Byzantine Blog is what it says on the tin, a blog about Byzantium. It is written by Tom and Kim Sawford, with the occasional guest post by Laura Diaz-Arnesto. The blog has been going for over a year and a half now, and so has an extensive backlog of posts on a wide variety of subjects, for example:
Byzantine holy relics in Siena in Tuscany,
Princess Theophano who married Holy Roman Emperor Otto II,
photos of mosaics and other art,
the horrific realities of prostitution,
the islands of Thasos and Lemnos and a couple of posts on Byzantine medicine,
mandrake and
wolfsbane. Besides essays and photos the blog also links to various sites, articles, podcasts et cetera that dwell on Byzantine matters.
posted by Kattullus
on Dec 6, 2010 -
20 comments
The Temple Gallery in London has more than 200 items of Eastern Orthodox religious art, principally icons, on its website, both from the
current exhibit as well as
older pieces. Icons have been a part of Orthodox Christianity for centuries and they are loaded with meaning. The theology is elaborated upon in
this essay on the history, principles and function of icons by iconographer Dr. George Kordis. One of the subjects of the essay is the
Byzantine iconoclasm, a central event of which was the Seventh Ecumenical Council,
depicted here in an icon. Here are some other icons I like:
The Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia,
St. Alypius the Stylite,
Synaxis of the Archangels,
Dormition of the Virgin and
Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
[Click on any image for a larger view]
posted by Kattullus
on May 10, 2009 -
9 comments
The Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Costume Illustration has drawings of uniforms and regimental regalia from all over the world. Assembled by one of these great, eccentric collectors of the late 19th Century, Dr. H. J. Vinkhuijzen, a Dutch medical doctor who started out as an army physician and eventually rose to the position of official court physician to Prince Alexander of Netherlands. He pulled plates out of books, colored in black and white drawings and painted his own watercolor illustrations. His collection includes pictures of the soldiers of
many different nations and eras, from military superpowers like the
Roman Empire,
France and
Great Britain, to lesser known, but no less formidable forces, like
Byzantium and
Persia and even taking in such minnows as
Luxembourg,
Monaco and Montenegro. Due to Vinkhuijzen's unusual classification system it can be hard to find some of the more interesting images, such as pictures of
Etruscan cavalry,
Spanish military musicians and
1830's Belgian ambulance.
posted by Kattullus
on Aug 4, 2008 -
11 comments
Hellenica is an encyclopedia of Greek culture, from classical Hellas, through the Byzantine Empire until the modern day, though its focus is on antiquity and especially the
science and technology of Ancient Greece. Featuring technical diagrams and explications, there's no better site if you seek information on
gigantic galleys,
now obscure great Greek mathematicians,
the last still working Ancient lighthouse and
gears and how they were used by Archimedes and other ancients. This is not to denigrate other sections of the site, such as the page on the
Olympics (including a
Google Map of the site of the games), biographies of
ancient,
Byzantine and
modern Greeks, the
warring and
healing of the Byzantines or the overview of Greek literature, taking in
antiquity,
the medieval era and
modern times. That said, Hellenica is at its finest when treating science and technology.
posted by Kattullus
on Jul 18, 2008 -
8 comments
People with a History is "an online guide to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans history." Ranging from
the first stirrings of civilization to the modern day, People with a History gathers together original sources and academic articles dealing with queerness throughout history. To give you a feel for the wealth of material on the site, here are a few pages that caught my interest:
The Vikings and Homosexuality,
Coptic Spell: Spell for a Man to Obtain a Male Lover,
an acount of a gay marriage ceremony described by Michel de Montaigne,
But Among Our Own Selves (an 18th Century gay ballad),
a chapter from The Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon, a 7th Century Byzantine monk and bishop, which mentions
adelphopoiesis, or the
rite of brothermaking,
Wu Tsao, 19th Century Chinese lesbian poet, and finally
Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men.
posted by Kattullus
on Feb 2, 2008 -
15 comments
12 Byzantine Rulers is a podcast lecture series about The Byzantine Empire by Lars Brownworth, a history teacher at The Stony Brook School on Long Island, New York. 1123 years of awesomeness ready to go onto your iPod! [
iTunes link]
posted by Kattullus
on May 11, 2007 -
19 comments
Roman Emperors , there sure were a
lot of them. This online encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on the autocratic rulers of Rome I have come across. It ranges from
Augustus to Constantine Dragases, the last emperor in Constantinople. It doesn't include them all, but has most, including my two favorites,
Basil II, the Bulgarslayer and
Antonius Pius. You can also find the one
least deserving of fame, the one with the
silliest name and, of course, the
completely batshit ones.
Also on the site,
maps,
battles,
coins and everybody's favorite subject,
genealogy.
posted by Kattullus
on Feb 14, 2005 -
21 comments
