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THINKING WITH BYZANTIUM*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2011

Averil Cameron
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Abstract

It is well known that the history of Byzantium does not fit comfortably with mainstream medieval history. This paper returns to the problem in the light of two recent, if opposing, historiographical trends: first, the emphasis on the Mediterranean as a unifying factor, and second, the turn towards the comparative history of western and eastern Eurasia. Neither emphasis accommodates Byzantium well, and it is argued that however difficult it may seem to some historians, any broad approach to medieval history will be inadequate if it does not make space for the history of Byzantium.

Type
Research Article
Information
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 21 , December 2011 , pp. 39 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 2011

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References

1 This is aided by the recent creation of an Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity and an Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research.

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