Module description
Topic: Constantinople
Constantinople: Imperial Capital – Medieval Metropolis
The module introduces students to the history, changing fortunes, monuments and artistic output of Constantinople, successor to Rome and the largest city of the medieval world.
This will be achieved through the examination of the city’s place in the wider world, of its fabric, of individual monuments with their decoration, and of primary texts that shed light on important questions, with particular emphasis on the transformation of the city from Late Antiquity through the medieval period (4th - 15th century).
Assessment details
750 word commentary (30%) + 2,000 word essay (70%)
Suggested reading list
Sarah Bassett (ed.), The Cambridge companion to Constantinople, CUP (Cambridge 2022).
Jonathan Harris, Constantinople: capital of Byzantium, Humbledon Continuum (London 2007).
Cyril Mango, The art of the Byzantine empire, 312-1453: sources and documents, University of Toronto Press (Englewood Cliffs NJ 1972).
Robert Ousterhout, Eastern medieval architecture. The building traditions of Byzantium and neighboring lands, Oxford UP (Oxford 2019).