Course aims:

- identifying the relation of the History of Byzantium with other theological disciplines and its complementarity with the other disciplines of the historical Theology;
- general study of the major milestones in the History of Byzantium;
- analyzing the principles and methods of the discipline.

Course Entry Requirements:

The Medieval History of the World.

Course contents:

1.  Introduction. The concept, subject, importance and actuality of Byzantinology.

2. The notions of Byzantium, Byzantine, Byzantins.

3.  The History of Byzantinology research. The main schools of Byzantinology.

4. The History of Byzantinology research. The newer schools. The main Byzantinological journals. The International Congresses of Byzantinology.  

5. The History of Byzantinology research. Byzantinology in Romania.

6. The historical-geographical background of the Byzantine Empire.

7.   Emperor Constantine the Great - the founder of the Byzantine Empire (the battles for power; Constantine - the one master of the Empire; the freedom for Christianity by the so-called Edict of Milan; the religious policy - the First Council of Nicaea (325).

8.  Emperor Constantine the Great-the founder of Byzantium (the foundation of Constantinople, the reforms in administration, economy and army, his descendants).

9. The great problems of the Byzantine Empire during the IV-th-V-th Centuries.

10.  Theodosius the Great. The triumph of Christianity in the Empire.

11.  Byzantium in the late V-th century and the beginning of VI-th.

12.  The reign of Justinian I and the Byzantine Empire in the late VI-th century.

13.  The Heraclid Dynasty. The Arab danger and the transformations in the Empire during the VII-th century (610-717) (I).

14.  The Heraclid Dynasty. The Arab danger and the transformations in the Empire during the VII-th century (610-717) (II).

 

 

Teaching methods:

lecture, conversation, exemplification.

Learning outcomes:

knowledge and appropriate use of specific notions Byzantine history;

- understanding and interpretation of the essential phenomena that customizes the Byzantine Empire among his contemporary political creations;

- the interpretation of the Byzantium phenomenon as a source of understanding of our national history.  

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Written paper – 70%; continuous assessment – 30%.

Recommended reading:

PSELLOS Mihail, Cronografia. Un veac de istorie bizantină (976–1077),, Editura Polirom, Iasi, 1998, -.
RUNCIMAN, Steven, Căderea Constantinopolului, traducere, note, postfaţă şi îngrijire ştiinţifică de Alexandru ELIAN, Editura stiintifica, Bucureşti, 1971, -.
RUNCIMAN, Steven, The Eastern Schism. A Study of the Papacy and the Eastern Churches during the 11-th and 12-th Centuries, -, London, 1970, -.