A Mutual Introduction to the Macedonian Rennaisance

And Witt said unto him, "Can there any good thing come out of Macedonia?" Basil saith unto him, "Come and see". 

The Renaissance?

Unless you're an artless knave, you've heard of the Renaissance, that glorious period during which the light of antiquity was rekindled, forever banishing the darkness of the Middle Ages into memory. Or, if you don't subscribe to that rubbish, the period which emerged from and built upon the brilliant Medieval civilisation which had, through contact with its neighbours, flowered into its own, only to be devastated by the disasters of the mid 14th century: famine and plague. I mean, you can build cathedrals, found the first universities, create beautiful illuminated manuscripts, invent new forms of music and music notation, but just one population-shattering plague spread by rats and fleas, and *sigh* there goes the millennium...

Right, we've all heard of that Renaissance, but if you look around space and time, you may encounter other renaissances, often quite regional in nature, and limited to a concentrated period of time brimming with creative energy. You can take them as prefigurations and successors of the Renaissance if you like. Or you can see them all as equal renaissances. The Renaissance—the Italian Renaissance—after all, was a development in Western history, dependent on previous developments just as the whole of subsequent Western history was dependent on it. So perhaps the Italian Renaissance should always wear the modifier 'Italian', even if that, in other contexts, would be a fate worse than death. What? I can't editorialise? This is a weblog, after all. But perhaps you're right in condemning my hasty (and kind of stupid, etymology considered) conclusion. Historians may throw the word 'renaissance' around and devalue it in trying to emphasise the achievements of their own precious area of study. Medievalists, especially, have something to prove: might they be more prone to such error?

At practically any time during the middle ages there is somewhere a retroactive 'renaissance'. I reckon those who christen such renaissances, though, are trying to equate such periods with creativity, energy, and sights aimed at antiquity, usually in the arts. Different proposed renaissances gain different amounts of clout. Among some of the accepted renaissances I've encountered are the (my personal favourite) Northumbrian Renaissance , the Carolingian Renaissance, the Ottonian Renaissance, the 12th-century Renaissance, not to mention the much later Harlem Renaissance, and the rock band: Renaissance (who definitely deserve at least one album of your time). In short, lots of renaissances.

However, there is apparently one which I hadn't encountered until doing research for this post...

The "Macedonian Renaissance"

There is a Macedonian Renaissance? Apparently! And we're going to explore the very basics of it together, before coming to a conclusion as to whether or not it deserves its illustrious title.

The Macedonian Renaissance is called such because it occurred during the reign of the Macedonian Dynasty over the Byzantine Empire. In this way, it is similar to the Ottonian and Carolingian Renaissances of medieval historiography. Incidentally, it overlaps with both of these dynasties, stretching from the coronation of Basil I in 867 to the death of the Empress Theodora (not that Empress Theodore) in 1056. To put that in perspective, Charlemagne became Emperor in the west (sort of) in 800, and the last Ottonian died in 1024. Already we're dealing with a much larger time frame than either of the other two renaissances. Of course, the Italian Renaissance went for 200 years or so by some reckonings.

In 867, when Basil I ascended to the purple, the Empire was at a low point. For essentially 200 years, its borders had been chiseled at, sometimes overrun outright, by Arab forces. Lombards had overrun Italy, Charlemagne after them, and the Slavs were taking the Balkans. This was naturally not exactly the empire's finest hour, but its shrinking borders were now much more manageable and ripe for consolidation in the hands of an able ruler. Basil I happened to be more than able, and after usurping the throne and beginning a new dynasty, seems to have also initiated a new era. The Macedonian dynasty reigned in an era of relative peace and of growth. It was cushioned on one side by the aforementioned Arab, German, and Slavic troubles, and by the growth of the Seljuk Turks, Italian City-States, Slavic kingdoms, and Crusader states on the other, after Theodora's death ended the dynasty. Naturally, this prolonged eye of the storm yielded the perfect conditions for artistic and intellectual pursuits.

Whether or not we admit that renaissance is an apt term, we must admit that the artwork of the Macedonian period is outstanding among Byzantine art.

The Paris Psalter seems to be one of the showcase pieces for the period, just as the Lindisfarne Gospels is a key work of the Northumbrian Renaissance. What strikes people at first glance is the seeming Greek-ness of the figures and animals: their poses are a little less rigid, their costumes a little more antique. Could this possibly be a movement among Byzantine illuminators to return to the style that their Greek forbears utilised? Maguire (see sources) is incredibly hesitant to arrive at this conclusion, though not unwilling. Using poetry from the Macedonian period, he demonstrates that Byzantines of the time borrowed from Greek poetry, but he argues that this was because the lines were usefully poetic, not necessarily because the Byzantines were fascinated with or emulated the Antique era. Still, the presence of classical motifs which is so evident in the Paris psalter is indicative of rediscovery at least. What also strikes me is what looks like experimental poses, though they are probably copies: of what, though? Rigid iconography? Probably not. My guess is Greek art. But then again my guess isn't very educated.


I, unfortunately, am much too tired to continue this introduction, as paltry as that is. I also have not time before I have to turn in this assignment. Tat being said, I'll redirect you to some better sources below, and you can tell me what you think. I for one am unsure about the renaissance debacle. 

Sources and Further Reading

"Epigrams, Art, and the 'Macedonian Renaissance", by Henry Maguire

Maguire more carefully dwells on the connexion between Macedonian poetry/art, and its antique predecessors as an important criterion for renaissance. He seems to have long held the same suspicions concerning 'renaissance' as a misnomer. He concludes rather ambivalently about the term . See pp. 111-2, 114-5 for conclusions

The glory of Byzantium : art and culture of the Middle Byzantine era, A.D. 843-1261 edited by Helen C. Evans and William D. Wixom

I read the Preface beginning, pp. 16-7. From p. 34, the floodgate opens and a tidal wave of information issues forth. I confess, I only read so far--if you are more a scholar than I (not an incredibly difficult thing to be), this is where I think you could get an impressive knowledge of the times.

The Paris Psalter: write-up by Jeremy Norman

Good information on the Psalter specifically

Byzantine Treasures at Sutton Hoo: Chronology

What? An icon of Bede? A Byzantine representation of an Anglo-Saxon saint? Verily, 'tis doubly topical!

Hopefully this may help orient you to the the information within the main blog post.

Chronology

410- Rome abandons Britain

450- The traditional, but by no means the only or earliest, adventus Saxonum: the coming of the       Anglo-Saxons to Britain, as reckoned by the monk Bede in the early-8th century.

476- The so-called fall of the Western Roman Empire, as Odoacer deposes the Western Emperor.

The 6th century proves a Dark Age indeed: our sources for Britain are few. We must infer that a period of Anglo-Saxon settlement and migration, probably along river systems, occurred throughout the century. At some point, a period of kingdom formation began. By the end of the century at least, Kent was formed, since it was here that the Roman mission landed and recorded information about. It probably had geographic origin in a Roman administrative unit.

535-The start of the Gothic War in Italy, waged by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I

552: The general Narses recaptures Rome for the Byzantines. Rome will remain generally Byzantine in its orientation.

550s: The later books of The Wars and The Secret History are written by Procopius

560: Alboin leads the Lombards, a Germanic tribe, into Italy. Rome and Ravenna remain under Byzantine control. Rome thus answers to Constantinople, but warily looks for other allies, should the Eastern Roman Empire fail to protect it.

The period from the Gothic Wars, c. 540, until the iconoclasm movement in Constantinople, c. 730, which caused a break between the Roman Pope/patriarch and the Eastern Patriarchs, is thus referred to as the Byzantine Papacy. All Roman popes, though elected by cardinals, submit themselves to the confirmation of the Emperor in Constantinople. It is of the utmost importance not to think too diametrically of Rome and Constantinople within this period (c. 540 - c. 730)

597- Pope Gregory I of Rome sends the Benedictine monk Augustine on a mission of conversion to the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent. The King of Kent, Æthelbert soon after is baptised a Christian.

616- According to Bede, Rædwald of the East Angles assumes an imperium over the Anglo-Saxons. Bede says he is ostensibly baptised, while maintaining many of his heathen beliefs.The Sutton Hoo site lies well within the boundaries of his homeland.

620s- This is the earliest possible date of the Sutton Hoo mound 1 burial, as indicated by the dating of fairly worn (thus the date confusion) Merovingian coins therein. Rædwald's death is recorded as occurring in 624 by Bede. Many researchers identify mound 1 as Rædwald's tomb accordingly.

(Note the 100 year difference!)

c. 735: Bede writes The Ecclesiastic History of the English People

Byzantine Treasures at Sutton Hoo

A crafting anew of the Sutton Hoo grave as it might have looked when Rædwald still had skin, let alone anything of a body whatsoever. Naysayers: I'm calling him Rædwald, because I like the notion, I'm sorry.  Everybody else: take heed of the silver dish at Rædwald's feet, that's one of the Byzantine objects I will talk about.

I understand. It's almost shameful how quickly I used this "Byzantine Art" weblog for my own nefarious purposes; to wit, ranting about Anglo-Saxons. However, before you condemn the whole weblog as a hopeless farce, and go back to whatever you were doing before you came hither, think about it! Sutton Hoo is, forsooth, an Anglo-Saxon site, but it contains a wealth of Byzantine goods, particularly things wrought of silver, which must be of at least some interest to the Byzantine art historian, armchair-enthusiast and scholar alike.

If you're willing to carry on, let's begin with what Sutton Hoo is, just in case you're unfamiliar. Sutton Hoo is an ancient Anglo-Saxon burial site in the county of Suffolk, in the east of England. Mound 1, the most famous and the only grave I will look at today, consists of a great ship lowered into the ground and covered by an earthen barrow. Over the centuries, the roof of the grave collapsed damaging many of the grave-goods, and the acidic, sandy East Anglian soil further corroded the contents, such that no organic material remains. I trust you can seek out any further information you may require. Now, let's turn to the specifically Byzantine content.

Pray forgive the tab-switching I'm requiring of you. The following hyperlinks redirect you to the objects' respective pages from the British Museum's online index, but I'm fairly assured that these images are not in the public domain; thus your woes. Here's a friendly reminder that pushing a link with the mouse-wheel button opens the link in a new tab. This can also be done by holding ctrl before clicking a link with the left mouse button.

Chronology

Lest you lose your head: here's a rather sporadic chronology I made with this post in mind

Survey of Byzantine Objects

The extant grave-goods which are usually identified as Byzantine-made are a silver cup, the so-called Anastasius Dish, a Coptic bowl made of brass, silver spoons labeled Paulos and (perhaps) Saulos respectively, a silver ladle with some gilding, and 10 silver bowls, to which I have assigned numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. 

The Silver Cup and the Ladle

All of the Byzantine items have at some point been hypothesised to have been Ecclesiastical items. It only makes sense, seeing that we have a heathen nobleman, perhaps Rædwald, whom we know was converted only partially to Christianity: would not a mission from Rome try to shower gifts of silver to sweeten the deal, particularly if the gifts were quite Christian in nature? Well? Um. Yes. Yes is what I was not so clandestinely trying to hint at. In any case, the cup is either more worn, or distinguished among the Byzantine silver by its lack of engraving. The ladle, too, is simple, though its gilding makes it particularly valuable. Perhaps they served some sort of practical purpose, though the silver alone is ground enough to consider it ostentation. The liturgical explanation makes a lot of sense here. Perhaps the cup held the consecrated wine. Perhaps it was used in the baptismal font; we know Rædwald to have been baptised in his early reign. We cannot tell for certain, but I am fairly convinced of a religious purpose.

We know that the head of the monks sent by Pope Gregory as missionaries to the Anglo-Saxons in 597, Augustine, wrote back to Rome asking for liturgical equipment. Perhaps the cup, the ladle, or any of the Byzantine objects were answers to his requests.

The Anastasius Dish

The Anastasius Dish is so named because 1) it is a dish, and 2) it has four imperial stamps on the bottom indicating that it was made in the reign of Anastasius I, who was Byzantine Emperor from 491-518. This presents something of a riddle, since the Mound 1 burial is dated to at least the 620s on account of the date found on coins. The dish could then be an heirloom of the Wuffing dynasty, to which Rædwald belonged, kept for a century before finally being buried with its most illustrious owner. Doubtful, since no kings before Rædwald are attested historically. In addition, why would it have been kept for so long just to be promptly buried? Then it may also have been received as a gift, a sort of hand-me-down from the Empire through its Roman missionaries to Kent and East Anglia. This makes more sense. Alternatively, it could have been traded around for a century before finally ending up in the court of Rædwald. Some scholars favour this in light of the crudeness of some of the engraving on the dish. Though the silver is of fine quality, and stamped, some of the designs seem to have been crudely added: some of the circles are off-centre. Perhaps the unadulterated silver dish found its way to a German artisan, who proceeded to leave his mark on it?

The Coptic Bowl

This apparently hailed from Alexandria, and was made more recently than the Anastasius Dish. The Coptic bowl is recognised as such due to its similarity to, waddayaknow, other Coptic bowls (like this one, also found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon nobleman). Evidently, the particular raised style of the rim is the identifier. The Coptic bowl is also the only major Sutton Hoo object from the Mediterranean world out of brass rather than silver. What strikes me as especially interesting is the animal design, which, to me at least, reminds me of later Anglo-Saxon drawings (as we see in, say, this 10th century drawing of a horse in the Winchester Style, I believe...here is a detail of the inside of the Coptic bowl for comparison. I understand that, this is a layman's comparison. The styles are probably quite different, but to my untrained eye, I see continuity). We see, then, that the influx of Mediterranean luxury goods had an effect on native production over generations. Which is probably rather self-evident.

The Spoons

Like the rest of the Byzantine silver, the spoons are thought to have a liturgical nature about them. The Greek name Paulos on one of the spoons is not much contested. Whether the other spoon has Saulos inscribed on it or if it is an engraving error of Paulos is not agreed upon. Nobody has been able to come up with a satisfactory way that the Saulos spoon would have been used. Presumably, if the names are read correctly, their use would have to do with conversion: from Saul to Paul. But why would the Saul one be so hallowed? Liturgical spoons used in Communion are attested, but not so early without a shadow of a doubt. I can personally see the spoons as a Baptismal gift, celebrating conversion, and I'm fairly certain that *actual* scholars have also put forth this idea: it's only a matter of when the tradition of giving Christening Spoons became current.

Many (read: at least one) have suggested that the Saulos spoon is actually a poorly copied twin of the Paulos spoon. Evidently, the script is indicative of Merovingian engraving. They could have fooled me, if this is so: clearly Byzantine art was held as an example and being copied by Germanic smiths, if not in Britain, in neighbouring Gaul.

Compare the above spoons from Sutton Hoo to this roughly contemporary one, also purportedly Byzantine. The actual spoon part has the Latin word meaning 'purity' inscribed, but on the handle, the name Matteus is written, in an analogous location to the Paulos/Saulos inscription of the Sutton Hoo spoons. Christian names, perhaps? Or maybe patron saints?

The Bowls

The bowls all have elaborate cross designs through their middles, save 'bowl 1', which is engraved with the head of a woman in profile. This bowl also has handles, extant but detached, which the other bowls seem not to have had. In addition, it is at 40 cm in diameter fairly larger than the others which average at around 22 cm. Clearly its purpose would have been different. I personally think the woman to be a saint. I don't see any indication of royalty, but I don't know Byzantine practice in depicting Empresses, other than Theodora, who apparently broke convention anyway. Furthermore, though, I see the designs in the ring encircling the portrait to be the haloed heads of saints.

In any case, the other bowls all have similar designs: crosses composed of intricate designs, emanating from the centre, whether a six-pointed star or shell-like.

Historical Context and Interpretation

Illustration from A Chronicle of England (illustrated by Arthur Conan Doyle's uncle, J.W.E. Doyle) depicting Augustine ministering to King Æthelbert of Kent and his Frankish (and already Christian) wife, Bertha. The icon which one of the monks holds gives this depiction I think a realistically 'Byzantine' flavour: though at the time, this distinction between Rome and Byzantium wouldn't have been so stark (I mean, stark, but not too stark. I don't know, fly casual!)

Byzantine Notions of Britain

The Island of Britain was simply put, distant in the minds of Byzantines. Even at the Empire's furthest extent under the reign of Justinian I, a great breadth of foreign territory separated Anglo-Saxons from Byzantines, notably that of the Franks under the Merovingians, who seem to have facilitated many of the few instances of contact between their two neighbours. As such, the island of Britain was often cast in a mysterious, if not an outright fantastical light. 

Even though Britain had been a Roman province, it was one of the first to be abandoned, and, for many complicated reasons elaborated elsewhere, became the most un-Roman land of the former Western Empire, both in nature and custom. Suffice to say, the invasion of the Germanic peoples we deem Anglo-Saxons, who mostly emigrated from lands beyond any immediacy with the Roman frontier, played a major part, but there was a parallel reversion to Celtic kingship and a de-urbanisation in British parts of the island. Note that while 'Celtic' Gaul developed a Romance language, the British retained a Gaelic tongue, or else reverted back to it. 

Misty Britain, then, really did experience something of a Dark Age, and one of the only extant sources we have to cast light into the gloom of British history during this period is the Byzantine historian Procopius, writing around 550. As I have said, much of his knowledge is legend. In The Wars, he recounts the tale of an Anglian princess. A king of the Varni betrothed his heir to this princess, but later changed his mind in the interest of securing an alliance with the more imminent Franks. The calculation proved misguided, though, as the princess and her brother headed an army to force the Varni prince to honour his betrothal, which he did. The history here is clearly shrouded in legend, even to an otherwise lucid and highly perceptive author such as Procopius. If this sort of hearsay was what the learned Byzantines thought of Britain, imagine the commoner's sense of this fairyland! I can't help but gloat at this reverse-Orientalism! Occidentalism?

Even his geography was askew. Procopius interestingly describes two islands of Britain. Britannia and Brittia, to the east of the former. The latter is the realm of the Angles, Frisians, and Britons. The most convincing explanation I encountered for the mix-up is that Procopius was making sense of the traditions concerning the Roman province of Britain and the new hearsay concerning the Anglo-Saxon invaders. The point is, clearly Byzantines weren't going to Britain.

However, Saxons may have been a part of a Frankish retinue which came to Constantinople. The other time the inhabitants of Britain are mentioned is in The Secret history, a piece of invective directed against Justinian. Owing to the polemic nature of the work, their appearance may be seen as hyperbole, considering the Byzantine sense of the Anglo-Saxons as  utterly foreign and distant. Procopius says that Justnian loves to lavishly give to barbarians, even as far away as Britain. Hyperbole? Or could Justinian have given Anglo-Saxon guests gifts of silver he had no use for anymore, some passe dish made in the reign of his forbear, perhaps? Then in the next 50 years it could have made its way to the East Anglian court.

Clearly, some trade was involved for Byzantine goods to crop up in Britain, though the number and nature of the links in the trade are obviously hotly-contested, indeed, impossible to ascertain. 

The 'Roman' Mission

If it was at all a gift, rather than a traded item, I think the Byzantine silver of Sutton Hoo seems likeliest to have been a baptismal gift, rather than the gift of the emperor. They could have been gifts to Rædwald by the Roman mission in Kent, or by the Kentish king, who was Rædwald's overlord, but the timing only makes sense. The overtly heathen ship-burial, wherein lie silver bowls from Byzantium. The stark contrast befits Rædwald's description as a lukewarm convert.

In 597, the Romans first made renewed contact with Britain, as directed by the Roman Pope Gregory I, who was, in turn, under the influence of the Byzantine Emperor, Maurice in 597. The classic depiction of Britain during this period of English conversion as the conflict and fusion of Celtic and Roman Christianity, while accurate, may be a bit misleading. A 'Roman mission', for me at least, brings up the anachronistic East/West dichotomy of Constantinople and Rome. Yes ,there were cultural distinctions even as early as the 7th century: The Greek/Latin language divide, for instance. But, more importantly, this was perhaps the one time when Rome and Constantinople got along the most. So a Roman mission sent by Gregory from a Rome under Byzantine control would have been furnished by Byzantine wares and Byzantine sensibilities.

Perhaps I rambled a bit too much, but that's what happens when Anglo-Saxons get brought up. I suppose I brought them up myself, though, so there's not really any excuse.

Sources/Further Reading

'The Anglo-Saxons' by James Campbell, pp. 32, 38

The British Museum

'The Secret History' by Procopius

'The Silver Spoons of Sutton Hoo" by R. E. Kaske <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2851097>

"Voyage to the Other World: The Legacy of Sutton Hoo" by Calvin B. Kendall, Peter S Weils

"Procopius and the Sixth Century" by Averil Cameron