Social Stratification in Late Byzantium - (Edinburgh Byzantine Studies) by Christos Malatras (Paperback)

About the Book

Introduces the basic patterns, ideas and gestures that governed the system of social relations and the construction of social profiles and roles of Byzantine society.

Book Synopsis

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the social structure of Late Byzantine society (mid 13th - mid 15th c.), including the norms and ideas that governed social relations, and the Byzantine perceptions of their society. It includes an analysis of all social groups, the social networks and the patron-client relations proliferating in this period, and the distribution of social and political power between the different social groups and the state. The deficiencies inherent in Byzantine society are recognised as one of the main factors behind the fragmentation and the collapse of the Byzantine empire.

Review Quotes

This study of late Byzantine social structure is notable for the way the author has abandoned any preconceptions about the character of Byzantine society. These mostly derived from either comparing Byzantium or assimilating it to other societies: the Medieval West in particular. Instead, the author confronts Byzantium on its own terms, thus allowing it to emerge in all its bewildering complexity. If it does not fit any obvious patterns so much the better. Christos Malatras is to be congratulated on a very considerable achievement, which is founded on the mastery of an impressive range of sources.--Michael Angold, University of Edinburgh