... is used to avoid persecution. The chapter mentions how the understanding could be faulty due to poor translation of works from the Byzantine Empire. It notes theatre as a key site of manifesting bodies that unsettle gender identity. Additionally, the chapter expounds on the concept of grooming...

... and revulsion in European literature during the high and later Middle Ages. The chapter argues, however, that history has omitted the more positive treatment of lepers and leprosy in the Byzantine Empire during this period, especially in comparison to the attitudes maintained by Western Europe. In the late...

...This chapter examines how those at the top of the prevailing civil and ecclesiastical hierarchies participated in the Kalends masquerades under the Byzantine Empire. It begins with the story of Michael III (842–867), a young emperor who led his friends in public mockeries of the liturgy...

...This chapter focuses on the history of leprosy within the Byzantine Empire. Over the years, Byzantine society debated the social, religious, and medical implications of leprosy, which they usually called “elephantiasis,” or “Elephant Disease.” Moreover, Byzantine ecclesiastical and political...

... in the infamous Leper Massacre. The chapter looks into Saint Basil in Caesarea and Saint Martin in Gaul shaping a new ethical imperative to accept lepers as suffering brothers in Christ. It explains that philanthropic institutions organized in the Byzantine Empire set the pattern for later hospitals, hospices...

... history) collapse. It points us to the historical examples of the Byzantine empire, the collapse of Somalia, the rise of Middle Eastern terrorism, the rise of drug cartels in Latin America, and the French Revolution, to explain how societal decline has common features and themes. While unveiling the past...

.... If one looks at the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the various dynasties of China, and the Old, Middle, and New kingdoms of Egypt, these empires lasted an average of a little over 550 years. Where do we stand in all of this? The modern world system dates from 1350, making us 650–700 years old...

...This chapter analyzes the Byzantine Empire. After Rome had completely collapsed, Byzantium was a center of power, prosperity, and culture. There was a rough period in the 600s and 700s, when it was victimized by barbarian invasion, but it recovered well. The Byzantine Empire at its height, from...

... called leprosariums to treat the rapidly expanding number of victims. As important as these events were, the book reminds us that the history of leprosy in the West is incomplete without also considering the Byzantine Empire, which confronted leprosy and its effects well before the Latin West. This book...

...This book examines Sicily's place within the religious, diplomatic, military, commercial, and intellectual networks of the Mediterranean world. It traces the history of Sicily, from the sixth-century incorporation of the island into the Byzantine empire, through the period of Muslim rule (827–1061...

... of the larger program of the Byzantine empire at the time. Finally, it considers how Sicily operated both as the far western frontier of the empire and as a center of official communication between Constantinople and the western Mediterranean world—particularly, Latin Rome and the emergent powers of Muslim...

... and religious world of Latin Christendom. The island's political and diplomatic role in the dār al-Islām was fundamentally different to what it had been under the Byzantine empire. Sicily's place within larger Mediterranean systems was determined not by its geographical location but by larger forces...

...This chapter examines how the Byzantine Empire crested and began to fade under the rule of Basil II. When Byzantium lost wars, the emperor had to find some other way to pay for military and governmental expenses. Basil's innovation was to give the nobles tax relief rather than direct payment. He...