BOOKS by Eleni Tounta
Routledge, 2024
This book explores the travels of Cristoforo Buondelmonti and Ciriaco d’Ancona to the Greek lands... more This book explores the travels of Cristoforo Buondelmonti and Ciriaco d’Ancona to the Greek lands in the early fifteenth-century eastern Mediterranean.
Drawing on post-colonial studies' frameworks, such as travel writing and imaginative geographies, this volume offers an innovative examination of colonial discursive and cultural practices within the Latin dominions in the Greek lands. It sheds light on their contributions to the conceptualization of both the "Italian metropolitan" space and the "Greek" identity of the colonized. This volume investigates how Cristoforo’s and Ciriaco’s travel narratives utilized conceptual tools and representation systems of early humanism to support Latin political and economic interests in the eastern Mediterranean. It delves into the imaginative geographies of Venetian Crete, the islands of the archipelago, Constantinople, the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, and portrayals of the Ottomans as constructed by the two travelers, offering insights into the interaction of Latin humanistic and colonial discourses and the agency of travelers in shaping the colonial space.
Medieval Mirrors of Power. Historians and Narratives in Norman Italian South
The Western sacrum imperium and the Byzantine Empire: Ideological conflicts and interactions on ... more The Western sacrum imperium and the Byzantine Empire: Ideological conflicts and interactions on the European political stage of the 12th c. (1135-1177)
JOURNAL ARTICLES by Eleni Tounta
Mediterranean Studies 28.1, 2020
This article focuses on the Italo-Greek elite of the Sicilian kingdom in the 12th century —an eli... more This article focuses on the Italo-Greek elite of the Sicilian kingdom in the 12th century —an elite which owed its social status to the court offices it held — and examines how it constructed a collective identity to ensure the prosperity and continuity of its socio-cultural group. Since proximity to the king was the prime reason for the existence of this elite, the courtier role is the only facet of its identity that is represented in the sources. Therefore, the poems of two Italo-Greek courtiers, the so called Anonymous Poet of Malta and Eugenius of Sicily, offer insights into how the Italo-Greeks perceived and represented their role as royal courtiers and thus came to forge a distinct collective identity. The Vita of Bartholomew of Simeri is considered to be part of the same identity construction strategy, since the saint is invested with traits of an Italo-Greek royal courtier.
Le présent article considère les Vies des saints italo-grecs Élie le Jeune et Élie le Spéléote da... more Le présent article considère les Vies des saints italo-grecs Élie le Jeune et Élie le Spéléote dans le but de discerner les caractéristiques socio-politiques des groupes sociaux qui les vénéraient à l’époque byzantine et dans la première période normande. Les deux Vies, malgré leur rédaction assez proche sur les plans géographique et chronologique, présentent des différences marquantes en ce qui concerne le modèle de sainteté, le rapport à l’espace (l’une vante la stabilité, l’autre détaille les voyages du saint) et la représentation des relations socio-politiques. Selon l’A., le culte d’Élie le Jeune était une référence pour les élites locales urbaines, tandis que les communautés rurales vénéraient davantage Élie le Spéléote.
Journal of religion and health, Jan 26, 2015
The aim of the study is to explore the medieval concepts on the voluntary death of severely sick ... more The aim of the study is to explore the medieval concepts on the voluntary death of severely sick people, as they emerge through the endura (endurance) of the heresy of the Cathars in France (twelfth to fourteenth centuries). The endura was the prerequisite act of repentance that would allow the fallen soul to return to heaven. The endura was a necessary act of repentance, after the performance of a ceremonial purification of the soul (consolamentum), and consisted of the patients' voluntary abstention from vital food. The consolamentum and endura could be performed in the final stage of a disease with the consent of the patients or their relatives. The role of the Cathar physician was only to determine the severity of the disease and the forthcoming death of the patient. The physician was not allowed to take steps that would deprive the life of the patient, and the performance of the ritual endura was duty of the spiritual leaders of the community. The modern ethical approach to...
Relations between saints and secular rulers as presented in the Vitae of the Italo-Greek saints i... more Relations between saints and secular rulers as presented in the Vitae of the Italo-Greek saints in Southern Italy in the tenth and eleventh centuries have been treated in terms of identity and difference, namely to measure the degree to which the Italo-Greeks identified themselves with the Byzantine people, thus differentiating themselves from the Latins. In this way, however, the mediating function of the saint, the narrative strategies of the hagiographers and the interaction between the texts and their audiences are ignored. Taking its cue from the frontier character of Southern Italy and the local context of the cults, this paper examines the narrative representations of these relations in order to understand how local communities gathered around a cult to find support and how they perceived the political powers acting in their region. It is argued that in this frontier society multiple local frameworks of power relations rather than identities are represented in the saints’ Lives.
Alexander of Telese’s account of Roger II of Sicily, the Ystoria Rogerii regis, is imbued with th... more Alexander of Telese’s account of Roger II of Sicily, the Ystoria Rogerii regis, is imbued with the notion of terror regius that scholars have treated in a practical sense, understanding it to mean the use of physical violence. This article inquires into the meaning of terror to reveal the author’s intellectual horizons and the social function of his narrative. Firstly, this concept seems to define the hegemonic ethos, the performative role of the coronation ceremony, the establishment of judicial institutions and consequently the power relations between the ruler and his subjects, in such a manner as to assert the king’s primacy over centrifugal powers inherent in the feudal system. Secondly, the concept is always associated with the physical territory of the king’s dominions. It is maintained that Alexander of Telese is influenced by Romano-Byzantine concepts of territoriality that are equally to be discerned in Roger II’s administrative and judicial institutions. It is therefore argued that the narrative aims at shaping political attitudes both for rulers and subjects.
The paper examines the image of the Norman invaders in southern Italy in contemporary western med... more The paper examines the image of the Norman invaders in southern Italy in contemporary western medieval and Byzantine sources. The comparative method and the methodology of linguistic and literary criticism are equally applied. The interest is focussed on the conceptual notions that defined the perception of the Norman invaders by medieval men and, consequently, their cultural representation. In this way, mentalities and social values are revealed, and, thus, historians investigating political developments are offered a research tool for medieval historical sources.
COLLECTIVE VOLUME ARTICLES by Eleni Tounta
In The Late Byzantine Romance in Context. Narrativity, Identities, and Gender in the Mediterranean (12th -16th centuries), ed. I. Smarnakis and Z. Ainalis, 109-126. London: Routledge, 2024. , 2024
This paper analyses Philippe de Mézières’ Songe du Vieux Pelerin , a French text of imaginary and... more This paper analyses Philippe de Mézières’ Songe du Vieux Pelerin , a French text of imaginary and allegorical travel literature dating from the late 14th century, offering a fresh look, related to a Western cultural and political context, at the images of the East. The author analyses how Christian morality, soteriology, crusading politics, contemporary political relations, and ideas are interwoven to create a quest story that reorganizes space and identities. Taking cue from the privileged reader and basic hero of the songe , the French King Charles VI (1380‒1422), the author interrelates the narrative representations of the East with the main attributes of the French kingship’s political identity.
The paper studies two court poems written in Greek by Eugenius of Sicily in order to examine the ... more The paper studies two court poems written in Greek by Eugenius of Sicily in order to examine the construction of power discourses at the multi-cultural Sicilian court (12th c.). The transculturality in the domain of the expression of political ideas and the act of communication constitute the research questions. The paper argues that Eugenius creatively combined the byzantine court poetic language, ancient Greek and Roman political ideas, and western medieval political imagery and formed political discourses capable to legitimize and consolidate the established power relations. The Greek language became part of the ritualized performance, shaping the political imagery of the Sicilian kings.
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BOOKS by Eleni Tounta
Drawing on post-colonial studies' frameworks, such as travel writing and imaginative geographies, this volume offers an innovative examination of colonial discursive and cultural practices within the Latin dominions in the Greek lands. It sheds light on their contributions to the conceptualization of both the "Italian metropolitan" space and the "Greek" identity of the colonized. This volume investigates how Cristoforo’s and Ciriaco’s travel narratives utilized conceptual tools and representation systems of early humanism to support Latin political and economic interests in the eastern Mediterranean. It delves into the imaginative geographies of Venetian Crete, the islands of the archipelago, Constantinople, the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, and portrayals of the Ottomans as constructed by the two travelers, offering insights into the interaction of Latin humanistic and colonial discourses and the agency of travelers in shaping the colonial space.
JOURNAL ARTICLES by Eleni Tounta
COLLECTIVE VOLUME ARTICLES by Eleni Tounta
Drawing on post-colonial studies' frameworks, such as travel writing and imaginative geographies, this volume offers an innovative examination of colonial discursive and cultural practices within the Latin dominions in the Greek lands. It sheds light on their contributions to the conceptualization of both the "Italian metropolitan" space and the "Greek" identity of the colonized. This volume investigates how Cristoforo’s and Ciriaco’s travel narratives utilized conceptual tools and representation systems of early humanism to support Latin political and economic interests in the eastern Mediterranean. It delves into the imaginative geographies of Venetian Crete, the islands of the archipelago, Constantinople, the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, and portrayals of the Ottomans as constructed by the two travelers, offering insights into the interaction of Latin humanistic and colonial discourses and the agency of travelers in shaping the colonial space.
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"Travelers to the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires (12th-17th c.)
Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Stephanos Yerasimos
(1942-2005)", organized by the Hellenic Institute for Byzantine and Post-
Byzantine Studies in Venice, Venice 15-17 December 2023
Nowadays, more than 30 years after the publication of his book it is worthly to revisit and widen its topic in time, with the organization of an international conference on Travelers in the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires (12th-16th c.) dedicated to his work and loving memory. The Conference will be hybrid (in Venice and virtually via zoom), from 15 to 17 December 2023.
The proposed scholarly meeting seeks to illuminate not only the topic of Travelers and their writings, but also to offer an interdisciplinary forum for a selection of papers that may touch upon some of the following aspects:
Travelers to Byzantium
Travelers to Greece and Asia Minor
Travelers to Constantinople
Travelers to Cyprus
Travelers to Istanbul
Travelers in the Balkans
Travelers in Anatolia
Arab travelers to Byzantium
Western Travelers to Byzantium
Jewish Travelers to Byzantium
Russian travelers to Byzantium
Byzantine travelers to the East
Byzantine travelers to the West
Silk routes travelers
Ibn Battutta
Western travelers to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman travelers in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman travelers to the West
Monuments through travelers’ chronicles
Objects of minor arts through travelers’ chronicles
Merchants and their travels
Ambassadors and travels
Travels and ports
Travels and accommodation (inns, hans)
Travels by sea
Isolarii
Maps and mapmaking
Portolans
Languages of Conference: English, French, Italian, Greek.
The Proceedings of the Conference will be published by the Hellenic Institute of Venice.