The edition of the works of Theodore II Laskaris between Nicaea and Constantinople. The essay re-examines the traditional hypothesis concerning the multi-volume edition of the works of Theodore II Laskaris, proposing a new reconstruction of the transmission of his secular writings. In this context, the previously almost neglected MS Vat. gr. 1938 is newly evaluated. Being copied by the same scribe and sharing the same codicological features as MS Paris. Suppl. gr. 472, it forms, together with the latter, an edition of the secular works (Physikē koinōnia and the Discourses) likely derived from the official one commissioned by the emperor himself and provided with his own portrait. The final part of the paper focuses on the circulation of Aristotelian manuscripts at the Byzantine court in Nicaea, with particular attention to MS Vat. Barb. gr. 136, whose second unit was written by the scribe also responsible for MS Ambr. C 308 inf., which contains Theodore’s Sacred Discourses.

Schlagworte: Theodore II Laskaris, Nicaea, Aristotle, Greek manuscripts

This article examines a selection of excerpts from Pollux’s Onomasticon as preserved in the manuscripts Marc. gr. Z 490 and Vat. gr. 904. Its aim is to investigate the compiler’s working method: how he intervened in the text, the criteria he followed in interpolating it, the sources he drew upon, and the texts he regarded – on various grounds – as authoritative models.

Schlagworte: Pollux, Onomasticon, lexica, Atticism, Palaeologan Age

This introductive study to the Armenian Barlaam and Ioasaph (henceforth, Armenian BJ) intends to draw scholarly attention to the reception and circulation of the Christianized saga of the Buddha within the Armenian world. The contribution tries to identify the broad literary context of transmission of the Armenian BJ, by showing its transverse character across hagiography, fictional storytelling and Fürstenspiegel literature. In this respect, it points out common structural features with ‘ascetic princes’ literature, a cycle of narratives originating in the Syriac tradition and representing a specific model of renouncement and self-abasement that ostensibly differed from ascetic ideals as featured in Early Christianity and the Late Antiquity. The article provides preliminary considerations on the time and place of production, as well as on the patronage of the short and the long recensions of the Armenian BJ with a particular focus on the short recension. Finally, it offers a comparative textual analysis of some literary features of the saga, by considering the Armenian, the Greek, the Georgian, and the Arabic versions.

Schlagworte: Buddha in Caucasus, ‘ascetic princes’ literature, Arabic-Armeno-Greek-Georgian entanglements, literary landscape(s), Syriac-Armenian literary interaction

This study presents new evidence on the transmission and circulation of Aeneas of Gaza’s Theophrastus in twelfthcentury Norman Sicily. It highlights its influence on Philagathos of Cerami’s homiletic reflections on death and sickness, revealing a previously unknown source that informed Byzantine discussions on the problem of theodicy and, in particular, it offers evidence of contemporaneous conceptions of impairment and disability. Taken together, the findings provide grounds for reassessing the ostensibly limited medieval afterlife of Theophrastus.

Schlagworte: Aeneas of Gaza’s Theophrastus, Norman Sicily, Homiletics, theodicy, disability

This article provides further texts of Byzantine and early Post-Byzantine handbooks for the use of notaries in chanceries. The seven collections and one exercise sheet contain samples of official documents and letters, in particular their beginnings and endings, and in some cases also the addresses (on the back). They originate from secular and clerical chanceries, and no. VI—at least partially—even from the Ottoman chancery for documents written in the Greek language with instructions for the tughra of Sultan Murad II.

Schlagworte: Byzantine documents, Diplomatics, Chancery, Epistolography, Byzantine Official Letters, Notars

The present article aims to re-assess the “Casole hypothesis”, according to which, after the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, Nikolaos-Nektarios of Otranto (c. 1155/60–1235) brought the codices Marcianus gr. Z. 226, Vindobonensis phil. gr. 100 and several other manuscripts of the traditionally so-called “Collection philosophique” to his monastery of San Nicola di Casole, near Otranto in Apulia, where the codices were rediscovered a few decades later, in the mid-13th century, by the Dominican friar William of Moerbeke (d. 1286). This will be done in the light of recent research into the codex Vindobonensis and the Parisinus gr. 2575, another manuscript of the “Collection” and Moerbeke’s translation model for Simplicius. The Parisinus was kept in Constantinople in the 15th century—but is it true that it had never left Greece before? Moerbeke’s translations from 1266 onwards, and the journeys of the Vindobonensis between the East and the West in the 13th century, might suggest otherwise.

Schlagworte: Nikolaos-Nektarios of Otranto, William of Moerbeke, “Collection philosophique”, Vindobonensis phil. gr. 100, Parisinus gr. 2575

This article presents the first critical edition and translation of Demetrios Kydones’ Homily on the Ascension of the Lord, based on the manuscript copied by his pupil Manuel Kalekas (Codex Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1879 [Diktyon 68508]). This remarkable document is one of four surviving homilies attributed to the polymath, which, like several of his other writings, have remained unpublished until now. The article also contributes to the rediscovery of Kydones’ role as a pivotal figure in diplomatic relations between East and West and in the dialogue between the Latin and Orthodox Churches.

Schlagworte: Homily, Byzantine theology, Palaeologan period, Codex Vaticanus graecus 1879, Demetrios Kydones

A fresh inspection of ms. Vat. Barb. gr. 240, the only (and partly fragmentary) primary witness to Michael Psellos’ treatise Who wrote better verse, Euripides or George of Pisidia?, yields several important corrections to A. R. Dyck’s 1986 edition of this text, and allows a more accurate restoration of Psellos’ reflections on the tragic skill of Euripides (and Aeschylus), as well as on the reason for George of Pisidia’s ultimate victory over the ancient playwright in the comparison that concludes the treatise.

Schlagworte: Byzantine scholarship, Michael Psellos, Euripides, tragedy, Greek manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus Barb. gr. 240

Whilst the presence of Chalcedonian Armenians on Mount Athos is not contested, they have nonetheless proven difficult to trace. This makes the case of Theoktistos, hēgumenos of Esphigmenu and prōtos of Athos, all the more intriguing. In 1035 CE, Theoktistos appended his signature twice to a document now preserved in the collection of the Monastery of Great Lavra — signing in Greek and Armenian. This paper explores the life and career of Theoktistos, highlighting how this Chalcedonian Armenian participated in the life of Mount Athos as a prominent member of its monastic leadership. It ultimately argues that the case of Theoktistos serves as a useful device to renegotiate and reconsider scholarly approaches to the role of Chalcedonian Armenians in tenth- and eleventh-century Byzantium, providing a compelling case study in the context of recent scholarship which is increasingly engaged in questions of multilingualism and identity in the field of Byzantine Studies.

Schlagworte: Chalcedonian Armenians, Mount Athos, Monastery of Esphigmenu, Multilingualism, identity, Eleventh Century

This article offers a reappraisal of Sinai Greek NF MG 53 (Sin. gr. NF MG 53), the oldest known Greek euchologion preserved at St Catherine’s Monastery. The first part examines the manuscript’s quire composition, its Greek script, and the marginal annotations in Arabic and Coptic, while the second part presents each of the prayers and rites of this euchologion, comparing them with other important Greek euchologia from Constantinople and South Italy. The combined analysis of its codicological and palaeographical features, together with the liturgiological study of its prayers and rites, allows us to consider the following questions: was the content and structure of the euchologion similar in Constantinople and Jerusalem? What implications does the earlier or later dating of liturgical manuscripts, such as Sin. gr. NF MG 53, have for the narratives of liturgical history? How do prayers believed to be from Constantinople arrive in Jerusalem at a time when clergy are supposedly fleeing Jerusalem for South Italy? However, the main purpose of this paper is not to revisit the liturgical history of the Byzantine Rite, but rather to help scholars gain better access to a new and important early source, presenting its liturgical contents after a detailed codicological and palaeographical study.

Schlagworte: Byzantine Rite Liturgy, Greek Liturgical Manuscripts, Euchologion, Multilingualism, Sinaitic-Palestinian Area, St Catherine’s Monastery (Mount Sinai)

This article presents the first edition of an unpublished fragmentary Greek parchment housed in the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library. The fragment, dated to the sixth century, contains portions of the Passion of St. Theodoret of Antioch, who was martyred in 362 CE during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate. The discovery of this Viennese text is of considerable significance, since no account of Theodoret’s martyrdom was previously known to predate the 10th–11th century CE. Moreover, the version of the passion preserved in this parchment appears to be otherwise unattested and is not represented in the medieval manuscript tradition.

Schlagworte: Theodoret of Antioch, martyrdom, passion, unattested version, manuscript tradition, parchment, Egypt (Arsinoite or Herakleopolite nome)

This article surveys the development of Byzantine Animal Studies within the broader field of Human-Animal Studies (HAS), outlining its past achievements, current trends, and future directions. It begins by defining HAS and its interdisciplinary foundations, then explores key theoretical concepts such as the ‘animal turn’ and ‘animal lens.’ The article traces the emergence of sustained interest in animals among Byzantinists from 2008 onward, highlighting growing scholarly engagement with both material and symbolic animals. It further examines recent advances, including new editions, translations, and thematic studies, while critiquing their anthropocentric bias. Finally, it proposes more zoocentric approaches for future research on human-animal relations in Byzantium.

Schlagworte: animals, Human-Animal Studies (HAS), humanities, animal turn, Byzantine literature, Byzantine studies, historiography of the field, anthropocentrism, zoocentric strategies