Dendroarchaeology of the mid-first millennium AD in Constantinople

The 1st millennium AD was a time of great transition in Europe and the Mediterranean. At the heart of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) was a pivotal trade hub for the Aegean region. Establishing a precise and accurate dating framework for the development of this remarkable city and a chronological reference for this critical time period for the Mediterranean region is of great importance to a wide range of scholars. Here we present a new 213 year tree-ring record from 89 oak samples placed in time by dendrochronology and supported by radiocarbon analysis and historical documentation. It represents the middle of the first millennium AD in Constantinople. The tree-ring series are derived from pilings recovered from the extraordinary excavations of the so-called “Theodosian harbor” at Yenikap?, Istanbul, along with timbers from other sites and buildings around the city, including one of the most famous sites on the Istanbul sky-line—Hagia Sophia. They provide potential for new insight into a time period in which earthquakes, the Justinianic plague, and even a possible tsunami struck the city, and during which dramatic changes in climate have been recorded in other paleoenvironmental proxies. The chronology is the first published tree-ring series from the Aegean region to cover the ‘event’ years of AD 536–7 and 542 which are characterized by anomalous growth in other tree-ring series from around the world, but interestingly these event years are not evident in this tree-ring sequence.     

The New Post Office Site in Istanbul and the North-Eastern Harbour of Byzantine Constantinople

An unpublished letter of 1906 describes a wall discovered at the New Post Office site in Istanbul. This may have been an Early Byzantine (5th–7th century) quay and, along with geological evidence, suggests that the north-east harbour of Early Byzantine Constantinople (probably the Neorion/Neorium harbour) was much larger than hitherto supposed. The harbour probably silted in the 7th century.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

The Alexei Obrescoff Case: The Levantine Backstage of British Mediation in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–74)

In 1954 M. S. Anderson, considering the impediments prohibiting a successful British mediation between Catherine II and Mustafa III, judged that Ambassador John Murray and Whitehall were carried away because they could not see the complex picture of Eastern diplomacy. In this paper, it will be argued that the Ambassador's miscalculated optimism and the hastiness of London were due to a neglected factor: the imprisonment of the Russian Resident at Constantinople, Alexei Obrescoff. The Resident, an in-law of the Abbotts, Factors of the Levant Company and Murray's personal friend, entrusted him with his infant children on the eve of his detainment. This trust was an asset that Murray hoped to exploit in the forthcoming international race to undertake the mediation, if only he could free his friend. London hoped this appeal to the Ottomans would please the Russians, but mediation slipped out of Murray's hands. The Abbotts assisted the Prussians and the Austrians to reunite the Obrescoff family and thus gained them the advantage. Embittered, Murray was dragged into a passionate but unsuccessful clash with the Abbotts which emphasised both the importance of Levantine networks in the exercise of ‘Oriental’ diplomacy and his unsuitability for the particular post.     

The importance of Old French chronicles as historical sources of the Fourth Crusade and the early Latin Empire of Constantinople

Michael Angold has shown that the collapse of Greek resistance to the crusading army has not yet been fully explained by historians (Journal of Medieval History, 25, 3 (1999) 257–78). The chronicles of Villehardouin and Clari are an additional, important source, written by eyewitnesses. They provide first-hand evidence of the morale of the army, its sense of mission and the problems which it faced. Henri de Valenciennes provides a similar, first-hand account of the start of the reign of Henry of Hainaut as Latin Emperor. Close study of these texts helps to explain the victory of the westerners. They are even more important as historical sources than as examples of early French prose.     

Crusaders and mercenaries: the west-European soldiers of the Laskarids of Nicaea (1204–1258)

The so-called empire of Nicaea was one of the new political entities that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The raison d'être of Nicaea was the recovery of Constantinople and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. Consequently, the Nicaean rulers were almost constantly involved in wars against the Latin empire of Constantinople. Nevertheless, west-European soldiers made up a large part of the Nicaean armies. This article examines the impact of these troops on the military ideology and military organization of Nicaea during the reign of the rulers of the Laskarid dynasty.     

拉丁史籍对“1182年君士坦丁堡大屠杀”的历史书写

1182年,拜占庭首都君士坦丁堡城内爆发了一起拜占庭人针对拉丁人的大屠杀行动。通过幸存者、信使、旅行家、路人、十字军等群体的传播,中世纪拉丁作者对这一历史事件进行了详细的记录。他们从不同角度描述了君士坦丁堡大屠杀的全过程和对拉丁人生命、财产和精神所造成的巨大伤害,认为这场大屠杀具有全民参与的特征。拉丁作者从受害者的角度试图对该事件发生的原因作出解释,认为这是拉丁世界和拜占庭帝国矛盾激化的产物,是拜占庭人长期以来仇视情绪的结果。对照拜占庭文献,我们就会发现,拉丁史籍对"1182年君士坦丁堡大屠杀"的记述既有一致性,也存在着明显的偏差。拉丁史籍所塑造出的安德罗尼库斯与穆斯林相勾结、背叛基督教的形象,与历史事实并不相符。这种带有偏见的记载显然是受到了当时社会环境尤其是拉丁世界长期丑化拜占庭帝国心理因素的影响。     

Houses,streets and shops in Byzantine Constantinople from the fifth to the twelfth centuries

This paper presents an analysis and reinterpretation of current evidence for houses, streets and shops in fifth- to twelfth-century Byzantine Constantinople, focussing on archaeological evidence. Previously unidentified townhouses and residential blocks are located. These show greater similarities to Roman-period domestic architecture than might be expected. Changes in the architectural style may be related to social change in the seventh century. Berger’s reconstruction of the early Byzantine street plan is shown to be archaeologically untenable. This has implications for the identification of formal planning and the boundaries of urban districts in the Byzantine capital. The limited archaeological evidence for streets and shops is also discussed.     

Eight Byzantine Shipwrecks from the Theodosian Harbour Excavations at Yenikapı in Istanbul,Turkey: an introduction

Excavations at Yenikap? in Istanbul, Turkey, related to the Marmaray Project, have unearthed remains of Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour, including 37 Byzantine shipwrecks of 5th‐ to 11th‐century date. Eight of these shipwrecks, six round ships and two of the first long ships, or galleys, to be excavated from the Byzantine period, were studied by archaeologists from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. These well‐preserved shipwrecks are an important new source of information on the maritime commerce of Constantinople and the gradual shift from shell‐based to skeleton‐based shipbuilding in the Mediterranean during the second half of the first millennium AD.     

The Yenikapı Byzantine‐Era Shipwrecks,Istanbul, Turkey: a preliminary report and inventory of the 27 wrecks studied by Istanbul University

Salvage excavations conducted in the Yenikap? quarter of the historic peninsula of Istanbul by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums 2004–2013 have brought to light the Theodosian Harbour on the Sea of Marmara. In addition to thousands of archaeological artefacts, a total of 37 shipwrecks dating from the 5th to the 11th centuries AD were uncovered, constituting the biggest collection of medieval ships uncovered at a single excavation site. The present article deals with 27 wrecks in the charge of the team from Istanbul University's Department of Conservation of Marine Archaeological Objects, consisting of 23 merchantmen and four galleys. The wrecks are presented with their general characteristics. The preliminary evidence from the Yenikap? wrecks regarding the development from shell‐based to skeleton‐based philosophy is discussed, and various building phases presented.