Publication Date

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Committee Members

Jeannette Marchand, Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Paul Lockhart, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Valerie Stoker, Ph.D. (Committee Member)

Degree Name

Master of Humanities (MHum)

Abstract

The following thesis presents new perspectives on the representation of Byzantine generals during the eleventh century, focusing specifically on parallel representations of Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder. I will argue that Byzantine chroniclers routinely employed the language of Byzantine military manuals as a template to describe the generals who populate the pages of their works. This tendency created a shared language of praise and censure which chroniclers applied to the generals whose reputation they sought either to exalt or to tarnish. The career of Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder as it is presented in the History of Michael Attaleiates and the Materials for a History of Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger vividly demonstrates this tendency as Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger attempts to salvage the reputation of his grandfather.

Page Count

111

Department or Program

Humanities

Year Degree Awarded

2019

ORCID ID

0000-0002-9148-9635


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