Roxanne M. Renteria

LIS 612

Byzantine Libraries

Jaharis Lectionary, ca. 1100, Byzantine (Constantinople), Tempera, ink, and gold leaf on parchment, leather binding 14 1/2 x 11 5/8 x 4 7/8 in. (36.8 x 29.6 x 12.4 cm), Purchase, Mary and Michael Jaharis Gift and Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2007 (2007.286).

Overview 324-1204 AD, 1261-1453 AD

330 AD East meets West

Constantine I –Christianity—Edict of Milan

Capital = Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)

Greek = Lingua Franca

Latin = imperial edicts

Great intellectualism

Art & Architecture

Examples of Byzantine art.

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Map of the modern world.

Early Byzantium Period (324-867)

Notable Emperors

Constantine I the Great (r.306-37)

Theodosius (Theodosius) I (379-95)

Justinian I the Great (527-65)

Middle Byzantium Period (867-1204)

Late Byzantium Period (1259-1453)

Portrait head of Emperor Constantine I, ca. 324–337; Constantinian; Late Antique period, Roman, Marble, H. 37 1/2 in. (95.2 cm), Bequest of Mary Clark Thompson, 1923 (26.229). Solidus of Constantius II (Sole Emperor, 350–361), 350–361, Byzantine, Gold Diam. 13/16 in. (2.1 cm),Gift of Darius Ogden Mills, 1904 (04.35.18). Close up of Emperor Justinian I, 527-565; Early Byzantine Period, Mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.

Religious & secular (pagan & heretical)

Greco-Roman

Manuscripts Codices

Egyptian papyrus used until 7th century (Arab conquest of Egypt)

Large scale use of parchment 4th century (expensive)

Paper—11th century—Arabs (affordable)

Codex Sinaticus

Copied and/or translated

Legacy 75% of known Greek works = Byzantium copies

Today Italy

Gospel book cover with Christ & medallions of saints. c. 1415, Gold; Precious stones; Pearls, Chased; Filigree, Byzantine (Russian), Moscow, Russia. Moscow. State Armory Museum. ©Kathleen Cohen, rusa6905.

Book Cover with Byzantine Icon of the Crucifixion, Icon carved about 1000, in Constantinople; setting made before 1085 Spanish; From the Convent of Santa Cruz de la Serós, Jaca. Gilded silver on a wood backing, inset with ivory icon, sapphire, glass, and crystal 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (26 x 19.1 cm) Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.134).

Gospel book cover with Christ & medallions of saints. c. 1415, Gold; Precious stones; Pearls, Chased; Filigree, Byzantine (Russian), Moscow, Russia. Moscow. State Armory Museum. ©Kathleen Cohen, rusa6905.

Codex Sinaiticus “the Sinai Book”

4th century manuscript

Oldest complete copy of the Christian New Testament

Uncial Greek script

Parchment

Codex Sinaiticus Project (http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/) Partners

The British Library (347 leaves)

National Library of Russia (6 leaves)

St. Catherine’s Monastery

Leipzig University Library (43 leaves) Known as 'Codex Frederico-Augustanus'

Detail: Codex Sinaiticus.

Imperial (largest libraries were imperial, state sponsored/university or academic)

Monastic

Barriers to Large-Scale Private Libraries Cost of production

Monks—asceticism

Discrepancy & Conjecture

Founded by Constantine…

330-336 or 337

Contained works in Greek & Latin; religious & secular

120,000 volumes (more codices than scrolls)

Fire 475-477

Rebuilt under Zeno (474-491)

Less accessible to the public

Monasticism: Syria Constantinople (382 AD)

Standardization (pattern/management)unknown until 10th century

Political support 5th & 6th centuries

St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai (6th C)

Oldest Christian Monastery still in use for original function

19th century Codex Sinaiticus

May 1975’s discovery (12 more leaves Codex Sinaiticus)

The Monastery of Studious

Theodore the Studite (Abbot)

Late 8th – 9th century

Photograph of St. Catherine’s Monastery.

Detail: Gospel of St. Mark, manuscript, Byzantine, 6th century (Justinian I), discovered in St. Catherine’s Monastery, 1975.

"It should be known that on days when we perform no physical labor the librarian strikes a gong once, the brothers gather at the place where the books are kept, and each takes one, reading it until late. Before the bell is rung for evening service the librarian strikes again, and all come to return their books according to the list. If anyone is late with his book, he is subject to a penalty.“—Abbot Studite

“Codex Sinaiticus Project.” http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/significance.aspx (accessed February 6, 2011).

Charlesworth, James H. “The Manuscripts of St. Catherin’s Monastery.” The Biblical Archaeologist 43, 1 (Winter

1980): 26-34 . http://www.jstor.org/stable/3209750 (accessed February 6, 2011).

Charanis, Peter. “The Monk as an Element of Byzantine Society.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 25 (1971): 61-84

Collins, A. J. “The Codex Sinaiticus.” The British Museum Quarterly 8, 3 (February 1934): 89-92.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4421586 (accessed February 5, 2011).

Department of Art History and Archaeology. “Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture.” Columbia University.

http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/html/byzantine.html#home (accessed February 6, 2011).

Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. "List of Rulers of Byzantium". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New

York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/byru/hd_byru.htm (accessed

February 5, 2011).

Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. "Byzantium". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New

York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/byza/hd_byza.htm

(accessed February 5, 2011).

Harris, Michael. “Chapter 6: Byzantine and Moslem Libraries.” In History of Libraries in the Western World, by

Michael Harris, 3-16. Landham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1999.

Lerner, Fred. The Story of Libraries.: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age. 2nd ed. New York,

Continuum, 2009.

Merland, Donald. “Memory Palaces: The Revolutionary Function of Libraries.” Queen’s Quarterly 108, 4 (Winter

2001): 559-572.

Milliken, William M. “Byzantine Manuscript Illumination.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, 3

(March 1947): 50-53, 55-56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25141353 (accessed February 5, 2011).

Murray, Stuart A. P., and Nicholas A. Basbanes. “The Library: An Illustrated History. New

York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2009.

Skeat, T. C. “The Last Chapter in the History of the Codex Sinaiticus.” Novum Testamentum 42, 4 (October 2000): 313-

315. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1561394 (accessed February 6, 2011).

Staikos, Konstantinos Sp. The Great Libraries: From Antiquity to the Renaissance (3000 B.C. to A.D. 1600).

New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2000.

Tanner, Thomas M. “A History of Early Christian Libraries from Jesus to Jerome.” The Journal of Library History 14, 4

(Fall 1979), 407-435. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25541013 (accessed February 5, 2011).

Wedgeworth, Robert. “World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences.

American Library Association , 1993.

Wehmeyer, Jeffrey M. “The Chartophylax: Archivist and Librarian to the Patriarch in Constantinople.” Libraries &

Culture, 32, 1 (Winter, 1997): 107-112. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25548491 (accessed February 5, 2011) .

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