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"Herrin, Judith"
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Unrivalled influence
Unrivalled Influence explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. Written by one of the world's foremost historians of the Byzantine millennium, this landmark book evokes the complex and exotic world of Byzantium's women, from empresses and saints to uneducated rural widows. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, Judith Herrin sheds light on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters. She looks at women's interactions with eunuchs, the in-between gender in Byzantine society, and shows how women defended their rights to hold land. Herrin describes how they controlled their inheritances, participated in urban crowds demanding the dismissal of corrupt officials, followed the processions of holy icons and relics, and marked religious feasts with liturgical celebrations, market activity, and holiday pleasures. The vivid portraits that emerge here reveal how women exerted an unrivalled influence on the patriarchal society of Byzantium, and remained active participants in the many changes that occurred throughout the empire's millennial history.
Unrivalled Influence brings together Herrin's finest essays on women and gender written throughout the long span of her esteemed career. This volume includes three new essays published here for the very first time and a new general introduction by Herrin. She also provides a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into her broader views about women and Byzantium.
eBook
Ruth Macrides: an appreciation
The anniversary of Ruth's death and the funeral at St Andrews has just passed, reminding me how much I miss her and how profoundly she is admired by many medievalists, not just those specializing in Byzantine Studies, for a wide range of exciting studies not often brought together.
Journal Article
What Caused Iconoclasm?
[...]later iconophile chroniclers generally condemned both rulers as impious and ignored their achievements. According to later tradition he also instituted a ban on images of the living and the dead. [...]the discussion ignores the high level of theological debate among Christians of different persuasions and between Christians and Jews, so prevalent in the sixth and seventh centuries. In this case, what was understood as eastern excess (giving immense power to figural images as well as relics) sparked a rejection very similar to the Muslim experience and created a strong disagreement with the papacy. Since there were very few icons in the West north of the Alps that were venerated in the eastern sense (with incense, bowing or kissing), Theodulph did not need to institute an iconoclast movement of removal and destruction.
Journal Article
Mothers and Daughters in the Medieval Greek World
In an idyllic scene of devoted mother and obedient daughter created by the poet Claudian, the young girl sits with her mother, drinking in her words, learning from her example, imitating her model behavior. Serena, the mother, is described as teaching her daughter Maria the old songs of Homer, Orpheus. and Sappho. Into this imaginary setting Venus suddenly arrives to announce that Maria is to marry the young emperor, Honorius—for this is a wedding speech that conforms to the Late Antique genre of theepithalamion.¹ All the more reason to discount the construct designed to flatter the young couple
Book Chapter
The Icon Corner in Medieval Byzantium
From Classical times onward, one of the basic tasks of women was to take care of the householdlares, representatives of the ancient gods, whose presence was felt to protect and assist the family. In every dwelling with a hearth female members attended these deities with appropriate rituals. Even though it might require no more than a token offering of incense or a gesture of respect, such actions helped to guarantee the well-being of the entire family. In the form of statuettes, often gilded, as well as framed wooden panel paintings, local deities occupied a prominent domestic space long into
Book Chapter
The Imperial Feminine in Byzantium
Ever since Edward Gibbon wrote hisDecline and Fall of the Roman Empirethe phrase has captured a vital process in the historical development of Europe. It is often forgotten that he went on to chronicle the history of the East Roman Empire, which we call Byzantium, through its millennial existence right up to its final conquest by the Ottoman Turks. By extending his definition of “Roman,” Gibbon effectively wrote a history of the East Mediterranean to the middle of the fifteenth century. He found the eastern Romans of the Middle Ages, centered on their capital Constantinople, an effete and
Book Chapter
In Search of Byzantine Women
It is now widely recognized that the analysis of male-dominated societies should not be undertaken as if men alone counted in their histories. Women can play a significant role economically and culturally, even if it is only the exceptional individual—usually the wife of a ruler—who manifests overt political power. Female influence is doubly veiled from us: it is often silent, unvoiced by the women themselves, and frequently ignored, either deliberately or as a matter of course in the sources written by men. A full theory of the potential role of women in large preindustrial societies will require evidence
Book Chapter
The Many Empresses of the Byzantine Court (and All Their Attendants)
In the political ideology of the Byzantine Empire, there was place for only one ruler, the emperor “crowned by God” and blessed by the church, who united all his subjects within the known world,oikoumene. The notion of one state, one faith, and one emperor predominated, paralleled by only one court, the imperial court at Constantinople. Although aristocratic families might maintain palaces both in the provinces and in the capital, there was nothing to rival the Great Palace on the acropolis of the capital. And while many conflicts and civil wars were fought over the succession, once an emperor had
Book Chapter
Women in Byzantium
The Runciman Lecture was established at King’s College London in 1991 by Nicholas Egon in honor of the historian Sir Steven Runciman. It regularly attracts a large mixed audience, from ambassadors to school-children. On 5 February 2009, when I was honored to give the lecture, a novel element was added by the presence of Boris Johnson, the new mayor of London. A classicist by training, who attributes his blond hair if not his sense of humor to Ottoman genes, he enjoys the second largest direct vote in Europe after the president of France. He’s also responsible for patronizing a scheme,
Book Chapter