John F. Haldon | |
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Born | |
Title | Shelby Cullom Davis '30 Professor of European History, Princeton University |
Academic background | |
Education | |
Thesis | Aspects of Byzantine military administration: the Elite Corps, the Opsikion, and the Imperial Tagmata from the sixth to the ninth century (1975) |
Doctoral advisor | Anthony Bryer |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Byzantine History,Archaeology |
Sub-discipline | |
Institutions |
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Notable works | Byzantium in the Seventh Century:The Transformation of a Culture (1990) |
Website | https://classics.princeton.edu/people/faculty/affiliated/john-haldon |
John Frederick Haldon FBA (born 23 October 1948 in Newcastle upon Tyne [1] ) is a British historian,and Shelby Cullom Davis '30 Professor of European History emeritus,professor of Byzantine history and Hellenic Studies emeritus,as well as former director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University.
Haldon received his bachelor's degree from the University of Birmingham in 1970,with a thesis on "Arms,armour and tactical organisation of the Byzantine army from Maurice to Basil II", [2] and his master's degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. He returned to the University of Birmingham to complete his PhD in 1975 on "Aspects of Byzantine military administration:the Elite Corps,the Opsikion,and the Imperial Tagmata from the sixth to the ninth century" [3] under the supervision of Anthony Bryer. [4] Haldon also studied Modern Greek at the University of Athens. He initially wanted to study Roman-British history and work on post-Roman Britain,but eventually changed his field of study. [5]
After graduating from the University of Birmingham,Haldon held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institut für Byzantinistik of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (1976–1979). [6] From 1980 to 1995,he was junior professor at the University of Birmingham. From 1995 to 2000,he was director of the Centre for Byzantine,Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham. From 2000 to 2005,Haldon served as head of the School of Historical Studies at the University of Birmingham.
In 2005 he joined the faculty of Princeton University,where he was professor of Byzantine history and Hellenic studies and (from 2009) the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of European History until his retirement in 2018. He was concurrently a senior fellow at the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies in Washington,D.C. from 2007 to 2013. At Princeton,Haldon also served as the director of graduate studies for the History Department (2009–2018) and as the founding director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies (2013–2018). [7] He was the overall director of the Avkat Archaeological Project (2006–2012,fieldwork completed by 2010 [8] ) under the aegis of the British Institute at Ankara. [9] From 2013 he has been director of the Princeton Climate Change and History Research Initiative,and since 2018 director of the Environmental History Lab for the Program in Medieval Studies.
He is the author and co-author of nearly 20 books,including six monographs:The Empire That Would Not Die:The Paradox of Eastern Roman Survival,640–740 (2016),Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era c. 680–850:A History (with Leslie Brubaker,2011),Warfare,State and Society in the Byzantine World,565–1204 (1999),The State and the Tributary Mode of Production (1993),Byzantium in the Seventh Century:The Transformation of a Culture (1990) and Byzantine Praetorians:An Administrative,Institutional and Social Survey of the Opsikion and Tagmata,c. 580–900 (1984). [10]
His research focuses on the history of the medieval eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire,in particular in the period from the seventh to the twelfth centuries;on state systems and structures across the European and Islamic worlds from late ancient to early modern times;on the impact of environmental stress on societal resilience in premodern social systems;and on the production,distribution and consumption of resources in the late ancient and medieval world. [11]
Leo III the Isaurian,also known as the Syrian,was the first Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy,a period of great instability in the Byzantine Empire between 695 and 717,marked by the rapid succession of several emperors to the throne,along with ending the continual defeats and territorial losses the Byzantines had suffered during the 7th century. He also successfully defended the Empire against the invading Umayyads and forbade the veneration of icons.
Philippicus was Byzantine emperor from 711 to 713. He took power in a coup against the unpopular emperor Justinian II,and was deposed in a similarly violent manner nineteen months later. During his brief reign,Philippicus supported monothelitism in Byzantine theological disputes,and saw conflict with the First Bulgarian Empire and the Umayyad Caliphate.
Artabasdos or Artavasdos,Latinized as Artabasdus,was a Byzantine general of Armenian descent who seized the throne from June 741 until November 743,in usurpation of the reign of Constantine V.
Leontius was Byzantine emperor from 695 to 698. Little is known of his early life,other than that he was born in Isauria in Asia Minor. He was given the title of patrikios,and made strategos of the Anatolic Theme under Emperor Constantine IV. He led forces against the Umayyads during the early years of Justinian II's reign,securing victory and forcing the Umayyad caliph,Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,to sue for peace.
Tiberius III,born Apsimar,was Byzantine emperor from 698 to 705. Little is known about his early life,other than that he was a droungarios,a mid-level commander,who served in the Cibyrrhaeot Theme. In 696,Tiberius was part of an army sent by Byzantine Emperor Leontius to retake the North African city of Carthage,which had been captured by the Arab Umayyads. After seizing the city,this army was pushed back by Umayyad reinforcements and retreated to the island of Crete. As they feared the wrath of Leontius,some officers killed their commander,John the Patrician,and declared Tiberius the emperor. Tiberius swiftly gathered a fleet and sailed for Constantinople,where he then deposed Leontius. Tiberius did not attempt to retake Byzantine Africa from the Umayyads,but campaigned against them along the eastern border with some success. In 705,former emperor Justinian II,who had been deposed by Leontius,led an army of Slavs and Bulgars from the First Bulgarian Empire to Constantinople,and after entering the city secretly,deposed Tiberius. Tiberius fled to Bithynia,but was captured a few months later and beheaded by Justinian between August 705 and February 706. His body was initially thrown into the sea,but was later recovered and buried in a church on the island of Prote.
Constantine V was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader,Constantine took advantage of civil war in the Muslim world to make limited offensives on the Arab frontier. With this eastern frontier secure,he undertook repeated campaigns against the Bulgars in the Balkans. His military activity,and policy of settling Christian populations from the Arab frontier in Thrace,made Byzantium's hold on its Balkan territories more secure. He was also responsible for important military and administrative innovations and reforms.
The tagma is a military unit of battalion or regiment size,especially the elite regiments formed by Byzantine emperor Constantine V and comprising the central army of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th–11th centuries.
Antony I Kassymatas Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from January 821 to January 837.
Euchaita (Εὐχάϊτα) was a Byzantine city and diocese in Helenopontus,the Armeniac Theme,and an important stop on the Ancyra-Amasea Roman road.
The Excubitors were founded in c. 460 as an imperial guard-unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force,originally recruited from among the warlike mountain tribe of the Isaurians,replaced the older Scholae Palatinae as the main imperial bodyguards. The Excubitors remained an active military unit for the next two centuries,although,as imperial bodyguards,they did not often go on campaign. Their commander,the Count of the Excubitors,soon acquired great influence. Justin I was able to use this position to rise to the throne in 518,and thereafter the Counts of the Excubitors were among the main political power-holders of their day;two more,Tiberius II Constantine and Maurice,rose to become emperors in the late 6th century.
The quaestura exercitus was an administrative district of the Eastern Roman Empire with a seat in Odessus established by Emperor Justinian I on May 18,536.
The Hikanatoi,sometimes Latinized as Hicanati,were one of the Byzantine tagmata,the elite guard units based near the imperial capital of Constantinople. Founded in the early 9th century,it survived until the late 11th century.
The Vigla,also known as the Arithmos and in English as the Watch,was one of the elite tagmata of the Byzantine army. It was established in the latter half of the 8th century,and survived until the late 11th century. Along with the Noumeroi regiment,the Vigla formed the guard of the imperial palace in Constantinople,and was responsible for the Byzantine emperor's safety on expeditions.
The Opsician Theme or simply Opsikion was a Byzantine theme located in northwestern Asia Minor. Created from the imperial retinue army,the Opsikion was the largest and most prestigious of the early themes,being located closest to Constantinople. Involved in several revolts in the 8th century,it was split in three after ca. 750,and lost its former pre-eminence. It survived as a middle-tier theme until after the Fourth Crusade.
Tiberius Petasius was a Byzantine usurper in Italy c.730/731.
Loulon,in Arabic known as Lu'lu'a,was a fortress near the modern village of Hasangazi in Turkey.
Leslie Brubaker is an expert in Byzantine illustrated manuscripts. She was appointed Professor of Byzantine Art at the University of Birmingham in 2005,and is now Professor Emerita. Her research interests includes female patronage,icons and the cult of the Virgin Mary. She was formerly the head of Postgraduate Studies in the College of Arts and Law,University of Birmingham. Professor Brubaker is the Chair of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. Her work is widely stocked in libraries around the world.
Nikephoros was junior Byzantine Emperor from 741 to 743. He was crowned after his father,Artabasdos usurped Emperor Constantine V. Constantine seized power again on 2 November 743,and Nikephoros,Artabasdos,and Niketas were blinded and confined in the Chora Church.
Gothograecia was a region in northwestern Asia Minor on the south side of the Sea of Marmara from at least the late 7th century until the mid-10th. It was part of the region of Opsikion in the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Its inhabitants,the Greek-speaking descendants of a group of Goths,were known as Gothograeci.
The term Byzantine Dark Ages is a historiographical term for the period in the history of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire,during the 7th and 8th centuries,which marks the transition between the late antique early Byzantine period and the "medieval" middle Byzantine era. The "Dark Ages" are characterized by widespread upheavals and transformation of the Byzantine state and society,resulting in a paucity of historical sources.