Book contents
- The Byzantine Hellene
- The Byzantine Hellene
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- List of Historical Figures
- List of Rulers in Byzantium and Beyond
- Author’s Note
- Introduction
- 1 Byzantium in Exile
- 2 “The Holy Land, My Mother Anatolia”
- 3 “I Was Raised as Usual for a Royal Child”
- 4 Pursuit of Learning
- 5 Power-Sharing
- 6 Friends, Foes, and Politics
- 7 Elena and the Embassy of the Marquis
- 8 Sole Emperor of the Romans
- 9 The Philosopher
- 10 The Proponent of Hellenism
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - The Proponent of Hellenism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 July 2019
- The Byzantine Hellene
- The Byzantine Hellene
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- List of Historical Figures
- List of Rulers in Byzantium and Beyond
- Author’s Note
- Introduction
- 1 Byzantium in Exile
- 2 “The Holy Land, My Mother Anatolia”
- 3 “I Was Raised as Usual for a Royal Child”
- 4 Pursuit of Learning
- 5 Power-Sharing
- 6 Friends, Foes, and Politics
- 7 Elena and the Embassy of the Marquis
- 8 Sole Emperor of the Romans
- 9 The Philosopher
- 10 The Proponent of Hellenism
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Theodore Laskaris was the leading proponent of Greek identity and self-consciousness in medieval Byzantium. He saw his own subjects as Hellenes, described the land over which he ruled as Hellas, and used the words “Hellene” and “Hellenic” three times more frequently than “Roman.” No one in his time was so daring in reassessing the traditional meaning of “Hellene” in medieval Greek as “pagan.” His Hellenism was intellectually sophisticated, assertive, and passionate. The extent of its vision is on par with that of Julian the Apostate in late antiquity, with whom the thirteenth-century emperor, certainly a devout Christian, has been compared.1 This concluding chapter unravels the different strands of this key aspect of Theodore’s thought and offers an interpretation of its genesis and function.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Byzantine HelleneThe Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century, pp. 202 - 216Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019