The Horoscope of Emperor Baldwin II

310 Pages·2018·1.597 MB·English

by  Filip Van Tricht

The Horoscope of Emperor Baldwin II
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The Medieval Mediterranean
Peoples, Economies and Cultures, 400–1500
Managing Editor
Frances Andrews (St. Andrews)
Editors
Tamar Herzig (Tel Aviv)
Paul Magdalino (St. Andrews)
Larry J. Simon (Western Michigan University)
Daniel Lord Smail (Harvard University)
Jo Van Steenbergen (Ghent University)
Advisory Board
David Abulafia (Cambridge)
Benjamin Arbel (Tel Aviv)
Hugh Kennedy (soas, London)
volume 114
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/mmed
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The Horoscope of Emperor
Baldwin II
Political and Sociocultural Dynamics in
Latin-Byzantine Constantinople
By
Filip Van Tricht
leiden | boston
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Cover illustration: Natal chart of Emperor Baldwin II of Courtenay /BnF, fr. 1353, f. 4v.
With kind permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 0928-5520
ISBN 978-90-04-37244-3 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-38318-0 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
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To my sweet wife,
the love of my life
∵
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Contents
Preface  ix
Introduction  1
1 Manuscript Tradition, Authorship, Date & Aim  6
Part 1
Political Dynamics
2 A Byzantine-Style Imperial Ideology  27
3 Internal Rivalries at Court  50
4 Attempts at Geopolitical Restauration  81
Part 2
Cultural Dynamics
5 The Astrological Corpus: Western and Byzantine Influences  97
6 Literature and Sciences in Latin-Byzantine Constantinople  131
7 The Arts and Artistic Production in Latin-Byzantine
Constantinople  186
Conclusion  208
Part 3
Appendixes
1 Astrological poem  217
2 Horoscope of Baldwin II of Courtenay  228
3 Introductoire d’Astronomie: Selected Chapters  235
Bibliography  253
Index  292
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Preface
This book started out as an article with only a limited scope. I originally in-
tended it as a short commentary on the potential of a little known corpus of
source texts. It was admittedly somewhat by chance that I myself came across
this astronomical/astrological material. While I immediately realized its rel-
evance for the study of various aspects of the geopolitical entity that has be-
come known in modern historiography as the Latin empire of Constantinople
(1204–1261), at the same time the “new” information these texts contain regard-
ing the political, social and cultural history of in particular Latin-Byzantine
Constantinople at first seemed rather modest (and in a way still does).
But gradually one thing led to another. The various in themselves small piec-
es of new information which I touched upon each seemed to require further
research and ample contextualization in order to let or make them truly speak.
The writing of this book in a way resembled a game of domino: one little block
making another one tumble and then yet another one and so forth. Ultimately
it seemed that this corpus of texts provided an ideal starting point for a more
comprehensive study of aspects of both the political and sociocultural life dur-
ing the later decades of Latin rule in Constantinople.
In that sense this book is the chronological follow-up to my study of the
empire of Constantinople under the Latin emperors during its first decades
(1204–1228). However, by giving a central place to a specific set of source ma-
terials my angle this time is different. While in my previous effort I adopted a
rigid systematic approach with a well-defined set of research questions and
a focus on institutions and prosopography, here my working method will be
more like that of a microstudy. The mentioned corpus of texts will function as
the glue holding everything together, while I address a wide variety of topics
and larger questions relating to Constantinopolitan Latin-Byzantine society.
It is my intended aim to in this way provide a complementary view to the
results I presented in my earlier work. Both books should be seen as two parts
of one whole, each with its own chronological and methodological focus.
This is also the place to express my gratitude to the Department of History at
the University of Ghent for providing research facilities, especially prof. dr.
Thérèse de Hemptinne and her husband prof. dr. Marc Boone. Gratitude also
to the recently departed prof. dr. David Jacoby from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem—a true pioneer in the study of Latin Romania.
Of course I would also like to thank my dear ones, who unavoidably have
suffered most of the collateral damage associated with writing and finishing
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x Preface
a book, such as an improper measure of absentmindedness during cosy fam-
ily moments and the misuse of our sanitary facilities in order to quietly read
books and articles.
First and foremost I thank my lovely wife Borg, who still struggles somewhat
to genuinely sympathize with the peculiar attraction medieval Constantinople
holds for her husband. I am fully aware that dedicating this work to her will not
be considered as sufficient compensation.
Secondly I am also grateful to my two children, “May the force be with you”
Stan (or Constantine the Great as I sometimes call him) and our valiant and
divine little princess Juno Guinevere, for the daily happiness they effortlessly
provide and who every holiday in France must undergo at least one lecture on
how this knight or that cleric of this castle or that abbey we visit also partici-
pated in the Fourth Crusade or later expeditions to Latin Romania. I also need
to thank our golden retriever Gonzo for the understanding she has shown me
for sometimes preferring to continue working on this study instead of perma-
nently petting her as evidently I should have done.
Finally, I must show my continuing gratitude to both my dear father, who
sadly passed away during the writing of this book and whom I miss dearly, and
my dear mother for the love, care and chances they have always provided me
with.
Filip Van Tricht
Melle, October 2018
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