Byzantium, Venice and the Medieval Adriatic: Spheres of Maritime Power and Influence, c. 700-1453

425 Pages·2021·12.442 MB·English

by  Magdalena Skoblar

Byzantium, Venice and the Medieval Adriatic
The Adriatic has long occupied a liminal position between different
cultures,languagesandfaiths.Thisbookoffersthefirstsynthesisofits
history between the seventh and the mid-fifteenth century, a period
coincidingwiththeexistenceoftheByzantineempirewhich,asheirto
the Roman empire, laid claim to the region. The period also saw the
riseofVeniceanditisimportanttounderstandtheconditionswhich
would lead to her dominance in the Late Middle Ages. An inter-
nationalteamofhistoriansandarchaeologistsexaminestrade,admin-
istration and cultural exchange between the Adriatic and Byzantium
butalsowithintheregionitself,andmakesmorewidelyknownmuch
previouslyscatteredandlocalisedresearchandtheresultsofarchaeo-
logical excavations in both Italy and Croatia. Their bold interpret-
ationsoffermanystimulatingideasforrethinkingtheentirehistoryof
the Mediterranean during theperiod.
 
was a postdoctoral research fellow at the
BritishSchoolatAthensandtheBritishSchoolatRomefrom2013to
2015. Specialising in Early Medieval art, she is also the author of
Figural Sculpture in Eleventh-Century Dalmatiaand Croatia(2017).
british school at athens studies in greek antiquity
Series editor
John Bennet
Director of the British School at Athens
British School at Athens Studies in Greek Antiquity builds on the School’s long-standing
engagement with the study of ancient Greece from prehistory to Late Antiquity. This
seriesaimstoexploreawiderangeoftopicsthroughavarietyofapproachesattractiveto
anyone with interests in the ancient Greek world.
Titles in this Series
Byzantium, Venice and the Medieval Adriatic: Spheres of Maritime Power and Influence,
c.700–1453
Magdalena Skoblar
Human Mobility and Technological Transfer in the Prehistoric Mediterranean
Evangelia Kiriatzi and Carl Knappett
Byzantium, Venice and the Medieval
Adriatic
fl
Spheres of Maritime Power and In uence,
–
c.700 1453
Edited by
 
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DOI:10.1017/9781108886987
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Firstpublished2021
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Skoblar,Magdalena,editor,author.|Herrin,Judith,contributor,writerofforeword.|BritishSchoolat
Athens,sponsoringbody.|BritishSchoolatRome,sponsoringbody.
Title:Byzantium,VeniceandthemedievalAdriatic:spheresofmaritimepowerandinfluence,c.700–1453/by
MagdalenaSkoblar,UniversityofDurham,JudithHerrin,King’sCollegeLondon.
Description:Firstedition.|NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2021.|Series:BritishSchoolatAthensstudiesin
Greekantiquity|Thechaptersinthisvolumeoriginatedfromathree-dayconference-TheAdriaticasaThreshold
toByzantium-organisedattheBritishSchoolatRomeinJanuary2015.–Acknowledgements.|Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2020046710(print)|LCCN2020046711(ebook)|ISBN9781108840705(hardback)|
ISBN9781108840705(paperback)|ISBN9781108886987(epub)
Subjects:LCSH:AdriaticSeaRegion–History–To1500.|AdriaticSeaRegion–Antiquities.|Byzantine
Empire–History.|Byzantineantiquities.|Venice(Italy)–History–697-1508.|Venice(Italy)–Antiquities.
Classification:LCCD971.B992021 (print)|LCCD971 (ebook)|DDC909/.098224–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020046710
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020046711
ISBN978-1-108-84070-5Hardback
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accurateorappropriate.
Contents
List of Figures and Maps [page vii]
List of Tables [xi]
List of Contributors [xii]
Forewordby JudithHerrin [xiv]
Acknowledgements [xix]
Note on Citation,Transliteration, Names,Titles and Dates [xxi]
Introduction [1]
 
1 The Adriatic Sea 500–1100 [15]
A Corrupted Alterity?
 
2 Thinking of Linking [45]
Pottery Connections, Southern Adriatic, Butrint and Beyond
 
3 A Winter Sea? [83]
Exchange and Power at the Ebbing of the Adriatic Connection
600–800
 
4 The Origins of Venice [98]
Between Italy, Byzantium and the Adriatic
 
5 The Northern Adriatic Area between the Eighth and the
Ninth Century [111]
New Landscapes, New Cities
 
6 Provincia Iadrensis [133]
Heir of Roman Dalmatia or a Stillborn Child of Byzantine Early
Medieval Adriatic Policy?
 š
v
vi Contents
7 Ravenna and Other Early Rivals of Venice [173]
Comparative Urban and Economic Development in the Upper
Adriatic c.751–1050
 . 
8 Byzantine Apulia [188]
- 
9 From One Coast to Another and Beyond [203]
Adriatic Connections through the Sigillographic Evidence
 
10 Icons in the Adriatic before the Sack of Constantinople
in 1204 [245]
 
11 The Rise of the Adriatic in the Age of the Crusades [276]
 
12 Venice in the Twelfth Century [296]
Between the Adriatic and the Aegean
 
13 Venice, the Ionian Sea and the Southern Adriatic after the
Fourth Crusade [316]
 -
14 Sea Power and the Evolution of Venetian Crusading [328]
 
15 Reassessing the Venetian Presence in the Late Medieval
Eastern Adriatic [351]
  
16 ‘Strangers’ in the City? [365]
TheParadoxesofCommunitarianisminFifteenth-CenturyVenice
-
Conclusion [385]
 
Index [391]
Figures and Maps
Cover Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Idrīsī, Nuzhat al-muštāq fī iḫtirāq
_ _
al-āfāq. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des
manuscrits, ms. Arabe 2221, fols. 267v–268r, detail of the south
Adriatic with Apulia and the Dalmatian coast. Photo
© Bibliothèque nationale de France. [page 00]
Map1 TheAdriaticwiththemostimportantsitesmentionedinthevolume.
DrawnbyCoxCartographicLtd. [xxiii]
1.1 View of Butrint and the Straits of Corfu. Courtesy of the Butrint
Foundation. [19]
1.2 View of the restored western defences (Tower 1). Courtesy of the
Butrint Foundation. [21]
1.3 Excavations in Tower 1, 2005. Courtesy of the Butrint
Foundation. [22]
1.4 Location of the aristocratic oikos on the Vrina Plain in relation to
Butrint. Courtesy of the Butrint Foundation. [24]
1.5 InterpretiveplanofthearistocraticoikosontheVrinaPlain.Courtesy
of the Butrint Foundation. [25]
1.6 Five lead seals from the excavations on the Vrina Plain. Courtesy of
the Butrint Foundation. [26]
1.7 Map of Butrint in the eleventh century. Courtesy of the Butrint
Foundation. [28]
1.8 Tenth- to eleventh-century remains of a post-built structure
(dwelling?) in the Triconch Palace excavations. Courtesy of the
Butrint Foundation. [29]
1.9 An eleventh-century property wall (part of the enclosure around the
Great Basilica) closing off the north end of the Roman bridge at
Butrint. Courtesy of the Butrint Foundation. [30]
1.10 View of the eleventh-century stone dwellings on the terrace
overlooking the remains of the Roman Forum. Photo: David
Hernandez. [31]
1.11 A section of the eleventh-century fortifications of Rogoi, Epiros.
Photo: Richard Hodges. [33]
vii
viii Listof Figures andMaps
1.12 An interpretative plan of the excavated church of Shën Jan, near
Phoinike. Plan: Oliver Gilkes. [38]
2.1 Most important architectural remains at Butrint. Courtesy of the
Butrint Foundation. [46]
2.2 Distribution of Medieval pottery finds in Butrint. Graphs by Joanita
Vroom. Map courtesy of the Butrint Foundation. [47]
2.3 Western defences in Butrint. Courtesy of the Butrint
Foundation. [48]
2.4 Pottery types found in Towers 1 and 2 (WD1 and WD2) of the
western defences of Butrint. Graphs by Joanita Vroom. Images
courtesy of the Butrint Foundation. [49]
2.5 Possible provenance of pottery finds in Towers 1 and 2 (WD1 and
WD2)ofthewesterndefencesofButrint.Groundplancourtesyofthe
Butrint Foundation. [50]
2.6 Reconstruction of Tower 1 in the western defences in Butrint.
Courtesy of the Butrint Foundation. Drawing by W.R.
Euverman. [51]
2.7 Locations of Early and Middle Byzantine shipwrecks in the eastern
Mediterranean.Drawn afterVroom 2016,fig.1;imagesafter Denker
et al. 2013a, 204, no. 237. [53]
2.8 FindsofEarlyByzantineglobularamphoraeinItalyandtheAdriatic.
DrawnbyJoanitaVroom;imagescourtesyoftheButrintFoundation
and after Gelichi and Negrelli 2008, figs. 8–9. [54]
2.9 Production zones of various types of ‘globular amphorae’ in the
Mediterranean. Drawn after Vroom 2016. [55]
2.10 Finds of Glazed White Ware I and II in Italy and the Adriatic.
Drawn after Vroom 2017, fig. 10.3; image after Peschlow 1977–78,
figs. 9, 12. [58]
2.11 FindsofGlazedWhiteWaresinEphesus.©AustrianArchaeological
Institute.ChristianKürtzeandJoanitaVroom;imageafterLadstätter
2008, pl. 297, K 239. [59]
2.12 FindsofGünsenin1/Saraçhane54amphoraefromGanosinEphesus.
© Austrian Archaeological Institute. Drawn by Christian Kürtze and
Joanita Vroom; image after Vroom 2014, 94. [60]
2.13 FindsofGünsenin1/Saraçhane54amphoraefromGanosinEurope.
Map drawn by Joanita Vroom; images after Vroom 2014, 94. [61]
2.14 Locations of shipwrecks transporting Günsenin 3/Saraçhane
61 amphorae in the eastern Mediterranean. Map drawn by Joanita
Vroom; images after Vroom 2014, 98; Vroom 2016, fig. 4. [62]
Listof Figures andMaps ix
2.15 Locations of shipwrecks transporting twelfth- to fourteenth-century
glazed table wares in the eastern Mediterranean. Map drawn by
Joanita Vroom; images after Papanikola-Bakirtzi 1999, 147,
no. 168. [65]
2.16 Distribution of locally made table wares in the Peloponnese and
north-westernGreece.GraphsbyJoanitaVroom;imagesafterVroom
2014, 84, 90, 124. [66]
2.17 Distribution of imported table wares in the Peloponnese and north-
westernGreece.GraphsbyJoanitaVroom;imagesafterVroom2014,
126, 128; Bakourou, Katsara and Kalamara 2003, fig. 5. [67]
2.18 Networkanalysisofceramic finds atPeloponnesian sitestransported
by sea and land. Drawn by J. Preiser-Kapeller after
Vroom 2011a. [68]
2.19 Distribution of imported table wares from southern Italy in the
Peloponnese and north-western Greece. Maps and graphs by
Joanita Vroom; images after Vroom 2014, 126, 128; Vroom 2017,
fig. 13.4. [70]
2.20 CeramicdistributionsystemofButrintfromEarlyByzantinetoEarly
Venetian times. Maps drawn by Joanita Vroom. [71]
5.1 Map of the north-east Adriatic with the locations from the text.
Elaborated by the Laboratorio Archeologia Medievale, Università
Venezia. [112]
5.2 Adria, the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, frescoes. Photo:
Marco Moro. [113]
5.3 San Basilio (Rovigo, Italy), the remains of a Late Antique baptismal
font. Photo: Sauro Gelichi. [114]
5.4 Altinum (Venice, Italy), aerial photo of the ancient city and
interpretation. © Andrea Ninfo. [116]
5.5 The Venetian lagoon in the Roman period. Elaborated by the
Laboratorio Archeologia Medievale, Università Venezia. [118]
5.6 Map of the Venetian lagoon and nearby areas. Elaborated by the
Laboratorio Archeologia Medievale, Università Venezia. [120]
5.7 The Venetian lagoon. Drawn by Margherita Ferri, Sauro Gelichi and
CeciliaMoineafterBondesanandMeneghel2004,PrimonandMozzi
2014; Gelichi, Ferri and Moine 2017. [122]
5.8 TheVenetianlagoon.Possiblenaturaldepositsthatemergedbetween
the ninth and tenth century and sites of documented places of
worship. [124]
5.9 Jesolo (Venice, Italy). The simplified paleo-environmental
reconstruction of the site. Drawn by Anita Granzo. [125]