Latins in Roman (Byzantine) Histories: Ambivalent Representations in the Long Twelfth Century

566 Pages·2021·5.486 MB·English

by  Samuel Pablo Müller

Latins in Roman (Byzantine) Histories
The Medieval Mediterranean

peoples, economies and cultures, 400–1 500
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volume 127
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Latins in Roman

(Byzantine) Histories
Ambivalent Representations in
the Long Twelfth Century
By
Samuel Pablo Müller
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Swiss National Fund, 2013. Research grant Candoc (University of Zurich), 2012.

This work was accepted as a PhD thesis by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Zurich in
the spring semester of 2017 on the recommendation of the Doctoral Committee: Prof. Claudia Zey (main
supervisor) and Prof. Michael Grünbart.
Cover illustration: Fol. iir of ms. Vat.gr.1176. With kind permission of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-P ublication Data

Names: Müller, Samuel Pablo, author.
Title: Latins in Roman (Byzantine) histories : ambivalent representations
in the long twelfth century / by Samuel Pablo Müller.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2022] | Series: The medieval Mediterranean,
0928-5520 ; 127 | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021043500 (print) | LCCN 2021043501 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789004460928 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004499706 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Byzantine Empire–History–1081-1453–Historiography. |
Byzantine Empire–Foreign relations–1081-1453. | Romans–Byzantine Empire. |
Romans–Ethnic identity. | National characteristics, Roman. | Byzantine Empire–
Civilization–Roman influences.
Classification: LCC DF505 .M85 2022 (print) | LCC DF505 (ebook) |
DDC 949.5/02–dc23
lc record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2021043500
lc ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2021043501
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/b rill- typeface.
issn 0928- 5520
isbn 978- 90- 04- 46092- 8 (hardback)
isbn 978- 90- 04- 49970- 6 (e- book)
Copyright 2022 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents

A cknowledgements ix
N ote on Transliteration and Translations x
I ntroduction 1
1 Methodological and Theoretical Approach 5
1.1 I dentity and Alterity Intertwined 6
1.2 T he Complex Relationship between (Literary) Representations
and Attitudes 9
2 State of Research 11
2.1 R elations between Romania and the West 11
2.2 T he Image of Latins 14
part 1
Background
1 I dentities of Byzantine- Roman Literati and Their Representation of
“Others” and Westerners 21
1 Identities and Representations of “Others” 21
2 The West and Westerners in Greek Literature: Historiographers of
the Komnenian Period and Other Sources 43
2.1 H istoriography 46
2.1.1 Anna Komnene 46
2.1.2 Ioannes Kinnamos 49
2.1.3 Eustathios of Thessalonike 50
2.1.4 Niketas Choniates 51
2.1.5 Ioannes Zonaras and Michael Glykas 55
2.1.6 Shorter Literary Works Devoted to a Historical Event:
Manasses and Mesarites 58
2.1.7 Histories Devoted to the Period before 1081 58
2.2 A dditional Sources 60
2.2.1 Oratory, Poetry, Letters, Novels 60
2.2.2 Theological and Religious Writings 65
2.2.3 Imperial and Patriarchal Documents 70
2.2.4 Non- textual Sources 70
vi Contents
part 2
The Portrayal of the Western Presence within the Empire and of
Westerners in Imperial Service
2 A mbiguous Relations with Italians 75
1 The Close and Fluctuating Relationship with Βενέτικοι
(Venetians) 75
1.1 P roximity and Difference Prior to the Second Crusade 75
1.2 C ooperation, Coexistence, Conflict, and the Coup of 1171 85
1.3 A n Uneasy Restoration of Relations Marked by Imperial
Failure 96
2 Πισσαῖοι (Pisans) and Γενουῖται (Genoese) in Venice’s Shadow 103
2.1 A Very Generic Portrayal of Their Ascendancy and
Integration 103
2.2 “ Anti- Latin”? The Accounts of the So- Called Latin Massacre in
1182 113
2.3 T he Equally Contingent Character of Later Attacks in the
Capital 120
2.4 Μ εγαρείτης (Margaritone) and Καφούρης (Gafforio) 126
3 Encomiastic Praise and Approval with Hindsight of the Byzantine
Network in Italy 129
3.1 O ther Alliances with Italian Cities 129
3.2 T he Ἀγκωνῖται (People of Ancona) and Their Supporters 131
3 C ompatibility, Superiority, and Introspection Reflected in
Empresses 139
1 Alliance with Οὐγγρία (Hungary): Eirene (Piroska) and Maria
(Margaret) 141
1.1 T he Exploitation of Eirene’s (Piroska’s) Origin in the Service of
Imperial Propaganda 141
1.2 T he Similar Case of Maria (Margaret) 146
2 Eirene (Bertha of Sulzbach) as an Exception to the Rule of Easy
Integration 148
3 Maria/ Xene (Margaret- Constance) of Antioch and the Myth of the
“Hated Latin” in the Scholarship 159
4 Anna (Agnes) and the Unequal Alliance with France 166
4 T he Brothers from Μόντη Φεράντη (Montferrat) as a Male
Counterpart 171
1 The Beauty and Virtue of Ioannes (Renier of Montferrat) 171
2 Korrados (Conrad of Montferrat): Role Model and Savior 174
Contents vii
5 T he Integration of Princes into the Imperial Hierarchy 181
1 Tentative Heir, Client Ruler, Ally: Alexios/ Βελᾶς (Bela) 181
2 The Successful and Not So Successful Management of Hungarian
Royals 194
6 T he Special Case of the “Barbarian Ax- Bearers” 200
7 O ther Illustrative Cases 207
1 In the Imperial Army 207
1.1 T he Importance of Mercenaries 207
1.2 O urselios (Roussel De Bailleul) 213
2 In Various Contexts 218
2.1 T he Differing Degrees of “Romanization” of Ἀλέξανδρος
(Alexander of Gravina) and Βασαβίλας (Robert of
Bassonville) 218
2.2 C ultural Disinterest, Integration, and Acceptance 221
3 The Foundation of Aristocratic Dynasties 224
8 “ Xenophobia”? Remarks about Recruitment in Government and the
Army 234
part 3
The Portrayal of External Relations with the West
9 T he Importance of “Kelts” and “Sicilians” (Normans)
More Genericism, Introspection, Ambivalence, and Proximity 245
1 Anti- heroes of the Alexiad: Rompertos and Baïmountos 245
1.1 T he First Phase: Rompertos (Robert Guiscard) 247
1.2 T he Long Struggle against Baïmountos (Bohemond) and Tangre
(Tancred) 260
2 “Tyrants” and Kings 271
2.1 R ogerios (Roger ii): Usurper of Byzantine Rights, Symbol of
Imperial Decline 271
2.2 K aiserkritik and Its Personally Inclined Counterpart in Two
Differing Accounts of the Italian War (1155– 58) 279
2.3 D iffering Motivations behind the Portrayal of the Byzantine-
Sicilian War 291
10 T he Hero’s Challenge
Incursions of “Franks,” “Latins,” and “Kelts” 308
viii Contents
11 I mperial Propaganda versus Kaiserkritik in the Accounts of the
Second Incursion 322
12 T he Staufers as a Rivaling Threat and a Model to Byzantine
Emperors 339
1 Frederikos (Frederick Barbarossa) 339
2 Amerrigos (Henry vi) and Choniates’s Kaiserkritik 357
13 V ictories over “Huns” (Hungarians) Diminished and Magnified 365
14 D ivine Retribution, Disruption, and Continuities
The Conquerors of Romania (Fourth Crusade) 370
1 Shattering Pillars of Identity: The Capture and Sack of the Imperial
City 371
2 Instrument and Victims of Divine Retribution, a Model against
Which to Be Measured 384
2.1 T he First Year after the Fall of the City until the Turning Point of
Adrianople 384
2.2 B etween Resignation, Hope, and Exhortation: The Last Pages of
Choniates’s History 396
15 ( Potential) Alliances 406
1 Enerichos (Henry iv) versus the Pope (Gregory vii) 406
2 Anna’s Hindsight and Ἰσαγγέλης (Raymond of Saint- Gilles) 410
3 The Hohenstaufen and Austrian Alliance 413
4 Antioch 418
4.1 T he Praise of Raimountos 419
4.2 D ifferent Perspectives on Renaldos (Raynald) and Rituals in
Antioch 425
5 The Imperial Protectorate on Display in the Holy Land 429
6 Amerrigos (Amalric of Jerusalem) as a Foil 433
7 The Praise of Frederikos (Frederick Barbarossa) 444
C onclusion 450
1 Results of the Investigation 450
2 Desiderata for Future Related Research 462
B ibliography 465
P rimary Sources 465
S econdary Sources 473
I ndex 532
newgenprepdf
Acknowledgements

This book constitutes an augmented and improved version of my dissertation
written at the University of Zurich. Many people contributed to the book in its
present form in one way or another. I offer my deep appreciation to all of them.
I am extremely grateful to my advisers, Claudia Zey and Michael Grünbart,
for their guidance and constant support.
I would also like to extend my profound gratitude to the Swiss National Fund,
the University of Zurich, and the Doctoral Program “Medialität—H istorische
Perspektiven” for funding and supporting my research.
To Brill, the board of the Medieval Mediterranean Series, Paul Magdalino,
and Marcella Mulder, as well as my editors Marianne Noble and Timothy
Wardell, I wish to express thanks beyond measure for believing in the book’s
value as well as helping to prepare and improve it for publication. I would also
like to thank Nick Jones for his careful checking of the final book proofs.
I am deeply indebted to numerous scholars in Vienna, including Johannes
Koder, Yannis Stouraitis, Claudia Rapp, Alexander Riehle, Carolina Cupane,
Ewald Kislinger, Christian Gastgeber, Andreas Rhoby, and Wolfram Hörandner.
They generously shared their tremendous knowledge, resources, and insight
with me, notably during a research trip to the Institute for Byzantine and
Modern Greek Studies at the University of Vienna and the Division of Byzantine
Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Institute for Medieval Research.
I greatly benefitted from my fruitful exchange about the book’s topic with
Anthony Kaldellis, whom I met in Thessaloniki at a summer school directed
by Paolo Odorico.
Especially helpful were also my dear father, who supported the book’s pub-
lication financially, and my beloved partner, who checked the bibliography
and notes.
Note on Transliteration and Translations

As this study is about Byzantine historiography it tries to follow the perspec-
tive of this historiography as closely as possible, therefore it largely subscribes
to the opinion of Dimitris Krallis on “Anglicization and Latinization” and the
corresponding guidelines. In that spirit, the book often quotes Greek names
for Latin groups and individuals. Greek forms of proper names of Byzantine
persons and places are used, ἦτα (η) being transcribed as e, as in Manasses,
Dalassene or Digenes unless the text is in italics, in which case ē is used. As
noted by Krallis as well, however, it is difficult and probably not even desir-
able to remain fully consistent. Thus, some exceptions are allowed for, par-
ticularly for place names and ancient authors, e.g., Constantinople instead of
Konstantinoupolis.1 Transcription is used for a few Greek terms that have some
currency in academic usage, but any word is given in the original Greek form
when it is first mentioned.
When rendering Byzantine sources quoted in this study into English, I have
made ample use of the modern translations indicated in the bibliography,
making frequent corrections, adaptations, and changes, however, based on my
own understanding of the Greek editions. Translations contained in second-
ary sources are indicated separately. The translations which were used most
frequently for the historiographical works are Reinsch’s for the Alexiad, Trapp’s
for Zonaras and Brand’s for Kinnamos. For Choniates, the careful Italian trans-
lation by Pontani was the main reference alongside Grabler’s German version
based on the Bekker edition. In the case of Eustathios’s account of the conquest
of Thessalonike, it was Hunger’s excellent translation, but I also consulted
those by Rotolo (accompanying the edition by Kyriakidis), Melville Jones, and
Odorico. In addition, I am also indebted to Andrew Stone’s translation of a
selection of Eustathios’s orations.
1 See Krallis (2012), p. xvii.