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Byzantine Religious Law in Medieval Italy is a historical study of manuscripts containing Byzantine canon law produced after the Norman conquest of southern Italy, exploring how and why the Greek Christians of the region persisted in using them so long after the end of Byzantine rule.
List of contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Abbreviations
- Note on Translation and Transliteration
- Chronology
- Maps
- Introduction
- Part I. Sources and Context
- 1: Introducing the Byzantine Nomocanon
- 2: Greek Christianity in Medieval Italy
- 3: Patterns of Source Survival
- Part II. Byzantine Canon Law in the Norman Kingdom
- 4: The Byzantine Background
- 5: Monastic Nomocanons I: The Monastic Archipelago
- 6: Monastic Nomocanons II: Style, Content, and Influences
- 7: The Secular Church and the Laity
- Part III. From Legal to Cultural Authority
- 8: The Papacy Takes Charge
- 9: The Salentine Group
- 10: They Do It Like This in Romania
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1. Manuscript Descriptions
- Appendix 2. Statistical Overview
- Appendix 3. Uncertain and Disputed Manuscripts
- Bibliography
- Index of Manuscripts Cited
- General Index
About the author
James Morton is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses on ancient and medieval Europe. He studied Classics at St John's College, Oxford, before obtaining an MA in Byzantine History at Queen's University in Canada in 2011, and a PhD in Byzantine and Medieval History at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2018. His research focuses on the relationship between law, religion, and cultural identity in the pre-modern Mediterranean world.
Summary
Byzantine Religious Law in Medieval Italy is a historical study of manuscripts containing Byzantine canon law produced after the Norman conquest of southern Italy, exploring how and why the Greek Christians of the region persisted in using them so long after the end of Byzantine rule.
Additional text
The author, while making a little-explored and somewhat complex subject accessible to a wider audience, successfully highlights the unique way in which Southern Italy preserved and applied Byzantine law, extending its influence well into the Norman period. This legal tradition was safeguarded as a precious relic of a bygone era, undeniably contributing to the Byzantine identity of the region.
