Women and the Byzantine Empire:7th to 15th century

Pre-requisites: Enrollment in fourth year history studies, or in the appropriate year at other programs for this course - in both cases, with approval of the lecturer.

Course objectives: The objective of this course is to understand the socio-political status and role of women in a state and society that are considered to be dominated by men. Various life and social situations will be presented that portray the unsustainability of cliche and stereotype when attempting to understand byzantine women.

Course description: In Byzantine history, women mostly occupied traditional roles and positions that were characteristic of the times. Their roles, and most of their life paths, have remained deeply concealed beneath the surface of historical events that have attracted the most attention and been historically preserved. Our grasping the concept of women and their role in byzantine history will be through examining second-hand facts from historical sources and through specific sources/instances in which a woman's position was higher than usual. Attention will be given to the political role of certain prominent byzantine women, both in their effect on men's attitudes towards women and status and attempts at reconstructing their reality in different spheres of life for byzantine women.

Learning Outcomes: An understanding of reality in a complex society, ways of women's living in male dominated settings, and "gender sensitivity" of byzantine people.

Literature/Reading:

• V. Stanković, Komnini u Carigradu (1057-1185). Evolucija jedne vladarske porodice, Beograd 2006.
• A. Laiou, The Role of Women in Byzantine Society, JOeB 31/1 (233-259)
• M. Alexiou, Ploys of Performance: Games and Play in the Ptochoprodromic Poems, DOP 53 (1999) 91-109.