Leo VI and the Transformation of Byzantine Christian Identity

The Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886-912), was not a general or even a soldier, like his predecessors, but a scholar, and it was the religious education he gained under the tutelage of the patriarch Photios that was to distinguish him as an unusual ruler. This book analyses Leo's literary output, focusing on his deployment of ideological principles and religious obligations to distinguish the characteristics of the Christian oikoumene from the Islamic caliphate, primarily in his military manual known as the Taktika. It also examines in depth his 113 legislative Novels, with particular attention to their theological prolegomena, showing how the emperor's religious sensibilities find expression in his reshaping of the legal code to bring it into closer accord with Byzantine canon law. Meredith L. D. Riedel argues that the impact of his religious faith transformed Byzantine cultural identity and influenced his successors, establishing the Macedonian dynasty as a 'golden age' in Byzantium.

Product details

• Authors: Meredith L. D. Riedel, Meredith L. D. (Duke University Riedel
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.07.2021
• EAN: 9781107662575
• ISBN: 978-1-107-66257-5
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 230 mm x 12 mm
• Series: Print on Demand
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book; Biography: literary, HISTORY / Europe / General, Social & cultural history, Political leaders & leadership, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Social and cultural history, c 500 to c 1000 CE, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Biography: writers, Political leaders and leadership, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, C 500 CE To C 1000 CE, Byzantine Empire, Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Orthodox & Oriental Churches