Valour or Recklessness? The Emperor in Single Combats and Tournaments through the Eyes of Late Byzantine Writers

This paper addresses the descriptions of single combats and tournaments with participation from the emperor as described by the Late Byzantine writers (George Akropolites, John Kantakouzenos, George Pachymeres, Nikephoros Gregoras). The research is aimed to define the features of the use of stories about the participation of Byzantine emperors in single combats on the battlefield, trial combats, jousts (gaming combats), and collective faceoffs (tournaments) in the historical writings of Late Byzantine authors and to observe the authors’ value judgments about these cases. It has been taken into account that the Byzantine historians often applied traditional rhetorical models, imitated the language and style of ancient Greek and Roman authors, and used the allusions to the texts of the Holy Scripturee, and the works of other historians in their written works. It has been established that the descriptions of the eagerness of Michael Palaiologos to clear his name by judicial duel in connection with accusation of treason (1253) allowed Pachymeres to present Michael in a favorable light and deflect an accusation of treason from him. It has been shown that the writers used the stories regarding the participation of emperors in single combat on the battlefield (or their eagerness to participate) and in sports games (“jousts” and “tournaments”) to present the rulers in positive or negative way. Late Byzantine writers paid special attention to the characterization of manifestations of courage and other military virtues of Byzantine emperors, and to the correspondence or inconsistency of their actions with the imperial dignity. The influence of the imperial propaganda on the works of the authors, as well as the reflection in them of some features of the self-consciousness of the Byzantine aristocracy of that time, has been established

Ancient history · Art · Byzantine architecture · Emperor · False accusation · Literature · Political science · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · History · Law

• Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330

  Michael Angold•The English Historical Review•2008

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