Monograph by Kostis Smyrlis
La fortune des grands monastères byzantins, fin du Xe-milieu du XIVe siècle (Paris: Centre de Recherche d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance-Collège de France, Monographies 21, 2006)
Edited volumes by Kostis Smyrlis
Lire les Archives de l’Athos. Actes du colloque réuni à Athènes du 18 au 20 novembre 2015 à l’occasion des 70 ans de la collection refondée par Paul Lemerle, ed. O. Delouis and K. Smyrlis, Travaux et Mémoires 23/2 (Paris: Association des Amis du Centre d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, 2019)
This volume brings together studies presented at the conference "Lire les Archives de l’Athos", h... more This volume brings together studies presented at the conference "Lire les Archives de l’Athos", held in Athens from 18 to 20 November 2015, as well as additional contributions and document editions. This conference was organized to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Archives de l’Athos series, relaunched by Paul Lemerle in 1945, whose object is the publication of the Greek documents kept in the monasteries of Mount Athos in Greece and dating from before 1500. 23 volumes of this series have already been published including the documents of 14 monasteries, the last publication being that of the Actes de Vatopédi III in 2019. The aim of the book is not to make a full assessment of the contribution of the Athonite documentation to the historiography of Byzantium. Nevertheless, the contributions brought together demonstrate the capital importance of this material for the study of various fields of research, ranging from the study of archives to those of the society and culture. Other chapters and text editions pay tribute to scholars of various nationalities who, since the 19th century, have made a remarkable contribution to the advancement of our knowledge of the Athonite documentary corpus. A final part of the volume is dedicated to the documents written in languages other than Greek, which remain insufficiently known or used by the international community of Byzantinists.
Actes de Vatopédi III, de 1377 à 1500, Archives de l’Athos 23, ed. J. Lefort, V. Kravari, Ch. Giros, K. Smyrlis and R. Estangüi Gómez (Paris: Peeters, 2019)
The third and final volume of the Actes de Vatopédi, including the documents dating from 1377 to ... more The third and final volume of the Actes de Vatopédi, including the documents dating from 1377 to 1500, is the lengthiest and one of the most significant of the Archives de l’Athos series. The documentary material of Vatopedi for this period is exceptionally rich and sheds light on a number of often little-known topics, such as the confiscation of monastic estates by the Byzantines after 1371, the conditions in Macedonia after Constantinople recovered the province in 1403, and the status of the Athonite monasteries and their properties after the first and second Ottoman conquest of Macedonia, in the 1380s and 1420s, respectively. The volume begins with an introduction on the monastery’s history and real estate in the period in question. This is followed by the description, summary, commentary and edition of 99 mostly unpublished Greek documents, as well as of two Latin documents. The volume also provides summaries of 8 Slavic and 38 Ottoman documents and a note on the monastery’s properties as known from the late 15th- and early 16th-c. Ottoman tax registers. The volume ends with a detailed general index. A separate album of 100 plates includes reproductions of the edited documents and of two seals.
Actes de Vatopédi II, de 1330 à 1376, Archives de l’Athos 22, ed. J. Lefort, V. Kravari, Ch. Giros and K. Smyrlis (Paris: Lethielleux, 2006)
Papers by Kostis Smyrlis
Revue des Etudes Byzantines 80 (2022), 69–111, 2022
This paper proposes a new examination of Theodore Metochites and his foundation, the monastery of... more This paper proposes a new examination of Theodore Metochites and his foundation, the monastery of the Chora, based on known material as well as on unexploited sources, namely a letter collection that is here attributed to him and certain monastic documents. One of these documents allows us to redate the completion of the Chora and Metochites’s promotion to megas logothetes to before 1317, events until now dated to 1321 on the basis of Nikephoros Gregoras’s History. The paper studies Metochites as an official and a magnate, arguing that he was a loyal and overall efficient administrator and stressing the role of entrepreneurship in his enrichment. Monastic refoundations, including the Chora, were a key element of the imperial project to revive Constantinople. It is suggested that this task was delegated by the emperor to his high dignitaries who had to act as civic benefactors. Although Metochites was obliged to participate in this project because of his rank, the Chora was also his opportunity to reach the top of the hierarchy.
Identities and Ideologies in the Medieval East Roman World, ed. Y. Stouraitis (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Byzantine Studies: 2022), 62–99, 2022
Based on evidence coming from literary, legal, and documentary sources, the paper analyses the ma... more Based on evidence coming from literary, legal, and documentary sources, the paper analyses the main notions regarding taxation and confiscation and the administration of public resources in Byzantium.
Monasteries, Society, Economy, and the State in the Byzantine Empire, in The Oxford Handbook of Christian Monasticism, ed. B. M. Kaczynski (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 155–67
The chapter provides an overview of the social, political and economic functions of Byzantine mon... more The chapter provides an overview of the social, political and economic functions of Byzantine monasteries from the ninth to the fifteenth century. It discusses the relations that existed between monasteries and the state, the church and lay society. The monks received donations and protection in exchange for various spiritual and material services. The study also focuses on the great landowning monasteries that engaged in large scale agrarian production and trade and played a substantial role in local or regional economies. The chapter finally discusses the fate and significance of monasteries in the long period of crisis that began in the middle of the fourteenth century and ended with the substitution of the Byzantine by the Ottoman Empire.
Social Change in the Countryside of Eleventh-Century Byzantium, in Social Change in Town and Country in Eleventh-Century Byzantium, ed. J. Howard-Johnston (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 62–75
The paper examines Byzantine rural society during the transitional eleventh century underlining t... more The paper examines Byzantine rural society during the transitional eleventh century underlining the role the state played in the evolution of social and economic relations. It is argued that the appropriation by the state of a large part of the fertile land, dictated by financial considerations, greatly restricted the space of expansion of the provincial elite while benefitting certain individuals serving the regime. This nuances the notion that the eleventh and twelfth centuries saw the consolidation of the power of the landowning aristocracy. By the end of the eleventh century, a large portion of the peasantry had become dependent on private landowners. Nevertheless, despite the social and economic restrictions their subjection implied, dependent peasants retained a relatively elevated legal status thanks to a fiscal apparatus and legal framework that limited the freedom of great landlords.
Lire les Archives de l’Athos. Actes du colloque réuni à Athènes du 18 au 20 novembre 2015 à l’occasion des 70 ans de la collection refondée par Paul Lemerle, ed. O. Delouis and K. Smyrlis, Travaux et Mémoires 23/2 (Paris, 2019), 389-404
This paper investigates the sources of wealth of the Byzantine elite which were in some way tied ... more This paper investigates the sources of wealth of the Byzantine elite which were in some way tied to the emperor or the state in the twelfth century. It distinguishes two types of sources, the “direct concessions” and the “unofficial or contractual gains”. The former mostly concern the grants of lands and taxes in favor of high-ranking individuals or officials whereas the latter comprise the benefits made thanks to a person’s proximity to the emperor, the occupation of an office, and tax farming. The “unofficial or contractual gains” are insufficiently studied and are often underestimated in scholarship in spite of the fact that, in many cases, they must have been greater than the revenues coming from imperial concessions. The paper underlines the significance of payments individuals made to the treasury and officials in order to secure a position in the administration or a tax farming contract. It concludes that much of the elite’s energy and cash was devoted to these efforts instead of being invested in the private economy.
Priesthood and Empire. Ecclesiastical Wealth and Privilege under the Early Palaiologoi, in The Patriarchate of Constantinople in Context and Comparison, ed. C. Gastgeber, E. Mitsiou, J. Preiser-Kapeller, V. Zervan (Vienna, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften: 2017), 95–103
This paper focuses on the material aspects of the relations between the state and the church in t... more This paper focuses on the material aspects of the relations between the state and the church in the early Palaiologan period. It assesses the wealth of the patriarchate of Constantinople and of certain provincial bishoprics, and considers the way the state treated these institutions as far as their property and taxation are concerned. The article shows that the Palaiologan church was not very wealthy nor, with the exception of the patriarchate, particularly privileged. Indeed, imperial generosity towards the clergy was generally limited. At the same time, nevertheless, the wealth and status of both bishoprics and prelates often depended on the emperors, something which allowed the latter to manipulate the bishops and promote their political agenda
The Fiscal Revolution of Alexios I Komnenos: Timing, Scope and Motives, in Autour du Premier humanisme byzantin et des Cinq études sur le XIe siècle, quarante ans après Paul Lemerle, ed. B. Flusin, J.-C. Cheynet, Travaux et Mémoires 21/2 (Paris, 2017), 593-610
The paper examines the turn towards the use of land and tax grants to remunerate imperial officia... more The paper examines the turn towards the use of land and tax grants to remunerate imperial officials instead of salaries under Alexios I. To determine the timing, scope and motives of this reform, the article studies two measures of that emperor, namely the confiscations that took place after the census of 1088/89 and the concession of estates and fiscal rights to imperial relatives. It is argued that the confiscations were extensive, affecting most great ecclesiastical and lay landowners, and that the lands seized were usually ceded to imperial relatives and state servants. The analysis of the concessions to imperial relatives underlines their scale suggesting that they were as much payment for military and civil services as they were a way to secure the political support of the beneficiaries. It is finally suggested that, rather than being the result of pressure by the powerful, the concession of lands and taxes to imperial relatives and state servants was dictated by considerations of financial efficiency.
Wooing the Petty Elite: Privilege and Imperial Authority in Byzantium, Thirteenth-mid Fourteenth Century, in Le saint, le moine et le paysan. Mélanges d’histoire byzantine offerts à Michel Kaplan, ed. O. Delouis, S. Métivier, P. Pagès (Paris: Byzantina Sorbonensia 29, 2016), 657‒681
The paper studies the donations and privileges early Palaiologan emperors conceded to middle-clas... more The paper studies the donations and privileges early Palaiologan emperors conceded to middle-class individuals or groups. In spite of their frequency, these concessions had until now remained essentially unobserved as attention was usually directed to donations and privileges in favor of powerful ecclesiastical institutions and aristocrats. The paper first examines the collective grants awarded to various towns of the empire. It suggests that the practice must have been widespread covering a large portion of the towns and underlines the fact that the grants concerned all inhabitants independently of their social position. The main part of the article is devoted to cases of imperial grants awarded to individuals who, although well-off, were relatively insignificant in terms of social rank and power. The frequency of concessions done by imperial chrysobull seems to have led to the emergence of a new social group, that of the chrysoboullatoi, who were below the archontes or the aristocracy. The study argues that these concessions cannot be seen as the result of pressure upon the ruler. They were rather a tool the emperors used to associate directly to their regime a wide segment of society in order to consolidate their control of provincial towns.
Estate Fortifications in Late Byzantine Macedonia: the Athonite Evidence, in Hinter den Mauern und auf dem offenen Land. Leben im Byzantinischen Reich, Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Mainz, Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident 3, ed. F. Daim and J. Drauschke (Mainz, 2016), 189‒205
Using the evidence coming from the archives of Mount Athos, this chapter studies the fortificatio... more Using the evidence coming from the archives of Mount Athos, this chapter studies the fortifications, in particular towers, which were built in private estates. Focusing on late Byzantine southeastern Macedonia, it discusses the function of these fortifications and their significance for settlement and economy. It is suggested that most attested fortifications belonged to the administrative centers of estates. Built by lay or monastic landowners, they provided protection from raiders to the estate’s personnel and assets as well as to the peasants settled there. A dense network of estate fortifications was apparently in place by the thirteenth century; construction intensified in the fourteenth century in response to increased insecurity. These fortifications contributed in maintaining the exploitation of some of the region’s most productive estates.
Trade Regulation and Taxation in Byzantium, Eleventh-Twelfth Centuries, in Papers from the Third International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium: Trade in Byzantium, ed. N. Necipoğlu, P. Magdalino, with the assistance of I. Jevtić (Istanbul: Koç University’s RCAC, 2016), 65-87
Sybaris on the Bosphorοs: Luxury, Corruption and the Byzantine State under the Angeloi (1185-1203), in Byzantium, 1180-1204: “The Sad Quarter Of A Century”?, ed. A. Simpson (Athens: National Hellenic Research Foundation, 2015), 159-178
Mount Athos and the Economy of Chalkidike, Tenth to Fifteenth century, in Η εξακτίνωση του Αγίου Όρους στον ορθόδοξο κόσμο: τα μετόχια – Mount Athos: Spreading the Light to the Orthodox World. The Metochia (Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 2015), 35-59
The paper explores the role the Athonites and their estates played in the evolution of the econom... more The paper explores the role the Athonites and their estates played in the evolution of the economy and settlement in Chalkidike from the foundation of the great monasteries of Lavra and Iviron in the late tenth century to the Ottoman conquest of the peninsula around 1423. We first consider the factors that determined the wealth of the Athonites as well as their behavior as great landowners. In the second part, we study the evolution of Athonite landholding in the Chalkidike during the period in question. This part is based on a table provided as Appendix, which registers all available data on the properties the monasteries held in Chalkidike. Six maps, based on this table, indicate what is known regarding the Athonite landownership in the peninsula at given moments. In the third and final part we attempt an assessment of the role of the monasteries for the economy and settlement in Chalkidike.
Settlement and Environment in Halkidiki, Ninth to Fifteenth Century AD, in Mines, Olives and Monasteries. Aspects of Halkidiki’s Enviromental History, ed. B. Gounaris (Thessaloniki: Epikentro and Pharos, 2015), 109-121
A number of often interrelated factors determined the evolution of the settlement and the environ... more A number of often interrelated factors determined the evolution of the settlement and the environment of medieval Halkidiki. Apart from the soil and the climate, the fact that Halkidiki is a peninsula surrounded by sea played a substantial role. Political developments were also crucial in determining, in particular, the levels of security and the existence or not of state intervention. The demographic and economic developments and the changes in social relations had a fundamental impact. A final factor that set Halkidiki apart from most areas of the Byzantine Empire was its proximity to Thessaloniki and to the monastic centre of Mount Athos.
Financial Crisis and the Limits of Taxation under Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1321), in Power and Subversion in Byzantium, ed. D. Angelov and M. Saxby (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013), 71-82
a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a... more a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m a s h g a t e . c o m © Copyrighted Material © Copyrighted Material 71 From Power and Subversion in Byzantium, ed. Dimiter Angelov and Michael Saxby.
Mount Athos in the Fifteenth Century: Crisis and the Beginning of Recovery, in Tο Άγιον Όρος στον 15ο και 16ο αιώνα. Πρακτικά ΣΤ' Διεθνούς Επιστημονικού Συνεδρίου Αγιορειτικής Εστίας (Thessalonike: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 2012), 33-55
This chapter offers an overview of Byzantine economy from the early thirteenth to the middle of t... more This chapter offers an overview of Byzantine economy from the early thirteenth to the middle of the fifteenth century, discussing documentation, demography and urbanization, agricultural and artisanal production, and commerce. Special emphasis is paid on the demographic and economic crisis that erupted around the middle of the fourteenth century, exploring its causes, extent and duration. Although the peasantry was already experiencing difficulties, it was primarily the plague of 1347 and its recurrences that provoked the crisis. The extreme political instability and constant warfare of the period intensified the pandemic’s effects and prolonged the crisis well into the fifteenth century.
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Monograph by Kostis Smyrlis
Edited volumes by Kostis Smyrlis
Papers by Kostis Smyrlis