Our paper will deal with the 12th-13th century glazed pottery finds from the Church of St. Nicholas at Myra-Demre. Our aim is to stress the importance of ceramics with regard to the stratigraphy of the settlement; to present new examples to the researchers by introducing the forms, types, techniques and decorations; to identify the commercial relations by comparing with other centres in the Mediterranean basin and Lycia; and to propose new solutions regarding dating and production. Myra became the metropolis of Lycia in the 5th century and its name was mentioned together with that of St. Nicholas as of the Early Christian period. At an unknown date in the Middle Ages, Myros flooded the church and the entire city of Myra, which were buried under alluvial silt. Therefore, the church presents us with an untouched stratigraphy. The excavations undertaken since 1989 aim at shedding light unto the phases of the church as well as the architecture of the complex thought to be the monastery. The excavations involve ceramic finds from the 1st century BC-1st century AD through the 19th century. The glazed pottery constituting our scope here stands out with rich examples within the Byzantine pottery finds from Myra-Demre. These ceramics include types such as bowls, plates, chafing dishes, cups, goblets, bottles, jars, jugs, basins and oil lamps. The decoration techniques observed are 12 in total as follows: relief, stamped, sgraffito, fine sgraffito with fine paint, incised, champlevé, painted under the glaze, dripping, slip, painted slip and splashing. Motifs include figurative, geometric, vegetal, calligraphic and abstract compositions. Glazed pottery uncovered at the church will be compared with examples from the capital Istanbul and other centres in Anatolia as well as Greece, Cyprus, Syria and Palestine in the Mediterranean basin; besides, based on the relations with these centres and finds from ship wrecks the place of Myra in the Mediterranean trade of the 12th-13th centuries will be discussed. Stratigraphic study of the glazed pottery from the church will certainly fill in a gap in the Mediterranean, and especially Lycia, within the Byzantine ceramic studies

This paper will present some new data about 13th-century Byzantine painting in Cappadocia. The evidence was gathered during fieldwork carried out for my PhD dissertation and it can be distributed in two groups. Firstly, new material provided by hitherto unknown monuments. Secondly, new evidence from a careful re-examination of churches which had previously been just mentioned. Therefore, these new data will enable us to reconsider 13th-century Byzantine painting in Cappadocia.

These paintings are preserved in rather poor condition. Nevertheless, stylistic and iconographic features allow us to define a homogenous group which can be identified as the work of a precise workshop. This specific group of churches will be the focus of this paper.

The systematic use of gold – of which the only medieval example in Cappadocia until today was Tokali kilise, an imperial foundation of the mid-10th-century – is of special interest and testifies the wealth of the donors (sponsors, commissioners) together with the vitality of the local Christian communities under the Seljuk rule. The somewhat conservative character of the iconographic formulas used in the group parallels quite sophisticated programs. On the other hand, the style, slightly over-simplified yet expressive, reveals the presence of skilled artists. The style is certainly far from the innovative trends seen in contemporary Balkan monuments, but reflects well the regional character within the framework of the large provincial tradition prevailing in the whole of the eastern Mediterranean, from Greece to Syria and Palestine via the islands of the Aegean and Cyprus.

The identification in Cappadocia of many related paintings suggests the existence of local workshops. The innovations, which distinguish these paintings from all those prior to the Turkish conquest indicate, however, that painters could have came from abroad and traveled through Cappadocia conveying thus these innovations, or that local artists had been trained elsewhere.

The comprehensive study of these paintings allows a better understanding of the art of a region which, in the first half of the 13th century, enjoyed a flourishing economic situation, under specific political and social circumstances.

Archaeological rescue excavations at Üsküdar Square have been undertaken by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums on the occasion of the construction of suburban railway system of Gebze-Halkalı as well as the tube across the Bosphorus Strait (MARMARAY). Remains of a Byzantine monastery recently uncovered at Üsküdar have contributed greatly to the limited information on the Byzantine period of Üsküdar (Chrysopolis). Our paper aims at presenting the results of research on this monastery.

Remains of foundation walls belonging to depots, shops and houses that are identified in the maps by Pervititch from 1933, have been extensively damaged thanks to the various infrastructure constructions (e.g. power, telephone and water) as well as construction of new asphalt roads and various demands by the locals. However, underneath the intricate network of foundation walls, dating to the 18th-20th centuries, were found the stout foundation walls of a single-nave rectangular structure with an apse facing northeast. The strong walls built with Khurasan mortar reflect the Byzantine masonry characteristics of the 11th-13th centuries. Bronze reliquary crosses found together with some graves in the burial area to the east of the structure as well as the potsherds in the filling layer are among the important finds indicating a date in the 12th century.

Byzantine historiography as well as contemporary metropolitan legends, identify the monumental and highly visible two towers complex leaning against the Blachernae palace substructures as that of Isaac Angelus and the prison of Anemas. Perched on one of the highest points of the hill, overlooking the Golden Horn towards the Sweet Waters of Europe and the once florid countryside, the prison of Anemas hosted Isaac Angelus at around 1195. Scores of late Byzantine emperors appear to have spent time in it undergoing the legendary tortures, mutilations and more. Despite the interest this prison has and continues to spark, doubts about its correct identification and functions still persist (Van Millingen, Paspates, Muller – Wiener). Moreover, the area in question is currently undergoing a substantial intervention by the local Fatih Municipality with an official opening planned for the year 2006. This paper aims at presenting the results of an archaeological survey undertaken at the site of the commonly identified prison of Anemas, before the current works. It will propose a less legendary but a more archaeological interpretation of the site.

Turkish occupation of Anatolia initiated a new period in the economic and military history of the Byzantine State. With the arrival of the Turkmens in western Anatolia in the 12th century, the routes formerly used by the caravans became defensive units through which military shipment was done and on which even fortresses were built. Proceeding west along the river valleys, the Turkmens damaged the mountain settlements with no defensive measures. This destruction paved the way for the loss of population along the coastal region, thus giving a deadly blow to production and trade. When important centres of Thrakesion theme such as Attramittion, Pergamon and Khliara were plundered between 1165 and 1170, Emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180) brought all these settlements under the same administrative roof and fortified them. This new administrative unit in the north of Thrakesion theme was called Neokastra, literally ‘new castles’, due to the high number of such strongholds. As the number of neokastra increased the security was maintained in the region thus the population and production revived. Our paper will focus in the abovementioned defensive system evaluating these neokastra, built up on the mountains, from a new point of view.

The Pontus Empire of Trebizond (modern-day Trabzon) was founded just before the Latin occupation of the Byzantine capital. Andronikos Komnenos (1183-1185), the last of the Comnenian dynasty in the Byzantine throne, was the former governor of Trabzon, and he was dethroned by the rebelling Byzantines. Isaac II (1185-1195) of the Angelos dynasty ascended the throne and Andronikos Komnenos and his son Manuel were killed. Two younger sons of Andronikos, Alexios and David managed to flee from the prison with the help of their relative, the Georgian queen Thamara. The inheritors of the Comnenian dynasty, Alexios I and his brother David appeared before the eastern Black Sea coast with an army provided by the Georgian queen and managed to capture Trabzon in April 1204. The Comnenian dynasty, one of the biggest Byzantine dynasties, established an empire at Trebizond which was to last for 155 years. Twenty rulers ascended the throne during this period and the Empire of Trabzon fell to the Ottomans in 1461, only 8 years after the fall of Constantinople. Following the Latin occupation of 1204, the Byzantine coins were minted first at Nikaia (İznik) and then at Magnesia. With the Palaeologians coming to power the minting was resumed at Constantinople as before the Latin occupation. The coins of both the Latin Empire and the Byzantine states founded at Salonica, Nikaia and Trebizond do not resemble the coins of the preceding period. Especially the coins of the Empire of Trebizond are quite different from the Byzantine coins of other periods with regard to iconography. This paper aims at comparing a group of coins from the Empire of Trebizond, now housed at Trabzon Museum, with those of the contemporary Byzantine states (Salonica and Nikaia) and also will propose an overall evaluation

Ferudun Özgümüş's important discovery and publication (1998) of the remains of the ancient monastery of Peribleptos has focused attention on the problem of reconstructing the design of the church from the remains of its foundations. The four-column plan of the basement suggested a reconstruction of a four-column, cross-in-square design above, with a small dome, 14 or 15 Byzantine feet across. A new study, with the collaboration of Orgû Dalgic, proposes instead that the four-column basement supported a broad 30 foot square nave, the way the four-column basement of Hosios Loukas in Greece supports a 30 foot square nave, with a domed octagon core on which squinches support the main dome. Other contemporary parallels can be cited for this kind of discrepancy between the basement and superstructure. The new reconstruction of the design proposed here is more in keeping with descriptions of the chruch in literary sources as reviewed by Cyril Mango (1986). By reason of its early date and its imperial sponsorship (Romanos III Argyros, 1028-34), the church played a pivotal role in the development of Middle Byzantine architecture in a group of churches described by Mango as the "great imperial abbeys" of Constantinople.

The medieval settlement of Minnetpınarı, located within the borders of Andırın Township in the province of Kahramanmaraş, was identified during the construction of oil pipeline of Baku-Ceyhan and was excavated in 2003. Historically part of the Cilician cultural region, the Minnetpınarı settlement houses a three-aisled basilica of the Early Byzantine period and a chapel built to the east of the northern side-aisle during the second phase of the church dated to the 12th-13th centuries. In the close proximity of the church was uncovered a settlement contemporary with the chapel. Our paper will present the abovementioned architectural remains together with an important group of unglazed and glazed pottery, some of which is little-known, and small finds within the context of the cultural dynamics of the region during the period.

Akakios Sabbaites’ lengthy and only partially published vita of saints Barnabas and Sophronios (BHG 2055), founders of the Soumela monastery near Trebizond, is unique in several aspects. It has survived in a single manuscript, it may be the only example of hagiography from the early 13th c., and its character as an anachronistic epic tale deserves further study. Although Barnabas and Sophronios supposedly lived during the reign of Theodosios I, in the course of their long journey from Athens to Pontus they are reported to have visited many monasteries and churches which were not founded until much later centuries, such as the monastery of Hosios Loukas in Phokis, the Lavra of Athanasios on Mt. Athos, and the monasteries of St. Lazaros on the holy mountain of Galesion. This narrative of pilgrimage to major shrines, no doubt reflecting a journey made by the author himself, gave Akakios the opportunity to incorporate into his work mini-vitae of these holy men which often differ substantially from the canonical earlier versions.

During its millennium-long existence Byzantium was in constant contact with the Turks. Consequently the Byzantine sources mention the Turks quite often presenting information about their relations with Byzantium as well as their political, social, cultural and religious attitudes. Starting with the Byzantine chronicles of the early period, Byzantine sources used a variety of titles and adjectives to describe Turks. Titles and adjectives such as ‘Scythian’, ‘Persian’, ‘Agaren’, ‘Muslim’, and ‘Barbarian’ were used to indicate the same people in addition to the name ‘Turk’. It would not be correct to consider the use of such a variety of titles and adjectives as chance or prejudice. These different apellations must have arisen from the lifestyles, religious beliefs and relations with Byzantium of the Turkic peoples that had contact with Byzantium. Besides, the change in the image of the Turks in the Byzantine public and intellectuals’ opinion based on the changes in the relations between the Byzantines and Turks was also reflected in these names. A full list of the names used to describe the Turks should be prepared, by going through the Byzantine sources and thus unveiling the evolution of the image of the Turks in Byzantium. This should not only be pleasant research but also a must for scholars.

Many lead seals have survived from the 12th and 13th centuries. During the last 20 years, a great deal more research has been carried out on lead seals than previously. At the end of the 19th century, Gustav Schlumberger was the first to publish a major catalogue on lead seals, and he was followed by V. Laurent, Konstantopoulos, Zacos and Véglery, generating a new interest. Today, thanks largely to the late N. Oikonomides, J. Nesbitt, J.C. Cheynet and W. Seibt, who have all worked, and are continuing to work hard in this field, sigillography has been established as a valuable branch of study with much to contribute to our knowledge of Byzantine history. The majority of the extant seals have found their way into collections from Turkey. However although Turkey is the main source, sigillography is as yet an almost totally unknown field in this country. A selection of seals from Museums and private collections in Turkey has been made as a basis for a brief study of the administration in this period and as an introduction to scholars in Turkey.

This paper concentrates on two marble reliefs which are prominently displayed on the north façade of San Marco, exploring the political and ideological role played by spolia and pseudo-spolia in Venice. The reliefs are Byzantine in style, and many scholars have seen them as part of the loot taken by the Venetians from Constantinople after its capture in 1204. In fact, however, the carvings are thirteenth-century Venetian products, deliberately carved to resemble Byzantine sculptures. One of the reliefs, showing twelve lambs flanking the throne of the lamb, is a pastiche of early and middle Byzantine iconography, which cannot have been made in Byzantium. The other relief, showing the ascent of Alexander, is genearlly taken to be Byzantine work of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but several features of the carving indicate that it was probably made in Venice. The two sculptures raise the question of the purpose and reception of these and other Byzantinizing carvings immured into Venice. How would a Venetian viewer have interpreted their style and imagery? Did they evoke specific buildings in the Byzantine capital? To what extent can they be understood as medieval forgeries, intended to be seen as genuine relics from Constantinople?

Our paper will focus on the 12th-13th century annexed constructions in front of the northern, southern and/or western facades of a Georgian monastic church as well as on the U-shaped ambulatorium encircling the naos of a Byzantine church, and will try to discuss the problem of dating and function. While most of the U-shaped structures, generally dated between 11th through 13th centuries used to be planned and built together with the Byzantine churches, the northern, southern and western annexed rooms were added to a Georgian monastic church later on. The function of these single-naved, vaulted spaces with small window openings and mostly connected to one another by arched openings and partly entered only through the church itself, has not yet been clarified. Arguments, for instance, that the northern annex of a Georgian church planned as a storage room or for keeping liturgical objects and that the western annex might be meant for manuscripts need further convincing evidence. Porticoes as later additions to a Georgian or an Armenian church are quite common, but whether these structures, occasionally with eastern apses, served as narthex is still disputable. In the second half of the 13th century there appeared in Istanbul a new church plan type, the so-called “dehlizli” type. According to the renown scholar Eyice, this plan type, a U-shaped ambulatorium encircling the naos, is unique for Istanbul. It would be interesting to discuss whether this plan type had any inspiration on the annexed rooms of the Georgian monastic churches or whether the so-called "three-church basilica", a unique Georgian plan-type, frequently applied in the earlier monastic churches and rediscovered during the 11th-12th centuries was acting as the prototype for these annexed structures. It is still unclear, though, whether the appearance of these annexed spaces in the Byzantine and Georgian monastic churches contemporarily was accidental or whether a liturgical requirement common for both cultures played a decisive role

Ayasofya in Istanbul was built three times and has undergone numerous repairs. Its appearance during the 12th and 13th centuries bears importance for the last political and cultural phase of the Byzantine Empire. Certainly Ayasofya, too, was adversely affected by the Latin occupation, and although the Latin yoke was finally brought to an end, the structure could never regain its former ecumenical basilical glory. Rebuilt twice, Ayasofya underwent two big repairs and lost many of its liturgical elements during the Latin occupation. Our paper will attempt to examine not only the formal losses and changes in the structure and its complex during the 12th and 13th centuries but also the evolution of the customary presentations of empirical power within the constitution of Ayasofya.

This paper focuses on artistic production in the city of Zara (Zadar in present day Croatia) in the thirteenth century. Because of its unique geographic location on the Adriatic coast, the city was a crossroad of political and cultural influences that resulted in complexity of styles and iconography. Three basic elements were at work in the creative minds in this part of the world: the Romanesque from the north-west, the Lateran-Benedictine from Venice and the influence from the Byzantine east. The rapid change of circumstances related to the political and military position of Zara caused unfortunate events of which the attack and capture of the city by its fellow Christians of the Fourth Crusade as part of the payment for the Venetian ships was amongst the most notorious. Essentially, this action was only a prelude to 1204 and the final strike on Constantinople.

The examination of selected images from Zara, such as the painted panel of the Virgin and Child in the Church of St. Simeon and the painted Crucifix from the Church of St. Michael, will demonstrate and address some of the problems regarding works from disputed territories between the Byzantine Empire, Venice and the Latin West.

12th and 13th centuries are important for the Byzantine art in Cyprus for the Byzantine political rule over the island ended in 1191. The 12th century is the last century of the Byzantine art created under the Byzantine rule. With the end of the Arab raids in 964, the period starting from the 11th century and continuing through the 12th century witnessed enrichment in constructional activities in quantity and quality in connection with the political and economic developments. Especially the variety observed in plan layouts is worth noting: for example, the three- or five-domed basilicas, that are not found or have not survived in Istanbul and Anatolia, as well as the ‘island-type’ domed octagonal structures. In spite of the fact that Byzantine political rule over Cyprus ended in 1191, the Byzantine art retained its existence. With the beginning of the Latin rule over the island in 1192, interaction between the two arts also started; however, the Latin-West influence on the Byzantine art in Cyprus became easily recognisable only in the 14th century. Our paper will describe the place of the 12th and 13th centuries for the Byzantine art in Cyprus and will attempt to evaluate the changes and innovations in architecture during this period as well as the beginning of the interaction between the Latin and Byzantine arts.

One of the main sources of nutrition for mankind, bread has been considered sacred not only by the pagan religions but also all the monotheist religions. Bread was offered to the goddess Isis in Egypt, and goddesses Artemis and Hygeia in Greece and Rome. In the Christian tradition, Jesus Christ asserted at the Last Supper that bread represented His body and the wine represented His blood, both of which he sacrificed for the sake of mankind. As of the early years of Christianity, bread and wine were considered sacred and the Eucharist was held. This liturgy was like the shield of the Church. There is evidence that this rite was held only on Saturdays, Sundays and feast days in the early period, but on every day of the week as of the Middle Byzantine period. Besides being the indispensable symbol of Christianity, Eucharist bread was also considered to have healing powers and ward off the evil spirits as a eulogia. The sacred bread started to be stamped while still moist at an early date. Breadstamps are conical, round, oval or rectangular objects of stone, baked clay or bronze. They were decorated with various cruciform compositions, vegetal motifs, animals and holy figures as well as symbolic motifs and inscriptions rendered in incision or carving. In the Byzantine world breadstamps were used not only for the stamping of the sacred bread for Eucharist. Bread prepared for the feast days of holy people and for the funerary meals especially on the third day of the death was also stamped. On the feast days of saints, breadstamps with the depiction of the saint were generally used. For commemorating a deceased person, breadstamps decorated with a cross and the name of the deceased and wishes for happiness in the afterlife were preferred. Our paper will deal with breadstamps, which have a wide variety of use in the Byzantine tradition, in the light of liturgical depictions in Byzantine art and datable examples recovered in archaeological excavations. We will present and attempt to date the breadstamps in the Halûk Perk Museum from various phases of the Byzantine period.

The Anatolian Seljuq art of the 12th and 13th centuries was to a great extent the product of artistic culture that wove its way to Anatolia through Iran and Western Turkistan. Arab-Islamic tribes coming to Anatolia from Syria and Iraq such as the Umayyads, Abbasids, Ayyubids, Zangids also made their contribution. Absorbing this rich heritage, the Seljuqs combined it with their own identity, and settling in Christian, Byzantine and Armenian territories formed a new culture. Traces of Turkmens coming from Turkistan, of artists, artisans and construction masters emigrating from eastern and southeastern Islamic countries as well as traces of local Greek, Georgian and Armenian masters can be observed in this synthesis. During this period Anatolia was a great mixture of people with different identities. The designs and works of art by masters of different religious, language and cultural origins took root once more in Anatolia. This heterogeneous society undertook wide-ranging constructional activities with an extraordinary dynamism for two centuries until the end of the 13th century and a very curious synthesis emerged due to the richness of its origins. The Byzantine elements blended in the Seljuq architecture are observed not only on the religious structures such as mosques, madrasas and türbes but also on civic structures such as city walls, fortresses, hans, hammams and palaces. These works reflect many features peculiar to the Seljuqs and new to Islamic art. The spolia materials of the Byzantine period and Antiquity re-used in their constructions may lead us to the traces of former Byzantine works and roads in that region. Byzantine columns, capitals and bases retain their functions this time in mosques, madrasas and hans, thus enhancing a typical Seljuq structure. Plain or decorated, Byzantine lintels, balustrades, sarcophagi, tombstones may be found embedded in masonry or re-used retaining their original function. In some cases, Byzantine marble slabs decorated on one side are redecorated on the plain sides and re-used by the Seljuqs. This Byzantine material, combined with their own creativity, was used with tolerance and harmony. Figures carved in relief on stone, such as the symbolic lion, sphinx, double-headed eagle, peacock, fish, dragon, siren, griffin, and tree-of-life, are peculiar to the Seljuq art and blend the central Asian faiths with Byzantine traditions decorating the mosques, madrasas, hans, fortresses and palaces and reflecting traces of a very complicated world of faiths and traditions. Similar motifs can also be found on works of wood, tiles, plaster, ceramics, metal and textile. The Seljuq mosques and the covered sections of hans are curious examples of the Seljuq-Byzantine blending and reflect the influence of Byzantine basilicas with their oblong rectangular layout with the wider central aisle stressed with a higher roof and a dome or a cupola for lighting. It is possible to trace various Byzantine elements in Seljuq architecture, some of which will be presented in this paper.

Historical sources mention the donations made and the gifts sent to the Georgian or Armenian churches by the Byzantine emperors. This paper will discuss the relationship among the Eastern Christian cultures based on metal objects originally produced in Armenian or Georgian monasteries in Eastern Anatolia and now in museums abroad.

Some Georgian and Armenian liturgical objects or other works of art bear medallions and/or enamel plaques possibly of Byzantine origin. For instance, the Hahuli Triptych, a work of art produced at the Georgian monastery of Hahuli in the Çoruh Valley and dated to the end of the 10th century, is adorned with precious metals and about one hundred Byzantine medallions decorated with cloisonné enamels, possibly dating to the 12th-13th centuries.

This paper will discuss various aspects of these artefacts, which are considered Byzantine. Where were they made? By which masters? What were they used for? And how did they get to the monasteries? These are some of the questions to be discussed.

The Upper Euphrates basin covering the modern-day provinces of Elazığ and Tunceli in the eastern part of the curve of the Euphrates was called Isuwa as of the 2nd millennium BC, then as Sophane in the Classical period but was integrated into different regions and themes during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The region was within the eastern frontier of Byzantium and was continuously harassed by the Arabs from the 7th century onwards and passed into the Turkish hands at the end of the 11th century and early 12th century. However, this process led to the disappearance of some Byzantine settlements whereas it also led to prospering of some others. Although these settlements lost their Byzantine identity in time their Byzantine names have survived or lived for a considerable period under Turkish sovereignty. In spite of the efforts for documentation through excavations, surveys and names mentioned in contemporary sources such settlements that vanished or survived under Turkish rule as of the end of the 11th and early 12th century, the Byzantine historical geography of the region has not been studied in detail as it should. Within this context, our surveys across the region since 1995 have culminated in very important preliminary results regarding the historical geography of the region as reflected into the 12th and 13th centuries. It is difficult to cite any comprehensive and serious study on the Byzantine period historical geography of the region except for that by Ernst Honigmann. We have documented more than 30 geographical or settlement names of the Byzantine period from the region. Some of these names have survived until recently with some changes while some others have long lost their identity. Some settlements have been localised based on common sense while some others have been localised for the first time and a small group has not been localised yet at all. Despite these names, no proposals could have been made regarding the Byzantine period names of many settlements which are known to have existed then. Our study covers mainly the settlements mentioned in contemporary sources or other sources referring to them and historical chronicles and endeavours to tell the Byzantine historical geography of the region and developments with the coming of Turks, thus presenting the reflection of the pre-12th-century Byzantine historical geography into the 12th and 13th centuries. With the military rule over the region passing into Turkish hands at the end of the 11th century it is observed that a gradual penetration up to the 13th century took place on the contrary to the common thought of great wave of migrations; hence, the historical geography of the region contained Byzantine elements during the 12th-13th centuries despite the Turkish military rule. These elements must have been very well-rooted that they retained their existence and identity for a long time.

Following their victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Malazgirt (Mantzikert) in 1071 the Seljuqs established a new state in Anatolia with Konya as its centre and set up relations with Byzantium. Conflicts, good relations and alliances, marital relationships, as well as economic and cultural relations affected both sides. 12th to mid-13th century Seljuq coins are openly influenced by Byzantine coin designs. Coins of the Seljuq sultans Kılıç Arslan (Kilij Arslan) I, Mesud (Mas’ud) II and Kılıç Arslan (Kilij Arslan) II and their sons bear the figures normally found on Byzantine coins such as frontal portrait busts, enthroned figures and figures on horseback fighting with dragons.

Numerous Byzantine potsherds of the 12th-14th centuries have been uncovered during the course of the second phase of Iznik Tile Kiln Excavations ongoing since 1981. These examples show that pottery production in Iznik was continuous from Antiquity to the Ottoman period (late 17th century). Most of the examples have sgraffito decoration while some others have painted decoration. Our paper will mention the technical and compositional aspects of these examples, will compare them with examples from other production centres in western Anatolia, Aegean islands and the Balkans as well as contemporary Seljuq centres, and will discuss whether the production at Iznik has peculiar aspects or not.

Amasya has been the home for numerous civilisations and cultures since the Late Chalcolithic period and has been the setting for important historical events.

With the division of the Roman Empire into two, Amasya became an important city and theme of the Eastern Roman Empire, which is also known as the Byzantine Empire.

During the six centuries of the Byzantine rule over Amasya many structures were built and quite a few ruins are still visible. The city passed into the Danishmendid hands in 1075; thus came the Byzantine period to its end.

Two later sources, namely the manuscript Balabil al-Rasiyya fi Riyadh-i Mesail-i Amasiyya by Mustafa Vazıh Efendi from the first half of the 19th century, and the Amasya Tarihi (History of Amasya) by Abdizade Hüseyin Hüsameddin Efendi from 1914, state that especially in the 13th century and thereafter spolia materials were taken from the Byzantine structures for the new constructions. These spolia can still be seen on the concerned structures.

This work attempts to form a catalogue of spolia materials used in the Turkish period structures in Amasya.

Our paper will cover various aspects of the relations between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuq Sultanate and the emirates founded following the Turkish victory at the Battle of Malazgirt (Mantzikert) in 1071. Our aim is to discuss the contributions of the Turkish emirates and Seljuqs to the formation of new cultural sphere in Anatolia during the 12th through mid-13th century. Emphasis will be placed on the role of political relations, arranged marriages and, partly, trading in the formation of a new artistic sphere in Anatolia. With regard to the emirates, we will focus on the Artuqids in southeast Anatolia as well as the Danishmendids, who struggled with the Seljuqs in central Anatolia, while lesser emirates will be mentioned only when relevant. The Seljuqs, whose first capital in Anatolia was İznik, lost the Marmara and the Aegean regions to the Byzantines following the First Crusade when Emir Chaka Bey, who was brought up in the Byzantine palace, became the father-in-law of the Seljuq sultan Kılıç Arslan (Kilij Arslan) I and also bore the imperial titles and insignia, was murdered in 1097 through a Byzantine-Seljuq alliance. Yet the Seljuqs managed to gain control of Anatolia from their new capital in Konya and shook the Byzantine power in Anatolia to a great extent. As of the mid-12th century the Seljuqs were the leading influence in the formation of the new cultural environment through numerous activities in a variety of fields. In the first quarter of the 13th century the Seljuqs conquered important port cities on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean such as Antalya, Alanya and Sinop, thus becoming quite a great power in trade. During the course of this process the Seljuqs bestowed a new look on the Anatolian cities, also with the help of some Byzantine construction masters and artists. In addition to the urban life and institutions, we will also examine the aspects, similar and dissimilar to Byzantine art, observed in the architectural design and decoration of the new types of structures of the Seljuqs and the emirates.

The Fourth Crusaders comprising Frankish, Flemish, Lombard, German and Venetian troops captured Constantinople on April 13th, 1204 after a 3-day long battle. Thus started the Latin Empire that was to last until 1261. The presence of the Latins had already been felt in Byzantine waters as of the end of the 11th century, but now it grew stronger. The Byzantines became the guests of the Latins who were now able to reach the Black Sea. About this time a ship laden with wine sank in the Çamaltı area of Marmara Island. Artefacts brought to the surface in the course of 7 years (1998-2004) of underwater excavations include hundreds of amphorae, pottery, anchors thought to be a part of the ship’s cargo, wooden items belonging to the ship. These items will shed new light on the technology, sea trade and history of the period in question. The underwater excavation of the Çamaltı Burnu I wreck is the first to be conducted by a Turkish team in Turkey and is important and will bring to light many new facts.

The Çanakkale Straits, ancient Dardanelles, extends northeast-southwesterly between the Gelibolu (Gallipoli) and Biga Peninsulas. This body of water of 65 km in length connects the Black Sea and the Marmara to the Aegean and the Mediterranean. The strait stands out with its strategic location and importance. However, despite this great importance, the archaeological data available is very limited. Our project covering the Çanakkale Straits and the settlement patterns in the Byzantine period has focused on archaeological traces in the region, thus gathering significant archaeological data regarding the settlements along the strait during the Byzantine period. Our paper will discuss the 12th-13th–century Byzantine fortresses and their locations in order to clarify the defensive system along the strait; we will also evaluate the archaeological evidence regarding the 12th-13th–century towns, villages and farmhouses on both banks of the strait; then we will try to identify its connection with the capital Istanbul, and its place with regard to harbours, customs and trade.

Byzantine civilization consciously preserved certain perennial features derived from Greco-Roman antiquity throughout the millennium of its existence. Imperial ideology retained the appearance of immutability in the face of continual fluctuations in Byzantium’s geographical space and violent upheavals in its political and social life. This feature has no doubt given rise to the conception of Byzantine civilization as a static entity. The scarcity and inherent conservatism of the sources for Byzantine history serve only to perpetuate this bias by reproducing and recycling the prevalent political ideology of the greatness of the empire emanating from Constantinople from the time of its foundation to its conquest by the Ottoman armies in 1453. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, however, the concept of the greatness of empire was seriously challenged. In 1204 Constantinople was conquered by the armies of the Fourth Crusade. Although the Byzantines would reconquer the city in 1261, the Latins maintained important outposts in the empire’s western provinces. In the East, Byzantium could offer little resistance to the Turkic people who spread across Asia Minor in the final decades of the thirteenth century. As a direct result, a notable change in historical self-awareness on the part of the Byzantines is clearly evident. The historians of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries no longer maintain the superiority and conceit of “Roman” power, nor do they have the assurance that in the end, the “imperium” would conquer all. From the lamentations of Niketas Choniates to the pessimism of George Pachymeres, a new and tragic perception of the empire’s greatness and decline permeates the narrative sources of the period and indicates a significant change in Byzantine historical self-awareness.

The History of Leo the Deacon (10th Century) and the Alexiad of Anna Comnena (12th Century) each place a heavy focus on military affairs, from descriptions of battles and sieges to comments on the place of the army in Byzantine society. With regard to military technology a comparison of the two texts reveals a development in artillery from an anti-personnel weapon (presumably the traction trebuchet) to a much more powerful weapon (perhaps the counter-weight trebuchet). Both authors employ a number of terms for commanders and army units, the differences reflecting in part changes in the organization of the army. The role of mercenaries, methods of financing the army, and knowledge and application of military science also present interesting contrasts. This paper will examine these contrasts as potential reflections of reality , literary intent and authorial bias, with additional references to other texts, particularly Anna’s husband Nikephoros Bryennios’ Historical Material.

A twelfth-century illustrated manuscript of the Homilies of Gregory the theologian shows statues of the goddesses Aphrodite and Artemis surrounded by a group of worshippers. Both statues stand on a column, they are clad in precious clothes and crowned. There is no trace of mockery in these depictions. The worshippers look at the statues with admiration. These images reveal the evolution which took place during the Middle Ages concerning the antique religious statues. While in Late Antiquity, many Christian authors recommended the destruction of pagan statues or at least perceived them as dangerous objects, the Byzantine author Niketas Choniates laments the loss of the statues which used to adorn the public places of the city since its foundation in Late Antiquity. This paper offers to illustrate this change in attitude. The early Christians were told not to worship idols and to avoid cult statues, but to the medieval inhabitants of Constantinople, antique pagan statues were part of the city's ornaments and hardly referred to a pagan past. The religious significance of the statues was lost on all but the most learned ones, and even for them, their significance was more cultural than religious.

The Armenians settled down in Cilicia during 1070s and 1080s under the leadership of the dignitaries of first Rupinyan, and then Hetumyan. The Rupinyan dynasty, that grew stronger as a barony, stepped on to the stage of history in 1198-1199 under the name of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. This kingdom prospered during the 13th century but fell in 1375 due to Mamluk raids. The Armenian Church of Cilicia had a different organisation in the region. Although ancient fortresses and cities such as Tarsus, Adana, Silifke, Anabarza and Korykos retained their existence, the religious centre was Kozan-Sis. The katholikos established here paved the way for Sis to become the religious and cultural centre of the region. The Armenian monasteries in the region became centres of manuscript production between 12th and 14th centuries; the numerous illuminated manuscripts produced at these monasteries brought the Cilician illuminated manuscript art (1080-1375) to the zenith of the Armenian art of painting. The leading manuscript production centres in Cilicia from the 12th through the 14th century were the monasteries of Skevra (12th c.) above all, Hromkla (13th c.), Trazark (14th c.), Mlic, Akner and Krner. The Cilician School, which has a special place in the medieval Armenian art, blended the authentic Eastern depiction style of Armenia – the main source of its inspiration – with inspirations from the Byzantine art and launched a process of creating a new language of miniature. The Armenian art of miniature assumed international recognition thanks to the Cilician manuscripts with their lavishly decorative and intricate compositions intertwined with vegetal and geometric motifs, their painting values, their compositional design incorporating rich iconographical variety, marginal depictions, calligraphic quality, and with examples displaying a vivid, harmonious and original colour palette. The political relations of King Hetum with the Mongols also reflected in the artistic life and the fantastic lines of China introduced a different taste to the Cilician miniatures of the period. The authentic style of Cilicia emerged with Toros Roslin and developed through the reigns of his successors; this style based on classicism and naturalism stands out with the mannerist reflections in the last quarter of the 13th century. Due to scarcity of monumental Armenian paintings, the Cilician school of miniature art bears great importance for the medieval Armenian art and it also influenced the shaping of the modern Armenian art. On the other hand, the Cilician miniature also contains traces of the deep-rooted Byzantine culture, and Islamic culture such as of Seljuqs and Mamluks, as well as the Western culture through the Crusader Kingdoms of Urfa, Antakya and Cyprus, and this feature led to the richness and variety of the cultural structure of the Armenian society of Cilicia.

Whether it was built de nuovo by the Serbian Grand Zupan Nemanja, or it had been an earlier Byzantine foundation, the church of St. Nicholas at Kuršumlija is a pertinent example of the work of Constantinopolitan builders in the provinces. Its plan as well as the overall principles of its design were often reiterated, and can be recognized in many other contemporaneous buildings. This fact allows for presenting the church as one of the exemplary models created by metropolitan architects to embody the visage of Constantinople out of the capital. Why did this architectural formula prove to be so successful? The later example of the church of the Virgin at the monastery of Studenica, also Nemanja’s foundation, presents an interesting example which can assist in clarifying our question. Although on a grander scale, the church at Studenica utilizes the same structural type. Nemanja’s biographers mention that the team of Latin masons was not able to finish the church, and the patron was compelled to gain another, more dexterous crew. Material evidence from the church indicates that the workshop from Constantinople was invited to complete the erection of the church dome. The challenging practicalities following such an ambitious commission shed light on the confines of building practice in the provinces and justify the choices made by Constantinopolitan architects for the church of St. Nicholas at Kursumlija.

Our paper will focus on some weights not known in the Byzantine weight system; thus, we aim to contribute something new to the topic. The Byzantine weights were standardised, and they were used throughout the history of the Empire, including the period of this symposium. The weight system of the Byzantine Empire was well established and was under strict control. Units and weights were standard across the empire’s territory. Much research has been done on Byzantine weights; and, in my personal collection there are some Byzantine weights which conform to the units and symbols of the Byzantine weight system. Yet, their symbols and units have not appeared in any tables published to date. Besides, two other weights in my collection have the correct symbols but they are heavier than the value of the symbols. It is not possible that they were made heavier for fraudulent purposes because they are heavier than their normal values. Why this is so is open to discussion.

Glass bracelets constitute an important find group at excavations conducted within the geography once ruled by the Byzantine Empire.

Excavations at Sardes, Amorion and Yumuktepe in Turkey, Korinthos in Greece and other sites in the Balkans brought to light numerous glass bracelets with and without decoration dating to the Middle and Late Byzantine period. In addition to the excavations finds, museums in Turkey and around the world house an important number of glass bracelets in their collections. Among these glass bracelets, those enamelled and those twisted with glass threads of different colours wrapped around them are especially worthy of note.

Glass bracelets decorated with enamel right after the production present a wide variety of decoration. Geometric motifs above all, intertwined spirals and spirals emerging from one another recalling fine incised Byzantine sgraffito wares, as well as foliages, stylised animal motifs and crosses display an evolution parallel to the other glass products of the period. Enamelled bracelets appeared in the 10th century and were widely used until the mid-12th century when they were replaced by the twisted bracelets wrapped with glass threads in red, green and white, which in fact appeared in the 10th century as well.

Our paper aims at studying the change in the decorative styles and the production of glass bracelets in these centuries in the light of examples from excavations and museum collections.

The expansion of the Turkish-speaking people in Asia Minor finds relatively frequent mention in the Byzantine historical sources of the late Middle Ages, but interestingly, the sources do not provide one single term to define these people. Hagerenes, Saracens, Ishmaelites, Turks, Persians and Barbarians are the terms that are employed almost interchangeably. My aim is to find criteria in the use of these terms from the eleventh to end of the thirteenth centuries. I think that special attention should be paid to the general purpose of the author in writing his/her work, the context in which the term appears, and the period in which the work was produced. The emphasis of my paper will be on the last point, that is the impact of the period of the work on the choice of the term for Turks. For example, while the term Turk does not appear in the Chronographia of Michael Psellus from the eleventh century, Anna Comnena’s Alexiad dating from the twelfth century employs the term Turk many times together with the terms mentioned above. My particular attention will be on the thirteenth century, when the Byzantines had to redefine their own identity and the identities of their enemies with the loss of Constantinople.

Excavations commenced in November 2004 within the frame of the Marmaray Project as well as excavations for the Istanbul’s underground station construction to the north of the former, brought to light the largest harbour of Istanbul on the Marmara coast. The excavations cover only a part of 58,000 sq.m. in total and it has been understood that the harbour came into use in the 4th century and remained so until the 14th century. Inscriptions around the harbour revealed that the harbour lost its functional importance gradually as of the 4th century until the 13th century. The uncovering of Constantine the Great’s walls to the east of the harbour has been the greatest discovery of the century for the history of Istanbul. Besides, discovery of shipwrecks within the ancient harbour has doubled the value of the excavations here. The majority of small finds as well as architectural finds are other firsts and thus interesting for the urban archaeology of Istanbul.

In the Area 2 within the Insula 100 and located to the west of the Marmaray area, a hypogeum probably datable to the 11th-12th centuries and four other structures possibly used for leather tanning in the 13th century were uncovered; besides, in the Underground area, a small church structure has been uncovered. These architectural finds will possibly shed more light unto the late Byzantine period.

This important monument stands in the centre of the obscure village of Christianoi, in the district of Triphylia, on the lower slopes of Mount Aigaleo, at a distance of 12km from Philiatra in Messenia, Peloponnese. The church suffered extensive and irreparable damage on 27 August 1886, when a major earthquake caused the dome to collapse, taking with it a large part of the masonry of the vaults and the walls of the south side. In the years 1937-9 and subsequently – after a break during the war - 1950-55, E. Stikas restored the church almost “from the foundations”. The restoration was restricted to the structural parts and not extended to a full restoration of the interior (iconostasis, decoration, plasterwork etc). E. Sticas also wrote the main publication on the monument: L' église byzantine de Christianou en Triphylie et les autres églises de même type, Paris, 1951, maintaining that it is an 11th century construction. The following paper will demonstrate that although the church was based on 10th and 11th century foundations, most of the existing original fabric can be dated to the 12th and 13th century.

In 1999 a new restoration study was undertaken. New detailed measured drawings with modern equipment were made. Excavations and research was carried out in collaboration with the local Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities. Also careful rereading of six Lambakis’ photographs published by Sticas and three unpublished ones from the archives of the Byzantine Museum in Athens has led to the following conclusions:

The building has at least 4 Byzantine phases

1. A late 10th - early 11th. Construction of a large church of unknown type with the same dimensions of the present one, of which only few courses of masonry remain. It is not known if this building was ever completed. Its size and location at the centre of an insignificant village leads to the hypothesis that it was probably the katholikon of a large – unknown to scholarship – monastery, then the metropolis of “Christianoupolis”.

2. 11th century (possibly 1075 or 1086). Phase of the “domical crosses”. A church of domed octagon type was constructed, with a five-part sanctuary and large bilobe and trilobe windows. Remains of the sanctuary base were found during the excavations. The templon, members of which are preserved in the surroundings, was probably fitted to this church. Its form was similar to other contemporary examples of the octagon type (Daphni, Soteira Lykodemou etc) in Athens.

3. 12th century (possibly early). The main building phase. The final form of the nave was completed, which has remained to this day with minor alterations. The church of phase 2 was modified, possibly after a destruction by an earthquake, by reducing the openings, constructing the intermediate vaults of the women’s gallery (geinaikeion), converting the five part sanctuary into a tripartite one. The east wall of the exonarthex was reinforced with a system of arches and piers and a timber mezzanine floor was constructed in the exonarthex. Finally a western, sturdy, vaulted porch, probably carrying an axial belfry, was constructed.

4. Late 12th –early 13th century. Construction of a vaulted, multi spaced, two storeys high, building, adjacent to the western elevation of the church, that incorporated the belfry, the so-called “episkopeion”. The upper floor, probably of lighter timber construction, is missing. The building may have been the abbot’s quarters, or the library of the monastery, or the fortified residence of the Frankish lord that took over the region in 1205. The data available are insufficient to draw conclusions, however this large and important example of secular architecture merits a more thorough study.

Research on the monument at Christianoi once again poses the question of the origin and evolution of the complex domed octagon type church. Regardless of the influences that contributed to its initial conception, from the outlined examination of the monument and its successive phases, as well as the quality and variety of the variations that appear in Greece, it seems that the composite octagon type was born and developed in southern Greece, where it was used for the most important, large and elaborate monuments of the period before the Frankish Occupation. When conditions of economical and political decline prevailed later, this type with its high demands in synthesis and construction was abandoned in favour of other simpler types of churches.

Excavations at the Church of St. Nicholas at Myra-Demre have been going on since 1989 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Yıldız Ötüken. Excavation finds show that the region retained its importance until the 13th century and facilitate to comprehend the place of the church in the period. Glass finds from the excavations constitute an important group with regard to quantity and type variety. Glass finds dating from the Roman period through the 13th century comprise lamps, window glass, bottles, bowls, cups, pitchers, jars, bracelets, rings and beads.

Finds dating to the post-11th century are higher in amount. The fact that the glass finds from the Church of St. Nicholas bear common stylistic features with those from other sites around the Mediterranean during the 12th-13th centuries helps us to identify the place of Demre examples within the Mediterranean during this period. Among glass finds are wastes from various phases of production and this attests to the glass production during the Middle Ages; however, this production supplied the local demand only.

Our paper will evaluate the glass finds from excavations with regard to their techniques and forms and will attempt to identify the place of Demre within the glass production and trade across the Mediterranean basin during the 12th and 13th centuries in their light.

The rule over the seas naturally brought prosperity to different states in history and the sea was always regarded as the best means of transportation and political domination, though it was highly dependent on weather conditions.

Aegean Sea or Mare interum, being a passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean where Constantinople stood in the middle, was subject to a fierce competition between the Byzantine Empire and the Italian Maritime Republics in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the Crusaders were also another major element for the changes in the political structure of Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

Protected by the fortresses built by the Byzantine Empires starting from the 10th century, the islands and the harbours of Western Anatolia were relatively comfortable during the 11th and 12th centuries until the Venetian domination started with the 13th century. Meanwhile, Pisa and Genoa were the other two Italian Maritime Republics that were trying to take part in these political, commercial and naval wars.

This paper will focus on the harbour towns of western Anatolia and their position in this political, commercial and naval competition during the 12th and 13th centuries.

It is no doubt true that there is current heightened interest in the topic of the symposium within the framework of research into the late Ancient, Byzantine and Islamic states and cultures of the eastern Mediterranean; and that this interest should be assessed within the context of current political and economic problems, the historical roots of which are evident. The sources available to us for the historical geography of the Byzantine period can be divided into four partially overlapping categories:

• written sources (geographic texts, chronicles, historiography, hagiography, reports of travelers, archives, etc., here also included inscriptions),

• place names (toponyms, hydronyms, etc.),

• material evidence of human land use (structural remains, archaeological evidence, small finds etc.) and

• preconditions of natural spaces (tentative reconstruction of the natural surroundings, of the climatic, geologic and topographic development).

The information provided by the Byzantine sources allow for the twelfth and thirteenth centuries only partial conclusions that could be considered sufficient for the entire Byzantine territory. Extremely perceptible in our area of research is the extensive loss of all Byzantine administrative archives, whether from regional administrative or ecclesiastical centers – the capitals of the provinces or themes and bishoprics – or from Constantinople. Their destruction took place especially during the Fourth Crusade (1203/4) and again in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with the gradual Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire. This is also certainly true if one attempts – to a greater degree than in the past – to compare and to unify all information extracted from the mentioned sources, whereby continually ongoing environmental, political and demographic changes need to be sufficiently taken into consideration. The paper should serve, to elucidate the four source groups, whereby the areas in which they overlap and interrelate shall also be indicated, and to demonstrate in which cases and under which circumstances the attempt to fill the gaps in information through the application of theories born out of the field of economic geography (as, for instance, Johann Heinrich von Thünen’s Location Theory and Walter Christaller’s Central Place Theory) might prove successful. However, it must be emphasized that, for an attempted reconstruction of historical conditions and developments, a complete evaluation of the secure evidence found in all source categories has (or should have) absolute priority over all other auxiliary aids, and therefore also over the methodologies of non-cultural science disciplines.

The Byzantine Empire, and especially the capital Constantinople, were founded on one of the world’s most active earthquake belts and thus suffered from earthquakes throughout its history. Main Byzantine sources contain a wealth of information regarding the earthquakes in and around the capital. These main sources are not limited to the works of the Byzantine historians only but also include anonymous chronicles, religious sermons, letters, saints’ lives, and other religious sources such as hymns. The information provided by these sources helps us understand the Byzantine mentality toward the earthquakes. Our paper will focus on the 12th and 13th century earthquakes that took place in and around the capital city and we will examine the reaction and attitudes of the public; we will also consider how the Byzantines perceived the earthquakes and also how they recovered physically and psychologically from the effects of the earthquakes within the triangle of the emperor, the Church and the public.

The palace at Nyphaeum (Kemalpasa, Ízmir) with its extensive ruins represents the change from the older tradition of walled-in palaces with many freestanding pavilions to a building laid out as a solid prismatic block. Photographed by Freschfield in the 1870s and examined by some scholars from 1960s on, the building is usually dated to sometime in the thirteenth century. According to Krautheimer, the building is comparable to the palais of a Romanesque and Gothic castle in France and Germany, yet its prospective ties with the palatial architecture of the twelfth and thirteenth century Seljuk architecture in Asia Minor is often neglected. Moreover, construction details such as occasional cloisonné brickwork, brick filled mortar joints, alternating brick and stone masonry and the use of cross vaults urge us to associate the building to a Byzantine workshop. On the one hand, the architectural setting of the building follows the Seljuk practice of palatial complexes with clearly defined interior spaces and on the other hand, sets a model for Bogˆdan Saray and Ísa Kapısı Mescidi two-unidentified Byzantine buildings of late thirteenth century in Constantinople, presenting an architectural link between Lascarid Asia Minor and Palaeologan Constantinople. In the light of recent studies on the Seljuk, Middle and Late Byzantine palatial/residential architecture, in Mystras, Cappadocia, Central Anatolian Plateau, and Constantinople, the previous scholarship on the building will be evaluated and the palace at Nymphaeum will be put into a context.

This paper will present the economic program of the emperor John Vatatzes (1222-1254):

1) on the basis of the reports of the historical and the rhetorical sources,
2) from a geographical and
3) from a financial point of view. Another important aspect is the problem of ideology and of identity in the State of Nicaea and their role in the forming of a policy of autarky.

Finally I propose to examine the philanthropical activities of this emperor because they clearly demonstrate how ideology and economy influence each other and how they can make an emperor to a "saint".

Political history reveals a period of complicated struggles for power during the 12th and 13th centuries. By and large these centuries are the times of constant conflict among political units. However, looking at the history of art it is seen that art had a uniting force between the societies in spite of the disintegrated nature of political life. It is an established fact that artists, techniques, decorative motifs and symbols travelled between the cultures without the limitations of frontiers. Muqarnas is a decorative element widely used in Islamic architecture as of the 11th century. Absence of figurative depictions forced the limits of geometric design and muqarnas was developed in a short time with a rich variety of compositions in the lands of Islam becoming a hallmark of Islamic architecture. It is also observed that muqarnas did not attract the Byzantines as figures comprised the foremost decoration in Byzantine architecture. However, it is mentioned that the superstructure of the Mouchloutas in the Great Palace in Konstantinopolis was decorated with muqarnas. Mouchloutas also influenced the design of Capella Palatina, the renowned Norman monument in Palermo. Muqarnas is also seen at Hagia Sophia in Trabzon, another Byzantine monument. Our paper intends to examine the interaction among the Islamic, Byzantine and Norman cultures within the frame of muqarnas.

This paper examines the impact of intermarriage on art in central Anatolia in the thirteenth century. It concentrates on the artistic patronage and transmission of art and ideas that accompanied marriages between the elites of Byzantium, Seljuq Rum and the Caucasus. It will focus on artistic patronage linked to women who moved from one culture to another as the result of diplomatic marriages, such as that of Tamar, daughter of Rusudan of Georgia (who became better known as Gurji Khatun) who married the Seljuq Sultan, Kaykhusraw III, and at some point in her life converted from Christianity to Islam. The paper examines the works of art that were produced for members of these mixed unions, from manuscripts to mosques, medreses and monasteries to see whether the original culture of the woman had any impact on the art that was produced. It also examines the impact of these new members of the ruling court on perceptions of art. The paper uses the few surviving objects linked to such marriages, but also considers writings about art in Islamic and Christian texts of this period.

In the western medieval Christian world, the justification of war and the conduct of hostilities were governed by the principles of the just war theory. In the eastern Christian tradition, it seems that a fully developed theory of this kind concerning the moral justification of war had not yet emerged. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1204, the west and eastern traditions came in closer contact. In this paper, we are looking at the interaction between those two traditions on the subject of the just contact of war. We will see through historical texts, advisory and encomiastic discourses how Byzantine authors justified recourse to war and which ethical rules regarded the conduct of hostilities. We will also try to explore whether the western ideas had any impact on the Byzantine ideology on the justification of war and proceed to show what the Latin conquerors thought of the Byzantine ideology on war.

The domed church with cross-in-square plan at the Yağkesen Village of Kars has been attributed conflicting dates. According to the 10th century Armenian historian Asoghik Taron, the structure was built by priests coming from the Byzantine Empire during the reign of King Abas and during the time of the katholikos Anania (943-953). Historians of the 11th-13th centuries provide different opinions regarding the construction date of the structure. The present discussions on the dating are based on an inscription dated to 1218 found on the lunette of the southwest corner-room also bearing the name Barsel Con. The researchers argue that the cross-in-square layout was not known before the 10th century and that it became most widespread towards the 13th century, also that the decorative elements observed on the façade are characteristic for the 12th and 13th centuries. Our paper aims at discussing the dating problems of the Kızıl Church mentioned as a school-church (dprevank) in the contemporary sources. The architecture and decoration of the church will be examined in the light of contemporary sources and modern research, and will be compared with other examples in the region leading to a final proposal for the date of construction.

The medieval fortress on the sheer cliffs of the Kızılcaşehir village in the Oba district of Alanya rises at the same level as the village on its northeast slope. This fortress both dominates Alanya and the sea and lies in the view of Alanya Citadel.

The fortress has walls on the north, east and south but no walls on the west side which is a sheer rocky cliff. A second fortification wall along the northeast side is reinforced with towers. Within the walls are structures related with daily life, olive oil work-areas and a chapel decorated with wall paintings.

The fortress is dated to the 12th century as contemporary with the single nave layout chapel with three apses on the east wall based on the masonry technique and materials as well as the wall paintings; only an annexed portion of the northeast outer walls is dated to a later period.

The fortress must have been built against any threat from the sea or the mountains and to support the Alanya Citadel. The decline in the imperial power over the harbours, increasing power of the Armenian Kingdom over Rough Cilicia, extension of the sovereignty of the Armenian King Kyr Vard reaching Alanya and other coastal fortresses all suggest that the Kızılcaşehir Fortress served other purposes.

Our paper will discuss the plan layout, architectural properties of the fortress, its function due to its proximity to Alanya Citadel within the context of the 12th-century Mediterranean.

Apart from battles, the first diplomatic relations between the Great Seljuqs and the Byzantine Empire were established in the reign of Sultan Tughrul (1038-1063) with the exchange of envoys. There are several contradicting rumours about the Seljuq-Byzantine relations during the reign of Sultan Malik Shah (1072-1092). According to one rumour, Malik Shah wrote a letter to the Emperor Alexios stating that if Alexios ceased helping Abu’l-Qasim, who ruled the Turkish Seljuq State in the name of Süleyman Shah, he would benefit from this and he also proposed that a marriage should be arranged between one of the Byzantine princesses and one of the Seljuq princes. Sultan Malik Shah sent this letter with his envoy Siaus (or Çavuş or Siyavuş). However, Alexios convinced the envoy to side with the Byzantines and was able to take back Sinop with the help of Malik Shah’s letter. Later on, the Emperor Alexios sent an envoy to Malik Shah, but the envoy returned as meanwhile the sultan had died. The above mentioned information regarding the relations between the Byzantines and the Seljuqs can be found in other sources. However, one very little known source regarding relations between the two states is a letter sent by Sultan Sanjar to the Byzantine emperor and this letter is preserved in a Persian source. Our paper aims at identifying the underlying reasons for writing this letter, its contents and to the emperor to which it was addressed.

South of Afyonkarahisar (in late Byzantine times, site of the key fortress of Akroenos ) and north of the major communication center of Dinar (Apameia) lies the plain of Sandıklı, the Byzantine Pentapolis in Phrygia Salutaris. During Hellenistic times the principal city of this plain was Eukarpia (Emirhisar), in the Roman period four other cities developed: Hierapolis (Koçhisar), Brouzos (Kara Sandıklı), Stektorion (Mente?) and Otrous in order of importance, whereas in late Byzantine times what was previously the least of these, Otrous, gained in significance because of its geographical position, while the Roman cities in the plain were abandoned.

Although the city of Otrous played a role already in early Christian times, and its continued existence is attested by literary sources (it was represented by its bishop at the Council of Chalcedon and at the second Council of Nicaea), because it was only a minor town during the Roman period (though it struck coins) Otrous is the only city of the Pentapolis that has not yet been located. In the course of my epigraphical and topographical research in central Phrygia I discovered near the village of Yanıkören (the name means: “Burnt Ruin”) ruins and, above all, inscriptions dating to the end of the Byzantine period in central Anatolia. At a time when few people could read inscriptions, the presence here of several bishops’ epitaphs indicates the existence of an important site.

Far from the places where the city of Otrous had been conjecturally placed by my predecessors, the village of Yanıkören is located in the southernmost part of the plain of Sandıklı, near the entrance to the passage of the Kufi Bo€azı which leads, along a riverbed dry in summer, southwards through the mountains from the plain of Sandıklı to the plain of Eumeneia, near the headwaters of the Maeander. This passage is abandoned today, although it was used in Ottoman times and can still be traversed in a Landrover. The importance of Otrous in the latest Byzantine period derives from its location commanding this passage through which led the route from the fortress of Akroenos to the kastron of Eumeneia.

The research covers the Venetian settlement from the end of the 11th century to the end of the Latin Kingdom based on the Chrysobullos dated to 1082. The first stage of research will discuss the borders of the Venetian settlement under two titles as before and during the Latin Kingdom. In the second stage, information available on the structures within the border of the Venetian settlement will be presented and their possible locations, based on the information provided by the primary sources, will be discussed. We will pay special attention to the fondaco known to have been built within the old borders and will discuss its possible connection with the Balkapanı in Tahtakale quarter. The research aims at contributing to the future detailed surveys and archaeological studies by presenting the region according to the primary sources.

The Age of Enlightenment, which seems to be the gateway to modernity and whose characteristics emerged with rationalism, had to create the ‘Dark Ages,’ which could be considered its metaphorical opposite, in order to retain its existence. Modern scholarship led the way for viewing the Middle Ages, which was ascribed the adjective of ‘dark’, clear-cut and monist in comparison to the Renaissance and thereafter with regard to art and aesthetics. The approach of the art historian is evidently insufficient for it continues to view the material cultural production of the Byzantine civilisation with this attitude. Apart from individual attempts in the study of architecture - for example those of Buchwald – the ‘aesthetical setting’ of the period that influenced the forms of the material cultural products in architecture and handicrafts was considered non-existant. The fact that in the Early Christian period, important personages such as the pagans Iamblikhos, Proklos and especially Plotinos in the 3rd century as well as Hieromartyr Methodios, the bishop of Olympos, in the 4th century paved the way for the emergence of Neoplatonism indicates that this attitude should be considered with caution. Within this context, especially concerning the production of the post-10th century, which can be described as functional, symbolical and plain, it is necessary to build up theoretical connections between the goals, functions and forms. Characteristic and dominant properties observed in the architecture applications during the 12th and 13th centuries led to the development of a hypothesis that the aesthetic rules also define the stylistic properties of the period.

Numismatists study Byzantine coinage under five periods: The 1st period covers the time from the reign of Anastasius I. (491-508) to mid-8th century; the 2nd period from the 8th century to the end of the 11th century; the 3rd period starts with the reform of Alexius I. Komnenos (1081-1118) and lasts until the late 13th century; the 4th period from 1300 through the mid-14th century; the 5th period from the mid-14th century to the fall of the empire in 1453: for this last period no evidence for gold coinage has been found. These cycles of coinage minting summarise the financial and economic conditions of the empire. The third period of the five, mentioned above, stands out with its increase in the sources and population of the empire. It is worth noting that the gold coins retained their international prestige despite the devaluation. This prestige lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1204; however, the loss in value could not be stopped even after the re-conquest in 1261. Our paper will stress the reform of Alexius I. Komnenos, the circumstances that paved the way for this reform as well as the Byzantine monetary circulation and interaction with the states in the Balkans and east of Anatolia in the 12th century.

The Latin language and Latin literature affected Byzantine society only superficially until the establishment of the Crusader Kingdom in 1204 introduced Franciscan and Dominican monks into the city with their Latin libraries and proselytizing activities. Bilingual monks in Constantinople produced Greek versions of Latin texts (e.g., the Franciscan rule, the polemical tract “Contra Graecos') directed to the Greek inhabitants of the city. After the expulsion of the Latin rulers of Constantinople, the Franciscan and Dominican monks remained in the city until 1281 or later and evidently introduced the Latin language and Latin texts into Byzantine culture through their teaching activities. Manuel Holobolos and Maximos Planoudes apparently learned Latin from these monks and made translations that reintroduced educated Byzantines to their classical Latin literary heritage. Both these Greek translators were scholars and monks who participated in a fruitful intellectual exchange with their western counterparts in Constantinople and introduced some western literary practices into Byzantium. Their activities represent a striking change in the insular climate of Byzantine cultural life.

Pegae is a Byzantine fortress on a defensible peninsula near Karabiga on the Propontis. Investigations there in 2004 and 2005 with the Granikos Archaeological Project have documented terraces with large vaulted cisterns surrounded by a double rampart and ditch system of defense, with the main wall fortified by about twenty towers, some of which have brick-faced pentagonal facades preserved to over twenty meters high. Historical sources record that control of this strategic stronghold changed hands several times between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, and this is consistent with the multiple phases of construction discernable at the site. Investigation of the architecture and topography suggests that a main wall with rounded towers was in place by the Fourth Crusade, and that the pentagonal towers and outer wall were added during the Latin occupation of A.D. 1204-1235 or after A.D. 1235 by the Lascarids, who also refurbished the walls at Nicaea.

In the 12th century the Byzantine Empire tried to overcome, through soldier-emperors, many difficulties such as wars on the eastern and western frontiers and commercial privileges that had to be given to the Venetians. As a representative of the military aristocracy and a member of the Comnenian dynasty John II plays a special role in this period of conflicts. Beside other coins of this emperor, an electrum coin uncovered at Anaia, Kuşadası, depicts the emperor together with St. George and such iconography must be a reflection of the belief in patron saints observed in the army. This further points to the influence of the political system undergoing changes as of the early 12th century on coinage iconography. This paper deals with the visual change in the example of the coin from Anaia and its reflection on coinage iconography in general. For this purpose depictions of soldier-saints in other fields will also be considered for comparison.

The period of Andronikos II shows some unique characteristics compared both to earlier periods in the history of Byzantium and to other regions of the Empire during the same period. Following the recapture of Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, the Byzantine state entered a new period under the rule of the Palaeologan dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine Empire was transformed from a powerful and extended state into a small city-state, which experienced the stress of internal problems and foreign invasions. The major threat came from the Ottomans. The second and the major problem was the Catalans and their expansion in the Byzantine terrritory. Losing the arable lands to the hand of Turks and Catalans led to famine and paved the way for the development of an intimate relationship between monasteries and the city. Nonetheless, while the Byzantine state became politically, militarily and economically weakened, the same period also witnessed the flourishing of cultural and artistic life. Especially during the reign of Andronikos II, monastic building activity is one area in which this so-called Palaeologan Renaissance or Palaeologan Revival found expression. The peculiar nature of monastic establishments in Constantinople under the economic and social circumstances of the era, and how these conditions affected the monasteries are interesting questions that deserve specific attention. The monasteries that were located inside the city walls will give sufficient data about the role of a monastery in Constantinople. An important part of this study is the investigation of specific detailed questions going beyond the physical location, such as the additional buildings of the monastic complexes i.e philanthropic buildings. 1. Xenon 2. Nosokomeion 3. Bath 4. Orphanages 5. Gerotropeia Beyond the investigation on monasteries of the period the main subject of this paper is the role of the monasteries in the life of the Constantinopolitans in terms of philanthropy. How did the monasteries serve the City and the people? How were these buildings administrated? Did they have typika or other adminstrative documents or, what did these documents specify?

For a study of the history of Epiros, Macedonia and Thessaly in the first half of the thirteenth century the extant letters and court records of John Apokaukos, metropolitan of Naupaktos, and those of Demetrios Chomatianos, archbishop of Ochrid, are indispensable. Both men were high-ranking religious authorities with jurisdiction over the bishops and the lay people under their authority. In this paper, I will concentrate on three juridical cases from the courts of Apokaukos and Chomatianos, –tentatively, cases 80 and 167 in the G. Prinzing edition of Chomatianos, and case number 19 in N. Bees’ edition of Apokaukos— and I will focus on issues relevant for the social and economic relations between landowners and peasants. Thus, I aim to discuss these three cases in detail and present conclusions about what they attest for the economic relationships in the countryside in the first half of the thirteenth century in Epiros and Macedonia.

The more than 20-year-long reign of Salah al-Din Ayyubi, the world-famous Muslim hero fighting against the Crusaders, is worth noting also for the relations established with the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine-Ayyubid relations during this period stand out for they were friendly and set an alliance against the Crusaders. Diplomatic relations were established and various treaties were signed between Salah al-Din Ayyubi and the corresponding Byzantine emperors, namely Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), Alexius II Komnenos (1180-1183), Andronikos I Komnenos (1183-1185) and Isaac II Angelos (1185-1195). For example, as a consequence of these treaties, religious men were sent to serve at the mosque built during the Umayyad sieges of Constantinople; these men and the envoys were met by the emperor himself, Muslim merchants and other Muslims there; the khutbas were read in the name of the Abbasid caliph and the Ayyubid Sultan Salah al-Din Ayyubi. When Jerusalem was re-conquered by the Ayyubids, Sultan Salah al-Din Ayyubi returned the churches converted to Catholic rite by the Latins back to their former Orthodox communities. He also agreed to join the joint campaign over to Cyprus proposed by the Emperor Isaac II Angelos. Among other noteworthy issues can be cited the following: the Emperor sent his brother Alexius to the Sultan but he was arrested by the Crusaders as he was passing by Trablus, thus the Byzantine emperor requested the Ayyubid sultan to help for the release of his brother; another Byzantine request was the shipment of the True Cross held then at Jerusalem to Constantinople. On the other hand Salah al-Din Ayyubi managed to collect information regarding developments in Europe through Byzantium; for example, through the Byzantine envoys he gained some information regarding the assault attempt by the Sicilian navy and preparations for the Third Crusade by the German Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa.

The occupation of Constantinople by the crusaders and the shift of the Byzantine court to Nicaea yielded a hiatus in the making of architecture, arts and crafts in the capital for more than half of the century.

When the Byzantines had been returned in 1261, commissions recommenced and new activities started as in building, restoring and decorating churches.

Constantinople had always been the center of the development of arts, creating new forms and styles. Although within these five decades of occupation the artistic life in the city came to an end, the arts developed and appeared altered at the beginning of the Palaeologan period.

In my paper I like to examine the question, if the development of sculpture after 1261 continues at that point where it stopped at the end of the 12th century or if it appears then in a more altered way. The material preserved is rather scarse and till now only little had been done to answer this question. The major objects have to been scrutinized again, but the focus will be on some very few objects, especially the frames of the lost bema icons in the Kalenderhane Camii from ca. 1200 and the sculpture in the Kariye Camii around 1320, the most extensive ensemble preserved from this period.

The close relationship between the frames in Kalenderhane and those in the naos of Kariye compels to reexamine wether the Kariye reliefs, which clearly differ in style from the sculptured arcosolia arches in the parecclesion, are made for the Metochitis church or are spolia.

In the latter case the parecclesion reliefs provide the authentic style of sculpture of the Palaeologan period and in their appearance as a distinctive step in the development of sculpture in the capital after 1261

In the Byzantine art of ceramics, the Roman ceramic tradition is known to have continued in North Africa, Egypt, Italy and other important regions of the empire from the Early Christian period through the 7th century. However, with Christianity becoming the official religion, themes related to Christian symbolism entering the decorative repertory of red slip wares with stamped decoration are the first signs of change. The high volume of production of these vessels distributed with an extensive sea trade network is proven not only with the high number of finds but also with the use of mould and roulette for implementing the stamped decoration. Yet, the overseas trade was affected by the Arab raids from the end of the 7th century through the 9th century and the Late Roman centres of ceramic production were replaced with those in Greece, on both sides of the Aegean and the Aegean islands. The first radical change came when the production of glazed pottery, from whose paste, slip texture, firing technique and decoration the Byzantine pottery assumed its character, started. Following this process, there are still chronological problems although the typologies are clearly distinguished for the glazed pottery of the 9th-11th centuries. This troublesome chronology continues in the ensuing centuries. However, we are of the opinion that the excavation and surface finds of the last decade will shed light on the typology and chronology of the 12th and 13th centuryByzantine ceramics. Our paper will discuss in detail the formal and stylistic changes in Byzantine pottery in the light of the excavation finds.

Technical developments have a great impact on the change of artistic styles. The best known technical development in the history of paintings is the widespread use of oil colours from the Renaissance. There were of course other developments in medieval art as important as the introduction of oil colours. There is no extant work describing the technique of Byzantine art of painting. The best source on Byzantine paintings is the various copies of the Handbook by Dionysios of Fourna, all dated to the post-Byzantine era. The present final version of the abovementioned manuscript was compiled in 1701-1733 by the priest Joseph at Mount Athos. Joseph’s compilation was based on Byzantine sources and describes the painting method of the Byzantine painter Panselinos.

The best information on the Byzantine paintings can be gathered from the paintings themselves. The in situ paintings and especially the damaged ones provide information and more clues regarding the wall surfaces, outlines, sketches, plaster and paint layers. However, the number of researchers working in this field is very low.
Important technical developments that took place in Byzantine wall paintings during the 12th and 13th centuries became milestones on the way leading to the Renaissance. Our paper will examine the wall plaster, size of the plaster, design of the wall painting programme, sketches, and different uses of the pigments and binding substances; then we will discuss the transparency, colour transition, wider colour scala, light-shadow techniques, plasticity of the human body, intensification of expression on the human face and similar techniques employed by the Byzantine artists in order to identify the effect of technique on the style.

The Christian inhabitants of Antalya revolted against and overthrew the city’s Seljuk garrison, the only known instance of the uprising of an Anatolian city against Seljuk rule. The revolt prompted the siege and reconquest of the city in late January 1216 by a Seljuk army headed by Sultan Izzeddin Keykavus. The reconquest is mentioned in passing in several historical texts, but the main source for this event is a long Arabic inscription written on spolia and inserted into the walls of Antalya’s citadel. This inscription constitutes a complete fetihname (victory screed), the only known example of this genre to be carved on the walls of the conquered city. To date it has only been partially published. A new project undertaken by the author has furnished a complete text of this inscription for the first time. This paper proposes to use the new information provided by this text in order to reexamine the circumstances surrounding the revolt, reconquest, and subsequent rebuilding of Antalya

In 1092 Alexius I Comnenus introduced a new monetary system of five denominations: the gold hyperpyron, the electrum aspron trachy, the billon stamenon and the copper tetarteron and half- tetarteron. Although one would expect that all of these denominations circulated in the territory of the empire, this is not the case. During the 12th century, we can detect the existence of two distinct circulation areas as far as the lower denominations are concerned. The first one, comprising Constantinople, Albania and Greece is dominated by the tetartera and their halves, whereas in the second one, namely the Asia Minor and the northern Balkans, the billon stamena form the main circulating medium.

The existence of a petty currency, in this case represented by the copper denominations, is usually associated with the extension of urban economy and a greater intensity of commerce. Our interpretation of the phenomenon described above seems to confirm this. Constantinople, Greece – and to a lesser extend – Albania had since the 9th century a fully monetarized economy, largely based on commerce. The existence of several commercial centres, as Thessalonica, Corinth, Thebes, Dyrrachion etc. in this area – used also by the Venetians as trading sees – is the proof. This is not the case for the northern Balkans, where a primal economy, still agriculturally based, is developed only after the end of the 11th c. As for Asia Minor, it is throughout this period the object of conflict, a fact that will not allow its economic development.

What is the most important in the situation described above is the fact that we are, in our opinion, dealing with a state monetary policy, otherwise not attested. This seems the more likely, since a similar practice is detected at the same period in Cyprus, where the high value coins prevailing are not the hyperpyra as in the rest of the empire, but the electrum aspra trachea.

After 1204, when a central administration no longer exists, the issue of tetartera is continued by some successor states, but to a minimum degree and only as part of the propaganda promoting the ruler’s claims to the Byzantine throne. An interesting exception is that of the imitative tetartera of the 13th century that we identified during our research. They circulate in quite significant quantities in the same area as the 12th c. tetartera and seem to be the equivalent of Latin imitative stamena for a population accustomed to the use of this denomination.

Identity was a question discussed by the Byzantine elite. What the majority of Byzantines thought about their identity is probably irrecoverable. Identity meant a great deal to the elite because they used it to define their position in society and to justify their wealth and privileged status. The Byzantine identity revolved around three main elements: the imperial office, the Orthodox faith, and the city of Constantinople. Depending on your positioning in the elite, stress might be placed more on one element than another. For example, 12th-century rhetoric put greater emphasis on the city of Constantinople than can be detected hitherto. But appropriately for a Christian Empire the three elements formed an indivisible trinity. Efforts have been made to detect more radical shifts in the Byzantine identity before 1204, but on closer inspection they do not amount to very much. There was a degree of alarm about a perceived threat to Orthodoxy from the claims made on behalf of the papacy to a primacy over the Universal Church. Provincial loyalties, as always, were centred on local cults, like that of St Demetrios at Thessalonike. Manuel I Komnenos removed the cover of the saint’s tomb to Constantinople without provoking any clear reaction. He was acting in traditional fashion to concentrate the major cults of the Byzantine Empire in the capital. It is instructive that the main provincial revolt of the late 12th century – that of the Bulgarians – sought to appropriate the cult of St Demetrios for its own ends. But this revolt was exceptional in its determination to revive an ethnic identity in opposition to the universal identity claimed for Byzantium by its elite. Outside Bulgaria there are no signs that discontented provincials sought to divest themselves of their Byzantine identity. Their anger was directed at the elite who claimed to be the guardians of that identity. In the immediate aftermath of the fall of Constantinople to the Latins there was little sympathy for the elite, but it was still a traumatic event, because at a stroke it destroyed the Byzantine identity.

Not the least interesting part of the history of the period of exile is how the Byzantine identity was reshaped. At its simplest, members of the elite tried to rescue some prestige by citing the parallel with the Israelites and claimed that exile was only temporary punishment, which would be followed by a restoration of the New Jerusalem. Once it became clear that this might be long in coming, other solutions were proposed. The most fruitful was summed up by a contemporary in the following words: ‘Let each of us enjoy our own Sparta.’ He was arguing for an equality of status among the successor states that had grown up in exile. Common identity would be guaranteed by the Orthodox church rather than by political allegiance. The need for a common identity allowed for a new emphasis on Hellenic culture. The exponents of which were of course the Byzantine elite. It was one way in which to regain the prestige lost by the Fall of Constantinople.

To the west of Antalya, the flanks of the Bey Mountains facing the city formed the western border of the provincia Pamphylia in the Byzantine period. Archaeological surveys conducted in this area since 1999 have shown that the region had considerable Byzantine activities as of the 5th century. These activities can be followed from Late Antiquity through the early 13th century almost uninterrupted, but with differing levels and density. The region was the hinterland of the fortified port city of Attalia, the most important Byzantine stronghold in the region in Middle Ages. The region houses Byzantine remains that can be roughly grouped in two with regard to date: Early Byzantine period covering the 5th and 6th centuries, and the 12th century when the Comnenian and Angelos dynasties were in power. The remains dating to the 12th century, which form the scope of this paper, belong to the products of a relatively stable period from the reign of John II Komnenos (1118-1143), who re-established the Byzantine sovereignty over Antalya and its wide hinterland, to 1207 when Attalia was conquered by the Turks. Among the remains identified dating to this period can be cited the defensive structures peculiar to the period such as the second phase city walls of Trebenna and the Yarbaşçandır Fortress in the Çandır valley; the medieval church at Trebenna decorated with frescoes as well as some rural chapels; civic settlements such as the one at the acropolis of Trebenna or at the Palamutdüzü area of Doyran district; two monastic complexes within the territory of Neapolis. Our paper aims at evaluating the last century of Byzantine rule in western Pamphylia together with evidence from the recent archaeological finds.

The Byzantine period rock settlement in the Erdemli Valley of Yeşilhisar Township in Kayseri contains important architecture and monumental paintings of the 12th and 13th centuries. In this valley of approximately one kilometre length the churches of Forty Martyrs, Holy Apostles, Michael and St. Nicholas have monumental paintings datable to the 12th century based on their pictorial programme, iconography and stylistic aspects. Especially the Church of St. Eustathios located in the northern end of the valley has the latest paintings of the valley datable to the 13th century. Moreover, this church bears importance for it reflects the influence of Constantinople in Cappadocia based on the high quality of its paintings, pictorial programme and iconography. Besides, it is possible to follow the Seljuq rule of the 12th-13th centuries in the region as reflected in the motifs in the wall paintings of the churches in the valley.

The Saray Church in the southeast of the valley has scarce remains of wall paintings datable to the 12th century. Part of a monastic complex, the façade arrangement of the church resembles those of some structures dated to the 12th century in the region. In addition, the Bezirhane Monastery newly identified in the east of the valley has architectural features and façade arrangement of the 12th century. Small chapels newly identified by us in the valley also point to the same centuries with regard to their architectural properties.

The Monastery of Christ Pantokrator, now known as the Zeyrek Camii represents the largest and most significant monument in Istanbul to survive from the Middle Byzantine period. Built originally ca. 1118-36 by John II and Eirene Komnenos as three large, interconnected churches, the complex served a three-fold purpose: as the katholikon of the monastery, as an important site of Christian veneration, and as an imperial mausoleum. The survey and restoration of the complex carried out between 1995 and 2005, directed by Zeynep Ahunbay, Metin Ahunbay, and myself, clarified many details in the construction history of the building (which we have discussed elsewhere), and it uncovered new details of the building’s decorative program. In this paper, I propose to examine the evidence (old and new) for the lavish but incompletely preserved interior decoration of the three Pantokrator churches and to ask what it might tell us about Byzantine cultural production in twelfth-century Constantinople.

Mosaic decoration. Until the late-eighteenth century, visitors commented on the mosaics in the three churches of the complex. These disappeared either in the terrible earthquake of 1766 or during the subsequent Ottoman refurbishment, and until recently, the only visible remain was a decorative rinceau in a window soffit in the north church. During our restoration of the roof, we found thousands of mosaic tesserae, as well as fragments of setting plaster, used as fill material and mixed into the Ottoman mortars. We also were able to uncover and stabilize the large area of mosaic decoration in the apse window of the central church.

Fresco decoration. The outer narthex was decorated with fresco rather than with mosaic, and evidence of painted plaster survives in the blocked windows of the north and south walls. The decorative pattern compares favorably with that of the surviving mosaics.

Stained glass. The limited excavations of the late 1950s uncovered hundreds of fragments of stained glass from the apse windows of the south church. The date of the glass continues to be debated, although it is now clear that it must have been produced in Constantinople. I will present my arguments for dating the stained glass to the original period of construction.

Marble revetments. The interior wall surfaces of the building originally were covered with marble cladding, a portion of which survives in the apse of the south church. Investigations throughout the building uncovered the system of iron cramps, with which the marble panels were secured, and the position of these gives some idea of the original system of organization. We also found numerous fragments of the revetments in the Ottoman fill; these clearly represent reuse, with many panels sliced from columns.

Architectural sculpture. Although some of the architectural sculptures from the Pantokrator represent reuse, the cornices seem to have been carved specifically for the twelfth-century building. The palmette cornices are standard for the period, but they exhibit several noteworthy variations in scale and patterning. The upper cornice in the north church is unique, with birds set in a vine scroll, imitating a Late Antique prototype. Our analysis has demonstrated that all of the cornices were originally gilded. Several capitals seem to have been carved specifically for the complex as well, and these correspond in detail with the carving of the cornices and the decorative patterning found in other media throughout of the building. The components of the Ottoman mimber in the south church are all reused Byzantine pieces, of differing dates and provenance, including several panels from H. Polyeuktos. The date of their incorporation into the Pantokrator has been contested, bit it is important for understanding the status of the monastery in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Opus sectile floor. The surviving floor of the south church represents a unique artistic achievement, which has been discussed elsewhere. In the context of this paper, I will re-examine the floor in an attempt to situate it within the overall visual program, emphasizing the details that correspond with the other decorative elements throughout the building. I emphasize that, however ostentatious, the interior of the Pantokrator was conceived as a Gesamtkunstwerk. Moreover, in both detail and subject matter, the decorative program of the Pantokrator reflects the concerns of the Komnenian dynasty, and it may be read as an emblem of the power, legitimacy, and universality of their rule.

The capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204 is, at first glance, an important breaking point in the economic as well as the political history of the Byzantine Empire. The question, however, arises whether economic phenomena reproduce the fate of political units. The investigation of the evolution of patterns of demand provides answers to questions regarding the modalities of continuity and discontinuity in the Byzantine economy of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The response of the urban and rural econumy as well as of the economy of exchange will be discussed. One of the purposes of this paper is to examine whether the responses were different in the various sectors of the economy; if there were important differences, did these become factors of disarticulation? In the same context, the role of the state as a factor of integration in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries will be elaborated, with the political caesura in mind.

Anaia, located to the south of Ephesus, dominated the Samian Sound from the prehistoric period on and retained its importance in the Byzantine period. In the 12th century its harbour was refortified. Sources state that in a short while Anaia being a diocese and an agricultural place with its fertile hinterland assumed the role of a commercial centre (kommerkion) and customs (emporion). The order at the port refortified by the Laskarids in the 13th century loosened after them and the city became a haven for slave marketing and corsairs of Latin, Byzantine and Turkish origins.

Ongoing excavations at Anaia, Kuşadası, since 2001 have presented us with evidence regarding the fluctuating history of the site. These fluctuations together with the conflicting life that has lasted to the present have formed mixed cultural strata for the Middle Ages on the contrary to the neater stratigraphy observed in the mound on which the fortress stands. In the Laskarid fortress rebuilt employing the stones from the Comnenian fortress are found Byzantine coins as well as Latin, emirates and Ottoman coins and especially Palaeologian bullae; glass, pottery and metalwork production that seem to have developed after the decline in military importance reflect to the history of life at the site. The church was surrounded with Christian burials and the fortress seems to have become a haven for corsairs after it was abandoned about the end of the 13th century. Our paper aims at discussing the 12th- and 13th-century history of the kommerkion and emporion of Anaia together with archaeological finds.

In this presentation we will discuss the stylistic and iconographic changes in stone plaques with animal depictions across the Mediterranean basin and Anatolia in general during the 12th and 13th centuries in the light of the lion plaque uncovered at the excavations at the Church of St. Nicholas at Myra-Demre, Antalya.

The lion plaque was found in an arcosolium uncovered in the southern section of the monumental structure D in the northern courtyard of the church in 2003; when the plaques covering two tombs were removed, the northern plaque was understood to have a relief of a lion which was placed facing inwards. The northern tomb is noteworthy for its careful workmanship; besides, it is stressed with a fresco of Theotokos Hodegetria on the eastern wall of the arcosolium at the same level.

The skeletons of women, men and children buried in these two tombs were removed in 2004 and anthropological studies revealed that they were members of a wealthy family. The deceased buried here possibly are the patrons of the monumental structure D dated to the 12th century.

The lion figure depicted in three quarters in profile is framed within a fine frame; it rises on its hind legs and its front legs have sharp paws. Its tail passes between the hind legs and turns right; its end is knotty. Although the head is in profile the eye is in frontal view; the tongue is out and the small ears are pointed. Its mane is stressed with zigzags and triangular bands. Rendered in low relief technique, the lion figure reflects the stylised and even caricaturised style common for the 12th century.

We will first present four plaques with animal depictions from the Church of St. Nicholas, one of which is dated to 1118. Then we will evaluate parallel plaques, beginning with the Mediterranean basin, from the 12th and 13th centuries.

In Byzantine art, animal combat scenes depicting a lion fighting with another animal is quite common; the other animal is generally deer, gazelle, goat or bull. The lion is always the victorious party. The defeat of the lion is quite rare: two grotesque examples for the defeat of the lion are doubtless the cockerel strangling the lion with its tail and the elephant strangling the lion with its trunk.

The lion is rarely depicted alone in Anatolia, and if so, this is observed in large sized plaques: such examples are found at Amorion, St. John’s Church at Ephesos and Myra while another example of Anatolian origin is now housed at Munich.

With regard to dimensions, four plaques from Stara Zagora at Sofia Archaeological Museum resemble the Anatolian examples and they bear the depictions of lion, griffin, eagle and phoenix and two peacocks drinking the water of life. A more modest example is a plaque with griffin at the Vlatadon Monastery, Salonica, dated to the 11th century.

Related publications propose ideas regarding the place of use for such plaques: they were used at templons, tombs or as wall revetment. The lion plaque from Myra is possibly a spolia material; however, its place of use is directly related with the symbols of death and resurrection of the lion.

It can be easily shown with numerous examples that the lion, which had the title of the protector of the rulers, fortifications, city gates and tombs since Antiquity, has a special place in Byzantine and Islamic art of the 12th and 13th centuries.

The body of the emperor Manuel I was laid to rest in the "Heroon" or funerary chamber of the monastery of the Pantokrator soon after his death in 1180.

The relic of the lithos, or stone of unction, which Manuel had had transported ten years earlier from Ephesus to Constantinople and had, according to the sources, borne upon his own shoulders from the harbor up to the Pharos church, was then moved from the Pharos to the Pantokrator and placed adjacent to

Manuel's tomb. Verses in the voice of Manuel's widow Maria of Antioch were presumably inscribed on the tomb or on the slab.These lines not only convey Maria's bitter grief at the death of her husband, but also align her with the Maries bewailing the death of Christ and bringing unguents to anoint his corpse. The presence of the lithos, Christ's own tomb slab, next to the tomb of her husband, probably inspired and certainly reinforced the analogy. This paper will analyze the significance of the form of the lost tomb and the implications of this kind of mimetic ritual in the late Comnenian period.

The martyrs, who defended their faith against the infidels by self-sacrifice following the example of Christ, are considered to be the Christian heroes. The phenomenon emerged in the 3rd century A.D. with the Roman repression of Christianity, appeared again during the Arab invasions of the 7th-9th centuries, and then during the iconoclastic controversy within the Byzantine Empire and lastly following the arrival of the Turks in Asia Minor after 1071. The ones martyred during the Arab invasions and following the arrival of the Turks are named neo-martyrs. The case of the neo-martyr Niketas the Young is an interesting one. Some scholars cited the text on Niketas the Young as an example of forced conversion practiced in Asia Minor after the Turkish conquest. The close reading of the text through the examination of its author (Theodore Mouzalon, who was the megas logothetes of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II) and of its audience within the context of the policies of Andronikos II and of the archaeological evidence such as the existence of several Cappadocian churches decorated during the reign of Masud II (St George at Belisirama, Kirk Dam Alti Kilisesi and the inscription in the Church of the Virgin Spileotissa), give us a rather complicated picture rather than a simple case of forced conversion. This paper aims to discuss the text on Niketas the Young by considering the above-mentioned issues.

This paper deals with the nexus of relationships between the Byzantine monasteries of Constantinople as revealed in the written sources. It investigates cohesions, obligations, and enmities, none of which are alluded to directly in the texts but which can be inferred. The word bond has been deliberately chosen because it conveys a range of meanings, all of which are relevant here.

Each of the main monasteries is considered during three periods: (i) the Komnenian period; (ii) the Latin inter-regnum, and (iii) the Palaiologan period. However this is not a straight history of the monasteries as religious foundations, which has been done before now, but concerns itself with the horizontal story of how these monasteries functioned, particularly outside their primarily religious spheres.

In particular, the role of the monasteries as educational establishments, hospitals, and even prisons, is considered as part of the broader history of Constantinopolitan politics.

In the forest area of the Doyran district, 35 km west of Antalya, stands one of the best preserved Byzantine monasteries of Anatolia. The monastic complex is located in an area called ‘Kisleçukuru’ by the locals and was built on a hill which has sheer cliffs on three sides. In accordance with the general layout of Byzantine monasteries, the structures constituting the complex are arranged around a courtyard in the middle of which stands the church and the entire complex is surrounded with a wall. All the auxiliary buildings such as refectory, monks’ cells, cistern, latrines, larder and funerary chapel adjoin the encircling wall around the courtyard. The encircling wall takes the topographic form of the hill on which the complex is located. All but the north and northeast parts of the encircling wall still stand. The entrance to the complex is on the north. We are of the opinion that the rectangular barrel-vaulted structure with no windows opposite the entrance is the larder. The church, the focus of the complex, is quite well preserved. Its walls still stand to the roof level here and there. The protruding apse is articulated with blind niches on the outside. The plan type of the church cannot be identified with evidence available; however, the springing of arches observed on the north and south walls may suggest that the interior was designed on a variation of the cross-in-square layout. A room adjoining on the northeast connects only to the naos and might have been used as a pastophorion. We are of the opinion that the rectangular structure in the southeast corner, which is understood to be two-storied, should be the refectory. Standing to the level of the roof, the structure is accessed on the west. Between the southern portion of the encircling wall and the church are 10-11 rooms, which should be the monks’ cells, some of which adjoin the encircling wall. The remaining ones adjoining each other stand on the terrace above. At the western end of the southern portion of the encircling wall are two niches, which served as the latrines. On the northeast corner of the complex are a cistern and remains of an aqueduct that supplied this cistern. Based on the masonry technique, regional history and surface finds of glass and ceramic, it is possible to date the complex to the 12th century during the Comnenian period.

The huge and varied body of artistic production attributed to Constantinople between the late 11th and the beginning of the 13th century raises the critical issue of ivory carving in this era. Although a number of works in this medium have been assigned to the period, not one has been demonstrated to belong, unquestionably, to the era. A survey of the objects in question suggests that these are more likely works of the Macedonian era. As against the working of bone, a material the supply of which remained uninterrupted, that of ivory seems to have come to a halt: there are no pieces that can unhesitatingly be said to be products of the Komnenian age. This is not to argue that no carving occurred at this time, but it does suggest that the grounds on which “late” dates have been assigned are often no stronger than that they do not look like earlier work in the medium. The reasons of this diversity constitute a problem worth investigating in its own right. The paper concludes with some consideration of the situation in 12th-century Byzantium in contrast to Western Europe where a prolific and extended period of ivory carving was in process of developing.

Fleeing from the approaching Mongol invasions, more and more Turkic peoples emmigrated to Anatolia in the 13th century, thus accelerating the Turkification of the Near East. However, it must be underlined that the ongoing developments in the Byzantine world at this time were a first degree factor in the course of this process.

The fall of Constantinople to the Latins in 1204 resulted in the formation of two lesser Byzantine states in Anatolia: the Comnenian dynasty established a state in the Pontos at Trebizond (Trabzon) as its centre and the Laskarids in western Anatolia with Iznik. On the other hand when Constantinople was re-conquered by the Byzantines in 1261, the centre of power once again moved away from Anatolia, paving the way for Turkish sovereignty in western Anatolia. Nonetheless, the survival of the Empire of Trabzon until 1461, successfully absorbing some Turkish elements, contrasts with the developments in western Anatolia.

The social and economic problems triggered by the Turkish penetration into these two regions will be discussed in view of the records of two monasteries: the Lemviotissa Monastery near Izmir and Vazelon Monastery near Trabzon. The chronicle of Panaretos, the historian of Trabzon, will also be taken as the main source for the political history of the Empire of Trabzon and especially for the relations between the administration and the Turkmens whereas the chronicles of Kinnamos, Niketas Khoniates and Pakhymeres will be the main sources for the developments in the west. Based on this comparison it will be argued that the Turkification of Anatolia was not an inevitable process but rather fed by the Byzantine policies as much as the Turkish immigrations, in spite of the fact that Turks caused important developments in the socio-economic structure of the Near East in the 12th and 13th centuries.

This paper is intended as an overview of the Nicaean empire’s taxation and financial systems, with special emphasis on the financing of the army. In contrast to the 12th century, there is a relative abundance of information related to these questions, coming mostly from archival documents dating from the 13th century. The ultimate goal of this study will be to compare the Nicaean system with what we know about the Comnenian system in order to establish to what extent the former is a continuation of the latter and which of its elements can be considered as original. Such a study may also lead to a better understanding of the Comnenian taxation and financial systems by showing that certain Nicaean practices actually originate from the 12th century.

It is commonly believed that Turkish linguistic influence upon the Greek language stared after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the collapse of the Byzantine state (see for instance: G. Horrocks, Greek: The History of the Language and its Speakers, N.-Y., 1997, Chapter 14). However, this assertion seems to be not completely correct. In the present paper I examine some Oriental lexical and idiomatic borrowings attested in Byzantine Greek as early as the twelfth-fifteenth centuries. A long list of the borrowed Oriental words relating to commerce, warfare, imperial court, everyday life and household, found in Byzantine sources, substantiates my suggestion that, in fact, the Turkification of the Greek language, in contradiction to common beliefs, had started long before the time of Tourkokratia. My objective is not only to compile a catalogue of these early Oriental (Arabic, Persian, and Turkish) loan-words in Greek, but also to make out social and mental realities standing behind these words and idioms. The latter may allow us to understand what particular spheres of Byzantine life were open for foreign and, especially, Oriental influences. The Oriental loan-words under discussion provide us with ample new information on cross-cultural exchange and interaction in the Eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages.

The century following the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) witnessed major political and territorial developments around the Aegean, namely the dismemberment of the Byzantine empire after the fall of Constantinople to the Latins in 1204, the Byzantine recovery of some territories culminating in the re-occupation of Constantinople in 1261, and the consolidation of Turkish emirates in Asia Minor in the early fourteenth-century. Research on the short and long-term impact of these developments on trade has so far focused on long-distance commercial exchanges between the West on the one hand, Byzantine and former Byzantine territories collectively known as Romania, on the other. Only minor attention has been paid in that context to short and medium-range trade and shipping in the Aegean itself, despite their contribution to trans-Mediterranean economic interaction. The aim of this paper is to examine developments in the production of foodstuffs, raw materials, semi-finished and finished products, as well as the supply of services to merchants and shipping within the Aegean region. In addition, it will attempt to assess continuity and change in these fields with respect to the twelfth century.

The present paper aims to present an iconographic type of John Prodromos, as the so-called “Angel of the Desert” and try to decipher sources of its immediate appearance in the 13th century. His image of this type is first attested in a Deesis composition in the Church of St. Achilles in Arilje and dated to 1295-96. Later, another example is found in St. Nikita near Cucer (1483-84). However, this iconographic type of John Prodromos soon became one of the widely spread portrayals of the saint. Particularly, during the late -and post-Byzantine periods his winged image was rendered mostly on portable icons. Later examples of the type are even to be found in the collections of the archaeological museums of Antalya and Tokat.

The representation in the 13th century, however, exhibits a fully established type of the image. So that the emergence of the type should be prior to its first testimony in the 13th century. Unfortunately the present stand of the researches on the topic does not provide adequate information concerning the possible origins of this new iconographic type. The present study intends to bring valuable data on the subject, especially by surveying the liturgical texts and other artistic media in use during the 12th and the 13th centuries.

When Constantinople fell to the Franks and Venetians in 1204, both parties enriched their churches back home with captured relics from Byzantium. Over the short life of the Latin Empire, rulers and clerics continued to send relics west. The initial glut of relic-trafficking and the later famed example of the crown of thorns and other relics of the passion are well-studied. This paper will examine a less well-known, yet with longer lasting implications, set of relic-translations. Long after the Fourth Crusade, Venetians continued to take relics out of Byzantine lands. As the Latin Empire of Constantinople waned, Venetians often removed sacred items before their enemies (the Greeks) could claim them. Throughout the last Byzantine dynasty, Venetian clerics and officials continued to seize or purchase relics where they could, justifying their actions as a defense of the saint against ‘schismatics.’ Later, as the Ottomans advanced into the eastern Mediterranean, Venice continued the same type of activity but defended the relics from ‘infidels’ instead, sometimes on behalf (they said) of the Greeks. The enemy changed, but the rhetoric remained constant.

The loss of strength in the Byzantine army, which started with the arrival of Turks in Anatolia, was sought to be compensated with mercenaries brought from abroad. Roussel de Bailleul, the chief of the armoured Norman cavalrymen - a group of such mercenaries - is worth noting for he attempted to establish a Norman Empire in Anatolia making use of the troublesome circumstances in which the Byzantine Empire had fallen. Although his attempt to found a Norman Empire in the region of Afyon failed according to the sources, some traces, attested in the rock settlements in the region, curiously point to the Norman art. Some decorative features observed at Kırkinler rock settlement in Phrygia, which also contains Afyon province, can also be found at Norman art as well as the Anatolian Armenian art of the 12th-13th centuries. This significant observation points to the inter-cultural interaction

With the settling down of the Turks in Anatolia in the 11th and 12th centuries, an interaction commenced between the Byzantine and the Seljuq cultures through the means of trade, politics and co-living. This interaction is attested in many elements used in depictions. Among these elements, the tree-of-life motif stands out for it is seen that it developed in many lands independent of each other. Nevertheless, it has to be kept in mind that the medieval Byzantine and Seljuq iconographies nourished themselves on the same sources. The tree motif is of Mesopotamian origin and was used as a common symbol by almost all the cultures since the prehistoric times; and the tree motif also penetrated into the Byzantine and Seljuq civilisations from this common origin. The iconographies of the ‘holy tree’ or the ‘tree of life’ allow us to identify the presence and the dimensions of an interaction between Byzantine and Seljuq symbolisms. Our paper aims at discussing the common features and different approaches regarding the tree of life motif, which developed on an Indo-European/pagan system of thought in Byzantium and which developed on a Central Asian/ Shamanistic system of thought of the Seljuqs

In the 12th and 13th centuries Seljuq Turks living across the majority of Anatolian land had both political and military relations as well as socio-cultural relations with the Byzantines. Naturally, living together with the Turks, even reaching intermarriage, paved the way for interactions among the customs and traditions and mutual tastes of lifestyle. Interaction on costumes is one to cite and it can be detected from various sources.

With regard to mutual interaction, indeed the influence of Turks and some other Oriental people on the Byzantines was more primal and long-lasting than the influence of Byzantines over the Turks. Yet, it is worth mentioning that this topic should be divided into two as ‘pre-13th century Turkish influence on Byzantine costumes’ and ‘Turkish and Oriental influence in the 12th-13th centuries,’ due to the fact that the first Turkish influence on Byzantine costumes arose from the Huns, Avars and Pechenegs who reached Byzantium via the Balkans

At the beginning of the 13th century the Seljuq Turks had expanded their western borders against the Byzantines and had reached the River Sakarya (ancient Sangarios) basin in the northwest. With the capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the Latins, some of the Byzantine elite withdrew to Iznik (Nikaia) making it their new capital for 57 years during which they struggled to re-conquer their former capital. In the mean time the Anatolian Seljuqs lost the Battle of Kösedağ to the Ilkhanids in 1243 which was a severe blow leading to the dissolution of the political unity. Indeed this difficult situation on the Seljuq side seemed in favour of the Byzantines; however, when Constantinople was re-conquered by the Byzantines in 1261, the point of gravity of the military defence of Byzantium shifted west away from Anatolia, which further facilitated the expansion of the newly-founded Turkish emirates’ territories into the Byzantine land. Our paper will demonstrate how the Byzantine border in Anatolia shrank in favour of the Turks in the second half of the 13th century, point out the border strongholds, and the areas of struggle with the Turks along this border.

The region known as the theme of Cappadocia in the Middle Ages is one of the most creative centres of the Byzantine art. As in the other regions of the empire during the 5th and 6th centuries, intensive construction activities were made in Cappadocia and numerous masonry churches and monasteries were built. Only a few of these masonry structures have survived in poor condition and one example is the Church of Konstantinos and Helena near to Niğde.

Many travellers and scholars have only presented very short information on the structure. The book by M. Restle published in 1979 provides the most detailed information regarding the architectural features and changes that took place. Most of the scholars agree that the church was originally built as a three-aisled Hellenistic basilica in the Early Byzantine period and then was altered to a vaulted basilica in the Middle Byzantine period. Although it is not known until what time the structure served as a church, it has been found in the archive documents that an attempt was made for blasting it with dynamites in 1977. Rescue excavations have been undertaken by the author since 1996.

The only study on the wall paintings of the Church of Konstantinos and Helena was published in 1987 by Yıldız Ötüken, who has dated the wall paintings to and after 11th century. On the other hand, Restle claims that the church had several phases of wall paintings, the latest of which date to the 12th-13th centuries.

Our paper will discuss the paintings dated to the 11th-13th centuries and other wall paintings unique in Cappadocia and unpublished to date.

The Karşı Church located in Gülşehir (Zoropassos) which lies 16 km away from Niğde in Cappadocia is dated to 1212 based on its inscription and bears importance for it attests to the presence of an active Christian population in the region in this period.

Looking at the Cappadocian churches dated to the 13th century based on either inscriptions or stylistic and iconographical analyses, it is possible to draw an imaginary line stretching from Gülşehir to Şahinefendi. Therefore, it is possible to say that the Christians had religious freedom, even if not administrative sovereignty.

With the start of the Seljuq period starting in Cappadocia, a change in demography occurred; however, this change did not take place in centres with strong commercial traffic. Gülşehir, Damsa (Tamisos) and Aksaray were among the centres with the highest volume of trade in the 13th century. Yet, an economic decline did occur.

The Karşı Church is located in a conical rock mass about 100 meters north of the road from Niğde, at the entrance of Gülşehir and was built in the 13th century during which the Seljuqs and Byzantines were co-inhabitants. The lower floor has a cruciform layout while the upper floor is a single nave. The lower floor is decorated with geometric, floral motifs and fantastic animal figures in red applied directly on the rock while the upper floor has wall painting on the barrel vault and walls.

The paintings of the church have never been published in a monograph. They present us with not only curious stylistic and iconographic details but also with an inscription. One reason that no monographs have been published is the fact that the paintings were covered with a thick layer of soot. However, the paintings were exposed during the conservation and restoration work conducted in 1995-1996.

This paper will challenge the current orthodoxy that the diversion of the Fourth Crusade and its subsequent sack of Constantinople were not the culmination of mounting hostility between East and West but rather the outcome of a set of unforeseeable events.

Those two centuries display a large range of foundation typika in which the founders explain what they intended to do when founding their monastery. As I have already tried to do for earlier foundations, I’ll try to set apart spiritual and more material matters. Looking for salvation, founders expected monks to pray for it until Last Judgement. But the foundation aimed also to protect with ecclesiastical inalienability their familial belongings. Some monasteries were founded by very prominent aristocrats, some of them member of the ruling family; some were founded by less important persons, although all documents preserved originate from higher or lower aristocracy. I’ll try to characterise those types of foundation. From a broader point of view, the foundation of new monasteries or refoundation of ruined ones is a major point of view on the social and economic evolution of the aristocracy during these two centuries.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the origins of the image of the winged John the Baptist within the context of thirteenth-century Byzantine art and imperial ideology. In this iconographic type the Baptist is endowed with two new attributes: he takes on a pair of wings and holds in his left hand the dish containing his severed head. The association of these two attributes was probably intended to emphasize the incorporeal nature of the image and its salvific message. This type of image is not found before the thirteenth century, and only a few examples have come down to us in contrast to the great number found in Post-Byzantine icon painting. To the extant examples from Paleologan churches we can now add another from the recently rediscovered wooden reliquary of the Baptist’s arm and left hand brought in 1328 to the prior of the Dominican convent at Perpignan and kept there until its transfer to the cathedral of Perpignan during the French Revolution. The painted inscription at the bottom of the image and the lengthy epigram which flanks it on the long sides of the reliquary explain the selection of the iconographic type. The Forerunner is said to bear wings because he has been made equal to the angels and is at once both material and immaterial. The image may be understood as a pictorial transposition of hymnographic invocations to the saint on his feast-days. In spite of the important role of hymnography, however, the creation of this type in the thirteenth-century would appear to derive from the convergence of yet other contemporary factors. After a rapid overview of the development of the cult of the saint in Constantinople, I shall try to establish a link between the devotion of the Byzantine emperors to the archangels and to John the Baptist. My intention is to view the creation of the winged image of John the Baptist as part of a chain of interactive assimilations which illustrate the emperors’ concern for salvation and their status in the court of the heavenly Kingdom. Indeed, the creation of this iconographic type of John the Baptist cannot be dissociated from the simultaneous emergence of winged images of the emperor and Christ in monumental painting as well as on coins. The rhetorical assimilation of both John the Baptist and the emperor to angelic beings belongs to an old tradition rooted in Scripture and was probably fostered by the homonymous dynasty of the Angeloi (1185–1204). However, it is only during the thirteenth-century that this assimilation is made visual and both the emperor and John the Baptist are endowed with wings. The winged emperor first occurs in numismatic iconography on the coins of John Komnenos Doukas minted in Thessalonike. This association of the emperor of Thessalonike (1237–1242) and John the Baptist may be connected with contemporary views on imperial investiture and devotion. In conclusion, the study of the origins of the image of the winged John the Baptist sheds new light on the mechanics of artistic production in Byzantium.

This paper will examine the liturgy and liturgical metalwork of the Byzantine Empire, which ruled over Anatolia and outside Anatolia from the end of the 4th century through the mid-15th century. Liturgy (in imperial events, births, baptism, funerals and most important of all, the Eucharist) had an important place in the Byzantine Orthodox Church and there was a prescribed order for prayers, hymns and certain gestures. The items used within the frame of this order are worthy of note for their functions, form and decoration. As liturgy evolved through time, the liturgical items assumed different features based on the economy, artistic style and development. Thus, we will first review the general features of the Early Byzantine period with regard to the liturgy and liturgical items; then, we will present the changes observed in the liturgy and liturgical items with regard to the materials used, techniques, subject matter and style and a conclusion will be attempted.