De cerimoniis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Constantine VII , ivory carving

De cerimoniis (fully: De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae ) is the Latin title of a book written in Byzantine Greek about the courtly ceremonies of the Byzantine emperors Constantinople . Its Greek title is often given with Ἔκθεσις τῆς βασιλείου τάξεως (German explanation of the palace order ), which comes from the foreword Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως ( About the palace order ).

History and sources

The book was probably written or at least commissioned around 956 to 959 by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus . The first version was later revised and completed under Nicephorus II, perhaps under the supervision of Constantine's confidante Basileios Lakapenos , the imperial Parakoimomenos . It also includes earlier descriptions from the 6th century.

One of the appendices to the book is Three Treatises on Imperial Military Campaigns , a war manual written by Constantine VII for his son and successor Romanos II.

Lore

The text of the work is only preserved in a single manuscript, the manuscript Rep. I 17 in the Leipzig University Library .

Structure and content

Map of the area of ​​the Great Palace in Constantinople according to literary sources, preserved structures in black

In the incomplete version, which appeared during Constantine's lifetime, chapters 1 to 37 of the first book describe in detail processions and ceremonies of religious festivals (less important, but also solemn festivals ) such as the erection of the cross, Christmas, the apparition of the Lord , Palm Sunday , Good Friday , Easter , Christ's resurrection and name days of important saints such as Demetrios of Thessaloniki and Basil the Great . Chapters 38 to 83 described secular ceremonies such as coronations (chapters 38-40), weddings (39, 41), births (42), burials (60) or the celebrations after war triumphs during the festivals in the hippodrome such as the Lupercalia (73).

The protocols regulated the relations between the palace and the churches regarding rites and acclamations . The text mentions metric acclamations as well as Troparia or Kontakia , but also Heirmoi and Stichera . The texts define the roles of important dignitaries such as ministers, members of the Senate and the leaders of the circus parties of the hippodrome, who played an important role in the courtly ceremonies. The hippodrome assumed an important position for courtly ceremonies, which roughly corresponded to that of Hagia Sophia for religious ceremonies. This was true not only for the horse races, but also for receptions, banquets and the annual anniversary of Constantinople on May 11th. The “golden chariot race” was a separate celebration to mark the opening of the new season and to set the dates for celebrations and ceremonial dates. Occasionally, votive races were also held, such as on July 22nd for St. Elias.

The following chapters from 84 to 95 come from the 6th century handbook by Petros Patrikios . They describe administrative acts such as the appeal to certain positions (chapters 84, 85), the investiture of certain offices (chapter 86), the reception of ambassadors and acclamations of the Western Roman emperor (chapters 87, 88), the reception of the Persian ambassador (chapter 89 , 90), claims of some emperors (chapters 91 to 96) and the appointment of the proedros of the senate (chapter 97).

It describes not only the type of locomotion, such as on foot, mounted or by ship, but also what clothes the participants had to wear and who had to make which acclamations. The emperor often took the position of Christ's earthly representative. The imperial palace was often chosen for religious rites, so that the secular and the religious merged here. It is noteworthy that some hymns of praise (Chapter 370) are still written in poor Latin, which has not been an official language for more than three centuries.

The second book follows a very similar structure: Part one describes religious festivals and contains descriptions of some palace buildings from the Macedonian Renaissance , part two describes secular ceremonies and imperial ordinations , part three is dedicated to imperial receptions and war festivities in the hippodrome. The descriptions are more reminiscent of later customs of the Porphyrogennetos dynasty, including those of Constantine VII and his son Romanos. It seems that the first volume was put together at the time when Constantine VII commissioned the book, but the project was later continued by historians after his death. The second book seems less normative, but rather describes specific ceremonies such as those performed during certain imperial receptions in the past.

Editions and translations

  • Johann Heinrich Leich , Johann Jacob Reiske (eds.): Constantini Porphyrogenneti Imperatoris Constantinopolitani libri duo De Cerimoniis Aulae Byzantinae .
  • Johann Jakob Reiske, Johannes Heinrich Leich: Constantini Porphyrogeniti Imperatoris De Cerimoniis Aulae Byzantinae libri duo graece et latini e recensione Io. Iac. Reiskii cum eiusdem commentariis integris ( Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae ). 2 volumes, Weber, Bonn 1829/1830 (digitized version )
  • Albert Vogt: Le livre des cérémonies . Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1935–1940 (French translation).
  • Ann Moffatt, Maxeme Tall: Konstantinos Porphyrogennetos: The book of ceremonies (= Byzantina Australiensia 18). 2 volumes, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Canberra 2012, ISBN 978-1-876503-42-0 (English translation).

literature

Web links

proof

  1. ↑ De Ceremoniis. In: Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , p. 595.
  2. ^ John F. Haldon : Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Three treatises on imperial military expeditions. Introduction, edition, translation and commentary. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1990, ISBN 3-7001-1778-7 .
  3. ↑ Jeffrey Michael Featherstone: Preliminary Remarks on the Leipzig Manuscript of De Cerimoniis. In: Byzantine Journal . 95, 2002, pp. 457-479 doi: 10.1515 / BYZS.2002.457 .
  4. ↑ John Bagnell Bury: The Ceremonial Book of Constantine Porphyrogennetos. In: The English Historical Review. 22, 1907, pp. 209–227, 426–448, doi: 10.1093 / ehr / xxii.lxxxvi.209 (digitized version )
  5. ^ Zoe Antonia Woodrow: Imperial ideology in middle Byzantine court culture: the evidence of Constantine porphyrogenitus's de ceremoniis . Dissertation. Durham University, 2001.
  6. ↑ Steven Runciman: Byzantine Civilization . Hodder & Stoughton, London 1933, ISBN 978-0-7131-5316-3 , p. 232.
  7. ↑ Jeffrey Michael Featherstone: The Great Palace of Constantinople: Tradition or Invention? In: Byzantine Journal. 106, 2013, pp. 19-38, doi: 10.1515 / bz-2013-0004 .
  8. ↑ Jeffrey Michael Featherstone: Δι 'Ἔνδειξιν: Display in Court Ceremonial (De Cerimoniis II, 15). In: Anthony Cutler, Arietta Papaconstantinou (Ed.): The Material and the Ideal. Essays in Mediaeval Art and Archeology in Honor of Jean-Michel Spieser. Brill, Leiden 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-16286-0 , pp. 75-112. ( Digitized at Google Books ).