Byzantium, 1180-1204 : 'the sad quarter of a century?'

The collective volume Byzantium, 11801204: The Sad Quarter of a Century? seeks to revisit the period in Byzantine history that begins with the death of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1180 and ends with the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Though brief in its time span and most often viewed through the prism of the Latin conquest, the period witnessed important developments both within the Byzantine Empire itself and in the wider region of Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean world. Looking beyond Byzantine-Western relations that have dominated the scholarship of the period, individual papers examine themes ranging from the historiographical perception and interpretation of the late twelfth century, to the empires changing relations with its neighbours, and the significant shifts occurring in its political and social life. They cover issues concerning the administration and economy of the empire and the relations between capital and provinces; and investigate the increasing importance of commerce along with the seemingly pervasive role of money-making in Byzantine society. The art-historical papers rounding off the volume examine the renovation of two prominent monuments of Constantinople which occurred during this period. Perceptions and interpretations of the late twelfth century in modern histoiography / Alicia Simpson Stronger than it appears? : Byzantium and its European hinterland after the death of Manuel I Komnenos / Vlada Stanković The Byzantine-Seljuk border in times of trouble : Laodikeia in 1174-1204 / Dimitri Koroneinikov The fate of German-Byzantine alliance in the late twelfth century / Telemachos Lounghis Political and constitutional crisis at the end of the twelth century / Demetrios Kyritses The anatomy of a failed coup : the abortive uprising of John the Fat (31 July 1200) / Michael Angold 'From Tempe to Sparta' : power and contestation prior to the Latin conquest of 1204 / Ilias Anagnostakis Sybaris on the Bosphoros : luxury, corruption and the Byzantine State under the Angeloi (1185-1203) / Kostis Smyrlis Coinage and the economy at the end of the twelfth century : an assessment / Pagona Papadopoulou Money and the aristocracy (1180-1204) / Paul Magdalino Private investment in trade in the final years of the twelfth century / Maria Gierolymatou Literary allusions to trade and merchants : the 'great merchant' in late twelfth-century Byzantium / Gerasimos Merianos A resting place for 'the first of the angels' : the Michaelion of Sosthenion / Kallirroe Linardou A gem of artistic ekphrasis : Nicholas Mesarites' description of the mosaics in the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople / Nektarios Zarras.