Theophylact Of Ochrid: Reading The Letters Of A Byzantine Archbishop (birmingham Byzantine And Ottoman Studies)

First published 1997 by Ashgate Publishing. Few works exist on Byzantine literature as literature and still fewer studies of individual texts. This reading of the letter-collection (c. 1090 - c. 1110) of Theophylact of Ochrid employs a variety of approaches to characterise a work which is both a literary artefact in a long Greek tradition and the only trace of a complex network of friends, colleagues, patrons and clients within Byzantine Bulgaria and also within the empire as a whole. These letters are of great importance from the point of view of local economic or ecclesiastical history, relations with the Slavs, the arrival of the First Crusade, but have not hitherto been studied as an example of Byzantine letter writing. This was a genre taken seriously by Byzantines, offering us unique insight into the mentality of the Byzantine elite, but also into what the Byzantines regarded as literature. This book is important as an attempt to raise the status of the study of Byzantine literature, and of letters within that literature. It is a first attempt to place an epistolary text in a succession of literary and historical contexts; its aim, too, is to probe the reliability of any rhetorical text for straightforward biography especially at the time of the revival fiction in Byzantium. At the heart of the book is an analysis of the personal network of Theophylact, as presented in the collection, with further methodological discussion of network analysis in medieval texts. Cover 1 Half Title 5 Title Page 7 Copyright Page 8 Contents 11 A note on using this book 13 List of illustrations 14 Abbreviations 15 Preface 18 Map of Theophylact's Letter-Network 20 Map of Theophylact's Bulgaria 21 1 Text and Context 23 2 Genre and Milieu 33 Issues of genre 33 1 Epistolarity 33 2 Evaluation 45 3 Reception 53 Theophylact's milieux 65 4 Eleventh-century Constantinople 65 5 Byzantine Bulgaria 75 6 Alexian Literature 91 3 Collection and Network (I) 101 Portrait of a collection 101 1 Dating and Ordering 101 2 Preoccupations and Concerns 120 3 Rhetoric 155 4 Collection and Network (II) 185 Portrait of a network 185 1 Detecting Theophylact's Network 185 2 Theophylact's First Order Zone 200 3 The Uses of Network 223 5 Author and Man 245 Theophylact the author 245 1 Theophylact as Auctor 245 2 Letters in the Oeuvre 252 3 Other People's Letters 269 Theophylact the man 283 4 The Constantinopolitan 283 5 The Bulgarian 288 6 The Exile 296 6 Context and Text 301 The Collection 313 The Network 369 Tables 405 I Concordance of Numbers 407 II Lost Letters 409 III Letters referred to 412 IV Silence referred to 413 V Communication Problems 413 VI Documents requested 414 VII Letters received 416 VIII Bearers of the Letters 420 IX Gifts in the Letters 423 X Journeys in the Letters 425 Bibliography 431 Index 447 A note on using this book ix List of illustrations x Abbreviations xi Preface xiv Map of Theophylact's Letter-Network xvi Map of Theophylact's Bulgaria xvii 1. Text and Context 1 2. Genre and Milieu Issues of genre 1. Epistolarity 11 2. Evaluation 23 3. Reception 31 Theophylact's milieux 4. Eleventh-century Constantinople 43 5. Byzantine Bulgaria 53 6. Alexian Literature 69 3. Collection and Network (I) Portrait of a collection 1. Dating and Ordering 79 2. Preoccupations and Concerns 98 3. Rhetoric 133 4. Collection and Network (II) Portrait of a network 1. Detecting Theophylact's Network 163 2. Theophylact's First Order Zone 178 3. The Uses of Network 201 5. Author and Man Theophylact the author 1. Theophylact as Auctor 223 2. Letters in the Oeuvre 230 3. Other People's Letters 247 Theophylact the man 4. The Constantinopolitan 261 5. The Bulgarian 266 6. The Exile 274 6. Context and Text 279 The Collection 291 The Network 347 Tables 383 I. Concordance of Numbers 385 II. Lost Letters 387 III. Letters referred to 390 IV. Silence referred to 391 V. Communication Problems 391 VI. Documents requested 392 VII. Letters received 394 VIII. Bearers of the Letters 398 IX. Gifts in the Letters 401 X. Journeys in the Letters 403 Bibliography 409 Index 425 Margaret Mullett. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [409]-424) And Index.