The essay traces how Byzantium was repeatedly reshaped in Western historical memory, from medieval rivalry with the Eastern Roman Empire to Renaissance humanism, confessional conflicts and the Enlightenment prejudice. Nineteenth-century scholarship progressively replaced Byzantium’s Roman identity with stereotypes of Greek decadence, intrigue and despotism: a perspective still common nowadays, after the institutionalisation of Byzantine studies and the political use of Byzantine heritage in Greece, Russia, Turkey and the Balkans. The essay concludes that Byzantium remains a contested legacy, requiring postcolonial approaches that challenge Western hierarchies and restore its place in European history.
Re-Writing Byzantium
Lovino, F.
2026
Abstract
The essay traces how Byzantium was repeatedly reshaped in Western historical memory, from medieval rivalry with the Eastern Roman Empire to Renaissance humanism, confessional conflicts and the Enlightenment prejudice. Nineteenth-century scholarship progressively replaced Byzantium’s Roman identity with stereotypes of Greek decadence, intrigue and despotism: a perspective still common nowadays, after the institutionalisation of Byzantine studies and the political use of Byzantine heritage in Greece, Russia, Turkey and the Balkans. The essay concludes that Byzantium remains a contested legacy, requiring postcolonial approaches that challenge Western hierarchies and restore its place in European history.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
