circulated in the West, is a Latin translation of a
Greek list, the so-called anonymus Mercati. It is a long enumeration of
the most important churches in the Greek capital and of their treasuries. A few miracle stories, closely associated with the relics and
icons of those churches, were incorporated. The text may have served
as a traveller's guide.' The Descriptio Constantinopolis, an early 12thcentury text, possibly written by an Englishman, seems to be one of
the first examples of a list originally written in Latin. Then follow
the writings of the Icelandic bishop, Nicholas of Thingeyrar, and
some anonymous English descriptions, all published by Riant in his
Exuviae Sacrae Constantinopolitanae. William of Malmesbury incorporated a list of Constantinopolitan relics into his History of the Kings of
England. Before 1200 only Western manuscripts preserved such texts.
Russian and Armenian descriptions of Constantinople appear in the
13th century.'
Ciggaar, `Description de Constantinople traduite par un pelerin', passim.
e Riant, Exuviae; see now also Ciggaar, `Tarragonensis 55'.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
49
Relics were on show in churches, chapels, monasteries and convents. Some 500 sanctuaries are known to have existed between the
founding of the town in the early 4th century and its final fall in
1453. The publication of yet unknown texts may well reveal the
existence of even more sanctuaries.' The imperial palaces and the
houses and palaces of the aristocracy possessed private chapels. However, most Western visitors to Constantinople were not familiar with
these, unless they visited a friend or distant relation like the Anglo-
Saxon immigrant Coleman who had built a chapel dedicated to St
Augustine of Canterbury and St Nicholas and had it decorated with
icons of these saints.10 Rarely did Westerners enter private chapels.
They may even have disliked the idea, not being familiar with them
in the West where such chapels were almost unknown.
It was mainly in the churches that travellers had a chance to come
to know the artistic tradition so typical of the Byzantine church and
the Byzantine world: icon painting. Such panel painting on wood
was new for the West. Icons could also be produced in the form of
mosaics, or in metals like silver and bronze. Sometimes they were
almost entirely covered with gold, silver and precious stones. Scarcer
still, and much more expensive, were icons made in enamel-work.
Icons were venerated by Orthodox believers who knelt before them,
touched them and even kissed them. Sometimes, when larger groups
of foreigners were travelling around, the clergy came out to meet
them, carrying with them their icons and other liturgical objects. There
were also wall mosaics and frescoes in many of the churches representing religious scenes as well as imperial couples and other patrons
of the churches, who were depicted as saints. In the church treasuries, one could see even more icons and double-armed processional
crosses, the so-called patriarchal cross, so typical of Byzantine iconography. In palaces and many churches there were beautiful pavements of inlaid marble and sometimes stained-glass windows to be
admired." As time went on, patrons were depicted more prominently,
even in smaller churches.12 Legends and miracles were attached to
some sanctuaries. Local bilingual guides provided information to the
Janin, Eglises et monasteres.
° See below ch. Britain.
Anna Comnena, XI, viii, 2 (Leib, III, p. 37; Sewter, 356); cf. Leib, `Occidentaux',
p. 39; Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 45 (Berry, 65); M. Vickers, `A painted window in
Saint Sophia at Istanbul', DOP 37, 1983, p. 165-6.
12 Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 220-1.
50
CHAPTER TWO
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 interesting tale. During the construction, miracles took place and the church
even had a special angel to guard it. This tale, the diegesis, was translated 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 guesthouse (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 unnoticed 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 century, 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
by quite a few Westerners. Charlemagne already had loved Byzantine
music when he overheard Byzantine envoys sent to his court who
were secretly singing their hymns. Odo of Deuil, who visited Constantinople with his king, Louis VII of France, praised the blending
of the voices. The presence of numbers of eunuchs in the church
and in its administration increased the `technical' possibilities in this
respect. Western monks had more limited resources. Women singers,
probably laywomen, were another feature of Eastern church services.
They seem to have lived as beguines, being paid for their services to
the church.16 The average Western Christian, however, was hardly
able to notice the difference in theology between East and West,
except that he could see that the Orthodox clergy could be canonically married and that there was a different religious lifestyle. This
was also the case when, after the schism of 1054, the theological gap
between East and West became even wider. The Eastern church had
preserved traditions belonging to the early days of Christendom.
Diaconesses helped the bishops in their charitable works. They visited the poor, nursed the sick and possibly sang in the church-in
short they were employed as social workers. Alexius I Comnenus
(1081-1118) even stimulated their activities. Laywomen were allowed
less freedom in the church than their Western counterparts who could
enter the sanctuary of the church where the altar stood."
Hermits were probably more numerous in the East than in the
West. Those who lived on pillars, in the countryside or in towns, left
a deep impression upon foreigners. When the crusaders invaded the
city in 1204 Robert de Clari mentions two hermits, living in little
buildings on top of the columns of Arcadius and Theodosius. These
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
pillars were two of the Seven Wonders of Constantinople, according
to a Byzantine tradition." The climate in certain parts of the Byzantine empire was more appropriate to such a way of living than was
the climate of larger parts of Western Europe. In the Eastern church
there were confraternities of lay people, the spoudaioi, who organised
good works, like the distribution of food to the needy. People from
the West may have profited from such charity. In the early Middle
Ages lay confraternities were probably unknown in Western Europe.
Healing forces were omnipresent: icons, relics, oils, church pillars,
amulets and all sorts of devotionalia. Indeed even the priests themselves could work wonders. Occasionally miracles were witnessed by
Western visitors. It is known that Byzantine emperors sought remedies for certain illness, gout, for example, by retreating into a specific
monastery.' 9
Getting hold of such miracle-working objects was the dream of
many travellers, especially those with a clerical background. Such
objects could become a major attraction for their church and prove
to be a good investment. Royalty and church leaders, often represented by their ambassadors, regularly obtained a relic of the Holy
Cross.20 Others had to content themselves with lesser known and less
effective relics of saints of minor importance. Relics were, at least at
the court, exchanged for other precious gifts from the West. In one
way or another one had to pay for them. There was probably also
a black market in relics: fake or real, everything was for sale in
Byzantium. Bribery opened other possibilities to those who had connections in court circles or in the higher regions of the church. The
common visitor, however, had to make do with small mementos of
a religious character. Pilgrim tokens could be bought in gold, silver,
copper, bronze, lead and even in glass, bearing the portraits of Christ,
the Virgin, a saint or some other religious symbol. Glass medallions
with the inscription of saint Sophia can easily be traced back to the
main church of Constantinople. Small crosses seem to have been
popular among Scandinavian travellers. There was, throughout
the Byzantine empire, a tourist industry which turned out this sort
of souvenir. A very curious specimen is a coin which belonged to
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
St Wulfstan, living in England. According to tradition it had been
pierced by the Holy Lance and could work miracles.21
There were also mosques in Constantinople. But Westerners, travelling as pilgrims to Jerusalem or on crusade, do not mention them.
They probably took no interest in them, especially the crusaders, or
they had no easy access to them, hidden as they probably were in
the Arab quarter. An intellectual curiosity in other religions is not
shown by Westerners, at least not in a Byzantine context.22
Constantinople was the New Rome for the Greeks, Romaioi as they
called themselves. It was also the New Jerusalem. The town was a
prefiguration, a foreshadowing, of the earthly Jerusalem for which
the travellers were waiting. But here, in Constantinople, there was an
earthly ruler who prepared the way to eternity, the Byzantine basileus.
It was a small step from religion to the Byzantine emperor and his
court in the Sacred Palace. The emperor was head of state and head
of the church. He was like the thirteenth apostle, the isapostolos, God's
representative on earth. The Byzantine ruler and his position had,
from time memorials, fascinated travellers and chroniclers alike.
Western travellers were impressed by his position and yet sometimes
worried about it. Emperors they were by the grace of God and as
such they ruled and lived at a far distance from their subjects. The
protocol of the Byzantine court reinforced this lifestyle and their
religious status, high above the rest of mankind. In short, the Byzantine emperor, the basileus, was a superman.23
The court ceremonial, the Book of Ceremonies, had been written down
during the reign of one of the most glorious rulers of Byzantium, the
21 G. Vikan, Byzantine pilgrimage art, Washington 1982; cf. G. Majeska, `A medal-
lion of the prophet Daniel in the Dumbarton Oaks collection', DOP 28, 1974,
p. 361-7; De sancto Lazaro monacho in monte Galesio, AASS Nov. III, 532E-533A (for
a lead medallion); RBK, III, s.v. Kameen; D. Buckton, `The mass-produced Byzantine saint', in The Byzantine Saint, ed. S. Hackel, London 1981, p. 187-9; H. Wentzel,
`Das Medaillon mit dem hl. Theodor and die venezianischen Glaspasten im
byzantinischen Stil', Festschrift E. Meyer, Hamburg 1957, p. 52, 62, 65. For an illustration of a Sophia glass-medal, W.F. Volbach, Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Italien and
Byzanz, Berlin/Leipzig 1930, pl. 4 (cf p. 128); Lexikon des Mittelalters, III, 1985, s.v.
Devotionalien, -Handel (orientated on the West).
22 Janin, Constantinople byzantine, p. 257-9; cf. S. Runciman, `The Byzantine
"Protectorate" in the Holy Land in the XIth century', Byz 48, 1948, p. 208.
23 Janin, ibid. p. 106s., Das Byzantinische Herrscherbild, ed. H. Hunger, Darmstadt
1975; O. Treitinger, Die Ostro"mische Kaiser- and Reichsidee, Jena 1938 (repr. Darmstadt
1956); L.-P. Raybaud, Le gouvernement et l'administration centrale de l'empire byzantin sous
les premiers Paleologues (1258-1354), Paris 1968, p. 87-8, 93-4.
54
CHAPTER TWO
emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959).24 The emperor's
court was a reflection of heaven on earth. Sometimes the emperor
was qualified with the epithet saint and was referred to as such when
representatives of foreign rulers came to Constantinople, for example
Liutprand of Cremona who was sent to Byzantium in 968 by the
German emperor Otto I. Although not every Western ruler appreciated the use of this title, it persisted during the period under discussion and was transferred to Baldwin and Henry of Flanders, the first
Latin emperors after 1204. On Christmas day when the holy icons
were carried in procession through the Imperial city, the image of
the emperor formed part of the procession. Most likely it was a panelpainting of the ruling emperor, before which one was expected to
kneel down.25
In contrast to most rulers in the West who maintained an itinerant
court, the Byzantine emperors resided permanently in Constantinople.
The way the emperor was dressed was unique in the then known
world. He wore a skaramangion, a purple or blue outer tunic, on which
he wore the loros, a gold band winding around his shoulders and
waist. His crown, first a diadem, but changing into a hat-shaped
crown around 1100, had prependilia, pearls hanging in strings down
his cheeks. Purple buskins, an imperial prerogative, covered his feet.
The empress, often present during official receptions and audiences,
wore a costume similar to that of her husband.26
The court ceremonial prescribed a number of rules to be observed
by all, residents and visitors, Byzantine or foreign. Some of these
rules were unfamiliar to Western visitors who more than once had
problems in submitting to them. Emperor and empress were acclaimed.
Silence was the rule in the presence of the emperor unless one was
asked to speak out. Proskynesis, kneeling with the head touching the
ground, was traditional, although repulsive to some Western visitors.
The emperor, moreover, was seated whereas the rest of the company remained standing.
24 Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Book of Ceremonies.
25 Liutprand, Legatio, e.g. p. 554-5 (Wright, 251); Tageno of Passau, NIGH SS XV11,
p. 510; Robert de Clari, Lauer, p. 95 (Longnon, 254); cf. Guilland, Etudes, p. 218;
Raybaud, op. cit. (n. 23), ibid.; B. Hendrickx, `Die "Proskunesis" van die Bisantynse
Keiser in die Dertiende Eeu' (with French resume), Acta classica 16, 1973, p. 147-58.
26 A. Grabar, L'empereur dons fart byzantin, Strasbourg 1936 (repr. London 1971);
G.P. Galavaris, `The symbolism of the imperial costume as displayed on Byzantine
coins', Museum Notes 8, 1958, p. 99-117; RBK III, s.v. Insignien; cf. I. Spatharakis,
The portrait in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts, Leiden 1976, passim.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
55
The palace complex in which the emperors could, if they wished,
live a life of pleasure and luxury, contained reception halls, staterooms, banquet rooms, sanctuaries with treasures and valuables, vaults
where gold and the state treasure was kept, the chancery and all
sorts of offices from which the affairs of the state were run. There
was, for example, the Bureau of the Barbarians, to which foreign
ambassadors had to report upon arrival. There was the Bureau of
the Dignities, a bureau dealing with titles and ranks, as well as state
pensions. There were gardens and sports accommodations such as
the small hippodrome and the polo field.
Depending on the social status of visitors, they entered one or
more of these localities. Only visitors of royal rank or with family
relations to the imperial family entered the emperor's private quarters.
The Byzantine emperor received the visit of other rulers: he hardly
ever visited ruling families abroad, unless forced to do so by the
internal situation of the empire as happened in the 14th and 15th
centuries. The emperor was the centre of the universe. The centre
did not move; everything else had to come to the centre.
Most impressive of all was the large reception hall, the Triclinium
of the Magnaura, where the imperial throne was installed. The
emperor was seated with gilded lions at his feet and other animals
on the steps of his throne. The lions could roar and move their
tails, the other animals could stand up; little gilded birds in a gilded
tree could sing mechanical songs. And at the playing of an organ,
the throne could be lifted into the air so that the emperor could
look down upon his visitors. Such a display of automata was new for
Westerners. According to their state of mind, they experienced this
performance as pure magic, as a thrill which their imagination could
hardly grasp or as a devilish and diabolical trick of the emperor to
express His feelings of contempt for these barbarians from the West.
Western ambassadors who were accorded a very low rank in Byzantine court ceremonial according to the Book of Ceremonies, were treated
with little respect, which sometimes led to irritation. Bitterness followed from the humiliation of having to lie in complete prostration
at the feet of an emperor who vanished from sight by some mechanical device. Only rarely do we find any record of the reactions
of an emperor to such receptions or to the feelings which such an
official audience produced on those attending it. Alexius I Comnenus
(1081-1118) once demanded what a crusader, who was apparently
not too pleased with the court ceremonial, had been muttering to
56
CHAPTER TWO
himself, and he offered him advice, or rather a warning, as to how
he should behave himself in the presence of Turks, once the crusaders reached Asia Minor.
The emperor's personnel, whether honorary or salaried, comprised
high officials of state, who displayed their dignities and titles by special clothes of silk whose colours varied according to their rank. The
more humble servants were, in the eyes of Westerners, also richly
clothed. Large numbers of eunuchs were to be found among the
emperor's servants, in all ranks. This was a phenomenon unknown
in the West. Eunuchs were specially valuable to guard the women's
quarters of the palace. They would be least tempted to embark upon
an illicit love affair and thus threaten the emperor's position. They
served in the private quarters where they protected the imperial family.
And so did the body guard, the so-called Varangian guard, a regiment of mercenaries recruited mainly among Scandinavians, Englishmen and, occasionally, among the French.27 The Varangians were
distinguished from the rest of the armed forces by the carrying of
double-edged swords. Some of them served in Byzantium on a permanent basis, having left their home countries as refugees, others
came for a limited period to earn gold. Among the court personnel
we also find the `adopted' sons of brother rulers of the Byzantine
commonwealth, hostages sometimes, or young nobles from abroad
who underwent a sort of social grooming at the Byzantine court.
Foreigners from all nations served as ambassadors and interpreters
during the audiences the emperor held with visitors. Even if a Western envoy was able to speak Greek, an official interpreter was present
as an intermediary. The reason behind this practice may have been
that it was not held proper for an ordinary person to approach the
emperor directly. Not many of these interpreters, however, are known
by name. They were also on duty when the emperor distributed gifts
to his own subjects and to his visitors; relics and the greatly coveted
exotic silks, woven in the imperial factories, were much cherished
gifts. Western mercenaries, working at the court, were principally con-
cerned to earn money, but were anxious, when embarking upon a
career, to obtain one of the impressive titles, distributed by the emperor. Such titles allowed them to participate in the ceremonies at
which money and insignia, the silk clothes which accompanied official
27 For eunuchs, see Guilland, Recherches, I, p. 165-380; for mercenaries see
Blondal/Benedikz.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
57
ranks, were distributed. A state pension, paid out in gold, was another 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, unaccustomed as they were to such brilliant receptions in their own countries 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 chancery), during official receptions. Such Greek documents were a pleasure 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 prerogative 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 entitled 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 distributed to foreign visitors it was mainly money minted in gold, expressing the wealth and power of the Byzantine empire.29
28 E.g. Brehier, p. 79s.; Guilland, Recherches, passim; Bibicou, p. 75; Lemerle,
`Roga', p. 77-100; J.C. Cheynet, `Devaluation des dignites et devaluation monetaire
dans la seconde moitie du XP siecle', Byz 53, 1983, p. 453-77. Liutprand, Antapodosis,
p. 494 (Wright, 211-12) attended one such distribution and himself received gold
coins and a precious cloth.
29 F. Dolger/J. Karayannopulos, Byzantinische Urkundenlehre, Munich 1968; Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Book of Ceremonies, Bonn, p. 686s.; Ph. Grierson, `Byzantine gold
bullae, with a catalogue of those at Dumbarton Oaks', DOP 20, 1966, p. 239-53.
58
CHAPTER TWO
Then there were the processions: processions in which the imperial court took part and religious processions carrying an icon around
the town or going out to visit a sanctuary where a religious ceremony was to be performed.30 There were marriages, coronations
and burials, in Saint Sophia, in the church of the Holy Apostles
and in other churches, all regulated by the Book of Ceremonies. They
attracted masses of people who wanted to see their rulers and the
high state officials. The court attended the games in the Hippodrome,
a place where many other festivities took place. Foreign visitors
were invited to attend the games in the Hippodrome and sometimes
games were even organised for their benefit. One may presume that
admission to such events was possible for those who stayed in Constantinople for any length of time.
Games were also held within the precincts of the imperial palace,
in the little Hippodrome and on the polo ground. Polo was the
favourite sport of some Byzantine emperors. The imperial family could
relax and entertain its most special and distinguished foreign guests
in their own surroundings. Music played on all sorts of instruments
and clowns could be provided for in the palace. Michael Psellos, an
intimate of a number of emperors, gives us a few glimpses of the
family life of Byzantine emperors and of their daily life at the court,
their hobbies and their worries.31
Not every entertainment could take place in the palace complex.
For hunting parties one had to go to a palace in the city suburbs
with parks, well-kept gardens and adjacent forests. Hunting with falcons became popular in the 12th century when Western influence
was strongly felt in Byzantium. The hunting of birds and of more
ferocious animals was a popular pastime. Dike many oriental rulers
and many of their own subjects, the Byzantine emperors loved gardens
and were even expected to do so. The two sister empresses, Zoe and
Theodora, the daughters of Constantine VIII (1025-1028) were not
very fond of gardens, and so were apparently the exception to the
rule. For a short time, the ladies reigned as empresses and did not
change their occupations, Zoe loving to make perfumes from Indian
herbs, her sister spending her time with her collection of darics, ancient
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 Gardens 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, simple 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, falcons, cranes (kept in captivity for hunting), swans, geese and peacocks 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), possibly 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, Survivals 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 oecumenique 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, producing 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 animals 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 Elephants are supposed to have good memories, but so do artists. Elephant motifs decorated the mosaics of the Great Palace and were
found on `modern' silks and other works of art. Examples of Byzantine silks with an elephant pattern can still be seen in Western treasuries, 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 weaving', JOB 34, 1984, pl. 8, 9 (Aachen silk); e.g. Monumenta Annonis, catalogue, Cologne 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 Byzantine writer Constantine Pantechnes describes a hunting party organised 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 Christmases 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
admitted to the palace complexes, could see the imperial tombs in
the church of the Holy Apostles and in a few other churches. That
was the closest they would get to the private life of Byzantium's
emperors.40 It is unlikely that many of them would have visited the
Hippodrome to see the games. But the everyday life and social rounds
of the Byzantines were easily discernible.41
As they passed through the double walls, entering through one of
the gates where control officers checked their entry permits, they
came under the spell-how could they do otherwise?-of the awesome defenses of the metropolis. The gates alone were impressive
enough, especially the Golden Gate which was only opened for a
victorious emperor.42 The great chain, whose ends were visible, and
which was meant to protect the harbour, formed a point of acquaintance with Byzantine technology for those who travelled by ship. The
chain, immersed in salt water, required much attention and technical skill to keep it free from corrosion and in good order. From there
they could see the bridge over the Golden Horn.43 Then, heading
for the sanctuaries they were going to visit, the visitors would walk
down the large, paved avenues, which led from some of the gates to
the centre of town. They passed large squares, containing statues
and ornated columns.44 Constantinople was reputed for its statues,
ancient and early Byzantine, which lined the main streets and stood
in the market places, the fora, on squares and in other public places.
In the early period of the city's existence the city authorities had
sent out agents to collect statues from Rome, Egypt and from Greece,
in order to decorate the newly built town. Some of these statues
were used as models by some early Byzantine emperors who had
4° A.A. Vasiliev, `Imperial sarcophagi in Constantinople', DOP 4, 1948, p. 1-26;
Ph. Grierson, `The tombs and obits of the Byzantine emperors (337-1042), and
additional note by C. Mango/I. Sevicenko', DOP 16, 1962, p. 1-63.
41 G. Walter, La vie quotidienne a Byzance au siecle des Comnenes (1081-1180), Paris
1960; T. Talbot Rice, Everyday life in Byzantium, London 1967.
42 Bartulf of Nangis, the redactor of Fulcher of Chartres' work (ed. Hagenmeyer,
p. 176, n. 1) added such elements to Fulcher's description. For the collection of
antiquities see G. Dagron, Naissance dune capitale. Constantinople et ses institutions de 330
a 451, Paris 1974, passim.
43 R. Guilland, `La chaine de la Come d'or', EEBS 25, 1955, p. 88-120 (idem,
Etudes, p. 263-97). The bridge was depicted in the ms. Vat. gr. 1851, fo. 3v (Spatharakis, op. cit. (n. 26), fig. 167, here ill. 10) and was mentioned by Hugh of St Pol,
Epistola de expugnata per Latinos urbe Constantinopoli, in Tafel/Thomas, I, p. 307-8.
44 For maps of the town see the loose sheets accompanying Janin, Eglises et
monasteres, and idem, Constantinople Byzantine.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
63
themselves represented in similar style on top of high columns, overlooking the town and its inhabitants. Theodosius I (379-395), Arcadius
(395-408) and Justinian (527-565) still stood there, having survived
centuries of destruction and neglect. Within these columns with the
emperors Theodosius and Arcadius were staircases, which enabled
pillar saints to climb up and set up their little shelters on top. The
equestrian statue ofJustinian was very popular among both Byzantines
and Western visitors, the latter making regular reference to it (fron-
tispiece). In the early 10th century Constantine of Rhodes gave a
description of the town in which he speaks of the `Seven Wonders of
Constantinople': it is possibly a literary topos, but describes actual
things. These Seven Wonders included the statues of the three emperors mentioned above.45 Byzantine monumental sculpture came to
a halt not long after the time of Justinian. This has puzzled scholars
and a convincing explanation of what happened has yet to be given.
In the meantime popular beliefs and legends grew up around these
antique monuments, enveloping them in a `mist of superstition'. Such
beliefs were preserved in the collections of tales and legends about
the town and its history, called the Patria Constantinopoleos, a guide to
the curiosities of the Byzantine capital. This collection of tales gives
an enumeration of all sorts of monuments and their stories. Statues
with crocodiles, elephants, lions, asses, eagles, seals, wolves, hyenas,
sphynxes-a whole artificial menagerie was there on public view.
Among the columns brought from the classical world were the obelisks, which particularly struck the eyes of residents and visitors. Young
women, such as Helen of Troy, stood there in the streets of Constantinople. On top of the so-called Anemodoulion, a large weathervane, stood a beautiful woman who turned around according to the
direction of the wind. Was this magic or imagination? Western eyes
were not accustomed to such displays of art and gadgetry. One wonders what Westerners, confronted in a gradual way with the art of
the classical world, thought about it all, or if they showed any deeper
interest in it at all. Rome provided examples of antique statuary, but
45 E. Legrand, `Constantin le Rhodien. Description des oeuvres d'art et de 1'eglise
des Saints Apotres, suivie d'un commentaire par Th. Reinach', Revue des Etudes Grecques
9, 1896, p. 32-65; G. Downey, 'Constantine the Rhodian: his life and writings', in
Late Classical and Mediaeval studies in honor of A.M. Friend, Princeton 1950, p. 212-21.
The first Greek representation of the statue occurs in a 12th-century manuscript,
S. Papadaki-Dekland, `The representation of Justinian's column in a Byzantine miniature of the twelfth century', BZ 83, 1990, p. 63-71, with ills.
64
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, giving 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 distributed 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, discussing 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 embroidered. 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 byzantinischen 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
general appearance. Liutprand of Cremona, it is true, mentions wide
sleeves in the late 10th century, whereas Odo of Deuil, some 180
years later, noticed the tight sleeves of the garments worn by the
Byzantine envoys to the West. Miniature painting is rather conservative and may have followed earlier models rather too faithfully,
instead of adopting `new styles'. This makes it difficult to draw any
definite conclusions about what was fashionable in Byzantium in a
certain period. The length of clothing seems to have varied over the
41
centuries
There was much more coinage around than in Western Europe at
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, jewellers, silk merchants, perfume dealers and bankers had their little
shops. All these transactions were regulated by the Eparch, the prefect, 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
49 Liutprand, Antapodosis, p. 370-1, Legatio, p. 572-3 (Wright, 207-8, 267); Odo
of Deuil, Waquet, p. 28-9 (Berry, 26-7); Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 74s. It would be
worthwhile to check the descriptions of clothes in the Western roman courtois for
Byzantine influence on Western fashion.
so See the Book of the Eparch.
51 Benjamin of Tudela, p. 13 (Sharf, 136).
s2 Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 217; A. Guillou, `Le poids des conditions materielles, sociales
et economiques de la production culturelle a Byzance', Athens 1976, XVe congres
international d'etudes byzantines, p. 10 (congress paper); E. Jeanselme/L. Oeconomos,
`Aliments et recettes culinaires des Byzantins', in Proceedings of the 3rd international congress
'of the History of Medicine (London 1922), Antwerp 1923, p. 155-68.
66
CHAPTER TWO
found in the garden of a monastery. Expensive spices like pepper
and gloves were imported from the Far Orient. Butter was a luxury
in a country flowing with olive oil. Especially in summer-time products like butter and milk were difficult to keep. Sometimes snow was
used to keep cool certain foodstuffs and drinks. But this was a luxury
reserved for the very rich, since ice and snow were not always easily
available. Gifts in the form of food were highly appreciated as we
read in the letters of Michael Psellos. He tells there how he received
butter, cheese, salt fish, small birds and even buttermilk.53 Eating
habits changed in Byzantium as they changed elsewhere in Europe
without being noticed probably by visitors and by those who left a
report of their journey.54
Various categories of travellers preferred different sorts of food.
Large bowls of fruit were served at dinner parties in the imperial
palace. They were so heavy that a sort of trolley was used to transport them from the kitchens to the imperial table.55 Wine was available to all. Alcoholism was not unknown in Byzantium. There is the
curious statement made by Adelard of Bath that he abstained from
wine when studying in Antioch and Jerusalem (ch. Britain). The
companions of Sigurd the Crusader fell victim to wine, abusing the
opportunity to sample it which they had in Byzantium and which
they were going to miss in cold Scandinavia. More than one case of
liver disease was discovered during the autopsies carried out on their
dead bodies (ch. The Northern countries). Varangian mercenaries,
English and Scandinavians, had the reputation of heavy drinkers.
And many a crusader became drunk during his visit to Constantinople.
Although not much evidence survives which displays any prominent
like or dislike of Byzantine cuisine, one does find a few glimpses of
what may be typical Western reactions in the writings of Liutprand.
During his second embassy he bitterly complains about the food. It
could have been that this time the food was of a different, inferior
quality. Bitterness, however, about his failing mission, may have
`poisoned' his food as well as his report. He accuses the Byzantine
emperor of eating garlic, onions and leeks, and for drinking bathwater. The latter most probably was a mineral water, a sort of Vichy
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 nonexistent 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 spurious 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 majority 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 legationibus, PG 113, c. 636 (cf. Obolensky, p. 59-60 (15-16)). For the reference to Byzantine 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 representation, 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 portrayed 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.
61 J. Lafontaine-Dosogne, Iconographie de l'enfance de la Vierge darts l'empire byzantin et
en Occident, Brussels 1964-5, I, esp. p. 157, II, p. 107-8.
61
I. Hiitter, `Das Bild der Frau in der Byzantinischen Kunst', in Byzantios,
op. cit. (n. 57), p. 163-74; L. Ryden, `Byzantine hagiography in the ninth and tenth
centuries: literary aspects', Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskap-Samfundet i Uppsala, Arsbok 1986,
p. 69-79.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
69
These rights enabled them to play an active role in society, even if
they could not give evidence in court.62
Public life held no place for them, nor were public careers open
to them unless one counts the ability to become empress, alone or
with a husband. An empress could govern the empire on her own or
share power with her husband if she married an emperor. In the
period under discussion the empress Zoe, assisted from time to time
by her sister, Theodora, ruled the empire. The Comnenian dynasty,
which occupied the throne from 1081 until 1204, produced a number of powerful women who were sometimes entrusted with regency
of the state. Anna Comnena, the celebrated daughter of Alexius I
was brought up in a family where women sometimes held the reins,
and this probably inspired her to become an active writer, the authoress of the Alexiad, the life story of her father.
Western visitors would become aware of the position of these women
by simply looking at the coins picked up on their travels. Gold coins
were issued by Zoe and Theodora, and sometimes by the two sisters
jointly. Bronze coins more than once depicted woman consorts.
Travellers would be most familiar with bronze coins as they would
use them for their daily expenses. And thus the presence of women
in Byzantine society was noticeable in more than one way.63
At least twice in the 11th century signs appear of the collective
actions of women in politics. When the empress Zoe was exiled by
her adopted son, Michael V (who had taken over the affairs of state),
women of various social backgrounds came out in the streets to protest
against his action. They wanted the empress back and marched, armed
with a variety of weapons, upon the imperial palace. Psellos, who
describes the mob, remarks that the crowd marched in a disorderly
fashion. But what else could one expect from a spontaneous action?
The ladies met with success and Zoe returned to the capital in full
glory to resume her governmental activities. She was the only entirely free woman in the empire, cried the rebellious women in the
streets, in a sort of political demonstration. Indeed Zoe was not only
able to assume full responsibility in state affairs but also felt no need
to indulge in female activities such as weaving but followed her own
62 J. Beaucamp, `La situation juridique de la femme a Byzance', CCM 20, 1977,
p. 145-76.
63 E.g. P.D. Whitting, Byzantine coins, London 1973; Ph. Grierson, Byzantine coins,
London 1982. Theodora issued a very fine coin. Being a coin collector she seems to
have taken extra care with its production.
CHAPTER TWO
70
interests. She loved to work as a chemist, and prepared new per.
fumes and unguents, despising beautiful clothes.64
A few decades later, in 1081, some prominent ladies at the court
were involved in a well-organised plot. Anna Dalassena, Maria of
Bulgaria and Maria of Alania, the two grandmothers of Anna
Comnena and her destined mother-in-law, worked and plotted
together to seize the imperial throne for Alexius Comnenus. Anna's
mother, Irene Doucas, was crowned a few days after the accession
and coronation of her husband, both ceremonies provided for by the
Book of Ceremonies. Anna Comnena herself had political aspirations.
On the death of her father she tried to seize the throne but in vain;
she had to pass it to her brother, the emperor John II Comnenus
(1118-1143).65
Anna was an example of an aristocratic lady, well-educated as were
so many other noble girls. Theirs was a luxurious life, occupied with
spinning, weaving and embroidering: but they also learned to read
and write. Charitable works formed part of their education, and they
sometimes administered their own monastic foundations. Girls received
instruction at the age of seven or eight, as is clear from the case of
the family of Psellos. His mother was able to teach him the alphabet. His wife taught the first elements of reading to their daughter
Styliane. The little girl was later sent to a teacher to be educated
with other little girls. She died at the age of eight, and in the necrology which her father wrote, we do not learn what the rest of her
schooling was to be. The suggestion has been made that the asketeria,
which may have housed communities of women choristers organised
schools for girls.ss
In the 12th century ladies of the court organised literary circles.
Some of them commissioned books to be written or donated books.
To others books were dedicated. In one instance we find a small
miniature, a decorated initial, in which a woman presents a book, a
grammar, to another woman. Most probably they are the sebastocratorissa
64 Psellos, I, p. 102s., 148s. (Sewter, 138s., 186s.)
65 B. Leib, `Apercu sur 1'epoque des premiers Comnenes. Le role des femmes
dans la revolution des Comnenes a Byzance (1081)', Collectanea Byzantina (= Orientalia
Christiana Analecta 204), Rome 1977, p. 1-15; Book of Ceremonies, Bonn, p. 191s., Vogt,
II, p. ls.
66 MB V, p. 7, 66; cf. A. Leroy-Molinghen, `Styliane', Byz 39, 1969, p. 155-63;
Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 550. See also A. Moffatt, `The Byzantine child',
Social Research 53, 1986, p. 705-23.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
71
Irene and the Muse. Irene, a foreigner, had to learn Greek. The
dedication page of the manuscript, which probably contained a fullpage 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 travellers' 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 remain fruitless for long. Literacy in the West among laymen, including 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 griechischen 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 marriage 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 centralized administration of the empire required large numbers of welltrained 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
69 Leib, p. 35-6; U.V. Bosch, `Einige Bemerkungen zum Kanzleiwesen der
byzantinischen Kaiserin', in Melanges Dujcev, Paris 1979, p. 83-102; Rj. Macrides,
`Dynastic marriages and political kinship', in Byzantine diplomacy, ed. J. Shepard/
S. Franklin, Aldershot 1992, p. 263-80 (inaccessible). The Comnenian dynasty with
its prominent women resembles the ruling families to which Eleanor of Aquitaine
belonged.
70 R. Browning, `Literacy in the Byzantine world', BMGS 4, 1978, p. 39-54. For
England see V.H. Galbraith, The literacy of the medieval English kings, London 1935
(British Academy's Raleigh lecture on history, Proceedings of the British Academy; repr.
in Studies in History, ed. L.S. Sutherland, London 1966, p. 78-111), for the literacy
of English medieval kings, contrasting Byzantine emperors who were literate and
were authors, see M.T. Clanchy, `Literate and illiterate; hearing and seeing: England 1066-1307', in Literacy and social development in the West: a reader, ed. Hj. Graff,
Cambridge 1981, p. 14-45; Hunger, op. cit. (n. 67).
71 H. Antoniadis-Bibicou, `La place de 1'enfant dans la societe. Quelques notes
sur 1'enfant de la moyenne epoque byzantine (du vie au XIIe siecle)', Annales de
demographie historique, 1973 (Enfant et Societi), p. 77-84.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
73
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 correspondence was copied afterwards and who apologizes for this behaviour 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 schoolmaster, 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 Constantinople. 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 predilection for Plato seem to have prompted more than one trial on controversial ideas and on Orthodoxy during the Comnenian dynasty.
John Italus, from Sicily, and who never mastered the Greek language as a real Byzantine, could easily become a victim. His former
embassy to the Norman Guiscard was an easy target, especially as
72 R. Browning, `The correspondence of a tenth-century Byzantine scholar', Byz
24, 1954, p. 415-16, 445-6; Lemerle, Humanisme, p. 289.
is Brett, op. cit. (n. 36), pls. 29, 32, 34.
74 P. Maas, `Metrische Akklamationen der Byzantiner', BZ 21, 1912, p. 43-5.
is Anna Comnena, V, ix, 3 (Leib, II5 p. 38, XV, vii, 9; Leib, III, p. 218; Sewter,
178, 494-5, `you might see a Latin boy being trained there'); the fact that Anna
Comnena somewhat earlier writes that her father cared for his ex-service-men, leads
one to think that Latin orphans were children whose parents had worked for the
emperor; Anna Comnena, XII, vi, 5-8 (Leib, III, p. 72s.; Sewter, 385).
74
CHAPTER TWO
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 somewhere 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 concentration 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 Patriarchate, 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, possessed dozens and dozens of books. Books were expensive, especially
if illustrated and beautifully bound. Boilas had a `holy Gospel, written 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 manuscript for his ruler. But most foreigners who wanted manuscripts had
to buy them or copy them. And if they copied, they had to undertake a long period of time-consuming labour in this capital of learning. 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 libraries 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 Areopagite.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 number 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 Textiiberlieferung, 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 thirteenth 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
who worked in the scriptoria of their monasteries and thus earned
money for their community."
Others may have been sent out to buy parchment, to judge by a
phrase in a Greek-Latin wordlist. Here the question is asked if parchment could be purchased: `babes ... et pergammenum/esquis ... que
cartim'.84 Other writing material, pens, ink, painting materials such
as pigments (lapis lazuli, for example, which still has a mysterious
history) may have reached the West in this way. In the Musee Guimet,
Paris, a 12th-century box for a Greek pen (calamos) is preserved.
The treasury of Saint Denis once held such a Greek pen.85
Church meetings and councils were held in Constantinople and
were sometimes attended by Western ecclesiastics, like Anselm of
Havelberg in the 12th century. Constantinople was a town in which
many nationalities lived and worked together. This international
character was certainly an attraction to many Westerners.
Those who were interested in an exchange of ideas were usually
Western clerks who had an education and who had been brought up
with some notion of Antiquity. They were sometimes charmed by
the small items which emerged on the `antique' markets all over the
empire and by the ruins of classical Antiquity, even if the Byzantines
themselves commonly believed them to be inhabited by demons.86
Teaching jobs were hard for Westerners to find. Interpreters could
occasionally find employment. Those who found Constantinople an
attractive place to look for work had to enlist in the Byzantine army
or, for a minority, to join the palace guard. The guilds certainly
were not hospitable to foreigners. Many foreigners took service in
Byzantium, as part of a trip to Jerusalem. Some of them hoped for
and tried to obtain full citizenship."
83 Cutler, art. cit. (n. 67), p. 334.
84 L. Delisle, in Le Cabinet Historique 23, 1877, p. 13-14.
8s B. de Montesquiou/D. Gaborit-Chopin, Le tresor de Saint-Denis, III, Paris 1977,
p. 49, and pl. 31; cf. P. Odorico, `Il calamo d'argento. Un carme inedito in onore
di Romano II', JOB 37, 1987, p. 65-93.
86 G. Zappert, `Uber Antiquitatenfunde im Mittelalter', Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen
Akademie der Wissenschaften der philosophisch-historische Classe, V, 1850, p. 752-98;
Lamprecht, op. cit. (n. 2), p. 118-19; W.S. Heckscher, `Relics of pagan Antiquity in
mediaeval settings', Journal of the Warburg Institute 1, 1937-8, 204--20; P.P. Joannou,
Demonologie populaire-demonologie critique au XI` siecle. La vie inedite de S. Auxence par
M. Psellos, Wiesbaden 1971, p. 11; Wilson, p. 220, refers to the emperor Theodore
Lascaris of Nicaea who appreciated classical ruins, whereas Choniates who lived in
12th-century Athens did not; van der Vin, passim.
87 Psellos, II, p. 35 (Sewter, 225-6) does not like the idea.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
77
Visitors were warned against the criminals active in the dark
alleys of the town and some other aspects of the muckier side of
Byzantine life in a large town. Revolutions and the appearance of
the city mob were regular phenomena of Byzantine street life. It is
hard to gauge how Westerners would have reacted to the revolutionary spirit of the urban proletariat. But this is perhaps not the place
to look extensively at the Byzantine underworld or at political undercurrents.88
When the Latins conquered the city in 1204, they took a different
attitude to the learning and luxury of Byzantium. They mocked the
Byzantines and their love of books by parading with pen and ink
through the streets. What made these Westerners, or at least some of
them, change their minds? Was it the contempt of victors for their
victims, or was it a form of arrogance now that the West was, or
thought it was, catching up with the learning of Byzantium?89
ee Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 45 (Berry, 64-5).
89 Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 594 (Bonn, p. 786; Grabler, Die Kreuzfahrer, 173);
Brand, p. 260.
CHAPTER THREE
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
sapientia Grecorum,
...
falatia Grecorum, anonymi,
10th/ 11th centuries'
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 Constantinople. 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 Constantinople 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 representatives 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 individual 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
' De proprietatibus gentium, in T. Mommsen, MGH, Auctores antiquissimi, XI, Berlin
1894, p. 389-390. St Paul's statement that the Greek sought Wisdom (I Corinthians
i, 22), may have had an effect on Westerners like Everard of Ypres, N.M. Haring,
`A Latin Dialogue on the Doctrine of Gilbert of Poitiers', Mediaeval Studies 15, 1953,
p. 283.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
79
particular often felt betrayed by the Greek emperor. Such feelings
resulted all too often in the topos of the fallatia Grecorum, a feeling
existing already at the very beginning of the Ottonian period when
Otto I was crowned emperor of the German empire and considered
himself as the legitimate successor of Charlemagne. The Zweikaiserproblem was a real factor in political life. The arrival of the Greek
princess Theophano and her court dignitaries and other officials stimulated all sorts of feelings on both sides.
From an early date German historians have studied the Byzantine
presence in their country, and they were especially intrigued by the
imperialia introduced by the Ottonian dynasty, and the other symbols
which were used to enhance the prestige of the rulers.2 The presence
of the highborn Greek lady produced more varied judgements, not
to say occasional hostile feelings, as we can find in contemporary
sources. Black and white judgements were pronounced by friends
and by enemies. The latter may sometimes have had the impression
that in some fields Byzantine ideas and Byzantine ideals were almost
forced upon them.3 This is true of members of the dynasty and its
epigones, in church and state, who were the patrons of the arts. The
interesting thesis of H. Wentzel about the dowry of Theophano has
drawn attention to the great quantity of 10th-century Byzantine
artefacts in German museums, treasuries and other collections.' The
millennial celebration of Theophano's death in 1991 stimulated a
new interest in Ottonian history and culture. Interesting studies were
published and magnificent exhibitions brought together objects of
interest. A great exhibition of all Byzantine artefacts and the objects which show a close dependence is still a desideratum. Such an
exhibition might stimulate further research and lead to even more
nuanced conclusions.5
An overall view of the effects of the close relations between the
German empire and Byzantium is still lacking. An important con-
tribution was made by M. Rentschler who studied a number of
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
contemporary authors for their appreciation and rejection of Greek
Antiquity and of Byzantine culture.' Sometimes hardly any difference is made between the two as if medieval writers did not know or
did not see the difference themselves. The letter of Gerbert of Aurillac
to Otto III in which he praises Greek subtilitas has often been quoted
as praise of Byzantium. The term fons eloquentiae, as a description of
Otto III, is equally well known, and is proof of admiration for Byzantine culture.' This terminology, including terms like fons, lumen,
antecessor and auctoritas, asks for more detailed study of contemporary
texts and the immediate successors.. Such a dossier could help to
determine in which specific Byzantine fields and topics the Ottonians
were interested and found their inspiration. It would give an indication of where Byzantine `authorities' were of influence.
It is interesting to notice that the metaphor of a source (fons) was
also sometimes used by the Byzantines themselves in their contacts
with the West. In the early 1060s the emperor Constantine X (1059-
1067) sent a letter to the pope in which he wrote that the sapientia
came from the Greek source. It had already flourished among members of the Ottonian dynasty. The letter was preserved in a resume
in the work of Benzo of Alba, a fervent supporter of the German
emperor Henry IV. According to him the letter said that `Romana
sapientia, a nostro Greco fonte derivata, quae in primo vel secundo
ac tertio Ottone bene floruit'.9
In the entourage of the Ottoman rulers there were apparently people
who may have considered Byzantium as a source of continuous inspiration not only for religious works, but one should realise that
flattery played a part in these circles, and that other motives may
have played a role as well. Patrons of art ordered works, mostly for
religious purposes, in the style and tradition of Byzantium. The models
were easily available since many Byzantine artefacts reached Germany
in those days. As I have said before works of art often lack a written
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, moreover, 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 fountain'); 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
justification, a `raison d'etre'. They have to speak for themselves. In
Germany, however, Ottonian works of art speak indirectly. They refer
to what may have been their Byzantine models. A stimulus to the
studies of these parallels was given by the publication of the corpus
of Western ivories by A. Goldschmidt and the corpus of Byzantine
ivories by A. Goldschmidt and K. Weitzmann. O. Demus qualified
Byzantine art as an `authoritative' art, and it seems that it had this
very function already in Ottonian times, when Byzantine art worked
as an exemplum, as an auctoritas. In Byzantine art the model was even
more an imperative authority, in the form of an archetype.'°
The death of Otto III in 1002 brought an end to the great influx
of Byzantine artefacts into the German empire, but Ottonian art had
already adopted and incorporated several elements of Byzantine iconography and contents." Official embassies to the West became now
less frequent, and this effected opportunities for meeting with the
Byzantines, their world and their cultural 'authorities'."
For the German empire M. Rentschler continued his interesting
search for admiration or rejection of Byzantine culture in documents
written in the 11th century. He concluded that Byzantium, storeroom of sapientia in the 10th century, was becoming more and more
a partner with whom the West was to share the cultural heritage of
the past. Aemulatio and competition were replacing the feeling that
imitation was necessary. New terms, new keywords, came to play a
role in the process of exchange.13
Pilgrims, now often travelling in groups, mercenaries, refugees and
merchants, followed in the footsteps of the individual pilgrims and
the official ambassadors, and soon outnumbered them. Their influence on the exchange of ideas and ideals increased. Often they had
a social background different from that of their predecessors. The
majority was still impressed by the glitter and glamour of the churches
in Constantinople and the important relics,they safeguarded. Miracles
and magic were experienced but could hardly affect Western life.
For the poor there were no silks, no gold coins, no ceremonial, they
10 See also list of abbreviations; O. Demus, `Vorbildqualitat and Lehrfunktion
der byzantinischen Kunst', in Stil and Uberlieferung in der Kunst des Abendlandes, Akten des
21. Internationalen Kongresses fir Kunstgeschichte, I, Berlin 1967, p. 94-95; c£ Oxford
Dictionary of Byzantium, s.v. Models and Model-Books.
" H. Jantzen, Ottonische Kunst, Munich 1947, passim.
12 Lounghis, p. 477s.
13 Rentschler, II, passim.
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CHAPTER THREE
had to treasure their personal experiences which they carried to the
West, and which could find their way into storytelling and literature.14 We possess very few detailed descriptions of Constantinople of
this period. In historical sources references are found to relics, icons
and miracles, and to the translatio (official translation) of relics. Sometimes these were given in Byzantium to important visitors. The exact
location of relics and the churches where they were housed is often
unknown. A number of surveys of churches and relics does exist
already.15 Authenticity of the relics was hardly questioned in those
days, which was also the case of the miracles which people witnessed
or were told that could be seen from time to time. Byzantine miracles
did influence life in the West, thanks to a number of translations
made of various miracle stories. The West did not always revere the
same saints and the same relics. A real interest in and admiration
for the Byzantine capital, for its splendours and its religious life are
expressed in a recently discovered description of Constantinople by a
learned pilgrim who visited the Greek capital at the end of the 11th
century. He too had a special interest in relics, icons and processions, but, what is more exceptional and more interesting, he showed
an interest in the commodities and other materials which were so
abundantly present: gold, silver, copper and other metals, oil, glass
and marble. Even more interesting is his trust in his Greek informants who informed him about aspects of religious life. He shows a
genuine interest and trust in what they told him. The anonymous
author is not yet a critical observer as far as the splendours are concerned. He frequently uses the terms admirabilis, gloriosus, incomparabilis,
mirabilis, mirificus, nobilis, perpulcer, preciosus, speciosus, venerabilis etc. His
real informants were his Greek `authorities' ('a religious viris') and
the Greek books in the library of the Patriarchal School to which he
refers as another source for some of his stories.16 The vocabulary of
many more authors who refer to Byzantium or to Byzantine sources
should be `scanned' to detect their fields of interest and their foci of
admiration, and the `authorities' who provided them with information.
14 A critical search in the vernacular sources may prove to be a goldmine.
S. Runciman beautifully described the impression which the majority of travellers to
Constantinople would have had, `Byzantine Art and Western mediaeval Taste', in
Byzantine art, lectures, p. 1-20.
15 J. Ebersolt, Constantinople. Recueil d'etudes d'archeologie et d'histoire, Paris 195 1; Janin,
Eglises et monasteres.
16 Ciggaar, `Tarragonensis 55', p. 132, and passim.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
83
Mercenaries too came to Constantinople, for various reasons and
in ever greater numbers than before. Political events in Scandinavia,
in England and elsewhere in Western Europe, and personal ambitions, prompted young men of all social classes to go to Byzantium
and enrol in the Greek army. Those who came from Russia, from
Scandinavia and from England were commonly called Varangians.
The famous Varangian guard protected the emperor and his family,
and guarded the national treasury. These soldiers were mainly interested in work and money, sometimes in a military training. They
have not left personal accounts of their journey. Most often they
were probably illiterate. Their contacts with Greek intellectual life
were almost nil. Sometimes they returned home and occasionally one
finds references to their adventures and to their earnings." Their
adventures and stories found their way into literature. One of the
most interesting texts is Harald's Saga. It is the Life of King Harald of
Norway in Old Norse, which gives the story of the Norse king who
as a young man fled to Constantinople when there was trouble at
home.18 The Varangians who returned to their native countries
brought home military knowhow and technological knowledge,19 and
their savings, sometimes in gold coins, sometimes in silver coins or in
other forms. The influence of the iconography of Byzantine coinage
has been the subject of various studies. This influence was very re-
markable, in particular in Scandinavia. Many Byzantine coins arrived in this way in Northern countries. Byzantine coins also arrived
in the German empire in great quantities, as diplomatic gifts as the
Byzantines tried to buy alliances. Byzantine coins, their style and
iconography, all worked as sources of inspiration for Western coinage.
The `authority' of the Byzantine besant, its value and its iconography, and of other Byzantine coins was unquestioned in certain areas.
Other groups, mainly from Italy, found their way to Constantinople. In the course of the 11th century the Normans settled in Italy
and from there went to Byzantium, sometimes with peaceful intent,
sometimes to attack Byzantine territory. For the Byzantines they became an important political factor. From the 10th century onward
commercial treaties were concluded with various Italian cities which
" 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. 275305; for the reign of Manuel Comnenus, Magdalino, p. 231-232.
1e See ch. The Northern Countries.
19 Ciggaar, `Marginalia'.
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provided the Byzantine emperor with military help by patrolling the
Mediterranean with their ships. Amalfi, Venice, Pisa and Genoa
became the most important commercial partners of the Byzantine
empire. At the same time these cities became an important political
factor which the Byzantines had to take into account. Citizens of the
Italian' commercial communities had their own quarters in Constantinople, like the other `nations' living in the empire. In these quarters they lived a fairly secluded life, but contacts with Byzantine culture
were easy enough. The Comnenian emperors recruited Western
advisers to their service, mostly Italians, who were thus in daily contact with their Greek surroundings. Some of them were very learned
as was Leo Tuscus who worked as an interpreter at the imperial
court of Manuel Comnenus.20 The archives of the Italian commercial cities are being studied by numbers of scholars but they do not
reveal much about the cultural exchange between the commercial
partners, in spite of the great impact which certain types of merchandise must have had.21 An interesting aspect of these commercial
activities is the leading role played by some families at an early stage.
Sometimes the trading elites were identical with the ruling elites.
Some of the Venetian and Pisan families engaged in international
trade became patrons of the arts, and some of them introduced
Byzantine art and culture to their hometowns and elsewhere. The
arrival of artefacts had a separate impact, which has, however, not
yet been sufficiently investigated. It goes without saying that only
wealthy families could patronize the arts in a grand way. The de
Maurone comite family from Amalfi is one of the best known examples of patronage of the arts and learning. They sponsored hospitals in the Holy Land and ordered translations from Greek into Latin,
such as a collection of Miracles and the Life of St Irene, which were
made in Constantinople. They are one of the first examples of private Westerners who sought the `authority' of Greek texts and had
them translated into Latin. Equally important was their donation of
several sets of bronze doors to churches in their native town and its
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 towards 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
immediate neighbourhood, and even to S. Paolo f. le Mure in Rome.
The retention of the Greek language for the inscriptions is proof of
the prestige which Byzantine works of art and the Greek language
had in the West, for otherwise inscriptions in Latin would have been
ordered. The impact of the iconography of these doors with their
numerous religious scenes on the art of Italy has not yet been investigated in detail." The communities themselves were not very active
in promoting Byzantine art.
Embassies to secular rulers had become less frequent in the period
after the Ottonians, and fewer courtly gifts had reached the West. In
the course of the 11th century the advance of the Turks into Asia
Minor forced the Greek emperors to again send many embassies to
Western rulers and to the popes to ask for military help. Much has
been written about political and religious contacts, not to say the
confrontations, between Greeks and Westerners during the crusading period. The West embarked on a religious and political adventure in which large groups of people left their homes-men, women
and even children-to go to the Holy Land. The prerogative of travelling in full armour was reserved for the knights, who developed as
a new social group, and were to play a special role in the contacts
between East and West and the transmission of ideas. Those who
visited Constantinople on their way to Jerusalem were mostly the
leaders themselves, with a selection of the poorer people. The Greek
authorities did not allow the masses to enter their towns. In spite
of the negative feelings felt by many crusaders, most of them were
impressed by the splendour of the Greek capital, its international
allure, its relics and luxury, and, of course, the lifestyle of its inhabitants, even of those social classes which, in the West, were so inferior
to them. Although a few were disgusted by the riches of Byzantium,
many felt an admiration which was to turn into feelings of rivalry.
We find a residu of these feelings in the work of contemporary historians. It has still to be explored whether the organisation and layout of the Greek metropolis, like its large squares and broad avenues,
was to affect urban organisation in the West. This could be a promising line of research.
Historians have dealt extensively with the crusades and the intense
contacts with Byzantium during this period. More than once they
22 Berschin, p. 253-254; K.N. Ciggaar, `Families and factions: Byzantine influence in some Italian cities', in Byzantium and its neighbours, p. 13-20.
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86
have stressed the feelings of betrayal and condescension felt by the
crusaders.23 The authority of the Byzantine emperor was a fact and
the Westerners had to acccept it. They travelled through the Emperor's
lands. This was the reason why the emperor Alexius I Comnenus
required an oath of allegiance when the crusaders asked his permission to pass through Byzantine territory on their way to Jerusalem at
the end of the 11th century. This happened during a ceremonial
reception in the imperial palace. Here one finds one of the few instances of Western influence if we could qualify it as such. It may
however have been the opportunistic policy of an emperor who regarded himself as the sole ruler, and the sole authority, of the Christian world.24 In spite of the betrayal felt by many crusaders when
they were passing through Asia Minor, their leaders were still under
the spell of the imperial charisma. Leaders in the East and in the
West, instead of criticising the emperor, sought his acceptance and
eventually tried to imitate their new feudal lord, when they returned
home, in their own petty realms. It was not a question of an inferior
or superior culture, of richness or of poverty; it was simply a process
of self-improvement. The Byzantine emperors knew well how to
exploit these feelings. Some Westerners were flattered when the
Emperor invited them to send their children to Constantinople for
their education, for example Stephen of Blois. Unfortunately we do
not know how young Western nobles reacted to such journeys. Western advisers at the imperial court were of great help in influencing
Western leaders.25 It is surprising that the majority of the crusaders
did not challenge Alexius Comnenus' own political ambitions for the
Holy Land.
The reactions of the various social groups who visited Constantinople or who were informed about the Eastern capital have hardly
been studied so far. It is a large field, open to the interested student
who wants to study the letters written by the crusaders, the official
reports and the information scattered in many texts. One may assume
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 detected 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 numerous 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).
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imperial family had as its objective the establishment of a network of
political influence all over Western Europe by marrying members of
the large Comnenian family to members of the ruling classes in
Western Europe, royal as well as commercial families, and even to
members of the lesser nobility. Before such a goal could be achieved,
a number of embassies travelled back and forth, and brought gifts in
money and carefully chosen jewelry, as had been the case in Ottonian
times when the princess Theophano came to the West and when a
fiancee was selected for Otto III.27 Unfortunately we have very few
reactions to the arrival of all these gifts. In the 1160s a granddaughter
of Ladislas II of Bohemia was to marry a cousin of Manuel Comnenus.
Queen Judith, grandmother of the bride, promptly used the jewelry
and the precious clothes which she received: `Domna vero Iudita
regina Boemie, gloriosissima et serenissima domina, tam Grecorum
quam Ungarorum auro, argento, palliis et indumentis preciosissimis
ditata et ornata'.28 The appreciation of the gifts is clear from the
immediate use the queen made of them. Later, when the court official who had accompanied the young princess to Constantinople
returned to Bohemia, he again brought rich gifts. The effects which
such objects had in the country in question are difficult to determine
since specific descriptions do not exist. But it is very likely that they
were considered as models, as sources of inspiration, since they were
sent by the Greek emperor, the head of the Familie der Ko'nige, a spir-
itual family, to which more than one Western ruler wanted to belong. They considered it as a great honour to belong to this elite.
We also have little information about the impressions of the ambassadors who were sent on such missions. They were another social
group engaged in the process of cultural interchange as we have just
seen. They formed a separate group which could transmit influence
from East to West and from West to East. The majority of them were
literate and well educated. One of the few examples of ambassadors
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
who have left a written account of their experiences is Liutprand of
Cremona who, in the late 10th century, twice served as ambassador
to the Byzantine court. First he went to Constantinople for King
Berengar of Lombardy (950-961), the second time he went to the
Byzantine court at the service of Otto I. He has left two detailed
reports. He changed his mind about the Byzantine empire, its rulers
and its inhabitants according to the way he was received in Constantinople. The first time he expressed a positive judgement, the second
time he was entirely negative.29 For the late 12th century we have
an anonymous report sent to Philip Augustus of France by an ambassador who was probably stationed in Constantinople, and whose
report circulated since we find it quoted in two different chronicles.
It is mainly an enumeration of political events in a period when
tensions between the Latins and the Greeks in Constantinople were
hostile and eventually led to bloodshed." However, any appreciation
of Byzantine life and culture is lacking. No accounts of Greek ambassadors active in this period seem to have survived.
Some envoys have left evidence of their appreciation of Byzantium
in their own learned writings. Their personal interests or the wishes
of others for reports on specific topics, forced them to widen their
horizons once in Constantinople. Learning was a field of interest which
started to play a major role in the 12th century. An interesting example
is the envoy Burgundio of Pisa, a judge, who translated a number of
Greek texts. He also brought Greek manuscripts from Constantinople
to Italy. Among his translations is the De orthodoxy fide of John of
Damascus, a work which he translated in 1153/1154, and which
became extremely popular in Western Europe where more than a
hundred copies circulated in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately a prologue is missing. He was also active as a translator of legal texts.31
Another envoy who was active in the literary sphere was Hugh
of Honau who was in the service of Frederick Barbarossa. He tried
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.
CHAPTER THREE
90
to improve his personal learning when he was sent to the Greek
capital, where he tried to get in contact with Hugh Etherian, another Pisan who worked in Constantinople, like his brother Leo
Tuscus, as a translator at the imperial court. Although his first attempt to meet the distinguished Pisan scholar failed, Hugh of Honau
was more successful when he tried again. As a student of Gilbert of
Poitiers, he was interested in the Greek Fathers. After the controversy of Gilbert and the other Porretans with the Church, Hugh of
Honau tried to find proof in the works of the Fathers, the Greek
auctoritates. There he wanted to confirm the interpretations of the Holy
Trinity and of the nature of Christ already expounded by his teacher
in France. Eventually he was successful in obtaining several translations.32 In this context it is interesting to note that Hugh of Honau
in referring to the Fathers regularly used the term auctoritates, and
equally interesting is his statement that the Greek Fathers speak in
more detail about the nature of Christ than do their Latin counterparts: `Graecorum doctorum auctoritatibus, qui de his expressius [my
underlining] quam nostri locuti sunt'.33 In his prologue to the Liber de
diversitate nature et persone he explains his interest in Greek texts 'because from the Greeks has flowed the source of all wisdom' ('quoniam
ex Grecorum fontibus omnes Latinorum discipline profluxerunt').34
Hugh Etherian too regarded Byzantium as a world of learning, although he does not conceal a critical tone. In a letter to Aimery of
32 N.M. Haring, `The "Liber de Differentia naturae et personae" by Hugh Etherian
and the letters addressed to him by Peter of Vienna and Hugh of Honau', Mediaeval
Studies 24, 1962, p. 18 ('a Graecis sapientiae totius fons emanavit'); from Carolingian
times onward the term fons Graecus was used, cf. F j. Worstbrock, `Translatio artium.
Uber die Herkunft and Entwicklung einer kulturhistorischen Theorie', Archiv fur
Kulturgeschichte 47, 1965, p. 15. For the medieval concept of auctoritas, see' Lexikon des
Mittelalters, s.v. auctoritas. For the following section see also Anastos, passim.
33 Ibidem; Peter of Vienna used the same expression, ibidem, p. 20 (`Cum igitur
in his expressius locuti sint Graecorum quam Latinorum theologi'). The term au(c)toritas
occurs repeatedly in the writings of these scholars, including Hugh Etherian. The
term auctoritas imperialis for the `transfer' of imperial power to Constantinople, was
used by Herman of Reichenau, MGH SS V, p. 93 (cf. Rentschler, II, p. 134). The
term antecessores is another term which should be studied in the context of mutual
relations and influence during the 12th century and before. Gerhoch of Reichersberg,
acquainted with Peter of Vienna, considered Greek manuscripts as auctoritates, cf. PL
193, c. 547, although he does not explicitly use the term, but refers to the `Graeci
codices'.
34 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); elsewhere he speaks of the `Graecorum opulentia', Mediaeval Studies 24, 1962,
p. 19.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
91
Limoges, Latin patriarch of Antioch, he speaks of the `Graecorum
fontes', and in a letter to Peter of Vienna he writes that, although
Byzantium possessed a great part of the treasures of learning, there
were negative forces active as well, `Nam erudita licet disciplinis
Graecia sit, quarum in alvearibus optima portio apud eam est, tortosus
tamen coluber Leviathan'.35 In his answer to his correspondent in
Constantinople the patriarch of Antioch qualifies the country where
Hugh Etherian lives and works as `docta Graecia', where he is a
strong defender of the Latins, `antemurale fortissimum'.36 These Western theologians, however, remained critical observers.
The core of students around Hugh Etherian was discovered not
so long ago and new names will certainly be added in future. Everard
of Ypres is another interesting person, whose works have not yet
become popular among modern scholars. Between 1191 and 1198
he wrote a dialogue between a fictitious Greek who had come to
France and himself. They discussed the conflict between Bernard of
Clairvaux and Gilbert of Poitiers. Radius, the Greek, makes the interesting remark that the Latins like talking to the Greeks because
the Latins are little rivers which derive their knowledge from a Greek
fountain-head, saying: `Libenter Latini causantur Graecos, cum ipsi
sint rivuli fontis Graecorum'. There was in the West of the 12th
century an interest in this learned group, shown by the correspondence between its various members which is preserved in more than
one manuscript, and which found its way to various parts of Western Europe. The already mentioned correspondence between Aimery
of Limoges and Hugh Etherian has survived in manuscripts from
Clairvaux and from Santes Creus, in Catalonia. This is also the case
of several other writings by these scholars.37
From their vocabulary we may conclude that a number of Western
theologians and scholars looked at Byzantium for a source of learning and inspiration. From this source sprang all sorts of streams. Where
do we find a better terminology to qualify the Byzantine influence
on the West than by turning to the vocabulary used by themselves?
31 Letter to Aimery, PL 202, c. 230; letter to Peter of Vienna, A. Dondaine,
`Hugues Etherien et le concile de Constantinople de 1166', Historisches Jahrbuch 77,
1958, p. 473-483; see also note 32.
31 PL 202, c. 231.
37 Haring, art. cit. (n. 1), p. 248; idem, `The Cistercian Everard of Ypres and his
appraisal of the conflict between St Bernard and Gilbert of Poitiers', Mediaeval Studies 17, 1955, p. 157; A. Dondaine, `Hugues Etherien et Leon Toscan', Archives d'Hstoire
doctrinale et litteraire du rnoyen age 27, 1952, p. 100-101, and n. 1.
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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 attitudes adopted by scholars in Western Europe who considered Byzantium 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 translation 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 Byzantine 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 confronted 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, Byzantium was the fountain-head of learning, the Renaissance of 12thcentury 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 foreign 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
38 A. Jacob, `La traduction de la Liturgie de saint Jean Chrysostome par Leon
Toscan', OCP 32, 1966, p. 111-162; A. Strittmatter, "`Missa Grecorum", "Missa
Sancti Ioannis Crisostomi"', Traditio 1, 1943, p. 79-137.
39 See R.L. Benson, Introduction, in Renaissance and Renewal, p. xvii-xxx,
esp. xxii.
93
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
One wonders if Westerners, afraid of the over-wearing influence of
Byzantium, wanted to build a sort of defence line, an antemurale, as
Aimery of Limoges wrote in his letter to Hugh Etherian. It would be
a natural reaction at a time when the Byzantine empire was a dominating factor in the Christian world. It may be useful to take a closer
look to see if such a defence really existed and how it worked. In the
late 11th century, but more specifically in the 12th century, we see
in Western Europe the redevelopment and the re-use of the idea of
translationes. In this context one has to consider in the first place 1. the
translatio regni or translatio imperii; 2. the translatio studii or translatio artium
(sometimes called translatio sapientiae/scientiae; in French `clergie'); 3. the
translatio militiae (in French `chevalerie'); 4. the translatio religionis (or
fidis); 5. the translatio originum regnantium. These were ideas that had
existed already in earlier times. One should add more translationes
6. the translatio legum/iuris and finally 7. the translatio imperatorum. A
few words on the various `transfers' have to suffice here.
1. The translatio regni/imperii again plays a role in the 12th century.
Constantine the Great had transferred the Roman, now Christian,
empire to its Eastern part, to Constantinople. When Charlemagne
was crowned emperor in Rome, in 800, the emperor had returned
to Rome, at least in the eyes of his Western contemporaries, and the
struggle for real imperial authority, the auctoritas imperialis, could start.40
Aimery of Limoges, who had ordered a translation of a Greek chronicle from Leo Tuscus, the brother of Hugh Etherian, was interested
in the history of Byzantium from the time at which the Greeks had
separated from the Romans, `ex illo tempore quo imperatores eorum
(i.e. Grecorum) a Romano divisi sunt imperio'.41 In other words he
was interested in the period after which they had left Rome, and
reigned as Greek emperors. The Zweikaiserproblem ('The Problem of
the two empires') was still there, in the minds of Westerners and
Byzantines alike. In the 12th century both Manuel Comnenus and
.
Frederick Barbarossa (who justified his imperial aspirations by referring to Justinian's laws) played important roles: each wanted to be-
come the sole ruler of Christian Europe. Otto of Freising, uncle of
40 See note 33. It is possibly in such a context that we should consider the attempts 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.
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CHAPTER THREE
the German emperor, had redeveloped the ideology of the translatio
imperii in his Chronica sine Historia de duabus civitatibus. In his view the
Roman empire had returned to the West.42
2. The translatio studii became a popular topos in France, to which
learning was supposed to have migrated and where it found a refuge.
France became, in the eyes of contemporaries, the seat of learning.
This was certainly a stimulating thought for the various schools which
developed and which spread all over the country. The well-known
prologue of Chretien de Troyes' Cliges said that learning and chivalry
had come to the West: `Through the books we possess we learn of
the deeds of the people of past times and of the world as it used to
be. Our books have taught us how Greece ranked first in chivalry
and learning; then chivalry passed to Rome along with the fund of
transcendent learning that has now come to France. God may grant
it may be kept here and find such a pleasing home that the honour
now arrived may never depart from France! The others had received
it from God on loan; for no longer do people speak at all of the
Greeks and Romans-there is no more talk of them, and their glowing embers are dead'. The author's statement that the Greeks and
Romans are no longer mentioned or spoken of is a curious statement, and seems to betray the author's ambivalent attitude. Chretien,
or his patrons and audience (he had to take account of those who
commissioned his works as well as those who listened to them) was
convinced of the superiority of learning in the West, in particular in
France. But why then does he give a Constantinopolitan setting to
his story and why did he borrow more than once from Byzantine
history? And why did he praise Byzantine women? At the moment
there are more questions than answers. According to an apocryphal
text in a manuscript from Monte Cassino even the emperor Alexius I
Comnenus was convinced that learning had travelled to the West,
when he said: `Once wisdom was derived from the Orient to the
Occident, from the Greeks to the Latins. Now, on the contrary, from
the Occident to the Orient, a Latin (i.e. Peter Chrysolanus, archbishop
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
of Milan) comes and descends on the Greeks'.43 Chretien leads us to
the next translatio.
3. The translatio militiae or `chevalerie', was becoming another topos
in France and in other parts of Western Europe. It supported the
knightly class, a new social group, which had to find its own ideal,
its own lifestyle. One of the Latin sources to mention the translatio
militiae was a text closely related to King Richard's participation in
the Third Crusade, the Itinerarium Regis Ricardi. According to the
anonymous Latin author the Greeks had lost their courage and their
learning, and therefore did not join in the war against the infidels.
Here again the translatio studii and translatio militiae are seen as twins.
The author does not distinguish in this passage between the Ancient
Greeks and the Byzantines. The Westerners had indeed felt very
isolated in their attempt to conquer the Holy Land. After the fall of
Jerusalem in 1191, the Greeks refrained from military interference
on behalf of the crusaders who were now established in their overseas colonies. Greeks did not fight on the walls of Jerusalem. In another passage the Ancient Greeks are praised for their military skill
and their learning, `cum Latini scientia pariter et armis floreant, illi
(i.e. the Byzantine Greeks) se prorsus inscios et imbelles conspiciunt;
et hinc odii sumpto fomite, alienis bonis invidi contabescunt ... Multa
Graii veteres et armis sunt aggressi, et studiis assecuti'. Benjamin of
Tudela, the I aiserchronik and Walter Map also wrote that the Greeks
were not warlike.' It is very likely that there was a connection between
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)
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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 stabilizing 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
to Outremer. The translatio of the Grail from Jerusalem to the West
is part, I think, of a striving for independence by the Western crusaders. Byzantium did not play a role any longer. Even the knights
traced descent from an old lineage which had its origins in the East.
In fact the translatio of the Grail combines a translatio militiae, a translatio
religionis and a translatio originum. This very combination seems to have
rendered the Grail story so extremely popular.
4. The translatio religions is an even more complicated subject than
the preceding translationes. A few remarks and suggestions shall be
made here, since the subject has not yet been studied properly. The
suggestion has been made that the special interest in St Dionysius
on the part of the abbey of Saint Denis may have imposed the idea
that the royal abbey had become a centre of religion in the West
since the Greek Father himself had taken refuge in France. At an
early date abbot Suger had started work on the abbey church and in
the 1140s he wrote that he preferred the new abbey church to the
treasures of Constantinople. Later he was very pleased to learn from
visitors that the treasures of Saint Denis were more important and
more impressive than those of Saint Sophia in Constantinople.48 The
search for Patristic Greek texts in Constantinople by William medicus,
abbot of Saint Denis, and by another monk called William, may
have stimulated the wish to promote the church as a religious centre
whose patron himself had come from the East.49 The opposition to
the authority of the Greek Fathers experienced by Gilbert of Poitiers
and his fellow theologians seems to contradict the search for Greek
patristric texts by members of the royal abbey. One wonders if the
translatio religions is also to be seen in the presence ofJustinian's Credo
in Western texts, even if this `Byzantine' presence is first mentioned
in the 13th century.so
5. Translatio originum. The belief that a number of ruling families
descended from the Trojans has rarely been discussed in the context
of the ideology of translationes. Yet it is interesting to draw attention
to this phenomenon. Already in Frankish and in Ottonian times ruling
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
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families had tried to prove their antique origins. It was particularly
the case of the French royal family and the French people, including the Normans and the Bretons (the latter according to Wace's
Brut) who claimed to be the descendants of the Trojans who had
been driven out of their country by the Greeks. The ambivalence is
obvious: the ideal is to have Trojan roots. At the same time, in the
so-called French roman antiques, the exploits of the Greeks are repeat-
edly glorified. In the eyes of some Frenchmen these origins entitled
the crusading army to conquer the Byzantine capital in 1204.51
6. Translatio iuris or legum. In the 12th century a number of translations of legal texts was made. These translations were not made
because of intellectual curiosity alone, but also in order to use them
in the traditions of Old Roman law. Although written in Greek a
number of Justinian's laws were considered to be Roman law. After
a period of neglect, the `rediscovery' ofJustinian's Digest around 1070
led slowly to a renewed interest in Roman law in the West. Burgundio
of Pisa translated the Greek text of the Digest, and an anonymous
translator did the same for Justinian's Novellae. Limited as these attempts may have been, they are proof of an interest in Roman law
in its Greek form. Translatio became translation. It is a sort of appropriation of the `Roman heritage' which had found its way to Byzantium where it had been developing ever since. Justinian had a great
reputation as a legislative authority in both East and West, and it
has been suggested, but not yet proved, that Justinian was a model
as emperor for Manuel Comnenus as well as for Frederick Barba-
rossa.52 In a letter to Pope Urban III, written between 1185 and
1187, the Cistercian Everard of Ypres complained that there was
84/85, 1991/1992, p. 37-42.
5i Goez, op. cit. (n. 42), p. 126; R. Bossuat, Histoire de la litterature franfaise. Le
Moyen Age, Paris 1955, p. 141, `la credulite de nos auteurs est sans limites. Ce que
leurs predecesseurs ont ecrit ils l'acceptent sans discernment; l'origine troyenne des
Francs et des Normands est tenue par eux comme article de foi et c'est une illusion
qui survivra ... c'est le culte des autorites'. Widukind (c. 925-post 973) suggested
that the Saxons might have descended from the Greeks, Res gestae saxonicae, in Quellen
zur Geschichte der Sdchsischen Kaiserzeit, ed. A. Bauer/R. Rau, Darmstadt 1977, p. 20
(it may have been an attempt to counterbalance the pretensions of the Byzantine
emperor (cf. Rentschler, I, p. 336); Robert de Clari, La conque"te de Constantinople, ed.
P. Lauer, Paris 1956, p. 102, ch. 106.
52 Classen, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 38, 39, 44, 50; Berschin, p. 271. See also S. Kuttner,
`The revival of jurisprudence', in Renaissance and Renewal, p. 299-323, and the
index s.v. Justinian as model emperor; Benson, art. cit. (n. 42), p. 355s., 360-364,
367, 370; see also Magdalino, s.v. Justinian. For a number of medieval authors
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
99
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 mentioning.54 In the West the Emperor Justinian had a very good reputation. 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 Palestine, the culture of the Eastern Mediterranean with which the crusaders (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 heritage and its culture, was indirectly based on its Greek counterpart.
The West has built, I think, an ideology in which everything of interest 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 pretensions. Further study along these lines may reveal interesting results.
Occasionally these translationes led to internal conflicts in Western
Justinian was indeed the ideal emperor.
53 Haring, art. cit. (n. 37), p. 154, 162.
54 Kaiserchronik, op. cit. (n. 44), p. 285s., 314s.; cf. Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters, Verfasserlexikon, IV, Berlin 1983, p. 955. See also Huby, art. cit. (n. 44), p. 181-
196. I do not know if the translatio of these two emperors is a hapax in Western
sources.
55 A study of Justiniaan's reputation as builder, legislator, theologian and conqueror
100
CHAPTER THREE
Europe, which were sometimes expressed in its literature and in other
texts.56
The most concrete category in the complex of translationes, not
mentioned here specifically, is the translatio of texts, in Greek and in
the form of Latin translations. This was done by bringing Greek
codices to the West and by translating Greek texts into Latin, which
could have been done in Byzantium and in the West. However, the
translatio of the necessary linguistic knowledge of the language was
limited. The few translators who were active came mainly from those
Italian cities which had commercial contacts with Byzantium and
had, for practical reasons, to employ qualified people. For the 12thcentury Renaissance in Western Europe the translatio in all its senses
seems to have formed the basis of a renovatio. The West used Greek
elements, spolia sometimes, in its thought and literature. Chretien de
Troyes is a good example of a representative of the new generation
of Renaissance artists and scholars, which uses classical, Byzantine
and Roman elements.57
It may be revealing of the Western attitude toward Byzantium
and its culture that a translatio of artistic traditions and values was
never claimed. There may have been an awareness that Byzantium
was the only place where the Christian tradition had been preserved
almost without interruption. The models, the skill, sometimes the
material and the artists themselves (Monte Cassino, Paderborn, Dijon
and elsewhere), had literally to be brought to the West, where they
were soon incorporated in Western traditions which sometimes already existed. One wonders if Bernard of Clairvaux who abhorred
all types of exotic image realised that such a translatio was necessary
for the stimulation of secular art forms, although not for the cloisters. The role of religious and secular patrons was an important one.
Their initiatives were decisive for the acceptance of foreign elements.
in Western sources, Latin and vernacular, could be very interesting.
16 The translatio regni to France in Adso's idea on Antichrist, in his letter to Queen
Gerberga of France, is replaced by a translatio imperii to Germany in the Play of
Antichrist, written around 1160 in a Bavarian monastery near Tegernsee. In the latter the king of the Greeks (who pays tribute to the king of the Teutons) and the
king of the Franks submit to Antichrist who, in his turn, is conquered by the emperor, K. Young, The Drama of the Medieval Church, Oxford II (1933), 1951, p. 369s.,
496s. (Engl. trans. of the two texts in J. Wright, The Play of Antichrist, Toronto 1965).
In other texts one sees a literary `battle' between French and German authors over
various aspects of these translationes.
57 Berschin, passim.
AUCTORITATES AND TRANSLATIONES
101
There was apparently a conflict between the adherents of the
translatio ideology (in its entirety or in part) and people like Gilbert of
Poitiers who was a representative of the desire to turn directly to
Eastern authorities, in search of wisdom and authentic texts, and
who showed a real Renaissance spirit. Was there in 12th-century
Western Europe a `querelle des anciens et des moderns'?"
The complex of translationes offers a number of problems which
cannot yet be answered. There are still too many questions. Only a
very detailed and systematic study of contemporary authors and of
prologues to translations and historical works, and of the reasons for
bringing Greek manuscripts to the West, can reveal the motives behind
the reintroduction of certain topoi in a period when relations between
East and West became more intense and eventually more hostile and
resulted in the capture of Constantinople. Whereas the 10th century
was an age of admiratio, and the 11th century, in all its variety, strived
for aemulatio to share the common heritage, the 12th century wanted
renovatio, a remodelling of the classical past, and a final victory over
the Greeks, not by fighting them but by transferring a number of
Greek `authorities' and authors to the West. The many travellers to
Byzantium contributed, in their own way, to the translatio of the
auctoritates. They were the `channels' along which most influence could
find its way from East to West and, on a very limited scale, from
West to East.
It need not be repeated here that Western influence on Byzantium
during the period under discussion was very limited, because the
Byzantines themselves were fully aware that they were adhering to
long-established auctoritates.
58 T. Hunt, `Tradition and originality in the prologues of Chrestien de Troyes',
Forum for Modem Language Studies 8, 1972, p. 320-344, esp. 325 (see also E.R. Curtius,
'Les Anciens et les Modernes', Zeitschrift fur Romanische Philologie 58, 1938, p. 158-
162; idem, `Veteres and Moderni', ibidem, 62, 1942, p. 417-424). See also the
Itinerarium regis Ricardi, op. cit. (n. 44), ibidem.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
Of Miklagarth the golden gables our famous prince saw,
Heimskringla'
We shall start our journey in the northernmost part of Western Europe
and shall then move down to the south, to sunnier regions which
were once part of the Roman Empire, and already shared in the
Mediterranean life and culture, which was such a prominent part of
Byzantine civilization.
Although one can trace a recent growth of interest in the Byzantine influence on Scandinavia, no over-all survey has been published
nor has any systematic research yet been carried out. During the
International Congresses of Byzantine Studies in Athens (1976), Vienna
(1981) and Washington (1986) emphasis was laid on the arts and
their problems. The `Byzantinische Frage', i.e. in the present context
the question of the Byzantine influence on Romanesque art and other
aspects of Scandinavian culture, has been increasingly studied in recent
years. The colloquium of 1979 in Uppsala resulted in the publication of Les Pays du Nord et Byzance (1981), the symposium at Valamo
Monastery (Finland) in 1981 in Byzantium and the North, Acta Byzantina
Fennica I, 1985, followed by other publications in the same series.
The XIX International Congress of Byzantine Studies (Copenhagen
1996), will have a section `Byzantium and the North, from Iceland
to Novgorod'.
Scandinavian languages formed and still form a barrier to the
outside world, and not least for medievalists. Publications from Northern Europe are not easily accessible in both the linguistical and physical
senses, and we often have to rely upon indirect sources.2 The number of saga translations has been on the increase lately.
The Saga of Harald Sigurtharson, ch. 2, Hollander, p. 579.
2 Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder, II, Copenhagen/Malmo 1957, s.v.
1
Bysantinsk stilinflytelse ('the influence of Byzantine style'; a translation would be
very welcome); the Svenska kommitten for bysantinska studier, i.e. the Swedish
Committee for Byzantine studies, publishes a bulletin on Byzantine studies, cf. BZ
82, 1989, p. 510.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
103
Scandinavia is in no way a single entity. This had already been
noted by an early bishop of these Northern countries, Adalbert of
Bremen, who showed an interest in their geography and in the lives
of their people by ordering a description of the region. Norway was
characterized by its poverty, which forced people to seek their fortunes abroad. Sweden, by contrast, was stocked with merchandise
from all over the world. The Danes were pious, but had a love of
piracy.' The Finnish people are hardly mentioned at all and play a
minor role, whilst the Icelanders, recent Norwegian settlers, farmed
a far-away island, which hardly ever came within the scope of Western travellers and commentators. In other words: the variety is great.
One thing these countries, the present Denmark, Iceland, Norway,
Sweden and Finland, have in common is the fact that they were
thinly populated. Distances were very great and the climate was, on
the whole, rather tough. This did not prevent the inhabitants from
travelling abroad by their hundreds. In an earlier period they had
ravaged the coasts of Western Europe. Once they were being christianized they left for rather more peaceful and religious journeys to
the south and south-east. Rome, Jerusalem and Constantinople became major attractions. Scandinavia was in a transitional period, that
between paganism and Christianity.
Part of Scandinavia bordered on what we nowadays call Russia,
an area in which Byzantine influence was very strong and which
finally accepted Byzantine Christianity. Byzantium was the source of
missionary activities which affected the whole life of this area and
created a sort of Byzantine Commonwealth. Some of the routes taken
by travellers, especially in the earlier period, led through this area,
the so-called Austrvegr. One of them started at Lake Ladoga and led
along the Neva and the Dniepr. Other rivers could be followed, depending on the political situation in an area where hostilities could
block one's passage. More inland routes led from Poland or Denmark
through the Balkans to Constantinople, then called Miklagard in the
North. Scandinavian colonies along these routes mitigated the language problem.' Another attractive route took the traveller on a seavoyage along the coasts of Western Europe through the Mediterranean.
A combination of both would give the chance to see more than one
big town, to do more sightseeing and moreover to do more business.
a Adam of Bremen, III-IV, p. 432-95.
4 E. Piltz, `De la Scandinavie a Byzance', Medieoales 12, 1987, p. 11-17.
104
CHAPTER FOUR
Our information comes from various sources. Chronicles in Latin,
Greek and Old Norse; Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus are
the main sources in Latin. The Greek chronicles of George Cedrenus,
John Scylitzes and others throw a Byzantine perspective on events.
Some Northerners composed their own poetry, remembering their
exploits and adventures in the East. Such a poet was Harald, later
king of Norway. The Lives of the saints provide us with information
about St Olaf, St Cnut and St Thorlac, and their connections with
far-away regions. Legal texts give us, insight into what happened during long absences, and wills sometimes mention luxurious goods from
the East. Sagas, the vernacular literature of the North, written in
Iceland, speak of Norsemen and others going to the East. The
best-known example is the Heimskringla, compilation of the lives of
Norwegian kings, written around 1225 by Snorri Sturluson, and a
gold-mine of information, even if part of its contents is based on oral
sources. Sagas are a mixture of historical facts and literary imagina-
tion, written down for the greater part in the 13th century. They
deserve our critical attention, although we should remember that they
were recited and written to please the audience who believed or
wanted to believe them.
Halfway between written sources and the arts we find another
unique source of information in the North: Swedish memorial stones.
They combine a beautiful and elaborate design with runic inscriptions of historical interest. They were carved to commemorate the
death of people including those who went to the East and who died
in Greece or elsewhere `out East'. Runic inscriptions occur in other
contexts, on objects and even on monuments.
The presence of Byzantine artefacts in Northern countries is a
silent source and witness of events, but until their archaeological context is clearly stated, we cannot know how and when they arrived
in the North. The same applies to the Byzantine coins which have
been found. In coin hoards they speak for themselves. By contrast to
the rest of Western Europe, Byzantine coins were found in abundance in Sweden, mainly on Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea.
The special reason for their presence will be discussed below.
Two sorts of contact have to be taken into consideration. First,
there are the many Scandinavians who travelled to Byzantium. Second, there are the Greeks, fewer in number, who travelled to the
North and with whom we will start.
The traces of the presence of the Greeks in the North are dim
105
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
and vague. At Wollin, according to Adam of Bremen, one could
meet Greeks. This may explain the occasional finds of Byzantine
coins.' In all likelihood they were brought or lost by Greek merchants. Whether these merchants travelled on to more Northerly parts
we do not know. A few may have ventured in that direction. Greek
merchants certainly did come to Western Europe, as did Greek monks
and prelates. According to the Icelandic Laws, the Crkgks, Icelanders
were allowed to attend services conducted by Armenian and Greek
priests.6 This would seem to be solid proof that they came
bishops or
all the way to Iceland probably via Norway. Harald Hardrada who,
as we will see below, spent some ten years in the Byzantine empire,
is said to have remained loyal to the Greeks (ECp
niatily xat ayanrly
npb; `P(oµaiovc), once he had returned to his native country. This
has sometimes been explained as meaning that Harald kept the faith
of the Byzantines and introduced Greek missionaries. Even if this
interpretation turns out to be false, we do have here a clear statement that Harald stayed on friendly `feudal' terms with the Byzantine empire and may indeed have maintained regular contact with
his former employers. A Byzantine visitor seems to have been at
Bergen (Norway), but further details are unknown to me.'
Other Greeks may have come as ambassadors. From the De Legationibus, a Greek treatise on embassies, we learn that embassies consisted of Greeks but, if possible, of natives of the country as well.
The latter may have come on some sort of temporary leave, helping
the Greek officials where they could.' Only once do we hear in Scandinavian sources (Greek sources are entirely silent here) of the Byzantine emperor sending embassies to the kings of Denmark, Sweden
and Norway. This was in the 1190s when the Greek emperor asked
for mercenary troops. On such an occasion a diploma was sent to
which was attached a gold bull. The letters seem to have been kept
in the North for a long period but their ultimate fate is unknown.
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.
CHAPTER FOUR
106
They certainly were beautiful: the official phrasing was pure calligraphy 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 reliTheir ambassadors brought precious gifts like silks, possibly
dyestuffs and perfumes.'o
gion.'
Occasionally a Greek woman came to the North. Scandinavians
sometimes married when `out' in Byzantium and took their wives
back home. Grettir's Saga tells how a certain Thorstein married a Byzantine lady called Spes. They returned to Norway, had several children
and lived very peacefully. In their old age they went on a pilgrimage
to Rome and became, by mutual consent, hermits, leading holy lives
apparently in Italy."
We now come to those who travelled from Scandinavia to the
Byzantine empire and shall discuss their social backgrounds and the
reasons for their journeys. It was not only an elite who travelled. In
those days one had to travel in convoy in order to protect life and
property. Political leaders and magnates had to rely on soldiers and
on servants to defend them and to serve them. Therefore, men of all
social ranks travelled widely. Servants and soldiers belonged to all
social ranks: sometimes they were nobles, sometimes free farmers or
tenants, or they were expelled or banished from their lands and
countries for various reasons. More than once they were joined by
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 Byzantine 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 Iceland, 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 translation 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 chronicler 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 situation 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 Varangians. 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
" Laxdaela Saga, Engl. tr. M. Magnusson/H. Palsson, Harmondsworth 1969,
ch. 72, p. 225s., ch. 77, p. 236s.; Blondal/Benedikz, p. 101, 206-10.
15 John Scylitzes, p. 394 (= George Cedrenus, II, p. 508-9); cf. Davidson, p. 188;
Blondal/Benedikz, p. 62-3. The Varangians `crowned' the woman in the Byzantine
way as if it was a posthumous marriage. At the XVIth International Congress of
Byzantine Studies, Vienna 1981, K. Fledelius referred to parallels between the legal
position of women in Byzantium and in Scandinavia, `Woman's position and possibilities in Byzantine society, with particular reference to the Novels of Leo VI',
Resumes des Communications, 4.4; cf. J. Beaucamp, `La situation juridique de la femme
a Byzance', CCM 20, 1977, p. 153.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
109
arrived in Constantinople with his 500 Northmen and took service
with the Byzantine emperor. His military activities took him to Palestine, Sicily, Asia Minor, the Balkans and many other places. Greek,
Latin and Norse sources all mention him and his military successes
in the East. Among modern scholars he has enjoyed a similar popularity. During the ten years he spent in Byzantium he seems to have
amassed a fortune in gold. Leaving Constantinople secretly, as if once
again he was a refugee, he returned to Norway where he became
king jointly with his nephew Magnus. With him he also shared his
personal wealth, his Byzantine gold and his Byzantine treasures. On
that solemn occasion, when he received the title of king, he presented
a dark purple cloak (undoubtedly originating from Byzantium) to
Steigar-Thorir. Later this cloak was used as an altar cloth."
It is interesting to note that Harald was joint ruler, even if the
idea came from Magnus. Diplomacy avoided military confrontation.
The idea may have come from Byzantium where co-rulership was
rather common, a recent example being the co-rulership of the emperors Basil II (976-1025) and Constantine VIII (976-1028). Harald
had become well acquainted with Byzantine life and Byzantine institutions. In Byzantium he had been content with a modest position,
but this changed once he returned to Varangia, as the Greeks seem
to have called Norway in their own language. According to the Greek
writer Cecaumenus, he stayed on friendly terms with the Byzantine
empire, as we have seen already."
In Russia, military contracts were signed for a year and there was
probably a monthly salary. This may have been the custom in Byzantium as well, and Harald may have broken his contract when he left
Constantinople furtively having heard about events in his native
country. A love story, as some of the sagas have it, seems a little farfetched for a military leader who wanted to return to his home country
to claim his rights.18
'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 translation of this passage for me. See also Blondal/Benedikz, p. 15s. Mercenaries worked
4
for gold, silver and clothing.
110
CHAPTER FOUR
Some of the ex-Varangians took home part of their military equip-
ment or so it seems. The Sturlunga Saga mentions a sword called
Brynjubitr, brought from Byzantium by Sigurd the Greek before
the end of the 12th century. The sword ended up in an Icelandic
farm called Miklagarth, in the northern part of the island where it
was seized by Sturla Sighvatsson. In this story there is a curious
coincidence of proper names.'9 Did the Varangians in the service of
the emperor have to buy their own equipment? Was there no uniformity in weaponing in the Greek army? In their descriptions of
the Varangian bodyguard and of individual Varangians, Greek
sources often refer to their double axes. Were Byzantine swords tantalizing souvenirs for homeward bound Varangians who had so often
had to rely on the force of their own weapons?
In the second half of the 11th century the enormous flow of Scandinavian Varangians, of whom we have given a few examples (many
more can easily be cited), declines. King Edward's Saga reports the
arrival of Anglo-Saxon Varangians in the second half of the 11th
century. This is also clear from coin hoards found in the North.
Some 500 silver Byzantine miliaresia have been discovered (only a
fraction of the number of Arabic coins found in Scandinavia) of which
the majority belong to the period before 1025. The 106 later coins
belong to various periods. Gold coins hardly ever occur. This was
due not only to an official prohibition on the export of Byzantine
gold but also to the need to change one's savings in gold into silver,
which was more useful to the average ex-employee.20
These coins need not necessarily have all been imported by
Varangians. Merchants may have brought home a few. Small and
beautiful, they were a mirror of Byzantine society. Their impact
will be discussed below. The two categories of travellers, Varangians
and merchants, cannot easily be differentiated. Sometimes runic
inscriptions suggest that a man who died in Greece, went there as
10 Sturlunga Saga, ed. K. Kalund, Copenhagen 1906, I, p. 212s.; cf. Blondal/
Benedikz, p. 221-2. The sword of Bolli Bollason was gilded in the East or was a
Byzantine import, Laxdaela Saga, op. cit. (n. 14), ch. 77, p. 236, cf. Davidson, p. 106,
Blondal/Benedikz, p. 207, n. 1.
20 B. Malmer, `Imitations of Byzantine miliaresia found in Sweden', in CJ.
Becker, Studies in Northern coinages of the eleventh century, Copenhagen 1981, p. 9-28; cf.
C. Morrisson, 'Le role des Varanges dans la transmission de la monnaie byzantine
en Scandinavie', Pays du Nord, p. 131-40. C. Fell, `The Icelandic saga of Edward
the Confessor: its version of the Anglo-Saxon emigration to Byzantium', Anglo-Saxon
England 3, 1974, p. 179-96.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
111
a merchant, sometimes he is only said to have gone out to Greece.
A certain Jofurr, for whom such a memorial stone was raised, travelled to Greek ports.21 Others clearly refer to mercenaries (ill. 6).
We do not know what merchandise was taken backwards and
forwards. Slaves, furs, iron (?), waxes, honey, and amber were probably carried southward. Commodities like silver and gold (runestones
sometimes mention the love of gold as a reason for travelling to the
East) may have come back. Silk garments found in graves in Sweden
and Denmark suggest that these were imported as well.22
The first Western sovereign to visit Constantinople as a peaceful
pilgrim was king Erik of Denmark with his wife Bothilda. Saxo
Grammaticus whose story is repeated by the Orkneyinga Saga tells how
the royal couple on its way to Jerusalem, stopped in Constantinople
in 1103 with a large retinue. For security reasons (the passage of
crusading armies in 1096 had left a very unpleasant memory) the
emperor Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) asked king Erik to remain
outside the town. He was probably afraid of a coup by Danish Varangians and their visiting compatriots. The Varangians then asked
leave to greet their king, and a bilingual spy was sent to overhear
the conversations. To the great relief of the intelligence officer king
Erik ordered the Danes to be loyal to the emperor and to serve him
faithfully. Thereupon Alexius received Erik magnificently and gave
him rich gifts, relics of St Nicholas (always popular with the Varangians) and a fragment of the Holy Cross, sealed with the imperial
seal, in itself a work of art. Before continuing his journey king Erik
sent the relics to Denmark, to Roskilde and Slangerup. Shortly afterwards he died in Cyprus.23
In 1111 king Sigurd of Norway (1103-1130) followed the same
route, but now on his way home: there was the same reception, the
same exchange of gifts and an offer of games in the Hippodrome.
21 Blondal/Benedikz, p. 226, nos. 15 and 19, cf. A. Ruprecht, Die ausgehende
Wikingerzeit im Lichte der Runeninschriften, Gottingen 1958, p. 150, no. 126; see also
note 18; and recently M.G. Larsson, Runstenar och utlandsfdrder, Lund 1990, p. 114s.
(with Engl. summary).
22 J.G. Campbell, Viking artefacts, London 1980, p. 102, no. 356; the Arab travel-
ler Ibn Fadlan (922) says that the Swedes used Byzantine silks for their burials, cf.
P. Anker, L'art scandinave, I, Zodiaque 1969, p. 96.
23 Saxo Grammaticus, fiesta Danorum, ed. J. Olrik/H. Raeder/F. Blatt, Copenhagen
1931, I, p. 338-9 (a trans. by P. Fisher is in preparation); Knytlinga Saga, ch. 79-81,
German trans. W. Baetke, Thule 19, Jena 1924 (repr. Diisseldorf 1966), p. 322s.;
Blondal/Benedikz, p. 131s.
112
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 dragonheaded 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 described 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, Jerusalem 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
Aegisif. Nicholas of Thingeyrar is one of the few Western visitors to
mention an icon which he had seen in Byzantium. It was an icon
(likneski) of Mary, holding the Christ child, in the Latin translation:
`Imago sanctae Mariae cum lesu Christo, filio eius; cuius iugulum
ludeus quidam cultello vulneravit, et manavit sanguis'. Nicholas also
mentions a Varangian regiment in Cyprus, stationed near the place
where king Erik was buried.27 The presence of Varangian colonies
probably made the journey easier for people going to the East.
An anonymous report of the large Danish pilgrimage in the later
12th century gives a more detailed description of an icon. Before
visiting Constantinople the Danes had spent some time in Jerusalem.
When a quarrel arose with Richard Lion-Heart they were taken
for Greeks. This suggests that they were accompanied, guided or
even protected by compatriots who had taken up residence in the
Byzantine empire and dressed in the Byzantine way. In Constantinople the Danish pilgrims were helped by compatriots with the pre-
parations for the return journey. A more intimate knowledge of
Byzantine religious life may explain why in the De profectione Danorum,
as the anonymous report is called, we find the description of an icon
of the Virgin and the ceremonies attached to it. The Greek name
of the Hodigitria icon (the Virgin points to the infant Christ) is
rendered in a distorted way as `Eididera', the chant `Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison' was more familiar to the Western writer. The icon
was very important in Byzantine church life and was noticed by other
pilgrims.28
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
In 12th-century Western Europe there was a marked interest in
the Virgin Mary. This was also true of the recently Christianized
Northern countries. Pilgrims must have looked carefully at the unfamiliar pictures, the icons, which they saw in Greek churches. The
Virgin as represented in the East, in icons, frescoes, ivories etc., must
have made a special impact upon them. This impact is visible even
at an earlier date. Both iconography and theology deserve our attention as sources for this influence.
What did the average pilgrim take home as a souvenir, for his
relatives and for himself? The Danish text explicitly states that the
Danes, who were unwilling to serve the Greek emperor (and thus
earned no gold), wanted to return to their wives and children. For
such pilgrims, simple crosses, encolpia (pendant crosses), must have
been attractive. They were small, did not take too much space in
their luggage, and, depending on the material of which they were
made, were not too expensive. A variety of Byzantine crosses has
been found in Scandinavia, many of which have not been published.
The National Museum of Copenhagen possesses a few of them.29
The two Byzantine encolpia found on Gotland, now in the Statens
Historiska Museum, Stockholm (nos. 2976, 3574) were probably
brought home by pilgrims. Their unique representation of Christ
(specially made for the `export' market?) dressed in long clothes, may
have influenced small crosses made in Sweden and on Gotland, and
possibly had some impact on the iconography of Christ in other forms
of art.30
More expensive must have been the icon carved in steatite (soapstone) found on Gotland, at Kallunge. It is a 12th- or 13th-century
Crucifixion scene, in a fragmentary state. Its owner may have been
one of the freeholding well-to-do farmers of Gotland, who travelled
to Russia and further afield in winter time.31 Did the Scandinavians
29 Danmarks Middelalder, Nationalmuseets Vejledninger, Copenhagen 1972, p. 25,
nos. S-V.
so A.M. Ammann, `Eire neue Variante der Darstellung des bekleideten Christus',
OCP 21, 1955, p. 21-35, esp. 29, 30-1. Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm,
nos. 729, 3491, 13252, are Byzantinizing crosses. See also O.B. Salin, `Nagra krucifix
och kors i Statens Historiska Museum', Svenska Fornminnesforeningens Tidskrift 8, 1891-3,
p. 277, 301s. (referred to by T j. Arne, La Suede et l'0rient, Uppsala 1914, p. 227),
for crosses of tin.
31 A. Andersson, L'art scandinave, II, Zodiaque 1968, p. 131; Kalavrezou-Maxeiner,
no. 77, p. 168-9 (Stockholm, Statens Historiska Museum, no. 8280); Byzantine Art,
catalogue, no. 515, an 11th-century silver gilt cup with ill. (c£ Archaeologia 8, 1966,
p. 31-7, for a similar bowl at Preslav, in Bulgarian).
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
115
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 ambassadorial 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 'northern' 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 Copenhagen. 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 regarded 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 modem 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 beautiful 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
models. He called for a systematic search which, however, has never
been carried out.35 Sagas mention the clothes which some of the
returning travellers showed off in their native country. Bolli Bollason
is described in Laxdaela Saga as `wearing clothes of silk, given him by
the king of Miklagarth'.36 Scandinavians must have brought home
Greek clothes for the simple reason that their own clothes had worn
out in the meantime.
From early times, precious silks from the Byzantine empire were
used in burials. Relics were enveloped in precious silks, possibly leftovers from expensive textiles used for clothing. In Odense the grave
of Holy king Cnut (d. 1086) revealed a purple silk which, even if it
came from southern Italy, could be of Byzantine manufacture. Like
so many other textiles the silk has yet to reveal all its secrets.37 The
same can be said for the silks found in the grave of bishop Absalon
(d. 1201) at Sorry (Denmark). In Byzantine diplomacy silks were used
as ambassadorial gifts.38
The Scandinavians certainly did not only bring back artefacts and
money. They must have brought home new ideas as well. We may
expect the leaders to have been the first to do so. Harald, king of
Norway, had been `trained' for his leadership in Byzantium, where
the emperor was a sacrosanct representative of God on earth and
leader of the Christian church. Do we see a reflection of this in
Harald's reply to Adalbert, archbishop of Bremen, when he says that
he does not know of any other leader or archbishop in his kingdom
than himself ('se nescire quis sit archiepiscopus aut potens in Norvegia
nisi solus Haraldus')?39 It is believed that Harald kept contact with
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 monetary 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 immediate 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 "Armenian" 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.
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CHAPTER FOUR
Denmark king Sven Estrithson (1047-1075) imitated, at the very
beginning of his reign, a gold coin of Michael IV which must have
reached him through Harald Hardrada whom he met in Sweden
when the Norwegian prince returned home and became his ally. On
that occasion, gifts and coins must have been exchanged. The conception of rulership in the North too may have been influenced by
contacts with the Byzantine world.43 Finland, where some 19 Byzantine coins have been found, provides examples of imitations used as
jewelry. Here the models were coins of the above-mentioned emper-
ors Basil II and Constantine VIII and the Virgin orans type of
Romanus III (1028-1034) and Constantine IX Monomachus (10421055). Byzantine coins were considered to be beautiful and worthy
of imitation, the more so because they allowed the expression of newly
adopted Christian ideals and values .41,
This imitation of Christian concepts on coins brings us to a more
general mimicry of religious life and its ceremonies. We have seen
how sometimes a Greek altar front was imported from Byzantium or
a Byzantine textile used to decorate an altar. From this, it is only a
small step to the place where religious life had its apogee, the church.
We will not discuss the much-debated question of whether Greek
and Armenian bishops travelled through Scandinavia on their way
to far-away Iceland. Scandinavia had only recently been christianized
and was still largely open to all sorts of influences. Harald of Norway was not too willing to submit to the archbishopric of Bremen
and he and his Northern colleagues must have preferred to maintain
an independence in the Viking tradition. It may be that they introduced all sorts of Eastern, Greek and Armenian, elements into religious life and art in order to counterbalance influences from Rome.
Rulers and magnates were the patrons of arts in those days and the
presence of Byzantine or Byzantinizing influences reveal their interventions and their preferences, but much research remains to be done
in this field.
43 P. Grierson, `Harold Hardrada and Byzantine coin types in Denmark', Byz
Forsch 1, 1966, p. 124-38; M.F. Hendy, `Michael IV and Harold Hardrada', The
Numismatic Chronicle, 1970, p. 187-97. C.M. Edsman, `Det sakrale kungadomet i
forskningshistorisk belysning' (= Das sakrale Konigtum in forschungsgeschichtlichem
Licht), Swedish with German summary, in M. Blindheim e.a. (eds.), Kongens makt og
aere. Skandinaviske herskersymboler gjennom 1000 air, Oslo 1985, p. 19-28, esp. 27 (cf. BZ
79, 1986, p. 461); see also Hagg, art. cit. (n. 36), p. 222.
44 P. Sarvas. `Kaiser and Jungfrau Maria. Barbarische Darstellungen auf einigen
in Finland gefundenen Nachahmungen byzantinischer Munzen', Suomen Museo 73,
1966, p. 5-13; idem, `Bysanttilaiset rahat seka niiden jaljitelmat Suomen 900-ja 1000-
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
119
At Sigtuna where, as we have seen, imitations of Byzantine coins
were minted, Byzantine influence also reveals itself in architecture.
In the early 12th century a church was built in granite, dedicated to
St Olaf. The Greek-cross plan of this church reminds one of Byzantine churches. Instead of a dome, however, we find a square, central
tower, possibly because the architect was unable to build domes. The
suggestion has been made that the interior of the church was more
appropriate to an Orthodox service than to a Catholic mass. One
cannot deny that relations were very intense with the East and SouthEast of Europe, notably at Sigtuna, which was an important marketcentre and bishopric. The Swedish king Olof Skotkonung and one
of his colleagues were baptized into the Byzantine church.45 If we
are right in identifying such architectural influence here we should
be able to `detect it elsewhere too. Some time before 1130 king Sigurd
of Norway built Krosskirkja, also called the Castle Church, at Konungahelle. It was meant to house the relic of the Holy Cross which the
king brought back from Jerusalem. He may have intended an imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, recently restored by the
Byzantine emperors, in the Byzantine tradition. Nothing is known of
its ground plan. It was here that Sigurd placed the Byzantine altar
and deposited the manuscript which he brought from Constantinople.46
The church at Kalundborg (Denmark), built between 1170 and 1190
by Esbern Snare, brother of bishop Absalon, as his burial church,
clearly looks back to the Byzantine ground plan of a Greek cross,
i.e. the arms are of equal length. Here again there are no domes,
but five towers, which is unique for Scandinavia. Absalon and Esbern
were both well acquainted with the East. We will see below that
their families and their relatives had a predilection for things Byzantine.47 Another example of a Greek-cross church is the stavkirke of
Nore, in Numedal (Norway) where the arms probably ended in
absidioles. In Norway the problem of Eastern/Byzantine influence
lukujen loydoissa', Finska Fornminnesfdreningens Tidskrift 75, 1973, p. 176-186 (cf. BZ
68) 1975, p. 579); T. Talvio, `Coin imitations as jewelry in eleventh century Finland', ibid., 1978, p. 26-38; idem, `Bysantinska myntimitationer och ddig kristendom
in Finland', Konsthistoriska Studier 8, Helsinki 1985, p. 269-72.
45 Andersson, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 170-1, pl. 136; Larusson, art. cit. (n. 39), p. 30,
refers to S.U.A. Palme, Kristendomens genombrott i Sverige, Stockholm 1959, p. 126s.;
F.D. Scott, Sweden. The nation's history, Minneapolis 1977, p. 36s.
46 See note 25.
47 Andersson, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 235-6, fig. 90; A. Tuulse, Scandinavia Romanica,
Vienna 1968, p. 246. A parallel is seen with the church of the Holy Apostles,
Constantinople, where emperors were buried.
120
CHAPTER FOUR
upon architecture has been raised already by A. Bugge; P. Anker,
author of L'art scandinave I, invited a further, more systematic study,
which has however yet to appear. Bugge referred to the frequent
contacts between Norway and Byzantium and Russia in the 12th
century, which he held to be responsible for the adoption of the
Greek-cross ground plan and possibly other influences as well. The
dedications of these churches might be helpful but often they are
unknown. Harald Hardrada built a church at Oslo, probably dedicated to the Virgin.48 The church of the Holy Apostles at Bergen
was built by king Eystein Magnusson who died in 1122.49
We have to look at the interior of churches where Byzantine and
Byzantinizing influences are more clearly discernible than on the
exterior. Wall-paintings, woodcarving, stonecarving and the minor
arts all betray, in one way or another, `in style or in iconography, the
impact that Byzantium had on the North in this period, and later in
the Gothic period. This influence has at times been studied in the
context of the `Byzantinische Frage', in relation to Western European art and its radiation. Nowadays it is the direct contacts between the North and Byzantium which are being stressed.50 On the
island of Gotland, where Byzantine coins have been found in abundance, Byzantine wall-paintings have been discovered. Curiously
enough we find them in small inland churches, with unknown dedications, at Garda and Kallunge. The patrons of these churches were
probably freeholding farmers who had developed Byzantine tastes
during their travels abroad. Byzantine saints were depicted, as were
scenes from the Last Judgement, episodes from the New Testament
and from Saint's Lives, possibly by Greek painters or people who had
been in close contact with them. The style and the iconography are
sometimes entirely Byzantine.51 Even the regularly recurring ornament in heart-shaped form, belongs to the Byzantine tradition. The
wall-paintings seem to belong to the second half of the 12th century,
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 heartshaped 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 churches 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-paintings as Ulla Haastrup has pointed out in two recent publications on
iconographical problems.54 The most striking examples are a Theotokos Hodigitria at Malov, near Copenhagen, and scenes from the
New Testament at Jorlunde, somewhat more distant from the Danish 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
background of these paintings, in the original or repainted 19th-century
layers, remind one of Byzantine paintings of this same period. Yellow backgrounds may imitate the gold basis of so many Byzantine
works of art.
Some paintings on wood panels have been preserved, but only on
Gotland and again in small churches. In the church of Eke there is a
fragment of what seems to have been an Ascension scene; from Sundre come the remains of a Last judgement scene, now in the Visby
Museum, on Gotland.55
The Last judgement, in its Byzantine version, with the dead in
hell, sometimes only their skulls, haunted the minds of the newly
converted Scandinavians, and brings us to another artistic expression
of the North, woodcarving. In Iceland a large part of a depiction of
the Last Judgement, carved in special wood, was found at Flatatunga,
in the North of the island. The panels are now exhibited in the
National Museum, Reykjavik (ill. 7). They should be dated to some-
where in the 11th or 12th century. Although the panels were found
in a farmhouse, they probably belonged originally to a church. The
wood comes, according to tradition, from a royal forest in Norway.
Did the patron(s) enjoy privileges, which allowed them to receive the
panels as a gift or to buy the special wood, probably at a high price?
Monks from Monte Cassino have been regarded by some as the source
of inspiration but nowadays Byzantine influence, directly via Russia,
is seen as a more likely impulse, the more so since in Scandinavia
other `Byzantine' Last judgements survive. In the rest of Western
Europe Last judgements are almost unknown. It could be interesting
to study the 12th-century Icelandic translations of the Descent into
Hell which offer some aspects not found in other Western translations and which may be due to the `Eastern connection'. Ornamentation of the so-called stavkirke also underwent Byzantine influence,
for example in the so-called Byzantine rosette or Byzantine flower.56
55 Piltz, art. cit. (n. 50), p. 24, fig. 22 (Sundre) = Tuulse, op. cit. (n. 47), pl. 119;
Malmquist, art. cit. (n. 52), p. 161; E. Lagerlof, 'Bysantinskt maleri fran en gotlandsk
stavkyrka' (with English summary), The Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm Studies
4, 1984, p. 123-32.
56 K. Eldjarn, `Carved panels from Flatatunga', Acta Archaeologica 24, 1953, p. 95100; S. Jonsdottir, An 11 th-century Byzantine Last Judgement in Iceland, Reykjavik 1959;
Campbell, op. cit. (n. 22), no. 539, p. 161 (with full bibliography). Blindheim,
op. cit. (n. 26), p. 45, and Tuulse, op. cit. (n. 47), p. 232 (church of Ulvik), mention
the `Byzantine flower' motif and Byzantine influence in woodcarving in stave churches,
possibly as part of Romanesque art. Turville-Petre, op. cit. (n. 9), p. 126; de Vries,
op. cit. (n. 9), II, p. 182s.
THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES
123
The representations of the Last judgements on the West wall of
churches with their calls for a pious life and warnings against the
terrors,of hell which were so vividly depicted, bring us to the belief,
the theology and the religious traditions of the Scandinavian churches.
The Last Judgement at Sundre was believed by some to have decorated an altar table. Altars formed the central part of the religious
service. As we have seen already king Sigurd bought a Byzantine
altar for his Castle Church, for his private chapel.
The iconography of this altar and of the manuscript are unfortunately unknown, but it must have had a wider impact. Byzantine
influence is sometimes noticeable in the 12th-century golden altars
in the North, for instance in the altar of Lyngsjo (Sweden), an altar
in the Bergen Museum and in some altars in Jylland (Denmark), but
sofar they have been considered in the context of Romanesque art.
People are rendered as tall, slim figures, with serious expressions.
The least we can say is that the ground was fertile for the acceptance of Byzantine elements and style in a new form.57 Baptismal
fonts also played a major role in the liturgy. On the island of Gotland,
where the Byzantine presence was very strong, the iconography of
some fonts is so obviously Byzantine that master masons have been
described as `Byzantios' and `semi-Byzantios'.58 In the case of Gotland
a direct connection with Russia and Byzantium has been accepted.
Triumphal crosses, processional crosses and reliquary crosses all,
from time to time, show Byzantine influence in form and style. Most
striking are double-armed crosses, like the small gilded one (11th/
12th century) in the University Museum, Oslo. Models for this type
of cross were present in the North, like the Roskilde cross, and the
crosses on some of the imported Byzantine coins which were, in their
turn, imitated.59 Church decoration and objects of devotion like the
wooden statues of Christ and the Virgin also occasionally show that,
iconographically speaking, a Byzantine model was available. The statue
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
of Christ in long clothes of Svenneby (Sweden) offers an iconographical
phenomenon which we have seen above.60 We have already spoken
of tapestries which were sometimes used to decorate churches.
Theology and liturgy are related. The hypothesis that St Olaf's
church at Sigtuna was built for the Orthodox rite was based on its
architectural form, its ground plan. The presence of foreign bishops
may have had some impact. The dedications of churches are equally
important as was the dedication service, which expressed theological
views, and indeed as were sermons in general. The suggestion has
been made that in Northern churches a wall separated the chancel,
where the altar stood and where the clergy performed its office, and
the nave where the rest of the congregation assembled. In the socalled stave-church homily, a dedication sermon, a symbolical description of the building is given. This was not entirely unknown in
the West where it may have been spread by theologians under Byzantine influence. The late 12th-century sermon, possibly meant for
use in a church at Bergen, states that: `in this roodscreen, there is a
large doorway through which all that happens in the chancel may
be seen from the nave, for every man who finds the doorway of
the Holy Spirit may observe many celestial things with his spiritual
eyes'.61 Scandinavian churches were often built of wood in those days
and therefore few traces of such walls have been left; the same goes
for later `restorations'. This difficult problem asks for serious study
by specialists.
A little researched subject is the popularity of saints, their relics
and Lives and the liturgical calendar, the menology. For the later
Middle Ages this is being done for Finland, but Finland's position,
near to Orthodox Russia and with an Orthodox minority even in
the present day, is different.62 One wonders why, at an early stage,
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 dedication', 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. LabrecquePervouchine, 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
the Vita of the Forty Armenian Martyrs of Sebaste (Armenia) was
translated into Old Norse.63 And why did Nicholas Bergsson, the
later abbot of Thingeyrar, mention the relics of St Gregory the Illuminator, patron saint of Armenia? And what about the term Pc lsbok,
interpreted as the ritual of the Orthodox church?64 The Northern
diatesseron has, in common with some Western versions, elements
that derive from Syrian or Armenian sources; have they partly derived from Western intermediate sources or was there an Eastern
connection?65 The term primsignad, designating a catechumen in the
Orthodox church, was used for Olaf Tryggvason (995-1000). During
a seabattle against the Danes and Swedes the king leapt overboard
and was never seen again in the North. He found, however, his way
to Byzantium where he became primsignad/prime-signed and ended
his life in a monastery. Northern travellers saw his belongings there.
Byzantium was, in legend and in reality, a place of refuge where one
could live peacefully and die a Christian.66
Later sagas, probably in the tradition of French `romans', use Constantinople as the setting for adventures and fantasies, sometimes giving
authentic details of topography and of monuments. Kirjalax (Alexius
I) 1081-1118) and some of his namesakes became the prototype of the
Byzantine emperor. In Northern literature there was a tradition of
the transmission of tales and anecdotes containing military strategems.61
Historical writings give a few glimpses of knowledge of and contacts with the Byzantines: the reign of an emperor is sometimes given
in a general context, as in the Landnamabok (The Book of Settlements),
Hauksbok and in the Annales in the Flateyjarbok.68
Church: some problems of the Finnish Orthodox liturgical calendar', Washington
1986, 17th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Abstracts of short papers, p. 288-90.
63 Heilagra Manna Sogur, ed. C.R. Unger, Christiania 1877, II, p. 211-21;
0. Widding/H. Bekker-Nielsen/L.K. Shook, `The Lives of the Saints in Old Norse
prose, a handlist', Mediaeval Studies 25, 1963, p. 294337.
64 C.E. Fell, `A note on Palsbok', Mediaeval Scandinavia 6, 1973, p. 102-08.
65 A. van Arkel-de Leeuw van Weenen/G. Quispel, `The Diatesseron in Iceland
and Norway', Hgiliae Christianae 32, 1978, p. 21415.
66 E.g. Olafs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, ed. O. Halldorsson, Copenhagen 1958, I,
p. 154. Cf. Riant, Expeditions, p. 100; Davidson, p. 255s.; Fell, art. cit. (n. 64),
p. 106s. A primsignad must be a person who has been chrismated, c£ T. Ware, The
Orthodox Church, Harmondsworth 1963, p. 285-6.
67 E.g. Damusta Saga, ed. L.F. Tan-Haverhorst, Haarlem 1939; Davidson, p. 274.
Karlamagnussaga with its fairytale-like description of Constantinople was translated
around 1250; R. Cook, `Russian history, Icelandic story, and Byzantine strategy',
ITator 17, 1986, p. 75s.
68 L. Musset, Les peuples scandinaves an Moyen Age, Paris 1951, p. 66. Flateyjarb6k,
126
CHAPTER FOUR
We have already referred to `Fremdkorper' and `new forms' in
Old Norse: Prdsbok, primsignad, Aegisi, Miklagarth, gullboluskrri. Thorstein
Asmundarson, the husband of the Lady Spes, had the surname
dromundr, the Galleon, deriving from Spoµwv (Greek for ship). The
word polutasvarf was sometimes interpreted as deriving from the Greek
itoM&u. and -svarf. Technical terms relating to clothing material like
rdtlakan and krabbasnar have been seenas calques from Greek words.
This is but a small selection of linguistic `imports'. A systematic search
may reveal other contacts with the Byzantine world.69
Did the Scandinavians, although a minority, leave traces behind
them in Byzantium? Byzantine writers admired the warlike qualities
of these axe-bearing foreigners, a term which regularly occurs in
military treatises, but that is all we can find in Greek sources. Could
it be that military strategems found their way to Byzantium, at least
in literature? Some Scandinavians never returned home and ended
their lives peacefully in the East, like the Dane Kolskegg Hamundarson.70 The small colony had its own churches and its own clergy.
It was probably Harald Hardrada who built a church for St Olaf,
dedicated to the Virgin, where the sword Hneitir was venerated and
where the saint performed miracles; nothing remains of these sanctuaries.71 More lasting are runic inscriptions that have been found,
some of them very recently, in Saint Sophia, on a balustrade and in
the south gallery (ill. 3), and on a marble lion from Piraeus, now in
Venice, which stands in front of the Arsenal. The former give the
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 probably 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 Northerners travelled were sometimes beautifully decorated. The Heimskringla 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 miniature 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
72 E. Svardstrom, `Runorna i Hagia Sofia', Fornvdnnen 1970, p. 247-9 (with English summary); A. Liestsl, `Runer fra Bryggen', Viking 27, 1963, p. 126, (inaccessible); M.G. Larsson, `Runklotter in Hagia Sofia', Svenska Forskningsinstitut i Istanbul,
Meddelanden 13, 1988, p. 55-8, with 3 ill. (c£ BZ 82, 1989, p. 526); idem, `Nyfunna
runor i Hagia Sofia', Fornvdnnen 84, 1989, p. 12-14, with ill., here ill. 3; Davidson,
p. 204. For the marble lion see e.g. E. Lozovan, `Varegues, Romeens et le lion du
Piree', Revue Romane 8, 1973, p. 151-56.
73 C.G. Curtis/S. Aristarchis, 'EX?,,ivUxbc'ttXoXoymbSIlAkoyoS of Constantinople,
IIapapn ga 16, 1885, p. 36; R.M. Dawkins, `The later history of the Varangian
guard: some notes', journal of Roman Studies 37, 1947, p. 46.
T Ruprecht, op. cit. (n. 21), p. 125s. (index s.v. Griechenland); Blondal/Benedikz,
esp. p. 223s., 227-8.
75 Heimskringla, The Saga of the sons of Magnus, ch. 13, Hollander, p. 698; Blondal/
Benedikz, p. 132.
128
CHAPTER FOUR
full-size portraits to be made of him, showing him seated and standing. Did the Byzantine emperors have some sort of state gallery?
Byzantine painting produced secular portraits (see ch. The Holy
Roman empire). At least in the 13th century, when the Heimskringla
was written, this seemed quite normal.76
Until 1204 there was a continuous Scandinavian presence in
Byzantium. One of the gates of Constantinople was called after the
Danes: porta Dacorum. In 1204 Danes stood on the walls of
Constantinople together with English Varangians to defend the town
against the crusaders from the West. They were not succcessful and
they had to come out with their clergy to submit to the new Western masters. Times changed, rulers changed, privileges changed. A
few years later we meet them again, protesting against payment of a
tithe to the Latin patriarch, apparently bringing forward the argument that they were tax exempt.77
It may be true that Scandinavian coinage started in the image of
Byzantium and that in many fields Byzantine influence is clearly dis-
cernible, yet Scandinavia never became part of the Byzantine cultural Commonwealth. Western influences proved to be stronger in
the end.
76 Saxo Grammaticus, op. cit. (n. 23), I, p. 339.
" Walter Map, p. 178-9; Robert de Clari, Lauer, p. 73, 79 (Longnon, 237, 241);
S. Baluzius, Epistolarum Innocentii III Romani pont#icis, Paris 1657, II, p. 147.
CHAPTER FIVE
BRITAIN
. the English exiles were warmly welcomed by the
Greeks, Orderic Vitalis'
From Scandinavia we go to the British Isles or, to be more precise,
to England, once part of the Roman empire and where Hadrian's
wall still clearly marked the limits of the old order. In contemporary
Byzantine sources, such as the Alexiad, written by the princess Anna
Comnena, daughter of Alexius I (1081-1118), the country was called
Thule, OoWxj. Like Scandinavia, England supplied the Byzantine
empire with mercenaries. On the whole contacts were of a different,
and often indirect nature, to judge by their very results; travellers
often remained anonymous.
Geographically, the British Isles are in an isolated position. But
contacts with the continent and with Scandinavia during the period
under discussion were part and parcel of the country's history. Christianity had been introduced centuries before. In the earliest times
the tin mines of Cornwall had linked the country with the Near
East, including Byzantium, and it is possible that they continued to
do so in later times. Tin and lead were commodities for which there
was always a market.
A number of studies on Byzantine influence upon England and on
contacts between the two countries present a survey of these relations
and their impact.' Ireland, Scotland and Wales have hardly been
touched upon in these studies and therefore we will concentrate upon
England. The dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century is a
complicating factor where artefacts and treasures are concerned.
' Orderic Vitalis, IV, Chibnall, II, p. 203.
2 For historians in England during the period see A. Gransden, Historical writing
in England, c. 550 to c. 1307, London 1974; Lopez, `Probleme des relations'; D.M.
Nicol, `Byzantium and England', Balkan Studies 15, 1974, p. 179-203; D. Talbot
Rice, 'Britain and the Byzantine world', in Byzantine art, lectures, p. 23-42. In
1994/1995 a beautiful exhibition was organized by the British Museum, London,
presenting also a number of Byzantine objects which from old times were in Britain, Byzantium. Treasures of Byzantine art and culture from British collections, ed. D. Buckton,
catalogue, London 1994.
130
CHAPTER FIVE
One thing which England and Scandinavia had in common was
their linguistic diversity. Latin, Old English and Anglo-Norman (Old
French) were the spoken and written languages. Among the inhabitants it is difficult to distinguish between the Scandinavians (living
mainly in the Danelaw), the Anglo-Saxons and, after 1066, the Normans and the French. The Anglo-Normans added a new element to
the population of the island. The year 1066 was an important landmark: political and cultural changes began to take place after the
Norman conquest, which resulted in the establishment of an Angevin
empire with lands and interests on both sides of the Channel.
People from all social backgrounds travelled to Byzantium: nobles,
prelates, monks and many ordinary men and women. This number
did not however include royalty. Richard Lion-Heart was an exception, though he only visited a few Greek islands and did not call at
Constantinople. Contacts were, however, very varied and the presence of coins and artefacts is less well attested than in Scandinavia,
where rulers and noble mercenaries brought home specific objects.
In contrast to Scandinavia, England took an active part in the mainstream of Western European culture, in which Byzantine currents
and undercurrents regularly appear, notably in literature and in the
arts, and especially in what are commonly called Romanesque and
Gothic art.
Chronicles in Latin, Greek, and in the vernacular languages, saint's
Lives, letters, legal documents, references in a variety of other texts,
occasional artefacts and some archaeological finds, form the evidence
for contacts between England and Byzantium. A unique source of
information are the Pipe Rolls, the lists of expenses of the royal court.
The overland route to Jerusalem inevitably took pilgrims and crusaders through Constantinople. Pilgrims, crusaders, scholars, diplomats, ambassadors and mercenaries, all travelled to Byzantium and
brought home with them stories of what they had seen and experienced. Refugees and exiles left for other reasons and were not likely
to return home very soon.
We have proof of the presence of Greeks in England, some of
whom were not simply visitors but seem to have settled there permanently. In the late 10th century the Liber Vitae of the New Minster at
Winchester, mentions an Andreas Grecus who is commonly held to
be a Greek monk. During the reign of king Edgar (959-975) bishop
Sigedwoldus, one of the king's magnates of Greek origin, asked the
king, but in vain, to give him Ely. One wonders what his original
BRITAIN
131
name was. Between 983 and 1016 Symeon, an eastern hermit, travelled 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 during the Conqueror's reign a Greek goldsmith was active in the country (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 Byzantine 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 ambassadorial 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.
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CHAPTER FIVE
themselves, maintained relations with the Byzantine empire or seem
to have had such relations and, one way or another, felt its influence
or stimulated others to do so.
In 962, the starting point for our discussion, Edgar was king of
the greater part of England (Wessex, Mercia etc.). The cultural centre of his kingdom was Winchester where his wife Aelfthryth was a
great benefactress and bishop Aethelwold a patron of the arts. Edgar's
illegitimate daughter Edith, later canonized, was held in wide esteem
as an artist, being an excellent embroideress. The atmosphere of the
court was congenial to cultural activity of all sorts. Edgar pursued a
policy of unification of England and was very successful in this. He
maintained international contacts, certainly with Ottonian Germany
and with France, and possibly with Byzantium. Records mention
envoys from the imperatores and there were only two emperors in
Europe at the time. R.S. Lopez referred to Byzantine `contacts' all
through the 10th century, going by the regular style of English rulers
as basileus in diplomas and elsewhere.'
Byzantine influence, and the imitation of Byzantine traditions and
iconographical themes, seem to have reached a highpoint during
Edgar's reign. The king certainly had territorial ambitions although
there is no evidence that he coveted imperial pretensions like those
of the contemporary Ottonian rulers. However, one frequently comes
across terms like imperium, imperialis (imperator), imperatorius and basileus
in the written sources. Edgar devoted much energy to the establishment of a central mint and from his reign onward every coin bore
the portrait of the ruler as had long been the custom in Byzantium.
Even the Western imperial pretenders, the Ottonians, had not reached
this stage with their coinage. Laws concerning forgers, even the earlier ones, remind one of similar Byzantine legislation, e.g. the loss of
an arm upon conviction.' In 966 the charter of the New Minster,
Winchester (British Library, Cotton Vesp. A VIII, fo. 2v), was illustrated with a miniature depicting the king between the Virgin and
St Peter. The iconography goes back to a Byzantine prototype ac' 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 sovereigns', 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.
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cording to D. Talbot Rice, who seems to hint at the so-called balance-motif, i.e. the central person is flanked by two others who are
disposed symmetrically. The reddish background, probably folium
purpureum, is another imperial imitation, which was common in
Carolingian and Byzantine manuscripts.' Another manuscript from
Winchester, now also in the British Library, the Add. 49598, betrays
strong Byzantine influence in its iconography: the Benedictional of
St Aethelwold, written and illuminated between 971 and 984. The
full-page miniatures showing the Baptism (fo. 25), the Pentecost
(fo. 67v) and the Death/ Coronation of the Virgin (fo. 102v) follow a
Byzantine iconographical tradition. Full-page miniatures to illustrate
the Bible were a recent Byzantine innovation and it is remarkable
how quickly Ottonian and Anglo-Saxon painters were to follow this
new style. The bishop left a manuscript, de litteris grecorum, to Peter-
borough Abbey. Unfortunately nothing more is known about this
book. Equally interesting is the sermon on the Assumption of the
Virgin by Aelfric of Eynsham, one of Aethelstan's pupils.10
In 973 Edgar had himself crowned king; in the words of J. Nelson
it was an `imperial inauguration rite'. The 973 Ordo has been preserved. It is interesting to see that on that occasion the Te Deum was
sung. There is a longstanding discussion on the Greek origins of this
hymn. England was already familiar with Greek litanies, as is clear
from the Aethelstan Psalter and other manuscripts. It would be interesting to know whether Greek texts or translations were directly
available. Edgar's wife Aelfthryth was anointed queen and took the
title of regina. Later she became a sort of regent for her minor son,
a very uncommon occurrence in Britain, but quite usual in the Byzan-
tine empire." A direct precedent for this may have been the career
9 The golden age of Anglo Saxon art, catalogue, London 1984, no. 26, p. 47, and
colour plate IV; D. Talbot Rice, English art, 871-1100, Oxford 1952, p.
184s.;
H. Roosen-Runge, Farbgebung and Technik fizlhmittelalterlicher Buchmalerei, Munich 1967,
1,p. 51.
10
IF. Wormald, The Benedictional of St. Ethelwold, London 1959; E. Temple, Anglo-
Saxon manuscripts, 900-1066, London 1976, no. 23, p. 49-51; Demus, p. 90s.; Tem-
ple, ibid., e.g. nos. 52 and 53, p. 72-3, betray the influence of the East and more
examples could be found; cf. Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 18s. For the bequest
see M.R. James, `Greek manuscripts in England before the Renaissance', The Library
7, 1927, p. 340; F. Barlow, The English church, 1000-1066, London 1972, 2nd ed.,
p. 340; Aelfiic, Catholic sermons, ed. B. Thorpe, London 1844-6, I, p. 437s., II, p. 439.
11
The anonymous Life of Oswald, in The historians of the church of York and its arch-
bishops, ed. J. Raine, RS 1879, I, p. 438. J. Nelson, `Inauguration rituals', in Early
medieval kingship, ed. P. Sawyer/I. Wood, Leeds 1977, p. 65-71; H. Kleinschmidt,
Untersuchungen uber das englische Konigtum im 10. Jahrhundert, Gottingen etc., 1979,
134
CHAPTER FIVE
of Theophano, the Greek princess who married the emperor Otto II
and who was crowned augusta during her marriage ceremony in Rome,
in April 972. There was frequent contact with the Ottonian world in
which Byzantine influence was strongly felt even before Theophano's
arrival in the West.12 The eventful year of 972 may have stimulated
an even closer imitation of the real basileus than ever before. Information was readily available from those Greeks living in Western
Europe and in England, some of whom may have come in the entourage of the new empress. It was the policy of the Byzantine intelligence service to keep itself well informed in foreign affairs and it is
not unlikely that a number of Greeks crossed the North Sea.
Edith, the king's daughter, became a nun at Wilton Abbey and
was eventually canonized. Although she led a rather secluded life,
she had a liking for luxury, purple clothes and other precious items.
Cloth of gold formed part of her wardrobe. In her Vita written by
Goscelin in the 11th century we come across the term aurotextas
clamides.13 The word clamis (Greek xXaµvc) may well be a Greek
loanword which was already in use in the 10th century. Edith ordered an oratory to be built which is thought to have had a ground
plan in the form of a Greek cross.14 Benna, an artist from Trier,
decorated its walls. The idea for such a `Byzantine' ground plan may
have come directly from Byzantium or indirectly via Ottonian Germany where we find a number of examples, e.g. at Aachen. Edith is
the second woman in England (after Cynethrith, wife of king Offa,
represented on a coin of the late 8th century) whose effigy has been
preserved. She had herself portrayed on her seal as abbess of Wilton,
inspired perhaps by the glorious example of Theophano and of some
of the leading Ottonian ladies and abbesses.i5
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 miniatures 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
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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 century 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 Canterbury and Exeter; the rest of Western Europe however did not celebrate 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.
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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 12thcentury 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 unknown 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 Westminster 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.
(n. 18), p. 89s.; Byzantium, op. cit. (n. 2), no. 166, p. 151s.
22 Barlow, op. cit. (n. 10), p. 21, 33.
cit.
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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 Benedictional 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 iconographical 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
23 Eadmer, Miracula Sancti Dunstani, in Memorials of St. Dunstan, RS 1857, p. 245
('et inde rediens per Constantinopolim, emit ibi quod beato Dunstano deferret pallium unum pretiosum valde et pulchrum'); c£ Barlow, ibid., p. 79, n. 4.
24 S. Casson, `Byzantinism', The Burlington Magazine 59, 1931, p. 208-13; idem,
`Byzantium and Anglo-Saxon sculpture', ibid., 61, 1932, p. 265-74, and 62, 1933,
p. 26-36; D. Talbot Rice, The Byzantine element in late Saxon art, Oxford 1947 (The
William Henry Charlton Memorial lecture, November 1946); T.C. Lethbridge, 'Byzantine
influence in late Saxon England', Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 43,
1949, p. 1-6 (refers to G.B. Brown, The arts in early England, London 1915, III, plate
X, no. 1, the Strood Mount with Christ as teacher); P.D. Whitting, `The Byzantine
empire and the coinage of the Anglo-Saxons', in R.H.M. Dolley (ed.), Anglo-Saxon
coins. Studies presented to F.E. Stenton on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 17 May 1960,
London 1961, p. 23-38. The term besant was almost unknown in Old English,
cf H.D. Meritt, The Old English Prudentius glosses at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Stanford 1959,
no. 548, p. 55; Deshman, art. cit. (n. 11), passim.
25 The Vita Wulfstani of William of Malmesbury, ed. R.R. Darlington, London 1928,
p. 33. We do not know when the coin came into his possession, the passage refers
to the period 1067-1092.
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CHAPTER FIVE
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 various 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. However, 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 Constantinople, 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 entering 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
26 Adam of Bremen, scholium 83 (84), p. 394.
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139
emperor and in Jerusalem by the patriarch Sophronius 11.1' Duke
William knew what was going on in Byzantium and in its army. It
has been suggested that during his invasion of England he made use
of Byzantine techniques and technology for the shipbuilding, the
organisation of the military camp at Dives-sur-Mer and the transport
of the horses. Information could easily be obtained from those who
had served in southern Italy and in Sicily.28 It seems to me to be
reasonable to suppose that William was actively engaged in obtaining strategical information by sending young people to Constantinople
who combined an education there with a little `industrial spying'.29
William's coronation on Christmas Day 1066 offers the first indi-
cation of his wish to imitate emperors and the imperial style. The
last Byzantine emperor to be crowned in the city was Constantine X
Doucas (1059), whose coronation took place on the day of the Nativity. Bishop Ealdred who was responsible in England for court
ceremonial and who had stayed for a while in Germany and probably visited Constantinople on his way to Jerusalem, may have been
one of William's advisors. The Ottonians, it is true, had the same
liking for coronation dates which emulated Charlemagne. A more
Byzantine element of the ceremonial in Westminster Abbey was
the blessing of the crown by the bishop before it was placed on
William's head, which was unknown in Western Europe. The Carmen
de Hastingae proelio by Guy of Amiens speaks in an ambiguous way of
this crown, `Grecia prudentem dirigit arte fabrum', translated by the
editors of the text as `Greece inspired a smith skilled in the art'."
According to some scholars the crown was made by a Greek goldsmith. In my opinion the crown imitated the flat diadem crown of
the Byzantine emperors, in use until the end of the 11th century.
27 Ciggaar, `Marginalia', p. 44. For the Anglo-Norman period in general see
A.L. Poole, From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 1087-1216, Oxford 1970, 2nd ed.;
Orderic Vitalis, IV, Chibnall, II, p. 344-7; for the seal of Sophronius II, patriarch
of Jerusalem, found at Winchester and sometimes related to Ingulf or a pseudoIngulf, V. Laurent, `Un sceau inedit du patriarche de Jerusalem Sophrone II trouve
a Winchester', Numismatic Circular 72, 1964, p. 49-50, with ills., and P. Grierson,
`The dates of patriarch Sophronius II of Jerusalem (post 1048-1076/83)', REB 43,
1985, p. 231-5; the seal depicts the Anastasis, i.e. the Resurrection by Christ.
28 B. Bachrach, `On the origins of William the Conqueror's horse transports',
Technology and Culture 26, 1985, p. 505-531; idem, `Some observations on the mili-
tary administration of the Norman conquest', ANS 8, 1985, p. 1-25.
29 Ciggaar, `Marginalia', p. 48s.
30 The Carmen de Hastingae proelio of Guy of Amiens, ed. / Engl. trans. by C. Morton/
H. Muntz, Oxford 1972, p. 48, v. 760; Ciggaar, `Marginalia', p. 58.
140
CHAPTER FIVE
Such crowns were represented in huge mosaics in Saint Sophia and
easily visible to tourists and visitors. They are also discernible on
coins. William insisted that his wife should be crowned with him.
This again was a Byzantine tradition. This was impossible under the
circumstances (she was still in Normandy) but she was crowned on
a later occasion, probably with the same ceremonial and the singing
of laudes.
The Norman invasion had met with resistance. Many nobles tried,
in vain, to resist the invaders and the new regime with its foreign
leaders. Great numbers of Anglo-Saxons, among whom groups of nobles who were unwilling to submit to the Normans, left the country.
Information about this is given in the Chronicon Laudunense, a 13thcentury world chronicle written at Laon, France. Some of the refugees sought refuge in far-away Byzantium. It must have been common
knowledge that the Byzantine army was in need of mercenaries.
Mercenaries coming from the North, Scandinavia, Iceland and Britain, were commonly called Varangians. Court offices like those of
bodyguards, palaceguards, and keepers of the treasury were often
reserved for Varangians, Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons. AngloSaxons probably went to serve in Constantinople long before the
events of 1066. The ultramarini Saxones in the Vita of king Edward
seem to refer to them. In Byzantium they were sometimes called
'EyiAI,vo (3&payyog.31
The Norman conquest has fascinated historians and the notion of
these Anglo-Saxon refugees has appealed to their imagination. It
seemed extraordinary that people should travel all the way to
Constantinople, in stead of going to Denmark, Scotland or elsewhere
in Western Europe. The discovery of new textual evidence in the
above-mentioned chronicle of Laon confirms the ideas expressed long
ago by A.A. Vasiliev on the Anglo-Saxon emigration to Constantinople
in the 1070s. When finally all hope of resisting the invaders had
vanished, large numbers of Anglo-Saxons offered their help and their
swords to the Byzantine emperor. A large group left from the West-
ern part of England, including many noblemen. The Greeks were
generous towards them and offered them quarters in the capital, a
town on the Sea of Marmara (Civetot), jobs and money. Some of
them, however, preferred to establish themselves elsewhere. The new
31 Eadem, `Emigration anglaise', p. 301-342; c£ REB 14, 1956, p. 130, and 18,
1960, p. 79.
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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 government 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 mention 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 predecessors. The front-facing bust becomes more popular, expressing royal
dignity and importance. Such `Frontalitat', in the words of A. Hauser,
32 Ciggaar, ibid.; Vasiliev, `Opening stages'; J. Shepard, `The English and
Byzantium: a study of their role in the Byzantine army in the late eleventh century',
Traditio 29, 1973, p. 53-92; idem, `Another New England? Anglo-Saxon settlement on the Black Sea', Byzantine Studies 1, 1974, p. 18-39; C. Head, `Alexios
Komnenos and the English', Byz 47, 1977, p. 186-98; R. Theodorescu, `Marginalia
to 11th century Anglo-Saxons in the Pontic area', Revue roumaine d'histoire 20, 1981,
p. 637-45. The publication of the Laon chronicle is a desideratum.
33 AASS Mali, VI, p. 403-4, 406.
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expresses hierarchy and that is what William exactly wanted to
introduce into his new possessions.34 The `imperial style' of William
the Conqueror may in part go back to the style of the Ottonian and
Salian rulers on the continent, in as far as coinage, architecture and
some ceremonies are concerned.35 But certain elements are, as we
have seen, genuinely Byzantine in origin. This also goes for some
coin types, especially the sword-type. The king is represented in fullface, with a drawn sword. The only prototype for such iconography
on European coins is a coin issued by the Greek emperor Isaac
Comnenus (1057-1059). During William's reign in Normandy young
noblemen, intimates of the ducal household, had served at the im-
perial court. Part of their salary may have been paid out in this
coin-type of Isaac Comnenus, which they carried back home. The
Byzantines were scandalized by the iconography on this coin, and
may have tried to get rid of these coins as soon as possible. The
emperor had trusted to his sword and not to heavenly powers; such
a coin could hardly be accepted as currency (ill. 8a,b) By giving them
to foreigners they were `out of sight'. William's successor, his son
William 11 (1087-1100) maintained the sword-type coin.36
Even if the Conqueror introduced some `Byzantine' institutions
via the Ottonians, at times he was certainly taking initiatives himself
by introducing Byzantine elements. He introduced other new features
into the administration of the country. We will mention here the
Ten Articles attributed to him. For the first time in the history
of England blinding was introduced for crimes that hitherto had
been punished by the death penalty. Was it for humanitarian reasons
that the law became milder? William possibly wanted to imitate a
very common Byzantine practice. The blinding of a man meant
that he was no longer a `whole' man. Especially in the case of an
emperor (and how often it happened that an emperor was blinded,
even Harald Hardrada took part in it) it was a useful procedure to
disqualify him from ofice.37
'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
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William's greatest administrative reform was the making of Domes-
day Book, an operation finished in 1086. The reason why and how
the `landbook' was made has been discussed for many years, and a
definite answer has not been given yet. Models for such an inventory
are not available in Western Europe. In his recent book Guillaume le
Conquerant M. de Bollard suggests that the model must have been
given by the Old Roman emperors.38 But why go back so far in time
when, at the other end of Europe, in the Byzantine empire, a parallel can be found. True the Byzantine `landbooks', at least the fragments that have been preserved, do not mention numbers of hides,
oxen etc. The Byzantine cadastral survey defined ownership, the extent
of territory, and the amount of land-tax to be paid. The best known
example is the 11th-century fragment of the Thebes land register,
published in 1959. The Normans in southern Italy displaced the
Byzantines who lost Bari, their last stronghold, in 1071, and who
were familiar from old with the cadastral system.39
Shortly before his death, at the time at which Domesday Book
was made, William sent a mission to Nicaea to bring his father's
body to the West. Such a translation could only take place with the
permission of the territorial ruler, the Byzantine emperor. For such
a request an official embassy or request must have been sent to the
imperial court. The mission was successful but en route, on the way
home, the envoys heard that William had died and they buried the
former duke of Normandy somewhere in Apulia.40
Another achievement of William's reign, ordered by his half-brother
bishop Odo of Bayeux, is the well-known Bayeux Tapestry, now in
the Centre Guillaume le Conquerant (Bayeux, France). It tells the story in
embroidered pictures of William's invasion of England and of the
events immediately leading up to it. The margins of this very long
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 example 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.
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tapestry depict birds and beasts in attitudes which in their heraldic
symbolism and their symmetrical disposition remind us of Byzantine
silks, a view which has been argued recently by C.R. Dodwell and
others. Animals biting their own tails regularly occur in Byzantine
silks.41
With the coming of the Normans a new era was inaugurated,
commonly called the Romanesque in as far as the arts are concerned.
It is true that such dates can never indicate precise periods: frontiers
are always fluid, but dates can help us to see things more clearly.
Anglo-Saxon art and the history of the Anglo-Saxons slowly come to
an end with the import and introduction of all sorts of foreign
influences and with a merging of the population. The highlights of
Byzantine influence on Romanesque art in England will be discussed
below under the reigns of the kings Henry I and Henry II.42
In the early 1090s (he may have left even during William's reign)
a monk from Canterbury, called Joseph, made a pilgrimage to Jeru-
salem with a band of companions. On the way back he visited
Constantinople. In his report of his journey he provides some very
interesting details. We see him meeting former friends, now serving
in the imperial household. He does not say if they were refugees or
voluntary mercenaries. His friends introduced him to the custodian
of the imperial chapel where very precious relics were kept. Joseph
admired in particular the relics of St Andrew and when asked by an
interpreter he confessed that he wanted a fragment for a cathedral
dedicated to St Andrew in his home country. He told his interviewer
that he did not have much money left for the journey home and
could not pay a large amount of money for such a relic. Was he
speaking the truth or was he simply bargaining? We do not know.
He went back to his hotel (hospicium) to wait for further instructions,
and there the text breaks off. The purchase of relics seems to have
been possible, even in the imperial chapel. Was there a black market
in relics, was there (possibly with official instructions) a market in
`forgeries'? Where did the profits go to? Was there an imperial cash-
ier to receive the proceeds or was this a purely private business
undertaken by some officials?43
" 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.
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In this same period bishop Anselm of Canterbury went to Bari to
attend a reconciliatory council with the Greeks. Anselm, Italian by
birth, and now in conflict with king William II of England, had lived
for a very long time in Normandy at the abbey of Le Bec where, in
1078, he became abbot. As a scholar he enjoyed a high reputation
even before settling in England as bishop of Canterbury. William of
Malmesbury called him the light of England, lux Angliae. His erudi-
tion made him a suitable person to conduct the delicate meeting
with the Greeks. But he would also have been familiar with Greek
life and religion, since in southern Italy there were Greek inhabitants
and Greek monasteries. Anselm wrote works on the theological
differences between East and West and refers to them in his correspondence. Terms like contra Graecos certainly do not make him a
Byzantinophile. During the council he made a speech about the Holy
Spirit. We do not know whether he could speak Greek or made use
of an interpreter. During his life in Normandy he was already well
informed about the situation and events in Byzantium. He once
begged William, novice of Le Bec, not to go to his brother in Constan-
tinople, reminding him of the hardships of the journey. Instead of
going to Jerusalem to see the Holy Places and to see the treasures of
Constantinople young William should make an inner pilgrimage.
Anselm's contacts with the Greek world may explain why he reintro-
duced or tried to reintroduce into England the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin. In a sermon on the topic attributed to him
mention is made of a miracle occurring shortly after the Norman
conquest. The Conqueror sent abbot Helsinus to Denmark to block
Danish help for the rebellious Anglo-Saxons. Faced with a heavy
storm at sea the abbot promised to keep the Feast of the Conception
if only the Virgin would help him to land safely in England. His
bargaining was successful and thus William the Conqueror enjoyed,
in the eyes of the invaders, the glorious reputation of having introduced the Marian feast. Anselm is also sometimes seen as one of the
promoters of the Marian cult. His contacts with the Greek world of
ideas and religion may have stimulated him in this, even if he was
not a pilgrim or crusader himself. His interest in the Virgin may
possibly be seen as a way of growing closer to the Greek church
where the Virgin played such a prominent role. He was one of the
first Western theologians to meet the Greeks after the schism of 1054
and whose works were to be translated into Greek in later times. His
ideas about the Marian cult were strengthened by his relative, the
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CHAPTER FIVE
young Anselm, who is sometimes regarded as having successfully
introduced the Feast of the Conception .14
In 1104 Anselm sent an illustrated copy of his Prayers to countess
Mathilda of Tuscany. By that time he was an exile in France, where
he spent some time at Cluny (his letter, announcing the dispatch of
the manuscript, was written in Lyon). The iconography of some
illustrations, of which the original set seems to be lost, shows signs
of Byzantine influence; it either came directly from Byzantium or
via Ottonian Germany. We could consider the double portrait of
St Anselm and the countess as such. The miniature of the Virgin
with the Infant Christ also deserves attention, given Anselm's interest
in Mariology.45
The First Crusade did not attract many participants from Britain
and thus we move to the 12th century. This period saw extensive
travelling between England and Byzantium as is clear from the Miracle
of St Augustine.
This continued during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135), son of
the Conqueror. Greek chronicles mention the presence of Englishmen in the Greek army: bodies of new recruits probably direct from
England, and pilgrims who had stayed behind after performing their
religious obligations, probably constituted the majority. Occasionally
descendants of earlier immigrants, the so-called Varangopouloi, may
have been seen as Englishmen. It is possible that from time to time
recruiting missions were sent by the Greek emperor. Henry I is the
first English king as we have seen already who, according to written
" 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.
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sources, received an official embassy of the Greek emperor. Between
1100 and 1116 the monastery of Abingdon (near Oxford) received
relics, such as an arm of St John Chrysostom. The relics had come
to England via Ulfricus of Lincoln, who had been sent by Alexius
Comnenus. To judge from his name the former was English by origin.
Having entered in the emperor's service and gained his confidence,
he was entrusted with the delicate mission of bringing a letter and
precious gifts to king Henry and his wife Mathilda
Ipsa legtione Wlfricus, genre Anglus, Lincoliae urbis nativus (ut tantae
dignitatis directorem decuerat), magna cum pompa functus est. Is plurimum familiaritatis usum circa eundem imperatorem [Alexius Comnenus]
habens46
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 preciouses, ou payles de paleis), i.e. material made in the imperial workshops.47
In the 1130s Henry's daughter Mathilda made a present of precious 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).
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and in the outside world. During this century we find an interest in
topographical descriptions of foreign towns such as Jerusalem and
Constantinople, and even London. This interest is particularly reflected
in English manuscripts, which makes one think that the texts were
written, or perhaps translated, by Englishmen. First there is the extensive description of Constantinople, the so-called anonymus Mercati.
The original Greek text, written after 1063, was probably translated
by an Englishman at the beginning of the 12th century. The text
describes numerous sanctuaries with their relics. A few miracle stories have been inserted into the text. One of them is the well-known
story of the merchant Theodorus who forms a partnership with his
Jewish friend Abraham who lends him money for his business. After
some failures, but always supported by his friend, business takes him
to an island near the ocean, which could well be Cornwall. He is
offered lead and tin in exchange for the food he carries in his ship.
The two commodities change into the purest silver and return an
enormous profit to the partners. The miraculous powers of an icon
of Christ in a Constantinopolitan church are also features of this
story. It seems that in this period there was an increased interest in
icons. Between 1137 and 1143 a further description of the Byzantine
capital was written, also possibly by an Englishman. Some English
historians of the later 12th century use the same details of this description of the construction of Saint Sophia. They may all go back
to a common source, written or oral, which was probably a Latin
translation of the Greek account of the building of the main church
of Constantinople by Justinian, the diegesis, or a talk given by local
guides to tourists. An inventory of relics in the imperial chapel in
Constantinople is found in two English manuscripts of around 1150.
One wonders whether English former employees of the imperial
household could not have transmitted such lists of relics. The interest in foreign towns is clearly there and it was thought worthwhile to
record such details on costly vellum.41
One of the scholars active during Henry I's reign was the historian
William of Malmesbury who died ca. 1143. We have already come
across his name once or twice. In his many writings he regularly
48 Ciggaar, `Description de Constantinople traduite par un pelerin'; eadem, 'Description'; Riant, Exuviae, I, p. ccv, II, p. 211-12. The Vita of St John the Almsgiver
parallels the story of Abraham and Theodorus (Engl. tr. E. Dawes/N.H. Baynes,
Three Byzantine saints, Oxford 1948, p. 199-262.
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refers to Byzantine events and facts. He moved in court circles and
undoubtedly had many `travelling friends' and relations who brought
information. His History of the kings of England (De gestis regum Anglorum)
was dedicated to an illegitimate son of the king, which shows his
attachment to the king. His History of the bishops of England (De gestis
pontificum Anglorum) sometimes gives information on the East in a more
indirect way, but in the first work we find an almost complete list of
the Byzantine emperors, a list of relics in the Greek capital, a description of Constantinople, the so-called Vision of Constantine, a list
of the Greek patriarchs of Jerusalem as well as other passing references.50 William tried to look beyond frontiers, sometimes using the
crusades as a natural setting for stories about the East. In his collection of Miracles of the Virgin we find the same interest. The legend
of Abraham and Theodorus in William's work, however, is coloured
in a different way: the Virgin plays the role of intercessor and producer of miracles. The role of Abraham is seen in another, less sympathetic, light than in the anonymus Mercati. Another miracle describes
the icon of the Virgin in the Blachernae Palace. The story was already known from an 11th-century Latin manuscript, now in Paris,
which possibly indicates an earlier background and interest in mainland Europe. The silken covering of the icon was lifted miraculously
every Friday and returned to its place the following Saturday. The
Virgin is the central person in William's stories and he declares that
the fervor of the Greeks for the Mother of God inspired the Latins,
i.e. the Westerners, to similar devotion, fervor graecorum in amorem dominae
invitavit et accendit nostros, et ut pleraque alia, ita istud venerationis exemplum
a graecis manavit in latiare solum'.51
William of Malmesbury obtained his information from various
channels. From Scandinavia he may have received the interesting
information on the autopsy which took place in Constantinople when
one of king Sigurd's companions fell ill and died in 1111. Something
was wrong with the liver of the dead man and the Scandinavians
were advised not to drink pure wine any longer after this conclusion.
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).
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The autopsy as practised in Byzantium may have made an impression on foreigners and there is some indication of interest in anatomy
in England .51
Adelard of Bath, another scholar who moved in court circles and
had partly been educated on the continent, visited parts of the (former)
Byzantine empire. like Anselm he visited southern Italy where he
held discussions with learned Greeks. When he travelled to Jerusalem he visited an old Greek sage who lived near Tarsus and talked
about anatomy with him. One wonders what the language of com-
munication was on that occasion. Did he speak Greek or did he
make use of an interpreter? And if so were these so readily available? Once he arrived in Jerusalem he engaged himself in studying
the stars and abstained from drinking wine as he quite clearly tells
us. Had he been warned by William's accounts? Unfortunately we
cannot say precisely when his travelling took place but know that it
must have been during Henry I's reign. Adelard is one of those travellers whom one might qualify as `Renaissance' travellers. He was
curious to learn about things unknown to him, he wanted to meet
other people and he did not stay at home but moved around to get
his information."
This same period marks the appearance in the chronicles of the
legend of Helena, daughter of the Celtic king Coel who married
the emperor Constans and thus became the mother of Constantine
the Great. The chroniclers and their readers were apparently attracted
to the idea of a kinsman as a member of the ruling classes of both
countries even if this was in times past.54
An interest in the religion, art and iconography of the East stimulated patrons and producers of manuscripts in England where from
time to time we find examples of Byzantine influence. The Psalter of
St Albans (ca. 1120-30) was made for the recluse Christina of
Markyate. The manuscript until recently kept at Saint Godehard,
Hildesheim, has been entrusted to the Herzog August Bibliothek in
52 William of Malmesbury, II, p. 486. Cf. H.C. Hemker/R.B.C. Huygens, `Autopsie in de middeleeuwen', Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde 119, 1975, p. 1246-7,
and Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 157-8.
53 Die Quaestiones naturales des Adelardus von Bath, ed. M. Miiller, Munster 1934, p. 21,
49, 74-5; Haskins, Studies, ch. II, `Adelard of Bath', p. 20-42; van der Vin, p. 156.
54 Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae, ed. J. Hammer, Cambridge,
Mass., 1951, p. 89 (Engl. tr. L. Thorpe, The history of the kings of Britain, Harmondsworth
1966, p. 132); Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. Th. Arnold, RS 1879,
p. 29.
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Wolfenbuttel. It was the first English manuscript with full-page min-
iatures to be produced for many years, i.e. after the late 10th century, when this new style. appeared in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts,
showing the influence of contemporary Byzantine miniature painting. In the St Albans Psalter the representation of the Entombment
of Christ (fo. 48) is genuinely Byzantine in its iconography. The painter
also made use of a particularly Byzantine technique: draperies are
indicated by so-called `cobwebs of white highlights' (ill. 9).55 We will
not discuss here the Alexis legend, an Old French version of which
can be found in the same manuscript. This oriental saint was apparently Christina's model or patron saint. But this Life was already
known in the 11th century.
Nor can we say much about the crusade of 1147. A contingent of
Englishmen took part but they did not leave any record of a visit to
the Greek capital. The descriptions of Constantinople have already
taken us to the second half of the century to the reign of Henry II
(11541189) when there were fairly good channels of information
about Byzantine affairs. Henry II's court was active in establishing
international contacts. One of the ways of doing so in those days was
to marry off sons and daughters to ruling families abroad. Henry II
attracted numbers of learned people to his court and they recorded
all these events in their chronicles. The chancery with its inflow of
documents, letters, treaties and diplomas must have constituted a
source of historical documentation for all sorts of historians. The
chancery does not seem to have always been a particularly secure
source to judge by resumes of letters which occur in the chronicles
of various other countries.
During Henry II's reign there was frequent contact between
England and Byzantium, and thus greater opportunity for cultural
contacts and cultural exchanges.56 Contacts with former parts of the
Byzantine empire, Sicily and southern Italy, now Norman settlements,
also played a role. The court of Palermo gave work to a -number of
55 O. Pacht/C.R. Dodwell/F. Wormald, The St Albans Psalter, London 1960,
p. 57, 60, 62, 71s.; English Romanesque art, op. cit. (n. 36), p. 84, no. 17, p. 93.
Christina used to wear silk clothes before becoming a recluse, The Life of Christina of
Markyate, ed., tr. C.H. Talbot, Oxford 1959, p. 92-3. The Bibles of Bury St. Edmunds
(English Romanesque art, ibid., no. 44, p. 108), written ca. 1135 and the somewhat
later Lambeth Bible betray the same Byzantine influence, C.R. Dodwell, The Canterbury school of illumination, 1066x1200, Cambridge 1954, ch. VII, `Byzantine influence',
p. 81-97.
56 Vasiliev, 'Manuel Comnenus', passim.
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Englishmen. In 1177 Johanna, daughter of Henry II, married William II the Good, king of Sicily. These newly conquered Norman
territories were still outposts of Byzantine life and culture, where
Byzantine artists were sometimes active. Englishmen who travelled
or took employment there could admire Byzantine workmanship in
frescoes and mosaics. They could learn Greek and work as translators.57 And finally one must also remember Henry II's wife Eleanor
of Aquitaine, ex-wife of the French king Louis VII who had, with
her first husband, joined the Second Crusade in 1147; she had
enjoyed eastern hospitality and entered into eastern court-life. Her
Constantinopolitan experience will be discussed in the chapter on
France, since it was part of the first period of her life. But her experiences may have had some impact on her cultural programme, in
France and in England. She would have been able to say a lot about
the splendours of Byzantium. It proves difficult to disentangle the
complex threads of these contacts. For our purpose however only
their results are important, not the routes along which these contacts
made their way to the West.
We have seen that there was an exchange of embassies between
Henry II and Manuel Comnenus. Family ties between the two families did not materialise out of these contacts. In one of his letters
Manuel informed Henry II of the internal political situation, the defeat
of the Greek army at Myriocephalon in 1176, when his army was
defeated by the Turks. English nobles had been fighting in the
emperor's army and they were apparently able to tell the king more
about the misfortunes of the Greeks, which suggests that some of
them may have carried the letter home.58 The two rulers were in
any event on friendly terms. Henry II sent dogs to Manuel, who
may have been a keen hunter. Medieval diplomatic custom demanded
such gifts to be matched, but we do not know what Manuel sent in
return. One of the English envoys, a certain Robert, sent by the
Greek court, was given money to buy expensive clothes, but nothing
more is known about what he did with it.59 Manuel Comnenus was
curious to know about the geography of the British Isles. In his
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.
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Descriptio Kambriae (Description of Wales) Gerald of Wales mentions that
Henry II sent such information in a letter which was carried to
Constantinople by envoys. I would like to suggest that the Greek
description of England may be linked to Robert Fitz Stephen, an
uncle of Gerald of Wales who was related to leading families of the
country. He accompanied the king to Ireland where he was left in
command of the garrison of the newly conquered land. Perhaps he
was the Robert sent by the Greeks, this time from Constantinople
back to England? When he tells of this curious request by Manuel
Comnenus, Gerald of Wales writes in his Descriptio Kambriae, as if he
had the report before him: `Among other things in Henry's reply the
following sentence is worth quoting: "In one part of the island there
is a race of people called the Welsh who are so brave and untamed
that, though unarmed themselves, they do not hesitate to do battle
with fully armed opponents"',60
We can consider whether the emperor Manuel did not also send
manuscripts, either in Greek or in Latin translations of Greek texts?
A few manuscripts in collections in Oxford are closely related to the
Greek imperial court of the period. They contain works by Plato
and Aristotle. Mention can also be made of Digby 103 (Bodleian
Library, Oxford), a collection of Latin translations made in Constantinople in 1165. This contains the Liber thesauri occulti, parts of the
Historia animalium of Aristotle, the dreambook called Oneirocriticon and
the De virtute aquilae of a certain William the Englishman. According
to G. Mathew these translations signal a renewed interest in nature.
The 12th-century catalogue of Christ Church (Oxford) mentions a
Donatus grece, suggesting that efforts were made to learn Greek (see
also below).61 Some late 12th-century English chronicles do, indeed,
mention aspects of nature, when describing the Eastern part of the
Mediterranean: the presence of olive trees, mastic, wild goats, storks
and snakes. In the gulf of Attalia a waterspout is explained, by the
presence of a monster or by the sun.62
60 Giraldi Cambrensis opera, ed. J.S. Brewer/J.F. Dimock/G.F. Warner, RS 1868,
V, p. 181-2 (Engl. tr. L. Thorpe, The description of Wales, Harmondsworth 1978,
p. 234, cf ibid., The journey through Wales, p. 167, 189); Vasiliev, ibid., p. 244.
61 G. Mathew, `Byzantium to Oxford', in For Hilaire Belloc. Essays in honour of his
72nd birthday, ed. D. Woodruff, London 1942, p. 108-16; see also James, art. cit.
(n. 10), passim, for the scarcity of Greek manuscripts in England.
62 Roger of Hoveden, III, p. 159, 160 (olives), 165; Gesta Henrici secundi, II,
p. 114, 198, 199, 205; cf. Lamprecht, op. cit. (ch. The attractions of Constantinople,
note 2), p. 116-17; Nelson, art. cit. (ch. The attractions of Constantinople, note 2),
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CHAPTER FIVE
Chroniclers mostly depended on information given by others. In
this period some scholars travelled overseas to gather new knowledge
and see the differences between nature at home and abroad. John of
Basingstoke probably went to Athens at the end of the century. He
learnt Greek in southern Italy, met Greek scholars and saw their
libraries. He became acquainted with Greek philosophy. As a testimony of his journey he tried, with little success, to introduce the
Greek numeral system. He translated a Greek grammar, called the
`Greek' Donatus, and another unknown work. One of his teachers is
said to have been a twenty-year old girl, Constantina, whom he
surnamed Catherina because she was as learned as the saint of the
same name. He mentioned having seen a copy of the Testament of the
Twelve Patriarchs, which was later brought to England to be translated
into Latin .61
Nothing more is known about translation activities in this period.
The Latin translation of the Greek tale (diegesis), already mentioned,
which describes the building of Saint Sophia in Constantinople, and
which may well have been translated in this period, was used by two
English chroniclers. Ralph Diceto gives fragments of it in his Abbreviationes chronicorum. An appendix to the Chronicles of Ralph Niger
indicates the same source of inspiration. The translator may have
been an Englishman. Since the two borrowings are not identical (there
is no question of plagiarism) the model must have been available in
England.64
Between 1183 and 1189 Walter Map, another habitue' of the court,
wrote his work De nugis curialium, sometimes described as `court gos-
sip'. On several occasions he mentions the Greeks as effeminate,
talkative and incapable of fighting. The Greek emperor is, like the
king of Sicily, dressed in gold and silk garments. But most interesting
of all is the description, or rather digression, of the emperor Andronicus
I Con-menus (1183-1185). This man, a relative of the emperor Manuel,
led an adventurous life and became emperor of Byzantium after many
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).
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setbacks. He became widely known in the West because of the atrocities he committed against the Latins living in Constantinople. Some
elements of Walter's report do not accord with Greek sources, but it
is remarkable that such information reached England in such a short
time. It is the only source to mention that Andronicus, when he
entered the Greek capital in triumph, came through the Porta Dacorum, a gate probably guarded by Danish Varangians and otherwise unknown. The existence of this `report', written at the English
court, is proof of a great interest in England about what went on in
Byzantium. It is clear that intelligence reports were sent back and
forth.65 For the period after Manuel's death this is quite clear from
the anonymous Gesta Henrici secundi and from the Chronicle of Roger
of Hoveden. In 1188 Henry II also exchanged letters with the emperor Isaac II Angelus (1185-1195) when preparations were made
for the Third Crusade.66
Richard Lion-Heart, son of Henry II, was the only English ruler
who travelled to the East. Quite unexpectedly he conquered the island of Cyprus in 1191. He got hold of the treasury of Isaac Comnenus, king of Cyprus, and sent the imperial silken standard to Bury
St Edmunds to honour St Edmund. Later, when he became liegeman of Henry VI, emperor of the Holy Roman empire, he pledged
his vow on a double-armed cross, possibly a Byzantine or Byzantinizing cross, `per duplicem crucem de auro'.61
The arts, essential part of any culture, were affected by the continuity of international contacts. As in the late 10th century we turn
to Winchester where Byzantine and Byzantinizing forces were active
in miniature painting. Recent years have seen the publication of a
number of magnificent studies of important manuscripts which have
acquainted the general public with highly prized manuscripts like the
Winchester Bible, the Winchester Psalter and other valuable manuscripts that are not so frequently exhibited. We know almost nothing
about the presence of illustrated Greek manuscripts or other artefacts
in England in this period. A list of gifts made by Henry of Blois,
65 Walter Map, p. 410-11, 450-1.
66 Gesta Henrici secundi I, p. 250s.; Roger of Hoveden, II, p. 203s.; Ralph de
Diceto, II, p. 52-3.
6' Gesta regis Ricardi, in Gesta Henrici secundi, II, p. 164; cf. G. Jeffrey, Cyprus
under Richard I, Nicosia 1926 (repr. London 1973), p. 79, who refers to W. Dugdale,
Monasticum Anglicanum, rev. by J. Caley e.a., London 1823 etc., II, p. 104, inaccessible; Roger of Hoveden, III, p. 203.
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CHAPTER FIVE
abbot of Glastonbury, bishop of Winchester (1129-1171) and former
monk of Cluny, to Winchester cathedral mentions rich silk hangings
with patterns of roundels. These may have been Byzantine silks. Other
objects, ivories for example, may have also been Byzantine, even if
they are not described as such in inventories. Henry was. a collector
of works of art and had stayed for a while in Italy where such items
must have been available. Even in these days there was an interna-
tional market in works of art. There was more than one way to
obtain Byzantine artefacts.68
In Winchester Henry of Blois is associated with the St Swithun
Psalter, sometimes called the Psalter of Henry of Blois and considered to be the bishop's personal possession. The psalter shows examples of Byzantine iconography and style. In 1973 the psalter, now
in the British Library (Nero C IV), was thoroughly examined by
F. Wormald and reproduced in its entirety. Two miniatures, which
once formed two pendants, constitute a sort of diptych: the death of
the Virgin (fo. 29), with the inscription Ici est la sumtion de nostre dame,
and the Virgin in Glory (fo. 30), with the words Ici est faite reine del
ciel, are wholly Byzantine in style and iconography. They are foreign
bodies in this English manuscript which derive from an overseas model.
Mosaics in Sicily (at the Martorana) have been suggested as possible
models. Others would have us believe that they are based on imported objets d'art brought back to England. A modelbook is another
possibility for such reproductions.69 It is worth mentioning that here
the Byzantine influence is limited to representations of the Virgin.
One wonders whether people realized that the Virgin and her cult
were so typically Byzantine in origin that models should be sought
in the Byzantine tradition? Did the patron or patrons, who must
have been influential people, and in the case of Henry of Blois had
a say in ecclesiastical affairs, want to stress the impact of Byzantine
religious life and theology? The Psalter is dated around the year 1150,
just at the beginning of the reign of Henry 11.10
The other example from Winchester is the Winchester Bible, which
consists of several volumes, and is usually dated to the second half
of the century. The various masters identified here, the Morgan
6° Bishop, p. 292s., 401.
69 T.S.R. Boase, English Art, 1100-1216, Oxford 1953, p. 190.
70 F. Wormald, The Winchester Psalter, London 1973, p. 27, 87-91, 125, and colour
plates 4, 88. Cf. Demus, p. 159, and ills. 173, 175, who sees an overseas example;
Roosen-Runge, op. cit. (n. 9), I, p. 104.
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15 7
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 technique 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 relationship between the murals in the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre in Winchester 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 outposts 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 decorated 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, 'Byzantine 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.
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CHAPTER FIVE
In 12th-century sculpture Byzantine influence is also discernible. A standing Virgin and Child, now in the Victoria and Albert
Museum (London), seems to have had a Byzantine model, an ivory
or a fresco, possibly on the mainland, since statues of the Virgin did
not exist in Byzantium, at least they have not been preserved. Other
art forms of English Romanesque underwent some form of Byzantine influence, and more research in this field may yield more results.74
Constantinople hardly played a role in Anglo-Saxon literature which
we can therefore ignore. The situation is different with the literature
of the new vernacular, Old French. Anglo-Norman language and
literature are an important branch of Old French literature. Many
texts were written and produced in England, but for convenience
sake we will include them in the chapter on France, the motherland
of Anglo-Norman and the Anglo-Normans. A few exceptions should
be made for texts in which England plays a prominent role. In
Chretien de Troyes' Cliges the Greek prince Alexander comes to the
court of Winchester where all sorts of events take place before he
returns to the mainland. A similar English setting can be found in
the anonymous Old French romance Gui de Warewic. Here the hero
originates from Warwick, in England.75 The literature in Latin and
its various topoi are too international to be discussed in terms of
nationality. In the general chapter on the transfer of ideas and in the
concluding, chapter, some elements of this international European
literature will be discussed.
English visitors and immigrants to Byzantium have left behind few
traces: monuments, objects, offspring and linguistics occasionally remind us of the English presence in Byzantium. The anonymous Englishman in the Miracle of St Augustine of Canterbury built a chapel
dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon saint and had an icon painted of him
with the inscription: Agios Augustinus, Anglorum apostolus, agios being
" 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.
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159
a literal translation of the Greek aytoS. The Chronicon Laudunense
mentions a certain Coleman, a very pious man, who had a chapel in
Constantinople. The two may be one and the same, as we have
seen. Both church and icon are now lost. A mysterious church called
Sancta Maria de Scota (of Scotland?) is mentioned once, in the year
1206 during the Latin occupation.76 English tombstones are another
heritage. Since they seem to have been used for building purposes in
the 19th century we can learn nothing from them.77 Some English
pennies of Henry II found at Lindos (Rhodes) may have been lost
by an English traveller.78 English names doubtless disappeared through
intermarriage and by a process of integration. An English phrase
used to wish long life to the emperor, preserved in a 14th-century.
text, may go back to this early period when the English were promi-
nent in palace service. Ceremonial phrases may, because of their
conservative character, outlive their initiators." The interpreter of
the English called Sven/Swein, Ecpevt, is an elusive person of whom
nothing more is known.80
More intriguing is the 12th-century Greek description of England
which seems to have gone lost. The text, written by a certain Fitz
Stephen, may well be the description requested by Manuel Comnenus.
It would then have been written in England, in Latin, before being
translated into Greek, if ever it was translated.81
Reaching the year 1204, which marks the end of the period under
consideration, we find English soldiers defending the walls of Constantinople. At the end they had to come out with their clergy and
turn over the town to the `pilgrim' army. Their later fate is unknown. Some may have joined the fugitive emperor in exile. Others
stayed behind and refused to pay the tithe to the Latin patriarch.82
In the meantime an English priest (quidam presbyter natione Anglicus)
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.
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CHAPTER FIVE
who was returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (and who may
have left England before 1204) entered the service of the new Latin
emperor, Baldwin of Flanders, according to the account of Ralph of
Coggeshall. He was nominated keeper of the imperial chapel, where
there was a rich collection of relics. The political vacuum after
Baldwin's disappearance during the battle with the Bulgars enabled
him to get away with a reliquary of the Holy Cross and some other
treasures. In the end he sold the precious relic to the priory of
Bromholm (Norfolk)."
He was not the only Westerner to seize Byzantine property. The
year 1204 marked the beginning of an exodus of Byzantine treasures
to the West. The Byzantine emperor had gone, long live the Latin
emperor. Loyalty varied with the tides, enabling some people like
the Varangians to misuse their position.
England had varied contacts with the Byzantine empire where a
military career could easily be pursued. Many other travellers passed
through the Byzantine capital. Political contacts existed with more
than one ruler. All this resulted in an artistic and intellectual exchange the results of which are still visible today in historiography,
literature and the arts. Even if the rulers themselves did not all travel
to Byzantium, they were familiar with Byzantine life through their
frequent and varied contacts.
e3 Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon anglicanum, ed. J. Stevenson, RS 1857, p. 201-3
(elsewhere, on p. 149-50, he gives a description of Constantinople, its statues-and
the revenues of the emperor); F. Wormald, `The Rood of Bromholm', Journal of the
Warburg Institute 1, 1937-8, p. 31-45 (cf. Frolow, Relique, no. 505, p. 414-15).
CHAPTER SIX
FRANCE
Constantinople is arrogant in her wealth ... however,
she would be preferable to all other places because of
her temperate climate, Odo of Deuill
We return to the European mainland, the starting-point of the Norman
invasion of Britain. It was in Normandy that the expedition begun
and there the invasion was prepared. In the course of time the rulers
of Britain were to expand their power on the continent, into the
large principality of Aquitaine. The resulting Angevin empire extended
over parts of Britain and Western France.
Normandy and Aquitaine had been part of the feudal kingdom,
the later empire, of the Carolingians. The situation did not change
under their successors, the Capetians. The feudal system caused a
fragmentation of the country and the result was a maze of complicated feudal ties. Power was.shared in different directions, not only
horizontally with equals but also vertically with dependents and sometimes even with one's feudal lord. This is clearly visible when major
tenants like dukes, counts and barons were wealthy, cultured men
who aspired to `autonomy'. Intermarriage was another complicating
factor if families of different social rank in the feudal pyramid were
involved.
The old Carolingian empire had covered large parts of Europe
but never included Scandinavia or the British Isles. The frontiers of
what we call nowadays France were open and fluid. Loyalties extended over `modern' frontiers. St Omer and its abbey belonged to
the Flemish counts as did other abbeys in the North. Burgundy was
strongly attached to the German empire, Aquitaine had an open
frontier with the Iberian peninsula, to give just a few examples. `Open'
frontiers permitted the easy entry of foreigners and foreign influences.
The routes to Byzantium were open to all who had the time, money,
courage and in most of the cases permission to travel. Southern France
Odo of Deuil, Berry, 87.
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CHAPTER SIX
was part of a Mediterranean world, which facilitated the journey
eastward as its inhabitants had fewer problems in adapting to the
climate, the food and the lifestyle.
The numerous abbeys and monasteries, Limoges, Cluny, Saint Denis
among them, were cultural centres. There we find the names of great
men like Suger of Saint Denis, Hugh of Cluny, Peter the Venerable.
The monks often travelled widely. The crusades and larger pilgrimages, which were encouraged by church leaders, were international
expeditions, often dominated by French ecclesiastics and French nobles.
Even French kings sometimes took part in them. Cultural life was
flourishing in the 12th century, and if not at the royal court in Paris,
the more so at the provincial feudal courts of lesser nobles. An interest in Byzantium as a promised land of love and luxury is a common characteristic of some of the leading families of the country.
The Byzantines designated the country by various names, like `the
country beyond the Alpes'. Names like Celts, Germans, Franks etc.
were often used indiscriminately to designate various Western Europeans, including the French.2 France was a reservoir for mercenary
soldiers and state employees. Contacts with Byzantium occurred rather
frequently among all sorts of people. Intermarriage between reigning
families occasionally took place.
At various times attention has been given to the contacts between
France and Byzantium. J. Ebersolt was one of the first scholars to
focus attention on the subject.3 The Byzantine influence upon the
arts, especially during the 12th century, the Romanesque period, was
stressed in later times; the question of whether this influence came
from Ottonian Germany, Italy, Sicily or directly from Constantinople
was seen as less relevant by the French. Lately studies have been
centred on the Byzantine impact upon literature in the vernacular
of the 12th and 13th centuries. France set the fashion in Western
Europe as far as literature was concerned, and this makes such research even more important.,
As in the other European countries several languages were used in
France: Latin, various dialects of Old French, Old Provencal. Not
all the material is easily accessible, physically or linguistically.
2 J. Hermans, `The Byzantine view of the Normans
ANS 2, 1979 (1980), p. 80s.
Another Norman myth?',
s Ebersolt, Avant les croisades; idem, Pendant les croisades; see now also Byzance.
L'art byzantin dans les collections publiques francaises, catalogue, Paris 1992 (exhibition in
the Musee du Louvre, 1992/1993).
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163
Travellers to Constantinople and other parts of the Byzantine empire
came from different backgrounds and undertook their journeys for
various reasons. Royalty and leading members of the nobility were
among them. There were ecclesiastics, wandering monks, ambassadors, merchants, pilgrims and many others. A few artists may have
taken the road East. Poor emigrants sometimes tried to flee the misery
at home. Men, women and children, they all travelled to Constantinople. The relics and precious Byzantine artefacts in many French
church treasuries are witnesses to the wealth and standing of some
of these travellers, and also indicate the persons to whom embassies
were sent. It was not granted to everybody to receive or to purchase
precious souvenirs. We do not know what the common French pilgrim or traveller brought home apart from his memories. Small religious objects like encolpia, medals, amulets etc. are hardly ever found
in France. The same is true of coins. The large-scale pillaging of
Constantinople after 1204 makes it often difficult to establish the date
of arrival of these objects in France.
Information on contacts also comes from written sources. As usual
we find chronicles in Latin, in Old French and in Greek. Vitae in
Latin are another source of information. The literature in the vernacular is very rich: chansons de geste, romans courtois, poetry, they all
testify to an intimate knowledge of Byzantine affairs. Literary texts in
Latin, a more European-wide literature, have been rarely investigated
so far, but seem to be promising sources. Travel reports and letters
sent home by crusaders, pilgrims and ambassadors, and official correspondence between the authorities provide other sources of information, a gold mine sometimes. Inventories of church treasuries,
scattered over various collections, tell us of the presence of relics,
reliquaries and cult objects. Profane artefacts like silks, ivories etc.
are testimonies of the fondness for these precious objects and mirror
a lifestyle different from that of the West.
Several Greeks visited France. In preceding chapters we have already met a few of them. People did not travel all the way to Western
Europe to visit just one country or one court. Official ambassadors were
often sent on more than one mission at a time, so as to make good
use of money and energy. Those going to Britain mostly travelled
through France or the Low Countries and had to ask permission to
do so. Their presence on French territory has not always left a mark.
The Greeks mentioned by Dudo of St Quentin as visiting Rouen
around the year 1000 may have been merchants or Eastern monks
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CHAPTER Six
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 artists 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 received 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 politics 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 bitterness. Her daughter was to marry Peter of Aragon, thus bringing
e Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 28s. (Berry, 24-9).
Chalandon, Comnene, II, p. 560-3; c£ RHG XV, p. 801, 807, 809, 901-2
(= PL 200, c. 783, letter of the pope to archbishop Henry of Reims); XVI, p. 54-7, 81.
C£ Fourrier, p. 171s.; Benjamin of Tudela, p. 3.
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CHAPTER SIX
Comnenian blood (and influence?) into this ruling Spanish family. At
the end of the century the daughter of the former Greek emperor of
Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus, came to live in France after her marriage
with Raymond VI, count of Toulouse. Repudiated by her husband
she went to live in Marseille until, in 1203, she married Thierry of
Flanders, and left France with the crusading army."
Among the envoys who accompanied Eudocia was a certain Chu-
munianus, possibly a corruption of Couminianus, Comnenus or
Choumnus. He was to arrange another marriage. Manuel (advised
by the pope?) wanted one of Louis VII's daughters for his son Alexius,
the future Alexius II (1180-1183). The French princess Agnes was a
sister of the future king Philip Augustus, both children of Louis' third
marriage. She was only eight years old when she left Paris in the
next spring. Accompanied by court ladies and the Greek ambassadors she travelled to Constantinople. There she was received
with great honour and festivities. A speech of welcome had been
prepared by Eustathius of Thessalonica and a special song by an
anonymous poet whose manuscript was adorned with a series of miniatures depicting her arrival in Constantinople (ill. 10). The artistic
quality of these pictures is limited, but they show how a foreign
princess made her entree in Byzantium. Other songs were composed
for the marriage festivities in the Hippodrome. This must have been
in 1182/1183, since the legal age of marriage for girls had to be
observed."
In those years Paris was an attractive town for young students.
Two English sources report that the future Byzantine emperor Isaac
Angelus (1185-1195) should have come to Paris to study the language, the habits and the doctrines of the Latins. Hearing of trouble
at home where the usurper/emperor Andronicus I Comnenus (11831185) was persecuting the nobility, including his own father and
brothers who had been sent into exile, the young man returned to
Constantinople where he lived in disguise for some time. In the end
he was crowned as basileus, as had been prophesied by a hermit during
10 W. Hecht, `Zur Geschichte der "Kaiserin" von Montpellier, Eudoxia Komnena',
REB 26, 1968, p. 161-9; c£ Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 257-8; F. Bergert, The von den
Trobadors genannten oder gefeierten Damen, Halle 1913, p. 13-14; W.H. Rudt de Collenberg,
`L'empereur Isaac de Chypre et sa file (1155-1207)', Byz 38, 1968, p. 123-77.
" M. Jeffreys, `The vernacular eiatnjptot for Agnes of France', in Byzantine Papers
(Byzantina Australiensia) I, Sydney 1981, p. 101-15; W. Regel/N. Novasadsky, Fontes
rerum Byzantinarum, St Petersburg 1892, p. 80-92.
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his journey home. Although we find in Greek sources only an occasional hint of Isaac's interest in learning, their silence on this Paris
episode is not conclusive evidence against it, although it would be
preferable to have corroborative evidence for this episode. Growing
anti-Latinism may account for this silence. Nicetas Choniates says
that Isaac loved his schoolwork and his teachers. It is surprising how
often nothing is known about the youth of an emperor. As a scion
of the famous imperial Comneni family Isaac was entitled to carry
the family name Comnenus. One wonders if there is a connection
between him and the already mentioned Chumunianus who accompanied the royal bride to Constantinople. The family ties with the
royal French family may have made things easier for him to travel
to Paris. It was useful for a young aristocrat who moved in court
circles and hoped to obtain a court function himself, to travel widely
and to improve his knowledge of the West, now that relations with
the West were becoming ever closer."
Family connections between the two reigning families were the
reason for the arrival in France of a pseudo-Alexius around 1185.
Alexius II had been murdered by Andronicus I Comnenus. Several
pseudo-Alexii emerged, pretending that they had survived the political upheavals. The short, darkhaired man who came to France impressed everyone by his fluency in Latin, Greek and French. He was
well received by his `brother-in-law' Philip Augustus, but he vanished from history as soon as his imposture was discovered.13
The Greeks who came to France often stayed and conversed in
monasteries where they may have left gifts for the hospitality they
had enjoyed. Royal persons and official envoys were also well received at the royal court and, as seems likely, at the court of feudal
magnates. It must have lead to some exchange of ideas, and there
must have been talk about the differences between East and West,
differences that were obvious in so many respects. In literary texts
information on Greeks travelling to the West is rather scarce.14
First contacts between the rulers of France and Byzantium were
of a much earlier date, going back to Carolingian times, when sev12 Gesta Henrici secundi, I, p. 256s.; Roger of Hoveden, II, p. 204s. C£ Nicetas,
van Dieten, p. 365 (Bonn, p. 478; Grabler, Abenteurer, 168); Brand, p. 70.
13 RHG XVIII, p. 292; Brand, p. 174; W. Hecht, Die byzantinische Aussenpolitik zur
Zeit der letzten Komnenenkaiser (1180-1185), Neustadt/Aisch 1967, p. 70s.
14 E. Schulze-Busacker, `French conceptions of foreigners and foreign languages
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries', Romance Philology 1987, p. 24-47.
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CHAPTER SIX
eral Byzantine embassies came to France. The expression of such
contacts seems to be a picture in the Emma Psalter, a manuscript
probably produced in 979. It gives a portrait of king Lothar, his wife
Emma and their son Louis who was associated to the throne in 979.
The coronation scene, here with a co-ruler, is in the style of Byzantine coronation scenes and of the well-known ivory depicting the
coronation of Otto II and Theophano.15 By the end of the 10th
century the Capetians, replacing the failing Carolingians, tried to win
prestige by entering into contact with the Byzantine rulers. Hugh
Capet (987-996) followed the fashion of his time by associating to
his throne his son Robert in 987, the very year of his own accession.
In 988 Hugh wrote a letter to the joint emperors Basil II (976-1025)
and Constantine VIII (976-1028), asking for a Byzantine princess
for his son. The letter has been preserved among the correspondence of Gerbert of Reims (of Aurillac), one of the advisors of the
French king and later pope. The Byzantine emperors who are qualified as Orthodox emperors ('imperatoribus orthodoxis') are matched
by Hugh, king of the Franks, by the grace of God ('Hugo gratia Dei
rex Francorum'). He asks for an imperial letter (again we meet the
term sacrae) with the answer. The use of this technical term in the
French chancery shows a certain knowledge of Byzantine diplomatic
traditions. Whether the French king ever received an answer is not
known. Some scholars doubt if the letter was actually sent to Constantinople. It is doubted whether French envoys ever did really travel
to the Byzantine capital. Anyway the marriage did not take place.
The arrival of the Byzantine princess Theophano in Germany in the
970s, which added to the prestige of the neighbouring Ottonian rulers,
may have prompted the French request.16
When bishop Odolric of Orleans visited Constantinople during his
pilgrimage to Jerusalem he was well received by the emperor Constantine VIII who presented him with a relic of the Holy Cross and
a great many silks for his king, Robert Capet (996-1031). The king
had presented him with a beautiful sword. Relics and luxuries as a
late compensation for a lost princess? It was a very common ploy of
15 W. Cahn, `The Psalter of Queen Emma', Cahiers Archeologiques 33, 1985, p. 7285. 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.
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Byzantine diplomacy to bestow rich gifts on foreign visitors of some
importance. The country had to be made as attractive as possible to
foreign rulers and to the mass of travellers who parted with large
sums of money to pay for their travelling expenses and to obtain all
sorts of permissions. It is possible that king Robert was of some repute in far-away Byzantium. Guillaume de Jumieges, when telling of
duke Robert of Normandy's visit to the Byzantine capital in 1035,
says that the Byzantine emperor asked him if he was Robert, king of
the Franks. As a Western anecdote it is rather tasteless since Robert
Capet, feudal lord of Normandy, had died four years before. Perhaps the Byzantines had failed to keep an up-to-date dossier on the
French king?"
During the reign of Robert Capet, in the late 1020s or early 1030s,
a Greek mosaicist may have come to Fleury to redecorate the newly
built church. Bishop Gauzlin sent envoys to Romania, i.e. the Byzantine empire, to find artists and materials, according to his Vita.
Imported marbles were indeed used for the abbey church, but about
Greek artists and the use of Byzantine mosaic cubes no precise information exists.18
We have to wait a long time for further evidence of contacts
between the rulers. At the council of Piacenza in 1095 the pope
asked the Greek envoys of Alexius Comnenus to address the meeting
and ask for military help. The help intended was the dispatch of
mercenaries. In that same year, at the council of Clermont, the French
king was excommunicated. The Greek envoys may have followed
the pope to France since both councils were a preparation for the
expedition which was to go under the name of the First Crusade.
Good relations with the French king, essential for the expedition,
were restored but the king did not leave France as did so many
magnates of his kingdom: his brother Hugh of Vermandois, Geoffrey
of Bouillon, Stephen of Blois, Robert of Normandy and many others.
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 presence 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 production artistique an Moyen Age, Colloque international, 1983, Actes du colloque, ed. X. Barral i
Alter, I. Les hommes, Paris 1986, p. 256, 265.
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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 emperor which some refused to do. Alexius was certainly urged by his
Latin advisors to introduce this Western feudal custom at the Byzantine 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 expressed 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.
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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 Regensburg where Greek envoys came to meet him and hand him letters 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 husband 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 grandfather 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 Gospels, 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.
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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 Constantinople. 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 reason. 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-inwaiting 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 critical 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 supposed 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
24 R.J. Loenertz, `Le panegyrique de S. Denys 1'Areopagite par S. Michel le
Syncelle', in Byzantina et Franco-graeca, Rome 1970, p. 156-7 (= AB 68, 1950,
p. 101-2). For the Greek text PG 4, c. 665-668, 673.
25 Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 44s. (Berry, 62s.); RHG XV, p. 488. For the visit in
general, Chalandon, Comnene, IT, p. 289s.; M. Pacaut, Louis VII et son royaume, Paris
1964, p. 56, 58.
26 Pacaut, ibid., p. 58, 227, refers to an unpublished XVIIth-century work on
Louis VII by a monk of Barbeau, which might be interesting for our subject.
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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 various nationalities working in Byzantium. It is not always easy to distinguish 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
27 William of Tyre, Huygens, p. 747 (RHC Occ., p. 744).
28 John Cinnamus, p. 82-3 (Brand, 68-9; Rosenblum, 64-5); Nicetas, van Dieten,
p. 60-1 (Bonn, p. 80s.; Grabler, Krone der Komnenen, 94-5).
28 Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 54, 63 (Berry, 89, 107).
3o R. Janin, 'Les Francs an service des Byzantins', EO 29, 1930, p. 61-72; Marquis de la Force, art. cit. (n. 19), passim; J. Shepard, `The uses of the Franks in
eleventh-century Byzantium', ANS 15, 1993, p. 275-305.
31 G. Constable, `Troyes, Constantinople, and the relics of St Helen in the thirteenth century', in Melanges R. Crozet, Poitiers 1966, II, p. 1035-41.
32 Several Latin sources mention the marriage, c£ Pacaut, op. cit. (n. 25), ibid.;
Rigord de Saint Denis, in Oeuvres de Rigord et de Guillaume le Breton, ed. H.-F. Delaborde,
I, Paris 1882, p. 153. Robert de Torigny, abbot of Mont Saint Michel, gives more
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CHAPTER SIX
Louis' son and successor Philip Augustus (1180-1223), having received the false pretender to the Byzantine throne, joined the Third
Crusade in 1189. He took the sea route and from Messina he sent
a letter to the emperor Isaac Angelus to ask for permission to travel
through his lands and provide him with reasonably priced food.33
Between 1180 and 1204 the Byzantine throne was occupied by seven
successive emperors. Political ideas changed with the coming of each
new emperor or usurper. Western rulers, anxious to know about the
internal situation in Byzantium and about current policy concerning
relations with the West, including the position of Westerners living
in Byzantium, sent out ambassadors to get the news. They exchanged
with each other the information received from their ambassadors.
During Isaac's reign the French king sent envoys to Constantinople;
their reports have been preserved in two English chronicles.34 The
king who took the lead in the preparation of the Fourth Crusade did
not leave his country again, engaged as he was by now in a war
with the English. Thanks to the efforts and literary talents of two of
his men, Robert of Clari and Geoffrey of Villehardouin, we possess
the first extensive reports in any vernacular about Constantinople
and its sights. Both writers will, in due time, re-emerge in this survey. Many of Philip Augustus' barons participated, marking the Fourth
Crusade as an almost completely French expedition. Baldwin of
Flanders, the new emperor of Constantinople, sent him a collection
of highly valued relics from the imperial chapel in the Boucoleon
palace. In 1205 the French king handed them personally to the abbot
of Saint Denis.35 At about the same time a program for Greek stu-
dents was set up at the University of Paris. It must have been an
initiative of the king. Even if it was not very successful it meant that
Greek-speaking persons were available at the university who could, if
necessary, serve as teachers and interpreters for Greek students who
did not yet master Latin."
Saint Denis, royal abbey, royal chancery, royal treasury, must have
had scholars proficient in Greek. In the course of the 12th century
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.
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the abbey developed as a cultural, artistic and historiographical centre, competing sometimes with Constantinople. When abbot Suger
(d. 1151) was rebuilding the abbey church he wanted to compete
with the Byzantines. Suger could dispose of large sums of money.
He introduced some novelties in the new church: the tympanum of
the northern-west portal was covered with a mosaic. In one of the
stained-glass windows, in the scene of the Annunciation, he had himself
portrayed in an extended proskynesis, Byzantine feature par excellence.
And the abbot was indeed very pleased to hear that the treasures
and ornaments equalled those of Saint Sophia in Constantinople.
Bishop Hugh of Laon had told him so, adding that the Greek church
was wonderful and superior to all other churches. This conversation
took place some years before the king left for the East, otherwise
Suger's enquiries might have given another outcome.37
The abbey was also the setting for the Pelerinage de Charlemagne (1150-
1160), one of the earlier chansons de geste. The author of this charming story in which Constantinople, its ruling family, its magical pal-
aces and its impressive wealth play the major role, seems to have
been composed as a sort of pastiche of accounts of Louis' journey to
Constantinople and Jerusalem. After all the French `emperor' was
superior to his Eastern colleague, according to the tale: Charlemagne
was one foot taller than the Greek king. In those days superiority
was easily expressed in terms of height, at least in the arts. Charlemagne never travelled to the East.38 But there had been plans for
intermarriage. Charlemagne was to marry Irene, the Byzantine empress. Her son Constantine was to marry one of Charlemagne's
daughters. Both projects failed however. It is curious to read in
Radulphus de Diceto's chronicle, when he refers to the departure of
Agnes of France, about the marriage plans of the early 9th century.
The Capetians may have nurtured some frustration about their 'relations' with the Byzantine ruling families.39
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 Constantinople.
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.
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In the 1160s monks from the abbey, where Odo of Deuil now
held the abbacy, travelled to the East and to Constantinople to collect 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 (11731186). 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 Robert's view. At the same time he blames his contemporaries for inserting 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 becoming 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 presence of Byzantine objects before 1204. But a careful study of the objects 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
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Byzantinizing influence. Abbot Suger is the person who seems to be
behind this influence. He possessed a few remounted Byzantine onyx
chalices. More problematic are items made before 1204 whose date
of arrival in the treasury of Saint Denis is unknown. Particularly
interesting is a 12th-century portable icon of lapis lazuli representing
on one side a Christ giving a blessing, on the other side a Virgin
orans. This beautiful object is now in the Louvre, Paris. It is only
too logical that a royal abbey would possess such highly prized Byzantine objects.41 A special study on Saint Denis and its Byzantine
connections would be very welcome.42
Is there also a connection with the 12th-century Greek linguistic
guide, once in the library of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, Sens, and now in
the library of Auxerre (Bibliotheque Municipale, ms. no. 212 (179),
fo. 133v-134), where we find a number of simple phrases in Greek,
written in Latin characters, and partly recopied by another hand.
Most curious is the passage about the Greek emperor who is generous to the Franks, giving them money and weapons. And there is
also the passage about the Greek merchant, who is asked to sell
writing material, `pergammenum/cartim'. Who would have learned
these rather clumsy phrases before setting off for the Byzantine lands?43
The churches and treasuries of Sens and Auxerre preserve, to the
present day, a number of Byzantine silks, Byzantine inspired reliquaries and a few other Byzantine luxuries. Especially impressing is
the 9th/ 10th-century shroud (ca. 1.60 x 1.20m) of St Germain, in
Guarda, La bibliotheque de l'abbaye de Saint-Denis en France du IX` an XVIII` siecle, Paris
1985 (cf. CCM 32, 1989, p. 281, inaccessible).
41 B. de Montesquiou-Fezensac/D. Gaborit-Chopin, Le tresor de Saint-Denis, III,
Paris 1977, for a complete survey of Greek or Greek inspired objects, p. 25s., 38,
41, 42-3, 46-7, 49, 57s., 59s.,, 60s., 64-5 (all with plates). See also the recent catalogue Le tresor de Saint-Denis, Paris, 1991 (Louvre).
42 In Abbot Suger and Saint Denis (a symposium), New York 1986, a number of
contributions refer to such connections, e.g. H. Stahl, `The problem of manuscript
painting at Saint-Denis during the abbacy of Suger', p. 163-81, esp. 164, 165, 173,
174, and notes 63, 64, 65; D. Gaborit-Chopin, `Super's liturgical vessels', p. 286,
289; W.D. Wixom, `Traditional forms in Suger's contributions to the treasury of
Saint-Denis', p. 295.
4s L. Delisle, in Le Cabinet historique 23, 1877, p. 10-15; W J. Aerts, `Froumund's
Greek: an analysis of fol. 12v of the Codex Vindobonensis Graecus 114, followed
by a comparison with a Greek-Latin wordlist in MS 179 Auxerre fol. 137v ff', in
The empress Theophano. Byzantium and the West at the turn of the millennium, ed. A. Davids
e.a., Cambridge 1995, p. 194-209; cf. B. Bischoff, `The study of foreign languages
in the Middle Ages', Speculum 36, 1961, p. 219; Catalogue general des manuscrits des
bibliotheques publiques de France, Departements VI, Paris 1887, p. 76. For the meaning of
the word xaptia, parchment or paper, and the market for writing material, see N.G.
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CHAPTER SIX
the parish church of Saint Eusebius, Auxerre, which is sometimes
linked to Charles the Bald but may have been a later gift."
Louis VII had taken with him on his expedition to the East many
of his vassals who constituted the feudal organisation of his kingdom.
Geographically and politically Normandy was part of feudal France.
But by the Scandinavian element in its population and the preservation
of Scandinavian customs it had its own special place. The Scandinavians kept alive a wandering, adventurous spirit and an adventurous
lifestyle. They were conquerors and colonists. They imposed their
will not only in Britain but at the same time in southern Italy and
Sicily, formerly parts of the Byzantine empire where Byzantine culture was still present. In the chapter on Britain we have seen how
William, duke of Normandy, was influenced by Byzantium when he
prepared his invasion of England and introduced various unfamiliar
institutions into the newly conquered lands. The channels through
which Byzantine ideas and Byzantine inspiration came to him were
very varied. From days of old Normandy had been in contact with
the East and especially with Byzantium. Between 1066 and 1204 the
area sometimes more resembled a province of Britain, but by the
year 1204 Philip Augustus had restored his authority over Normandy.
Since Normandy is a clearly defined area with its own history and
its own identity its early contacts with the Byzantines were studied
long ago. The pioneer Byzantinists G. Schlumberger and L. Brehier
focussed attention on the exodus of Norman mercenaries to Byzantium.
Recently attention has been paid to official contacts during the second half of the 11th century.45
The first Norman ruler familiar with the East was duke Richard
II (996-1026). At his court at Rouen he received monks from Mount
Sinai who received generous gifts for their monastery. The duke also
subsidized pilgrimages to Eastern destinations. S. Runciman refers to
a bishop of Rouen who thought that Greek was too much studied in
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 comments, Hermans, art. cit. (n. 2), passim.
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his diocese.46 Richard's son and successor Robert I (1027-1035), father
of the Conqueror, travelled to the East with a large company, including many court functionaries. According to tradition he visited
Constantinople. On his way home he died at Nicaea, not far from
the Byzantine capital, where he seems to have met Fulk Nerra, count
of Anjou who was one of his neighbours. His visit to Constantinople,
real or legendary, was put into literary form, a topos almost, by Wace
in his Roman de Rou (Geste des Normands), `dedicated' to king Henry II
of England. Henry was a descendant of the Normans of Normandy.
Constantinople is depicted as an extremely wealthy town where
the duke, who behaves in a grand way, is received with due respect
and with grandeur. In those years the exodus of Norman mercenaries to the Byzantine army must have begun. Some of Robert's
companions probably stayed on in Constantinople after the death of
their leader.47
In the early 1050s bishop No of Belleme visited friends and relatives in Constantinople. The Normans who lived and worked there
helped the bishop to rebuild his church at Sees by making generous
gifts (ill. 11). The emperor gave him a relic of the True Cross, an
important and rewarding attraction for a church.48 Many of the
Norman mercenaries have remained anonymous. Of only one, Roussel
de Bailleul, do we know that he was married to a Norman lady,
praised in Greek sources for her courage, and that they had children
while living in Constantinople. The 1030s begin to reveal names.
There is Herve Frangopoulos whose career was studied by G. Schlumberger. During Isaac I Comnenus' reign (1057-1059) he obtained
the title of magister. References in the work of the Greek historian
John Scylitzes and his seal are the main sources of information.49
Many more Normans followed his example and recruiting missions
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.
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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 Byzantine 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 importance 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 perfectly 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.
so La chronique de Sainte-Barbe-en-Auge, ed. R.N. Sauvage, Caen 1906, p. 23, 57-8;
B. Bachrach, `Some observations on the military administration of the Norman
conquest', ANS 8, 1985, p. 1-23; idem, `On the origins of William the Conqueror's
horse transports', Technology and culture 26, 1985, p. 505s.; Ciggaar, `Marginalia', passim.
St Barbara never became popular in Normandy where she had only four churches,
J. Fournee, Le culte populaire et l'iconographie des saints en Normandie. Etude generale, Paris
1973, p. 33 (reference I owe to George Beech).
51 William of Malmesbury, II, p. 302; K. Heisig, `Das Rolandslied and Byzanz',
in Medium aevum romanicum. Festschrift H. Rheinfelder, Munich 1963, p. 160-65.
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Following family tradition William's son Robert II, duke of Normandy (1087-1106), joined the First Crusade with Stephen of Blois,
his brother-in-law who was married to Adela, daughter of the Conqueror, and Robert of Flanders, another relative of the family.
Like the Scandinavians the Norman mercenaries must have taken
home their savings. No single Byzantine coin, however, has yet been
found in Normandy. Byzantine coins did circulate in Normandy, as
they probably did in the rest of France. Several 11th-century Norman
charters mention them. Were the moneychangers and bankers in
Constantinople able to change these `Byzantine deposits' into Western silver currencies now that so many travellers, pilgrims and crusaders, passed through the country and left their Western coins in
`Byzantine banks'?52
Le Bec, one of the older abbeys of Normandy, is a place to look
for Byzantine influences and artefacts. In the chapter on Britain we
have seen that the empress Mathilda could have donated precious
Byzantine objects or materials to the abbey. Unfortunately the inventory of the treasury has been lost. Relatives of the monks lived in
Constantinople as we learn from a letter written by Anselm to a
certain William, novice at the abbey. More connections may be discovered. Obituaries (necrologies) could reveal more names. We have
seen that Anselm had an interest in the Greek world .51
Relics and written documents sometimes survive political and
religious troubles more easily than silver and gold. In a late 11th-
century list of relics of the Sainte Trinite, Caen, founded by the
Conqueror's wife Mathilda, we find relics and the oil of St Demetrius,
whose sanctuary was at Thessalonica, and relics of St Catherine,
probably brought to Normandy by monks of Saint Catherine's on
Mount Sinai. The cathedral of Sees possessed, as we have seen, a
relic of the True Cross, and so did the Sainte Trinite in Caen.54
52 In a letter of 13/7/82 M. Musset wrote that a silver coin of John I Tzimisces
had been found in Jersey and should be in the Musee de la Societe Jersiaise' at
Saint Helier. M. Musset is planning an article on the besant in Normandy, cf.
L. Delisle, `Des revenus publics en Normandie, au douzieme siecle', Bibliotheque de
l'Ecole des Charles 1848-9, 2e serie, V, p. 207. At the beginning of the thirteenth
century Guillaume le Clerc (or Guillaume de Normandie) wrote It Besant de Dieu,
ed. P. Ruelle, Brussels 1973, cf.- note 55.
53 Sancti Anselmi opera omnia, ed. F.S. Schmitt, Edinburgh 1946, III, p. 253. At Le
Bee Milo Crispin wrote his family's history. His relative Robert Crispin was poisoned by the Greeks after a glorious career, De nobili genere Crispinorum, PL 150,
c. 737. The abbeys of Jumieges and Saint Wandrille deserve attention.
54 L. Musset, lies actes de Guillaume le Conquerant et de la reine Mathilde pour les abbayes
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In Normandy literature in the vernacular reflects contemporary
events, in East and West. The political ambitions of Western leaders
emerge from time to time. The Chanson de Roland (c. 1100), the earliest text in the vernacular to mention Constantinople (v. 2329) describes Charlemagne as having conquered the town. Charlemagne
certainly cherished such a dream but he could not realise it. A Norman
setting for the Chanson de Roland is generally accepted nowadays, but
a Norman setting in a broader European context: a Norman colony
in southern Italy. There were frequent contacts between the Norman
settlements and an exchange of ideas could take place easily and
quickly. Contemporary history, a Norman invasion of Epirus (a Byzantine province) between 1081 and 1085 is reflected in the Chanson
de Roland, as H. Gregoire showed in 1939. Among the Byzantine
troops which the Norman invaders had to confront was a contingent
of English, Englez as they are called in one of the manuscripts. The
presence of English in heathen Spain is more difficult to explain than
their presence in the Byzantine empire where they sought refuge in
great numbers. After the schism of 1054 Epirus may have been regarded if not as heathen territory than at least as part of a dissident
empire. Charlemagne is invested with some of the characteristics of
a Byzantine emperor. As the representative of God on earth (by the
Grace of God!) he acts as intermediary for his people, even blessing
them as if he were a priest. He actively propagated the Christian
faith. The name of the banner, once called Romania (after the Byzantine empire), was changed by the Western emperor into Munjoie,
more fitting for a French audience. Other clues are the Byzantine
besants (v. 132) offered to Charlemagne by the Spanish king of
Zaragoza, and the `court ceremonial' of Charlemagne where the
emperor was seated where all others are standing up.55 It is a wellknown fact that Charlemagne had tried to unite East and West. One
wonders if the Conqueror, sometimes styled as basileus of England,
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.
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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, Bibliotheque 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 Municipale, no. 50, fo. 1, written between 980 and 1000) shows a doubleheaded 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 patronized 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. Travelling 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
56 Ciggaar, `Marginalia', passim.
51 W J. Aerts, `The Latin-Greek wordlist in MS. 236 of the Municipal Library of
Avranches, fol. 97v', ANS 9, 1987, p. 65s. For Anastasius see PL 149, c. 423-34;
McNulty/Hamilton, p. 205; Millenaire monastique du Mont Saint-Michel, I, Paris 1967,
p. 674-5. He may have met Anselm there during this year.
58 JJ.G. Alexander, Norman illumination at Mont St Michel, 966-1100, Oxford 1970,
p. 215, and plate 17b (index s.v. Byzantium, for more Byzantine and ultimate Byzantine influences); see also C. Chotzakoglou, in Byzantinoslavica 56, 1995, in the press.
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received by the emperor Alexius. He stayed in the imperial palace
and became an `adopted' son of the emperor. The Byzantines used
all sorts of personal relationships to sweeten political relations. Stephen_
was after all the son-in-law of the late king of England and brotherin-law of the reigning sovereign. He wrote enthousiastic letters about
his journey to his wife telling her about the rich gifts and the honours
he received. He tells her how he was asked to send one of their sons
to the Byzantine court to be educated there.59 Before fulfilling his
crusader's vow Stephen returned home, meeting on his way the
Byzantine emperor with relief troops. He advised his adoptive father
not to proceed with this expedition since the situation seemed hopeless.60 Back home the count was attacked for his behaviour and in
1101 he travelled once again to Jerusalem via Constantinople. There
he may have witnessed, with the other members of the so-called
Lombard crusade, the exotic scene of a fight with leopards and lions
just outside the walls of Constantinople.61 We do not know if he left
one of his sons behind at the court. But the `gout byzantin' was kept
alive in the family. One of their sons was Henry of Blois, bishop of
Winchester, who had a liking for Byzantine art as we have seen.
Another son, Stephen of Mortain, became king of England in 1135.
Adela too had an affection for the East and its history. In a poem
written for her between 1088 and 1101 by Baudri de Bourgueil, a
description is given of her rooms. Tapestries with the battle of Hastings
and the Trojan war decorated the walls. Floor mosaics, rare in secular buildings, illustrated the geography of Asia, Europe and Africa.
Statues standing in the halls and rooms could make gestures, reminding one of the Byzantine automata, the mechanical devices of the
Byzantine imperial palace.62
69 H. Hagenmeyer, The Kreuzzugsbriefe aus den jahren 1088-1100, Innsbruck 1901
(repr. Hildesheim 1973), p. 138 (`were, mi dilecta, eius imperialis dignitas persaepe
monuit et monet, ut unum ex filiis nostris ei commendemus: ipse vero tantum tamque
praeclarum honorem se ei attributurum promisit, quod nostro minime invidebit');
Runciman, Crusades, I, p. 168.
6o Histoire anonyme de la premiere croisade, ed. L. Brehier, Paris 1964, p. 141, 143,
145; B. Skoulatos, `L'auteur anonyme des Gesta et le monde byzantin', Byz 50,
1980, p. 527-8; Runciman, Crusades, II, p. 20-1.
61 J.L. Cate, `The crusade of 1101', in Setton, I, p. 343-67, esp. 353; cf. G.A.A.
Loisel, Histoire des menageries de l'Antiquite a nos jours, Paris 1912, I, p. 143. Stephen's
chaplain Alexander brought Eastern reliquaries to Sens, Ebersolt, Pendant les croisades, p. 14.
62 Les wuvres poetiques de Baudri de Bourgueil (1046-1130), ed. P. Abrahams, Paris
1926 (repr. Geneva 1974), p. 196s.
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Contacts with the Byzantine world were a tradition in the family,
both directly and indirectly. Aelis, one of the daughters of Eleanor
married into the House of Blois. Her husband was Thibaud V, count
of Blois. The countess held open house for artists. Her sister Mary
was married to Thibaud's brother Henry the Liberal, count of Champagne. These family relations and their part in the events of 1204
may explain the presence of Byzantine objects in the treasuries of
Sens, Troyes etc.63 Their later step-sister Agnes, daughter of Louis
VII and his third wife Adela of Blois (sister of Thibaud V and Henry
the Liberal), was married off to Byzantium as we have seen. In 1146
Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a letter to the emperor Manuel Comnenus.
It was a letter of recommendation for Henry, son of Thibaud of
Blois, the future Henry the Liberal. Bernard asked the emperor to
knight the young man who was going to Jerusalem to fight the infidels. Prayers would then be said for the Greek emperor. In that year
St Bernard should have worn a chasuble of Byzantine silk. In 1180
the emperor Manuel ransomed Henry the Liberal who had been
made prisoner by the Turks. By now Manuel was married to Maria
of Antioch, full cousin of Eleanor, and aunt of Mary de Champagne,
the Liberal's wife.64 These links with the reigning Comnenian family
in Constantinople are regarded as the context for Byzantine influence on Old French literature, especially in the roman courtois. A good
example is the anonymous Partonopeus de Blois (1182-1185). This highly
interesting and readable roman courtois describes a love affair between
a French noble and a Byzantine princess. A description of Constantinople is given with full account of all its wealth and treasures:
silks, marbles, mosaics and other achievements of Byzantine craftmanship.fi5 The author seems to have had in mind the recent marriage of a Blois descendant. Other literary works were composed at
Blois and dedicated to members of the family.
A few years before, in 1176, Chretien de Troyes had written his
romance Cliges. Chretien was active at the court of Champagne. In
his work he used a number of contemporary events, including the
63 See note 44.
64 PL 182, c. 672-3; in 1157 he gave silks (from Byzantium?) to the newly built
church of Troyes (MGH SS XXIII, p. 847); MGH SS XXVI, p. 244; Fourrier,
p. 165; cf. J.R. Williams, `William of the White Hands and men of letters', Haskins
anniversary essays, ed. C.H. Taylor/J. La Monte, Boston 1929, p. 380-1 (inaccessible);
J.F. Benton, `The court of Champagne as a literary centre', Speculum 36, 1961,
p. 551-91.
65 Partonopeus de Blois, ed. J. Gildea, Villanova 1970, p. 66s.; Seidel, p. 105-8.
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`matiere byzantine'. The story is set by turns in Western Europe and
in Byzantium. Even the name Cliges is possibly a Greek borrowing,
standing, as suggested sometimes, for Kilidj Arslan II, sultan of Iconium
(1155-1192), one of the emperor Manuel's sometimes unfriendly
neighbours. Chretien introduced here the `matiere byzantine'. Information was readily to hand at the court of this highly cultured family with its international contacts. Yvain is another romance in which
contemporary events in the Byzantine empire are described.66 More
complicated is Chre'tien's Perceval, the grail romance. It is not my
purpose to deal here extensively with the Eastern theories concern-
ing the Grail and its `Queste'. It will suffice to mention a few elements supporting the thesis of Byzantine inspiration. The round table
of king Arthur presented in the Arthurian romances, can be inspired
by the round or semicircular altar table of the Greek Orthodox and
Syrian world. Sometimes they offer a decoration of twelve (some-
times more, sometimes less) lobes. In the 10th century such altar
tables, square or round, appeared in southern France. According to
tradition the table of the Last Supper was round. This relic seems to
have travelled through Europe. Round plates with the same decoration of lobes, a mini altar so to say, also appear in this period. The
Grail is sometimes thought to have been such a paten. A chalice
made out of semi precious stone decorated with precious stones like
the `Byzantine' chalices of Saint Denis or the chalices in the treasury
of San Marco, Venice, are another options' The search for the Grail
leads eastward. There the relics of the Passion were kept in the
imperial palace and in the neighbouring church of Saint Sophia.
Was not Constantinople a treasure-house of relics for Westerners?
Was the search for the Grail a hunt for relics, as has sometimes
been suggested? The Chrysotriclinium, the reception hall of the imperial palace, has been compared with the hall where the Grail was
shown to the young Perceval. Chretien de Troyes wrote in Old French
and this time he dedicated his work to Philip, count of Flanders,
66 Chretien de Troyes, Cliges; Fourrier, p. Ills.; H./R. Kahane, `L'enigme du
nom de Cliges', Romania 82, 1961, p. 113-121; Kohler, p. 402; K. Ciggaar, `Chretien
de Troyes et la "matiere byzantine": les demoiselles du Chateau de Pesme Aventure',
CCM 32, 1989, p. 325-31; eadem, `Encore une fois Chretien de Troyes et la "matiere
byzantine": la revolution an palais de Constantinople', CCM 38, 1995, p. 267-74.
67 Chretien de Troyes, Roman de Perceval, ed. W. Roach, Paris 1959 (Owen, 374s.);
A.A. Barb, `Mensa sacra. The round table and the Holy Grail', Journal of the Warburg
and Courtauld Institute 19, 1956, p. 40-67, esp. p. 42s.; J. Frappier, Chretien de Troyes,
Paris 1957, p. 170-209.
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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 otherwise 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 Chartres, Sens and Reims), participated in the Third Crusade. He died at
Acre in 1191. Gautier d'Arras had dedicated to him his Eracle (11761181). 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 crusaders' 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
68 Kohler, p. 402, 404; F. Carmody, 'Les sources orientales du Perceval de Chretien
de Troyes', Revue de litterature comparee 39, 1965, p. 497-545, and eadem, 'Le Perceval
de Chretien de Troyes et les affaires orientales, 1181-91', ibid., 40, 1966, p. 22-47;
P. Gallais, `Robert de Boron en Orient', Melanges de langue et de litterature du Moyen
Age et de la Renaissance offerts a Jean Frappier, Geneva 1970, p. 313-9; R./H. Kahane,
`On sources of Chretien's Grail Story', Melanges W. von Wartburg, Tiibingen 1968,
p. 191-233, and idem, `Robert de Boron's Joseph of Arimathea, Byzantine echoes in
the Grail', JOB 38, 1988, p. 327-38; 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. 145-58.
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CHAPTER SIX
Jerusalem in Christian hands, should help the Byzantine emperor in
his endeavours.69
Thibaud's son Louis, count of Blois and Chartres and grandson of
Eleanor of Aquitaine, was one of the leaders of the crusade of 1203/
1204. He was an experienced soldier who had been to Jerusalem
before. Louis entered Constantinople as a victorious general. His aunt
Agnes, who had already been married to two Greek emperors, now
was the spouse of Theodore Branas, a Greek aristocrat. She received
him well. But Agnes must have felt embittered at the Western behaviour. She refused to speak to the Western nobles who came to
pay her their respects, pretending that she was no longer able to
speak the French language. An interpreter had to provide a link with
her former compatriots. Eleanor who saw so many of her relatives
travel to Constantinople in her footsteps had died at the end of March
before news of the capture of the town could reach her. She had
retired to the abbey of Fontevrault and was buried there under the
Byzantine inspired dome. Theodore Branas, Agnes' husband, was
nominated as governor of Thrace and became a collaborator with
the occupying forces."
The House of Blois is probably a model for ruling `dynasties' in
feudal France. Like the Comnenians they had contacts in all layers
of French society and over a great number of provinces. We cannot
look into the history of all the feudal families or search all the
chronicles and church inventories and treasuries. Feudal dynasties
owed obedience to their overlords and followed them on their expeditions to the East: they may even have adopted their tastes.
Two marriages in feudal France had made Western France part
of the English kingdom. Touraine, Poitou, Anjou and Aquitaine were
the price. In 1128 Geoffrey Plantagenet, future count of Anjou, married the empress Mathilda, daughter of the English king Henry I,
and widow of the German emperor Henry V. The House of Blois,
however, had occupied the English throne in the meantime and
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.
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Mathilda was to stay in Normandy where she richly endowed religious institutions like Le Bec. In 1152 Henry, son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, married Eleanor of Aquitaine, the recently divorced wife
of Louis VII, his feudal lord. Henry soon succeeded in gaining hold
of England and so the Angevin empire was born. The chronology of
this chapter is affected by these events, which complicated the course
of history in 12th-century France.
Rulers and other inhabitants of these lands in Western France
travelled to Constantinople as pilgrims and crusaders. Occasionally
we find a reference to mercenaries. Thanks to his devotion to Ste
Foy an anonymous Aquitanian mercenary was freed from prison in
Syria and so was another prisoner, a Saracen. The two met again in
Constantinople where they told the Greek emperor Michael (there
were four emperors of this name in the 11th century) about the
miracle. Together they came to Aquitaine where the Saracen, now
called John, joined the community of Sainte Foy at Conques."
Other monks had travelled from the East to France in the late
1020s. They seem to have been a fount of information. Among them
were St Symeon of Sinai (later of Trier) and his companion Cosmas.
Cosmas died in Poitou where the pair had been received by count
William IV of Poitiers, duke of Aquitaine (995-1030).72 Greek and
antique titles were popular at the Poitevin court. Two early charters
of Bourgueil (996 and 1004) and 10th-century charters of Saint Martin
in Tours have Greek subscription clauses. In Bourgueil it was abbot Gausbert, cousin of the duke's mother Emma, foundress of the
abbey, who introduced them.73 It is unclear whether it was the presence of Greek monks that brought about this new fashion or a renewed interest in the East. But they influenced the life and work of
Ademar of Chabannes (988-1034), monk at Angouleme and Limoges.
" 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 Guillelmum 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 (9951030)', Journal of medieval history 5, 1979, p. 11-21; for the reference to the Tours
charters I am indebted to George Beech.
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CHAPTER SIX
He would seem to have been a learned man: historian, preacher,
theologian and even an artist, to judge by the drawings in his
autographs. In his Chronicon Ademar inserted passages of Byzantine
history. Although not always correct they are evidence of Greek
informants whom he may have met in France. A connection is seen
with the visit of the already mentioned monks St Symeon and Cosmas.
Ademar may have met them in person and learnt from them the
Greek alphabet which we find in one of his autographs. The Greek
monks were present at the council of Limoges in 1031, and `helped'
Ademar in establishing the apostolate of St Martial, patron saint of
Limoges. He may have been bluffing by simply referring to them
without ever having discussed the matter with them, but for him it
was the result that counted. Ademar exhibits his knowledge of the
Greek East by calling the Aquitanian saint ho agios Martialos. The
proverb `Grecus cum carruca leporem capit', is unknown in Western
Europe and must have reached Limoges as a colloquial expression,
possibly in the same way.74
Drawings of New Testament scenes in his autograph (Leiden,
Universiteitsbibliotheek, Vossius Lat. 8°15, fos. 2-4v) have been
explained as having been inspired by Carolingian and Byzantine
ivories, although a combination of the two, Ottonian ivories with
strong Byzantinizing influences, is another possibility. In the treasuries of Limoges and nearby places like Grandmont, Ambazac etc.,
there may have been all sorts of foreign objects, including Byzantine
artefacts and ivories. Much of Ademar's work, like his sermons, is
still unpublished and may reveal further surprises. They may even
show a certain `obsession' with Byzantium and the East by a man
who died far away from home, visiting Jerusalem in 1034.75
Almost contemporary with the drawings of Ademar is the Lectionary
of Saint Martial, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Lat. 5301).
The manuscript was written at the end of the 10th century. Some of
its initials are decorated with the figure of an apostle: fo. 279v represents St Thomas. They have been compared with contemporary
74 J. Chavanon, Ademar de Chabannes, Chronique, Paris 1897, p. 143, 155, 169-70,
178; 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. 139-89; for the Greek alphabet,
Martindale, ibid., p. 528, n. 3 (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Lat. 2400, fo. 182r,
possibly an autograph).
75 D. Gaborit-Chopin, 'Les dessins d'Ademar de Chabannes', Bulletin archeologique
du comite des travaux historiques et scienti iques, n.s. 3, 1967 (1968), p. 192-207; Wolff,
ibid., p. 154.
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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 second 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 beautiful 11th and 12th century wall-paintings of Saint Savin, are examples of the new style. The so-called damp-fold style (the lines of
the bodies are clearly marked by the numerous `accentuated' draperies) 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
76 Byzance et la France medieoale, catalogue, Paris 1958 (Bibliotheque Nationale), no.
110, p. 62; J. Porcher, 'Les ivoires byzantins et 1'enluminure limousine a la fin du
Xe siecle', in Spdtantike and Byzanz. Aeue Beitrage zur Kunst des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr.
Forschungen zur Yunstgeschichte and christlichen Archdologie 1, 1952, p. 189-91 (with ill.);
Demus, p. Ills. (with ill.).
77 C£ J. Chailley, L'ecole musicale de Saint Martial de Limoges jusqu'a la fin du Me siecle,
Paris 1960, p. 193, 197; Wellesz, p. 159s.
78 Byzance et la France medievale, op. cit. (n. 76), nos. 112, 113, 115; D. GaboritChopin, La decoration des manuscrits a Saint-Martial de Limoges et en Limousin du IX` au XIIe
siecle, Geneva 1969, p. 88, 91, 173 (ill. in Ebersolt, Apres les croisades, plate XXV).
79 Dodwell, ch. 10, `Byzantium and France in the twelfth century', p. 173, 186;
R. Oursel, Saint-Savin, La Pierre-qui-vire 1971 (inaccessible), cf. Y. Labande-Mailfert,
`Nouvelles donnees sur 1'abbatiale de Saint-Savin', CCM 14, 1971, p. 38-68;
J. Porcher, L'enluminure franfaise, Paris 1959, p. 23-40.
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CHAPTER SIX
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 produced 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,
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A dalmatic of silk and linen, originally from Grandmont and now
in the parish church of Ambazac (a small village between Limoges
and Grandmont) is connected with Geoffrey Plantagenet according
to a late tradition. The decoration consists of encircled eagles. The
dalmatic has been described by turns as Byzantine and Spanish, 12th
or 13th century.81
An interesting feature of south-western France are the churches
with domes resting on pendentives. The cathedral of Perigueux, Saint
Front, is a well-known example. The church has five cupolas, its
groundplan being a Greek cross, i.e. with arms of equal length. San
Marco in Venice may have been the model for the patron and the
architect, but a genuine Byzantine church should not be excluded
either. Other examples are Solignac (south of Limoges), Saint Peter
of Angouleme, Fontevrault and several others."
Church furniture and decoration like altars, chalices, lamps etc.,
may sometimes have been inspired by Byzantine examples.83 Byzantine architecture could have been the model for the polychrome wall
decoration consisting of a coloured inlay in some parts of southern
France .14
Eleanor witnessed a blossoming of the arts. Literature was one of
her passions, a passion she transmitted to her daughters as we have
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 international 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.
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seen already. In the 1150s vernacular literature began to really take
off in France. Like her forefathers Eleanor protected authors, one of
whom was Benoit de Sainte Maure whose Roman de Troie, some 30,000
verses in Old French, became popular. In Byzantium one sees a similar
development. Eleanor's visit to the Byzantine capital may have stimu-
lated her interest: the history of the Byzantine empire and the history of classical Greece. In Constantinople she met well-educated
Byzantine princesses and some Western princesses who had been
'Byzantinized' after their arrival there. These ladies patronized literary productions. Literary works had already been dedicated to the
empress Irene (Bertha of Sulzbach). There is an interesting interplay
between France and Byzantium in the years after the Second Crusade: literature in the vernacular (in Byzantium the spoken language
rather than archaic Greek) in long verse narratives, makes its appearance. It is still to be determined which country profited most
from these intercultural contacts, Byzantium with its fairy-like charm
and attractions and its long history, or France with its tradition of
feudalism, of chansons de geste, chivalry and tournois.85
In the Roman de Troie the description of the palace with magical
statues must have charmed a public who recognized in this the marvels
of contemporary Constantinople. An interest in sculpture is shown
when again the statue of the emperor Justinian is described. The
singing birds in the anonymous Eneas are another Byzantine import.
Was there not in one of the reception halls of the imperial palace a
golden or gilded tree filled with birds who, by some mechanical device,
could sing? Works like the Roman de Troie, the Roman de Thebes and
Eneas described the charm of far-off foreign countries, especially of
the Byzantine empire. In the romans d'antiquite and in the other romans
courtois one finds literary topoi like the journey to Constantinople, the
city's magic and its monuments, learned Byzantine princesses, precious stones, confortable beds, beautiful silks, richly made enamels
and exquisite food.86
Another literary genre the lai, a shortened version of a roman courtois,
is of some interest to us. A lai is normally situated in Brittany or in
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
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195
the Gaelic parts of Britain and centres on the so-called `matiere
bretonne', i.e. Celtic stories and Arthurian elements etc. Marie de
France, who was possibly a half-sister of Henry II, lived in England.
She wrote a dozen of these lais. In the Lai du Fresne (1180) a nobleman from Dol, Brittany, brought home from Byzantium a silk with
a decoration of roundels. One of his daughters was exposed, wrapped
in the silk. In the end she was recognized as his legitimate daughter
thanks to the Byzantine silk.87
Limoges, where the dukes of Aquitaine were crowned, was a centre of interest in Byzantium. Until further material is revealed, one
may assume that some influence came from Byzantium via Cluny,
mother abbey of its religious houses.
Cluny, although in Burgundy, was founded by William of Aquitaine
in 909. From an early date the abbey enjoyed close relations with
the German empire. It was the spiritual centre of the medieval church
in France, with daughter-houses all over Western Europe and contacts with Rome, Monte Cassino and southern Italy."'
Wandering Greek monks had stayed at the abbey of Cluny and at
Saint Benigne. Abbot Hugh (1049-1109) of Cluny is considered to
have taken a lead in receiving Greek monks or Greek-speaking monks
like Anastasius who came from Venice. The same might be said of
abbot William of Volpiano, abbot of Saint Benigne, Dijon, at the
beginning of the 11th century. He received in his monastery monks
from Ravenna, a Greek bishop named Barnabas ('genere Grecus')
and John, archbishop of Corinth, who seems to have died at Dijon.89
Both abbots introduced Greek elements in their newly built
churches. The abbey church of Cluny, built between 1089 and 1131,
had a groundplan in the form of a patriarchal cross. This is not
typical of a Byzantine church which normally is too small for such
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 SaintBenigne 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.
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fantasies, but it is an iconographical compromise which served as a
middle way between East and West and was followed by other Cluniac
churches.90 Some daring scholars have suggested that the wall-paintings in the church, now unfortunately gone, were executed by Greek
artists." One wonders how the Last Judgement scene in the refectory
was painted, in Western or in Eastern style and iconography. The
suggestion has been made that the church had ambos in Eastern
style; and that during the construction it was used to celebrate Eastern ceremonials." At Dijon Greek artists are thought to have been
active in Saint Benigne, but these suggestions have to be supported.93
Paintings, frescoes and miniatures, left traces of Byzantine or
Byzantinizing influence. At Berze-la-Ville, a favourite summer resort
of abbot Hugh of Cluny, only a few kilometers from Cluny, the
Romanesque paintings are regarded as the best example of this trend,
which may have been introduced to Cluny some time before. The
wall-paintings with their strong Byzantine character are commonly
attributed to the early 12th century. The bearded Christ in Majesty,
on a blue background so typical of Comnenian wall decorations
(mosaics and wall-paintings) is most impressive.94 Contemporary min-
iature paintings in manuscripts from Burgundian abbeys (Cluny's
manuscripts were mostly destroyed during the French Revolution)
follow the same trend, both in style and iconography. It is curious to
see how even the Greek term Theotokos (`THEOTOKOS') was used to
designate the Virgin in the Tree of Jesse in a C4teaux manuscript,
now in Dijon (Bibliotheque Municipale, no. 641, fo. 4v, dating from
the first half of the 12th century). Citeaux was a centre of Byzantine
influence, as there are linguistic and artistic spolia to be found.95
90 Ebersolt, Pendant les croisades, p. 85-6.
91 Geanakoplos, Byzantine East and Latin West, p. 48,
92 KJ. Conant, Cluny. Les eglises et la maison du chef d'ordre, Macon 1968, p. 73, 95,
120; plate VI, fig. 6, shows the exonarthex which, although made necessary by the
increasing number of people, is a Byzantine element. N. Hunt, Cluny under Saint
Hugh, 1049-1109, London 1967, p. 121-2 (the reference to Peter Damianus, PL
145, c. 873-4, is not clear).
93 McNulty/Hamilton, p. 208. The many columns do remind of some of the
Constantinopolitan c.-L'erns; R. Oursel, Bourgogne Romane, La Pierre-qui-vire 1979 (7th
ed.), p. 47-64.
94 Oursel, ibid., p. 143-53; W. Koehler, 'Byzantine art in the West', DOP 1, 1941,
p. 63-72; J. Wettstein, `Les fresques bourguignonnes de Berze-la-Ville', Byz 38, 1968,
p. 243-66; E. Magnieu, Les peintures de la chapelle des moines de Berze, Macon 1985.
°s Dodwell, p. 173-8, and plate 204; Porcher, op. cit. (n. 79), ibid.; Byzance et la
France medievale, op. cit. (n. 76), nos. 116, 117, 118; Demus, p. 112; M. Schapiro,
The Farina Ildefonsus. A Romanesque illuminated manuscript from Cluny and related works,
FRANCE
197
Wandering monks may have been a source of inspiration, not only
for such linguistic spolia but for all sorts of Greek Fremdko'rper. But
there was more. Cluny had a daughter-house, a dependency of La
Charite sur Loire, in the neighbourhood of Constantinople, at Civetot.
Civetot was situated on the Sea of Marmara, on one of the pilgrim
and crusader routes. English refugees had been transferred there to
settle during the reign of Alexius as we are told by Orderic Vitalis.
This emperor had given the monastery, with rich gifts, to the Cluniac
monks. For some unknown reason the monks left or had to leave.
Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny (1122-1156) asked the emperor
John Comnenus to return the house to the monks. He approached
the patriarch of Constantinople with the same request. Nothing is
known about the exact date of these letters or of the outcome of
these requests. The Benedictines may have had more monasteries in
or near Constantinople. An exchange of ideas, of objects and of artistic
innovations in a more direct way was thus perfectly possible. This
does not exclude of course the role of intermediaries such as Rome,
Monte Cassino and other religious centres.9fi
How else could we explain, at the beginning of the 12th century, the
introduction in Cluny of the Feast of the Transfiguration, one of
the Twelve Feasts of the Byzantine church, the so-called dodekaeorton?
The spiritual revival of Cluny, whose influence spread over the rest
of Western Europe, has intrigued scholars who see or want to see a
relation with Orthodox spirituality. But the definitive answers to these
questions have not yet been given. The influence of Byzantine music
on both Cluny and Limoges, and in Saint Denis (Saint Amand in
the North is a different case) is another obscure question. For the
specialists much remains to be done before we can see the complexity of the 12th-century world, in both Eastern and Western Europe
and their interrelations.97
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 manuscripts).
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 elsewhere.
97 C. Waddell, `The reform of the liturgy from a Renaissance perspective', in
Renaissance and renewal, p. 103; McNulty/Hamilton, passim; Geanakoplos, Byzantine
CHAPTER SIX
198
A witness to one of the many charters of Cluny was a man who
wrote a roman courtois in which the Greek world, this time Thrace
with Philippopolis, and an imperial Greek family were to play the
prominent part. In 1188 Aimon de Varennes wrote his Florimont. The
itineraries which he describes were familiar to him because he had
travelled there himself. He had picked up some Greek which he used
in his work to impress his audience and to give a flavour of authenticity to his work. Apart from some correct and some incorrect etymologies he also used the colloquial Greek language, which he may
even have learnt or copied from a linguistic tourist guide
Li dus davant le roi ala
et en grezois le salua:
"Calimera, vasilio!"
Li rois respont: "certis calo!"
Iseu welt dire em fransois:
"que boen jor eiisse(nt) li rois!"
Et seu que it a respondu:
vuelt dire: "Bien soies venu!"98
We have almost finished our tour of France. We have left unvisited
certain regions, certain towns, certain abbeys, and certain fields of
learning. In the North there were the abbeys of Saint-Amand, SaintBertin and Liessies. They had scriptoria where Byzantine influence is
discernible in miniature painting during the Romanesque period, but
they have not yet been studied very thoroughly.99 Saint Amand showed
a certain interest in the Greek language. The abbey possessed a Greek
Psalter written in Latin characters. In the early 10th century the
monk Hucbald was aware of the difference in musical notation between the Latin West and the Greek East. And what to think of a
12th-century manuscript at Cambrai, giving a Greek school song in
Latin characters?'oo
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
All over France Byzantine relics, often covered in precious Byzantine silks, and reliquaries in the form of a patriarchal cross and the
occurrence of this same cross in glass windows (in Bourges), and
possibly in the cross of Lorraine, derive from Byzantine models. Many
of them have been lost during the religious wars and the French
Revolution but their memory is sometimes kept alive in church inventories.101
The possibility of Byzantine influence on coins has yet to be studied, in contrast to the study of the import of Byzantine linguistics.
But here, however, we meet other problems. The French language is
part of the large family of Romance languages between which there
is frequent interplay. It is often difficult to determine which Romance
language was the first to adopt a specific Byzantine word or other
linguistic influence. A clear example of a Greek `import' is the word
dromund, designating a large ship, which one finds in the vernacular
literature, in Chretien de Troyes' Cliges and elsewhere.102 Another
unexplored field of study is the liturgy of the church, its rituals and
other institutions, although occasional suggestions have been made.'°3
After 1204 contacts with the Byzantine world grew even more
intense. The French had a major part in the founding of the Latin
empire and so left many traces of their presence. Although it is often
difficult to determine the date of French presence, we have a few
undeniable signs before 1204. We have seen that French mercenaries
settled in Byzantium and that some of them set up small principalities."' Their descendants merged into the international population of
the empire and most of their names have been lost or have taken on
a Greek and often unrecognizable form. Until 1189 the French had
ibid., p. 15; Seidel, p. 28; P. Maas, `Metrische Akklamationen der Byzantiner', BZ
21, 1912, p. 43.
101 Ebersolt, Pendant les croisades, p. 83, and passim. The anonymous `censor' of
this book has referred me to a relic of St Victor which the emperor John 11 Conmenus
sent to Marseille, Riant, Exuviae, II, p. 109-111, cf. Janin, Eglises et monasteres,
p. 63-4.
102 E.g. H./R. Kahane, 'Les elements byzantins dans les langues romanes', Cahiers
Ferdinand de Saussure 23, 1966, p. 67-73 (their bibliography was published in Romance
Philology 15, 1962, p. 207-20; see also W. Berschin, `Griechisches im lateinischen
Mittelalter', in Reallexikon der Byzantinistik, Amsterdam 1969-72, s.v. Abendland and
Byzanz, IV, c. 227. For `dromund', see for example Chretien de Troyes, Cliges,
v. 6575, p. 200.
103 K. Burdach, Der Gral. Forschungen uber seinen Ursprung and seinen Zusammenhang mit
der Longinuslegende, Stuttgart 1938, p. 189-90.
104 J. Hoffmann, Rudimente von Territorialstaaten im byzantinischen Reich (1071-1210),
Munich 1974, p. 13s., 80s.
200
CHAPTER SIX
their own quarter in Constantinople. In that year it was given by
Isaac Angelus to the Venetians to compensate for their heavy losses
during the anti-Latin events and massacres of 1182. The Chrysobul
in which this donation is confirmed says that in the French quarter
there only lived poor people and refugees who did not pay their
obligations (`servitium') to the Byzantines. The events of 1182 may
have taken many victims among the French as well and so have left
their quarter more or less depopulated. Further Frenchmen fell victim to the Greeks when, after they had been expelled from the town
in 1203/1204, they were among the first to start a violent attack.105
The emperor Manuel, who was twice married to a Western lady,
had a great interest in Western court life and its distractions. He
opened the door to literary influences, tournaments and the introduction of French terms like falconry (cpaXx(iwtiv). Other Western,
French and feudal, institutions had already made their way into the
Greek empire. The term liegeman
appeared under Alexius
1.106 The French immigrants who had survived the crucial years 1182
and 1204 could serve the Latin masters and mingle with the new
arrivals as a fifth column.
105 Tafel/Thomas, I, p. 208-9; Dolger, Regesten, no. 1590; Brand, p. 199; Gunther 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
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
Greek by birth, Roman by empire, Gerbert of Reims'
With the coronation of Otto of Saxony by the pope in 962 the Holy
Roman empire was born. The ceremony took place in Rome, emphasizing 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 empire. 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 wintertime 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 problems etc. Feudal ties with Burgundy and Lotharingia opened channels 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 nowadays 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 powerblocks. Hungary and southern Italy, the latter in the hands of the
'
Gerbert of Reims, Lattin, p. 297.
202
CHAPTER SEVEN
Byzantines, were neighbours and required a different approach. South-
ern Italy, Calabria and Apulia, were in particular the scenes of a
constant struggle for power. Far into the 11th century, until 1071,
the Byzantine empire was a neighbour here, although soon to be
displaced by the Normans, the third party in the conflict. The
Byzantines did their best to maintain their territorial claims, and this
affected the political history of Western Europe to a large extent.
These territorial claims, real or illusionary, had their impact on the
network of alliances and treaties of more than one Western European country.
The existence of two empires renewed the Zweikaiser problem. Who
was to be the real emperor, who was entitled to real power in Europe. Rome and the pope were to play their role in the conflict.
Was there to be peaceful coexistence or constant warfaring between
the two empires, in southern Italy, in the Balkans, in Hungary, all
areas of cultural overlap for both sides? Rivalry there certainly would
be, even in times of peace. Relations with the popes were, for both
parties in these conflicts, alternately friendly and hostile. The investiture conflict was to last a long time.
Otto of Saxony was the first of his family to be crowned emperor.
By founding a dynasty he was able to develop a policy of stabilizing
and even enlarging the Western empire, laying the groundwork for
his successors. Relatives and friends were to occupy important governmental posts. In 961 his son Otto II was chosen and designated
as king and became his co-ruler. In 969 Otto II was crowned emperor in Rome. Co-rulership was thus introduced into the Western
empire, probably in imitation of the Byzantine empire. The succession
was guaranteed and the dynasty could rule without having to worry
about it. Members of the family were nominated to important bishoprics as bishops, abbots and abbesses of monasteries and convents.
A great number of bishoprics, some of them founded by the Ottonians,
and manned by talented bishops and other prelates, developed as
cultural centres: Aachen, Augsburg, Bamberg, Cologne, Halberstadt,
Mainz, Minden, Osnabruck, Paderborn, Regensburg, Siegburg, Siegen,
Saint Gall, Trier are well-known names, to name only a few. Among
those nunneries with royal ladies as abbesses were Essen, Gandersheim
and Quedlinburg. They served as stopping places and temporary
palaces for the itinerant court. They safeguarded persons and goods,
if necessary. They served as venues for the diets (Reichstage), at which
the emperor and his court attempted to formulate their policy and
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
203
diplomacy to solve the numerous problems and mutual interests with
the far distant but powerful Byzantine empire.
In this chapter we will, on the whole, ignore events which happened in Italy; these will be dealt with in a different chapter.
Every German ruler between 962 and 1204 had official contacts
with the Byzantine emperors. Before his coronation as emperor Otto
I had, as a king, twice received legates sent by the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, the last Macedonian emperor. In 952 there
were plans to marry Otto's niece Hadwig to a son of the Greek
emperor. Four years later Otto I was congratulated on his victory
over the Hungarians on the Lechfeld.2
Contacts and contracts seem to have been the custom during the
long period with which we are dealing in this book. Such contacts
had their ups and downs, which will both concern us here, since
they affected, in one way or another, the coexistence of the two
empires.
Many German pilgrims and crusaders visited Constantinople, but
we shall give only a few examples of these. In 1064 a large group of
German pilgrims left for Jerusalem, among them several bishops, for
example, Gunther of Bamberg. Western sources describe the journey
and tell how the Greeks hardly believed that Gunther could be a
bishop because of the display of wealth by the church leader. Gunther
did not like the Greeks, calling them arrogant. Nevertheless he was
presented with a magnificent silk tapestry, for himself or for his king/
emperor, which, in the end, was used as a shroud for the bishop
who died on the way back home. The silk is preserved in the Diocesan Museum, Bamberg, and shows a mounted Greek emperor in full
ornate.' The First Crusade mainly stimulated Rhinelanders to go to
the East, due to the tension between pope and king. The Second
2 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 522, and passim; Lounghis, p. 476-7; Dolger, Regesten,
passim. A survey of these missions is a desideratum. General surveys of the history of
the German empire are R. Holtzmann, Geschichte der Sdchsischen Kaiserzeit, 900-1024,
Munich 1941, etc. (1979); K. Hampe, Deutsche Kaisergeschichte in der Zeit der Salier and
Staufer, Heidelberg 1969, 5nd ed. (repr. Darmstadt 1985). An exhibition of Byzan-
tine objects in German lands and their Nachwuchs, as suggested by Jacqueline
Lafontaine (Byzantion 64, 1994, p. 232-3), would be very interesting.
3 E. Joranson, `The great German pilgrimage of 1064-5', in The crusades and other
historical essays presented to D.C. Munro, ed. LJ. Paetow, New York 1928, p. 3-43;
A. Grabar, `La soie byzantine de 1'eveque Gunther a la cathedrale de Bamberg',
Munchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 7, 1956, p. 7s.; Beckwith, p. 218; G. Prinzing,
`Das Bamberger Gunthertuch in neuer Sicht', in Byzantium and its neighbours,
p. 218-31.
204
CHAPTER SEVEN
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 company, together with duke Welf VI and many Germans of lesser rank.
The Third Crusade of 1189 was, as far as the land route was concerned, 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 Ceremonies of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus we find the expressions
to designate German rulers. In the
ptj Eu wviaS and pBatiovprl
Ti
De administrando imperio Otto the Great (Otto I) is described as fr
The inhabitants are called 'AAaµavot or
bpa-yyia; titjs xai
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
' De ceremoniis, Bonn, p. 689; De administrando imperio, p. 104-5, 142-3; Ohnsorge,
Abendland, p. 237s., 523-6; e.g. G. Soyter, 'Byzantiner and Deutsche nach
byzantinischen Quellen', Aeue yahrbucher fur Antike and deutsche Bildung 4, 1941, p. 114,
and idem, `Die byzantinische Einflusse auf the Kultur des mittelalterlichen Deutschlands', Leipziger Viertejahrschriftfur Sudosteuropa 3/4, Leipzig 1941, p. 153-72 (inac-
cessible); Cinnamus, index (Brand, 226); RHC Historiens grecs, II (ed. Miller),
p. 758; C. Neumann, Griechische Geschichtschreiber and Geschichtsquellen im zwbfflen Jahrhundert,
Leipzig 1888, p. 65.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
205
referred to a great variety of problems and influences in their field,
often in relation with Romanesque art, but references are scattered
in numerous books and articles.
Many topics still call for solutions and a general survey of the
relations and contacts between the two empires could help to resolve
some obscurities. Such a broader survey could reveal links hitherto
unknown or invisible and could open up new perspectives.'
Intermarriage was an important factor in medieval diplomacy. It
will be a chronological Leitmotiv in this chapter. Matrimonial alliances,
proposed, concluded and even broken, were important aspects of the
interactions between ruling houses and the countries they governed.
One of the recent instructions of the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus had forbidden the marrying off of members of the imperial family to the Northern tribes. This did, explicitly, not apply
to the ruling families in the West because, `there is much relation-
ship and converse between Franks and Romans. And why did he
order that with them alone the emperors of the Romans should intermarry? Because of the traditional fame and nobility of those lands
and races'.'
As in the rest of Western Europe Latin was the official language
of the German chancery and church. From the 11th century onwards the vernacular, Old German, was used for literary texts, in
the `vorhofische Epik' and in the songs of troubadours like Walther
von der Vogelweide. Texts relevant to our subject sometimes have
to be consulted in the original since translations, even in modern
German, do not always exist. Secondary literature is mostly in German which can be an inconvenience for the English reader.
Many people travelled from the West to Constantinople and further
eastward. More than one ruler or future ruler visited the Byzantine
capital, or travelled in transit through Byzantine territory. Bishops
and monks, as well as many lay people, set off for Constantinople,
5 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 347, complains about the scarcity of material; idem,
Konstantinopel, and Ost-Rom, passim; Lamma, passim; G. Cames, Byzance et la
peinture romane de Germane, Paris 1966, p. 1-32; c£ J. Irmscher, `Die byzantinischdeutschen Beziehungen im Rahmen der Europaischen Staatenwelt. Ergebnisse and
Probleme', in Byzanz in der Europaischen Staatenwelt, ed. J. Dummer/J. Irmscher, Ber-
lin 1983, p. 1-7. Chronicles in the vernacular have hardly been exploited so far;
cf. M. Huby, `La place de Byzance dans la "Chronique des empereurs"', in Jerusalem,
Rome, Constantinople. L'image et le mythe de la ville, Paris 1986, ed. D. Poirion, p. 18196, is an exception.
6 De administrando imperio, p. 71s.
206
CHAPTER SEVEN
often sent on more or less official missions. They were accompanied
by servants and soldiers, although the latter rarely appear in the
sources. Ecclesiastics were sometimes sent to discuss theological mat-
ters or used the opportunity of an embassy to do so. Merchants and
mercenaries tried their luck in the Byzantine empire. Numerous simple
pilgrims whose journeys go unnoticed in the sources, remain anony-
mous. This also applies to many bishops who acquitted their religious duties by going on a pilgrimage, for it was quite common in
those times to travel widely, even as far as Constantinople. The social background of the various categories was different and so was
the influence they could exert once home, culturally and politically.
In the period under discussion power was in the hands of the few
magnates who, if they felt inclined, stimulated the arts. In their hands
lay the power of patronage of those times.
The great number of embassies travelling back and forth between
the Byzantine empire and the German empire, contrasts to the situ-
ation in some other Western European countries. One witness to
these intense contacts is the great number of Byzantine artefacts and
relics in German collections. Church treasuries and museum collections display a wide variety of Byzantine artefacts such as ivories,
enamels, silks (used for vestments, booklinings, shrouds, sealbags, to
envelop relics etc.), metalwork, reliquaries, glassware etc. In the course
of time imperial and other princely `collections' were split up. Monasteries benefitted from the generosity of rulers; legacies were split
up among the members of a family. Recent exhibitions and the
accompanying catalogues have shown some of these Byzantine treasures: Suevia Sacra, Augsburg 1973, Monumenta Annonis, Cologne 1975,
Die Zeit der Staufer, Stuttgart 1977 (5 vols.), Ornamenta Ecclesiae, Co-
logne 1985 (3 vols.). In 1988 an exhibition of the so-called Hedwigs-
glaser was to take place in Bonn and Basel, but further details are
unknown. Recently the commemorative volume Kaiserin Theophanu.
Begegnung des Ostens and Westens um die Wende des ersten Jahrtausends has
been published to commemorate Theophano's death in 991. Other
important studies were published on that occasion. Byzantine coins
have been found throughout the former German empire and the
presence and use of such coins are testified by contemporary sources.'
Beckwith, 'Byzantine tissues', p. 33-44, gives a number of silks preserved in
Germany. Like silks, crystals, such as the so-called Hedwigsglaser, are sometimes
difficult to determine as for their provenance, Egyptian or from other parts of the
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
207
Written documents are as numerous as artefacts. Chronicles in Latin,
Greek and in the vernacular tell of the contacts between the two
empires. The publication of the Monumenta Germaniae historica and their
indices have long revealed them to the learned public. Letters in
Greek and Latin give insight into the course of embassies and reveal
other problems connected with the Byzantine empire and its inhab-
itants. Unpublished letter collections may give more information.
Church inventories mention the presence of otherwise unknown Greek
objects.8 Vitae in Latin mention journeys to the East, relics brought
home, the knowledge of Greek of church men. Poems in the vernacular, in Greek and in German, refer to special occasions: a marriage or a warning for a Greek emperor that soon the Germans will
stand before the walls of Constantinople. Some of this vernacular
literature is still unpublished. Romances in German relate imaginary
journeys to and through the Byzantine empire, and contain a kernel
of truth.
First we shall deal with those Greeks who came to or lived and
worked in the West. They have left traces in Western sources and in
some works of art. Some of the Byzantine objects and coins may
have belonged to them. For the moment we will ignore the many
ambassadors whom we will meet later on. Since the German emperors were politically active in southern Italy, it is not always clear
where Greek immigrants came from. Some indeed came from Apulia
and Calabria where they had cooperated with the Northerners and
were sometimes forced to flee northwards, as they were seen as traitors at home. Others came from the Byzantine mainland.
During Otto the Great's reign Greek eunuchs came over to teach
Greek and Greek customs to his niece Hadwig who was to marry a Greek
prince. A Greek artist came to paint her portrait but the marriage
fell through. The West was probably not familiar with panel-painting
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 Kaiserin 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 exception. 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 German 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 Sacramentary 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', Bulletin de l'Institut beige de Rome 38, 1967, p. 49.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
209
probably a church or chapel in Wimpfen. In Cologne a scribe Elias,
who came from the Peloponnese, copied a New Testament in 1027.
In the 1040s a Greek artist painted the head and hands of Christ in
the Gospel Book of Echternach, ordered by the emperor Henry III
for the cathedral of Speyer, and now in Madrid.12 The flaking off of
the painting material is seen as proof of its Byzantine origin. A feature which this manuscript has in common with two earlier Ottonian
luxury manuscripts is the iconography of Christ in Majesty (a bearded
Christ, in the Byzantine tradition) and the use of Greek inscriptions
or Greek characters instead of Latin script around the image of Christ.
In such manuscripts the Byzantine imperial style was clearly imitated. The Echternach Gospels also imitate Byzantine art: the background of several miniatures imitates Byzantine silk patterns.13
The early toponyms Forum Grecum and Porta Grecorum in Cologne
indicate a Greek colony or a quarter where Greeks used to live.
Even more remarkable is the fragment of a Greek translation of the
Latin grammar of Donatus in a 10th-century manuscript written in
Cologne. There was a demand or a renewed demand for a `systematical' approach to the Greek language. 14
So far we have hardly mentioned the empress Theophano. In 972
Theophano, a Byzantine princess, related to the reigning emperor in
Byzantium, arrived in Rome where she was married to Otto II and
crowned empress by the pope. Her coming to the West was part of
Byzantine diplomatic policy, in which persons and presents played a
prominent role. The Ottonian dynasty sought prestige and recognition by the emperors in Constantinople. The Byzantines only wanted
peace on their Italian border. Theophano was not to bring land to
the Ottonian dynasty, nor claims to it, not even in southern Italy.
'?
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 Byzantine 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 confessed 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, probably 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 believed 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. Throughout 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. KrickelbergPiitz, `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
From the beginning of our period Byzantine influence is very
strongly felt. The empress Theophano is to a large measure responsible for it. She lived, worked and died in the West. Her children
were half-Greek. Their father's early death in 982 must have accentuated the Byzantine element in their education as we can clearly
see in the life and policy of Otto III who succeeded his father Otto
II, and who lived and behaved as a Byzantine emperor, in his lifestyle
and in his political thinking.18
The Ottonians and their successors wanted to be the equals of
their Byzantine colleagues. They did not need to read the bitter report
of Liutprand to know the ways of Byzantine court life. The influence
of Byzantium was such that its traditions and ceremonies were known
all over Europe. The Ottonians wanted to be accepted as rulers, and
as emperors. The use of titles was an important feature of diplomacy
and although Byzantine writers used the term (3a6tXebS tiwv'payywv
('basileus of the Franks') to designate the kings in the West, in the
hierarchy of power this title was far below that of (3aatX,ebc 'r ov
'Pwgaiwv, `basileus of the Romans', the title used to identify the Greek
rulers, who considered themselves to be the legitimate successors of
the Roman emperors.19
The Book of Ceremonies speaks of the kings of Saxony, Bavaria and
Francia as the `spiritual brother' (nvEugaitxbS a&&X(pbc) of the basileus.
At the top of the pyramid of this hierarchical order, spiritual as well
as political, stood the ruler of Byzantium who had worked out a
system of relationships with other rulers which made them dependent on him, at least in theory.20 Before sending his envoy Liutprand
in 968 to Constantinople to ask for a Byzantine princess in marriage
for his son, Otto the Great made his wife Adelheid in 968 co-imperatrix
in a diploma for Magdeburg. This innovative style has been explained
as an attempt to enhance the prestige of the Saxon-Ottonian court
before sending Liutprand.21 The mission was not successful, hence
e E. Labande, `Mirabilia mundi. Essai sur la personnalite d'Otton III', CCM 6,
1963, p. 297-313, 455-76.
19 W. Ohnsorge, `Die Anerkennung des Kaisertums Ottos I. durch Byzanz', in
Konstantinopel, p. 176-207; the Legatio was published, with a German translation,
by A. Bauer/R. Rau, in Quellen zur Geschichte der Sdchsischen Kaiserzeit, Darmstadt 1977,
p. 524-89; see also J.N. Sutherland, `The mission to Constantinople in 968 and
Liutprand of Cremona', Traditio 31, 1975, p. 55-81.
20 De ceremoniis, Bonn, p. 689; F. Dolger, `Die "Familie der Konige" im
Mittelalter', in Byzanz and die europdische Staatenwelt, Darmstadt 1976, p. 34-69.
21 Ohnsorge, `Das Mitkaisertum in der abendlandischen Geschichte des fruheren
212
CHAPTER SEVEN
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 empires. The purplecoloured diploma, written in gold ink, on an elaborated background imitating a decoration of medallions on a precious
silk, is preserved today and is now in Wolfenbuttel, in the Niedersachsisches Staatsarchiv. It has been suggested that Byzantine influence 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 diplomas 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 Byzantine colleagues.23 Their ideology was to accept and to adapt ByzanMittelalters', Abendland, p. 261-87; F. Dolger, `Die Ottonenkaiser and Byzanz', in
Karolingische and ottonische Kunst, Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichte and christlichen Archaologie,
3, Wiesbaden 1957, p. 49-59; M. Uhlirz, `Zu dem Mitkaisertum der Ottonen:
Theophanu coimperatrix', BZ 50, 1957, p. 385s; see also note 19; F.-R. Erkens,
`Die Frau als Herrscherin in ottonisch-friihsalischer Zeit', in Kaiserin Theophanu,
op. cit. (n. 7), II, p. 245-59.
22 W. Deeters, `Zur Heiratsurkunde der Kaiserin Theophanu', Braunschweigisches
Jahrbuch 54, 1973, p. 9-23; Ohnsorge, `Die Heirat Kaiser Ottos II. mit der
Byzantinerin Theophano (972)', ibid., p. 24-60 (= Abendland, p. 128-72); Heilig,
p. 102-3, 114, n. 2. As early as 973 a Byzantine mission came to Saxony which
could, if it wanted to, check its existence, Lounghis, p. 478-9. See also several contributions in Kaiserin Theophanu, II, op. cit. (n. 7).
23 Uhlirz, art. cit. (n. 21); Gerbert of Reims, Weigle, no. 26 (p. 48-9; Lattin, no. 34,
p. 71); U.V. Bosch, `Einige Bemerkungen zum Kanzleiwesen der byzantinischen
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
213
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 themselves.25
Double portraits of rulers, the king/emperor and his wife, appear
in the 970s. The portrait of Otto II and Theophano has been preserved 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, enhanced 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 porphyrogenita 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
F. Dolger/J. Karayannopulos, Byzantinische Urkundenlehre, Munich 1968, p. 43 (indicates the resemblance between coins and seals). The so-called Gisela treasure, in the
Kunstgewerbe Museum, (former West Berlin) contains an imitation of a maniakion, a
Byzantine imperial breast ornament, which belongs to the period before 1038, cf.
P.E. Schramm, Herrschaftszeichen and Staatssymbolik, II, Stuttgart 1955, p. 430, ills.
93a-b; Schramm/Miitherich, op. cit. (n. 26), no. 144; Westermann-Angerhausen,
op. cit. (n. 16), p. 201s.
29 V. Hatz, `Zur Frage der Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige. Versuch einer Systematisierung auf Grund des Schwedischen Fundmaterials', in Commentationes nummis saeculorum
IX-XI in Suecia repertis, I, Stockholm 1961, p. 105-44; Ph. Grierson, Monnaies du
Moyen Age, Fribourg 1976, p. 73, 81, 87 (Adelheid), 107 (Otto 111, en face), 85, 93,
108, 125, 126 (Henry II, en face and in profile).
31 Schramm/Mutherich, op. cit. (n. 26), no. 78; cf. G. Downey, `The tombs of
the Byzantine emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople', The
Journal of Hellenic Studies 79, 1959, p. 27-51 (cf. J. Deer, The dynastic porphyry tombs of
the Norman period in Sicily, Cambridge, Mass., 1959, p. 149). Otto III was buried in
a sarcophagus of red sandstone, Deer, ibid., p. 149.
31 Dolger, art. cit. (n. 21), p. 52s.; M. Uhlirz, `Die beiden Lebensbeschreibungen
des Abtes Gregor von Burtscheid', Deutsches Archiv 6, 1943, p. 442-74; R. Guilland,
'Les empereurs de Byzance et l'attrait du monastere', in idem, Etudes byzantines,
p. 33-51.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
215
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 neighbouring areas. Monasteries played an important role in this. They
had often been founded by the Ottonian rulers, provided with abbots 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 introduction 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
32 Landulfi Mediolanensis, MGH SS VIII, p. 55-6; P.E. Schramm, `Kaiser, Basileus
and Papst', Historische Zeitschrift 129, 1924, p. 448-9, 472-3, also referring to the
similar story of Manegold of Werden in 1029. C£ P.E. Schramm, `Neun Briefe des
byzantinischen Gesandten Leo von seiner Reise zu Otto III. aus den Jahren 997998', BZ 25, 1925, p. 89-105. There is now an edition (with Engl. tr.) of these
letters by M.P. Vinson, The correspondence of Leo, metropolitan of Synada and Syncellus,
Washington 1985.
33 O. Perst, `Zur Reihenfolge der Kinder Otto H. and der Theophano', Deutsches
Archio 14, 1958, p. 230-6.
34 Krickelberg, art. cit. (n. 17), p. 31s.; Cames, op. cit. (n. 5), p. 11; G. Wolf,
216
CHAPTER SEVEN
saints' Lives in this period. Emperors' wives, except for Theophano
herself, survived in Vitae.35 Occasionally a Greek Vita was translated
or reintroduced, like the Vita of St Margaret, in a manuscript in
Hanover, Provinzialbibliothek, Hs. I 189, fo. I Iv--32v (late 10th century). On the dedication page of this unpublished Vita the Virgin is
flanked by St Margaret and St Regina, in the style of a Byzantine
coronation scene. The inscriptions are written in a corrupted Greek,
using the name Theotokos for the Virgin: MAPIA OOwAEKwC/
MaPFaPETa and PEFINa (ill.
13).36
Religious objects, such as reliquaries and probably some icons as
well, were brought from Byzantium by Theophano and the Greek
members of her household, as well as by other Greeks residing in
the West. Icons, however, are rarely referred to. Since panel-painting
is rather vulnerable, they may have perished in the course of time.
The empress Cunegunde donated an icon de auro et lapidibus preciosissimis
to the monastery of Kaufungen.37 We may be dealing here with a
very precious icon, partly covered with gold and precious stones, which
had belonged to the imperial family if the interpretation of the word
icona is correct. Such precious icons were not rare among the Byzantine aristocracy, and may have found their way to Germany. Henry
II got possession of the imperial treasury after the death of Otto III.
And although the couple did not have Greek blood in their veins,
they followed in the footsteps of their predecessors as far as Byzantine and Byzantizing traditions were concerned.
In coins Henry II stressed his power and his imperial pretentions
by introducing frontality in his portrait. Byzantine coins probably
served as models." He also issued a purplecoloured diploma, written
`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, Sozialgeschichte 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 inspired 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 attitude and in style, complete with the crown with prependilia. This miniature 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 miniatures, 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 attraction of real Byzantine objets d'art.
Illustrated Greek manuscripts, like Lectionaries, Gospel Books or
Psalters, had a special impact. Some of such manuscripts were doubtless 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
39 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 31 Os.
40 H. Bloch, 'Monte Cassino, Byzantium and the West in the earlier Middle Ages',
DOP 3, 1946, p. 174-87, and ill. 221; Regensburger Buchmalerei, catalogue, Regensburg
1987, no. 18; Michel, art. cit. (n. 12), p. 153; Schramm/Mutherich, op. cit. (n. 26),
no. 141, p. 167; Schramm, op. cit. (n. 26), no. 86 (Berghaus, no. 130).
41 Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 16-17, ills. 27, 31.
42 Schramm, op. cit. (n. 26), no. 84 (Berghaus, no. 125); Das Evangeliar Heinrichs
des Leaven, catalogue, Munich 1986, no. 10, ills. 19-20.
218
CHAPTER SEVEN
and the many contacts existing between East and West, and the resulting 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 ecclesiastical 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 Landesmuseum, 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 craftsman 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 gradually. 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 Hildesheim, deserve more attention in this respect.47
as R. Drogereit, `Griechisch-byzantinisches aus Essen', BZ 46, 1953, p. 110-15;
Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 333-41; Lasko, p. 115s.; P. Bloch, `Siebenarmige Leuchter
in christlichen Kirchen', Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch 23, 1961, p. 90s., 106-12; I. Opelt,
`Die Essener "Missa Graeca" der liturgischen Handschrift Diisseldorf D 2', JOB 23,
1974, p. 77-88.
46 W. Borchers/H.-H. Breuer/K. Weichel, Der Osnabrucker Domschatz, Osnabrack
1974, p. 34-5 (the folds in the ivory carving do not belong to the Byzantine technique of ivory carving; the workmanship is rather clumsy); Wentzel, art. cit. (n. 16;
1972), ill. 9.
47 Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 14s., 20s.; Lasko, p. 92-140; Dodwell, p. 4574; Demus, p. 79s.; idem, `Vorbildqualitat and Lehrfunktion der byzantinischen
Kunst', in Stil and Uberlieferung in der Kunst des Abendlandes, Akten des 21. Internationalen
Kongresses fur Kunstgeschichte, I, Berlin 1967, p. 92-98; F. Miitherich, `Ottoman art:
changing aspects', Studies in Western art, I. Acts of the twentieth international congress of the
history of art, Princeton 1963, p. 27-39; P.H. Feist, `Die Bedeutung der byzantinischen
Kunst fair die deutsche Kunst des hohen Mittelalters', in Byzantinischer Kunstexport, ed.
H.-L. Nickel, Halle/Wittenberg 1978, p. 11-23; H. Jantzen, Ottonische Kunst, Munich
1959, p. 119-20, sees Byzantine influences, models rather, for the cathedral doors
at Hildesheim and Augsburg, as well as for bishop Bernward's Christus column in
Hildesheim; Bernward was an expert in metalwork (Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 529).
A chasuble of Byzantine silk at Brauweiler (a fragment is in the Musee de Cluny,
220
CHAPTER SEVEN
Thus before it gradually merged into Romanesque art, Ottonian
art had made important borrowings from Byzantine art, especially of
Byzantine iconography. This makes it difficult in later times, when
Romanesque art is in full bloom, to determine the source of inspiration of a specific work of art, either in the reservoir of Ottonian art
tradition, or in the new waves of inspiration coming directly from
the Byzantine world.
With the coming of the Salians, Conrad II, Henry III, Henry IV
and Henry V (who died in 1125) contacts with Byzantium became
less intense for a while. Queens and empresses in 11th-century Germany became more powerful than they ever had been before. Was
it Theophano, with her Byzantine background who had paved the
way?48 But there was never again to be a marriage between the two
ruling families in East and West. In the late 1020s Conrad II tried
to arrange a marriage between his son Henry III and one of the
much older daughters of Constantine VIII, the princesses Zoe or
Theodora. The two ladies had reached middle age. The plans fell
through and may not have been considered seriously by the Byzantines. In the meantime their father died. A marriage, even with a
great difference of age, could have united East and West, since
Constantine VIII had only two daughters of whom one became a
nun. But politics are not the main concern of this book and we shall
avoid further speculation. In 1028 one of the leaders of the mission,
which included Branthog (bishop of Halberstadt), was Manegold, count
of Werden. For some unknown reason the offer of Romanus III
Argyrus (1028-1034), the new emperor, to send his sister was not
accepted. Again we find that wonderful story about golden horseshoes. This time, however, only one of the four was made of gold
and attached so loosely that it would drop off in the streets of
Constantinople, in order to impress the populace. Whether the story
is true or not we again see here the Western concern to make an
impression on the Greeks. Manegold proved to be an accomplished
smuggler when he exported a precious staurotheca (reliquary, with a
Paris) was in his possession (sometimes attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux), c£
M. Martiniani-Reber, Lyon, musee historique des tissus. Soieries sassanides, coptes et byzantines,
V`-XP siecles, Paris 1986, no. 101, p. 119. For bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (993-
1022), with his wide interest and willing to allow for foreign influences see now
Bernward von Hildesheim and das Zeitalter der Ottonen, catalogue Hildesheim 1993, 2 vols.
See also note 105.
4e M. Bernards, `Die Frau in der Welt and die Kirche wahrend des 11. Jahr-
tausend', Sacris Erudiri 20, 1971, p. 48s.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
221
particle of the True Cross), `given' to him by the emperor Constantine
VIII before his death. The story of his hiding these relics sounds like
the modem detective story, very much on a par the story of the
golden horseshoes.49 Later Henry III claimed to be a descendant of
Otto III and Theophano. This was his way of explaining his affection for and his strong attachment to the Greeks and their world; he
even said that he dressed in the Greek way.50 An official letter which
he received from the emperor Constantine IX Monomachus (10421055), now married to the above mentioned princess Zoe, and the
accompanying gold seal, were given by him to Goslar. The gold was
melted down to make a gold or gilded chalice and the purplecoloured
letter, with golden exotic lettering, served as an altar cloth.51
A number of institutions of the Ottonian rulers were preserved by
the Salians. Their coins, portraits and regalia essentially remained the
same. But the strong Byzantine influence of earlier times, especially
in the arts, was felt less and less, and seemed to come to a temporary standstill.
Henry III died in 1056. His infant son Henry IV was to face
problems with his incompetent mother Agnes. In that year the Greek
empress Theodora, now sole ruler, sent a mission to the German
empire, possibly to Cologne, however further details are lacking. In
Cologne Anno II had just become archbishop. His Vita tells that the
men whom he sent to Constantinople on a mission to the Greek
ruler ('Graeciae regem') came back with relics of the Holy Cross and
other important gifts. Missions succeeded each other. Usually they
announced the death of rulers and the accession to the throne of
their successors.52 The Song of Anno (Annolied), written shortly after the
'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.
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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 monastery 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 Byzantine 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 development of miniature painting in Cologne workshops is interesting.54
Henry IV felt that diplomatic contacts with the East were important. 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 preserves 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
53 MonumentaAnnonis, catalogue, Cologne 1975, p. 83 (line 635), 163, 170-1, 180-1.
s4 Mazal, no. 381, p. 480-1 (pl. 22, colour plate of the Virgin); Ornamenta Ecclesiae,
catalogue, Cologne 1985, II, no. E 41, p. 254 (ills. of the Virgin in colour, and of
St Gereon); P. Bloch/H. Schnitzler, Die ottonische Kolner Malerschule, 2 vols., Dasseldorf
1967/70 do not refer to the manuscript (Monumenta Annonis, op. cit. (n. 53),
p. 156. Saint Gereon was not adjacent to the Forum Grecorum where Greek merchants probably lived.
15 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 538s.; Borchers, op. cit. (n. 46), p. 9, 32-5, 48-50;
Vita Bennonis episcopi Osnabrugensis, MGH SS XII, p. 62.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
223
valid for other ruling families in Western Europe, but for the German 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 functions 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 daughter. 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 reproduces 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 Lombardy. Byzantine diplomacy used money to support allies to attack a
common enemy. Cash money was only part of the deal. The emperor 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 Hermann 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 diplomas 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
without taking part himself in the events of the 1090s. Ekkehard of
Aura reports on the events. After having visited Constantinople in
the early 12th century he said what a noble city Constantinople was:
`o nobilissima Constantinopolis'.60 Around 1100 the cathedral of Speyer
possessed a Byzantine altar with Byzantine enamel plaques which
the Byzantine emperor had sent to Henry IV, as we read in the Vita
of the king. It was considered to be a noble gift ('nobile donum') for
a church which, by some, is considered to have borrowed some elements from Eastern, Byzantine(?) architecture.61
The Second Crusade was more a German affair. Conrad III (11381152) was a fervent but not a very successful crusader. He had been
more successful in arranging a marriage between his sister-in-law,
Bertha of Sulzbach, and the Byzantine prince, Manuel Comnenus.
Bertha was the daughter of a Bavarian count; her sister was married
to Conrad III. When Byzantine envoys arrived in R,egensburg in the
1140s Conrad proposed his wife's sister as a suitable candidate for a
match with the youngest son of the Greek emperor. She arrived in
Byzantium in 1142. One of the court poets, Theodorus Prodromus,
wrote a poem on her arrival, comparing her with a Western winestock
to be planted in the imperial garden of the East.62 Unexpectedly,
however, John Comnenus and his two older sons died in the following months. More unexpectedly even the fourth son, Manuel, became emperor. The social status of the bride was now a problem.
Changing situations implied changing fortunes. Unless the German
emperor was willing to make more concessions, political concessions
of course, the marriage was probably off. From a later pledging of
oaths, when the rulers met at Thessalonica in the winter of 1147/
1148, we learn that these concessions comprised or should comprise
a handing over of claims on Calabria and Apulia, now in the hands
of the Normans.63 But this is a complicated problem on which the
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.
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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 Constantinople, 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 Westerners 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
64 Otto of Freising, I, 26 (p. 174-5); Janin, Eglises et monasteres, p. 574 (c£
W. Giesebrecht, Geschichte der deutschen KKaiserzeit, IV, Brunswick 1877, p. 498).
61 H. Vollrath, 'Konrad III. and Byzanz', Archia fur Kulturgeschichte 59, 1977,
p. 321-65; J.P. Niederkorn, `Die Mitgift der Kaiserin Irene. Anmerkungen zur
byzantinischen Politik Konig Konrad III.', Roinische historische Mitteilungen 28, 1987,
p. 125-39.
66 Neumann, op. cit. (n. 4), p. 58-64 (fragments); RHC Grecs, II, p. 758 (fragments); Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 43 (Berry, 56-7); Otto of Freising, see note 64;
Wibald, nos. 78 (p. 153), 237 (p. 355-6); Conrad thanks the Greek emperor for
having taken care of him during his illness, cf. Chalandon, Comnene, II, p. 308s.
67 Otto of Freising, III, 58 (p. 506s.); Cinnamus, p. 36, 47, 99-100, 129-30, 202
227
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
Irene, once married to the Greek emperor, was to serve as a
matchmaker between the two courts. Her brother-in-law Conrad III
wrote to her to find a suitable bride among the nieces of Manuel for
his son and co-king Henry, who, at the same time, wrote a letter to
his aunt. Before a marriage could even take place Henry died. Now
Conrad himself considered marrying a Greek princess. But he too
died before such an alliance could be effected 68
Now it was Frederick Barbarossa's turn to apply for a Greek princess. In 1153 the new German emperor (1152-1190) wrote a letter
to Manuel Comnenus to tell him that Conrad, on his deathbed, had
advised him to renew and reinforce the alliance between the two
empires. Therefore he, just divorced from his wife by papal consent,
asked to marry a relative of the emperor. Wibald, the Greek-speaking abbot of Corvey (1130) and of Stavelot (since 1146), advisor of
Henry V, Lothar III and Conrad III, supported this request by sending
at the same time a letter with the same demand, thanking the Greek
*
emperor for a silk alb which he had received some time before.
Frederick Barbarossa expressed his willingness to invade Apulia and
Sicily. The political situation, however, became the more and more
complicated. Twice the Byzantines offered to send a princess. First it
was Maria, who, when the plans failed to materialize, was married
off in Hungary. The second princess is not known by name. Large
financial subsidies were promised to support a German invasion of
Italy, but nothing came of this. Territorial claims, however, varied
on both sides and no marriage took place.fi9 In the meantime, in
1154, bishop Anselm of Havelberg who was on friendly terms with
Wibald and who had been in Constantinople in 1136, was again
(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 ordered 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
sent to Constantinople where he not only discussed the marriage
alliance but also theological matters with Basil, archbishop of Ochrid.
Several attempts were made to come to terms with the differences
between East and West in theological matters.70
Irene in the meantime cared for relatives, sending precious gifts to
her nephew Frederick of Swabia, son of the deceased Conrad III,
and now an orphan. On her behalf a Greek embassy asked in 1157
the new German emperor to knight the young man, a wish fulfilled
in the presence of the Greek envoys. Irene must have met Frederick
Barbarossa who took part in the Second Crusade. Her sister Adelheid
came to Byzantium for a while and returned with enough money (a
gift from Irene and Manuel) to spend the rest of her life quietly as
abbess of Klosterneuburg.71 When Irene died in 1160 Basil of Ochrid,
now archbishop of Thessalonica, wrote a funerary oration .71
Only one more marriage was actually concluded in that period.
When the crusading army was on its way home Henry Jasomirgott,
duke of Bavaria and Austria, married a niece of Manuel Comnenus.
It was Theodora, daughter of the late sebastocrator Andronicus Comnenus and the sebastocratorissa Irene as we learn from Cinnamus. The
couple left for the West after they had received the poetic acclamation by Theodorus Prodromus, also known under the name
`Manganeios Prodromos'. Henry, half-brother of Conrad III, was called
`the wild beast of the West' in another poem, not too flattering an
appellation for an aristocrat. The Byzantines apparently felt sympathy for those who went to live in the West and who had to put up
with a culture so different from, not to say so inferior to, their own
way of life. The two ruling families were once more united, but now
on a lower level. This time it was not exclusively an alliance against
70 He had been an envoy of Lothar III to Constantinople, where he discussed
theology with Nicetas, the archbishop of Nicomedia, PL 188, c. 1136s., Otto of
Freising, II, 11 (p. 300-1) cf. G. Schreiber, `Anselm von Havelberg and die Ostkirche',
Zeitschrift fu'r Kirchengeschichte 60, 1942, p. 354-411; Chalandon, Comnene, II, p. 163,
168, 344-7, 349; Heilig, p. 135. See also Runciman, Eastern schism, p. 115-6, 119,
and Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 417, 472, 486, 541.
71 Otto of Freising, III, 6 (p. 404-5), cf. Annales Marbacenses, MGH SS XVII,
p. 160-1; Die Admonter Briefsammlung, ed. G. Hodl/P. Classen, Munich 1983, no. 38
(p. 74-6). A Byzantine reliquary containing precious relics is mentioned as having
belonged to the family of Frederick of Swabia, and even served to `finance' political
transactions, cf. K. Schreiner, `Die Staufer als Herzoge von Schwaben', in The Zeit
der Staufer, catalogue, Stuttgart 1977, III, p. 10.
72 V. Vasilievsky, Vizantiniski Vremennik 1, 1894, p. 105-32, cf. Neumann, op. cit.
(n. 4), p. 55, n.
1.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
229
the Normans, but against the Hungarians as well, their common
enemy and neighbour. Theodora stayed in contact with her Greek
relatives. She visited Constantinople as we read in another poem of
Theodorus Prodromus. She came with her sister (who apparently
stayed with her at the time) to visit her mother who was seriously ill.
Later, in 1166, she travelled with her husband to Serdica to reconcile the leaders of East and West. By that time Manuel cherished the
dream of becoming emperor of East and West, by reuniting the two
churches. In the end these plans failed. During the diet at Regensburg
of 1156 Frederick Barbarossa had to sort out the territorial differences between Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, and Henry Jasomirgott. The latter, member of the Babenberg family, was to give up
Bavaria and its capital Regensburg. His residence became Vienna,
sometimes called Windopolis, imitating the name of the Byzantine
capital. Vienna was nearer to the Hungarian border and nearer to
the Byzantine empire. Greek influences developed in the new residence. The cultural climate changed. There was more place for writers
and literature. Theodora followed in the footsteps of her mother,
Irene Comnena. The so-called Privilegium minus, the diploma established in Regensburg, was in effect a hybrid, enforcing her position.
Western and Greek elements were merged together. Henry and
Theodora both paid hommage to Frederick Barbarossa, which was
quite unique in the West. Both their sons and daughters could in
future inherit the duchy. And so Theodora received, as a sort of
dowry, the duchy of Austria, the Ostmark. According to law in the
German empire foreigners like Theodora were judged according to
Greek law, and this probably implied some important concessions,
which had a political dimension as well, although the German emperor did not lose control over the lands. The history of law seems
to reveal here some Byzantine imports. It may be true that, according to Byzantine tradition, great interest was taken in documents and
their preservation. The two Byzantine ladies, Theophano and-Theodora, were both keen on safeguarding these documents, which provided the irrevokable statements of their right. The written contract
was important to them.73
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
Vienna developed as a cultural centre. Diplomas praise Theodora
as a good and noble duchess. Her husband took care of the above
mentioned Adelheid, sister of Bertha/Irene of Sulzbach, and sent
her to Constantinople. Back home she was to become abbess in a
convent not far from Vienna. Austrian monasteries, especially those
in the Danubian region, possessed a number of Greek manuscripts
and Greek items. Already in the 11th century an icon of the Virgin
is mentioned in Gottweig (south of Krems, on the Danube), `imago
Sanctae Dei genitricis Mariae Graeco opere formabatur'. Some monasteries like Admont possessed translations of Maximus the Confes-
sor and of John Damascene, and occasionally Greek manuscripts.
An additional note to the Vita of Gebhard, bishop of Salzburg, reminds us of the then lost Byzantine loros here, a precious episcopal
vestment, covered with gold and precious stones which the bishop
had given Admont. He had received it during his visit to the Greek
capital in 1062 when he probably acted as godfather to one of the
imperial princes. Unfortunately it was lost very soon as we are told
by the chronicler. It may have served as a helpful model for coin
designers.74 A paten of Saint Peter's, Salzburg, of the early 13th century, goes back to the Byzantine type of paten called Panagiaria, which
poses some problems about its origin." The Admont Bible, a product of the important and influential school of Salzburg, is dated to
the second half of the 12th century. It is an example of a Romanesque
manuscript in which Byzantine influence, in style and iconography,
is strongly felt. The same is true of the Salzburg Antiphonary. Fresco
`Byzantinische Prinzessinnen im Hause der Babenberger and die byzantinischen
Einfhisse in den osterreichischen Landern des 12. and 13. Jahrhunderts. Ein Versuch
zur ersten Monographie', in 'EXArwUxa, Thessalonica 1955, supplementary volume,
Acts of the 7th annual congress of Byzantine studies, p. 368-74; for the orations of
Theodorus Prodromus, see also Magdalino, p. 494-500.
74 Heilig, p. 1-228, passim, esp. p. 141-2; for the icon, Vita Altinanni episcopi Patavienth,
MGH SS XII, p. 238; K. Lechner, Die Babenberger, Darmstadt 1985, p. 149, 152s.,
156, 254, 362; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 342-63; Hahn, art. cit. (n. 58), p. 119.
Intellectual relations existed with scholars in Byzantium; letters were written, sometimes letters of recommendation for friends, and translations circulated, c£ H. Fichtenau, `Magister Petrus von Wien (d. 1183)', Mitteilungen des Instituts fur osterreichische
Geschichtsforschung 63, 1955, p. 283-97, and N.M. Haring, The "Liber de Differentia
naturae et personae" by Hugh Etherian and the letters addressed to him by Peter
of Vienna and Hugh of Honau', Mediaeval Studies 24, 1962, p. 1-34.
75 A.A. Barb, `The round table and the Holy Grail', journal of the Warburg and
Courtauld Institute 19, 1956, p. 44, 58, n. 41, n. 42 (with ill.; the Kufic inscription is
somewhat problematic and may link it with Sicily). The chasuble of St Vital, at
Saint Peter's, is possibly an 11th-century Byzantine silk, Martiniani, op. cit. (n. 47),
p. 118, n. 5.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
231
painting in Salzburg (Nonnberg) and in various other places in
modern-day Austria and in Germany betray the same influences .16
Theodora died in 1183. Two more Babenbergers married Byzantine
princesses. In fact three out of the four dukes did so, making clear
that Hungary, their common neighbour of Austria and the Greek
empire, had become an important mediating factor. The Byzantines
may have considered it worth while to have an outpost in the West.
An alliance with the Austrians could help, to encircle the Hungarians
and keep them quiet. Theodora's grandson Leopold VI was to marry
another Theodora, probably a granddaughter of the emperor Isaac
II Angelus (1185-1195) who had been restored to the throne by the
crusaders in 1203. The new emperor died, however, early 1204 and
his son and co-ruler Alexius IV was replaced by a Latin emperor
when the crusaders attacked Constantinople for the second time. His
daughter has hardly left any trace in Austrian history. Even the date
of her marriage is obscure. Walther von der Vogelweide is thought
to have composed a poem for the marriage festivities, since he was
given in November 1203 a considerable amount of money to buy a
fur coat.77 The third marriage, between Frederick II and Sophia
Lascaris, is beyond the scope of this book.78
It is not and cannot be the purpose of this book to discuss in
detail all persons, places and objects that underwent influence from
Byzantium., We have just mentioned Salzburg where Byzantine influence was manifest in works of art. A few words should be said
about Regensburg (sometimes called Imbripolis) considering that power
was shifting from the north to the south, and that Regensburg, for
the Babenbergers, had been replaced by Vienna. From ancient times
Regensburg had been a meeting place between East and West.
Merchants came there to deliver their goods, messengers brought
their messages. The existence of a late 10th-century Greek-Latin
vocabulary in St Emmeran's is a good example of the need to know
the Greek language. In Ottonian times, especially during the reign
of Henry II, miniature painting in Regensburg had also received
76 W. Sas-Zaloziecky, `Monuments de l'art byzantin en Autriche', Actes du VI'
congres international d'Etudes Byzantines, Paris 1951, II, p. 365-72; Kitzinger, `Norman
Sicily', p. 134-5; W. Koehler, `Byzantine art in the West', DOP 1, 1941, p. 75s.;
see also Dodwell, p. 167s.; Lechner, op. cit. (n. 74), p. 252-8.
77 Lechner, ibid., p. 217, 263, 271, 280, 296, 303, 377; Enepekides, art. cit.
(n. 73), passim; Heger, op. cit. (n. 17), p. 81, 86, 138, 141, 156s., 188.
78 Enepekides, ibid., passim; Lechner, ibid., p. 213, 276.
232
CHAPTER SEVEN
influences from Byzantine art as more than one manuscript with
golden background or a background imitating Byzantine silks witnesses.79 It,was probably here that Henry IV stored the-Byzantine
subsidies in cash money and that he minted his `Byzantinizing' coins.
In 1146 the French king Louis VII met the Byzantine envoys at
Regensburg before he set off for the East. In the 1150s, as is now
generally accepted, All Saints Chapel (Allerheiligen Kapelle) was built.
Its dome, with frescoes representing Christ as Pantocrator and with
a Byzantine decorative scheme, was inspired by Byzantine art. Even
if it is not clear where this inspiration came from, from Venice, Sicily
or from Byzantium itself, we again meet that willingness to introduce
Eastern elements, directly or through modelbooks, or even through
simple sketches which artists or others may have brought home from
the Byzantine cultural world.80 At the time of the diet of 1156, when
the Privilegium minus was issued, Greek envoys probably came as advisers from nearby Salzburg or even moved to Regensburg. In 1174
another Greek mission came to Regensburg and several others may
have done so.81 It is no wonder that a 12th-century Byzantine `steatite icon of St Therapon, a Cypriot saint who may originally have
come from the `German lands', was found in the grounds of Saint
Emmeran's, even if its exact archaeological context has not been
recorded (ill. 15).82 In 1182 the Jewish merchant Petachia, one of the
79 Demus, p. 94s.; G. Goetz, Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum, II, Leipzig 1923,
p. xxxvi-xxxvii (cf Heilig, p. 140); Stotz, art. cit. (n. 43), p. 440 (where he gives
other examples of town names ending on -polis); Regensburger Buchmalerei, catalogue,
Regensburg 1987, esp. p. 23-9.
80 O. Demus, `Regensburg, Sizilien and Venedig. Zur Frage des byzantinischen
Einflusses in der romanischen Wandmalerei', JOB 2, 1952, p. 95-104 (Hartwig II,
builder of the chapel, was buried there; he had been witness to the Privilegium minus);
Demus, p. 148; Kitzinger, `Norman Sicily', p. 129s., 133.
8' Annales Colonienses Maximi, MGH SS XVII, p. 784, 787.
82 Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, no. 38, p. 131, now in (West) Berlin, Staatliche Museen,
Skulpturengalerie, seems to be too precious to be a pilgrim's token. The latter are
very rare in western Europe. A chance find is an 11th-century reliquary cross,
H. Losert, 'Ein byzantinisches Reliquienkreuz aus der Umgebung von Altfalter, Gem.
Schwarzach b. Nabburg, Ldkr. Schwandorf, Oberpfalz', in I. von Quillfeldt/H. Koch/
D. Ebner (eds.), Des archdologische Jahr in Bayern, Stuttgart 1992, p. 153-5 (cf. Byzan-
tinoslavica 54, 1993, p. 474); Beck, Kirche and theologische Literatur, p. 699. Saint
Emmeran was proud of its relics of St Dionysius the Areopagite, MGH SS XI,
p. 343s. Otloh of St Emmeran wrote a life of St Nicholas, Byzantine saint par excellence, cf. Cames, op. cit. (n. 5), p. 11, n. 93, who refers to K. Meisen, `Nikolauskult
and Nikolausbrauch im Abendland. Eine kulturgeographisch-volkskundliche Untersuchung', Forschungen zur Volkskunde 9/ 12, Dtisseldorf 1931, p. 90 (inaccessible; cf.
BHL 6126, and AB 81, 1963, p. 184-227).
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
233
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 restarted. 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 accompanied 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 empire. The import of Byzantine and Byzantinizing artefacts from Sicily 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 Germans did not like the idea of calling the Greek emperor `saint',
'Dominus vester sanctum se appellat'. The numerous embassies exchanged 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 fashion. 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 11501160, seems to be a forgery, written and/or translated by Christian,
bishop of Mainz. The bishop who knew Greek was sent to Constantinople 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 Frederick 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 addressed 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 doublearmed 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 criticize 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, England, 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 discussions 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
89 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 489-91; a more recent survey is M. Gosman, La lettre
du pretre Jean. Edition des versions en ancien franfais et en ancien occitan, Groningen 1982,
with full bibliography, c£ p. 36, 37, 40, 46, 569, 570, 574, 575, 580, 581.
90 P. Munz, Frederick Barbarossa, London 1969, p. 166, 168 (cf. A. Bryer, `Cultural
relations between East and West in the twelfth century', in Relations between East
and West, p. 80; P. Speck, `Konstantinopel-ein Modell fur Bologna?', announced
for Byzantium. and its neighbours, probably to be published elsewhere.
91 For a portrait of Lothar III, see Ch. Walter, `Political imagery: osmosis between East and West, in Byzantium and its neighbours, p. 211-17. For Henry the
Lion, Helmoldi Chronica Slavorum, MGH SS XXI, p. 91, `In diebus illis venit nuncius
in terram Sclavorum, qui diceret duci: Ecce legatus regis Grecie cum multo comitatu
venit Bruneswich, loqui tibi'; K. Jordan, Heinrich der L&e. Eine Biographie, Munich
1980, 2nd ed., passim (Engl. tr. by P.S. Falla, Oxford 1988).
92 His son Otto IV, the later emperor, grandson of Eleanor, married in 1212 a
granddaughter of Isaac II Angelus. It was Beatrix, daughter of Philip of Swabia and
Irene Angela, Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 550-1. Intermarriage between the formerly
236
CHAPTER SEVEN
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 Byzantine 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 visited 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 Kunstgewerbe 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
the Byzantine cross given by Henry II to Bamberg, a cross which is
now lost. In front of the castle of Brunswick a lion was erected in
the 1160s. Such a statue has puzzled scholars who think that the
model may have been found in Rome, almost the only place in
Western Europe where statues could be seen in public. But could
not Constantinople, with its lion-decorated palaces and throne hall,
its many statues along the streets and. on the public squares, have
been another source? One wonders what the origin was of the nickname for this Saxon duke. Later the duke ordered an Evangeliary to
be made. The manuscript, lost after World War II, was recently
bought by the German Federal Republic at an auction in London
for several millions of marks, thus expressing the great value attached
to this exquisite manuscript, beautifully adorned and perfectly writ-
ten. The planned facsimile edition will reveal if this manuscript
displays a strong Byzantine influence. We can already give a few
examples. The image of the Theotokos is almost unique in the
12th century. The background of precious silk patterns and the silk
garments worn by the various persons depicted are also revealing in
this respect. In the history of the Middle Ages it is exceptional that
so many works of art, secular and religious, can be connected with
one person and one place, i.e. Brunswick. G. Swarzenski has compared Henry the Lion with Otto III who did the same for Aachen.
Byzantium and its art exerted a considerable influence on both of
them. Henry the Lion was not unique; he had married into a family
that was widely travelled and had wide cultural interests. When in
conflict with Barbarossa after his return from Jerusalem, he lived in
exile for some time at the English court.94 It cannot be pure coincidence that Greek names became popular in Saxony and that possibly Greek monks or artists came there.95
94 R. Bernheimer, `Romanische Tierplastik', Munich 1931, p. 125-6; G. Swarzenski,
`Aus dem Umkreis Heinrichs des Lowen', St¢del Jahrbuch V11 V111, 1932, p. 241397 (cf. Bloch, art. cit. (n. 45), p. 146, for a Byzantine model for the candelabra of
Brunswick); D. Kotzsche, Der Welfenschatz, Berlin 1973, p. 17-24. For the Theotokos,
Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Lowen, catalogue, Munich 1986, no. 17, ill. 28, and
A. Weyl Can, `East, West and icons in twelfth-century Outremer', in The meeting
of two worlds, p. 352, and Dodwell, p. 165; Lasko, p. 173s.; Schramm/Mutherich,
op. cit. (n. 26), no. 120 (cross of Henry II). For the exhibition in Brunswick, autumn
1995, a catalogue has been published, Heinrich der Lowe and seine Zeit. Herrschaft and
Representation, 3 vols., Brunswick 1995 (inaccessible).
95 Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 546-8; cf. K. Jordan, Die Urkunden Heinrichs des Lowen,
Weimar 1949, p. 212, 218.
238
CHAPTER SEVEN
The English court, residing in England or in Western France,
received many visitors. Chretien de Troyes was one of them. He
shows that he was familiar with the geography of England and with
events taking place at various courts. His connections with the royal
family in England have prompted the suggestion that he may have
worked for Eleanor's daughter Mathilda, wife of Henry the Lion.
Chretien's Cliges, written around 1176, seems to refer to matrimonial
projects between Barbarossa's family and the Comnenian family in
Byzantium. As usual Chretien did not describe the historical events
in detail but mystified the reality. By doing so neither he, nor his
work, could harm anyone nor could he himself be harmed. The
mission of Henry the Lion to the Greek capital and the arrival of
several Greek embassies in Germany (Cliges speaks of Cologne, in
line 2700) are clearly alluded to. Mathilda was indeed interested in
literature. She probably ordered some German translations of Tristan
and Iseut and the Chanson de Roland.96 As elsewhere in Western Europe
there was a trend to write romances in the vernacular. In the German empire they made their appearance in the second half of the
century. And we find here the same process of mystification as in
the work of Chretien de Troyes. Historical names and events are
mixed together in such a way that the audience feels or should feel
that there is more than just the literary and literal truth, and that
contemporary events are alluded to. It seems as if authors criticise
their rulers from time to time, but in an indirect way. Duke Ernst in
Herzog Ernst (written ca. 1180), a romance in Old German, seems to
be a mixture of Otto I, Henry the Lion, Henry Jasomirgott and
Frederick Barbarossa. Ernst goes to 'the East to seek adventure.
Adventure it was which he found there. There was no need to describe the Byzantine capital. As a boy Ernst had been sent there by
his mother for his education. Now, as an adult, he only spent three
weeks with the Greeks. The audience was familiar with the Greek
capital and its beauties, and so there was no need to be told in
detail. The romance was very popular and has survived in Latin
versions as well.97
96 Chretien de Troyes, Cliges (Owen, p. 93-184); Fourrier, p. 166-73, and idem,
`Encore la chronologie des oeuvres de Chretien de Troyes', Bulletin bibliographique de
la Societe arthurienne 2, Paris 1950, p. 74-81; R. Lejeune, `Role litteraire d'Alienor
d'Aquitaine et de sa famille', Cultura Aeolatina 14, 1954, p. 30, and eadem, `Role
litteraire de la famille d'Alienor d'Aquitaine', CCM 1, 1958, p. 328-9.
91 Herzog Ernst, ed. and modern German tr., B. Sowinski, Stuttgart 1970, esp.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
239
Konig Rother (written between 1152 and 1180), is another romance
in the vernacular. The main action takes place in Constantinople,
Aachen and Bari, in southern Italy. A marriage alliance between a
Greek princess and the son of the Roman emperor causes a lot of
trouble. Like Otto III's fiancee (and possibly Theophano as well) the
girl lands in Bari, whence she is kidnapped by the Greeks who take
her back to Constantinople. This time the town is described in more
detail. The Hippodrome is mentioned as the place where festivities
were organized. Refugees and exiles were welcome in Byzantium,
but the emperor remarks that he prefers the splendid suite of the
wealthy Western prince. The latter elements seems to refer to Henry
of Saxony's journey. Several historical persons have been identified
with the main person: Roger II of Sicily, Henry the Lion, Frederick
Barbarossa, Henry VI and, again, Henry Jasomirgott. But once again
the tale is elusive.98
A third tale, preserved in fragments only, and going back to a
French model, is Graf Rudolf, written before 1173, so it seems. The
Third Crusade is sometimes regarded as the model for the journey
of count Rudolf. But the dating is difficult. The heathen princess
who becomes the hero's fiancee is baptised in Constantinople, a curious
thing if we remember that the churches of East and West were not
on very good terms.99 Matrimonial alliances play an important role
in the vernacular literature as well as in reality. Romances gave an
opportunity to introduce Eastern luxury into descriptions. Precious
silks, gardens with ingenious waterworks and beautiful baths, and
splendid beds, are described in extenso. The same seems to be the
case with the description of buildings, showing elements unknown in
Western Europe, as we have seen already in the chapter on France.
Byzantium is still part of the mysterious Eastern world, even if many
thousands were `familiar' with it. As long as all these luxuries were
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
not available in the West in large quantities, they stimulated the
imaginations of authors and audiences alike.'00
Vernacular literature also describes the last Byzantine princess
married to a German prince before 1204. This was Irene Angela,
daughter of Isaac II Angelus and sister of Alexius IV. Walther von
der Vogelweide compares her to a rose without thorns, when she
goes in procession on Christmas day 1199, and accompanied by her
husband, to the church of Magdeburg.'°' In 1192 she had been
engaged and was married to Roger III, co-ruler of Sicily who died
in 1193. Shortly afterwards Irene became a captive of Henry VI
who married her to his brother Philip of Swabia. By doing so the
German ruler hoped to establish claims to the Byzantine throne. Henry
VI, however, died a few months later and Philip of Swabia and Irene
(now called Maria) were crowned king and queen. In 1205 they
became emperor and empress at Aachen. And so, in the end, a son
of Frederick Barbarossa was married to a Byzantine princess. The
marriage would prove to be fruitless as far as political claims were
concerned. In the meantime Alexius IV had fled to the West to ask
for help in regaining his throne but in 1204 the Latins conquered
Constantinople a second time and installed a Latin emperor. In 1208
the new German empress died, barely outliving her murdered hus-
band and the disasters of her native country.i02 Her presence in
Germany seems to have influenced the making of a few manuscripts.
With her came some Sicilian princesses, ladies brought up in a
Byzantinizing environment, who also were the captives of Henry VI.
Of her dowry nothing is known. But the model-book or models which
ioo D. Hennebo, Garten des Mittelalters, Munich/Zurich 1987, 2nd rev. ed., p. 11733 (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 Byzantine, Schramm/Mutherich, op. cit. (n. 26), no. 190. See also note 117.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
241
influenced the Hortus Deliciarum of abbess Herrade of Landsberg may
have come to the West on that occasion.103 Irene donated precious
gifts to the cathedral of Speyer. They may have come with her as
her personal belongings or may have reached her as gifts from victorious crusaders. Among them are a purple mantle and a golden
crown and diadem, possibly of Byzantine making according to some
views. The recent exhibition Die Salier and ihr Reich, 1024-1125 (Speyer
1991) and the accompanying catalogue may comprise some of these
objects.104
The efforts to establish family relations between the two imperial
families, alternately successful and unsuccessful, resulted in a flow of
gifts going back and forth. To the German empire came household
goods and all sorts of luxuries like silks, ivories, jewelry, crystals, manuscripts etc. etc. Reliquaries and icons, personal devotionalia, all found
their way to the West and contributed to the flowering of Ottonian
and Romanesque art and to the beginning of Gothic art. Byzantine
influence and Byzantinizing influence, especially in miniature painting,
were overall present and active, in style, in technique and in iconography.105 One wonders if extremely costly pigments like lapis lazuli
and malachite reached the West in the same way. As far as we know
now, lapis lazuli was used in only a few churches, at Idense and in
Hildesheim.106 The pigment was discussed in the treatise De diversis
artibus (On divers arts), a manual on painting, glassmaking and metalwork which several times makes reference to Byzantine handicrafts
and Byzantine techniques. Earlier scholars thought that Theophilus
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 12thcentury 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 mercenary 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 unpublished.
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
writer Cecaumenus who described the presence and career of Harald
Hardrada in Byzantium, also tells the story of an Ottonian (?) prince
who fled to Constantinople around 980. This was a certain Petrus,
nephew of the German king, who obtained the rank of spatharius in
the Chrysotriclinium, i.e. at the imperial court. He may have chosen
a different name in Byzantium, which makes it difficult to identify
him. He became a military commander in Hellas with the rank of
domesticus of the Excubitoi.11°
There is more than one reference to German mercenaries in
Byzantium. In the late 1060s, for example, they were active in the
Caucasus. In 1071 they were engaged in an expedition against the
Turks, the Mantzikert campaign, during which they behaved rather
badly, destroying a beautiful palace and orchard belonging to a
befriended ruler. A Bulgarian revolt was suppressed with the help of
German mercenaries who sacked Prespa.' 11
The German Gilpractus (= Gilbertus) helped Alexius I Comnenus
to enter the capital by opening the Charisius Gate, a fact which was
recalled by Ekkehard of Aura.112 In the 12th century we find refer-
ences to them in Greek and Western sources, like Eustathius of
Thessalonica, Nicetas Choniates and Otto of Freising. More than
once passing Germans were asked to take service with the Byzantines,
for instance when Conrad III passed through Constantinople in 1147.
The decline of the so-called Palace of Botaneiates is attributed to
German mercenaries who had been quartered in the building. As we
have seen another palace, the German Palace, was named after the
empress Irene of Sulzbach.i3
10 Cecaumenus, Vasilievsky/Jernstedt, p. 96 (Litavrin, p. 280; Beck, 139); Schramm,
art. cit. (n. 32), p. 437-9. For the function of domesticus of the Excubitoi, Guilland,
Recherches, I, p. 198, 414.
"' Zonaras, p. 696; Attaleiates, p. 146; Scylitzes continuatus, p. 143 (German
trans. E. Trapp, Militars and Hoflinge im Ringen um das Kaisertum, Graz etc., 1986,
p. 140; Cf. R. Janin, 'Les Francs au service des `Byzantins"', EO 29, 1930, p. 65,
67. The events of 1071 are sometimes regarded as a model for the storm produced
by the boiling spring in Chretien de Troyes' Yvain, F. Settegast, `Byzantinischgeschichtliches im Cliges and Yvain', Zeitschrii t fur romanische Philologie 32, 1908,
p. 422.
112 Anna Comnena, II, x (Leib, I, p. 92s.; Sewter, 97s.); Ekkehard, p. 166, 167.
"3 Eustazio de Tessalonica, La espugnazione di Tessalonica, ed. S. Kyriakidis, Palermo
1961, p. 92, lines 24, 30 (German tr. H. Hunger, Die Normannen in Thessaloniki, Graz
etc., 1967, 2nd ed., p. 92, 93; Nicetas, van Dieten, p. 248, 377 (Bonn, p. 323, 491;
Grabler, Abenteurer, 38); Otto of Freising, I, 26 (p. 174-5); Cinnamus, p. 80 (Brand,
67). Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 548, may refer to Saxons returning to their homeland
in the 12th century, although it is strange that some should have adopted Greek
244
CHAPTER SEVEN
There was the usual pattern of a large foreign community. In the
12th century there was a German quarter in Constantinople, confirmed by a chrysobull (a diploma signed by the emperor). In the
early 1140s Conrad III asked John Comnenus to build a church for
the German residents. In June 1189 the German quarter was given
to the Venetians. Not all the Germans had left the Greek capital.
Some of them helped the crusading army in 1204. Many of them
were killed on that occasion. 114
Not much remained of the German presence in Constantinople.
In 1192 the interpreter Gerard Alamanopoulos was sent to Genoa to
deliver a document. He must have been the son of a German father
and possibly a Greek mother, making him a perfect bilingual."'
A hateful thing for the Byzantines was the new tax introduced by
Alexius III in 1197 to buy off the hostilities of the German emperor
Henry VI. The tax was called the Alamanikon, i.e. the German tax.
These are the few linguistic remnants that have survived in Byzantine history.116 The name Hohenstaufen seems to have produced a
cognate in the Greek name MEFAE KOMNHNOF,.117 German coins
have been found in Thrace, but it is not known if they were lost by
merchants, mercenaries or crusaders.118
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
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
The emperor ... at once wrote letters to all the
countries, to Pisa, to Genoa and to Venice, Anna
Comnena, Alexiad
Geographically the Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which
lies in sight of the mainland, form a unit. The country is part of
the Mediterranean world, and the climate, the vegetation, the food,
and way of life are very similar to those found elsewhere around the
Mediterranean, including in the former Byzantine empire. Rome, the
age-long capital of the Roman empire remained the main city of
the peninsula. In the fourth century Constantine the Great had moved
the capital of the Roman empire to the East, to Byzantium, now
called Constantinople, sometimes significantly called the New Rome.
The new empire preserved Latin as the official language of the empire
for some centuries until it was replaced by Greek, due to the ever-
increasing Eastern influence in the empire. Constantine had recognized Christendom as the official religion of the new state. He
himself became the head of the Christian church which from then
on had its main seat in Constantinople. The question of claims to
primacy by the Old Rome and the New Rome was born in these
early years when East and West still formed a unified empire. But
the cultural gap grew wider. The Byzantines lost their grip on the
Western provinces and the two halves grew apart. For about a century the emperor Justinian succeeded in restoring and reuniting the
former imperium romanum. A change in the populations of East and
West, but notably in the West, where successive waves of invaders
established themselves in the Italian peninsula, reinforced the widening cultural gap between East and West.
In 800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman
empire by the pope. The ceremony took place in Rome. The emperors
' 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 bibliographical references and saved me from a number of errors.
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in Constantinople, Irene and her son Constantine VI, who acted as
co-ruler, were not pleased with the emergence of a new imperial
title in the West, let alone the birth of a Western Roman empire. A
marriage alliance between the two families aimed at repairing this
parting of ways, failed to come about and the Zweikaiser problem was
born, a problem not easily solved.
Gradually the papacy developed as a political and religious power
which in the end was to exercise control over a major part of Western political life. The leaders of the Roman church, cardinals and
bishops, were more often than not, recruited from Italians, and propagated Roman ideas and politics, while Latin, the language of the
church, was a linguistic medium for spreading the ideas of the church
and its message throughout Western Europe where a variety of languages was spoken.
By the time of Charlemagne's coronation Byzantine influence in
Italy had greatly diminished. But the wish to restore Byzantine actual suzerainty over southern Italy was alive in Constantinople. For
practical reasons claims to such suzerainty in northern Italy had more
or less been given up, although the Byzantines cultivated their relations with Venice, one of their outposts in Western Europe. Here
the cultural overlap between East and West was very clear, as we
will see below. Venice was a sort of Greek cultural `enclave'. Dreams
of a re-united and restored imperium romanum persisted among the
main parties involved in Italian politics: the papacy, the German
emperors, the Byzantine emperors of the Macedonian and Comnenian
dynasties, and later the Norman rulers of the south.
The history of northern Italy, during the period under discussion,
was tumultuous. The cities of Lombardy were, in the end, unsuccessful in their struggle against the German emperors, their overlords.
The Lombard League was a clear sign of their fight for independence, and a counterbalance to imperial ambitions. The rise of cities,
city-states rather, such as Milan, Pavia, Cremona, Genoa, Verona,
Ravenna, is a remarkable phenomenon. They were often in a position to formulate their own policies, independently of their nominal
overlords. Some of these city-states became real political centres. Here
power was shared among members of rich and influential families,
which often developed into real factions. They were able to deal selfassuredly with foreign leaders, including the Byzantine emperors and
the Norman rulers in the south. Some of these towns even became
essential for Western contacts with Byzantium. There was no one
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
247
power in the peninsula capable of dominating Italian home politics
for a very long time. Power was shared between the pope, the German emperor, the cities, the small realms of landholding families,
like the House of Montferrat, and powerful religious houses. Competition was the order of the day.
In southern Italy one finds the same turmoil of events, and the
same range of political units. Here again the popes, nearer to the
border with the Italian territories of the Byzantine empire, tried to
play a prominent role whenever they were able to interfere in local
affairs. Contacts with the Greek provinces were of course intense, for
more than one reason. Monte Cassino, the famous Benedictine ab-
bey, is a good example of the interplay between East and West,
maintaining contacts both with the Greek provinces and with the
Greek emperors in Constantinople. From ancient times there had
been a large Greek population in southern Italy and on Sicily. The
Greek language was spoken, Greek religious ideas preserved. The
Greek population too had frequent contacts with Byzantium even at
times when Byzantine overlordship was no more than nominal. During
Arab attacks many Greeks had been forced to live further to the
north, which intensified contacts with the Latin population. In Sicily
Arab communities continued to thrive, even under Norman rule.
Curiously enough it was these former Byzantine provinces in the West
that were conquered by the Normans; Bari, the last Byzantine strong-
hold, was captured in 1071. The Normans were newcomers to the
internal and external politics of the peninsula.
Changing loyalties were the result of changing political situations
and ambitions. All parties concerned, the papacy, the German rulers, the Greek rulers and the Normans, were engaged in gaining
power and influence, and, if possible, material wealth. They all vied
for dominance.
Both in the North and in the South loyalties were divided, making
the history of Italy in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries extremely
complicated, not to say rather chaotic.
The various allurements used by the parties were played off against
each other. The Byzantines wanted to reconquer not only all their
former territories but also to restore the imperium romanum. The papacy wanted to restore the church after the schism of 1054 had
widened the religious and cultural gap between its two halves. The
Greek emperors were in a position to promise reunion, but they
wanted to become the sole emperors, and for this they needed the
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CHAPTER EIGHT
support of the papacy. The imperial families of Germany had to be
flattered by rich gifts and by marriage alliances. The city-republics
wanted cash and commercial privileges, in exchange for naval help.
The Norman rulers, who turned out to be Byzantium's worst en-
emies, had to be respected as fellow rulers, for whom attractive
marriage alliances, titles, pensions and gifts in the imperial style would
do the rest.
When East and West grew further and further apart the frontier
regions of southern Italy became important as buffer zones. Frontiers do not necessarily demand confrontations. Cultural exchanges
can be part of psychological warfare, consciously and unconsciously.
In these frontier areas one can find large groups of bilingual people
who moved easily between both cultures. Towns like Amalfi and
Salerno, for example, had longstanding relations with Byzantium.
The Italian peninsula was impregnated with Greek culture and
Greek traditions, which went back to early Christian times and to
Justinian's reign. Mosaic portraits in Ravenna remind us of periods
of Byzantine power. There was also a strong classical heritage with
Greek elements. Altogether it was good soil in which to adapt to
and to adopt new stimuli from the East in times when Byzantium
was master of other parts of Italy. Areas of cultural overlap included
Venice, Ravenna, Rome, Monte Cassino and Sicily.
So far no general survey of the contacts between Italy and Byzantium has been written. There is a wealth of political, diplomatic,
military and cultural activity, material and immaterial, that has yet
to be fully interpreted. Cultural influences are sometimes more easy
to identify as they are visible in the arts, wherever objets d'art are
preserved. An overall survey of the relations between the former halves
of the Roman empire is a vast task, which requires the cooperation
of various disciplines.
This chapter can only exploit a very small part of the material
available. A few glimpses will be given of the channels of communications between Byzantium and Italy and the results of such contacts.
A great variety of more or less detailed studies has been produced
over the past years. Traditionally much attention had been centred
on Venice. Two major exhibitions have been organised in recent
times to celebrate the relations between Venice and Byzantium, Venezia
e Bisanzio (1974) and The Treasury of San Marco (1984). G. Cavallo
published a book called I Bizantini in Italia (Milan 1982). Recently
D. Nicol published his book Byzantium and Venice (1988), a survey of
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
249
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 standard work on Monte Cassino gives ample evidence of the cultural
and artistic, and even political and religious contacts which this important 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, inscriptions, 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. 155193, 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.
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us clues to the extent of contacts between Greeks and Latins. The
majority of these texts are written in Latin and Greek. Occasionally
a text is found in Old Italian, Old French, and sometimes in Arabic.
Secondary literature is often in Italian, but mostly in English, French
and German. So much for the general setting of the problem.
The Byzantines themselves were already interested in the history
of their former territories in Italy and so we have available, at an
early stage, the vocabulary used by them to speak of these parts of
the world. In the De administrando imperio we find a chapter `The Gene-
alogy of the illustrious king Hugh', whose daughter Bertha became
the wife of the emperor Romanus, son of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959), under the name Eudocia; there is a chapter `Of
the province of Lombardy and of the principalities and governorships therein'. Venice is dealt with in a `Story of the settlement
of what is now called Venice'. Lombardy is called Aayov(3apSia, the
Lombards Aoy71(3ap8ot or Aayov(3apSot. In the Alexiad of Anna Com-
nena one finds an even more complete set of names of peoples
and places 'AgakcMvbS (inhabitant of Amalfi), BevEnico; (Venetian),
FevovatoS (Genoese), 'ItiaXbs (Italian, a rather vague term), Aoyyi(3ap6oq
(Longobard), Nopµ&vog (Norman, sometimes KeXtbs, Celt), rhauaioS
(Pisan), EtxeXbS (Sicilian); 'Aj&Xpt (Amalfi), &vorla (Venice), I'evova
(Genoa), IIfaaa (Pisa). The name tpayxot is sometimes used to designate the Germans, as in the Life of St Nilus and in the Life of St
Sabas iunior.'
Large Greek communities lived in Italy. There was a constant toing
and froing of Italians, to use the modern term, to the Byzantine
empire and of Greeks to Italy. Papal legates, ambassadors sent by
the Western and Eastern emperors, and envoys of the city-states
maintained diplomatic relations, often in the company of interpreters
and notaries. Local rulers, bishops, ecclesiastics and lay people combined political missions with pilgrimages to the holy churches and
places of Constantinople or Jerusalem. Mercenaries, merchants, refugees, prisoners of war, political hostages and artists travelled back
and forth. Pilgrims, merchants and mercenaries came mainly from
' See the indices of the De administrando imperio of Constantine Porphyrogenitus
and the Alexiad of Anna Comnena (in the De administrando imperio the term Lombardy
is used for the area south of Rome); for the saints' Lives, see G. da Costa-Louillet,
`Saints de Sicile et d'Italie meridionale aux VIIIe, IXe et Xe siecles', Byz 29/30,
1959/60, p. 136, n. 3, 162. For the marriage see also Liutprand, Antapodosis, V, xiv,
V, xx, VI5 ii (p. 460, 466, 486), Legatio, VII (p. 530).
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
251
the Italian side, although a few Greek mercenaries worked for the
enemy. Artists were usually Greeks who worked as mosaicists, painters, floor layers, marble workers and silk weavers in various places
in Italy. Scholars and manuscript hunters came from Italy to Byzantium; 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 elsewhere 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 existence 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 primacy, 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).
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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 ambitions 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 dealing 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 household, 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
monasteries had accepted a dual allegiance; the liturgy was performed
in Latin and in Greek.'°
In Rome Theophano and her son could converse with Greek monks
who included such famous spiritual leaders as St Sabas, St Nilus the
Younger (in whose Vita we are told about the political situation in
southern Italy and its border states, like Capua etc.) and St Gregory
of Cassano, the later abbot of Burtscheid. St Symeon, who spent
part of his life in Trier, came from Sicily, after having been brought
up in Constantinople. Theophano paid her respects when St Sabas
died in Rome, in 990. Amidst the crowd of mourners she prostrated
before the body of the saint." In Rome Theophano had connections
with the Greek monastery of San Salvator. Her son was crowned
emperor in Rome in 996. Elsewhere we have discussed the Byzantinizing style of the Ottonian court. Young as he was, Otto III
dreamt of a Renovatio imperii romani. He was the person par excellence to
cherish such ambitions. His ancestors belonged to the reigning families in both East and West. It was seen as good ploy to marry a real
porphyrogenita, a princess born in the imperial palace of Constantinople. However, when the long-awaited fiancee finally arrived in
the Byzantine port of Bari in 1002, Otto III had suddenly died. The
exchange of embassies had resulted in the dispatch of Zoe, daughter
of the emperor Constantine VIII. It was a bitter ending to a period
which had looked so hopeful of and promising for a restoration of
the imperium romanum. The differences in religion were still acceptable
and Greek monks were welcome in Rome where they often advised
the popes. There was a real interest in Greek ascetism (Greek monks
lived all over southern Italy) and in the Greek liturgy, especially in
the dual houses. The Lives of Greek saints of southern Italy and Sicily
were translated into Latin in those times. The newly established
monastery of Saint Alessio on the Aventine, became a centre of cultural
interest and attracted various spiritual leaders, such as St Adalbert of
Prague and St Gregory from Calabria, a real hortus sanctorum as Hamilton called it. This monastery, founded by Sergius of Damascus
1° B. Hamilton, `The city of Rome and the Eastern churches in the tenth century', 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).
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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 manuscripts, 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 welcome 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 character of such beliefs.
Otto III's immediate successors concentrated more on their German affairs than on their Italian affairs. The papacy was left with
1? H. Toubert, "`Rome et le Mont-Cassin": nouvelles remarques sur les fresques
de 1'eglise inferieure de Saint-Clement de Rome', DOP 30, 1976, p. 5, 8-11; J.-M.
Sansterre, 'Le monachisme byzantin a Rome', Settimane di studio del centro italiano di
studi sull' alto medioevo 34, Spoleto 1988, p. 710s.
13 McNulty/Hamilton, passim; B. Hamilton, `The monastery of S. Alessio and
the religious and intellectual renaissance of tenth-century Rome', Studies in Medieval
and Renaissance History 2, 1965, p. 265-310 (the date of the translation is not known),
cf. E. Follieri, `I rapporti Ira Bisanzio e 1'Occidente nel campo dell' agiografia', in
The Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Oxford 1966, ed.
J.M. Hussey e.a., p. 359, refers to an earlier Latin Vita of St Alexis in Spain, in the
second quarter of the 10th century (see ch. The Iberian peninsula); A. Pertusi,
`Monasteri e monaci italiani all' Athos nell' alto Medioevo', in Le Millenaire du Mont
Athos, 963-1963, I, Chevetogne 1963, p. 217-251.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
255
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 considered 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 catalyst. 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
14 E.g. Runciman, Eastern schism, passim.
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Nova), a 7th-century icon painted in Rome with a strong Byzantinizing
character. 15
In general one could say that certain `technical' aspects of the new
style are those of Byzantine painting: the form of draperies, the way
of rendering flesh tones (the use of greens for example), the jewelled
borders of thrones and vestments, a certain linearization, which all
occur in Byzantine painting. But the artists were not willing or able
to imitate Byzantine painting in such a way that it really looked
Byzantine. The case of mosaics is slightly different. The technique
may have been Byzantine (mosaics were an essentially Byzantine
medium), but the programmes were set by the patrons. These patrons, often the popes, seem to have had an antiquarian taste, wanting to return to and restore Early Christian art where mosaics had
played such a prominent role. They may have expressed their wish
for a Renovatio iniperii by ordering such works. C.R. Dodwell concluded his description of artistic achievements in Rome with the words
that `Italian art could never make a complete break with the East'.
It is this attachment to its own classical heritage, visible in situ, that
prevented Italian art from integrating itself into the Romanesque of
the rest of Western Europe where traces of classical Antiquity were
almost invisible if they had ever existed. This seems a reasonable
explanation for the term Italo-Byzantine style: there was always a
touch of Byzantium, a Byzantium which was at various times, at
various degrees, present in the Italian peninsula.16
It has been suggested that the Reform popes took part of their
inspiration for the arts from Monte Cassino, that famous monastery
that from long had acted as an intermediary between East and West.
The political and religious power of this religious house is reflected
in the donations and the privileges given to it by its benefactors who
included the popes, as well as the Western and Eastern emperors.
We therefore have to make a small excursus to the abbey, motherhouse
of the Benedictine rule, which lay not so far from Greek territory.
In 950 it was with the help of the Greek governor that the monks
15 E. Kitzinger, `A Virgin's face: antiquarianism in twelfth-century art', The Art
Bulletin 62, 1980, p. 6-19 (the church was one of the stations during the procession
of the Assumption of the Virgin, during which hymns were sung in praise of the
Theotokos).
16 Dodwell, p. 118-123, 138-49; E. Kitzinger, `The Gregorian reform and the
visual arts: a problem of method', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, fifth series
22, 1972, p. 87-102; idem, `The arts as aspects of a Renaissance in Rome and
Italy', in Renaissance and Renewal, p. 637-670.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
257
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 received 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 visited 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 relations, 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,
" McNulty/Hamilton, p. 184s.; H. Bloch, 'Monte Cassino, Byzantium and the
West in the earlier Middle Ages', DOP 3, 1946, p. 188; idem, Monte Cassino, I,
p. 15s.; see also R. Rios, 'Benedictine contacts, ancient and modern, with the Eastern churches', The Eastern Churches Quarterly 4, 1940-1, p. 244-55.
18 A. Lentini, 'Sul viaggio Costantinopolitano di Gisulfo di Salerno con l'arcivescovo
Alfano', Atti del 3 ° congresso internazionale di studi sull' alto medioevo, Spoleto 1959,
p. 437-443; De Casino Monte, PL 147, c. 1238, cf. Bloch, art. cit. (n. 17), p. 128; idem,
Monte Cassino, I, p. 93-8. Alfanus translated Greek texts into Latin, Cf. M.-M.
d'Alverny, `Translations and translators', in Renaissance and Renewal, p. 425-6.
258
CHAPTER EIGHT
bronze casting, stone carving, glassmaking, ivory carving and wood
carving. The artists were commissioned to decorate the church and
to teach their craft to young Italians. A golden altar table, with enamels
depicting scenes from the New Testament and scenes from the life
of St Benedict, was ordered in Constantinople, and so were gilded,
silverframed icons and many other liturgical objects.19 The Byzantine
bronze doors were a gift of a rich merchant from Amalfi, a town
possessing longstanding commercial connections with the Byzantine
empire and which had its own quarter in the Greek capital.20 The
abbey church has perished but for its bronze doors and some fragments of the marble inlaid floor. So it is not known what the mosa-
ics and paintings, and all the other decorations and objects in the
church and adjoining rooms, looked like. Desiderius most certainly
planned the iconography of the programme. He may have expressed
his desire to return to Early Christian art, since he says that mosaic
work had died out in Italy some centuries before. He probably wanted
to make use of the technical skills of the Byzantine workmen. Some
parts, however, may have been genuinely Byzantine in style and
conception, and even in iconography, otherwise some of the paintings of Sant' Angelo in Formis, another work of Desiderius, and
a mosaic fragment in the cathedral of Salerno, built by his friend
Alfanus, are difficult to interpret.21 The beautifully inlaid floors of
Monte Cassino may have been a source of inspiration for southern
Italy and other parts of the western world. This subject waits for a
thorough study, based on a corpus of existing marble mosaic floors.
Some of these floors have disappeared under debris, others may have
been removed to make place for a new floor. It was only after the Second World War that it was realised that the mosaic fragments then
found at Monte Cassino, belonged to the original Byzantine floor.
19 Chronica monasterii Casinensis, Die Chronik von Montecassino, ed. H. Hoffmann,
Hannover 1980 (= MGH SS VII, p. 574-844), III, ch. 18, p. 385 (711); III, ch. 27,
p. 393s. (718), III, ch. 32, p. 396 (722); Bloch, art. cit. (n. 17), p. 193; idem, Monte
Cassino, I, p. 40-7 1; c£ H.EJ. Cowdrey, The age of Abbot Desiderius. Montecassino, the
papacy, and the Norman in the eleventh and early tweh centuries, Oxford 1983, passim,
esp. p. 15s.
20 Bloch, art. cit. (n. 17), p. 208s.; idem, Monte Cassino, I, p. 139s.; G. Matthiae,
Le porte bronzee bizantine in Italia, Rome 1971, p. 67-72, pls. 5-15; for Amalfi, c£
M. Balard, `Amalfi et Byzance (Xe-XT P siecles)', TM 6, 1976, p. 85-95. I speak of
this family in Byzantium and its neighbours, p. 13-20.
21 Dodwell, p. 4, 130-4, 184, ills. 146-8; Bloch, Monte Cassino, I, p. 89s.; J. Wettstein, La fiesque romane, Italie-France-Espagne, Paris 1971, p. 61-74; E. Kitzinger, `The
first mosaic decoration of Salerno cathedral', JOB 21, 1972, p. 149-62, with ills.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
259
The Chronicle of Monte Cassino, begun by Leo of Ostia and continued by others, has recently been reedited by H., Hoffmann. The
chronicle provides information on the artistic activities of Desiderius,
whose reign is called the Golden Age of Monte Cassino. The history
of the abbey and its relations with the East are related in this chronicle. We learn that the emperor Romanus IV (1068-1071) was very
helpful when the envoys came to Constantinople to find artists and
artefacts. He possibly had to give permission to import and export
the gold and silver required for the new church and its objects. He
possibly had to give permission to the craftsmen to work abroad,
since the Byzantines were not too willing to `export' their technology. It was a good occasion for the Greek emperor to show his benev-
olence. In 1071 the basilica with all its mosaics was inaugurated.
Byzantine influence can also be found in manuscript painting where
the Dormition of the Virgin, a typical Byzantine iconographical element, a hallmark almost, makes its appearance. In the Exultet Rolls
(liturgical rolls used during the Easter celebration in the Paschal
Liturgy) made at Monte Cassino, one finds Byzantine elements and
Byzantine influence, as is the case of the earlier Exultet Rolls produced in southern Italy. Very likely the abbey's library possessed several
Greek manuscripts the more so since Greeks were also members of
the community.22
In 1076 the abbey received another Byzantine pension. The emperor Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078) was to send every year twenty-
four pounds of gold and four pallia. In spite of these gifts the first
crusade, for which the abbot Oderisius I acted as a sort of mediator
(from a letter written to him by Alexius we learn that the abbot
pleaded for the crusaders), turned out rather badly for Alexius I
Con-menus. His wish to be on good terms with the mighty abbey,
influential at the papal court in Rome, prompted Alexius to continue his correspondence with the abbot and to send other gifts. Twice
he provided money and vestments for the abbey, in 1098 and in
1111. Is it coincidental that we learn from the Chronicle that Alexius
wanted the Western crown for himself or for his son? Byzantine sources
are silent about such ambitions. It may have come from sources
22 C£ note- 19; Bloch, Monte Cassino, I, p. 60; Dodwell, p. 126-9; F. Newton,
`The Desiderian scriptorium at Monte Cassino: the Chronicle and some surviving
manuscripts', DOP 30, 1976, p. 51-3; see also G. Cavallo, Rotoli di Exultet dell' Italia
meridionale, Bari 1973.
260
CHAPTER EIGHT
involved in secret diplomacy. This is a highly speculative subject
which we have to leave aside. The chrysobulls of the Greek emperors, Greek documents and Latin sources referring to such Greek
diplomas have all been published.23 In the course of time Byzantine
relics and reliquaries reached the abbey, sometimes via Jerusalem.24
Another witness to the important role of the abbey and its international political connections is the Chronicle of Amatus of Monte Cassino,
now only preserved in an early 14th-century French translation. In
the late 11th century Monte Cassino was still at the crossroads between East and West. The abbey slowly improved its relations with
the Norman conquerors and the chronicles grow more silent about
the Eastern connection. A good neighbour was a better option than
a far-away friend even if he sent gold and silks. But the abbey remained critical about Byzantium and it is in this context that we
hear, in a 12th-century manuscript from the abbey, of the translatio
studii to the West, according to the Byzantine emperor himself, as we
learn from an apocryphal saying, and even that Westerners brought
it back to Byzantium: `Once wisdom was derived from the Orient to
the Occident, from the Greeks to the Latins. Now, on the contrary,
from the Occident to the Orient, a Latin (i.e. Peter Chrysolanus,
archbishop of Milan) comes and descends on the Greeks'. In the
early 12th century Petrus Diaconus, librarian of the abbey, used
Byzantium, its rulers and institutions, for some of his historical and
hag`iographical forgeries. Meanwhile the papacy had become powerful. We shall therefore leave the abbey of Monte Cassino and return
to Rome .21
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, 'MonteCassino 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
In Rome the papacy slowly became a real political power. The
popes could grant the Western crown at will and they had reconfirmed the right to invest all new bishops. They were in a position
to handle the claims of rulers, even of the newly arrived Normans in
the south. The pope was the real leader of the church, where hierarchy expressed power. The popes were powerful and influential in
12th-century Western Europe but they felt frustrated about the schism
and about the divided church. They were longing to reunite East
and West, and endeavoured in their own way to bring about the
Renovatio imperii romani. The Comnenian dynasty was aware of these
papal feelings and was willing to exploit them for its own ends. Alexius
I Comnenus, John II Comnenus and Manuel Comnenus, tried from
time to time to win papal favour. Whether the Comnenians really
wanted to be crowned in Rome as emperors of the unified Roman
empire, is an open question. They certainly wanted to consolidate
their claims in Italy, if only in the southern part of the peninsula.26
Several theological debates and disputes, councils, synods and other
ecclesiastical meetings on controversial theological subjects took place.
The participation of Westerners and Byzantines alike seems to be a
public expression of a willingness on both sides to listen to one another. Interpreters were easily available. In both countries there lived
large groups of people who were bilingual. The Latin colonies in
Constantinople needed good interpreters for their business affairs and
for official contacts with the Greek authorities. The main controversial issues were the Procession of the Holy Spirit (for the Greeks the
Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father alone), the use of leavened
bread (unlike Western Christians the Greeks used leavened bread for
the Eucharist) and the nature of Christ. Icons formed no point of
debate. There were several famous icons in Roman churches, some
of which were carried around during Holy processions.
In 1098 the pope convoked a council at Bari in order to integrate
the Greek churches of southern Italy into the Roman church, now
that the Normans were masters of the south. It is not known if a
delegation from Constantinople attended the council. It is more likely
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', Settimane 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
that they boycotted a council on such an issue. On the Latin side
bishop Anselm of Canterbury, now in exile, was one of the speakers
on the Procession of the Holy Spirit. A real reunion of the churches
was attempted, but in vain.27 The schism persisted and feelings grew
more bitter. Other Latin theologians, with or without the support or
even the consent of the papal authorities, discussed controversial points.
The archbishop of Milan, Peter Chrysolanus was in Constantinople
in 1113/4 where he discussed the question of the Holy Spirit with
Byzantine theologians, who included the emperor Alexius 1.2'
There was more than one meeting to debate matters of interest to
both churches. What happened in secret diplomacy between the popes
and emperors and patriarchs is not known, but apparently such
contacts did not lead to any result.
As the head of the Orthodox church the emperor was in a position to stimulate the process of reunion or of a rapprochement. But
neither political interests nor religious feelings were strong enough or
well enough exploited to achieve this goal. Italian residents in
Constantinople witnessed some of these theological meetings, sometimes serving themselves as interpreters. When the German bishop
Anselm of Havelberg in 1136 took part in a theological debate in
the Pisan quarter of Constantinople he was there in the company of
Burgundio of Pisa, James of Venice and Moses of Bergamo. Some of
these interpreters may have been ordained into the Latin church
and were possibly in touch with their ecclesiastical authorities who
certainly wanted to have a say, directly or indirectly, in such debates; others would have simply been lay persons. The translation of
written Greek texts by these men and their colleagues will be discussed below.
In the 1160s the Normans were once more an important political
factor in Italian politics. Manuel Comnenus was now on very good
terms with Rome. He needed the support of the pope, and the pope
needed him, trying to protect the Latin church in Outremer at the
same time. Both wanted a reunion for their own purposes. Several
meetings took place, several embassies were exchanged. In 1166 a
council took place in Constantinople which was attended by Western delegates. The matter of controversy was the nature of Christ.
27 Runciman, Eastern schism, p. 76.
28 V. Grumel, `Autour du voyage de Pierre Grossolanus', EO 32, 1933, p. 22-33;
Beck, p. 616s.; Runciman, ibid., p. 108; Bloch, Monte Cassino, I, p. 111.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
263
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 already, 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 Innocent 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 different matter. Its fate lay in the hands of the Venetians who, from the
very beginning, had sponsored the expedition. It was to their advantage to nominate an `independent' ruler, the count of Flanders. Innocent 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 crusaders 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
So much for the world of religion and spirituality. There were
other reasons for the presence in the Byzantine empire of large groups
of Italians: economic interests. Theirs was a world of moneymaking,
commercial contracts and banking. They wanted to make gold and
yet at the same time remain independent. The flourishing of the
small merchant republics, mostly in northern Italy, is an exceptional
phenomenon in early medieval Europe. Geographically speaking
Amalfi was an exception, and will be discussed below. The most
prominent of these republics, city-states would be a better name, was
Venice. From ancient times it maintained regular contact with the
Byzantine empire. The Venetians, who lived amidst powers who were
all aspiring to acquire some form of control over this sea-faring city,
had nevertheless succeeded in maintaining their independence thanks
to their mighty friends, the Byzantines. There had been traffic between the two countries for several centuries past. Their common
interest was to keep the Adriatic clear of invasions and foreign influences, in order to control the traffic between East and West. For
the Byzantines Venice was a sort of listeningpost in the heart of the
Western world. In his recent study on Venice, D. Nicol used the
following terms to characterise the relationship with Byzantium at its
various stages: a Byzantine province, a Byzantine protectorate and an ally of
Byzantium. At the beginning of the period under discussion the city
became the partner of Byzantium; this was followed by periods described
as a parting of the ways and the calm before the storm, a storm which is
meant to refer to the Fourth Crusade.32
For Venice the whole period was of great economic interest. Slowly
the Venetians developed their commercial activities in the Eastern
Mediterranean by obtaining a number of privileges. Chrysobulls,
imperial diplomas which in this context should be called commercial
treaties, were issued in the years 992, 1082, 1126, 1147, 1148, 1187,
1189, 1198. Some of the chrysobulls were issued in times when
personal friendships or good relations existed between given dopes
and emperors. Sometimes an earlier chrysobull was reconfirmed or
`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
enlarged to reward for special services rendered by the Venetians.
These services consisted of naval and military help to defend the
Byzantine empire against its numerous enemies. Sometimes a reconfirmation was necessary after a period of animosity. From time to time
the Venetians had a monopoly in trading with Byzantium. This
explains their hatred of newcomers who also obtained commercial
privileges. But in the end the Byzantines always needed the Venetians for the defence of their territory and had to reopen negotiations whatever had happened in the meantime, and the result was
even better for the Venetians. Venetian ships were an essential element in the Greek defence system at times when a strong Greek
navy was non-existent. The reduction in commercial taxes made the
Venetians even stronger and at the same time weakened the position
both financially and politically of the Byzantines. The use of Byzantine titles and the Byzantine pensions made these Westerners seem
arrogant in the eyes of the Greeks. The various Western republics
were played off against each other, creating mutual animosity. In the
end the strong position of the Western merchants and their colonies
in Constantinople created an unrestrainable hate towards them.33
The Orseolo family is an example of a Venetian family with good
personal relations with the Byzantine rulers. Due to factional strife
the centre of Venice was burnt down in 976. Pietro I Orseolo, the
newly chosen dope (976-978) rebuilt the city and repaired, restored
or rebuilt the church of San Marco. The church, already at that
time, may have been modelled on the church of the Holy Apostles
in Constantinople. From Constantinople a golden altar table was
ordered. Greek architectural elements may have been used in the
reconstruction of the church in the 970s.34 The dope's son Pietro II
Orseolo (991-1008) was an intimate friend of Otto III, who, according to Byzantine tradition, adopted a son and a daughter of the doge,
thus creating an artificial family relationship. At the same time
Orseolo's contacts with Byzantium were such that an old pact was
renewed. The chrysobull of 992 proved to be a very important factor in Venice's later commercial treaties. The Venetians received an
important reduction in the commercial taxes and obtained other
privileges in the empire. In 1004, when the Arabs besieged Bari, he
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.
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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 aristocratic 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 become familiar with the veneration of the Virgin.37
3s Lilie, p. 1-8; Nicol, p. 45.
36 Nicol, op. cit. (n. 2), p. 45s.; Runciman, Civilization, p. 161; Peter Damian, PL
145, c. 744 (Institutio monialis, ch. xi).
37 PL 144, c. 396-7 (new edition by K. Reindel, Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani,
Munich III, 1989, no. 131, p. 436-8); PL 145, c. 562; c£ Geanakoplos, p. 45.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
267
Factionalism was often a factor in Venetian politics. Not every
dope and his family were in favour of Byzantium. But once families
with pro-Byzantine feelings came to power, we see the development
of a certain (cultural) pattern. The successive doges Domenico Contarini (1043-1070), Domenico Silvio (1070-1084) and Vitale Falier
(1084-1096) seem to have shared pro-Byzantine feelings. After 1081
the Venetians rendered great services to the Byzantines in the Adriatic
in their struggle with the Normans, especially when Dyrrachium was
attacked. The existing commercial contract was renewed and extended
in 1082. Some of its elements have been described by Anna Comnena
in the Alexiad. The Venetian churches were to receive an annual
pension of twelve pounds of gold, the dope received the hereditary
title of protosebastos with its appropriate pension. The patriarch received the title of hypertimos with a pension, and the city obtained its
own quarter in Constantinople, where the Venetians eventually had
their own courts of law; the legal position of the Venetians even
improved in the 12th century. Their greediness for Byzantine titles
expresses a willingness to imitate Byzantine institutions and to belong to the Byzantine cultural world.38 Again a Greek marriage partner was sent to cement the relationship with Venice. Domenico Silvio
is said to have married Theodora, a sister of Michael VII Doukas.
The marriage has almost past unnoticed in history.39
The three doges just mentioned seem to have been involved in
the reconstruction of San Marco. This time the model was surely
the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople as is still clear
today. San Marco, the five-domed basilica, marks the skyline of
present-day Venice, as seen from the sea. The building of this new
church expressed the will of the authorities to compete with Constantinople or to imitate its achievements. San Marco was started
not long after the completion of Desiderius' abbey church of Monte
Cassino. Greek craftsmen may have been readily available. The abbey
church has almost completely disappeared and we have to rely on
the Chronicle of Monte Cassino for further details. With San Marco
in Venice it is the other way round: the church still stands, but
the documentation about its construction has gone. The church still
stands as a great Byzantinized relic in the Western world, but almost
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
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nothing is known about its construction and the artists involved. At
various stages there must have been Greek artists at work, although
the programme of the mosaics is not typically Byzantine. The patrons seem to have had their own ideas about the scenes to be represented. Many mosaics have been restored and/or replaced in the
course of time. Nevertheless it is possible to say that the mosaics in
the main porch belong to the 11th century. Those in the apse, or at
least a portion of them, were made before 1100. The presbytery and
the interior decoration belong to the second half of the 12th century,
according to modern research. Other mosaics were added in the 13th
century. Greek and Western artists seem to have been at work in
San Marco, thus explaining the great variety of styles, of iconographical elements, of the colour, programme etc. So far the name of only
one Greek mosaicist, a certain Marcus Grecus Indriomeni, who worked
in Venice in 1153, has emerged. Even if some mosaics look genuinely Byzantine, others are so out of touch with Byzantine art that
the church as a whole makes a bizarre, if interesting impression.
Greek inscriptions alternate with Latin inscriptions, which adds to
the feeling of dualism.4o
The marble floors look Byzantine, and may have been inspired by
Desiderius' abbey church.4' The bronze doors, at least some of them,
were made in Constantinople. The late 11th-century Porta di San
Clemente has two panels with a double cross, the patriarchal cross,
a typical Byzantine ornament (ill. 17). San Marco, with its five cupolas, its mosaics, its treasury with relics and preciosa (donated, stolen or
received as tribute) is almost a Byzantine artistic enclave, a sort of
`colonial' outpost of Byzantine culture in the Western world. 12 The
40 Demus, op. cit. (n. 34), passim; idem, The mosaics of San Marco in Venice, Chicago 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 architecture 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 incorporated in the course of time. It still remains to be decided whether
parts of the original golden altar (if it had enamels) have been recycled as well.43
The treasury of San Marco is a paradise for amateurs of Byzantine art. The date of arrival of the treasures is, in most cases uncertain. 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 Constantinople 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. Andreescu, 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 sometimes 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 hateful 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. MinioPaluello, `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 joining 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 conferred 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 elsewhere. 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,
49 H. Longuet, Introduction a la numismatique byzantine, London 1961, p. 72-4, with
ills.; c£ Ph. Grierson, Monnayes du Moyen Age, Fribourg 1976, p. 162, and ills. 279,
280.
5o Frothingham, art. cit. (n. 40), p. 40; Lilie, p. 69-83; a survey of its relations
with Byzantium does not exist so far, c£ C. Otten-Frioux, in M. Balard e.a., Les
Italiens a Byzance, Paris 1987, p. 153; c£ S. Epstein, Dictionary of the Middle Ages 9,
1987, p. 663-5 (s.v. Pisa); Janin, Constantinople byzantine, p. 249-50; idem, Eglises
et monasteres, p. 573-4; Corpus Nummorum Italicorum XI, Milan 1929, p. 289s., var.
29, 38 (c£ Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau 66, 1987, p. 193-9).
272
CHAPTER EIGHT
for example) and possibly Greek chronicles. They took an active part
in theological disputes and seemed to have had a network of correspondents, 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, Byzantine 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 presence 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 imperial family, showed an interest in Pisa. Byzantium tried to bring
about a matrimonial alliance with one of the leading families in town.
51 Anselm of Havelberg, PL 188, c. 1163 (later, in 1155, after a second mission
to Constantinople, he became archbishop of Ravenna); P. Classen, `Burgundio von
Pisa. Richter, Gesandter, Ubersetzer', Sitzungsberichte Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil. Hist. Masse 1974, p. 1-106, 4. Abh. (for more recent editions see Tusculum
Lexikon); Dondaine, art. cit. (n. 30), p. 67-134; d'Alverny, art. cit. (n. 18), passim;
N.M. Haring, `The "Liber de Differentia naturae et personae" by Hugh Etherian
and the Letters addressed by him to Peter of Vienna and Hugh of Honau', Mediaeval Studies 24, 1962, p. 1-34.
52 C£ Frothingham, art. cit. (n. 40), p. 40; S. Guyer, 'Der Dom von Pisa and das
Ratsel seiner Entstehung', Miinchnerjahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, N.F. 9, 1932, p. 35176; U. Boeck, `Das Baptisterium zu Pisa and die Jerusalemer Anastasis', Bonnerjahrbuch
1964, p. 146-56. G. Urban has given a paper at the 4th symposium of the German
Mediavistenverbandes, Cologne, 13 March 1991, under the title `Pisa and der Orient.
Byzantinische and islamische Motive am Pisaner Dom'; I think that C. Smith, `Pisa:
a negative case of Byzantine influence', in Atti del XXIV Congresso Internazionale di
Storia dell'Arte, Bologna 1982, p. 95-102, is too strong.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
273
Manuel's niece Eudocia was sent to Italy in 1170 to marry Odo
Frangipane in Rome. She must have taken a rich dowry. A few years
later, as a widow, she married a noble from Tuscany who had connections with Pisa. Information about her life in Italy is rather scarce.53
Genoa was the last merchant republic in northern Italy to enter
the market of Constantinople, and the last Western city to become
an official ally of the Greeks. We have to return to the 1140s, when
the first official contacts were established, which resulted in a promissio
of Manuel Comnenus in 1155. Real contracts were concluded in
1169, 1170 (improvement of the preceding one) and in 1192.54 As
usual several embassies were exchanged between the partners before
an agreement was reached. The tax reductions, the pensions, the
pallia and a quarter with port facilities in Constantinople were the
usual ingredients of the contract, in exchange for which the Genoese
were to give military help. The activities of the Genoese, however,
were restricted to the Byzantine capital. They did not really enter
the market of Romania. Recent publications have thrown more light
on Genoa's political relations with Byzantium. One of the main factors in Genoese local politics was factionalism, which affected its
external relations. Byzantium was just one of the many contacts of
Genoa. Pro-Byzantine feelings and politics were found only in a few
families. The Guercio family is a good example of such a family. Its
members served as legates to Constantinople and as mercenaries in
the Greek army, and sometimes as representatives of the Greek court
on a foreign mission. Baldovino Guercio obtained a pronoia, a sort of
fief, becoming a vassal of the Greek emperor. He accompanied Agnes
of France on her journey to Constantinople. There the Genoese had
the use of the Kalamanos palace (sometimes called the palace of
Botaneiates), which may have functioned as the administrative cen-
tre of the Genoese and in particular of the Guercio family in
Constantinople. It was a vast complex with mosaic decorated churches,
richly inlaid floors and other costly decoration, in which members of
the Guercio family probably took up residence. Detailed descriptions
exist of the complex in decay when, after the Genoese, it had housed
Western mercenaries.ss
53 Brand, p. 20-1; Lilie, p. 520, n. 360.
54 Lilie, p. 84-119.
ss For Genoa in general see e.g. M. Balard, La Romanie genoise, 2 vols., Genoa
1978, esp. II, p. 883-5; G.W. Day, `Byzantino-Genoese diplomacy and the collapse
of emperor Manuel's Western policy, 1168-1171', Byz 48, 1978, p. 393-405; idem,
274
CHAPTER EIGHT
The House of Montferrat, a family ruling territory situated between Genoa and Milan and opponents of the German emperors,
had strong connections with Genoa. This partly explains why members of the family were sought as marriage partners for Greek princesses. Manuel's daughter Maria, the porphyrogenita, was married
to Renier of Montferrat in 1180. The couple was to live in Constantinople. As son-in-law of the emperor, Renier obtained the title of
caesar with its insignia and certain rights over Thessalonica. After the
coup of Andronicus Comnenus he and his wife, popular as they were
and considered as dangerous opponents to the new regime, died under
mysterious circumstances, having possibly been poisoned by their
enemies.56 Not long after these events Theodora, sister of the then
reigning Isaac II Angelus, married Conrad of Montferrat (brother of
Renier), who received the title of caesar, minus the insignia. He soon
left his wife and the Greek empire to seek adventure and recognition
elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Their brother Boniface of Montferrat
was another ambitious member of the family. After the capture in
1204 he laid claim to the imperial Byzantine throne. In the meantime he had become engaged to or had married Margaret (Maria) of
Hungary, the widow of Isaac II Angelus. He ended his life as king
of Thessalonica. Alexius III, captured in Constantinople around 1205,
was transferred to a prison in Montferrat.57
The economic and especially the cultural context of relations be-
tween Genoa and Byzantium cannot yet be studied or appreciated
in detail due to lack of detailed studies in this respect. The cultural
impact of these contacts is still unclear. Wills may reveal references
to Greek property. Reliquaries and relics may have reached the town
without yet our being aware of this, and Byzantine artefacts may
exist unrecognised .51
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
Occasionally other north Italian cities were involved in Byzantine
politics. In 1162 Milan was destroyed by the German emperor
Frederick Barbarossa. The Lombard League, which Milan was to
join, came into being in 1167. In about that year Milanese envoys
were sent to Constantinople. Manuel Comnenus who was often on
bad terms with Frederick Barbarossa, especially in the 1160s, demanded an oath of fealty ('imperator exegit fieri fidelitatem sibi') and
gave hundred pounds of gold to restore the city. The legates each
received twelve pounds of gold. The latter gift was the cause of a
later, legal dispute. It is hardly credible that the Greek emperor was
trying to become Milan's overlord and so exert his power, but it was
one step from interfering in north Italian affairs and frustrate the
German emperor. Manuel did exploit the Western system of feudal
ties and relations, so trying to gain influence over some Westerners.59
Moves against Barbarossa were also made by Manuel Comnenus
in his contacts with Ancona, on the Adriatic coast. Byzantine officials regularly visited the town, and it is thought that a Byzantine
garrison was stationed in this coastal town. Manuel subsidized Ancona
to maintain its defensive system. When in 1173 the citizens, with the
help of some pro-Byzantine outsiders who included countess Aldruda
of Bertinoro (a member of the Frangipane family) had successfully
resisted a siege by German troops, they were rewarded by the Byzantine emperor. In 1157 the town had pledged an oath of friendship
to Manuel. Once again the idea of vassalship was exploited in Byzantine... diplomacy. Information about commercial activities of the
Anconitans in Romania is scarce, as it is about the existence of an
Anconitan quarter in Constantinople.so
In speaking of northern Italy we have referred several times to
legal affairs and legal texts. The Venetians had their own judges in
Constantinople, to whom even Greek plaintiffs had to submit their
cases, when the accused was a Venetian. The intense commercial and
residential contacts made the Italians more familiar with Byzantine
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.
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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 suggested 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 renaissance of legal studies in Bologna should not be ignored by law historians 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 channels 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, patronized 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,
61 Geanakoplos, p. 34-5; c£ A. Bryer, `Cultural relations between East and West
in the twelfth century', in Relations between East and West, p. 80, and P. Speck,
`Konstantinopel ein Modell fur Bologna?', announced for Byzantium and its
neighbours, (possibly published elsewhere). For Byzantine law in general see H J.
Scheltema, `Byzantine law', in The Cambridge Medieval History, IV, 2nd ed. J M. Hussey,
ed.), Cambridge 1967, p. 55-77. Italian jurists wrote their names in Greek characters, as it probably was the fashion in those days, cf. P.E. Schramm, `Kaiser, Basileus
and Papst', Historische Zeitschrift 129, 1924, p. 459, n. 2.
62 Wettstein, op. cit. (n. 21), p. 1-56; Dodwell, p. 118-52 (both authors make
references to other places where Byzantine influence, most often in wallpainting, is
discernible). The paintings of Castelseprio, northwest of Milan, have sometimes been
dated as late as the middle of the 10th century (see Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium).
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
277
religion, language and culture. Central and northern Apulia were
Byzantine in administration, and shared some of Byzantium's culture,
whereas Campania had a limited share in Byzantine culture. All over
the south one finds Byzantine paintings in chapels, churches and
grottos. Their impact, however, is difficult to appreciate. E. Bertaux,
who was - a pioneer in the field, left many problems unsolved. They
are still the concern of modern art historians.63 Byzantine influence
and, a fortiori, the exchange of spiritual ideas and translations between East and West, could more easily take place in the border
states and in southern Italy than in northern Italy. The border states
were intermediaries between East and West. It was an area of osmosis. Some of these realms were vassal states or allies of the Byzantine
empire for certain periods. Interpreters were needed for embassies
overseas and could easily be recruited among the large bilingual
population. No wonder that at an early stage a number of translations from Greek into Latin were made here. The following can be
seen as border states: Capua, Benevento, Sorrento, Naples, Gaeta,
Salerno and Amalfi. The latter had strong commercial contacts with
Byzantium, like the city-states in northern Italy which have been
discussed before. Just before or even during the beginning of the
period under discussion here, during the reign of Constantine and
Romanus (951-969), a Latin translation of the Greek Alexander romance
was made by a priest Leo from Naples (`regnantibus Constantino et
Romano, magnificis imperatoribus Christianorum').64
We have chosen Salerno and Amalfi to illustrate the intensity of
direct contacts between the Byzantine world and the Italian world,
in contrast to contacts that were maintained with neighbouring southern Italy. Both Salerno and Amalfi have been the subject of detailed
studies which open the way to further research. Before they came
under Norman dominion (Amalfi surrendered in 1073, Salerno was
taken in 1077) both had frequent contacts with Byzantium. Amalfi,
which can be compared to Venice, -Pisa and Genoa for its commercial relations with Byzantium, was the first city-state to have its own
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, Heidelberg 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.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
quarter (with the church of Saint Mary of the Latins) in Constantinople
to facilitate its commercial activities. Amalfitan merchants, like the
de Maurone comite family, grew extremely rich due to their commercial activities in Romania. There was a large Greek community
in Amalfi. The dukes of Amalfi obtained the Greek title of patrikios
which was used from 958 onwards. They associated their sons with
their `throne', just as the Byzantine emperors took co-rulers. Sometimes, when problems at home became unsurmountable, the ruling
class took refuge in Constantinople. From the 10th century the
Amalfitans possessed a monastery on Mount Athos where they came
into close contact with Byzantine spiritual life and ideas .15 In Amalfi
and in its `colonies' abroad translations of Greek texts were stimulated. Monk Leo of Mount Athos translated a miracle of St Michael
in the late 10th century.66
The de Maurone comite family played an important role in the
transmission of Byzantine culture to Italy. Several members of the
family donated the bronze doors of churches in Amalfi and in the surrounding area, in Monte Cassino and in Rome (ills. 18a, b). They
stimulated or introduced the iconographical theme of the Dormition
of the Virgin, which also appears in Monte Cassirio. They had an
interest in the arts and sponsored translations of hagiographical texts
such as the Life of St Irene, a sermon on the death of St Nicholas
and a Book of Miracles which was translated by a monk John in the
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 (Panteleimon), 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
later 11th century in Constantinople. After the Norman conquest
contacts with Byzantium continued, but the Amalfitans were soon
superseded by the Venetians. We have seen above that the seacode
of Amalfi was probably modelled on a Byzantine examples'
The history of the duchy of Salerno offers parallels to that of Amalfi.
There were regular contacts with Byzantium. Salernitans visiting the
Greek capital enjoyed hospitality with Amalfitans living abroad. When
Gisulf II (1052-1077), the last Lombard ruler of Salerno, visited
Constantinople in 1062, he took with him bishop Bernard of Palestrina
and archbishop Alfanus of Salerno. The party stayed in the rich palace
of the Amalfitan Pantaloon (member of the de Maurone comite family), which aroused the jealousy of Gisulf. The ruler of Salerno wanted
help against the Normans and left the two churchleaders as hostages
in Constantinople which was a bad surprise for the prelates. The
journey has been reported in a somewhat legendary way, expressing
the fairy-tale character of the Byzantine court in the eyes of some
Westerners. It may have been this visit by Gisulf II that prompted
him to issue copper coins on which he is represented as the basileus,
complete with crown and imperial dress. There may have been hidden ambitions in the family. Alfanus, the archbishop, writes in one
of his poems that he hopes that Gisulf's brother will conquer
Constantinople and become its ruler. Unfortunately the poem cannot be dated. Even more curious is the coin on which the ruler is
represented holding a drawn sword, modelled on the unpopular gold
coin of Isaac I Comnenus (1057-1059), which was soon discontinued. Apart from William the Conqueror's later coins, the so-called
sword type, this is the only known imitation of this much criticized
Byzantine coin. There were also copper coins with Christ, the Virgin and saints, sometimes even with partial Greek inscriptions."
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 Viertejahrschrift 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
Alfanus survived his forced stay in Constantinople and returned to
Salerno. As we have seen he was in a position (or thought he was)
to compare Saint Sophia with the abbey church of Monte Cassino.
Animosity, stimulated by his unpleasant journey to the East, may
have made him prefer the latter. The archbishop is known as a great
poet and a doctor. He translated Greek texts. Nemesius' On the nature
of man was first translated by him. His medical treatise De pulsu shows
his acquaintance with the work of Philaretus, the Liber pulsuum. This
brings us to Salerno's reputation as a centre of medical learning in
the early Middle Ages. Contacts with Byzantium's medical learning
have not yet been studied systematically. It is remarkable to read
in a romance by Chretien de Troyes that three Greek (?) doctors returned to Constantinople after a long stay at Salerno.69 Other translations of medical and hagiographical texts may have been made in
Salerno or the other border-states, where so many bilinguals, Latins
and Greeks, lived side by side. In 1048/9 a south Italian cleric translated the story of Barlaam and Joasaph, which became popular all
over Western Europe.70 The Lives of southern Italian and Sicilian
saints were translated into Latin during the 10th, 11th and 12th
centuries but details of the authors, the translators and the dates of
composition and translation, are mostly unknown. Salerno played a
prominent role in these intellectual activities."
In Salerno the Byzantine connection can also be seen in the presence of Byzantine bronze doors in the cathedral. In the late 11th or
early 12th century they were donated by an inhabitant, the protosebastos Landulfo Butrumile. The mosaic fragment in the cathedral,
probably belonging to the late 11th century, betrays direct contacts
with Byzantine art, possibly via Alfanus and his Monte Cassino connections, as we have seen. Two names were linked to mosaics that
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. 18994; 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
have now vanished: Alfanus and Robert Guiscard, representing the
old and the new rule.72 Robert Guiscard, the Norman enemy of
southern Italy, eventually married Sigelchaita, sister of Gisulf II. Thus
an end came to the independent position of Salerno. Once the
Normans had married into `princely blood', their ambitions increased
even more.
In 1059 Robert Guiscard had become the pope's liegeman for
Apulia, Calabria and Sicily, all (ex) Byzantine territories. At Salerno
Robert continued to mint the Byzantinizing copper coins of his predecessors.73 After Bari had been taken in 1071 the Normans were
determined to consolidate their power in Sicily and extend their rule
into the Byzantine mainland. They started invading Byzantine lands
and became one of Byzantium's worst enemies in the late 11th and
12th centuries. The Byzantines upheld their claims to southern Italy
and Sicily, and the Normans even attacked Byzantine territory: a
lengthy conflict was born. In the early 1080s, between 1105 and
1108, in the 1140s and in the 1180s, the Normans were a real threat
to the Byzantine empire.
Many historians, both past and present, have felt attracted to the
history of the Normans in Italy. Contemporary historians like Anna
Comnena, who gives ample information about the Normans, mixed
with her own feelings of hatred, John Cinnamus, Nicetas Choniates
and Eustathius of Thessalonica (who experienced the capture of Thes-
salonica in 1185) describe the situation as seen through Byzantine
eyes. On the `Norman side' one finds authors like Amatus of Monte
Cassino, William of Apulia, Geoffrey Malaterra and Romuald of
Salerno, complemented by the Chronicles of Monte Cassino. Ch.H.
Haskins, J. Gay and F. Chalandon have undertaken pioneer studies
and their works still maintain their value. Acculturation of the barbarous Normans has become an interest of historians and art historians. The political and ideological ambitions of the Norman rulers
to rival, to equal and even to surpass the Byzantine emperors and
their institutions have provoked a number of interesting studies. Especially the Norman rulers of the kingdom of Sicily have appealed
to the imagination. Their grandiose court style, mixture of Latin,
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
Arab and Byzantine elements, seems to be a never-ending subject of
research.74
We cannot discuss all the Norman rulers during the period under
discussion; only a few examples of relations between Byzantium and
the newly established Norman rule will be reviewed: Robert Guiscard
(d. 1085), his son Bohemund (d. I l l l), Roger II (1130-1154, nephew
of Bohemund) and Roger II's grandson William II (1166-1189). The
former two represent Norman power in southern Italy, the latter
Norman rule in Sicily and the Norman kingdom.
We have seen how Robert Guiscard continued to issue the Byzantinizing coins of his predecessor, sometimes with Greek inscriptions. Although the conquerors did encounter feelings of animosity
among their new subjects, both Greek and Latin, they were so few
in number that they had to adapt to local circumstances if they really
wanted to impose their authority. It is a curious phenomenon that in
southern Italy Varangian troops in the Greek army, who were often
of Scandinavian origin, had to fight the Normans who came from
the West. The question of loyalty to a common ancestry may have
played a role. During the Norman invasions of Byzantine territory in
1082/1083, Anna Comnena complains of the presence of officers of
the Greek army in the ranks of the Norman army, which was commanded by Bohemund. Did Varangian mercenaries join the army of
their `compatriots'? In the 12th century the Church of Saint Mary
at Taranto still kept its surname as church of the Varangians. Other
Greek officials, governors of provinces and towns, also joined the
invading army according to Anna Comnena.75
Robert's marriage to Sigelchaita, the Salernitan princess, may have
reduced feelings of hatred among the local population. Robert
Guiscard was involved in the building of the cathedral of Salerno.
This seems to characterise the situation. Robert's relationship with
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
Alfanus was probably one of adaptation to the new circumstances,
from both sides.
At an earlier stage, at the beginning of the 1070s, there had been
plans for a marriage alliance between a daughter of Robert Guiscard
and a son or brother of one of the various Byzantine emperors of
the time. In 1074 a contract was made to marry her to Constantine,
a porphyrogenitus prince and son of Michael VII Doukas. The girl
was sent to Constantinople in 1076 where she was to live under the
name of Helena. But in 1081 Alexius I Comnenus came to power,
and the marriage did not take place. The girl was probably banished
to some obscure corner of one of the imperial palaces or to a convent. Anna Comnena tells us some of these details: her husband had
been the Greek fiance of the Norman lady. Anna speaks quite plainly
about Robert Guiscard, one of her father's worst enemies. He did
indeed have far-reaching ambitions. He must have felt insulted and
embittered at the fate of his daughter who, instead of participating
in imperial acclamations, as had been stated in the marriage contract, led an obscure life somewhere in Byzantium. The 1074 contract had given Robert and his companions honorary and hereditary
Byzantine titles and pensions, paid in gold, together with the silk
clothing that went with their newly acquired dignities. The basis for
the grandiose lifestyle of the Normans had been prepared. Robert
used the title of vo4 eXiaaigo; on his seal, as part of an inscription in
Greek, in the Byzantine imperial style. Robert crossed the Adriatic
and attacked and occupied Dyrrachium, one of Byzantium's strong-
holds on the Adriatic coast. The Normans were now a real and
permanent threat to Alexius. When Robert Guiscard died on Cephalonia, Byzantine territory (!), in 1085, the Greek emperor was
much relieved, as we learn from the Alexiad. Prejudiced as she may
have been, Anna Comnena has tried to describe the character of
this Norman in all its contradictions. He had a thoroughly villainous
mind, at the same time being quick-witted, courteous and accessible.76
76 Anna Comnena, passim, esp. I, x, 1-I, xvi, 9 (Leib, I, p. 37-62; Sewter, 5372, esp. 54, 195); for the marriage project, H. Bibicou, `Une page d'histoire diplomatique de Byzance an XF siecle: Michel VII Doukas, Robert Guiscard et la pension 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
Anna Comnena's detestation of John Italus, possibly half Norman
(his father was a mercenary), who had come from southern Italy to
Constantinople around 1050 to study philosophy, may be seen in
this light. He embarked upon a teaching career, eventually succeeding to Michael Psellos as professor of philosophy. In the early 1070s,
during the reign of Michael VII Doukas, he served as an envoy to
the court of Robert Guiscard, and possibly to other Western courts
as well. It is not known if he was involved in marriage diplomacy.
Later, when Alexius I Comnenus had come to power, he was condemned for heresy. Political motives, such as his background, may
have played a role; Normans were suspected in Constantinople."
Robert had left his lands to Roger Borsa, a son from his second
marriage who had his roots in southern Italy. He was on good terms
with some Greek families, as witness his liturgical commemoration in
a liturgical Roll, ordered by a Greek patron." Civil war broke out
between the two brothers: Bohemund, son of his first wife, and Roger
Borsa. Bohemund succeeded in getting hold of Taranto and some
lands in the Otranto area. Of these lands he made Bari the capital,
in the old tradition. The Byzantine function of katepan was maintained and the judges continued to be called krites, in the Byzantine
way. When the first crusade took shape, Bohemund, who is thought
to have been able to speak Greek and who was ruler of only a small
realm, saw a new perspective for his ambitions: to conquer lands in
the East. The Byzantines were not pleased to see the Normans take
part in the crusade and enter their lands as travellers in transit. On
the whole, Bohemund behaved rather correctly, for he was hoping
for special favours from Alexius Comnenus, the nominal overlord of
lost Greek territory which the crusaders were to reconquer from the
heathen. Anna Comnena gives full information about Bohemund's
visit to her father. In his character Bohemund resembled his father.
Anna calls him the `supreme mischief-maker', who wanted a top
military command: the office of Domestic of the East. The emperor
l'empereur Michel Ducas Parapinace a Robert Guiscard, redigees par Michel
Psellus', Annuaire de l'association des etudes grecques 8, 1874, p. 207-221; cf. Runciman,
Crusades, I, passim.
" Anna Comnena, V, viii, 1 (Leib, II, p. 33s.; Sewter, 174s.); R. Browning, 'Enlightenment and repression in Byzantium in the eleventh and twelfth centuries', Past
and Present 69, 1975, p. lls.; Wilson, p. 153-6.
78 H. Belting, `Byzantine art among Greeks and Latins in southern Italy', DOP
28, 1974, p. 6; cf. A. Grabar, Its manuscrits grecs enlumines de provenance italienne (IX-
XT siecles), Paris 1972, p. 47, no. 26.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
285
declined the request and induced him, instead, to pledge an oath of
allegiance which was to bind the Norman for future conquests. Indeed, when Bohemund had occupied Antioch, he intended to become its independent ruler, but the oath had been pledged and it
was to have consequences. In 1108 an agreement was finally reached
and Alexius, in order to save his political face, accepted Bohemund
as his vassal for Antioch. The text of the new oath has been preserved in the Alexiad. The artificial network of feudal ties, imitated
from the West, once more worked in Byzantine diplomacy. Bohemund
was even to receive Byzantine payments in gold. In this way the
Byzantines insured against future hostilities: Bohemund received the
imperial tide of sebastos, and his seals were styled on Greek imperial
seals, inscribed: `Lord, help thy servant Bohemund'. Soon Bohemund
started new attacks against Byzantium. This time he tried, but in
vain, to capture Dyrrachium a second time. Fortunately. enough for
the Byzantines, his days were numbered. Bohemund had already
prepared a domed chapel attached to the unique and five-domed
former cathedral of San Sabino, at Canosa. The chapel was another
reminder of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople where the Greek
emperors were buried. The building of the church with its cruciform
plan and its rededication to St Sabino, are considered to be the
expression of Norman political ambitions. Like Byzantine churches
the chapel had bronze doors, in which some Byzantine technical
elements are discernible, in the inscriptions and in the incision technique of the symmetrical persons of these Byzantine inspired doors,
in combination with Arab elements. The unique bishop's throne in
the cathedral, resting on elephants, is another curiosity in this context. The Byzantines and Arabs had a predilection for exotic animals. It seems that the Byzantines in particular were fond of elephants
in works of art. When Bohemund died in 1111 it was at Canosa
that he was buried, amidst his own creations. He had aspired to the
Byzantine throne. His fellow Normans had joined him in trying to
imitate a Byzantine lifestyle. An inscription in the funerary chapel
reminds us of a man `who had conquered Greece'. But his successes
had not been permanent and the Normans had to bury their leader
in a small replica of the Constantinopolitan Holy Apostle Church, in
the town of Canosa in southern Italy.79
79 J. Shepard, `When Greek meets Greek: Alexius Comnenus and Bohemond in
1097-98', BMGS 12, 1988, p. 251-258; Anna Comnena, passim, esp. X, xi (first
286
CHAPTER EIGHT
Father and son were both remembered as the incarnation of the
devil in the Life of two Greek saints. St Christodoulos saw Robert
Guiscard as an awful beast that attacked Dyrrachium, whereas St
Cyril of Phileas (Cyril Phileotes) described Bohemund as a black dog
besieging the same town, yet who had been forced to submit to Alexius
1. The position of Dyrrachium was essential to the Byzantines and
even haunted the dreams and visions of these monks.80
Robert Guiscard's brother Roger I had been entrusted with control over Sicily. By 1091 the island had been entirely conquered by
the Arabs. His son Roger II, cousin of Bohemund, founded the
Norman kingdom of Sicily which was to comprise the Norman lands
on the mainland as well. Roger II was an ambitious man. In 1130,
in Palermo, then chosen as the capital of the no longer itinerant
court, he was crowned king by the pope. This was a new setback for
the Byzantines, who still claimed Sicily and southern Italy as theirs.
Henceforth John Cinnamus qualifies Roger II as tyrannus, one who
has unjustly assumed power.81 The new king continued the policy of
his relatives in considering the Byzantines as his enemies: Byzantium
had to be conquered. He had to invade its territory in order to get
hold of the throne and the crown of the Greek emperor. Sometimes
there were attempts to achieve the goal more peacefully. Sometimes
a temporary peace or reconciliation was reached, but hostilities predominated in the relationship between the Greek emperors John and
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
Manuel Comnenus and Roger II (1130-1154). Roger approached
John Comnenus to ask for a Byzantine princess for one of his sons.
He did the same after Manuel had come to power. Several embassies were sent back and forth but no marriage took place. Some
Western sources have it that the Norman envoys were imprisoned
by Manuel for unknown reasons. It certainly displeased the emperor
that Roger II wanted to be treated as his equal, as we learn from
Cinnamus.82 The real course of events is unknown, but it is most
certain that Roger II felt rebuked and grasped the opportunity to
attack Byzantine lands. In 1147, when the crusading armies kept
Manuel occupied in Constantinople, Roger II raided the Byzantine
mainland. He attacked Athens, Corinth and Thebes. He did not
content himself with rich booty such as gold, precious materials
and prisoners of war (cheap labour), but he captured experienced
silk weavers and embroiderers as well. These had to work in the
royal weaving ateliers in Palermo which had been inherited from
the Arabs. Many Western sources refer to this kidnapping. These
ateliers received a new stimulus with the technology of these famous
craftsmen and women. Some weaving techniques were a monopoly
of the Byzantine emperors who themselves exploited imperial ateliers in Constantinople in a palace annexe. Advanced technology was
present in Thebes whose silks were in high demand. The Normans
thus broke one of the emperor's monopolies. They wanted to rival
their Greek colleagues, living with the status and vestments of their
enemies. The Normans probably did not export these new techniques of silk weaving. They seem to have had a major interest in
the profitable export of raw materials. In southern Italy one finds in
those times silk worm culture.83
If Roger II did not succeed in conquering Byzantine lands and
ousting the basileus from his throne, he was successful in developing
a grand court style, a mixture of Norman, Arab and Byzantine elements, which was also apparent in linguistics. Latin, Greek and Arab
82 Cinnamus, p. 91-2 (Brand, 75-6); Romuald of Salerno, MGH SS XIX, p. 424;
Sigebert Continuatus, MGH SS VI, p. 453; Chalandon, Domination normande, II,
p. 127=129; Dolger, II, no. 1331.
83 A. Guillou, `La soie du katepanat d'Italie', TM 6, 1976, p. 69-84 (repr. in
idem, op. cit. (n. 5)); D. Abulafia, `The crown and the economy under Roger II and
his successors', DOP 37, 1983, p. 8s.; the kidnapping of the silk weavers seems
reflected in Chretien de Troyes' Yvain, K.N. Ciggaar, `Chretien de Troyes et la
"matiere byzantine": les demoiselles du Chateau de Pesme Aventure', CCM 32,
1989, p. 325-31.
288
CHAPTER EIGHT
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 become 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 coruler, 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 introduced 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 military 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
84 H. Enzensberger, Beitrage zum Kanzlei- and Urkundenwesen der normannischen Herrscher
Unteritaliens and Siziliens, Kallmiintz Opf 1971, p. 80s., 89s.; C. Bruhl, Urkunden and
Kanzlei Kong Rogers II. von Sizilien, Cologne/Vienna 1978 (cf. Studi Medievali, 3rd ser.,
21, 1980, p. 256-63); cf. F. Dolger, Byzanz and die Europdische Staatenuelt, Darmstadt
1976, p. 29, n. 80 (repr. `Die Kaiserurkunde der Byzantiner als Ausdruck ihrer
politischen Anschauungen', Historische Zeitschrift 159, 1938/9, p. 249.
85 Longuet, op. cit. (n. 49), p. 71-3; Grierson, op. cit. (n. 49), p. 137, 138, 144,
with ills. 236, 237; E.H. Kantorowicz, Laudes regiae, Berkeley/Los Angeles 1946, p. 8s.
86 Chalandon, Domination normande, passim. Vera von Falkenhausen remarks
that in Norman Sicily an Admiral is not necessarily a commander of the fleet, cf.
L.-R. Menager, Amiratus
Paris 1960, p. 108s.
'Aµilp&S. L'Emirat et les origins de l'amiraute (XF -XIIP siecles),
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
289
and in execution, is close to the mosaics of the Palatine chapel built
by Roger II, is thought to have been finished in the late 1140s. One
of the curiosities of this church, called Santa Maria dell' Ammiraglio
or simply the Martorana, is the portrait of Roger II. In 1130 he was
crowned king by the pope. In the mosaic, sponsored by George of
Antioch, he is, however, crowned by Christ. Why this change? It
was the tribute of one of the most influential members of Roger's
staff to have his king represented as a Byzantine basileus, with crown
with prependilia, loros, Greek inscription (although he modestly styled
himself as frt) and the towering, majestic Christ. Another curiosity
is the similarity in physiognomy between Christ and Roger II, which
has been explained as a Western element. For the Byzantines such
an imitation was pure blasphemy. It seems to be an allusion to a
future status. The patron anticipated in a curious way what he wanted
to happen to his ruler. He possibly did this at his own initiative or
he was asked to do so. Whatever was the motive for ordering such
a portrait, the patron hoped that he would take his share in the
prestige of his ruler.87 This portrait of Roger II is the apogee in the
development of an imperial style in Palermo. In the chancery, in
currency and in lifestyle Roger behaved as an emperor. In the sermons of Philagathus, a Greek of Cerami, he was addressed as basileus,
and laudes may have been sung to him, in imitation of the Byzantine
rulers or of some Western colleagues. The tax system based on a
cadaster, the laying-out of gardens, the presence of eunuchs, may
have been modelled on Byzantine or Arab examples.88
In 1142 or 1143 a Greek monk called Nilus Doxapatres arrived
from Constantinople. In Palermo he wrote a history of the five
Patriarchates in which he freely expressed the view that Rome was
not superior to the others.. This work, written in Greek and never
translated into Latin, was probably ordered by Roger II. It is possible that he is identical with Nicolaus Doxapatres who had served
in Saint Sophia, had worked for the patriarch, and who at a certain
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.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
moment was out of favour at the imperial court. It is a mystery why
the man came to Sicily. Were the motives money, fame, ambition,
intrigue? Did he engage in other activities, did he write other things
while in Sicily? Where did he spend the rest of his life after his
return to Constantinople? These are all open questions.89
So far nothing specific is known about translation work or the
illumination of Greek manuscripts during Roger II's reign. It is possible that some Lives of Greek saints were translated. He stimulated
Greek writing and he stimulated Greek monastic life. Palermo was
an intellectual centre with a Greek library. He was generous to Greek
monasteries. It was not merely tolerance that moved him to stimulate these works, it was part of his political programme to become
the ruler of a large multinational, multicultural empire, with its
centre preferably in Constantinople. Before achieving such a goal
he had to be on good terms with the Greeks and their clergy.90
Soon after his coronation Roger II had started a building programme for which the decorations were made by Byzantine mosaicists
and some local experts. The Palatine chapel (Cappella Palatina) started
a mosaic tradition in Sicily that lasted almost half a century and
which formed a bridge to Byzantium. More than once the chapel
and its splendours were praised by the Greek preacher Philagathus.91
Roger II's next project was the church of Cefalu, meant as a burial
church for the dynasty. Work was continued under his successor,
especially on the mosaics. The mosaic work in Sicily is a particular
phenomenon of the Norman rulers who used a Byzantine medium
for their own Latin churches, which had an architecture different
from Byzantine churches, and a programme with a greater emphasis
89 Berschin, p. 271; Haskins, Studies, p. 156, 174; V. von Falkenhausen, Dizionario
biografico degli Italiani, s.v. Doxapatres, Nilo.
90 Haskins, Studies, p. 155-93; H. Buchthal, `The beginnings of manuscript illumination in Norman Sicily', Papers of the British School in Rome 24, 1956, p. 78-85;
B. Lavagnini, `Aspetti e problemi del monachesimo greco nella Sicilia normanna',
in Bizantino-Sicula, ed. G. Agnello e.a., Palermo 1966, p. 51-6; da Costa-Louillet,
art. cit. (n. 7), passim.
91 E. Kitzinger, `The date of Philagathos' homily for the Feast of Sts. Peter and
Paul', Byzantino-Sicula II, Miscellanea di Scritti in Memoria di Giuseppe Rossi Taibbi, Palermo
1975, p. 301-6; Demus, op. cit. (n. 74), p. 25-72; E. Kitzinger, `The mosaics of the
Cappella Palatina in Palermo, an essay on the choice and arrangement of subjects',
The Art Bulletin 31, 1949, p. 269-92 (repr. in idem, The art of Byzantium and the
medieval West, p. 290-319); I. Beck, `The first mosaics of the Cappella Palatina in
Palermo', Byz 40, 1970, p. 119-64. The stalactite roof, in the Arab tradition, illustrates the dualism of the building programme.
THE ITALIAN PENINSULA
291
on the Old Testament. Even their political ambitions were more than
once expressed in mosaic work. The dating of many of these mosaics is very difficult. Hardly anything is known about the artists who
made them, and the origin of the material, the tesserae. Later restorations and repairs have not eased the task of art historians in determining 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 Palermo. Compensation was to be paid for war damage and the prisoners 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 ambassadors 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 translated 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
Journeys to Constantinople by learned people, their work as trans-
lators, their cooperation with other bilinguals and their `hunt' for
manuscripts were all-important in the development of intellectual life
in Sicily and in Western Europe. Sicily was not an isolated realm. It
had contacts all over Western Europe.
In the chancery the Greek element went into slow decline after
the reign of Roger II. This development continued into the reign of
his grandson William II (1166-1189).97 Work on Cefalu continued
and was probably completed. At the beginning of his reign, however, the prospects for Greek contacts and influence in the kingdom
looked very promising. In the context of his policy towards the West
Manuel Comnenus, who strove to wrest the Western crown out of
the hands of the papacy and who wanted to offer firmer opposition to his rival Frederick Barbarossa in his ambitions in southern
Italy, sent an embassy to Sicily to offer his daughter Maria, his only
child, to William II. There was a prospect for uniting the two realms
as we learn from Romuald of Salerno. For unknown reasons talks
were interrupted. The second proposal for the same alliance reached
Sicily in the early 1170s. Manuel had now a son who could succeed him. This time the parties agreed that the Byzantine princess
would come to Taranto, where, however, she failed to arrive: Her
father had probably changed his mind and his political moves. Bitterness on the Norman side was the result.98
Not long after these events William started the building of the
church of Monreale. Following in the footsteps of his father and his
grandfather he decorated the new church with mosaics, in the Byzantine tradition and in Byzantine style. They may have been made
by artists who lingered on in Sicily, and by some of their adepts,
now that earlier building projects had been completed. In the mean-
time they could adapt to the new fashion and style current in
Byzantium. Scenes of the Old Testament (more typical in the West
than in Byzantium) like the Creation of the World (ill. 19), were well
represented in Monreale. Many inscriptions are in Latin, some in
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 attempted 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 character 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 Majestic 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 Constantinople, 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 embarked upon a brilliant career, ending up as admiral of the fleet. His
impact on the intellectual life in the Norman kingdom was considerable. 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 chronology 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
In the meantime the Greek element in Sicilian court life decreased
even more. Direct contacts with Constantinople probably became less
frequent. Three attempts at marriage alliances had already failed.
When finally such an alliance was achieved between Roger, duke of
Apulia and co-king of Sicily, and Irene, daughter of Isaac II Angelus, the premature death of Roger and his father Tancred, put an
end to further Norman ambitions. The political situation changed all
the more, since Henry VI, the German emperor, invaded Norman
territory and imprisoned all members of the royal family who were
forced to travel to Germany. High functionaries like Eugenius of
Palermo, shared this fate. Irene Angela was to marry Henry's brother
Philip of Swabia, as we have seen in an earlier chapter.102
The last chance to unite the Norman kingdom in the south and
the Byzantine empire in the east was gone. What remained of the
kingdom of the Normans is a curious amalgam of Western, Arab
and Byzantine elements. Western heroes such as king Arthur and St
Thomas of Canterbury were depicted in mosaics in churches built
by the Normans.103 The process of integration had begun but it could
not be completed, nor would it end in Constantinople. The last ruler
of Sicily, during the period under discussion, was Frederick II, son
of Henry VI and grandson of Roger II. He was born in 1194 and
became king of Sicily in 1196. He was too young to worry about a
Byzantine connection. It is even doubtful whether he was able to
read Greek, an essential skill for a ruler wishing to continue the policies
of his ancestors.104
102 Brand, p. 190.
103 Arthur was laid out in a mosaic floor in the cathedral of Otranto (1165) by a
monk Pantaleone (a Greek mosaicist?), cf. J. Stiennon/R. Lejeune, `La legende
arthurienne dans la sculpture de la cathedrale de Modene', CCM 6, 1963, pl. XI,
ill. 24; for St Thomas Becket, see note 99 above. O. Demus, 'Regensburg, Sizilien
and Venedig. Zur Frage des byzantinischen Einflusses in der romanischen Wandmalerei', JOB 2, 1952, p. 95-104; E. Kitzinger, `Norman Sicily as a source of
Byzantine art in the twelfth century', in Byzantine art, lectures, p. 121-47.
104 M.B. Wellas, Griechisches aus dem Umkreis Kaiser Friedrichs II., Munich 1983, esp.
p. 144s.; cf. D. Abulafia, Frederick IT a medieval emperor, London 1988.
CHAPTER NINE
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
Constantinople ... is a tumultuous city; men come to
trade there from all countries by land and by sea,
Benjamin of Tudela
His first question to us had been for news of
Constantinople, Ibn Jubayr'
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 modem 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 established 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 adhered 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
Barcelona, the kingdoms of Leon, Castille, Navarre and Aragon, and
the Islamic south was a moving frontier which in the course of the
following centuries slowly moved southwards. To give a few milestones in the Christian Reconquest, Coimbra was captured in 1064,
Toledo in 1085, Almeria was in Christian hands from 1147 to 1157,
Tortosa was reconquered in 1148 and Lerida in 1149. The many
hostile confrontations made the country look like a patchwork quilt.
Sometimes relations were of a more friendly character, when trouble
at home made people seek aid from the other side of the frontier.
Sometimes embassies were exchanged. There was a constant flow of
people moving from one region to another. Christian refugees first
made their way to the north, to be followed by Arabic captives.
Northerners fell into Arab hands or were sent south to colonize newly
conquered territory. Sometimes Christians served as mercenaries in
the south, earning their wages in gold. For those who were more
steadfast in their convictions, the crusading spirit took them south to
fight the enemy at home. There was no need to go to Jerusalem,
except for a peaceful pilgrimage. Yet such pilgrimages were rather
common, especially in Catalonia. In the Christian north a process of
unification took place which, in the end, was followed by a sort of
disintegration which stimulated the development of feudalism.
Not much attention has been paid to relations between Byzantium
and the Iberian peninsula. Surveys of medieval history often neglect
the existence of medieval Spain, let alone its relations with faraway
lands. This can partly be explained by the inaccessibility of Spanish
publications, both linguistically and materially. The series of Latin
texts (wills, chronicles, inventories etc.) published by E. Florez, Espana
Sagrada, is partly outdated and not easily available.2 A.A. Vasiliev
was the only Byzantine scholar to deal extensively with the contacts
between Byzantium and the Arabs, including those in Spain. He
published the relevant texts, which were later translated into French.
Vasiliev stops at the year 959, giving only a few indications for the
period which follows. In a recent article by D. Wasserstein the period is extended into the 14th century.' Spanish scholars have dealt
2 E. Florez, Espana Sagrada, 51 vols., Madrid 17549; J. Villanueva, Viaje literario
a las iglesias de Espafla, 22 vols., Madrid/Valencia, 1803-52 (not all of which are
accessible to me), gives catalogues, church inventories, wills, etc.
s A.A. Vasiliev, Byzance et les Arabes, II, La dynastie macedonienne (867-959), French
tr. by M. Canard, 2 vols., Brussels 1950-68; D. Wasserstein, `Byzantium and AlAndalus', Mediterranean Historical Review 2, 1987, p. 76-101.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
297
with the position of the peninsula within the Mediterranean world,
including Byzantium. S.C. Estopanan, J. Puig i Cadafalch, A. Rubio
y Lluch and N. D'Olwer have worked in this field. Their main interest was the Catalan company, a mercenary force active in the
Eastern Mediterranean in the later 13th and 14th century.4
Recently the history of medieval Spain has been interesting
scholars. General histories with full bibliographies and detailed studies are being published in English and French. Although knowledge
of Arabic is almost non-existent among medievalists, the number
of translations of Arabic texts hardly grows at all.'
Latin and Arabic were the languages for official documents, for
legal texts and for chronicles. The vernacular languages like Catalan,
Aragonese and Castilian were used for chronicles and for literary
texts, such as the troubadour lyrics. These troubadours travelled from
court to court, occasionally crossing the Pyrenees. Hebrew was spoken and written by the large communities of Jews who lived all over
the country.
This chapter can only offer a preliminary attempt to bring together the various data already known. Fresh material has been added
when and where possible. Much remains to be done. The various
scraps of evidence are found in a wide variety of sources. There are
chronicles in Latin, Greek, Arabic and the vernaculars. Travel reports refer to Constantinople and the Byzantine empire. Literary texts,
in Latin, Greek, Arabic and the vernaculars refer to contacts between Byzantium and Spain. Official documents in the chanceries
and letters are another source of information. Saint's Lives in Greek
and Latin supply information. From time to time linguistic imports
can be found, but these are often difficult to date. It is too early to
draw definite conclusions since many relevant documents are still
unpublished. The Archives of the Crown of Aragon (Corona de
Aragon) in Barcelona contain rich sources of our period which have
not been fully exploited. Byzantine artefacts, even though fewer in
number than in the rest of Western Europe, and various art forms
reveal a Byzantine connection. They are another aspect of these
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
relations, direct and indirect. Scholars have been interested in the
Greek character of some Spanish artefacts. Northern Spain took part
in the development in artistic taste which spread all over Western
Europe, the Romanesque. And there is nowadays a renewed interest
in the arts of medieval Spain.
The Byzantines used various names for the inhabitants of the
peninsula where the Pillars of Hercules, 'Hp&xXetat atif kua, at Gibraltar
once formed the frontier of the Roman and Byzantine empires.
Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the De administrando imperio, Anna
Comnena in the Alexiad and an anonymous 12th-century author in
the Timarion used this term. The Greek princess used the name
Celtiberians, Kekriprlpot, for the inhabitants when she refers to mercenary forces in the Norman army who had attacked Byzantine territory in the early 12th century. More confusing is the term Iberians,
"I(irlpot, a term used for both the inhabitants of Georgia (Caucasus)
and for the inhabitants of the Spanish peninsula. Anna Comnena
may be basing herself on the De administrando imperio (certainly present
in the Palatine library) when she speaks of the Spanish town Gadeira
(I &Sstpa), modern Cadiz, as the birthplace of the battering ram. Cadiz
is mentioned in this compilation when the geography of the penin-
sula is described. The country itself was called Spania/Hispania,
Enavia/'Ianavia. The Pyrenees had their equivalent in Greek as
r1 Ilvpivtl and tia HDprlvata. Some Byzantine writers like John Scylitzes
used the term 'Ianacvot.s
From ancient times the Byzantines had been familiar with Spain.
The country had been part of the Roman empire and Theodosius I,
one of the first emperors to take up residence in Constantinople,
came from Spain. In the 6th century the emperor Justinian I (52 7565) attempted the restoration of the Roman empire, starting the
Byzantine reconquest in 552. The coast between Cartagena and
Gibraltar, including towns like Cordova, was occupied by the Byzantines. This occupation lasted some 70 years. Spaniards were sent
on missions to Constantinople where they learnt the Greek language
and the Greek traditions. Byzantium's enemies, concentrated in the
Visigothic kingdom of Toledo, introduced Byzantine elements into
court life. Toledo became the `Spanish Byzantium', where titles,
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
ceremonies, co-rulership, coinage, the arts and ideas were modelled
on Byzantium. Hillgarth speaks of the `Byzantine pomp and ceremonial' of the Toledan court. Church and state were narrowly interrelated as they were in Byzantium. The strong Byzantine influence in
Mozarabic art, technically and artistically, can be explained by this,
and by the import of Byzantine goods. Both Byzantine and Mozarabic
art served to enhance the status of the ruler. Wandering monks during
the Iconoclast period may have reintroduced or reinforced religious
ideas and beliefs from the East. The Beatos manuscript tradition shows
the need for more research in this context.7
There was a long tradition of Greek travel to the Iberian peninsula. Official missions were sent, individuals with no official status
went on their own initiative, as the documents show. The long jour-
ney was often combined with a visit to other Western European
countries. In 948 Liutprand of Cremona met in Venice a Byzantine
eunuch, called Salomo, who was returning home from an embassy
to Spain and Saxony. Many more followed in his footsteps.' The
Byzantine rulers maintained good relations with the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordova. During the reign of Mustansir Hakam (961-976)
' K.F. Stroheker, `Das spanische Westgotenreich and Byzanz', Bonner Jahrbucher
163, 1963, p. 252-74; J.N. Hillgarth, `Coins and chronicles: propaganda in sixthcentury 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 ByzantinaArabica, 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
a Greek monk called Nicholas lived and died in Cordova. He had
been sent by the Greek emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus
to Abd-al-Rahman III (912-961) to explain and translate the Greek
Dioscurides, a manuscript sent earlier by the emperor as a gift. Nicho-
las lived some ten years in Spain and died during the reign of
Mustansir Hakam.9 The coming and going of Byzantine embassies
has been investigated by E. Levi-Provencal.10 A Greek mosaic worker,
probably accompanied by some assistants who possibly included a
potter, was sent to Cordova in 965, according to Ibn Idari, a 13thcentury chronicler who relied on earlier sources. It was Al-Hakam's
wish to have mosaics in the famous mosque of Cordova. In the early
970s the artist left Cordova, having been royally remunerated by
the caliph. The same chronicler, supported by Idrisi, tells us that the
Greek emperor sent a gift of some 1600 kilos of mosaic cubes, the
tesserae. Whilst not all the mosaics in the mosque are the work of
the Byzantine craftsmen, their work is to be found in the most sacred
parts, in the dome, and the mihrab's wall and hall. The structure of
the dome reminds one of the reliquaries made in Byzantium or inspired by Byzantine models. The use of ceramics is also a Byzantine
import. It has been assumed that Byzantine ceramics or Byzantine
technology were exported to Cordova. Other gifts reached Cordova
in the same way, i.e. through imperial embassies. Some 140 pillars
(probably with their capitals) were sent to Cordova to Abd-al-Ral2man
to decorate one of the caliph's palaces, possibly the Medina az-Zahra,
a summer resort outside Cordova, which had been sacked by the
Berbers in 1013." It is with this in mind that we should remember
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 counterparts, may have inspired later pre-Romanesque sculptors in northern Spain and
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
301
those fragments of Byzantine and Byzantinizing pottery found in Elvira,
the Christian bishopric, and at other sites in southern Spain.12
In March 972 John Tzimisces (969-976) sent another mission to
the Cordovan court, according to Ibn Hayyan. Details of its purpose
are unknown.13
So much for the Arabs. It is likely that the Greek envoys visited
other parts of Spain, but the sources, both the later Arabic ones and
northern sources, either reveal nothing or remain to be investigated.
Wandering Greek monks travelled through Northern Spain on the
Santiago pilgrimage route. St Symeon the Hermit came to Santiago
de Compostela in 983/984, where he healed the king's daughter
(`ecclesiam S. Jacobi apostoli petiit orationis gratia').14 Another Greek
pilgrim, probably from Jerusalem, made the pilgrimage in 1064. The
Historia Silense tells that the man was informed in a dream of the
recapture of Coimbra by Ferdinand I of Leon when he was sitting
in the saint's sanctuary.15 The Greek (?) monk Anastasius, who came
from Venice, was sent to Spain in the 1080s to preach the Gospel to
the heathen. He concluded his unsuccessful mission by living for some
time as a hermit in the Pyrenees. 16 The Greek saint Meletius the
Younger of Myopolis (d. 1105) should also have travelled to Santiago
de Compostela according to the Vita written by Theodorus Prodromus.17 Greek merchants were in Barcelona when Benjamin of
Tudela (in Navarre) set out on his journey to the East in the late
1160s. Benjamin's travel report, written in Hebrew, was translated
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
into several languages.18 In the 1170s a Greek mission may have
come to the court of Alfonso II, count-king of Barcelona-Aragon,
who had his residence in Barcelona. A marriage was to be arranged
between a Byzantine princess and a member of the ruling family.
We will give more details of this later.
Among those Spaniards who travelled to the Byzantine empire we
find ambassadors, merchants, mercenaries, a few crusaders and ecclesiastics, but occasionally more learned fellow-countrymen. Contacts
between Constantinople and Cordova resulted in the frequent exchange of official missions. Yet we hardly know anything of the time
of the Almoravids. Northern Spain is more rewarding in this respect.
In 1054 the Spanish monk John, who was apparently living in
Constantinople, in or near the Patriarchate, participated in the translation of the Bull of Excommunication which was given to the Patriarch Cerullarius by the papal envoy Cardinal Humbert. The Bull
was to `seal' the schism between Rome and Byzantium, between West
and East. A Greek text refers to John the Spaniard's translation
activities."
The First Crusade found considerable support among Spanish nobles
living in the North who had received a letter from the Pope asking
them to participate in the Reconquest rather than go to Jerusalem.
The counts of Besalu, Empurias and Cerdana received such a letter.
In 1099 the Pope sent back home the bishop of Toledo who was on
his way to Jerusalem. Not everybody was so obedient. Sigebert of
Gembloux and John of Wiirzburg refer to Spaniards travelling in the
crusader army as people coming from Spain ('ab Hispania'). Albert
of Aix speaks of a certain Manasses, bishop of Barcelona, who went
to Jerusalem in 1102 from where he was sent to the Byzantine court
by king Baldwin of Jerusalem. Baldwin wanted to consolidate the
peace treaty with the Greek emperor and sent him valuable gifts.
One wonders whether Manasses did not represent the Spanish contingent that had settled in Jerusalem. Alexius I Comnenus tried to win
him for his own cause but the envoy would not give in and returned
to the West. Doubts have been cast on the statement that he was a
bishop of Barcelona; he may indeed have been an ecclesiastic of a
18 Benjamin of Tudela, p. 2, who mentions the antique Greek buildings of
Tarragona.
19 PG 120, c. 741; cf. Runciman, Eastern schism, p. 48. Or was it a surname for
a Greek monk who had travelled to Spain?
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
303
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 adventurous 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 compatriots, 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 Byzantium, 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
During the palace revolution of 1201 Iberian mercenaries played
their part in the drama. Nicholas Mesarites saw them trying to lay
hold of a piece of church treasure, while he was guarding it. He
clearly hated them for doing this. These Iberians may have been
Spanish mercenaries.24
In 1203 Spaniards fought in the Byzantine capital in the army of
the crusaders. They could have come with the crusading army or
have abandoned their Greek employers. Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
mentions them in one of his poems when he describes the count of
Flanders and his companions, `et Espanhol, Proensal & Guasco'. Before
the poet came to the East with Boniface of Montferrat he had been
an habitue of the court of Barcelona, and must have been able to
distinguish the various nationalities. The Latin conquests of 1203 and
1204 and the dispersal of the Byzantine treasures as war booty is
described in several Spanish chronicles."
In the 1170s a marriage project was discussed between the Byzantine emperor and the ruling family in Barcelona-Aragon, an indication for the growing respect shown by the Greeks for the new kingdom
and its expansionist activities. Eudocia Comnena, a relative of Manuel
Comnenus, was to marry a Spanish prince. Some Spanish sources
like the Gesta comitum Barcinonensium indulge in a little self-inflation
and call the Greek lady a daughter of the Greek emperor. Others
say that she was a niece of the emperor. She finally married a vassal
of Alfonso II of Aragon, William VIII of Montpellier. Her marriage
contract stipulated that any daughters of the marriage were entitled
to inherit Montpellier. This was in line with the Byzantine traditions
when princesses were married off to Western rulers. Theophano and
Theodora of Austria had enjoyed similar privileges (see ch. The Holy
Roman empire). Soon Eudocia was divorced and ended her days in
a convent at Aniane. Shortly before a certain Greek Nicetas had
come to southern France where he was president at the Cathar synod
of St Felix-de-Caraman (near Toulouse). Raymond de Casalis was
24 Nicolas Mesarites, The Palastrevolution des 7ohannes Komnenos, ed. A. Heisenberg,
Wiirzburg 1907, p. 21, 33, translated as Spaniards by A. Kazhdan, Studies on Byzantine literature of the eleventh & twefh centuries, Cambridge etc., 1984, p. 248, and as
`Iberer' by F. Grabler, Nikolaos Mesarites, The Pa last revolution des Joannes Komnenos,
Byzantinische Geschichtsschreiber IX, Graz etc., 1958, p. 274, 291.
25 J. Linskill, The poems of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, The Hague 1964
(with Engl. tr.), p. 305, 310, 331. For the Latin occupation e.g. Chronique latine des
rois de Castille jusqu'en 1236, ed. G. Cirot, Bordeaux 1913, p. 80-1.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
305
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 ourselves 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 kingdom. The ambitious ruling family at last had an imperial Byzantine
26 Brand, p. 21; W. Hecht, `Zur Geschichte der "Kaiserin" von Montpellier,
Eudoxia Komnena', REB 26, 1968, p. 161-9; Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 257-8; Gesta
comitum Barcinonensium, ed. L. Barrau Dihigo/J. Masso Torrents, Barcelona 1925,
p. 51; Ex Roderici archiepiscopi Toletani De rebus Hispaniae libris novem, RHG XIX,
p. 230. For the Cathars see S. Runciman, The medieval Manichee, London 1947
etc., p. 123-4; B. Hamilton, `The Cathar Council of Saint-Felix reconsidered', Archivum
Fratrum Praedicatorum 48, 1978, p. 23-53.
27 M.-T. d'Alverny, `Translations and translators', in Renaissance and Renewal,
p. 433; T.N. Bisson, Fiscal accounts of Catalonia under the early count-kings (1151-1213),
I, Berkeley 1984, p. 82, n. 4; M. de Riquer, `La litterature provencale a la cour
d'Alphonse II d'Aragon', CCM 2, 1959, p. 190-1 (with French tr. of relevant passages); Ciggaar, `Tarragonensis 55', passim.
306
CHAPTER NINE
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 11thcentury 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 activities 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 appeared 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 centre 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
28 See note 26.
se E. Roulin, `Tableau byzantin inedit (Musee episcopal de Vich)', Monuments et
Memoires, Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 7, 1900, p. 95-103, with ill.;
Goldschmidt/Weitzmann, II, no. 69, p. 45, and pl. XXVII; Goldschmidt, I, nos.
45, 46 (12th-century plaques, Archaeological Museum, Madrid); cf. F.L. May, Silk
textiles of Spain, New York 1957, p. 22, 49, 66, 67 (cf. Beckwith, `Tissues', p. 351);
E. Bertaux, L'exposition retrospective de Saragossa 1908, Saragossa/Paris 1910, p. 201s.,
311s. (I am grateful for having received photocopies from the Museo de Zaragoza).
A Greek reliquary at Baga (Eastern Pyrenees) can be excluded. Its Greek inscription
refers to a monastic community, Frolow, Relique, no. 407, p. 363.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
307
were linked by a marriage alliance. From now on the rulers were
count-kings of Barcelona-Aragon.3o
In 985 many inhabitants were carried off as prisoners-of-war to
Cordova. One of them was the judge Oruc, a man of learning and
political influence. After his release from captivity he was active in
buying free his enslaved country-men. Contacts with the Cordovan
court were therefore necessary. He became a wealthy man who is
thought to have also been engaged in commercial activities. In a
diploma of 993 he is given the surname Oruc the Greek. Did he
perhaps learn some Greek in Cordova, while in captivity or did he
travel to Greek territory? Did he trade with Greek merchants and
make his fortune this way?" We find other Greek linguistic spolia at
Ripoll, a monastery in the eastern Pyrenees. The monastery developed into a `national' sanctuary. It was a centre of learning with an
important library. Among its visitors were men like St Romuald and
Gerbert of Aurillac (the future pope Sylvester II), both intimate friends
of Otto III. The former dope of Venice, Peter I Orseolo who rebuilt
San Marco after 976, came to Spain and there spent the rest of his
life before dying in 997 at Cuxa. Ripoll's most famous abbot was
Oliba, who was related to the ruling families of the region. His father Ramon Cabreta, count of Besalu, had retired to the abbey of
Monte Cassino in Italy which was highly influenced by Byzantium.
He corresponded with abbot Gauzlin of Fleury, the man who sent
for mosaic materials and mosaicworkers in the Byzantine empire (see
ch. France). Oliba rebuilt the church of Ripoll, dedicated to the Virgin.
Of the original church only the porch remains; the unique 12thcentury (?) mosaic floor, now divided among museums in Vic, Ripoll
and a private collection, shows similarities to Byzantine influenced
mosaic floors in Italy, in Brindisi and Tortosa, whose medallions
31 P. Bonnassie, La Catalogne du milieu du X` a la fin du XP siecle, 2 vols., Toulouse
1975/6, `L'ouverture an monde', p. 325-61 (contacts with Otto II and Otto IIl),
p. 793, 841 (visits to Cyprus, import of Cyprian silk material), p. 932, 939-42 (pilgrimages to Jerusalem); M. Zimmerman, 'Aux origines de la Catalogne: geographie
politique et affirmation nationale', Le Moyen Age 89, 1983, p. 5-40; Lexikon des Mittelalters,
s.v. Barcelona.
31 H. Focillon, L'an mil, Paris 1952 (repr. 1970), p. 81; N. D'Olwer, `La litterature
latine an XQ siecle', in La Catalogue a l'epoque romane (H. Angles e.a.), Paris 1932,
p. 193-5; Lemerle, Humanisme, p. 11, n. 24; E. Carreras y Candi, Geografia general
de Catalunya, I, La ciutat de Barcelona, Barcelona 1916, p. 218; P. Bonnassie, `Une
famille de la campagne barcelonaise et ses activites economiques aux alentours de
l'an mil', Annales du Midi 76, 1964, p. 283, 284, 287; idem, La Catalogne, op. cit.
(n. 30), p. 190-1, 344-6, 430.
308
CHAPTER NINE
contain all sorts of animals. Another possibility is that the source of
inspiration was the Arabic south.32
Ripoll maintained contacts with Monte Cassino, with Rome and
with monasteries all over Western Europe. One entry in a mortuary
roll sent after the death of the count of Cerdana in 1049, was written in Greek letters. It came from Liege. Such an inscription could
only be produced if the addressee was able to decipher it. It seems
to be evidence of a Greek tradition at Ripoll abbey, limited though
it may have been.33 It is thought that the library possessed at least
one Greek manuscript, the Book of the Prophets, in 1047.34 In the
Bible of Ripoll (the so-called Farfa Bible, Vat. lat. 5729), written in
the early 11th century, and in the somewhat later Bible of San Pedro
(Sant Pere) of Roda (a monastery on the Mediterranean coast, at the
far end of the Pyrenees; now Paris, BN, ms. Lat. 6) there are signs
that Byzantine art, particularly Byzantine iconography, had had an
impact on the model for these two Bibles. With their numerous illustrations of the Old and New Testament they are unique in Western
Europe. The suggestion has been made that Byzantine manuscripts
or Byzantine artists inspired Spanish artists.35 Interesting are the two
Ripoll manuscripts 59 and 74 in the Archives of the Crown of Aragon
(Barcelona), which contain a number of Greek glossaries. Sometimes
the Greek words are rendered in Latin transcription, sometimes they
are written in Greek characters. The word argentum (silver) is given as
argirum (i.e. Greek apyvptiov), Ripoll, 74, fol. 112. Geographical names
32 J. Pijoan, `Oliba de Ripoll (971-1046)', Art Studies 6, 1928, p. 81-101; cf.
N. Rash-Fabbri, `A drawing in the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Romanesque
mosaic floor in Brindisi', Gesta 13, 1974, p. 14, n. 9; X. Barral i Alter, Els mosaics
de paviment medievals a Catalunya, Barcelona 1979, p. 55-94; cf. H. Stem, `La mosaIque
de 1'eglise de Saint-Genes de Thiers', Cahiers Archeologiques 7, 1954, p. 196-7; idem,
`Mosaiques de pavements preromanes et romanes en France', CCM 5, 1962, p. 14,
20 (takes as example Saint Benign, Dijon). For the Byzantine practice of combat
between animals, cf. J. Porcher, L'enluminure franfaise, Paris 1959, p. 24.
33 J. Dufour, 'Les rouleaux et encycliques mortuaires de Catalogne', CCM 20,
1977, p. 38, n. 129.
3& W. Neuss, Die Katalanische Bibelillustration um die Wende des ersten Jahrtausends and
die altspanische Buchmalerei, Bonn/Leipzig 1922, p. 21; R. Beer, `Die Handschriften
des Klosters Santa Maria de Ripoll', Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-historischen Klasse
der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 155, Vienna 1908, p. 103; Dodwell, p. 11517; G. Andres, Catalogo de los codices griegos desaparecidos de la Real Biblioteca de El Escorial,
Madrid 1968; Ch. Graux, Los origins del Fondo griego del Escorial, Sp. tr., Madrid
1982 (cf. REB 42, 1984, p. 356; JOB 35, 1985, p. 334).
ss Neuss, ibid., p. 26, 40-1 (Paradise), 46 (Red Sea), 50, 54-5, 105 (Christ), 111
(Nativity), 122 (Last Supper), 125 (Crucifixion), 127 (Assumption), 128-30, and the
incomplete index, s.v. Byzantinische Kunst; Dodwell, p. 115-16.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
309
like the names of the Greek islands, Andros, Athos (in both manuscripts), Rhodo (for Rhodes) are interesting in this respect. Yet as
long as these glossaries are not published it is difficult to draw conclusions 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 painting. The style, the iconography, the subject and sometimes a combination 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 Catalonian art (Museo de Arte de Catalufla), in Barcelona. Representations 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
36 N. D'Olwer, `Les glossaires de Ripoll', Bulletin Du Cange (= Archivum latinitatis
medii aevi) 1928, p. 137-43; L. Llauro, `Los glosarios de Ripoll', Analecta Sacra
Tarraconensia 4, 1928, p. 271-341 (for basileus, imperator an rex, Ripoll 74, fo. 21r,
p. 306; the theological term omousion, unius substancia. fo. 25v, p. 316. See also
H./R. Kahane, `Les elements byzantins dans les langues romanes, Cahiers Ferdinand
de Saussure 23, 1966, p. 67-73.
37 Glossarium mediae latinitatis Cataloniae, ed. M. Bassols de Climent e.a., Barcelona
1960-85, antropo (A.D. 988, cartularium of Cugat), basileus (A.D. 977, for the king of
France), chrona (year?, A.D. 1079, in a date), ciclatono (ca. 1067, a silk fabric), constantinatus (a pallium in the Roda monastery, from Constantinople). The term besant
is absent. The letter G with Grecus/Greciscus may contain interesting references.
3s The correspondence of Leo, metropolitan of Synada and Syncellus, Greek text, Engl. tr.,
and comm., by M.P. Vinson, Washington 1985, no. 13, p. 22-3, 102.
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are paralleled by Comnenian frescoes where clear blues so often
dominate. Some of the blues, those of Taull for example, are so
beautiful and so brilliant that it would be worth while to analyse the
painting material to see if the use of lapis lazuli, a precious and
imported Eastern pigment, can be detected. Icon painting is sometimes considered as one of the sources for the painted wooden altars
many of which can be seen in the same museum in Barcelona, in
the Episcopal Museum of Vic, and in Solsona. These painted altars
in northern Spain, unique to Western Europe, are the first religious
panel paintings on wood in the West. C.R. Dodwell supposed that
they were attributable to the economic poorness of the area. Lack of
money would have prompted replacements for the golden altars familiar in the rest of Europe, including Spain. One can doubt this
view since Catalonia was, in commercial terms, an expanding area
where large amounts of gold and silver circulated, if we limit ourselves to consideration of wills. Gold and silver may have been scarce
from time to time but not on any permanent basis. The choice of a
new art medium must have been made with a purpose. It took a
long time for religious paintings on wood to be accepted in Western
Christianity. After the sack of Constantinople in 1203/1204 the former
metropolitan of Cyzicus, Constantine Stilbes, described the differences
between Eastern and Western Christendom, saying that in the West
religious scenes were only found on ceramics (it is not clear whether
he had in mind statues or reliefs) and enamels. On wood they are
unknown. Stilbes cannot be blamed for not knowing about panelpaintings in a small area far from the Greek capital. These painted
altar tables with their Byzantine and Byzantinizing iconography and
style and the same choice of subjects as in fresco painting seem to
imitate Greek icon painting rather than be an artistic innovation of
Western artists who were, on the whole, rather conservative, especially where religion was concerned. The stucco reliefs on some of
them seem to imitate the gold and silver coverings of Byzantine icons.
But why should we exclusively see them as imitations of golden altars? Much research remains to be done into the materials which
were used, the connections with Eastern regions and religion, the
religious context, patrons, etc. Ripoll has been suggested as a centre
from which artists were active. C.R. Dodwell summarized Romanesque art in Spain as follows: `It is clear ... that the most formative
influence on Spanish Romanesque painting was that of Byzantine
art refracted through Italy'. Whether Italy always played this inter-
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
311
mediary role, remains to be, investigated. As long as so many documents remain unpublished this stays an open question.39
The architecture of many small churches in Catalonia, especially
in the Pyrenees, has drawn much attention. The small cupolas on a
square plan, the octogonal `drums' on which the cupolas rest, the
imitation of Greek capitals, are elements introduced from abroad at
one time or another. Can this also have been from Italy as has been
suggested? Interesting parallels have been found with churches in
Greece, like the church of Skripou (Central Greece). The exterior of
these small churches, their rustic masonry, their shape and the use
of small stones, almost like bricks, and their size do remind one of
Byzantine churches. Sometimes one finds a ground-plan in the form
of a Greek cross (see ill. on p. 321).40 An interesting element in
Catalonia and elsewhere in Spain are Byzantine architectural spolia.
Some Byzantine capitals, Justinianic in origin, have been found in
Barcelona, on the Balearic Islands and elsewhere. They may date
from the Byzantine occupation in the 6th century. We have seen
that in the 10th century pillars (and capitals?) were sent as an imperial gift to the court of Cordova. In the Museum of Catalonian art,
Barcelona, are a few capitals said to have come from the Alhambra
s9 M. Folch i Torres, `La peinture murale', in La Catalogue a 1'epoque romane,
op. cit. (n. 31), p. 111-127; idem, `La peinture sur panneaux', ibid., p. 129-40; Ars
Hispaniae, VI, W.W.S. Cook/J.G. Ricart, Madrid 1950, p. 203 (Ripoll as artistic
centre); Dodwell, p. 187-204; Demus, p. 165; J. Wettstein, La fresque romane. ItalieFrance-Espagne. Etudes comparatives, Paris/Geneva 1971, p. 97-108;j. Darrouzes, 'Le
memoire de Constantin Stilbes contre les Latins', REB 21, 1963, p. 72 (he also
attacks the Western clergy for their silk vestments, p. 77-8). The only Byzantine
icon preserved in Catalonia is the mosaic icon of St Nicholas in Vic, covered with
silver. In 1047 Ripoll had a golden altar with precious stones and 16 enamels,
E. Junyent, `Notes inedites sobre el Monestir de Ripoll', Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia 9,
1933, p. 37 ('in altare Sancte Dei genitricis Marie tabulam cohopertam auro cum
lapidibus et smaltis 16'). Many documents of the reigns of Raymond Berenger IV
(1131-1162), Alfonso I (1162-1196) and Peter I (1196-1213), husband of Maria of
Montpellier, in the Archives of Barcelona remain unpublished, cf. T.N. Bisson, 'L'essor
de la Catalogne: identite, pouvoir et ideologie dans une societe du XIP siecle', Annales
ESC 39, 1984, p. 477, n. 48.
40 J. Puig y Cadafalch, `L'architecture religieuse dans le domain byzantin en
Espagne', Byz 1, 1924, p. 519-33; idem, `L'apparition de la voute', in La Catalogue
a 1'epoque romane, op. cit. (n. 31), p. 45-127; idem, `L'influence byzantine dans la
Peninsule iberique etudiee dans l'architecture', Actes du VP congres international d'etudes
byzantines, Paris 1950, II, p. 343-6; Pijoan, art. cit. (n. 32), p. 84 (Corinthian style
capitals); E.Junyent, Catalogne romane, 2 vols., Zodiaque, Sainte Marie de la Pierre-qui-
Vire, 1960/1 (Spanish tr., Cataluna, Madrid 1980, 2 vols.), passim for the various
groundplans. For the cupolas in Catalonia, A. Grabar, `L'asymetrie des relations de
Byzance et de 1'Occident clans le domaine des arts au moyen age', in Byzanz and der
Westen, ed. I. Hutter, Vienna 1984, p. 22-3.
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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 Constantinople 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 merchants 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 Spanish 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,
4i H. Schlunk, `Byzantinische Bauplastik aus Spanien', Madrider Mitteilungen 5, 1964,
p. 234-54, esp. 238s.; RBK III, s.v. Hispania; R.M. Harrison, `A Constantinopolitan
capital in Barcelona', DOP 27, 1973, p. 297-300. I think that J. Porcher, op. cit.
(n. 32), p. 23, may be right in his hypothesis that the palmleaf motif `travelled' from
Spain northward. There is no need to search in the Byzantine world for models
when Byzantine capitals were so near by (see also note 11 above), cf. M. Durliat,
'Les plus anciens chapiteaux de la cathedrale du Puy et leur place dans la sculpture
du XIe siecle', Cahiers Archeologiques 32, 1984, p. 63-88, esp. p. 72, 86.
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
313
however, to even earlier traditions) speaks of Greek ships sailing to
the islands of the Atlantic, carrying food and spices. They may have
anchored in ports in the Western Mediterranean and the legend may
incorporate references to contemporary activities.42
Who brought to Spain the small religious mementos like the bronze
reliquary with the Deesis (the Crucified Christ with the Virgin and
John the Baptist), from Cugat, in the Diocesan Museum, Barcelona?
It is similar to the bronze reliquary from the monastery of Roda.
Some of the relics of the Holy Cross in various places of Spain may
have come from Constantinople, for example the beautiful Byzantine gold reliquary in Baga (Pyrenees).43
Who brought the Greek silks for the liturgical vestments in places
like Vic and Roda, to mention just a few? In the inventory of Vic
they are called : `v. capas grezeschas, iv. curcibaldos grezeschos', for
the years 957 and 971. In a Pyrennean church a red silk with elephants was found (now in Berlin and in Barcelona). It is sometimes
considered to be a Byzantine fabric.44
A few Byzantine artefacts have, as we have seen, been found in
the area: a 10th-century ivory from Vic (later in Paris), representing
the Deesis. In Vic there is still a Byzantine mosaic icon of St Nicholas.
In the cathedral of Jaca, former capital of Aragon, there was a Byzantine ivory with the Deesis. This 11th-century representation of the
Crucified Christ, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, had
a direct influence on a late 11th-century Spanish ivory in the treasury of Jaca, also in New York nowadays. Both, served to decorate
bookcovers. The use of the Byzantine ivory is proof of its early arrival
and appreciation in Spain. They were gifts of a royal patroness: queen
Felicia, wife of Sancho V (1076-1094), who died in 1085 (ill. 20).
42 Ciggaar, `Description de Constantinople traduite par un pelerin', p. 250s.;
Timarion, p. 54-5, 96-7 (Tozer, 245); Wilson, p. 207-8; idem, `A mysterious Byzantine scriptorium: Ioannikios and his colleagues', Scrittura e Civilta 7, 1983, p. 172-3
(mss of the later 12th century); A. Cutler, The craft of ivory, Washington 1985, p. 31s.
(for the revival of ivory carving in Islamic Spain and the situation in the Eastern
Mediterranean); D. Perrier, `Die spanische Kleinkunst des 11. Jahrhunderts', AKB
52, 1984, p. 30; May, op. cit. (n. 29), p. 7 for Cyprian silk see note 30 above.
4s Frolow, Relique, e.g. nos. 232 (p. 277), 239 (p. 280), 300 (p. 312), 351
(p. 337), 407 (p. 363); Junyent, op. cit. (n. 40), II, p. 265.
44 The Glossarium mediae latinitatis Cataloniae , op. cit. (n. 37), mentions such garments
in the cathedral of Vic, s.v. cendatus, curcibaldus (Villanueva, op. cit. (n. 2), VI, p. 273,
274); ibid., s.v. constantinatus (in the consecration act of Roda, Monastery of San
Pere), ca. 1067 (Villanueva, ibid., XV, p. 306); May, op. cit. (n. 29), p. 22 (c£ A.F.
Kendrick, `Textiles', in Spanish art (R.R. Tatlock e.a.), op. cit. (n. 12), p. 61, with ill.;
c£ 0. von Falke, Kunstgeschichte der Seidenweberei, I, Berlin 1913, p. 94, and ill. 128.
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In the cathedral of Jaca oriental (Byzantine?) influences are discernible in the tympanum and in the sarcophagus of dona Sancha who
died in 1096/1097 .41 The cathedral of Jaca, on the pilgrim's road to
Santiago de Compostela, was built by Ramiro I in the 11th century
as a royal foundation. The capitals with their vegetal designs are
inspired by Byzantine art.46
Ripoll had an interest in Eastern saints, among whom was St
Nicholas. The translation of his relics to Bari in 1087 made him popular in the West. Merchants and sailors were his devotees. In Spain
altars were dedicated to him in Silos (1088) and Burgos (1092). In
Ripoll the saint had an altar as early as 1046. Commercial contacts
probably made him popular at an early stage.41 The Latin tale (a
translation from the Greek?) of the translation of St Stephen's relics
to Constantinople was revised on the initiative of a monk of Ripoll.48
St Isidore of Chios, another Eastern saint, became popular in 10thcentury Spain where his feast was celebrated on two different dates,
on May 14th and on May 15th, the first date according to the
Byzantine calendar. The introduction of the Byzantine calendar date
may again be the result of Catalonian contacts with the Eastern world
and of a renewed interest in this saint whose sanctuary on Chios
may have been visited by Spanish pilgrims and merchants.49
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.
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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 Catalonian art, Barcelona, were made. These monumental and beautiful 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 Byzantine. 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 Byzantine 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.
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Washington, Dumbarton Oaks Collection, is Byzantine in style. The
nimbus of Christus with a pearled/beaded border is similar to the
nimbus of the ivory once in Vic, which suggests an early date on
Spanish soil for the latter or a similar one. The double portrait of
king Sancho IV and his wife Placentia (now lost) was in the Byzantine tradition and so is the complete proskynesis of two saints.52 Ben-
jamin of Tudela who travelled to Byzantium in the 12th century
only was one of many from the region to undertake the journey. In
this context we should remember the late 12th-century statue of the
Virgin in the cathedral of Tudela. The Virgin with the Christchild is
Byzantine in style. Christ, with a nimbus, is represented as an adult.
He and the Virgin have that immensely sad look in their eyes which
is so typically Byzantine.53
During the period under discussion Navarre's boundaries remained
essentially the same. There were no expansive activities like those
which typified Aragon-Barcelona or Leon and Castille with which
Navarre became eventually linked. For Leon and Castille we can
only bring forward scattered facts and suggestions, since little system-
atic research has been carried out. Like some Anglo-Saxon rulers
Ramiro III of Leon (966-984) used the title basileus in 974 in diplomas: princeps magnus basileus unctus and bausillus. The regent, his aunt
Elvira, is qualified as basilea. The Leonese rulers considered themselves as the successors of the Visigothic kings of Toledo, the 'Spanish Byzantium'. Whether these are reminiscences of this Byzantine
substratum or signs of a renewal of contacts with the Byzantine world,
the use of such titles asks for fresh research. It is interesting to note
that the codex Vigilanus, written in 976, gives a portrait of rulers
who have a nimbus. The full-page illumination gives the portraits of
Sancho I of Leon, his son Ramiro III and the latter's wife, the first
portrait of Spanish rulers. The presence of Greek characters in the
inscription has been noticed by various scholars (ill. 21). In Byzantium
emperors were traditionally represented with a nimbus.54 It may be
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
no coincidence that in early 10th-century Leon the cult of St Isidore
of Chios was introduced, but now as a soldier saint and with the
Byzantine calendar date.55 The rulers of the Reconquest were soldier kings, martial kings. Raising on a shield and other types of elevation of a new ruler were either reminiscences of earlier Byzantine
practice or the result of a renewed interest in Byzantium where it
was occasionally practised by dissident rulers and possibly by Nice-
phorus Phocas in 963. In northern Spain the elevation of kings/
emperors lasted, for a long time. A fine example is provided by Alfonso
VII (1126-1157) who, as a child, was raised on a shield when he
became king of Galicia.56 Imperial laudes were sung to this ruler, master
of the greater part of northern Spain who styled himself emperor.57
The imperial style of some of these rulers leads us to another Byzantine symbol: the double-headed eagle which occurs on Spanish silks
from the 11th century onwards. Silk weavers, skilled in a difficult
craft, were sometimes kidnapped to serve northern rulers and their
ambitions. Byzantine silks were imported in Spain and had aroused
the wish for imitation. In 1147 Almeria, an important centre of the
silkweaving industry, was reconquered. On that occasion a great
number of skilled workers probably went to the north to work for
the northern king, and to improve the existing silk industry there.
Double-headed eagles have been found on (later?) silks in Las Huelgas
(Burgos), royal Pantheon of the rulers of Castille, and in the tomb of
St Bernard Calvo in Barcelona, who died in 1243. These silks are
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 mittelalterliche 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 Schilderhebung 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
divided between Barcelona, Vic and other collections. Another feature
of the imperial style is the portrait of Alfonso VIII (1158-1214) and
his wife Eleanor (daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine) with a nimbus.58
The other arts will occupy us briefly. H. Schlunk referred to oriental influences in the architecture and sculpture of the Asturias in
the 9th and 10th centuries, an area later united with the kingdom of
Leon.59 In the construction of the vaults of the royal Pantheon of
San Isidoro of Leon Byzantine techniques were applied, whereas the
column statues of St Peter and St Paul are considered to have been
made in the Byzantine manner. When the church was dedicated in
1063, Ferdinand I (1035-1065) and his wife Sancha donated a Greek
silk pallium. A century later, between 1157 and 1188, the church
was decorated with wallpaintings, betraying a strong Byzantine influence, especially in the highlighting of the faces and the accentuated
draperies of the clothes.60 In the cathedral treasury of Braga (Portugal) an 11th-century cross betrays Byzantine influences.61
After its reconquest in 1085 by Alfonso VI Toledo became the
new capital of the kingdom of Leon and a centre of learning. Once
the `Spanish Byzantium', it now became one of the places where
Greek texts, in Arabic translations, found their way into Western
Europe by retranslation into Latin.62 A mystery in the cathedral treasury of Toledo is a 12th-century Byzantine icon in steatite, which
represents the Twelve Feasts .61
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 connections 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 disparate remarks and references in scholarly publications. In the arts one
finds only a few scattered remarks. D. Talbot Rice noticed a Byzantine 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 comparison 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 capitals decorate some of the gallery's pillars.67
By 1100 Romanesque art was developing in Spain. Lack of evidence for direct artistic contacts with the Byzantine world makes it
difficult to draw firm conclusions. For the time being it seems preferable to consider 12th-century Spanish art in the international context 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 Constantinople. 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
64 D. Talbot Rice, Byzantine art, Harmondsworth 1962, p. 253; A. Berenguer, La
pintura mural prerromanica en Asturias, Oviedo 1966, refers to early Eastern connections,
e.g. p. 17 (church of Saint Demetrius, Thessalonica), c£ idem, Arte romanico en Asturias,
I, Oviedo 1966.
65 Schapiro, op. cit. (n. 47), p. 73 (n. 33), p. 91 (n. 155), and plate 17.
66 Shepherd, art. cit. (n. 58), ibidem.
67 Michelin Guide, Portugal, p. 64 (not mentioned by Schlunk, art. cit. (n. 41). I owe
this reference to my colleague J. Breunesse.
68 M.-M. Gauthier, 'Les decors vermicules dans les emaux champleves limousins
et meridionaux', CCM 1, 1958, p. 349-69.
69 This may be explained by contacts Baldwin II sought with Spain, J. Longnon,
`L'empereur Baudouin II et l'ordre de Saint-Jacques', Byz 22, 1952, p. 297-9. The
320
CHAPTER NINE
East. Catalan commercial activity spread out all over the Mediterranean 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 interaction 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 language 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
research remains to be undertaken on the relations of the Iberian
peninsula with the Byzantine world. The publication of new source
materials will certainly contribute to a better understanding of these
relations and open up new paths for discoveries. Here lies an interesting task for the present and future generations of Spanish historians, who may have to corroborate J. Porcher's thesis that southern
France was inspired by Spain, by its Arabic and Byzantine elements.
S. Matlas de Salou
CHAPTER TEN
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
WESTERN CONFORMITY AND CONFRONTATION
quoniam ex Grecorum fontibus omnes Latinorum
discipline profluxerunt, Hugh of Honau'
At the end of the 10th century Gerbert of Reims wrote a letter to
Otto III saying that he accepted to become his teacher. Earlier the
emperor had spoken of the difference between the ignorance of the
Saxons and the subtlety of the Greeks. Nevertheless he needed a
teacher. Gerbert emphasized Otto's background by saying that his
oratorical capabilities partly flowed from his Greek fountain, `oratoriam
facultatem et a se et a Grecorum fonte profluentem oratorie docuistis'.2
Two centuries later Hugh of Honau repeated the idea that Byzantium was a fountainhead from which treasures were sprinkled
around and from which sprang all Western learning, `quoniam ex
Grecorum fontibus omnes Latinorum discipline profluxerunt'.3 As an
envoy of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa he had twice been in
Constantinople where he had discussed theological and philosophical
matters with Hugh Etherian, such as the difference between nature
and person of Christ, and the interpretation of Trinity. The majority
of the rulers of the German empire and their envoys had their reasons to mistrust the Greeks and their political ambitions. Therefore
we have to be careful when drawing conclusions from such statements, which should be studied in a wider context. The idea cherished by Hugh of Honau and some of his colleagues is revealing for
the mentality of at least some intellectuals of his time.
Both statements may serve as a resume of the great lines of Byzantine influence on the West as discussed in this book. During the
two centuries that lay between them Byzantium and the West changed
' 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
politically and culturally. In consequence the waves of Byzantine
influence assumed a different character.
At the time of Gerbert of Reims literacy in the West was limited
to ecclesiastical circles. Generally speaking the rulers themselves, be
they Ottonians, Anglo-Saxons or French, were illiterate. They depended on their chanceries to be informed about the contents of
official letters which were exchanged with other rulers, in East and
in West. When the world of learning and of religion expressed itself
in the written word, this was only accessible to the limited world of
the literates and of those who were entitled to ask explanations.
Political rulers had to express their position and their ambitions by
outer marks of their status, regalia and insignia, and by the institutions
which they used to enhance their prestige. By doing so they consolidated their position. The regalia of the ruling houses in Western Europe
are often witness to influences from abroad. It is here that we find
the first marks of an orientation to the Byzantine empire and its
rulers. The Greek emperor, the basileus, was the representative of
Christ on earth and as such he was the head of the church who
nominated the patriarch. By imitating the Byzantine imperialia and
institutions the Western rulers manifested themselves as real competitors and tried to imitate the religious policy of the Byzantine
emperors by playing a decisive role in the nomination of bishops
and abbots. The sanctity of the Greek emperor was expressed by the
presence of a nimbus in portraits. Occasionally Western rulers had
themselves represented in the same way. In a now lost fresco in Rieti
(Italy) Otto II and Theophano are the first examples of this new
style. In the late 10th century they were followed by Henry the
Wrangler, duke of Bavaria and anti-king, and by the rulers of Leon.
Frederick Barbarossa and Alfonso VIII of Castille, with his wife
Eleanor (daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine), adopted the same style
but in a less imposing way. Imitation of the Byzantine emperor was
part of Ottonian politics; as the second imperial family in Europe
they were direct concurrents and they tried hard to compete with
their colleagues on the Bosporus. In their illiterate world they used
all sorts of symbols copied from the East: a crown with prependilia,
portraits in frontal position (often with their wives, the so-called double
rulers portraits) on bookcovers, seals, and later on coins. The visual
arts served to promote the ideology of the rulers.' Where literacy
' 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 question, indirectly it is true, the unequalled position of the Greek emperors.' 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 without 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 abed. 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 Annunciation; 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 position as wife of the German emperor must have reinforced the adoption 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 religious 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 Byzantine iconographical element, in which the Virgin and St John intercede 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 Theopbano and the Prayerbook of Otto III, but this iconographical element
never became popular in the West. A Romanesque painting in Denmark, 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 Liutprand, Legatio, p. 534-5, 552-3; for the Everger Lectionary (Cologne,
Dombibliothek 143, fol. 3v), I. Prochno, Das Schreiber- and Dedikationsbild, Leipzig
1929, p. 58; Demus, p. 79s.
10 Berschin, `Majestas-Tituli', with ills.; Weitzmann, p. 14s.
326
CHAPTER TEN
themes, such as the Crucifixion (already known in Carolingian times)
and the Descent of the Cross became very popular whereas others
were not really accepted. Sometimes a specific iconography was, even
in Byzantium, in statu nascendi (this was the case of the Last Judge-
ment scene which was only adopted in a few places in the West
where Byzantine influence is clearly discernible), sometimes the theo-
logical concepts of the West did not allow for the introduction of
new themes."
The Virgin plays a prominent part in the religious developments
of the West, both in the theology of the Church and in religious art.
It may be no coincidence that Christ, basileus basileon, was paralleled
by Maria imperatrix. Once the Byzantine princess Theophano was holding power as imperatrix augusta, she had to have her heavenly counter-
part, her superior, in the person of the Virgin who was called bona
angelorum imperatrix augusta by Bruno of Querfurt in"his Life of St
Adalbert. As imperatrix, wearing a crown, she was represented in a
late 10th-century Ottonian manuscript (ill. 22). In the 6th-century
mosaic in Parenzo/Porec, Istria, in the church of Saint Euphrasius,
the Virgin, surrounded by angels, was represented as being handed
the crown of martyrdom from heaven. Istria, part of the Byzantine
possessions in 6th-century Italy, was part of Theophano's `Morgengabe', her marriage gift. The mosaic, preserved until the present
day, may have been visible in the 10th century and have served as
a 'model' .12
The Virgin Mary makes a frequent appearance in Western iconography from the 10th century onwards, all over Western Europe.
This is the more striking since she was hardly represented in Carolingian art. Therefore it seems that many, if not most, of these new
iconographical themes, have come from the East, the more so since
10th-century religious art in western Europe was not very innovating. The Virgin holding the Christ Child, the Virgin Hodigitria (she
who shows the way), the Virgin in the Deesis, the Virgin standing
near the Cross with St John, all seem to have had Byzantine models;
" 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 Western 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 indigenae sanctae matri Domini et gaudent se ab ea favore superari. Currunt 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
Some iconographical themes were so new to the unaccustomed
Western eyes that they needed several impulses to make their way
into Western Europe. The Dormition and Ascension of the Virgin,
although known in Western theology and devotional texts, was such
an iconographical element. It was known in Ottonian Germany,
witness some Byzantine ivories on manuscripts, for example on the
bookcover of Otto III's Gospel Book (Munich, lat. 4453; ill. 14). The
Ottonian church kept the feast of the Ascension of the Virgin, and
Otto III ordered a hymn to be composed for the Roman procession
of one of the Virgin's icons. In this hymn she was addressed as
Theotokos, according to the Byzantine tradition. Sermons on the
Dormition which had been translated from Greek into Latin circulated in 10th-century Germany. Ottonian miniature painting copied
the Byzantine iconography.18 However, in the arts one had to wait
another century before the Dormition appears again, now in miniature painting of Monte Cassino and in a wall-painting in nearby
Rongolise. At the abbey of Farfa, in the same area, the theme appears in a wall-painting and on an ivory casket which was presented
to the abbey by the rich merchant Maurus, members of the de
Maurone comite family (sometimes called Pantaleone family) from
Amalfi. This family had strong Byzantine connections. Even in
Catalonia the Dormition scene was known.19 And again a century
later the Dormition is represented in a mosaic in the Martorana church
at Palermo, built in the 1140s. This church, patronized by one of
Roger II's employes, was probably decorated by Greek craftsmen.
The wall painting in Aquileia (northern Italy), the miniature in the
Psalter of Henry of Winchester and in a Salzburg manuscript from
Constantinople, H. Hoffmann, The Chronik von Montecassino, Hanover 1980, p. 355.
Wandering Greek monks may have carried small portable icons and left them in
the West. For the icons in Spoleto and Gottweig, see index.
18 Weitzmann, p. 15s. (for the ivories, with ills.); H. Jantzen, Ottonische Kunst, Munich
(1947) 1959, p. 77s.; for the church calendar, Thangmar, Leben des hl. Bernward,
Bischof von Hildesheim, ed. H. Kallfelz, in Ausgewahlte Quellen zur Deutschen Geschichte des Mittelalters, Darmstadt 1973, p. 328-9 (with German trans.); Ekkehardi
IV Casus Sancti Galli, ed. H.F. Haefele, Darmstadt 1980, p. 232-3, s.a. 966 (with
German trans.); for the hymn see MGH SS, Poetae, V, p. 467 (Berschin, p. 211);
A. Wenger, L'Assomption de la T.S. Vierge dans la tradition byzantine du VP au X siecle,
Paris 1955, p. 140s., for the Western mss.
19 Bloch, Monte Cassino, I, p. 155-61, III, figs. 18, 19; R.P. Bergman, The Salerno
ivories, Cambridge, Mass., 1980, p. 112s., 128-30, and fig. 152; J. Wettstein, Sant'
Angelo in Formis et la peinture medievale en Campanie, Geneva 1960, p. 95-6; W. Neuss,
The katalanische Bibelillustration um die Wende des ersten Jahrtausends and die altspanische
Buchmalerei, Bonn/Leipzig 1922, p. 127, for an 11th-century altar frontal in Vic.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
329
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 Germany is not very likely in this case .21 Henry of Winchester reintroduced the theme in the Winchester Psalter, in a sort of diptych, but
the Virgin is not crowned or receiving a crown.22 Such `new' iconographical 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. Westerners 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
to make statues. In Byzantium the production had stopped before
the period under discussion in this book. Was it on purpose that the
statues mentioned in French romances were seen as works of magic
and of exotic charm? One wonders what made Henry the Lion decide
to erect the huge lion which still stands in front of his residence in
Brunswick. He had not yet been in Constantinople, but he may already have received information about its statues and about technology, such as bronze and iron casting. His lion was one of the first
manifestations of secularism in sculptural art, if not one of the first
manifestations of free standing sculpture in the West.23
Less mysterious is the way in which Byzantine coins influenced
Western coinage. Byzantine iconography and sometimes the Greek
inscriptions as well were imitated by a number of rulers in the West.
The besant had a connotation of gold, of wealth and of prestige as
we have seen several times. Byzantine society was a society full of
images. Coins, like seals, were imperialia. They were carriers of Byzantine religious, political and cultural ideas. Coins carried the images
of Christ, the Virgin, a saint, in combination with an emperor or
empress, with or without a co-ruler, who was crowned by Christ or
the Virgin. Sometimes the emperor holds a double-armed cross, the
patriarchal cross, expressing his position as head of the church. Byzantine coins were sent to the West as political sweeteners and subsidies for military expeditions, or they were carried home as savings
of returning Varangians. Rarely were portraits depicted on 10thcentury Western coins. The import of Byzantine coins in the North
stimulated the imitations of Byzantine iconography; sometimes Northern coins followed their models so closely that the reality of the model
with two emperors did not correspond with the Northern situation
of a sole ruler. In Norway a central mint was organised, for which
inspiration may have been found in Byzantium. Portraits of the Virgin
became popular all over Scandinavia. The Ottonian rulers remained
faithful to their own portraits in profile; the double-names OttoAdelheid (regent to Otto III) which occur on late 10th-century coins,
seem to be their only Byzantine `borrowing'. Some of their feudal
rulers, such as Burchard III of Swabia (954-973) were more inclined to
issue imitations of Byzantine coinage. The Salian emperors, Henry II,
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
Henry III and Henry IV introduced frontal portraits on their
coins, sometimes with a co-ruler and occasionally holding a patriar-
chal cross; Christ and the Virgin were portrayed as well, with or
without Greek inscriptions. In some cases the models can easily be
traced. A coin of Isaac Comnenus with a drawn sword had its derivatives in coins of William the Conqueror (ills. 8a, b) his son
William II, and Gisulf II of Salerno. It is curious to see the Conqueror represented in the same way on the Bayeux Tapestry. For
other Western coinages Byzantine influence has not yet been studied
systematically, but such a study could be worthwhile. Iconographical
elements, such as the portraits of Christ and the Virgin, the frontal
position of rulers, crowns with prependilia, a loros (breast ornament)
and a patriarchal cross may hint at Byzantine models. When the
doges reintroduced the gold coin at the beginning of the 13th century this was a renewed competition with the besant, the medieval
coinage par excellence.24
Seals were also part of rulers' regalia. The golden seals of the
Byzantine emperors arrived in the West with imperial letters (sacra)
and with precious gifts. Their weight in gold made them precious
and their iconography made them attractive in religious and artistic
terms. The iconography of the Byzantine imperial seals was very
similar to that on coins. Those of private citizens and state function-
aries which found their way to the West, followed the imperial
iconography. Rulers in the West had been using wax seals, in contrast to the metal seals which were in use in the Byzantine chancery.
Occasionally Western sources refer to Byzantine gold seals which
were used for liturgical chalices, for decorative purposes or which
were kept in church treasuries. Eventually they were melted down.
After his coronation as emperor in 962 Otto I had introduced the
frontal portrait on his seal, and soon he was followed by the French
king. Stimulated by their contacts with the Byzantine court the
German emperors started to use metal seals, occasionally made of
gold. The use of metal seals lasted throughout the period under discussion until it became the prerogative of the Roman curia from
1204 onwards. In England Edward the Confessor had introduced
the term basileus on his double-sided seal which was the exception
and which competed with the seals of the pope and the German
24 H. Longuet, Introduction a la numismatique byzantine, London 1961, p. 70s.
332
CHAPTER TEN
and Byzantine emperors. A systematic study of Western seals and
possible Byzantine influences has still to be made.25
From the 10th century onwards laudes (acclamations) became popular
in the court ceremonials of Western rulers. It has still to be determined if the Byzantine court, where acclamations were an essential
part of court ceremonial, set the example or restimulated the renewed forms of acclamations that became adopted in the West. In
some Western texts the Virgin Mary, playing an important part, is
called the chief of saints and archangels, which is another aspect
that asks for an interpretation.26
We have mentioned the sending of large amounts of money to
the West. Sometimes they served as Byzantine state pensions and
included an official title which was conferred upon the beneficiary.
Byzantine titles were in high demand in Western `upper class' circles.
In Anglo-Saxon England and in Spain some exotic titles, including
the basileus title, had been used by rulers and their subjects, although
the latter remained more or less a `protected' title. In the 12th century Roger II of Sicily was addressed as basileus, a deliberate attempt
to affront the Byzantine emperor.27 Westerners who worked in
Byzantium could obtain Byzantine titles. Odo of Mezidon, the Norman
noble, was protospatharius and thalamepoulos, his compatriot Herve
Frangopoulos was respectively vestiarites, stratelates and magister. One of
the most illustrious Westerners who worked in Byzantium was Harald
Hardrada, later king of Norway, who had to content himself with
the rather modest rank of manglavites and spatharocandidatus.28 In Aqui-
taine and in Anjou one finds the titles chiliarchus and consuL29 Byz-
antine titles were part of the political life in some southern Italian
25 Schramm/Berghaus, op. cit. (n. 4), nos. 81-83, and p. 186s.; Ohnsorge, Abendland, 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 acclamations for William the Conqueror); H.EJ. Cowdrey, `The Anglo-Norman laudes regiae', 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 discussed 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
principalities which were in regular contact with Byzantium, and of
people who had good connections and who had sometimes their
residence in Constantinople. The de Maurone comite family from
Amalfi offers a good example of the `distribution' of titles; among its
members we find the titles protonobilissimus, couropalates, hypatus, and
dishypatus. In the Chronicle of Monte Cassino we find a certain Maurus,
`quoque curopalatem palatii imperatoris Constantinopolitani', in 1137.
From 1082 onwards the dope of Venice was allowed the title
protosebastus and the patriarch of Venice became hypertimus.30 The
Normans in southern Italy in particular seem to have been fond of
Byzantine titles. When a marriage alliance was discussed in 1074 between a son of the Greek emperor Michael VII Doucas and Robert
Guiscard's daughter a great number of dignities, including a yearly
pension, was accorded to the Normans. Robert's son became couropalates; titles given to his compatriots included magister, consul, proconsul, patrician, protospatharius, spatharocandidatus and many others. Robert
Guiscard used a seal with the title nobelissimus in Greek characters.31
Byzantine titles have often been rendered in a corrupted form and
therefore have remained sometimes unrecognized in Western sources.
From court life with its sacred iconography, including Christ and
the Virgin, we return to the cult of the Virgin in religious life. The
Marian cult spread over the whole of Western Europe and found its
way into literature as well. The 10th century had been a century of
imitation, of adoption, not only for the introduction of regalia, but for
the introduction of the Marian cult as well. The 11th century was a
continuation of this process until the crusades were launched at the
end of the century. Now the Western masses found their way to the
East. Until then Byzantine models had been rather scarce in Western Europe, with the exception of Ottoman Germany and certain
parts of Italy. Now, with the masses of crusaders travelling to Byzantium, a more popular piety could develop. There was an increased
interest in the Virgin, her relics and the miracles she worked. The
12th century offers an even wider scala of Western interests. Miracles
3o V. von Falkenhausen, Untersuchungen iiber die byzantinische Herrschaft in Suditalien
vom 9. bis ins 11. 7ahrhundert, Wiesbaden 1967, p. 12, 13, 32 etc.; M. Balard, 'Amalfi
et Byzance (Xe Xne siecles)', TM 6, 1976, p. 88; U. Schwarz, Amalfi im friihen Mittelalter,
Tiibingen 1978, index; Benno of Alba, Ad Heinricum, IV, MGH SS XI, p. 615
('koropalates'); Die Chronik von Montecassino, op. cit. (n. 17), p. 570; Tafel/Thomas, I,
p. 51-4.
31 Bibicou, p. 46s.
CHAPTER TEN
334
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 autocratic 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 Byzantine 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
32 E. Cerulli, `L'empereur Alexis et le conte ethiopien de 1'homme enseveli dans
la mine', Byz 29/30, 1959/1960, p. 187-207 (in a late 12th-century ms., see ibid.,
p. 197); Li romanz de Dieu et de sa mere d'Herman de Valenciennes, ed. I. Spiele, Leiden
1975, p. 257.
33 Wentzel, art. cit. (n. 11), p. 14-15, and ill. 9 (with Latin inscription; Goldschmidt/
Weitzmann, II, no. 140); cf. W. Borchers/H.-H. Breuer/K. Weichel, Der Osnabrucker
Domschatz, Osnabruck 1974, p. 34-5.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
335
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 bookcovers of Gospel Books, Psalters etc. In their new context they were
accessible to large groups of people. The so-called Psalter of Cunegunde, 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 universities. 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 various 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 century: 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
art, on ivories, in manuscript paintings, on seals etc. In that same
period inscriptions in Latin became the fashion. The suggestion has
been made that the use of inscriptions, in Latin and in Greek, was
due to Byzantine influence.36 One wonders if there was a need to
explain the new iconographical innovations to the learned and literate Western public which was not familiar with them. One of the
most interesting Greek names to be copied in the West, often in a
corrupted form, was the name Theotokos, the Greek name for the
Virgin. (ill. 13). As we have seen the name was occasionally used in
hymns of the late 10th century. In the 12th century the name Theotokos
reappears, for example in the Gospel Book of Henry the Lion, in a
genealogical tree in a CIteaux manuscript, and in a letter discussing
theological issues. It is not yet clear if this is a simple renewal of the
Greek tradition or a continuation of what may have been regarded
already as a Western `tradition'. It is still to be determined if the
introduction of this name had implications for Western theology. An
interesting, but rather unknown example of an inscription with Greek
characters, is the double rulers portrait on the tympanum from
Egmond abbey, Holland (1122-1132), now in the Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam. Countess Petronella, acting as a regent, is represented
with her son Thierry VI. The name of St Peter, who is in their
midst, is rendered in Greek characters.37 Like inscriptions in works
of art, the introduction of the medallion form was a nouveaute in
Western art. One of the first examples seems to be the crowned
Virgin, the so-called basilissa type, in an Ottonian manuscript (ill. 22).
Objects like Byzantine coins, seals, silks, and even the marriage con-
tract of Theophano, may have played a role in the transmission of
this ornament. The double-headed eagle is another element which
needs to be studied in a wider context.3'
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
The 10th century was impregnated with religion and religious
symbols. The emperors and kings set the example for the beliefs and
ideological ideas of their subjects. The secular pyramid of feudal society
was parallelled by a celestial hierarchy with Christ and the Virgin at
the top. Then came, according to Byzantine tradition, and as such
represented on Byzantine artefacts which found their way to the West,
the archangels and angels, the evangelists and the apostles, followed
by hundreds and hundreds of saints and martyrs. The evangelists
and apostles were often portrayed on portable altars and other religious objects; their iconography was closely followed by Western artists
who produced new series of religious objects. Religion, relics and
saints are narrowly linked. A survey of the import of Greek relics to
the West does not yet exist and will probably never see the light.
Information is scattered in too many sources. Those of Christ and
the Virgin are easily traceable since they were in demand among the
believers and because their arrival was often recorded in chronicles
and the like. Byzantine leaders used them as diplomatic gifts for
Western leaders. The saints of the church were coveted for various
reasons. The anonymous monk of Canterbury asked for a relic of St
Andrew for a church in his homeland which was dedicated to this
specific saint.39 The few Western saints who `migrated' to Byzantium,
St Augustine of Canterbury, St Olaf and St Thorlac, hardly outlived
the Western emigrants who had taken them to the East, in contrast
to some Byzantine saints who were brought to the West, by tradesmen, travellers and others. The Greek churches in southern Italy,
dedicated to Eastern saints, played their own role in the process of
transmitting this religious heritage to more Western regions. At an
early date translation activities, of relics and of saints' Lives, started
in southern Italy.40 The introduction of certain Eastern saints seems
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, 'Canterbury 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 Constantinople 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 examples. In Ottonian circles St Demetrius and St Pantaleon became
known. The former, already popular by the annual fair at Thessalonica, 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 translation of the Life of St Pantaleon;43 the Life of St Irene was translated 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 attention 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', Proceedings 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
Greek troparion was sung in an unknown church), Spain, Italy and
elsewhere. It should be noted that in southern Italy churches were
dedicated to this saint and in this way the Varangians serving there
in the Greek army and the Norman conquerors may have known St
Nicholas by more direct contacts.45 King Erik of Denmark received
relics of St Nicholas when he visited Constantinople in 1103. St
Nicholas may have been one of the patron saints of Varangian
mercenaries who used his portrait on their seals.4fi The anonymous
author of the Pilgrim's Guide describes the sanctuary of St Eutropius
at Saintes (France) and tells us that he had found the Life of this
saint in Constantinople where. he translated it into Latin; he even
gives a resume of this translation.47 This is an example of a close
relation between the relic and the Life of a specific saint in a text
reference. More than once the relics of a saint were sent or carried
to the West. The Byzantine princess Maria Argyropoula who was
married to John Orseolo, the doge's son, brought relics of St Barbara to Venice in 1004, as did Robert de Mezidon, some time later,
when he was returning to Normandy.48 Her Life has not yet been
considered in the context of the translation of her relics to the West.
A survey of church dedications could also help to establish such links.
The introduction of an Eastern saint was sometimes the result of
immigrating Eastern ecclesiastics. At the end of the 10th century the
Life of St Alexis was brought `back' to his birthplace, Rome, by Sergius
of Damascus. The Greek or Syriac Life was translated into Latin for
the Latin monks with whom the Eastern monks shared their religious house. In Rome Alexis' cult became popular and scenes of his
life were depicted, in the early 12th century, in San Clemente. So
far little attention has been paid to an early 10th-century version of
the Latin Life in a manuscript from San Millan de la Cogolla.49 Soon
Alexis' Life was translated into Old French (ca. 1040) and became
one of the first texts in the vernacular. This is just one example of
45 A. Krickelberg-Piitz, `Die Mosaikikone des Hl. Nikolaus in Aachen-Burtscheid',
AKB 50, 1982, p. 9-141; M. Huglo, 'Les chants de la missa greca de Saint-Denis',
in Essays presented to Egon wellesz, ed. J. Westrup, Oxford 1966, p. 75.
46 Schlumberger, art. cit. (n. 28), p. 291.
4' Guide de pelerin, p. 65.
48 Nicol, p. 25; Chronique de Sainte-Barbe-en-Auge, op. cit. (n. 28), p. 23.
4' Berschin, p. 223s., 239; B. Hamilton, `The monastery of S. Alessio and the
religious and intellectual Renaissance in tenth-century Rome', Studies in Medieval and
Renaissance History 2, 1965, p. 269, 271; for the translation found in Spain, c£ AB
62, 1944, p. 281-3; Lasko, p. 139.
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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 mentions a monk from Avranches who told `vivid stories of the conflicts
of Demetrius and George, of Theodore and Sebastian, of the Theban Legion and Maurice its leader, and of Eustace, supreme commander 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 represent 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 readership 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 literatures 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
so Orderic Vitalis, Chibnall, III, p. 216-17.
Ibidem.
52 Berschin, p. 252; H.-G. Beck, Geschichte der byzantinischen Volksliteratur, Munich
1971, p. 35-41 (with full bibliography for East and West).
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
341
roads, even side by side occasionally, but sometimes they travelled
in different directions. Most literary genres are represented in both
Latin and the vernaculars, but for the latter some distinctions have
to be made. Literature in the vernacular started in France from where
it radiated to neighbouring countries with different speeds. In Spain,
for example, one hardly finds a literary text written in the vernacular during the period under discussion in this book. Saga literature
in the North is unique in that, from early times onwards, it described
in Old Norse the daily life of the Northerners, their works and travels, including their journey Eastward. We find a steady stream of
information on Scandinavians going to Byzantium, on their adventures and work in the East. Mention is made of clothes which they
brought home and of the Greek women whom they married. Saga
literature has already been used to describe the relations between
Byzantium and the North. A more complete survey may give more
details about daily life in Byzantium as the Varangians saw it, about
their savings and about their linguistic `imports'. Epic poetry is one
of the first literary genres of fiction to be written in Latin and in Old
French. In the early epics religious wars against the heathen people
were the main topic. The Latin epic Ruodlieb, sometimes called a
courtly novel since heathens hardly play a role, was written around
1050 at Tegernsee (Bavaria). It never became a popular text. The
author, probably a monk from southern Germany, seems to have
broken off his text deliberately, as some scholars want us to believe.
Indeed he may have realised that an epic in Latin would have a
very limited audience. Nevertheless Byzantium plays a small but interesting role in his work. When one of the Western kings rewards
Ruodlieb, the loyal knight, he gives him gold besants:
on the one side of the bowl-shaped bread were placed coins/made of
gold and sufficiently tested in fire,/to which they gave the name from
the city of Byzantium [Latin: pole bizanto]/around which were inscribed in Greek with titles/the (divine) majesty and the (temporal) power
of the king/the former standing, blesses the emperor by placing Her
hand upon him./These he is to give to his dear relatives.
The description of the coins is so accurate that the author must have
seen such coins or had otherwise an exact description of them from
someone who was familiar with them. We have seen that the coronation of a Byzantine emperor by Christ or the Virgin did occur in
the iconography of coins. The jewelry mentioned elsewhere in the
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Ruodlieb reminds of moon-shaped earrings.53 Besants also occur in
the Chanson de Roland (ca. 1100), the oldest epic song written in the
vernacular. The text has revealed some of its Byzantine secrets, such
as the Norman attack on the Greek mainland and the special status
of Charlemagne. The presence of besants in such texts makes clear
that these coins were highly valued by the Western public, both for
its gold and its iconography. The regular occurrence of these coins
in Western texts asks for a proper evaluation in a wider context.
For French epics, which spread all over Western Europe in the
form of translations and adaptations, there was a vast audience. It
has recently been suggested that the description of palaces and gardens in some of these epics were modelled on Eastern examples.
Interesting are the wild beasts mentioned in some of these texts. They
are part of the setting of the rulers' receptions as if to show the
power of the ruler. The visit to Constantinople of many Frenchmen
and other Westerners and their reports seem to have been the main
source of information for the often anonymous authors of epics. Wild
beasts were no exotic fantasy, they were real and alive in the stories
told about the East.54
Gardens occur in other literary genres, in romances and in poetry. In romances religion hardly plays a role, their main theme being
courtly love and adventure in an Antique, sometimes a Byzantine or
even a contemporary setting. They were written in Latin and in the
vernaculars. Those in Old French are the first examples of this specific literature in the vernacular. They had a large, lay audience and,
in the course of time, a similar readership. Eleanor of Aquitaine's
visit to Constantinople in 1147 stimulated an interest in courtly novels. In Byzantium the stories of Antiquity were still alive at the court
and in circles of the Greek intelligentia. Byzantine courtlife itself was
colourful, full of drama, tradition and literature. For Western authors models were available in the East, if not in written version, at
least in the setting of oriental palaces and adventures. One of the
best known authors of romances, Chretien de Troyes, was well informed about Byzantium. He certainly was no exception. Several
publications dealing with Byzantine influence on French romances
have seen the light already. Byzantine events are hinted at, although
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
hidden under a colourful and misleading cover of chivalry; reminis-
cences of Byzantine life in vernacular romances have still to be
detected. French romances with topoi of descriptions of gardens, of
luxurious palaces etc., spread over England, Germany and Spain thanks
to the ramifications of Eleanor's influential and artminded family.
The descriptions of nature, of beautiful gardens with trees and flowers, the presence of wild beasts (lions etc.), has been regarded as the
vernacular `translation' of the locus amoenus of classical literature. It is,
however, not always clear which classical texts were available to which
medieval authors. One should bear in mind that contemporary Constantinople offered the same range of beautiful palaces, of gardens
with exotic trees and flowers, of moving statues and mechanically
singing birds. There one could find gardens with all sorts of waterworks and luxuries enough to suggest an earthly paradise. M. Bloch
has suggested that tales of merchants and pilgrims could have
influenced Western authors.55 The lions in the romances of Chretien
de Troyes have their historical parallel in Byzantium where foreigners had sometimes to fight a lion, not to mention the leopards which,
according to Orderic Vitalis, were sent against the crusaders in 1101.56
In Byzantine literature the description of gardens was not exceptional. The most famous example is the description of Digenis Akrites'
garden on the Euphrat, full of daffodils, roses and violets.57 One
wonders if it was solely a classical reminiscence when we find daffodils in the poetry of Sigebert of Gembloux (ca. 1030-1112). He `used'
them for a garland for the Theban legion, the patron saints of his
monastery. He may have seen daffodils himself or have heard about
them. Interesting too are the exotic trees described by Hildegard of
Bingen in her Physica. She describes cypresses, cedars and date-palms,
followed by elephants, camels and lions; exotic spices like pepper
and cinnamon figure in her work.58 The Byzantines had these trees
in their gardens, these animals in their zoos and these spices in their
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.
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CHAPTER TEN
kitchens. There must have been an impulse from contemporary Byz-
antium which played a role. And was it so difficult to carry a few
bulbs to the West? We know that the Byzantines were able to transplant blooming trees; would they not have known how to plant tulips and daffodils? From an early 13th-century text from the Alsace
we learn that seeds (?) of exotic trees, vegetables and livestock, all
sorts of clothing and even working tools, were brought to the West
from Outremer and elsewhere.59 Unfortunately the reality of daily
life has often gone lost and so are the flowers and vegetables that
outlived the journey from the East. The locus amoenus in Latin and
in vernacular literature may have found its inspiration in classical
models and in the reality of daily life in Byzantium of which one
could occasionally see and taste the products in the West.
Contemporary inspiration is even more clear in the description of
Constantinople in some vernacular romances. The topos of wonderful, magic palaces, dizzy making domes, mosaic decorated walls and
floors, moving statues, learned princesses, exquisite food, rich clothes,
precious stones and large amounts of gold, became popular. Latin
descriptions of the city did not include these secular aspects, but
concentrated on relics and sanctuaries. The equestrian statue of
Justinian is one example of the new and secular interest. Several
times this statue was described in Old French romances, and became part of the new fashion, the `vogue d'Orient' (frontispiece). It
was the expression of a growing interest in the secular world of
Byzantium.60 Romances in Latin are often neglected by medievalists;
they should be studied in the perspective of influences from Antiquity and contemporary Byzantine inspiration. Antiquity was always
alive in Byzantium, even if it was filtered time and again, until it
suited the new taste of the Byzantines. Episodes of the Life of Alexander
the Great have been studied in a broader context, yielding new and
interesting results.61 It has been proven that fiction written at the
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
court of Henry II of England found its inspiration in Oriental and
French literary sources.62 A few general remarks could possibly be
made concerning the relations between literature in Latin and the
Byzantine East. Sigebert of Gembloux, who used daffodils in one of
his poems, was also an historian. In his Chronographia he regularly
gives information about the Byzantine empire. Where did he get his
information from? We know that he did travel south of the Alps, but
it is not known if he ever went to the East himself. Who were his
informants? How did he know that the Greek emperor Constantine
VII Porphyrogenitus was a painter? A similar case is Baudri de
Bourgueil who dedicated one of his poems to Adela of Blois. She
belonged to a family with Byzantine connections. One gets the impression that the poet knew all about the palaces in Constantinople
when he describes the residence of the countess of Blois. Classical
inspiration combined with an interest in Byzantium? The garden which
he describes is full of flowers some of which are rather exotic. How
could such exotic flowers root in the West when there was no constant flow of information?63 Much research remains to be done before
we can draw any definite conclusions where the sources of inspiration were and how they did affect the Western world. But one should
bear in mind that the world of many medieval writers had a wide
horizon to the East.
Authors of historical poems, like Walther von der Vogelweide,
inserted Byzantine `material' in their works. They refer to Byzantine
princesses who came to the West and to other Greeks. Poems composed by colleagues for births, marriages, coronations and deaths,
may give more information about the Byzantine connection.
Storytelling was popular in the Middle Ages. Epic poetry and romances in the vernaculars were read and recited to large audiences.
Travellers told stories about what they had seen and experienced.
Unfortunately most of this oral information is lost or has not yet
been uncovered as such in literary texts. An exception seems to be
a story told by Walter Map and some contemporaries about the whirlpools in the Gulf of Satalia (near Attalya) which was on the crusad-
ers' route to the Holy Land. It was the story of a daughter of a
62 K. Bate, `La litterature latine d'imagination a la cour d'Henri II d'Angleterre',
CCM 34, 1991, p. 3-21.
63 Sigebert of Gembloux, MGH SS VI, p. 346; Baudri de Bourgueil, Oeuvres poetiques,
ed. P. Abraham, Paris 1926 (repr. Geneva 1974), p. 191s., 197. The Latin poems of
Walter Mapes, ed. T. Wright, London 1841, p. 237s.
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Greek emperor who eventually married a shoemaker. The story, with
an Antique background, reads as a fairytale were it not for its tragic
ending when a box, filled with a human head, is cast into the sea
and causes the dangerous whirlpools. Such tales may have influenced
medieval authors of miracles and of other supernatural stories.64
Letters written in Latin are still another source of information.
Many letters, however, are lost, or have not yet been published. Some
of them, probably the most interesting ones, were written by mem-
bers of the ruling classes, in East and in West, to relatives living
abroad. Eleanor of Aquitaine wrote letters to Bertha of Sulzbach;
Stephen of Blois wrote letters home. Theodora Comnena, who had
married the duke of Austria, wrote letters to her family in Constantinople. Some of these letters have an almost literary character. The
most interesting example is the letter of the so-called priest John which
was sent to the emperor Manuel Comnenus who should have sent it
to the rulers in the West. In reality it was a fictional letter, written
around 1150 by bishop Christian of Mainz, who had been Frederick
Barbarossa's envoy to the Greek court and who knew Greek and
could thus pretend to have made a translation from an original letter in Greek. With its exotic description of the East and its reminiscences of the Byzantine empire, it became popular all over Western
Europe, where the `vogue d'Orient' was in full bloom. The impact
of such letters is still to be determined.65
It is a small step from literary fiction to the Grail story which
eventually took a religious character. Chretien de Troyes, author of
chevaleresque romances, traced the outlines for the future Grail story
in his Roman de Perceval. The mystery of the Lance and of the `vessel'
was worked out and enlarged by his compatriot Robert de Boron. In
his work the Grail was a vase which had played a role in the life of
Christ and his disciples. In fact Robert de Boron wrote a sort of Life
of Joseph of Arimathea in Old French, in which the Passion of Christ
and the Grail became the main themes. It has been suggested that
the author found his inspiration in Outremer, in Cyprus, which was
a recent Western conquest. There a Byzantine Passion Cycle had
survived which preserves liturgical elements originating from the
64 Walter Map, p. 364s.; L. Harff/M.N. Polino, `Le gouffre de Satalie: survivances
medievales du mythe de Meduse', Le Moyen Age 94, 1988, p. 73-101.
65 Berschin, p. 78; Annales Stadenses, MGH SS XVI, p. 347 [A.D. 1173], `Christianus
archiepiscopus ... vir largus et illustris, utens lingua Latina, Romana, Gallica, Graeca,
Apulica'; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 466s., 489s.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
347
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. Literature, however, is often more concrete than religion, since texts
reveal foreign influences. Religion, with its many unrecorded traditions 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. Western monasteries received Greek monks who could peacefully and
fruitfully exchange ideas with their Western brothers. Generally speaking 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. Important 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 repression in Byzantium. Eastern monks and intellectuals who were victims
to trials had to seek intellectual freedom outside the Byzantine empire 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
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Eastern contacts. Greek masses were sung in some of them, as in
Saint Denis, but the mystery of how, when and why some monasteries opened up to Greek influence in their services is still to be revealed. Liturgical differences were discussed from time to time, as in
Monte Cassino.68 In the 12th century the Liturgy of Saint John
Chrysostom and of Saint Basil were translated into Latin. Eastern
music left marks as well but this is a field which is better left to
specialists.
The Western church discussed theological differences with the
Byzantine Orthodox church, sending cardinals, bishops and others
to official church meetings and councils, especially after 1054. The
abbey of Saint Denis was actively engaged in buying Greek manuscripts with theological and liturgical texts; very likely this had to be
done in monasteries in Byzantium. Not always do we find an atmosphere of hostility and misunderstanding. The common Christian
heritage was remembered. Anselm of Canterbury took part in the
council of Bari in 1098, which was to reunite the Greek churches of
southern Italy with the church of Rome. With a fine sense of diplomacy he called the first chapter of his book Contra errores Crecorum,
`Quae communis est Latinis et Graecis fides de trinitate'.69 A better
understanding, the reunion of the churches, was the ultimate goal, a
goal which, for various reasons, was never reached. The tension
created by the schism proved too strong, in spite of political collaboration between Byzantium and the papacy at certain times, alternating with periods of open hostility. The balance was not easy to find.
The events of 1204 were the last phase in this process of approach
and withdrawal, of admiration and rejection.
Certain aspects of Eastern Christendom appealed to Westerners,
visitors and theologians alike. Among those who had positive feelings
about some teachings and traditions of the Orthodox church was
bishop Gilbert of Poitiers (1142-1154), as we have seen already. His
ideas about the Trinity were considered by some as being too much
in accordance with Greek theology. W. Ohnsorge made clear that
there were contacts between Poitiers and Siegburg, and that Gilbert
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
had followers in the German monastery, among whom abbot Nicholas,
the `porphyrogenitus' of the church. Hugh of Honau, twice an ambas-
sador to the Constantinopolitan court on behalf of Frederick Barbarossa, was of the same opinion when he wrote that `from the Greeks
has flowed the source of all wisdom'. The role of these `dissident'
Western theologians has still to be set against Western theology and
their contacts with Byzantium. Nominalism and Realism were the
new ways of thinking; they may have influenced these `new' theologians who were becoming critical about the doctrines of the Western
church. Some of them knew some Greek, some did not, like Gilbert
himself.70
Westerners were interested in icons as we can conclude from several travel reports and the descriptions of Constantinople. It would
be interesting to know why the West never introduced icons in its
church life.. It may have been a reluctance to venerate images for
which Western theology did not give `permission'. It can hardly have
been a lack of technical skill, since painting on wood (wooden altar
tables) did occur in Catalonia. How are we to explain the birth of
panel painting in Duecento Italy? Odo of Deuil was impressed by
the beautifully adorned private chapels of the wealthy Byzantines of
which icons formed an essential part. Even the Englishman Coleman
who had emigrated to Byzantium built a private chapel for which he
ordered icons. Icons figure in what seem to be Western literary texts
but their presence remains unexplained.71
Some Western churches were decorated with Greek devotionalia and
church furniture. Golden altar tables were ordered from Constantinople. The late 10th-century golden altar table in San Marco was
made in Byzantium and so was the golden altar of Monte Cassino
which abbot Desiderius bought for his new abbey church. The Norwegian king Sigurd bought one for his church in Konungahelle.72
Other Western churches, Speyer for instance, and their treasuries
70 Berschin, p. 288, n. 122; Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 486-9; H.C. van Elswijk,
Gilbert Porreta, Louvain 1966, p. 35. Did Gilbert cultivate iconophile feelings for the
visual arts? cf. R. Assunto, Die Theorie des Scho'nen im Mittelalter, Cologne (1963) 1987,
p. 195, where he speaks about the `nature' of statues of bronze; N.M. Haring, `The
Porretans and the Greek fathers', Mediaeval Studies 24, 1962, p. 181-209. Such a
statement deserves attention in the context of Gilbert's interest in Greek writings.
For Hugo of Honau, see note 1 supra; Renaissance and renewal, p. 431; and ch.
Auctoritates and translationes.
" Odo of Deuil, Waquet, p. 42 (Berry, 54-5); for an icon in the Play of St Nicholas, K. Young, The Drama of the Medieval church, Oxford (1933) 1951, II, p. 337s.
72 Lexikon des Mittelalters, s.v. Goldaltar.
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possessed Byzantine altars, lamps, ambos, reliquaries and liturgical
manuscripts which had, in one way or another, an impact on the
minor arts in these churches. The groundplan of some Western
churches was a Greek cross, i.e. a cross with equal arms, and occasionally one finds a patriarchal cross, as in Cluny. More spectacular
were domed churches in Western Europe, some of which had five
domes, San Marco, in Venice, and the church of Canosa, both in
Italy, and several others in France, and even a few in Catalonia.
They were an imitation of the church of the Holy Apostles in the
Greek capital. Western admiration for this architectural novum is
found in secular literature and in the Latin descriptions of Constantinople. In the Pelerinage de Charlemagne the domed constructions of
Constantinople are praised.73 Greek builders are thought to have been
active in the West (Paderborn, Dijon) and one should like to know
if they or their successors stimulated such constructions. On the whole
the Byzantines were careful not to export their technology. Some
techniques, however, became known in the West, by spying and by
instruction, sometimes by kidnapping the workers themselves, as did
Roger of Sicily who carried away the Greek silkweavers in Thebes
and Corinth. The secrets of the mechanical devices in the imperial
palace never became known in the West where they only occur in
literary descriptions. The bridges of Constantinople, their wideness
and construction, were admired by travellers and by authors of literary texts (ill. 10).74 The same is true of an iron chain which protected the Golden Horn, and the other waterworks, like aqueducts
and cisterns. It has still to be determined if they influenced the planning of towns in the West, where a growing population asked for
watersupplies.75 The same goes for the construction of large avenues
and public squares, and even for defense systems.
73 The journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople, ed./trans. J.-L.G. Picherit,
Birmingham, Alabama 1984, p. 82.
74 In one of his letters Hugo of St Pol admires a stone bridge in Constantinople
and compares it with the narrow bridge in Paris, Tafel/Thomas, I, p. 30 7-8; Janin,
Constantinople byzantine, p. 240-4; The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne and Aucassin and
Nicolette, Engl. trans. G.S. Burgess/A.E. Cobby, New York/London 1988, p. 43, 44,
v. 263, the `shimmering bridges' ('les punzrelusanz'). Not every editor of the text
had read `pouts' (bridges). AJ. Cooper, lie pelerinage de Charlemagne, Paris 1925, p. 17,
reads `domes' (modem French trans., `Ses cloches, ses aigles et ses domes brillaient
d'un vif eclat').
75 Cf. U. Dirlmeier, `Zu den Lebensbedingungen in der mittelalterlichen Stadt:
Trinkwasserversorgung and Abfallbeseitigung', in Mensch and Umwelt im Mittelalter,
ed. B. Herrmann, Darmstadt 1986, p. 150-9, information is scarce for Western
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
351
Artists and artisans could consult Theophilus' De diversis artibus for
technical advice and Byzantine recipes for pigments. Yet some mineral pigments like lapis lazuli and malachite had to be imported directly
from the East, and so were most of the mosaic cubes which were
used in the West, in Cordova, Venice and in Sicily, because of the
defective glass industry in the West. Building elements like capitals
and pillars, spolia sometimes, occasionally reached the Western building sites. Metalwork too reveals Byzantine influence: the candelabra
of Essen and Brunswick have screws to keep the loose parts together,
a technical innovation for the West. Horseshoes or horse nails, they
still have to give out their secrets when they are mentioned by Western
travellers at a time when horseshoes were unknown in the West.
Even the special glaze on certain ceramics made in Anglo-Saxon
England and in southern Spain, betray contacts with Byzantium or
Byzantine craftsmen. When Chretien de Troyes speaks of a weaving
atelier in his Yvain, where three hundred women were employed, he
did not describe 12th-century France. What he had in mind were
silk factories in Constantinople and in Sicily where they existed within
the precincts of the palaces. It was indeed in Italy that a certain
industrialization took place, probably stimulated by the expanding
trade in the Italian city states, where private families were the main
partners. They asked for regulations, for a banking system and for
special laws. The Book of the Eparch, in use in the Byzantine capital,
gave all sorts of rules for trade and industry, for Greeks and foreigners alike. The growing interest in Roman law and legal studies, in
12th century Byzantium and Italy, and their interrelations, has still
to be explained in a satisfying way and in a wider context. Byzantium
had a uniform law system, whereas the West applied the law of the
`nation' to which one belonged.76 The marriage contracts for
Theophano and Theodora (the Privilegium minus) made the West familiar with the Byzantine tradition of the written document. Western
colonies in Constantinople had their own law courts of justice which
had, in some cases, jurisdiction over the Greeks as well. An exchange
of ideas and traditions could easily take place under the circumstances.
Much research remains to be done before we know the definite
answers to this complex problem.
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
Another much debated and unsolved problem is the influence of
Byzantine medicine on the West. Byzantine medicine has long been
regarded as remaining faithful to its classical heritage; new impulses
should have come from the Arabs solely. Recently R. Browning made
clear that in southern Italy, where many Greek doctors were active,
medical texts were copied and translated. Salerno was the centre of
these activities." Chretien de Troyes speaks of Greek doctors who
travelled from Salerno to Constantinople, and he referred to the reality
of the day. To these activities one should add the practice of autopsy
in Byzantium, from the 8th century onwards. In Byzantium this
practice was less exceptional than in the West. Northerners who died
in fairly great numbers during a visit to Constantinople in the early
12th century, were submitted to this experiment. There was an in-
terest in anatomy in Byzantium, where Adelard of Bath discussed
such problems during his journey there. There may be a link with
artistic interest in rendering the human body, especially in the 12th
century. In Romanesque art, which was so strongly influenced by
Byzantine painting, one sees the artists trying hard to render all parts
of the human body, accentuating the lines with contrasting colours
and modelling with light. This style, designated as damp-fold style,
cloisonne, nested fold and even v-nested style, could simply be called
the `anatomical style'.76
The presence of medicines, foodstuffs and spices from the East
can only be guessed at. From the story of Theodorus and Abraham
we learn that pepper and cinnamon were carried to the West by
Greek ships. Figs and dates were known and were discussed by
Hildegard of Bingen. Their presence in Western Europe in the later
Middle Ages has been confirmed by excavations. Foreign foodstuffs
could be carried home in various forms, dried (beans), salted and in
77 R. Browning, `Greek influence on the Salerno school of medicine', in Byzantium
and Europe (Delphi 1985), Athens 1987, p. 189-94, and more recently A.M. Ieraci
Bio, `La trasmissione della letteratura medica greca nell' Italia meridionale fra X e
XV secolo', in Contributi alla cultura greca nell' Italia meridionale, I, ed. A. Garzya, Naples
1989, p. 215-239.
78 Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 157; Wilson, p. 205-6, speaks about Michael Choniates'
interest in autopsy; for other references see Symposium on Byzantine medicine, ed.
J. Scarborough (= DOP 38, 1984), s.v. autopsy. The earliest mention of autopsy is
in the year 766, after the death of patriarch Constantine II (754-766), according to
the Chronicon of George Monachus, PG 110, c. 941. Prof. A. Hohlweg will deal with
the subject in the near future. For the interest in the anatomy of the human body
in the arts, Weitzmann, `Latin countries', p. 20, who speaks of an `organic understanding of the human figure'.
BYZANTIUM: FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND LEARNING
353
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 Byzantine science. For the arts, the most visible form of human expression, 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 dampfoldstyle), 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
79 Koder/Weber, p. 71-98; see also e.g. W. Janssen, `Mittelalterliche Gartenkultur. Nahrung and Rekreation', in Mensch and Umwelt im Mittelalter, op. cit. (n. 75),
p. 224-43, esp. 234; U. Maier, `Nahrungspflanzen des spaten Mittelalters aus Heidelberg and Ladenburg nach Bodenfunden aus einer Fakaliengrube and einem Brunnen
des 15./16. Jahrhunderts', Forschungen and Berichte der Archdologie des Mittelalters in Baden-
Mirttemberg, Stuttgart 1983, p. 139-83, esp. 141s. (I owe this reference to Laura
Kooistra); see also note 59 supra.
80 Koder/Weber, p. 15-70; H./R. Kahane, `Sprache', Reallexikon der Byzantinistik,
I, c. 345-639; O. Prinz, `Zum Einfluss des griechischen auf den Wortschatz des
Mittellatein', Festschrift B. Bischoff, ed. J. Autenrieth/F. Brunholize, Stuttgart 1971,
p. 1-15. For Andreas Greens in Winchester, see C.R. Dodwell, Anglo-Saxon art. A
new perspective, Manchester 1982, p. 155, n. 190; for Johannes Grecus in Hildesheim,
Ohnsorge, Abendland, p. 548. With the surname Sarrasinus/Sarrasin we have the
same problem.
81 O. Demus, `Vorbildqualitat and Lehrfunktion der byzantinischen Kunst', in
Stil and Uberlieferung in der Kunst des Abendlandes, Akten des 21. Internationalen Kongresses fiir
Kunstgeschichte, I, Berlin 1967, p. 93.
354
CHAPTER TEN
Artists and patrons, ecclesiastical and secular, gave new interpretations to the imports from the East. A new class of patrons and new
audiences emerged: free farmers in the North, merchant families in
the Italian cities and noble and wealthy families in other areas, who
enjoyed their riches and who became less dependent, in their patronage, of their overlords. The canon of Byzantine art was interpreted freely and critically. Religious art was still dominant but there
was room for secular art as well. Exotic animals like dragons, unicorns, leopards (camels and lions had already a biblical connotation)
were the expression of a new interest in the world. Western rulers
installed zoos and started to patronize secular arts. Artists found
inspiration in Byzantine and other oriental artefacts, and in stories
from travellers coming home.82 It cannot be coincidence that in 12thcentury Byzantium we see the same interest in the exotic, in literature and in the arts. Fauna and flora became popular themes.S3 The
Byzantines wrote beautiful poems on their gardens, on a specific flower
or on the coming of spring. These texts were not easily available to
Westerners who had to content themselves with works of art with
exotic animals, silks, ivories and the like, and with storytelling about
Byzantium by the numerous travellers who had been to the East.
The origins of the 12th-century Renaissance in Western Europe
will probably remain a mystery for ever, but the new interest in the
arts, in nature and in learning, were stimulated by contacts with the
Byzantine world of learning and luxury. Western Europe was original in its willingness to accept foreign elements and foreign ideas. By
its consciousness of its own identity it could open its frontiers to foreign
influences and drink from the Byzantine fount of life and learning,
Constantinople, where all nations could meet, `in ea Graeci, Bulgari,
Alani, Comani, Pigmatici, Italici, Venetici, Romani, Daci, Angli, Malfetani, Turci etiam et gentiles multi, Judaei quoque et Proselyti, Cretes
et Arabes, omniumque nationum gentes conveniunt'.84
82 E.g. R. Bernheimer, Romanische Tierplastik, Munich 1931, passim (there seems to
be a relation with the bestiaries which became so popular); F. Klingender, Animals
in art and thought to the end of the Middle Ages, London 1971; for Bernard of Clairvaux,
see the index. It would be interesting to study the relation between Cluniac art and
the `sober' Cistercian art and their acceptance of 'Byzantium'.
as Kazhdan/Epstein, p. 168.
84 Bartulf of Nangis, Gesta Francorum Hurusalem expugnantium, paraphrase of the Historia
Hierosolymitana of Fulcher of Chartres, RHC Occ., III, p. 494.
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1081-1118
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1143-1180
of Basilius IVC.,onstantinc VIII, 976-1025
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1055-1056
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1066-1087
7. Last jUdgernent.
woodcarving from
Platatunga, Iceland
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Entombment of Christ, St Alhan's Psalter,
lip. -18
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from San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna
17.
Fragment of the Porta di San Clemente, San Marco (Venice)
1$a. Fragment
of bronze doors, Amalli
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1,
king of Asturia and Leon, his wife Urraca,
and their son Ramiro, 976
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22. Maria basilissa, Sacramcntarv from Rcichcnau, 970-980
23a. St Peter
and
St Paul. Byzantine IOth century ivory, used as
bookcover
23b. St Peter and St Paul, Lectionaty of Everger,
archbishop of Cologne (985-999)
LIST OF BYZANTINE EMPERORS
913- 959
959- 963
963- 969
969- 976
976-1025
1025-1028
1028-1034
1034-1041
1041-1042
1042
1042-1055
1055-1056
1056-1057
1057-1059
1059-1067
1068-1071
1071-1078
1078-1081
1081-1118
1118-1143
1143-1180
1180-1183
1183-1185
1185-1195
1195-1203
1203-1204
1204
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus
Romanus II
Nicephorus II Phocas
John I Tzimisces
Basil II
Constantine VIII
Romanus III Argyrus
Michael IV
Michael V
Zoe and Theodora
Constantine IX Monomachus
Theodora (again)
Michael VI
Isaac I Comnenus
Constantine X Doucas
Romanus IV Diogenes
Michael VII Doucas
Nicephorus III Botaneiates
Alexius I Comnenus
John II Comnenus
Manuel I Comnenus
Alexius II Comnenus
Andronicus I Comnenus
Isaac II Angelus
Alexius III Angelus
Isaac II Angelus (again) and Alexius IV Angelus
Alexius V Mourtzouphlus
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Frontispiece, courtesy of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Cl.
794, A.D. 1436, fo. 167r (illustration of the Notitia dignitatum)
1. courtesy Staatliche Munzsammlung, Munich
2. After A. Mordtmann, `Bulles byzantines relatives aux Vareques',
Archives de l'Orient Latin 1, 1881, p. 698
3. photo Mats G. Larsson
4. Rijksmuseum, Het Koninkli jk Penningkabinet, Leiden.
5. Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Vit. 26-2, fo. 208r
6. Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet, Stockholm
7. photo Imynd Gudmundur Ingolfsson, National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
8a. courtesy of the British Museum, London; 8b. Rijksmuseum Het
Koninklijk Penningkabinet, Leiden
9. courtesy of the Parish of St Godehard, Hildesheim (now in the
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolffenbiittel)
10. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1851, fo. 3v
11. photo A. Langlois
12. Bibliotheque Municipale, Avranches, Ms 236, XIs., fo. 97v
13. Niedersachsische Landesbibliothek, Hanover, Ms I, 189, fo. llv
(Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz)
14. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, lat. 4453
15. Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Skulpturengalerie
16. photo Aart J J. Mekking
17. after G.M. Matthiae, Le porte bronzee bizantine in Italia, Rome 1971,
no. 83
18a. photo Pieter Moree; 18b. after G.M. Matthiae, It porte bronzee
bizantine in Italia, Rome 1971, no. 32
20. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont
Morgan, 1917 (17.190.134)
21. Biblioteca del Escorial, Madrid, Codex Vigilanus, A.D. 976 (foto
Patrimonio Nacional)
358
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
22. Heidelberg, Universitatsbibliothek, cod. Sal. IX b, fo. 40v.
23a. Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Lit. 7; 23b. Dombibliothek, Cologne,
143 (985-999), fo. 3v (foto Rheinisches Bildarchiv)
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
AASS: Acta Sanctorum
AB: Analecta Bollandiana
Adam of Bremen: fiesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pont#iicum in Quellen des 9. and 11.
Jahrhunderts zur Geschichte der Hamburgischen Kirche and des Reiches, ed. R. Bruchner/
German tr. W. Trillmich, Berlin 1961; Engl. tr. FJ. Tschan, New York 1959
(inaccessible)
Aerts: W J. Aerts, `The Latin-Greek wordlist in MS 236 of the Municipal Library
of Avranches, Fol. 97v.', ANS 9, 1986 (Woodbridge 1987), p. 64-69
AKB: Aachener Kunstblatter
Albertus of Aix: Historia Hierosolymitanae expeditions, RHC Occ IV, 1879, p. 265-713
Anastos: M.V. Anastos, `Some aspects of Byzantine influence on Latin thought in
the twelfth century', in Twefh-century Europe and the foundations of modern society, ed.
M. Clagett e.a., Madison 1966, p. 131-88 (repr. in idem, Studies in Byzantine intellectual history, London Variorum, 1979, ch. XII
Anna Comnena: Anne Comnene, Alexiade, ed. B. Leib, Paris, 1937/1945 (repr. Paris
1967), with French tr., 3 vols.; Engl. tr. E.R.A. Sewter, The Alexiad of Anna Comnena,
Harmondsworth 1969
ANS: Anglo-Norman Studies
Attaleiates: see Michael Attaleiates
Beck: H.-G. Beck, Kirche and theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich, Munich 1959
Beckwith: J. Beckwith, Early Christian and Byzantine Art, London 1970, Harmondsworth
1979 etc.
Beckwith, `Tissues': J.G. Beckwith, 'Byzantine tissues', Actes du XIVe congres international des etudes byzantines (1971), Bucarest, 1974, I, p. 343-353
Benjamin of Tudela: M.N. Adler, The itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, text, tr., comm.,
London 1907 (repr. New York [n.d.]; partial translation in A. Sharf, Byzantine
Jewry. From Justinian to the Fourth Crusade, London 1971, p. 134-6
Berschin: W. Berschin, Griechisch-Lateinisches Mittelalter, Bern/Munich 1980 (Engl. tr.
JJ. Frakes, Greek letters and the Latin Middle Ages, rev. ed., Washington 1988)
Berschin, `Majestas-Tituli': W. Berschin, `Drei griechische Majestas-Tituli in der TrierEchternacher Buchmalerei', Fnihmittelalterliche Studien 14, 1980, p. 299-309, with ills.
BHG: Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca
BHL: Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina
Bibicou: H. Bibicou, `Une page d'histoire diplomatique de Byzance an XF siecle:
Michel VII Doukas, Robert Guiscard et la pension des dignitaires', Byz 29/30,
1959/60, p. 43-75
Bishop: E. Bishop, Liturgica historica, Oxford 1918
Bloch: H. Bloch, Monte Cassino in the Middle Ages, Cambridge, Mass., 1986, 3 vols.
Blondal/Benedikz: S. Blondal, The Varangians of Byzantium, tr./rev., B.S. Benedikz,
Cambridge 1978
BMGS: Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
Book of the Eparch: It Livre du Prefet, ed. J. Nicole, Geneva 1893; idem, French tr.,
1894; Engl. tr. E.H. Freshfield, Roman law in the late Roman empire, Cambridge
1938, p. 223-70. Reprint of the three titles under the name The Book of the Eparch.
Le Livre du Prefet, London 1970
Brand: C.M. Brand, Byzantium confronts the West, 1180-1204, Cambridge, Mass., 1968
(Brand): Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, by John Kinnamos, Engl. tr. C.M. Brand,
New York 1976
360
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
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. HowardJohnston, 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.
G.G. Litavrin, Moscou 1972; German tr. H.-G. Beck, Vademecum des byzantinischen
Aristokraten, Graz etc. 1956 (1964)
Cedrenus: see George Cedrenus
Chalandon, Comnene: F. Chalandon, Les Comnene. L Essai sur le regne d'Alexis PT
Comnene, Paris 1900 (repr. New York 1971); H. Jean Comnene (1118-1143) et Manuel
I Comnene (1143-1180), Paris 1912 (repr. New York 1971)
Chalandon, Domination normande: F. Chalandon, Histoire de la domination normande
en Italie et en Sicile, Paris 1907, 2 vols. (repr. New York 1960)
Chretien de Troyes, Cliges: ed. A. Micha, Paris 1957 (1970); D.D.R. Owen, Chretien de
Troyes. Arthurian romances, new translation, including Perceval, London 1987, p. 93-184
Ciggaar, `Description': K.N. Ciggaar, `Une description de Constantinople du XIIP
siecle', REB 31, 1973, p. 335-54
Ciggaar, `Description de Constantinople traduite par un pelerin': K.N. Ciggaar, `Une
description de Constantinople traduite par un pelerin anglais du XIP siecle', REB
34, 1976, p. 211-67
Ciggaar, `Emigration anglaise': K.N. Ciggaar, `L'emigration anglaise a Byzance apres
1066. Un nouveau texte en latin sur les Varangues a Constantinople', REB 32,
1974, p. 301-42
Ciggaar, `Marginalia': K.N. Ciggaar, 'Byzantine marginalia to the Norman conquest', ANS 9, 1987, p. 43-63
Ciggaar, `Tarragonensis 55': K.N. Ciggaar, `Une description de Constantinople dans
le Tarragonensis 55', REB 53, 1995, p. 117-40
Cinnamus: see John Cinnamus
Constantelos: DJ. Constantelos, Byzantine philanthropy and social welfare, New Brunswick
1968
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Book of Ceremonies: Constantin Porphyrogenete, Le Livre des
ceremonies, ed. A. Vogt, Paris 1935-40, 4 vols., with French tr. (repr. Paris 1967),
partial edition. Complete edition by 1.1. Reiske, De ceremoniis aulae byzantinae, Bonn
1829-30, 2 vols.
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio: Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De
administrando imperio, Greek text/Engl. tr., Gy. Moravcsik/RJ.H. Jenkins, new rev.
ed., Washington 1967
Dagron: G. Dagron, Constantinople imaginaire. Etudes sur le recited des 'Patria', Paris 1984
Davidson: H.R. Ellis Davidson, The Viking road to Byzantium, London 1976
De administrando imperio: see Constantine Porphyrogenitus
De ceremoniis: see Constantine Porphyrogenitus
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
361
Demus: O. Demus, Byzantine art and the West, London 1970
Diceto: see Ralph de Diceto
Dodwell: C.R. Dodwell, Painting in Europe, 800-1200, Harmondsworth 1971
Dolger: F. Dolger, Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des ostromischen Reiches, Munich/Berlin
1924-*
DOP: Dumbarton Oaks Papers
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1mmou8G)v
EEBS: 'E7te npiS et(upeiaS
EHR: English Historical Review
Eickhoff: E. Eickhoff, Friedrich Barbarossa im Orient, Tubingen 1977
Ekkehard: Ekkehard of Aura, Chronicon universale, ed. Fj. Schmale/I. Schmale-Ott,
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EO: Echos d'Orient
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Frolow, Reliquaires: A. Frolow, Les reliquaires de la Vraie Croix, Paris 1965
Frolow, Relique: A. Frolow, La relique de la Vraie Croix, Paris 1961
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Guilland, Etudes: R. Guilland, Etudes byzantines, Paris 1959
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Haskins, `Canterbury monk': Ch.H. Haskins, `A Canterbury monk at Constantinople',
EHR 25, 1910, p. 293-5
Haskins, Studies: Ch.H. Haskins, Studies in the history of mediaeval science, Cambridge,
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362
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
Heilig: Kj. Heilig, `Ost-Rom and das Deutsche Reich um die Mitte des 12.
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Heimskringla: Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Engl. tr. L.M. Hollander, Heimskringla,
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Heyd: W. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du levant au moyen age, Leipzig 1885/6, 2 vols.
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JOB: Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantinistik
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John Scylitzes: Synopsis historiarum, ed. J. Thurn, Berlin 1973
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Lamma: P. Lamma, Comneni e Staufer, Rome 1955/7, 2 vols.
Lasko: P. Lasko, Ars sacra: 800-1200, Harmondsworth 1972
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
363
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Longnon: J. Longnon, Les compagnons de Villehardouin, Geneva 1978
Lopez, `Probleme des relations': R.S. Lopez, 'Le probleme des relations anglobyzantines du septieme au dixieme siecle', Byz 18, 1948, p. 139-62
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Mazal: O. Mazal, Byzanz and das Abendland, catalogue, Vienna 1981
MB: Meoatwvu"' Bti(P aoOrjxq, ed. K.N. Sathas, Venice 1872-77, 7 vols.
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MGH SS: Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores, Hanover 1826-4
Michael Attaleiates: Historia, ed. W. Brunet de Presle/I. Bekker, Bonn 1853; French
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2 vols.; English tr. by E.R.A. Sewter, Michael Psellus. Fourteen Byzantine rulers,
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Miklosich/Muller: F. Miklosich/J. Muller, Acta et diplomata graeca medii aevi sacra et
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Nicetas: Nicetas Choniates, Historia, ed. J.-L. van Dieten, Berlin 1975 (ed. I. Bekker,
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Nicol: D.M. Nicol, Byzantium and Venice, Cambridge 1988
Obolensky: D. Obolensky, `The principles and methods of Byzantine diplomacy', in
Byzantium and the Slavs. Collected Studies, London 1971, p. 1-17 (repr. of Actes du XI!
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OCP: Orientalia Christiana Periodica
Odo of Deuil: De profectione Ludowici VII. in orientem, ed. H. Waquet, La croisade de
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Ohnsorge, Abendland: W. Ohnsorge, Abendland and Byzanz, Darmstadt 1958 (repr.
1979)
11
Ohnsorge, Konstantinopel: W. Ohnsorge, Konstantinopel and der Okzident, Darmstadt
1966
Ohnsorge, Ost-Rom: W. Ohnsorge, Ost-Rom and der Westen, Darmstadt 1983
Orderic Vitalis: The ecclesiastical history, ed. M. Chibnall, Oxford 1969--*
Otto of Freising: Gesta Frederici, ed. Fj. Schmale, Darmstadt 1965, with German tr.
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Outremer: Outremer. Studies in the history of the crusading kingdom of Jerusalem, presented to
Joshua Prawer, ed. B.Z. Kedar/H.E. Mayer/R.C. Smail, Jerusalem 1982
Owen: see Chretien de Troyes
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A.P. Kazhdan
e.a., New York/Oxford 1991, 3 vols.
Patria Constantinopoleos: see Preger
Pays du Nord: Its Pays du Nord et Byzance, ed. R. Zeitler, Uppsala 1981
364
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
PG: J.-P. Migne, Patrologia graeca
PL: J.-P. Migne, Patrologia latina
Preger: Th. Preger, Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum, Leipzig 1901/7, 2 vols.
(repr. New York 1975)
Psellos: see Michael Psellos
Ralph de Diceto: Abbreviationes chronicorum, ed. W. Stubbs, RS 1876, 2 vols.
RBK: Reallexikon zur Byzantinischen Kunst
REB: Revue des Etudes Byzantines
Relations between East and West: Relations between East and West in the Middle Ages,
ed. D. Baker, Edinburgh 1973
Renaissance and renewal: Renaissance and renewal in the tweh century, ed. R.L. Benson/
G. Constable, Oxford etc. 1982 (1985)
Rentschler I: M. Rentschler, `Griechische Kultur and Byzanz im Urteil westlicher
Autoren des 10. Jahrhunderts', Saeculum 29, 1978, p. 324-55
Rentschler II: M. Rentschler, `Griechische Kultur and Byzanz im Urteil westlicher
Autoren des 11. Jahrhunderts', Saeculum 31, 1980, p. 112-56
RHC: Recueil des Historiens des Croisades; Occ = historiens occidentaux; Grecs =
historiens grecs
RHG: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France (Dom Bouquet, Dom Brial
et l'Academie des Inscriptions), 24 vols., Paris 1738-1904
Riant, Expeditions: P.E. Riant, Expeditions et pelerinages des Scandinaves en Terre Sainte,
Paris 1865
Riant, Exuviae: P.E. Riant, Exuviae sacrae Constantinopolitanae, Geneva 1877/8, 2 vols.
Robert de Clari: La conquete de Constantinople, ed. P. Lauer, Paris 1956; modem French
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E.H. McNeal, The conquest of Constantinople, New York 1936, inaccessible
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Riley, London 1853, inaccessible
RS: Rolls Series, Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during
the Middle Ages, published ... under the direction of the Master of the Rolls,
London 1858-3 (repr. New York)
Runciman, Civilization: S. Runciman, Byzantine civilization, London (1933), 1975 etc.
Runciman, Crusades: S. Runciman, A history of the crusades, Harmondsworth 1971,
3 vols.
Runciman, Eastern schism: S. Runciman, Eastern schism, Oxford 1955
Scylitzes: see John Scylitzes
Scylitzes continuatus: `H 6vvex6ta ; Xpovoypacpia; boil 'Iw&vvov ExvA{ta°71, ed. E.T.
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Seidel: I. Seidel, Byzanz im Spiegel der literarischen Entwicklung Frankreichs im 12. Jahrhundert,
Frankfurt etc. 1977
Setton: History of the crusades, ed. K.M. Setton, e.a., Philadelphia 1955-*, 6 vols.
Sewter: see Anna Conmena
SharE. A. Sharf, Byzantine Jewry. From Justinian to the Fourth Crusade, London 1971
Siegmund: P.A. Siegmund, Die Uberlieferung der griechischen Literatur in der lateinischen
Krche bis zum zwofen Jahrhundert, Munich 1949
Snorri Sturluson: see Heimskringla
Tafel/Thomas: G.L.F. Tafel/G.M. Thomas, Urkunden zur alteren Handels- and Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig, I, Vienna 1856
Timarion: ed. R. Romano, Naples 1974, with Italian tr. (Engl. tr. B. Baldwin, Detroit
1984; fragments translated in H. Tozer, 'Byzantine satire', Journal of Hellenic Studies 2, 1881, p. 233-70)
TM: Travaux et Me'moires
Vasiliev, `Manuel Comnenus': A.A. Vasiliev, `Manuel Comnenus and Henry Planta-
genet', BZ 29, 1929/30, p. 233-44
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
365
Vasiliev, `Opening stages': A.A. Vasiliev, `The opening stages of the Anglo-Saxon
immigration to Byzantium in the eleventh century', Annales de l'Institut Kondakov 9,
1937, p. 39-70
Villehardouin: Is conquete de Constantinople, ed. E. Faral, Paris 1938/9 (repr. Paris
1973), with modem French tr., 2 vols.; Engl. It M.R.B. Shaw, in Joinville and
Vllehardouin, Chronicles of the Crusades, Harmondsworth 1963, p. 29-160
van der Vin: J.P.A. van der Vin, Travellers to Greece and Constantinople, Leiden 1980,
2 vols.
Vryonis: S. Vryonis, `The will of a provincial magnate, Eustathius Boilas (1059)',
DOP 11, 1957, p. 263-77
Walter Map: De nugis curialium. Courtiers' Trifles, ed. M. James, rev. and tr. C.N.L.
Brooke/R.A.B. Mynors, Oxford 1983
Weitzmann: K. Weitzmann, `Various aspects of Byzantine influence on the Latin
countries from the sixth to the twelfth century', DOP 20, 1966, p. 3-24
Wellesz: E. Wellesz, Eastern elements in Western chant, Oxford 1947
Wibald: Epistolae, ed. Ph. Jaffe, Monumenta Corbeiensia (Bibl. rer. Germ. 1), 1864,
p. 76-596
William of Malmesbury: De gestis region Anglorum, ed. W. Stubbs, RS 1887, 2 vols.
William of Tyre: Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum, ed. R.B.C. Huygens,
Turnhout 1986 (= RHC Occ., I, 1844); Engl. tr. E.A. Babcock/A.C. Krey, New
York 1943, inaccessible
Wilson: N.G. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium, London 1983
Zonaras: see John Zonaras
INDEX
CP = Constantinople
Aachen 134, 202, 237-239, 240;
treasury 60
Abd-al-Rahman III 300
Adelard, Byzantine envoy to the
West
224
Abingdon, monastery 147; see also
John Chrysostom
Aboul Hassan al-Harawi 32 n.25
Abraham, money-lender, see
Theodorus merchant
Absalon, bishop of Roskilde,
archbishop of Lund 106 n.10,
;116, 119
Achilles 96 n.44
Acre 31 n.22, 287
Adalbert, bishop of Bremen 103, 116
Adalbert of Prague 253; Vita 208,
326
Adam of Bremen 104, 105, 208
Adela, wife of Roger of Apulia
116 n.37
Adela of Blois, daughter of William
the Conqueror 181, 183, 184, 345
Adelard of Bath 66, 150, 352
Adelheid, wife of Otto I 211, 214
Adelhheid, abbess of Quedlinburg 218
Adelheid, sister of Bertha of Sulzbach,
abbess of Klosterneuburg 228, 230
Ademar of Chabannes 189s.
admiratio
101
Admont, Admont Bible
230;
230 (see also imperialia and
liturgica); manuscript 146 n.45;
paten 230
loros
adoption (political, religious and
spiritual) 56, 164, 182, 184, 211,
213, 230, 265, 324; see also
imperialia, Familie der Konige
Adrianople, Latin monastery 40
Adriatic 264, 266, 267, 275, 283
Adso 100 n.56
Aegisif (Saint Sophia) 113, 126;
see also CP
Aelfric of Eynsham 133
Aelfthryth, wife of king Edgar
132, 133
Aelis, wife of Thibaud V of Blois 185
Aemilianus, St, shrine 315; see also
San Milan de la Cogolla
81, 101
Aethelstan, Psalter 133; miniatures
134 n.11; Greek litanies 133
Aethelwine, monk 137
Aethelwold, St 132; Benedictional
133, 136s., 137, 329
Africa 60, 184
aemulatio
agios (or hagios, Greek ayioq), in
Western sources 158, 190, 353
Agnes, wife of Henry III, German
emperor 221
Agnes, daughter of king Louis VII
of France 24, 35, 166, 173, 175,
188, 273
Aimery of Limoges, Latin patriarch of
Antioch 90, 91, 93, 272
Aimon de Varennes 34 n.31, 198
Ajax
26
Alagrecus
208
Alain de Lille
Alamanikon
14 n.28
244
Alani 354
Albans, St, Psalter 150s.
Albert of Aix 38, 302
Albert I, bishop of Meissen 43 n.61
Aldruda of Bertinoro 275
Alexander the Great, Life 344; Romance
ofAlexander 277; see also translations
Alexander, Byzantine emperor
(912-913) 126 n.68
Alexander III, pope 165
Alexander, Greek prince in Chretien
de Troyes' Cliges 158; see also
Chretien de Troyes
Alexander, chaplain of Stephen of
Blois 184
Alexander romance, see Alexander the
Great, and translations
Alexandria 31 n.22, 251
Alexiad, see Anna Comnena
Alexis, St, cult 254, 339; images 339;
legend 151; Life 151, 254, 339,
340; see also translations
INDEX
368
Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine
emperor (1081-1118), passim
Alexius II Comnenus, Byzantine
emperor (1180-1183) 166
Alexius III Angelus, Byzantine emperor
(1195-1203) 244 and n.117, 274
Alexius IV, Byzantine emperor
(1203-1204)
242, 320
210, 231, 240,
Alexius (Alexii), pseudo-
167
Alfanus of Salerno 257 and n.18,
258, 279s., 283; see also translations
Alfonso I of Barcelona (= Alfonso II
of Barcelona-Aragon, 1162-1196)
88 n.27, 302, 304, 305, 311 n.39
Alfonso VIII of Castille (1158-1214)
married with Eleanor 318, 323
Alfonso VI of Leon-Castille
(1065-1109) 315, 318
Alfonso VII of Leon-Castille
(1126-1157) 317
Al-Mansur 306
Almeria 296, 317
Almoravids 302, 306
Alps 201, 345
Alsace 344, 353
altars, see Eilbertus altar, gold and
Liturgica
Alvisus of Arras 43 n.61
Amalfi, Almalfitans 40, 84, 248, 250,
258, 264, 277, 279, 354; bronze
doors 278; Seacode 276, 279,
328, 333; monastery of Saint Mary
of the Latins in CP 40, 266;
hospice in Antioch 40
Amatus of Monte Cassino 260, 281
Amazons 13
ambassadors, passim
Ambazac, treasury 190, 193
Anastasis (Resurrection), see Christ; see
also spuria
Anastasius, Greek monk from
Venice 183, 195, 270, 301; see
also Mont Saint Michel
anatomy 150, 352; `anatomical style'
352; see also medicine
Ancona, Anconitans 275
Andreas Grecus 130, 353 n.80
Andrew, St, relics 144, 337 and
n.39; dedication of cathedral
144, 337
Andronicus I Comnenus, Byzantine
emperor (1183-1185) 154, 155,
166, 167, 274, 293
Andronicus Comnenus,
sebastocrator 228
Andros, Greek island 309
Anemodoulion, see CP
angels, representation of 137, 337
Angemer, French emigrant from
Courbetaux 75, 173
Angers 131, 193 n.83
Angevin empire 130, 131, 161,
189, 192
Angli, see Englishmen
Anglo-Norman, Anglo-Normans 130,
ch. 5 passim
Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Saxons 25, 40,
43, 49, 110, ch. ' 5 passim, 323
Angouleme 164, 189; Saint Peter
(domed church) 193; see also
architecture
Aniane (S. France) 165, 304
animals 59, 60, 61, 144, 308, 342s.,
354; asses 61, 63; bears 61; birds
59, 61 (cranes 153; storks 153);
camels 63, 236, 343; crocodiles
63; dogs 152; dragons 15 n.32,
63; eagles 63 (see also motifs);
elephants 60, 61 n.37, 63, 235,
285, 313, 343; falcons, see general
index; giraffes 60; horses, see
general index; hyenas 63; leopards
61, 184, 192, 235, 236, 343; lions
15 n.32, 55, 61 and n.37, 63, 126,
184, 192, 235, 237, 343 (see also
statues); peacocks 59; scorpions
45; seals 63; snakes 45, 60, 153;
sphynxes 63; tigers 15 n.32; turtles
45, 60; wild goats 153; wolves 63;
see also bestiaries and motifs
Anjou
332
Anna, mother of the Virgin 68
Anna Comnena, daughter of Alexius I
Comnenus 35 n.37, 37, 69-71,
129, 141, 170, 223, 245, 250, 267,
281-285, 298
Anna Dalassena, Byzantine empress,
mother of Alexius I Comnenus
39, 70
Annales in Flateyjarbok
125
Anno II, archbishop of Cologne 221;
chasuble (purple silk) 222; Byzantine
(?) reliquary 222; shrine 222; silks
222; Song of Anno 221; Life 221s.
anonymus Mercati, list of relics and
sanctuaries in CP 48, 148,
149, 327
INDEX
Anselm of Canterbury 145, 146, 150,
181, 262, 348
Anselm the Younger 145s.
Anselm of Havelberg 76, 227, 236,
262, 271
Antalya, see Attalia
antecessor, antecessores 80, 89 n.31
Antichrist 100 n.56; see also Play of
Antichrist
anti-Latinism 167
Antioch 40, 48, 251, 272, 285, 288;
cemetery 43; hospice 40
Antiquity 8, 63, 76, 78, 80, 95
and n.43, 99, 240 n.100, 256,
342, 344, 346
apostles 334, 337; see also various
names
Apostles, Holy, church of the Holy
Apostles (Bergen, Norway)
120;
see also CP
Apulia 143, 183, 202, 207, 225, 227,
276, 281
Aquileia 269, 328
Aquitaine 161, 171, 191, 332
Arabes, Arabic, Arabs 25, 75, 92, 110,
112, 207 n.7, 247, 250, 252, 257,
265, 282, 285, 286, 289, 290 n.91,
369
Arnulf, bishop of Lisieux 183
Arnulf, bishop of Milan 214
artefacts, Byzantine, passim
Arthur, king, mosaic portrait 294
Arthurian literature, see Grail and
Grail literature, and various authors
artifices palatini, see artists
artists (artifices palatini) and craftsmen
Greek artists in the West (bronze
casters, builders, floor layers,
goldsmiths, marble workers,
mosaicists, painters, silk weavers)
16, 26, 131, 147 n.47, 209, 251,
257s., 267s., 287, 290s., 292, (308),
328, 350; see also Cefalu, Cluny,
Cordova, Dijon, Echternach, Essen,
Fleury, Monte Cassino, Paderborn,
Palermo, Venice (San Marco),
Wimpfen
Ascension, see Christ, and Theotokos
(Dormition)
ascetism, Greek
Asia
214, 253
184
29, 38, 39, 56, 85, 86,
Asia Minor
180, 204
asketeria
Asturias
70
318
293-297, 308, 352, 354
Aragon, Aragonese, ch. 9 passim;
prince of Aragon 165
Arcadius, Byzantine emperor (395-408)
51s., 63; see also CP
Athanasius I, patriarch of CP 42
archangels 337
architecture 225, 318; capitals and
columns 300 and n.ll; domed
churches 350 (see also Angouleme,
auctoritas, auctoritates
Canosa, Catalonia, CP (Holy
Apostles), Fontevrauld, Issoire,
Perigueux, Pisa, Solignac, Venice,
San Marco); exonarthex 196 n.92;
Greek cross-plan 120, 124, 272,
311, 350 (see also Canosa,
Kalundborg, Nore, Pisa, Sigtuna,
Wilton Abbey); patriarchal cross
(ground plan), see Cluny; spolia 311,
312, 319; vaults, see Paderborn
Are, name in runic inscription 127
Aristotle 153, 270; see also
Augustine of Canterbury, St 159 n.76
337; icon 49; Miracula 141,
146, 158; Vita 141, 146, 158;
see also CP
aurotextae clamides 134; see also
translations
Armenia, Armenian, Armenians
31 n.22, 48, 105, 118, 125, 319;
see also Forty Armenian martyrs
of Sebaste 125
Arnold of Liibeck 236
Athens 48, 287
Atlantic 313
Atrani 338
Attalia 345
15, ch. 3
87 n.24,
passim; auctoritas imperialis
90 n.33, 93
Augsburg
202; bronze doors
219 n.47
imperialia, and technology
Austria/Eastmark 201, 229, 230, 231
Austrvegr (Eastway) 28, 103
authority, authorities, see auctoritas,
auctoritates
automata 55,
184, 194, 343
autopsy 66, 149s., 352
Auxerre, besants 33 n.28; cathedral
178 n.44; Saint Eusebius 177s.;
Greek wordlist 33
Avranches 340; Greek wordlist 33
Azenaire, abbot of Massai (near
Bourges)
50
INDEX
370
Babenberg family 229, 231
Baffa, see Paphos (Cyprus)
Baga (Pyrenees), Greek reliquary
306 n.29, 313
balance-motif, see motifs, and double
portraits
Balderich, bishop of Utrecht 208
Baldovino Quercio 273
Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem 302
Baldwin I of Flanders, emperor of
CP 54, 160, 174, 263
Baudri de Bourgueil 86 n.24,
184, 345
Bavaria 201, 211, 213 (duke),
225, 229
Bayeux Tapestry 143s., 331; see also
Odo of Bayeux
Beatos mss 299, 319
Beatrix of Burgundy, wife of Frederick
Barbarossa 234
Beatrix, wife of Otto IV 235 n.92
Beatrix, daughter of Philip of
Baldwin II, emperor of CP 319
Swabia 320
Benedict, St 258; Benedictine rule
(Benedictines), see various
monasteries
Balearic Islands
Balkans
311
28, 46, 103, 109, 202, 315
Baltic Sea 104
Bamberg 202, 252 n.9; cross of
Henry II (Byzantine reliquary cross?)
237; see also Gunther of Bamberg
banks, bankers, see CP
Baptism, see Christ
baptismal fonts, see liturgica
Barbara, St, relics 180 and n.50,
266, 339
Barcelona 28, 296, 301, 302, 304,
306, 309-311, 315; church of
San Justo y Pastor 312; tomb
of St Bernard Calvo (silks) 317s.;
see also Manasses
Bari 2, 143, 214, 239, 247, 253,
257, 265, 276, 281, 284, 314;
Saint Nicholas 113 n.27;
council 145, 261, 348; chronicle
277 n.64
Barlaam and Joasaph 280, 340; see
also translations
Barnabas, Greek bishop 195
Bartulf of Nangis 62 n.42, 354 n.84
Basil, St, Liturgy 263; see also
translations
Basil II, Byzantine emperor (976-1025)
2, 109, 117, 119, 168, 266
Basil, archbishop of Ochrid 228
Basil, son of John Orseolo and Maria
Argyropoula 266
1. official name for Byzantine
basileus,
emperor, passim; 2. title used by
Western rulers or who are
represented as such, or used in
Western texts 132, 134, 135, 141,
182, 198, 217, 279, 288, 289, 293,
309 n.37, 316, 324, 331, 332 and
n.26, 353; basilea 316; basileus,
basileon (= Christ) 324, 326
Basilius, proper name in the
West 244 n.113
Benevento
277
Benjamin of Tudela 24, 47, 61, 65,
95, 165, 295, 301, 303, 316
Benna, artist from Trier 134
Benno II, bishop of Osnabriick 222
Benoit de Sainte-Maure 187,
188 n.69, 194
Benzo of Alba 80, 223
Berbers
300
Berengar II, king of Italy/Lombardy
60, 89, 251, 252 n.9
105; Byzantine
diploma with gold seal 105; Holy
Apostles 120; altar 123; portrait
in marble 112
Bernard Calvo, St, see Barcelona
Bernard of Clairvaux 15, 22 n.3, 32,
91, 100, 185, 220 n.47, 354 n.82
Bernard, bishop of Palestrina 279
Bernward of Hildesheim 219; see also
Hildesheim
Bertha (Eudocia), daughter of -king
Hugh of Italy 250
Bertha (Irene) of Sulzbach, wife of
Manuel Conmenus 22, 24, 35, 71,
172, 194, 225-228, 243, 346
Berthold, monk in Werden 221 n.49
Bertrand de Born 88 n.27, 305
Berze-la-Ville 196, 325
Besalu, count of 302, 307
besants, passim, esp. 32s., 342; false
besants 31 n.20, 208; bisante (tax)
320; see also coins
bestiaries 144 n.41, 354 n.82
Bergen (Norway)
bisante, see besants, and spuria
Black Sea coast 141 n.41
Blois 185, 187, 188
Bogomils 263 n.29
Bohemia 88; see also Judith,
Ladislas II
371
INDEX
Bohemund, Norman ruler of S. Italy
282, 284-286, 291
Boilas, see Eustathius Boilas
Bolli Bollason, Icelander 107,
110, 116
Bologna 276; see also laws
Bonanno 329
Boniface of Montferrat 274, 304
imperial standard of Isaac
Book of Ceremonies, see Constantine VII
Porphyrogenitus
Book of the Eparch
Burgundy 161, 195, 196
Burtscheid 210; church of St John
the Baptist 215; mosaic icon of St
Nicholas 210
Bury, St Edmunds, abbey, Bible 151;
Comnenus 155
Buschetos/Busketos, architect 272
'Byzantinische Frage' 8 n.14, 18 n.35,
102, 120
24, 32, 65, 351
Book of the Prophets, see Old Testament
cadaster
bookcovers, see under various
manuscripts
Bosporus 32, 172, 323
Bothilda, wife of king Erik of
Denmark 111
Cadiz
Bourges
Brindisi
276, 281
Cambrai 198; see also Lietbert
Campania 277
candelabra, see Brunswick, Essen,
220
307
Britain, British Isles 28, ch. 5 passim;
see also Englishmen
Brittany 194, 195
Bromholm (Norfolk) 160
bronze, bronze casting 32, 64, 258,
330; see also, artists, doors,
Hildesheim, and technology
Bruno, brother of Otto I, archbishop
of Cologne
143, 289
Caen, abbey of the Sainte
Trinite 181, 337 n.39, 338 n.41
Calabria 201, 207, 225, 252,
199
Bourgueil, charters 189
Braga, treasury 318
Branthog, bishop of Halberstadt
Brauweiler 219 n.47
Bremen 118
Bretons 98
143; Thebes
298
208
Bruno of Querfurt 326, 351
Brunswick 235; candelabra 237,
351; statue of lion 237, 330
Brynjubitr, sword of Sigurd the
Greek 110
Bulgari, Bulgars
160, 243, 354
255, 302;
see also translations
Burchard, bishop and count of
Munster 242
Burchard, abbot of Saint Gall 208
Burchard III of Swabia 330
Bureau of the Barbarians, see CP
Bureau de change, see CP
Bureau of the Dignities, see CP, and
Bull of Excommunication
imperialia
Burgos, cathedral, altar for St
Nicholas 314; Las Huelgas (Royal
Pantheon) 317, 319, 320
Burgundio of Pisa 89, 98, 262, 271;
see also translations
liturgica, and metalwork
Canosa, cathedral of San Sabino
285, 350
Canterbury 135; cathedral, chapel of,
St Anselm 157; treasury (silks)
135; miniature painting 157
Canterbury monk, see Joseph of
Canterbury
Capetians 1, 161, 168, 171, 175, 306
Cappadocia 72, 74
Capua 253, 277
Carmen de Hastingae proelio, see Guy of
Amiens
Carolingian(s) 1, 10, 90 n.32, 133,
161, 167, 168, 176, 190, 191, 201,
295, 325, 326
Cartagena 298
Castelseprio 276 n.62
Castilian, Castille, ch. 9 passim
Catalan Company 297, 312
Catalonia, ch. 9 passim, esp. 295-296,
306, 310, 311, 320s., 349; domed
churches 311, 350
Cathars 304, 305; see also Bogomils
Catherina, see Constantina
Catherine, St, relics 181
Catherine Comnena, Lectionary
71 n.67
Caucasus 243
Cecaumenus 109, 243
Cedrenus, see George Cedrenus
Cefalu (Sicily) 290-292
Celtiberians
298
Celts, term used for various
Westerners 26 n.9, 75, 162
INDEX
372
cemeteries (xenotapheia)
43; see also
Antioch and CP
Cephalonia 283
61 and n.38, 137,
300, 301, 310, 351
Cerdafia, count of 302, 308
ceramics (pottery)
ceremonial, see Book of Ceremonies, and
imperialia
182 n.54; Crucifixion 114, 115,
136, 157, 222, 308 n.35, 313, 326;
Descent of the Cross 314 n.45,
326; Entombment 151; Last
Judgement 120, 121, 122, 123,
196, 326 (see also general index);
Last Supper 308 n.35; Nativity
308 n.35; Pentecost 133;
Transfiguration 197; see also
Cerullarius 302
chalices, see liturgica
Champagne 183
Chanson de Roland 182s., 187, 238,
295, 342
chansons de geste, see epic literature
Charite-sur-Loire 40, 197 n.96
Christian, bishop of Mainz 234, 346
Christina of Markyate 150, 151
Christine, daughter of king Sigurd the
Crusader of Norway 112
Christmas (day) 54, 61, 139, 240
charity and philanthropic institutions,
ch. 1 and ch. 2 passim; see also CP,
Christodoulos, St, Life 286
Christodoulos, commander of the
and Spoudaioi
51, 79, 93, 139, 175,
180, 182, 201, 245, 246, 251, 342;
arm reliquary 234; see also
Charlemagne
Carolingian(s)
Charles the Bald 168, 178
Chartres 165, 183, 188; Virgin with,
St Anna 68
cherubim
309
children 21, 43, 71, 72, 163, 173, 179
Chios 314
Choniates, see Michael, Nicetas
Chretien de Troyes 100, 238, 342,
343, 346; Cliges 34, 94, 158, 185,
199 n.102, 238, 280, 352; Roman de
Perceval
Yvain
32 n.26, 186, 187, 346;
186, 243 n.lll, 351
Christ, iconography, passim, esp. 52;
bearded Christ 196, 209, 309, 325;
beardless Christ 325; blessing
Christ 177; crowning Christ 271;
306, 313, 325, 326;
enthroned Christ (Christ in Majesty,
Majestas Domini, Pantocrator) 196,
Deesis
209, 232, 271, 289, 309, 315s.,
318 n.60, 325, 334, 335 n.34; images
(coins, devotionalia, icons, pendant
crosses, seals etc.), passim, esp. 52,
138, 330; statue
125; red
reliquaries, passim; Holy Cross 52,
111, 112, 119, 136, 160, 168, 179,
181, 221, 242, 313, 337 and 6.39;
Passion relics 186 (Holy Lance
53) 137); see also CP; scenes from Life,
Anastasis (Resurrection) 139 n.27,
306 (see also spuria); Ascension
122, 308 n.35; Baptism
133,
basileus, and spuria
Sicilian fleet 288
Chronicle(s) of Monte Cassino
259,
267; see also Leo of Ostia
Chronicon Laudunense 140, 141, 159
Chrysobulls, official diploma with gold
seal, see seals
Chrysotriclinium, see CP
Chumunianus 166, 167
church decoration, furniture 193,
349s. and passim; see also
architecture, liturgica, and
woodcarving
Cilicia
233
cinnamon, see spices
Cinnamus, see John Cinnamus
circusgames, see CP, and imperialia
Citeaux, manuscript painting
196, 336
Ciudad Real
Civetot
306
40, 140, 197
Clairvaux
91
clamis (aurotextae clamides)
imperialia
134; see also
Clermont, council 169
Cluny 40, 146, 156, 164, 195-198,
347; abbey church 195, 350; Last
Judgement 196; see also Peter the
Venerable
Cnut, St, king of Denmark 104,
106 n.10, 116
143 n.37
codex Vigilanus/Albeldensis 314 n.49,
Cnut, king of England
315, 316
Coel, king 150; see also St Helena
Coimbra 296, 301, 319
coinage, coins, passim esp. 30s.,
65s., 69, 83, 138; central mint
117,
INDEX
132, 330; Byzantine coins in the
West 31, 33 n.28, 57, (87), 88,
104, 105, (109), 110, 120, 123, 181,
182, 206, 223, 224 and n.57, 232,
260 n.23, 330, 341; influence of
Byzantine coins on Western coinage
83, ch. 4 passim, 137, 142, 199,
ch. 7 passim, 214, 216, 221, 224,
230, 232, 271, 279, 281, 282, 288,
299, 330s.; pierced coins 31, 51,
53, 137s.; see also imperialia
Coleman, Anglo-Saxon immigrant in
CP 49, 141, 159, 349
202, 209, 221, 234 n.88,
238; Forum Grecum 209, 222;
Porta Grecorum 209; Saint Gereon
(Psalter) 222; Saint Pantaleon and
Gospel Book 338 and n.42
Cologne
Comani
354
Compostela, see Santiago de
Compostela
Conques, Sainte Foy 189, 330;
altar 192
Conrad II, German emperor
220, 224
Conrad III, German emperor 27,
43 n.61, 172, 204, 225-228,
243, 244
Conrad, bishop of Lubeck 236
Conrad of Montferrat 274
Conrad of Sternberg, bishop of
Worms 233, 235, 236
Constance, daughter of Roger II of
Sicily
233
Constans, Roman emperor
(337-361)
150
Constantina, Greek teacher of John of
Basingstoke
154
Constantine the Great, Byzantine
emperor (324-337) 93, 245;
see also Vision of Constantine
Constantine VI, Byzantine emperor
(780-797)
246
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus,
Byzantine emperor (913-959)
2, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 70, 105,
203-205, 211, 250, 252 n.9,
298, 300, 345
Constantine VIII, Byzantine emperor
(1025-1028) 2, 109, 117, 119, 168,
220, 221, 253, 266
Constantine IX Monomachus,
Byzantine emperor (1042-1055) 59,
60, 73, 119, 221, 257
373
Constantine X Doucas, Byzantine
emperor (1059-1067) 80, 139, 180
Constantine, son of Michael VII
Doukas 283
Constantine II, patriarch of CP
(754-766) 352 n.78
Constantine Choirosphaktes, Byzantine
envoy to the West 223
Constantine Pantechnes 61
Constantine of Rhodes 63
Constantine Stilbes 310
Constantine, Greek monk at
Malmesbury 131
Constantinople, passim; see also New
Rome and New Jerusalem; facilities
and monuments, Anemodoulion
63;
aqueduct 64, 350; bankers 27, 30,
32, 65, 172, 264; bathhouses 64;
Bureau of the Barbarians 23,
38 n.43, 55; Bureau de change, see
bankers; birdmarket 73; cemeteries
43; cisterns (Aetius, Aspar, Mocius
and others) 64, 350; columns 62,
(of Arcadius and Theodosius 51s.,
63); fountain of Saint Sophia 61;
gardens 58s., 59; Golden Horn
(with iron chain, and other
harbours) 62, 350; Hippodrome(s)
58, 60, 61, 62, 111, 166, 239, 271;
22, 36, 41 (Knights of, St
John 40; Saint Sampson 40 n.51,
42; Pantocrator 42; Spoudaioi 42);
hospices
and hospitals 42; libraries 74;
metata 24; money-changers, see
bankers; mosque(s) 53; obelisks
63; orphanage 43; postal services
21, 38 n.43; schools 73s.,
(Patriarchal School 73, 82; Scola
Greca/Grecorum 35, 75; School of
Law 73; School of Philosophy 73);
statues 62, (statue of Justinian 63,
187, 194) 329, 344); see also general
index; pates and walls, 46; Charisius
Gate 243; Golden Gate 62; Porta
Dacorum 128, 155; Latin quarters
23, 24, 25, 30, 40, 44, 84, 261;
Amalfitan quarter 258, 278;
Anconitan quarter 275; French
quarter 199s.; Genoese quarter
273; German quarter 26, 244;
Pisan quarter 262, 271, 338 n.44;
Venetian quarter 267, 270; palaces,
Palace of the Blachernae (German
Palace) 226, 243; Palace of
INDEX
374
Botaneiates (Kalamanos Palace)
243, 273; Boucoleon Palace 174;
Imperial Palace (Great Palace) with
Bureau of the Barbarians 23,
38 n.43, 55; Bureau of the Dignities
55, 223; gardens 55, 58, 59;
library 298; small Hippodrome
55; polo field 55; and Triclinium
227, 240, 266, 278, 288, 294, 299,
324, 330, 331; see also imperialia
Convey 227; Greek inscription
(Chrysotriclinium) of the Magnaura
with throne 243; and automata 55,
technology
Cremona 246; see also Liutprand of
Cremona
73, 186; Philopation Palace 173;
women quarters 56; sanctuaries,
icons and relics, Holy Apostles
48,
227 n.69
Cosmas, Greek monk 189s.
councils, see various places
court ceremonial, see imperialia
crafts, craftsmen, see artists, and
Cretans, Cretes
354
Crispin, see Milo, Robert
58, 62, 119 n.47, 265, 267, 285,
350; Saint Augustine of Canterbury
and Saint Nicholas 49; Saint
George of the Mangana 59; Saint
Irene (in Pisan quarter) 338; Saint
Mary of the Blachernae 327 n.16;
Saint Mary of the Latins (of the
Amalfitans) 40, 266; Saint Mary
of the Pharos (Great Palace) 48;
Saint Mary de Scota 159; Saint
Mary Varangiotissa 126 n.71;
Saint Nicholas, see Saint Augustine;
Saint Olaf 126; Saint
Cross, Holy, church dedications,
Pammacaristos (Fethiye Camii)
Cross of Lorraine
127, 193 n.82; Pantocrator 42;
Saint Peter 127; Saint Polyeuctus
269, 312; monastery of the Saviour
in Chora (Kahriye Camii) 68;
Saint Sophia 29, 32, 48, 50, 58,
97, 99, 112s., 126, 148, 175, 186,
255, 257, 271, 280, 289 (see also
crowns, see imperialia
see Konungahelle; crosses (pendant
crosses, encolpia etc.), passim; see
also Bamberg, Braga, Dagmar
Cross, Edward Cross, Roskilde
Cross and Welff Cross; double-armed
crosses (patriarchal crosses) 49,
123 and n.59, 155, 198 n.100,
199, (222), 234 and n.88, 330,
331; groundplan in architecture,
see Cluny; see also motifs;
Greek-cross plan, see architecture;
relics, see Christ
199
Crucifixion, see Christ
crusaders, crusades, passim
Cugat (Catalonia), Deesis 313
(Byzantine bronze reliquary)
Cunegunde, wife of Henry II,
German emperor 215, 216;
Psalter 335
diegesis); Saint Thorlac 126 n.71;
cupola, see architecture, domed
church of the Germans 226,
churches
244; church of the Provencals
Cuxa (Catalonia) 307
200 n.105; church of the Spanish
Cynethrith, wife of king Offa 134
320; icons 48 and passim; relics
Cyprus 96, 111, 113, 155, 307 n.30,
46, 48, 49, 148, 160 and passim;
346; gold thread 312; see also
see also Christ
Paphos
Constantinus, name in the West 244 n. 113
Cyril of Phileas, St, Life 286
copper 82
Cordova 295, 298, 299, 300, 301,
Daci, see Danes
302, 307, 351; Greek artists 300,
Dagmar, queen of Denmark, Dagmar
311; mosque 300; Medina
az-Zahra
300
Corinth 48, 287, 350; Latin
monastery 40
Cornwall 129, 148
coronation ceremonies, see imperialia,
and Ordo of 973
co-rulership in Western Europe 109
and n.16, 112, 168, 202, 211, 212,
Cross
115
Damietta 43 n.61
Danelaw 130
Danes 38, ch. 4 passim, 354
Danube (area) 28, 204, 230
David, king (enthroned) 222
De administrando imperii, see Constantine
VII Porphyrogenitus
INDEX
Deesis (Christ between the Virgin and,
St John), see Christ
de Maurone comite (or Pantaleone),
Amalfitan family 84, 278, 328,
333, 338; see also Lupus, Maurus
and Pantaleo(n)
Demetrius, St, cult 48, 338, 340;
images 338; oil 181, 338 n.41;
relics 39 n.46, 181
Demetrius, Byzantine envoy to the
West 164
Denis, St, (St Dionysius) 9, 50, 75,
176; Passio
172; relics
31
Denmark, ch. 4 passim, 140, 145
De profectione Danorum 113
Descriptio Constantinopolis, 12th-century
description of CP 48
Desiderius of Monte Cassino
257-259, 267, 349; see also Monte
Cassino and Sant' Angelo in Formis
De virtute aquilae, see translations
diaconesses 51
diegesis, tale of the building of Saint
Sophia in CP 50, 148, 154; see
also translati ons
343
Dijon 100, 164, 350; Saint-Benign
Digenis Akrites
164, 195, 196, 308
Dionysius the Areopagite 75, 176;
relics 232 n.82
Dionysius, St 97, 172; see also St
Denis, Saint Denis, and Dionysius
the Areopagite
Dioscurides 300; see also translations
Dives-sur-Mer (Normandy) 139, 180
Dniepr 103
dodekaeorton (Twelve Feasts of the
Byzantine Church), see Liturgica
Dol, nobleman from 195
Domenico Contarini, doge of
Venice 267
Domenico Silvio, doge of Venice 267
domes 344, (topos in fiction), see also
architecture, domed churches
Domesday Book 143; see also cadaster
Donatus, Latin 33s.; Greek 153,
154, 209
doors, bronze (bronze casters) 84;
see also Amalfi, Atrani, Augsburg,
Canosa, Hildesheim, Monte Cassino,
Rome, Salerno, Venice (San Marco),
and technology
Dormition (Assumption) of the Virgin
in the West 133, 136s., 156, 217,
375
218, 256, 259, 278, 328 and n.19,
329; see also Theotokos
double-armed cross, see patriarchal
cross, and motifs
double-headed eagles, see motifs
double portraits in the West 132,
213, 316, 323, 336; see also
imperialia
double rulership, see co-rulership
dragon-heads (Norse ships) 112, 127
dragons, see animals
dromund 126, 199 and n.102
Dudo of St Quentin 163
Duecento Italy 349
Dunstan, St, pall 137
dyestuffs, see pigments
Dyrrachium (Durazzo) 267, 283, 285,
286, 293
eagles, see animals, and motifs
Ealdred of Worcester 441 n.66,
137, 139
Eastmark (Austria) 201, 229
Eastway, see Austrvegr
Echternach Gospelbook 209
Edgar, king of England 130, 131,
132, 133
Edith, daughter of king Edgar of
England 132, 134; Life, written
by Goscelin 134
Edmund, St 155
Edward, king of England 131,
135s., 138, 331; Life 136, 140;
Saga 110, 136; Cross of
king Edward 136
Egbert, archbishop of Trier 212, 218;
Psalter 218
Egmond abbey, tympanum 336
Egnatian road 28
Egypt, Egyptians 62, 75, 206 n.7
Eilbertus altar 236
Eindredi the Younger 39
Eke (Gotland) 121, 122
Ekkehard of Aura 225, 243
Eleanor of Aquitaine 13, 71,
72 n.69, 152, 171-173, 185,
188, 189, 194, 226, 235 n.92,
236, 238, 323, 342s., 346
Eleanor, wife of Alfonso VIII of
Barcelona-Aragon 318, 323
Elias, Greek scribe in Cologne 209
Elias, Greek who joined the
crusaders
Elten 218
164
INDEX
376
Elvira, aunt of Ramiro III of
Leon
316
Elvira of Castille, wife of Roger II, of
Sicily
315
Elvira of Aragon, wife of Raymond IV
of Toulouse 303
Elvira (Spain)
Ely
301
130
embassies, passim
embroideries, embroiderers
115, 124,
132, 143, 184, 202, 286; see also
technology
Emma, queen of France
168;
Psalter 168
Emma, foundress of Bourgueil
189
Empurias, count of 302
enamels 191s., 310, and passim;
Byzantine enamels and spolia in
Western Europe 112, 115, 136,
192, 206, 218, 219, 222, 225,
258, 269
Eneas, roman courtois 194
Eustathius Boilas, provincial
magistrate 71, 72, 74
Eustathius of Thessalonica 13, 166,
243, 281, 293
Eustratius 42 n.59
Eutropius, St, church 339; Life 75,
176, 339; see also translations
Eutychius, patriarch of CP (552-565),
Life 42
evangelists
337; see also various names
Everard, bishop of Bamberg 336 n.37
Everard of Ypres 78 n.1, 80 n.9,
91, 98
Everger, archbishop of Cologne,
Lectionary 324, 335
E xeter 135
exiles, see refugees
exotic animals, see animals
Exultet Rolls 259
Eystein Magnusson, king of Norway,
brother of Sigurd the Crusader
112, 120
England, Englishmen 25, 56, 66, 83,
ch. 5 passim, 161, 182, 354
Enrico Dandolo, doge of Venice 271
Ephesus 48, 136, 226; see also
Edward, king of England, Life
epic literature 87, 163, 175, 182,
341s., 345
59 n.33, 182
Erik, king of Denmark 43 n.61, 111,
Epirus
127, 339
Erik, king of Norway, brother of
Sigurd
58, 59, 200
328; Farfa Bible, see Ripoll
Felicia, wife of Sancho V 313
Ferdinand III of Castille 320
Ferdinand I of Leon 301, 318
Ferrara 269
Farfa
feudalism (Western feudalism in
Byzantium) 86, 170, 200,
275, 285s.
112
Ernst, duke, see Herzog Ernst
Esbern Snare 119
Essen 202, 218, 219, 323; candelabra
218s., 351; crosses 218; Golden
Madonna 219, 329; Greek liturgy
218; Byzantine gold seal 219
Ethiopians 75
Eudocia Comnena, niece of Manuel I
Comnenus, wife of Odo
Frangipane
falconry, falcons
fallatia Grecorum 79
Familie der Konige, see imperialia
273
Eudocia Comnena, niece of Manuel I
Comnenus, wife of William VIII of
Montpellier 88 n.27, 165, 304
Eugenius of Palermo, admiral of
the Sicilian fleet 288, 293, 294;
see also translations
eunuchs 51, 56, 170, 207, 266,
289, 299
Euphrat 343
Eustace, St, Roman general 340
Finland, Finnish, Fins 103, 118
Fitz Stephen, see Robert Fitz Stephen
Flanders 187
Flatatunga (Iceland) 122
Flemings 67, 161, 172
Fleury, see Saint Benoit-sur-Loire
floors (marble inlaid floors, floor layers,
marble workers) 49; see also
Brindisi, Fleury, Monte Cassino,
Ripoll, Salerno, Tortosa (Italy),
Venice (San Marco)
flowers
59 and n.33, 343-345, 354
(anemones daffodils, hyacinths, roses,
tulips, violets)
fons, fops graecus
19, 90, 91, 322,
ch. 10 passim; foes eloquentiae
see also lumen
Fontevrault, abbey 188; domed
church 188, 193; see also
architecture
80;
INDEX
Forty Armenian martyrs of Sebaste
125; see also translations
Foy, Ste 189; see also Conques
France, French 91, 94, ch. 6
passim; 323
Francesca, St, icon, see Rome, Santa
Maria Nova
Francia 211
Frangipane family 275; see also
Aldruda of Bertinoro, Odo
Frangipane
Franks, general term for Westerners
162, 205, 250
Frederick Barbarossa, German emperor
30, 43 n.61, 89, 93, 94 n.42, 98,
227-229, 233-240, 275, 292, 322,
323, 346, 349
Frederick of Swabia, son of
Conrad III 228 and n.71
Frederick II, German emperor
231, 294
Freising 224 n.58, 234 n.87
frontality, Frontalitat 141s., 216, 323,
330s., 333s.; see also imperialia,
377
Geoffrey of Bouillon
169
Geoffrey of Huy 234
Geoffrey Malaterra 281
Geoffrey Plantagenet 188; enamel
192, 193
Geoffrey of Villehardouin 174
George, St 340
George of Antioch, commander of the
Sicilian fleet 288, 289
George Cedrenus 104
George Monachus 352 n.78
Georgia 298
Gerald of Wales 153
Gerard Alamanopoulos 244
Gerardus the Greek 244 n.115
Gerberga, queen of France 100 n.56
Gerbert of Aurillac (of Reims, pope
Silvester II) 80, 168, 201, 307, 322s.
Gereon, St 222; Gereon Psalter 222
(see also Cologne, Saint Gereon)
Gerhardus Grecus 244 n.113
Gerhoch of Reichersberg 90 n.33,
336 n.37
Germain, St 177
portraits
frontier control 37s.
fruits, see trees
fugitives 22, 26
Fulcher of Chartres 44, 45, 47,
170, 183
Fulda 210; Sacramentary 208
Fulk of Anjou, king of Jerusalem 192
Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou 179, 192
German quarter in CP, see CP
Germans, Germany (Holy Roman
empire), ch. 7 passim; German
quarter, see CP; general name for
Gadeira, see Cadiz
Gaeta 277
Galliano (near Milan), San Vincenzo
Gibraltar 28, 298
Gilbert of Poitiers (Gilbertus Porretus)
Westerners 162
Gernrode 218
Gero, archbishop of Cologne
212, 338
fiesta comitum Barcinonensium 304
Gesta Henrici secundi 29 n.17, 155
157 , 276
90, 91, 97, 101, 348s.
Gil practus (Gilbertus) 243
73; chivalric games 13 n.24;
see also CP, Hippodrome(s), and
'Gisela treasure', maniakon
games
polo
Gandersheim 202; see also Sophia
Garcia IV Ramirez of Castille 315
Garda (Gotland) 120
gardens, roofgardens 59, 60, (225),
239, 289, 342, 343, 345, 354;
169; Life
189
224 n.57
Gisulf II, duke of Salerno 24,
142 n.36, 279, 280, 331
glass, glassmaking 82, 206, 224, 241,
258, 269s.; medallions 44 n.66, 52;
stained-glass windows 49; see also
Godehard, St, bishop of Hildesheim
208
169, 307
Gebhard, bishop of Salzburg, Life 230
28, 84, 244-246,
249, 250, 270, 273, 274
Genoa, Genoese
87, 195 n.86
214 n.28,
mosaics (tesserae)
see also CP
Gausbert, abbot of Bourgeuil
Gautier d'Arras 187
Gauzlin, abbot of Saint
Benoit-sur-Loire
Girart de Roussillon
gold, passim; Byzantine besants,
passim; see also imperialia; Byzantine
coins in Western Europe, see
general index (coins); Byzantine gold,
passim; Byzantine gold or gilded
INDEX
378
altar (frontals) in the West 112,
123, 349 (see also Konungahelle,
Monte Cassino, Speyer, Venice,
San Marco); bulls, see seals;
horseshoes 214s., 220s.; ink 212,
213, 217, 222; seals 224, 331;
(see also imperialia); gold thread 312
Golden Horn, see CP
Goscelin, author of the Life of
Edith 134
Goslar, gold seal 221
Gospel Book of Echternach, see
Echternach
Gospel Book of Henry II, see
Henry II, German emperor
Gospel Book of Henry the Lion,
see Henry the Lion
Gospel Book of Otto III, see Otto III
Gospel Book of, St Pantaloon, see
Cologne
Gothic art 120, 130, 241
Gotland 104, 114, 120, 122
Gottweig. monastery 230; Greek
icon
230
`gout byzantin', ch. 6 passim
Graeculi
Greek manuscripts in Western Europe
75, 89, 90 n.33, 97 and n.49, 100,
101, 112, 123, 133, 153, 176, 222,
230, 259, 291, 308, 348
Greek names 237, 244, n.113
Greek numerals 154
Greeks, passim; Greeks in the West,
passim, esp. 300, 347
Gregory of Cassano, St, abbot of
Burtscheid 210, 214
Gregory the Illuminator, St
relics 125
Grettir's Saga 106
Grimr rusli 112
Griss Saemingsson, Norwegian
Guercio family, Genoa 273;
see also Baldovino
Gui de Warewic 158
107
Gui, see also Guy
Guibert de Nogent 47, 67 n.59
guide-books, guides 29, 37, 39, 40,
48, 49, 50; see also Pilgrim's Guide to
Santiago
235
212; see also runic inscriptions
Graf Rudolf 239
graffiti
Grkgks (Icelandic laws)
279, 282, 283, 285, 288, 289, 292,
293, 308, 316, 324, 331, 333, 335,
336, 338, 353
105
Grail and Grail literature 14 n.28,
96, 97, 186, 195, 346
Granada 299 n.8; Alhambra 312
Grandmont abbey, treasury 190, 192s.
Grecus, cognomen 208, 353; see also
Andreas Grecus, Gerardus Grecus,
Gerhardus Grecus, Johannes Grecus
of Hildesheiin, Marcus Grecus
Indriomeni, Oruc the Greek, Sigurd
the Greek; see also Alagrecus
Greek, knowledge of (in the West)
33, 34, 173, (174), 178s., 180, 199,
207, 208, 227, 234, 284, 298, 346,
349; wordlists 33 and n.28, 34, 75,
183, 231 (see also Avranches,
Auxerre, Regensburg, Ripoll);
language school in Osnabriick 222
Greek alphabets 190, 198 n.100
Greek artists, see artists
Greek Fathers 15, 89, 96, 97, 230,
347, 353; see also various names
Greek inscriptions (characters) in
the West 33, 85, 192, 209,
213, 216, 217, 218, 227 n.69,
240 n.102, 268, 271, 276 n.61,
Guillaume le Clerc 32s., 181 n.52
Guillaume de Jumieges 34 n.34,
147, 169
Guiscard, see Robert Guiscard
Gulf of Satalia 345
gullboluskrk 126; see also seals (gold)
Gunther, bishop of Bamberg 203;
silk shroud 203
Gunther of Pairis 36
Guy of Amiens 15 n.34, 139
Guy, see also Gui
Hadrian's Wall 129
Hadwig, niece of Otto I 203,
207, 208
Haithabu 208
Halberstadt 202; treasury 242 n.109
Halfdan, in runic inscription 127
halo (nimbus) 323; of Western
rulers 234 n.87, 316, 318; see also
imperialia
Hamburg, bishop of 208
Harald Hardrada, king of Norway
25, 61, 83, ch. 4 passim, 138, 142,
243, 332; Saga 25, 83
Harald's Saga, see Harald Hardrada
Harald Sigurdsson, see Harald
Hardrada
INDEX
Hardigt, Anglo-Saxon refugee 61
Harold, king of England 138
Hartwig II of Regensburg 232
Hastings 138, 180, 184
125
Hauksbok
379
Henry the Wrangler, duke of
Bavaria 323
Henry, see also Henricus
Heraclius, Byzantine emperor
(610-641) `99
heart-shaped motif, see motifs
Hebrew, see Jews
heraldic figures, see animals, and
206
Heimskringla, see Snorri Sturluson
Heinricianum 217
Helen of Troy 63
Herdis, Icelandic girl 107
heresies, see Bogomils, and Cathars
Herman of Reichenau 90 n.33
Herman de Valenciennes 334
Hermann, Westerner living in
Hedwigsglaser
Helen (Helena), St, mother of
Constantine the Great 150;
relics
75
(Helena), daughter of Robert
Guiscard 283
Helsinus, abbot 145
Henricus Aristippus, translator 291
Henry of Flanders, emperor of
CP 54
Henry I, king of England 131, 144,
146s., 148, 150, 183, 189
Henry II, king of England 29 n.17,
32 n.23, 131, 144, 151-153, 155,
156, 179, 195, 345
Henry II, German emperor 215,
216s., 231, 257, 330s., 337 n.39;
altar
217; Cross 237; Gospel
Book 217, 337 n.37;
Sacramentary 217
Henry 111, German emperor 220,
221, 331
Henry IV, German emperor 80, 207
n.7, 220-225, 232; Life 225, 331
Henry V, German emperor 188,
220, 227
Henry VI, German emperor 155,
233, 234, 239, 240, 244
and n.117, 294
Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester
155s., 157, 184, 325; Winchester
Psalter (Psalter of Henry of Blois)
328, 329
Henry, son of Conrad III 227
Henry II Jasomirgott, duke of
Austria 228, 229, 238, 239
Henry the Liberal, count of
Champagne 185, 187
Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony 229,
233, 235-237, 328, 330; Gospel
Book 237-239, 242, 336; see also
Brunswick
Henry, archbishop of Reims 165
Henry of Saxony (fictional) 239
motifs
CP 224
hermits
51
Herrade of Landsberg 241
Herve Frangopoulos 179, 332
Herzog Ernst 26 n.9, 238
Hildegard of Bingen 343, 352
Hildesheim, cathedral, bronze doors
219 n.47; column of Bernward
219 n.47; use of lapis lazuli 241;
Saint Godehard (Psalter of Saint
Albans) 150; see also St Godehard
Hippodromes, see CP
Hisham II 306
Historia Silense
301
Hitda, abbess of Meschede
Hneitir, sword 126
216 n.37
Hodigitria, see Theotokos
Hohenstaufen 244
Holland, counts of 213, 336
Holy Apostles, church in Bergen
(Norway) 120; see also CP
Holy Cross, see Cross
Holy Land, passim
Holy Roman empire 245, ch. 7
passim
Honorius of Autun 27 n.12
horses, horse nails, horseshoes 214,
351; horse transports 139, 180;
see also gold, metalwork, and
technology
Hosea, see Old Testament
hospicia, see CP
hospitals, see CP
Hucbald, monk of Saint Amand
(N. France)
198
Hugh Capet, king of France 168
Hugh, king of Italy 250, 252
Hugh, abbot of Cluny 162, 195, 196
Hugh Etherian 90, 91, 93, 230 n.74,
263, 271, 322; see also translations
Hugh of Honau 89, 90, 230 n.74,
272, 322, 349
380
INDEX
Hugh, bishop of Laon 175
Hugh of, St, Pol 62 n.43, 350 n.74
Hugh of Vermandois 37, 164,
169, 170
Hugo, abbot of the Latin monastery in
Adrianople 40
Hugues de Berze 12
Humbert, cardinal 302
Hungarians, Hungary 28, 201, 202,
203, 213, 229, 231
hunting parties, see falconry, imperialia,
and motifs
Hvide family 121
Iberian pensinsula, Iberians
ch. 9 passim
Ibn Fadlan
161;
ceremonial, see Book of Ceremonies,
crown 54, 139s.; double-headed
eagle 317 (see also motifs); double
portraits, see portraits and general
index; Familie der Ko'nige 88, 184,
211, 213, 324 (see also adoptions);
frontality (Frontalitat) 323, 330s.,
331 (see also portraits); games
13 n.24, 22, 58; gardens 58, 59,
289 (see also CP); gold ink 212,
213 (see also gold); halo, see
nimbus, hunting parties 22, 58,
61; iconographical `hierarchy'
(in size) 175, 289, 293, 319, 325;
imperial costumes: chlamys (long
purple cloak) 134; loros (gold band
around shoulders and waist) 230,
288; prependilia (strings of pearls
along the cheeks) 54, 213, 217,
111 n.22
Ibn Hayyan 301
Ibn Idari 300
Ibn Jubayr 295, 303
Ibn Juljul 300 n.9
Iceland, Icelanders, ch. 4
passim, 140
icona (ycona) in Western sources
117, 140, 168, 231, 246, 247, 324,
330 (see also general index); court
288, 289, 293, 323, 331; red buskins
54; skaramangion (outer tunic)
216
and n.37, 327, 349; see also icons
iconoclasm 13 n.26, 252, 299
iconographical `hierarchy', see imperialia
icons, passim, esp. 349; Greek icons
in the West 192, 230, 234, 255,
258, 261, 306, 313, 327 and n.17;
see also St Augustine of Canterbury,
Burtscheid, Gottweig, Monte
Cassino, and Spoleto
Idense, church, use of lapis lazuli 241
Idrisi 300
imperialia (and regalia) adoption 56,
57 (see also Familie der K5nige);
besants 30, 31 and passim (see also
general index); Book of Ceremonies, see
Constantine VII; Bureau of the
Barbarians and Bureau of the
Dignities, see CP; chrysobulls 288
(see also seals); circus games
317 n.54 (see also games); coinage/
coins 65, 83, 142s.; Michalati (gold
coins) 260 n.23; miliaresia (silver
coins) 110, 117; Persian coins
(darics) 63; Romanati (gold coins)
224; Otto-Adelheid coins, see
general index; coronation 58, 70,
72, 139, 168; coronation by Christ
or Theotokos (Virgin) 216, 271, 289,
293, 324, 330, 341 (see also Ordo
of 973); co-rulership 69, 108,
54;
joint rulership, see co-rulership,
laudes 140, 289, 317 (see also
general index); nimbus 323
(see also general index); palaces,
see CP; portraits (and double
portraits) 49, 54, 69, 112, 128,
141s., 146, 168, 192, 207, 208,
213 and n.26, 217, 248, 289
(see also coins and seals); processions
58; proskynesis 54, 55, 175 (see also
general index); purple (red) 212
and passim, red ink 57, 288; red
porphyry (sarcophagus)
62, 291,
(red sandstone 214 and n.30);
regency, see general index, sacra
(imperial letters) 57, 136, 331
(see also general index); seals (gold)
34, 57, 106, 288, 331 (see also
general index); shield-raising 317;
spiritual brotherhood, see adoption
and imperialia, throne, see CP;
titles 56, 57, 223; augustus/
augusta 134; basileus 53, 106,
132, 134, 135, 138, 141, 279
(see also general index);
isapostolos 53; porphyrogenitus
(-ta) 215, 253, 349; sanctus
54,
233, 234, 322 (see also general
index); zoos 60, 343, 354; see also
motifs, and symmetry
imperial silken standard of Isaac
INDEX
Comnenus, ruler of Cyprus
see also Bury St. Edmunds
155;
imperium Romanum, Renovatio imperii
Romani 245-247, 253, 256, 261
India, Indian 58, 60, 61 n.37
Ingulf, monk of Saint Wandrille, abbot
of Croyland 138
Ingulf, pseudo 139 n.27
Ingvar, Swedish chieftain 127
Innocent III, pope 263
inscriptions in works of art, passim,
esp. 158 n.74, 192, (209), 213,
(218), 292, 336; see also Greek
inscriptions in the West, and spuria
intaglio 193, 272
interpreters 34s., 56, 76, 144, 150,
159, 171, 172, 188, 244, 249 n.4,
250, 261, 262, 270, 271, 277;
see also Greek (knowledge of)
translations, and various names
Ireland 129
Irene, St, Life 338; see also
381
Ivo, bishop of Belleme 179
ivories, ivory, ivory carving 60s., 115,
168, 219, 258, 312, and passim;
Byzantine ivories and spolia in the
West 115, 168, 190, 206, 213,
218, 219, 306, 313, 324, 328,
335, 354
Jaca, cathedral 313, 314, 320;
sarcophagus 314; tympanum
314; ivories (Deesis)
Crucifixion 313
313;
Jacobites 96 n.47
James of Venice 262, 270; ,see also
translations
Je