History and Society of Byzantium and the Christian East II [ LGLOR2522 ]

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In-depth study of the history of the Christian Orient in the Byzantine and Oriental worlds.
Alternately with LGLOR2521, this course deals, based on textual sources, with a series of themes connected with the important historical periods of Byzantium and the Christian communities of the Orient and the Caucasus. Particular attention will be paid to the most important works relative to the subject.
In the part dedicated to Byzantium, this course deals with some theme(s) related to Byzantium's society, examined in its historical context, based on textual sources.
 

At the end of this course, the student will be familiar with a rigorous scientific approach to the textual sources and questions specific to the history of Byzantium and the oriental Christian communities He will be capable of undertaking a research of limited dimensions into one historical aspect of Byzantium and the oriental Christian communities, and to present his conclusions orally.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

An oral exam. The student will be questioned by one of the two teachers, on the work of synthesis (and its oral presentation) on a specific theme.

In part 1 (Christian East), large extracts of the texts concerned will be read and commented on in the course. The students will be expected to read the monographs and articles that accompany the course (in French, in English, or, if necessary, in other languages), and to study a specific theme, to be presented both orally and in a written synthesis.
In part 2 (Byzantium), the teaching is both 'ex cathedra' and participative, on the basis of a texts'portfolio prepared for the students.
 

This course consists of two successive parts:
1. Christian East (A. Schmidt). According to the year, the themes studied can be:
- national consolidation and the co-existence of the eastern communities with Islam (as from the VIIth century);
- eastern Christianity in contact with the new conquerors: Seleucids, Crusaders, Mongols (XIth-XVth centuries);
- the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia;
- the Georgian kingdom under the Bagratides;
- the contacts of the eastern churches with the Vatican;
- the Armenian diaspora in the east and west;
- Nor-Djoulfa and the commercial network of the Armenians between Iran, India and Europe.
2. Byzantium (V. Somers). The course will focus on some specific aspects of the Byzantine society, examined in an historical perspective.
 

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