TAR393

School of Humanities \ History

3

6

Elective

Turkish

-

History department; all departments

This course examines the history of the Byzantine Empire from the transfer of the capital from Rome to Constantinople in 330 to its conquest by the Ottomans in 1453. The course follows a chronological framework and discusses different thematic issues in some weeks.

Georg Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, trans. Fikret Işıltan, Ankara: Turkish Historical Society, 1999. Angeliki E. Laiou & Henry Maguire (eds.), Byzantium: A World Civilization, Washington, DC, Dumbarton Oaks, 1992. Cogito, File Topic: Byzantium, 17 (1999).

This course aims to introduce students to the main periods of Byzantine history between 330-1453 and some important topics such as religion and church in Byzantium, Byzantium and the Turks, and the Byzantine legacy. Another aim of this course is to provide students with the skills to read translated primary sources of Byzantine history in their historical context.

1. Students who successfully complete this course will have a basic background in the basic political issues of Byzantine history and the basic elements of Byzantine civilization.
2. Students will also gain the ability to evaluate some of the primary sources of Byzantine history with an analytical and critical approach within the Byzantine context and to make presentations and discussions about these sources.

Week 1: Introduction to the course
Week 2: From Paganism to Christianity
Week 3: The Empire of Justinian
Week 4: Byzantium in the face of Persian and Arab invasions
Week 5: Iconoclasm
Week 6: State, Religion and Church in Byzantium
Week 7: The Restoration period, Midterm Exam
Week 8: The Crusades and Byzantium
Week 9: The Palaiologan dynasty
Week 10: Byzantium and the Turks
Week 11: The Byzantine Heritage
Week 12: General evaluation

• Participation 10 %
• Presentation 20 %
• Midterm Exam 30 %
• Final 40 %