The aim of the course is to promote the acquisition of historical notions, historical-literary knowledge, linguistic-philological skills and methodological tools that allow students of the master's degree to draw on the heritage of Byzantine culture and to deal with texts first hand, with particular attention to what concerns the millennial story of conservation, elaboration and transmission of the classical tradition in Byzantium.
Curriculum
teacher profile teaching materials
The Byzantine Philology LM module, which is designed for students of Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity, will be devoted to a careful reading of the most relevant sources - from both a historical and a specifically poliorcetic point of view - of the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453.
The course will provide a topographical overview of the Eastern capital before attempting a reconstruction of the phases of the long siege that brought an end, at least politically, to the eleven centuries of 'Byzantine life' in Constantinople. The analysis of the events will be carried out, first of all, through a comparative reading of 'official' sources of both sides in the field, i.e. the Byzantine (George Sphrantzes, Doukas, Critoboulus, Laonikos Chalkokondyles) and the Western ones (Isidore of Kiev, Leonardo di Chio, Niccolò Barbaro, Angelo Giovanni Lomellino, Ubertino Pusculo), but also the Ottoman ones (Tursun Beg and Ibn Kemâl). At a later stage, however, the exegesis of this first group of sources will be supplemented by the examination of lesser-known testimonies whose origins can more likely be traced to intelligence circles. Aside from being extremely valuable for reconstructing the last, decisive hours of the siege, they are also extremely useful for understanding how such an event influenced the entire Mediterranean geopolitical environment. By participating in such an exegetical work, which is partially interactive, students have direct access to the research activity carried out by the chair of Byzantinistics at Roma Tre on the fall of Constantinople.
For the conclusion of the course, students will have the opportunity to attend an educational trip to the Peloponnese, in particular to the archaeological site of Mystras (Unesco heritage site since 1989), organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia. The main purpose of the event will be to present on site to the participants various elements illustrated during the course of the lectures.
- S. Ronchey, Lo Stato bizantino, Torino, Einaudi, 2002
- A. Pertusi (a c. di), La caduta di Costantinopoli, 2 voll., Fondazione Lorenzo Valla / Mondadori, Milano 1976
Programme
1453: Notes from Underground (“La chute de Constantinople est un malheur personnel qui nous est arrivé la semaine dernière”, Antoine Bibesco)The Byzantine Philology LM module, which is designed for students of Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity, will be devoted to a careful reading of the most relevant sources - from both a historical and a specifically poliorcetic point of view - of the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453.
The course will provide a topographical overview of the Eastern capital before attempting a reconstruction of the phases of the long siege that brought an end, at least politically, to the eleven centuries of 'Byzantine life' in Constantinople. The analysis of the events will be carried out, first of all, through a comparative reading of 'official' sources of both sides in the field, i.e. the Byzantine (George Sphrantzes, Doukas, Critoboulus, Laonikos Chalkokondyles) and the Western ones (Isidore of Kiev, Leonardo di Chio, Niccolò Barbaro, Angelo Giovanni Lomellino, Ubertino Pusculo), but also the Ottoman ones (Tursun Beg and Ibn Kemâl). At a later stage, however, the exegesis of this first group of sources will be supplemented by the examination of lesser-known testimonies whose origins can more likely be traced to intelligence circles. Aside from being extremely valuable for reconstructing the last, decisive hours of the siege, they are also extremely useful for understanding how such an event influenced the entire Mediterranean geopolitical environment. By participating in such an exegetical work, which is partially interactive, students have direct access to the research activity carried out by the chair of Byzantinistics at Roma Tre on the fall of Constantinople.
For the conclusion of the course, students will have the opportunity to attend an educational trip to the Peloponnese, in particular to the archaeological site of Mystras (Unesco heritage site since 1989), organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia. The main purpose of the event will be to present on site to the participants various elements illustrated during the course of the lectures.
Core Documentation
MANDATORY TEXTS- S. Ronchey, Lo Stato bizantino, Torino, Einaudi, 2002
- A. Pertusi (a c. di), La caduta di Costantinopoli, 2 voll., Fondazione Lorenzo Valla / Mondadori, Milano 1976
Reference Bibliography
ADDITIONAL TEXTS TO BE CHOSEN AMONG - A. Pertusi, Testi inediti e poco noti sulla caduta di Costantinopoli. Edizione postuma a c. di A. Carile, Pàtron, Bologna 1983 - A. Pertusi, Fine di Bisanzio e fine del mondo. Significato e ruolo storico delle profezie sulla caduta di Costantinopoli in Oriente e in Occidente. Edizione postuma a c. di E. Morini, Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, Roma 1988 - S. Runciman, Gli ultimi giorni di Costantinopoli (trad. it.), Piemme, Casale Monferrato, 1997 - S. Ronchey, L’enigma di Piero, Milano, BUR, 2017 - S. Ronchey, Bisanzio veramente ‘volle cadere’? Realismo politico e avventura storica da Alessio I Comneno al Mediterraneo di Braudel, “Quaderni di Storia” 52 (luglio/dicembre 2000), pp. 137-158 - S. Ronchey, Il “salvataggio occidentale” di Bisanzio. Una lettera di Enea Silvio Piccolomini e l’allegoria pittorica di Bisanzio nel primo Rinascimento, in C.A. Maltezou e P. Schreiner (a cura di), Bisanzio, Venezia e il mondo franco-greco (XIII-XV secolo) (Atti del Colloquio Internazionale organizzato nel centenario della nascita di Raymond-Joseph Loenertz O.P., Venezia, 1-2 dicembre 2000), Venezia, Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini, 2002, pp. 125-150 e 529-544 - R. Maisano (a cura di), Giorgio Sfranze, Cronaca, Roma, Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 1990 - A. Codato (a cura di), Il diario dell’assedio di Costantinopoli di Nicolò Barbaro, Canterano, Aracne, 2017 - J.-L. Bacqué-Grammont – M. Bernardini – L. Berardi (a cura di), Tursun Bey, La conquista di Costantinopoli, Milano, Mondadori, 2007 - L. Silvano, Per l’epistolario di Isidoro di Kiev: la lettera a papa Niccolò V del 6 luglio 1453, “Medioevo greco” 13 (2013), pp. 223-240 - L. Silvano, Per l’epistolario di Isidoro di Kiev (II): la lettera al Doge Francesco Foscari dell’8 luglio 1453, “Orientalia Christiana Periodica” 84/1 (2018), pp. 99-132 - G. Olgiati, Angelo Giovanni Lomellino: attività politica e mercantile dell’ultimo podestà di Pera, in La storia dei Genovesi. Atti del convegno di studi sui ceti dirigenti nelle istituzioni della Repubblica di Genova (Genova, 7-10 giugno 1988), vol. IX, Genova, 1989, pp. 194-196 TEXTS IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE - E. Pears, The Destruction of the Greek Empire and the Story of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks, London 1903 - G. Schlumberger, Le siège de Constantinople en 1453, Plon, Paris 1922 - D.M. Nicol, The End of the Byzantine Empire, Edward Arnold Publishers, London 1979 - D.M. Nicol, The Immortal Emperor. The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans, Cambridge University Press, 1992 - R. Crowley, 1453. The Holy War for Constantinople and the Crash of Islam and the West, Hyperion, New York 2005 - C. Imber, The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power, Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2002 - D. R. Reinsch (hrsg.), Critobuli Imbriotae Historiae, Berlin – New York, De Gruyter, 1983 - D. R. Reinsch (hrsg.), Dukas, Chronographia, Berlin – Boston, De Gruyter, 2020 - A. Kaldellis (ed.), Laonikos Chalkokondyles, The Histories, London – Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 2014 (More texts to be studied in English, French and German could be decided together with the professor, who is happy to also help finding them in case of need.)Attendance
OptionalType of evaluation
Oral exam teacher profile teaching materials
The Byzantine Philology LM module, which is designed for students of Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity, will be devoted to a careful reading of the most relevant sources - from both a historical and a specifically poliorcetic point of view - of the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453.
The course will provide a topographical overview of the Eastern capital before attempting a reconstruction of the phases of the long siege that brought an end, at least politically, to the eleven centuries of 'Byzantine life' in Constantinople. The analysis of the events will be carried out, first of all, through a comparative reading of 'official' sources of both sides in the field, i.e. the Byzantine (George Sphrantzes, Doukas, Critoboulus, Laonikos Chalkokondyles) and the Western ones (Isidore of Kiev, Leonardo di Chio, Niccolò Barbaro, Angelo Giovanni Lomellino, Ubertino Pusculo), but also the Ottoman ones (Tursun Beg and Ibn Kemâl). At a later stage, however, the exegesis of this first group of sources will be supplemented by the examination of lesser-known testimonies whose origins can more likely be traced to intelligence circles. Aside from being extremely valuable for reconstructing the last, decisive hours of the siege, they are also extremely useful for understanding how such an event influenced the entire Mediterranean geopolitical environment. By participating in such an exegetical work, which is partially interactive, students have direct access to the research activity carried out by the chair of Byzantinistics at Roma Tre on the fall of Constantinople.
For the conclusion of the course, students will have the opportunity to attend an educational trip to the Peloponnese, in particular to the archaeological site of Mystras (Unesco heritage site since 1989), organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia. The main purpose of the event will be to present on site to the participants various elements illustrated during the course of the lectures.
- S. Ronchey, Lo Stato bizantino, Torino, Einaudi, 2002
- A. Pertusi (a c. di), La caduta di Costantinopoli, 2 voll., Fondazione Lorenzo Valla / Mondadori, Milano 1976
Programme
1453: Notes from Underground (“La chute de Constantinople est un malheur personnel qui nous est arrivé la semaine dernière”, Antoine Bibesco)The Byzantine Philology LM module, which is designed for students of Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity, will be devoted to a careful reading of the most relevant sources - from both a historical and a specifically poliorcetic point of view - of the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453.
The course will provide a topographical overview of the Eastern capital before attempting a reconstruction of the phases of the long siege that brought an end, at least politically, to the eleven centuries of 'Byzantine life' in Constantinople. The analysis of the events will be carried out, first of all, through a comparative reading of 'official' sources of both sides in the field, i.e. the Byzantine (George Sphrantzes, Doukas, Critoboulus, Laonikos Chalkokondyles) and the Western ones (Isidore of Kiev, Leonardo di Chio, Niccolò Barbaro, Angelo Giovanni Lomellino, Ubertino Pusculo), but also the Ottoman ones (Tursun Beg and Ibn Kemâl). At a later stage, however, the exegesis of this first group of sources will be supplemented by the examination of lesser-known testimonies whose origins can more likely be traced to intelligence circles. Aside from being extremely valuable for reconstructing the last, decisive hours of the siege, they are also extremely useful for understanding how such an event influenced the entire Mediterranean geopolitical environment. By participating in such an exegetical work, which is partially interactive, students have direct access to the research activity carried out by the chair of Byzantinistics at Roma Tre on the fall of Constantinople.
For the conclusion of the course, students will have the opportunity to attend an educational trip to the Peloponnese, in particular to the archaeological site of Mystras (Unesco heritage site since 1989), organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia. The main purpose of the event will be to present on site to the participants various elements illustrated during the course of the lectures.
Core Documentation
MANDATORY TEXTS- S. Ronchey, Lo Stato bizantino, Torino, Einaudi, 2002
- A. Pertusi (a c. di), La caduta di Costantinopoli, 2 voll., Fondazione Lorenzo Valla / Mondadori, Milano 1976
Reference Bibliography
ADDITIONAL TEXTS TO BE CHOSEN AMONG - A. Pertusi, Testi inediti e poco noti sulla caduta di Costantinopoli. Edizione postuma a c. di A. Carile, Pàtron, Bologna 1983 - A. Pertusi, Fine di Bisanzio e fine del mondo. Significato e ruolo storico delle profezie sulla caduta di Costantinopoli in Oriente e in Occidente. Edizione postuma a c. di E. Morini, Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, Roma 1988 - S. Runciman, Gli ultimi giorni di Costantinopoli (trad. it.), Piemme, Casale Monferrato, 1997 - S. Ronchey, L’enigma di Piero, Milano, BUR, 2017 - S. Ronchey, Bisanzio veramente ‘volle cadere’? Realismo politico e avventura storica da Alessio I Comneno al Mediterraneo di Braudel, “Quaderni di Storia” 52 (luglio/dicembre 2000), pp. 137-158 - S. Ronchey, Il “salvataggio occidentale” di Bisanzio. Una lettera di Enea Silvio Piccolomini e l’allegoria pittorica di Bisanzio nel primo Rinascimento, in C.A. Maltezou e P. Schreiner (a cura di), Bisanzio, Venezia e il mondo franco-greco (XIII-XV secolo) (Atti del Colloquio Internazionale organizzato nel centenario della nascita di Raymond-Joseph Loenertz O.P., Venezia, 1-2 dicembre 2000), Venezia, Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini, 2002, pp. 125-150 e 529-544 - R. Maisano (a cura di), Giorgio Sfranze, Cronaca, Roma, Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 1990 - A. Codato (a cura di), Il diario dell’assedio di Costantinopoli di Nicolò Barbaro, Canterano, Aracne, 2017 - J.-L. Bacqué-Grammont – M. Bernardini – L. Berardi (a cura di), Tursun Bey, La conquista di Costantinopoli, Milano, Mondadori, 2007 - L. Silvano, Per l’epistolario di Isidoro di Kiev: la lettera a papa Niccolò V del 6 luglio 1453, “Medioevo greco” 13 (2013), pp. 223-240 - L. Silvano, Per l’epistolario di Isidoro di Kiev (II): la lettera al Doge Francesco Foscari dell’8 luglio 1453, “Orientalia Christiana Periodica” 84/1 (2018), pp. 99-132 - G. Olgiati, Angelo Giovanni Lomellino: attività politica e mercantile dell’ultimo podestà di Pera, in La storia dei Genovesi. Atti del convegno di studi sui ceti dirigenti nelle istituzioni della Repubblica di Genova (Genova, 7-10 giugno 1988), vol. IX, Genova, 1989, pp. 194-196 TEXTS IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE - E. Pears, The Destruction of the Greek Empire and the Story of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks, London 1903 - G. Schlumberger, Le siège de Constantinople en 1453, Plon, Paris 1922 - D.M. Nicol, The End of the Byzantine Empire, Edward Arnold Publishers, London 1979 - D.M. Nicol, The Immortal Emperor. The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans, Cambridge University Press, 1992 - R. Crowley, 1453. The Holy War for Constantinople and the Crash of Islam and the West, Hyperion, New York 2005 - C. Imber, The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power, Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2002 - D. R. Reinsch (hrsg.), Critobuli Imbriotae Historiae, Berlin – New York, De Gruyter, 1983 - D. R. Reinsch (hrsg.), Dukas, Chronographia, Berlin – Boston, De Gruyter, 2020 - A. Kaldellis (ed.), Laonikos Chalkokondyles, The Histories, London – Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 2014 (More texts to be studied in English, French and German could be decided together with the professor, who is happy to also help finding them in case of need.)Attendance
OptionalType of evaluation
Oral exam