Byzance et sa monnaie (IVe-XVe siècle) (original) (raw)
Related papers
This book started from lessons given in Fribourg (Switzerland) at the invitation of Professor Jean-Michel Spieser, in order to highlight the bequest to the University of a collection of some 150 coins. This series, catalogued here by Georg Schaaf, provides a representative sample of Constantinople gold issues. Drawing also on teaching experience with French students and in the Dumbarton Oaks Summer Seminar for Coins and Seals between 2002 and 2013, the volume offers an outline of Byzantine numismatics in its historical context. It begins with a summary of the evolution of this coinage, whose relative stability and resilience over a millenium makes it an exception in the Medieval and modern world. Its iconography and the most recent interpretations of its visual and written message are envisaged. The various uses of this pluri-metallic and multi-denominational coinage lead to a study of its role as an instrument of imperial finances on the one hand, with its regulation and manipulation in times of crisis, and on the other hand as the means of private transactions. As such it was both hoarded or exchanged and a final chapter considers its circulation and rate of exchange, within the empire and beyond, from Britain and Scandinavia to India and China. This Précis de numismatique byzantine is amply illustrated with photos from Dumbarton Oaks holdings, tables, graphs and maps, all in color. A few boxes deal with basic questions like hammer striking, obverse and revers, die orientation, how to describe a coin, overstrikes, countermarks and graffiti. Thirty pages of glossary, uptodate bibliography and index aim at facilitating the orientation of the reader. It is hoped that this unique synthesis of methods and major results obtained by research over the last four decades will fill a gap in the available bibliography. SUMMARY Avant-propos par Jean-Michel SPIESER PRECIS DE NUMISMATIQUE BYZANTINE, par Cécile MORRISSON 1 - Le système monétaire et ses phases, les dénominations / The system and its denominations 2 - L’iconographie monétaire (types, christianisation, iconoclasme, tradition et occidentalisation) / Iconography (types, christianization, iconoclasm , tradition and westernization) 3 - La monnaie instrument des finances impériales (ateliers et frappe, budget, dévaluations) / Coinage and imperial finances (mints and issues, budget, debasement) 4 - La monnaie et son usage (prix, épargne et trésors, banquiers, circulation, contrefaçons, changes extérieurs, diffusion de la monnaie hors de l’Empire) / Coinage and its use (prices, savings and hoarding, bankers and moneychangers, coin circulation, counterfeiting, external exchanges) CATALOGUE DE LA COLLECTION par Georg-D. SCHAAF Liste des empereurs et chronologie / Chronology of emperors Glossaire, Bibliographie, Index / Glossary, Bibliography, Index
P. Faure-IV 02 Le rayonnement angélique de Byzance en Occident
Travaux et mémoires-Centre de recherche d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 2021
This study attempts to identify the modalities of the Byzantine influence on Western medieval art from the 10th to the 13th century in the field of the representation of angels, through the analysis of some major iconographic themes and motifs. The main artistic centres concerned (Italy, Sicily, Catalonia) show that the Byzantine representation of angels is closely linked to the visionary, glorious and theophanic dimension of Christianity, which is expressed in particular in the conceptions of the kingdom of God and the heavenly court. The spread of this inspiration is so powerful that it can be found in works painted in Germania, France, and even Great Britain. The treatment of themes such as the angelic escort of Christ or the Virgin, the heavenly Jerusalem, the celestial hierarchy and the Last Judgement bear witness to this inspiration, but also to a work of appropriation and adaptation. The figures of the archangels are particularly significant in this process: as prince of heaven, Michael appears to be associated with the dramaturgy, eschatology and liturgical celebration. Gabriel, on the other hand, benefited from the promotion of the founding scene of the Annunciation. The creative process led to the integration of Byzantine models in the active form of quotation and the invention of new works. The orientation of Western piety in the 13th century, which tended to focus on the humanity and the Passion of Christ, was accompanied by a gradual retreat from Byzantine inspiration. However, the hieratic nature of the angelic figures tended to be maintained, within the framework of another pole of devotion, the representations of the Virgin in majesty, inseparable from her angelic escort.
II-5 Le bullaire monastique à Byzance copie
Travaux et mémoires, 2019
Monks or monasteries appear to have issued few seals before the ninth century. After this the number of monastic seals expands dramatically and continues to grow until the end of the eleventh century. The number of preserved seals tends to be a good indication of the power of monasteries in Constantinople or of their abbots. Few monks have left a seal engraved with their name. The seals revealing monks who were members of aristocratic families or who exercised public functions are rare. The iconography of seals belonging to monks or their monasteries is easier to interpret than that chosen by the laity, because the holy figure represented on the reverse is often the one to whom the convent church was dedicated. Finally, the seals preserved in Mount Athos monasteries, which hold the only large monastic archives, reflect the fact that these establishments were privileged great landowners, to whom the emperors issued many chrysobulls.
S’enrichir grâce à l’État: élites impériales et ressources publics à Byzance au XIIe siècle
Lire les Archives de l’Athos. Actes du colloque réuni à Athènes du 18 au 20 novembre 2015 à l’occasion des 70 ans de la collection refondée par Paul Lemerle, ed. O. Delouis and K. Smyrlis, Travaux et Mémoires 23/2 (Paris, 2019), 389-404
This paper investigates the sources of wealth of the Byzantine elite which were in some way tied to the emperor or the state in the twelfth century. It distinguishes two types of sources, the “direct concessions” and the “unofficial or contractual gains”. The former mostly concern the grants of lands and taxes in favor of high-ranking individuals or officials whereas the latter comprise the benefits made thanks to a person’s proximity to the emperor, the occupation of an office, and tax farming. The “unofficial or contractual gains” are insufficiently studied and are often underestimated in scholarship in spite of the fact that, in many cases, they must have been greater than the revenues coming from imperial concessions. The paper underlines the significance of payments individuals made to the treasury and officials in order to secure a position in the administration or a tax farming contract. It concludes that much of the elite’s energy and cash was devoted to these efforts instead of being invested in the private economy.