Table of Contents

Introduction: Problems and sources; 1. The Comnenian empire between east and west; 2. Constantinople and the provinces; 3. The Comnenian system; 4. Government; 5. The guardians of Orthodoxy; 6. The emperor and his image; Epilogue.

Promotional Information

A study of twelfth-century Byzantine government, society and culture through the reign of Manuel I.

Reviews

'This is a carefully constructed and richly documented account of the reign of Manuel I, who, as readers of this Bulletin will recall, was emperor at the time of Benjamin of Tudela's visit to Constantinople. While a good deal of attention is paid to political and economic affairs, religion and culture are not neglected. The book strikes an excellent balance between the personality of the emperor and the general conditions prevailing in the empire in his time, and he draws a fine portrait between the two.' Bulletin of Judaeo-Greek Studies '... well-documented and scholarly ... full of new ideas and new interpretations which will be seized upon by Western medievalists as well as Byzantinists'. D. M. Nicol, The Times Literary Supplement