REMgr12 History of the Byzantine Empire

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Konstantinos Tsivos, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Markéta Kulhánková, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Konstantinos Tsivos, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Students will understand the historical development of medieval Byzantine Empire from the end of the Antiquity until its final fall in 1453. They will be capable of working with scholarly historical litterature and of applying the acquired knowledge while interpreting medieval Greek litterature.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
- identify and understand the main periods of the history of the Byzantine Empire;
- to know important political, ecclesiastical, military and cultural representatives of the Byzantine history;
- to understand contemporary situation of Greek state and Republic of Cyprus as results of previous historical developments;
- to assess the place of Byzantine history within the frame of European history during the Middle Ages;
- to understand the works of the medieval Greek litterature within their true historical context.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to byzantinology, geographical and chronological frame, main periods of the Byzantine history.
  • 2. Birth of Byzantium - emperors Dioklecian and Constantine the Great.
  • 3. Sons of Constantine, Julian the Apostate, emperor Theodosios I.
  • 4. Emperors Anastasios and Justinian I the Great.
  • 5. Fall of the Justinian's heritage, wars against the Persians, Avars and Slavs, emperor Herakleios.
  • 6. Arab expansion and its effects - inception of the Syrian dynasty (717).
  • 7. First and second period of ikonoklasm.
  • 8. Inception of Macedonian dynasty (867), historical development until mid 10th Century - Byzantium and the Slavs.
  • 9. Military emperors of the second half of the 10th Century, rule of Basileios II Bulgar-slayer.
  • 10. Crisis of the 11th Century, inception of the Komnenian dynasty (1081).
  • 11. Byzantium during the crusades, IVth crusade (1203-1204) and its impact.
  • 12. Palaiologic epilogue (1261-1453).
Literature
    required literature
  • HARRIS, Jonathan. The lost world of Byzantium. First published in paperback. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016, xi, 264. ISBN 9780300178579. info
  • DOSTÁLOVÁ, Růžena. Byzantská vzdělanost. Vyd. 2. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2003, 413 s. ISBN 8070214090. info
  • ZÁSTĚROVÁ, B. Dějiny Byzance. Praha, 1994. info
    recommended literature
  • VAVŘÍNEK, Vladimír and Petr BALCÁREK. Encyklopedie Byzance. První vydání. Praha: Libri, 2011, 550 stran. ISBN 9788086420431. info
  • The end of Byzantium. Edited by Jonathan Harris. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2010, xxii, 298. ISBN 9780300169669. info
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila, Aleš HOMOLA and Zdeněk MĚŘÍNSKÝ. Stěhování národů a Východ Evropy : Byzanc, Slované, Arabové. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2006, 557 s. ISBN 8070217871. info
  • RUNCIMAN, Steven. Pád Cařihradu. 1. vyd. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1970, 189 s. info
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Assessment methods
Oral exam aimed at testing student's orientation in topics explained during semester.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on completion of the course: Studenti oboru novořečtina, pro které je předmět povinný, si jako ukončení zapisují zkoušku. Ostatní studenti, pro které je předmět volitelný, si zapisují jako ukončení kolokvium.
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/REMgr12