Papers by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
Is Byzantine Studies a Colonialist Discipline?, 2023
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Speculum, 2022
This article undertakes a fresh examination of John Eugenikos (c. 1400-55), a leading intellectua... more This article undertakes a fresh examination of John Eugenikos (c. 1400-55), a leading intellectual, theologian, and polemicist in fifteenth-century Byzantium. Long known as a strident opponent of the union of the Orthodox and Latin churches and the emperors who supported it, Eugenikos emerges here as a more complex figure: an ambitious bureaucrat who blended pragmatism and idealism in politics and authorship as he pursued his interests across the Byzantine world, from the Morea to Constantinople and even Trebizond. His swift ascent from provincial notary to imperial panegyrist, his later career as an anti-union agitator, and his innovative exploitation of both highly visible and covert forms of literary borrowing, illustrate the enduring tensions between his opportunist and uncompromising instincts. Eugenikos's idiosyncratic pursuit of influence in the fragmented political landscape of the fifteenth century-using expedient praise, literary experiment, and moral posturing-make him one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures of the empire's final decades. A full critical edition and English translation of Eugenikos's panegyric book epigram to John VIII are presented in the appendix.
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The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe, 2021
A gulf of centuries separates the Byzantine Empire from the academic field of Byzantine studies. ... more A gulf of centuries separates the Byzantine Empire from the academic field of Byzantine studies. This book offers a new approach to the history of Byzantine scholarship, focusing on the attraction that Byzantium held for Early Modern Europeans and challenging the stereotype that they dismissed the Byzantine Empire as an object of contempt.
The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day.
Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.
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The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe, 2021
A gulf of centuries separates the Byzantine Empire from the academic field of Byzantine studies. ... more A gulf of centuries separates the Byzantine Empire from the academic field of Byzantine studies. This book offers a new approach to the history of Byzantine scholarship, focusing on the attraction that Byzantium held for Early Modern Europeans and challenging the stereotype that they dismissed the Byzantine Empire as an object of contempt.
The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day.
Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.
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Speculum, 2022
This article undertakes a fresh examination of John Eugenikos (c. 1400–55), a leading intellectua... more This article undertakes a fresh examination of John Eugenikos (c. 1400–55), a leading intellectual, theologian, and polemicist in fifteenth-century Byzantium. Long known as a strident opponent of the union of the Orthodox and Latin churches and the emperors who supported it, Eugenikos emerges here as a more complex figure: an ambitious bureaucrat who blended pragmatism and idealism in politics and authorship as he pursued his interests across the Byzantine world, from the Morea to Constantinople and even Trebizond. His swift ascent from provincial notary to imperial panegyrist, his later career as an anti-union agitator, and his innovative exploitation of both highly visible and covert forms of literary borrowing, illustrate the enduring tensions between his opportunist and uncompromising instincts. Eugenikos’s idiosyncratic pursuit of influence in the fragmented political landscape of the fifteenth century—using expedient praise, literary experiment, and moral posturing—make him one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures of the empire’s final decades. A full critical edition and English translation of Eugenikos’s panegyric book epigram to John VIII are presented in the appendix.
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This article examines how the first two editors of Pseudo-Kodinos, a Calvinist theologian and a J... more This article examines how the first two editors of Pseudo-Kodinos, a Calvinist theologian and a Jesuit church historian, read his ceremonial treatise in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. It argues that these rival scholars debated the history, politics, and religion of early modern Europe through this Byzantine ceremonial manual. Above all, this study shows that Byzantine scholarship in early modern Europe was an intensely contemporary and political project. The article also argues that the history of Byzantine scholarship in early modern Europe has not received sufficient attention. Only through detailed studies of the intellectual and cultural contexts of similar scholars and their works can we begin to chart important developments in this field.
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Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 2018
This article examines how the first two editors of Pseudo-Kodinos, a Calvinist theologian and a J... more This article examines how the first two editors of Pseudo-Kodinos, a Calvinist theologian and a Jesuit church historian, read his ceremonial treatise in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. It argues that these rival scholars debated the history, politics, and religion of early modern Europe through this Byzantine ceremonial manual. Above all, this study shows that Byzantine scholarship in early modern Europe was an intensely contemporary and political project. The article also argues that the history of Byzantine scholarship in early modern Europe has not received sufficient attention. Only through detailed studies of the intellectual and cultural contexts of similar scholars and their works can we begin to chart important developments in this field.
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Conference Presentations by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
A two-day international conference on the development of Byzantine scholarship in early modern Eu... more A two-day international conference on the development of Byzantine scholarship in early modern Europe. The conference will feature a keynote address by Professor Anthony Grafton (Princeton University) and a range of papers on the art historical, historiographical, ethnographic and textual engagement of early modern scholars with the Byzantine past. Free registration and program available at https://inventionofbyzantium.com/
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Conferences by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
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Conferences - Lecture Series by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
Workshop held at the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani, Venice. Funded by the Fritz-Thyssen Found... more Workshop held at the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani, Venice. Funded by the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation
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Talks by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
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Papers by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day.
Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.
The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day.
Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.
Conference Presentations by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
Conferences by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
Conferences - Lecture Series by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
Talks by Nathanael Aschenbrenner
Oxford University: Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar
The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day.
Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.
The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day.
Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.
Oxford University: Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar