Online Historical Resources Byzantine Empire
Free Online Historical Resources Byzantine Empire to help educators, students and general history enthusiasts. Links to various Digital Historical Resources, including archives, libraries, and educational platforms, that contain valuable historical information.
The text is from Nicolo Barbaro, Diary of the Siege of Constantinople 1453, translated by John Melville-Jones (New York, 1969).
Most history books will tell you that the Roman Empire fell in the fifth century CE, but this would’ve come as a surprise to the millions who lived in the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages. This animated Ted-Ed video is an excellent introduction to the Byzantine Empire, and comes with discussion questions and a multiple-choice self-test.
Medieval Sourcebook: Fifth Ecumenical Council: Constantinople II, 553. Translation of the acts, commentaries and selected other sources.
Ammianus Marcellinus was an army officer of Greek origin who left a history of the wars and conflicts that beset the Roman Empire in the latter half of the fourth century.
The Byzantine Empire bridged the gap between ancient and early modern Europe. From its inception as the eastern half of the partitioned Roman Empire in the fourth century AD through to its final disappearance in the fifteenth century, Byzantium played the role of an economic, political, and cultural superpower. At “The Byzantine Legacy,” you will find a historical overview, timelines, maps, articles, and bibliographic material – all dedicated to this fascinating civilization. The site also features an extensive photographic gallery, which details some of the surviving examples of Byzantine architecture and public art – from Italy through to the empire’s heartland in modern Greece and Turkey. See the “Byzantine Cities” tab for an interactive map of the empire at its peak.
Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, born c. 490, d. c. 585, was by turns statesman and monk, leaving behind a substantial and varied body of literary work.
16th century, Laonicus Chalcocondyles, Historiae (History of the Turks 1298-1462) (TLG 3139.001). British Libray. Digitised Copy.
The Byzantine Studies Program at Dumbarton Oaks has devised virtual encounters with scholars that will inform, entertain, and challenge the Byzantine scholarly community and colleagues in the Arts and the Humanities more broadly.
Works of the 7th century poet including accounts of the military campaign against Persia and the Avar attack on Constantinople
Theophanes the Confessor. Chronographia. Greek and Latin. Chronicle covering Byzantine history from the late third to the ninth century.
History of the Wars, Books I and II: The Persian War by Procopius. English translation first published in 1914 by H. B. Dewing
This collection of 50 volumes contains the Byzantine historical writers. Thanks to Google books these are online, and thanks to Les Cigales éloquentes we can access them. The editions are not always reliable; but they are sometimes all we have.
Digital copy of the relevant extracts taken from, Henry R. Percival, ed. The Seven EcumenicalCouncils of the Undivided Church, Vol XIV of Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, (reprinted Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Grand Rapids MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1988)
Medieval Sourcebook: Sixth Ecumenical Council: Constantinople III, 680-681. Translation of the acts, commentaries and selected other sources.
The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite is a Syriac text written, in all probability, by an inhabitant of Edessa almost immediately after the end of the war between the Byzantine Empire and Persia in 502-506 AD.
Chinese Accounts of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. – 1643 C.E.
The Syriac chronicle known as that of Zachariah of Mitylene. Although this chronicle has been attributed to Zachariah (Zacharias) of Mitylene, “it is clear that the work of Zachariah ended in 491, and that he was only one of the authorities used by the compiler of the work before us, who followed him in bks. 3-6 only”
Anna Komnene, daughter of Byzantine emperor Alexios, spent the last decade of her life creating a 500-page history of her father’s reign called “The Alexiad.” As a princess writing about her own family, she had to balance her loyalty to her kin with her obligation to portray events accurately. Leonora Neville investigates this epic historical narrative.
The entire translated text of the Anna Comena’s Alexiad is available. The translation used is that of dition used is that of Elizabeth A. Dawes, published in London in 1928.
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Introduction. English translation first published in 1846.
John Malalas wrote a chronicle covering events from Adam to at least year AD 565. Malalas was born around 490 and was probably an imperial bureaucrat in Antioch, and later on in Constantinople. For evernts in his own lifetime, the author largely relied on oral sources.
The Fourth Crusade 1204: Collected Sources. A list of extracts curated by the library at Fordham University
These are preliminary bibliographies of Byzantine sources and editions. The goal is to list available translations of Byzantine sources in Western European languages. It is present in one very large file so that it can be easily searched and printed out.
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