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A. Die Anfänge: theologische VoraussetzungenZu den häufigsten Reisemotivationen mittelalterlicher Menschen gehörte der Wunsch, eine religiös motivierte Fahrt zu unternehmen (9.5. Geistige Einstellung zum Reisen). Man war bereit, die Mühen, Gefahren (9.9.) und Unwägbarkeiten, die das Verlassen der Heimat mit sich brachte, auf sich zu nehmen, um als Einzelreisender oder im Verbund mit Gleichgesinnten eine oft in relativer Nähe gelegene, als heilig verehrte Stätte aufzusuchen, im Glauben, dass die an dies…

Mistra war eines der bedeutendsten Kulturzentren in spätbyz. Zeit. 1248 ließ Guillaume II. de Villehardouin auf dem Gipfel des Mystras (slaw. Myzēthras), einem 621 m hohen Vorberg des Taygetos-Gebirges auf der südlichen Peloponnes, etwa 7 km nordwestlich von Lakedaimon (dem antiken Sparta) eine Festung errichten, die die Lakonische Ebene vor Einfällen schützen sollte. Möglicherweise gab es dort bereits eine ältere byz. Bebauung. Nachdem Guillaume II. bei der Schlacht von Pelagonia 1259 in byz. Gefangenschaft geraten war, erkaufte er sich 1262 durch die Übergabe von Mistra, Ger…

A. AllgemeinesDie Eroberung Konstantinopels (8.10.) durch die Ritter des Vierten Kreuzzuges im April 1204 war für die Geschichte der östlichen Mittelmeerwelt von erheblicher Bedeutung: Am Bosporus entstand für 57 Jahre, also für immerhin zwei Generationen, mit dem Imperium Romaniae ein eigenes lat. Kaiserreich [14]; die Seerepublik Venedig vermochte ihre Position als wichtiger Macht- und Handelsfaktor in der Region zu festigen und auszubauen; das Zusammentreffen von byz. und westlichen Traditionen, insbesondere in Südgriechenland und in der Ägäis, fand seinen Niedersc…

A. AllgemeinesDie byz. Städte waren Zentren von Handel und Handwerk, abhängig von Größe und Bedeutung zuweilen auch von Verwaltung und Kultur. Darüber hinaus waren sie oft unmittelbar mit Landwirtschaft und Viehzucht befasst: Nicht nur in Landstädten und zentralen Marktorten in Kleinasien oder auf dem Balkan, sondern selbst innerhalb der Mauern von Konstantinopel (8.10.) gab es über Jahrhunderte eine teils intensiv betriebene Agrarwirtschaft.Für Byzanz wäre eine strikt getrennte Betrachtung städtischer und ländlicher Siedlungen (8.7.) Siedlungen somit kün…

A. Introduction: theological basisA religious quest was among the most frequent reasons for medieval people to travel (9.5. Attitudes toward travel). There was a willingness to accept the struggles, dangers (9.9 Travel duration and hazards) and imponderables that leaving home entailed in order – whether alone or in the company of likeminded travellers – to reach a place, often relatively nearby, that was regarded as sacred. It was believed that the hierophany taking place there (i.e. the specific manifestation…

A. IntroductionThe capture of Constantinople (8.10.) by the knights of the Fourth Crusade in April 1204 was an epoch-making event in the history of the eastern Mediterranean in several respects. A new Latin Empire, the Imperium Romaniae, took the place of the Byzantine Empire on the Bosporus, occupying it for 57 years or two generations [14]. The maritime Republic of Venice consolidated and strengthened its position as a leading political and commercial power in the region. The encounter between Byzantine and Western traditions, especially in southern Greece and the Aegean…

A. IntroductionByzantine towns and cities were centres of trade and industry and, depending on their size and importance, sometimes also centres of administration and culture. They were often directly engaged in arable and livestock farming. For centuries, intensive agriculture was practiced not only in provincial and central market towns of Asia Minor and the Balkans, but even within the walls of Constantinople (8.10.).Imposing a strict distinction between urban and rural settlements (8.7.) in Byzantine history would thus be anachronistic, particularl…

[German Version] Epistles of the bishop of Alexandria, originally composed in Greek, on fixing the date of Easter, often, but not exclusively, addressed to the bishops and congregations in Egypt subject to him. The first author for this circle of recipients was Dionysius of Alexandria (247/48), although Demetrius of Alexandria had already written Easter epistles to the bishop…

(Φάναι; Phánai). [German version] [1] Southern tip of the island of Chios The c. 300 m high southern tip of the island of Chios (Thuc. 8,24,3; Str. 14,1,35; Steph. Byz. s.v. Φ.; Liv. 44,28,7; Ptol. 5,2,19), modern Akron Masticho. Külzer, Andreas (Vienna) [German version] [2] Port on the southwestern coast of Chios Port on the southwestern coast of Chios about 10 km from P. [1] (Str. 14,1,35), modern Káto Phana. Area famous for viticulture (Verg. G. 2,98 and Serv. Georg. z.St.); palm grove (Str. l.c.). In the bay of P. great fleets were harboured…

[German version] (Σύμη/ Sýmē). Island (58 km2, up to 617 m elevation, barren limestone) with many bays, surrounded by islets, off the Carian coast, 24 km to the north of Rhodes (Hom. Il. 2,671 ff.; Hdt. 1,174; Str. 14,2,14; Diod. Sic. 5,53; Ptol. 5,2,32; Plin. HN 5,133), today again called S. Few traces of prehistoric and Mycenaean settlement, settled by Cares and in c. 1000 BC by Dorieis. The polis of S. was at modern S. on the Bay of Aegialus in the northeast (remains of city wall and harbour, Athena sanctuary). From 434/3 BC on, S. was a member of t…

[German version] (Νίσυρος/ Nísyros). Island west of Cnidus, belonging to the Dodecanese. Around 35 km2 and pentagonal in shape, between Cos, Telos and the western tip of the Reşadiye peninsula. Volcanic rocks, hot springs (Str. 10,5,16); the collapsed main crater is 692 m high. N. was dedicated to Poseidon. The settlements of Argus (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἄργος/Á rgos), Gigantea and Hypaton (Γιγαντεα/ Gigantea and Υπατον/ Hypaton, IG XII 3,92,2f.), attested in literary sources, cannot be located archaeologically, but the eponymous main settlement of N. has been f…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Delian League | Athenian League (Second) (Οἴνη/ Oínē, ethnikon Οἰναῖος/ Oinaîos; in literature also Οἰνόη/ Oinóē, Ath 1,30d; Steph. Byz. s.v. Οἰνόη, Str. 14,1,9). Main town on the island of Icarus [2], on its north coast, 2 km west of modern Evdilos. Cult site of Dionysus and Artemis Tauropolis (chief cult). Numerous inscriptions [1]. O. was a member of the Delian League, paying a tribute of between 4000 and 8000 drachmai (ATL 1, 360f.; 528; 2, 86f.; 3, 190; …

[German version] (Ποιήεσσα/ Poiḗessa, Ποιᾶσσα/ Poiâssa, Ποιῆσσα/ Poiêssa). City in the southwest of Ceos [1] at modern Pisses. An acropolis and remains of walls lie on a steep cape. In the area early Cycladic pottery  (3rd millennium BC) has been found. Few remains survive (foundations, columns). Temples to Apollo Smintheus and  Athena Nedousia are recorded in Str. 10,5,6. To the northeast of P. a mighty Hellenistic watchtower has been found. In the Hellenistic Period P. was incorporated into the polis…

[German version] (Σκίαθος/ Skíathos). Westernmost of the northern Sporades (45 km2, length 11 km, maximum elevation 435 m; Hdt. 7,176,1; 179; 183,1 f.; 8,7,1; 92,1; Scyl. 58; Scymn. 580 ff.; Mela 2,106; Plin. HN 4,72; Ptol. 3,13,47), today also S. The island was settled in the 8th cent. BC by settlers from Chalcis [1]; Palaesciathos was laid out at that time (not located, recorded until the 5th/4th cent. BC). In the 6th/5th cents. BC, the polis of S. was founded on the east coast with a strategically imp…

(Πορθμός/ Porthmós, 'ferry place'). [German version] [1] Narrows of Salamis and ferry place of the same name there Narrows of Salamis and ferry place of the same name there (Hdt. 8,76,91; Aeschin. 3,158). Boundary stones from the ferry harbour have been found in Piraeus (πορθμείων ὅρμου ὅρος/ porthmeíōn hórmou hóros, IG I3 1104 [1. 446]). The Herakleion of the Salaminii at P. (SEG 21, 527 Z. 10 f., 16) is not identical with the one in Sunium (SEG 21, 527 Z. 84, 94 f.), hence P. does not describe the narrows at Puntazeza in the Sunium dḗmos. Lohmann, Hans (Bochum) Bibliography 1 W. Judeich, Top…

[German version] (Πεπάρεθος; Pepárethos). Island of the Cyclades (today counted among the northern Sporades) off the Thessalian coast (96 km2, 20 km long, up to 8 km wide; Str. 2,5,21; Ptol. 3,12,44; Plin. HN 4,72), with a main town of the same name, modern Skopelos. The central range of hills, Megalovuno, with the Hypselon (688 m), runs from north west to south east. Along the west coast there are cliffs and numerous islets. According to mythology, P. was settled by the Cretans (Diod. 5,79,2; Scymn. 579ff.); the…

[German version] (Σίφνος; Síphnos). Island in the western Cyclades (89 km2; Str. 10,5,3; Ptol. 3,15,30; Plin. HN 4,66; 36,159), rising to 696 m (Prophitis Elias), with many bays especially in the south and west; rich in slate and marble, it also produced gold, silver, iron and lead; still known as S. today. Poetic epithets: Merópē or Meropía and Acis (Steph. Byz. s. v. Σ.; Plin. HN 4,42). Traces of settlement from the 3rd millennium onwards; silver and galenite were mined in the early Cycladic period (early Cycladic settlement south of Apollonia, for…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta (Σκάνδεια/ Skándeia). Port settlement, 10 stadia to the east of the city of Cythera (Paus. 3,23,1) in the southeast of the island of Cythera, modern Kastri on the bay of Avlemonas. Settlement from the Early Helladic on; first mentioned in Hom. Il. 10,268. On a steep rock above S., there was an acropolis with a temple of Aphrodite Ourania. In 424 BC the Athenians conquered S., which had been occupied by the Spartans shortly before (Thuc. 4,…

[German version] [1] Island (Τῆλος/ Têlos). Island to the northwest of Rhodes with deeply incised bays, 16 km in length, up to 9 km in width, 63 km2 in area, rising to 651 m in height, predominantly of slate and limestone formations with broad tuff valleys in between; originally named Agathoussa (Hesych. s. v. Ἀγάθουσσα, Steph. Byz. s. v. T.). Settled in the 3rd millennium BC (settlement remains at Kastello near Livadia in the south) and in the Minoan period (17th/16th cent. BC, at Megalo Chorio in the north). Settled c. 1000 BC by the Dorieis, in the 7th cent. BC linked polit…

(Μύρινα; Mýrina). [German version] [1] Amazon Amazon (Dionysius Chalcidensis FHG 4 F 2), daughter of Cretheus, wife of Thoas (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,601); eponym of the city of the same name (M. [3]) on Lemnos (Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 138c). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Daughter of Teucer Daughter of Teucer, wife of Dardanus [1], first mentioned in Hom. Il. 2,814; her burial mound was displayed outside Troy as Batieia (Strab. 12,8,6). She was regarded as an Amazon in ancient times. Extensive raids are mentioned in Diod. 3,54f. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [3] City in southw…