The Archaeology of Intermediation

Prolegomena on Mongol Elements in Later Byzantine Art and Material Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID19562045
AuthorsNikolaos Vryzidis (0000-0003-0115-7133, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume22
Issue1-2
Pages104-132
Publication date2023-10-05
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCrossroads (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2190-8796 • E-ISSN: 2666-2523
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/26662523-bja10015
OpenAlexW4387429224
LanguageEN
References cited16

Later Byzantine (1261–1453) diplomacy was generally characterised by pragmatism, especially in the empire’s choice of allies that could foster its political stability and mitigate its financial burdens. Among its more distant allies were the different Mongol polities that stretched from Central Asia up to the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. Despite not being immediate neighbours, the relationship between Byzantium and the Mongols was marked by intermediation, both in terms of the actors that functioned across the two realms and of the service the one could provide to the interests of the other. Within this frame, the following article will attempt a preliminary assessment of the Mongol element in later Byzantine art and material culture, and its possible use as a secondary source on this complex relationship. It will argue that while the Mongol contribution to Byzantine art and material culture was visible especially during the fourteenth century, there are instances which reveal a certain ambivalence towards it

Ambivalence · Ancient history · Byzantine architecture · Diplomacy · Economics · Empire · Epistemology · Intermediation · Political science · Politics · Pragmatism · Byzantine Studies and History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology

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