Marriage in Byzantium
Marriage in Byzantium
Looking for an examination copy?
If you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an examination copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
$135.00
USDAcross cultures, weddings have historically represented some of the most important and extravagant celebrations. This is the first comprehensive study of marriage rituals in the Eastern Mediterranean world of Byzantine Christianity. Using a large corpus of unedited liturgical manuscripts as well as other evidence from jewelry and law to visual representations and theological treatises, Gabriel Radle reconstructs the ceremonies used by the Byzantines to formalize the marriage process, from betrothal to rites of consummation. He showcases the meanings behind rituals of kinship formation and sexual relations and explores how the practice of Byzantine Christianity crossed fluid borders between the church and the domestic sphere. The book situates the development of Byzantine Christian marriage traditions alongside those of other religious communities and, in placing liturgical manuscripts at the heart of this study, paves new methodological paths for the use of ritual sources in the writing of Byzantine history.
- The first comprehensive treatment of the early manuscript sources for Byzantine marriage rites
- Adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the history of marriage rituals which studies objects and images alongside the ritual texts
- Sets the methods of liturgical studies within a broader context of social and cultural history
Reviews & endorsements
‘‘Marriage in Byzantium’ is a study of the highest quality, and it should remain required reading for anyone interested in Byzantine or medieval marriage, family, liturgical studies and many others for years to come.’ Nathan Leidholm, Journal of Medieval History
Product details
March 2025Adobe eBook Reader
9781009469517
0 pages
35 colour illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Part I. The Christianization of Ancient Marriage Ritual:
- 1. Pre-Christian Marriage Ritual in the Mediterranean World
- 2. Early Christian Weddings in the Eastern Mediterranean
- Part II. Byzantine Marriage Rituals Before and Beyond the Liturgical Books:
- 3. Marriage Ritual in Law and Literature
- 4. Marriage in Visual and Material Evidence
- Part III. Marriage Rites in Byzantine Liturgical Manuscripts:
- 5. The Byzantine Euchologion: Sources and Methods
- 6. Rites of Betrothal
- 7. Rites of Marriage
- 8. Rites of the Bridal Chamber
- Conclusion: Byzantine Marriage Beyond Byzantium
- Appendix I. Chronological List of Manuscripts Consulted
- Appendix II. Sample of Marriage Rites in the Manuscript Sources.
