A Byzantine Lament for a Lost Wife

Dimiter Angelov posted this article in Medievalist dot net:

It is rare to find a work from the Middle Ages where a man writes about the loss of his wife – even more rare that these words are written by a Byzantine emperor. However, this is the case of Emperor Theodore II Laskaris and the heartfelt lament for his wife Elena.

Seal of Theodore II Lascaris

Theodore succeeded his father John III Vatatzes as Byzantine Emperor in 1254 - ruling for only 4 years. He was seen as a capable leader and general - his reign dominated by struggles against the Bulgarians for territory and his attempts at the reunification of the Latin and Greek Orthodox Churches. He was married (c.1235) to Elena, daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, by whom he had several children, including his heir, son John IV.

The teenagers grew up together, and from all indications were very much in love. They would have six children, but in the year 1252 Elena passed away at the age of 28. Theodore, who was now ruling as co-emperor along with his father, was devastated at his wife’s death, and turned to writing to express his sadness.

read entire article here @ Medievalists

Further reading:

• The Journal of Medieval Military History edited by Clifford J. Rogers, Kelly DeVries, John France
• Warfare in Late Byzantium, 1204-1453 By Savvas Kyriakidis
• The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context By Michael J Angold
• Byzantium and the Turks in the Thirteenth Century By Dimitri Korobeinikov
• History of the Byzantine State by Georgije Ostrogorski
• Theodore II lascaris, Empereur de Nicee by Jean B. Pappadopoulos
• A Byzantine Government in Exile: Government and Society Under the Laskarids of Nicaea, 1204-1261 by Michael Angold
• Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330 By Dimiter Angelov

See also: 

The History of the Great Paraklesis (Supplication) Canon to the Theotokos

65 Byzantine Tombs Discovered in Ancient City in Turkey

From an article in January 2017 by David DeMar:

In the remains of the ancient marble-clad city of Stratonikeia in southwestern Turkey, archaeologists have found a staggering 65 tombs dating to the Byzantine era, according to the Hurryiet Daily News.

The researcher, who referred to Stratonikeia as “a living archaeological city”, called the site unique for is various characteristics, which included a high number of ancient structures surviving to the present day. The city, which would have at one time been home to the Carians of central Anatolia before the arrival of the Greeks, also holds ties to the Leleges, a pre-Hellenistic people that were said to have been allies of Troy during the Trojan War, the archaeologist said.

One of the primary finds, according to Söğüt, was the nearly four-foot-long skeleton found within a Byzantine-era tomb that had been undergoing cleaning and preservation works. The remains are thought to have belonged to a young woman who lived nearly 1,300 years in the past.

read entire article here @ the New Historian and @ Daily Sabah History

Clues to an ancient death: bacteria

Gillian Mohney made this report for ABC News in January 2017:

This woman's post-mortem was 800 years in the making, with ancient bacteria providing the critical clue for her likely cause of death, and offering a tantalizing glimpse into the lives of our forebears in the Near East.

In the 800-year-old remains of a Byzantine woman found in Turkey, in what used to be Troy, an archaeologist discovered some nodules the size of strawberries — leading to initial speculation that the woman died of tuberculosis. But the story turned out to be much more complex.

“We speculate that human infections in the ancient world were acquired from a pool of bacteria that moved readily between humans, livestock and the environment,” she said.

Read entire article here @ ABC News

Read more about ancient diseases @ the Scientific American and @ the Science Museum

Byzantium & Werewolves

From Medieval News:

A new article explores how Byzantine doctors treated people those suffering from lycanthropy, a mental disorder where a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, a wolf and behaves like one. This disease is the basis for the legendary werewolves.

In "Lycanthropy in Byzantine times (AD 330–1453)," four scholars from the University of Athens examine the writings of six Byzantine physicians to see what they believed lycanthropy was and how it should be treated.

Kosem

Valide Sultan

Kosem was the Valide Sultan or Queen Mother of the Turkish ruler of Constantinople. She was a wily member of harem politics and intrigue when her husband, the Sultan Ostman II was on the throne. She was the mother of the Sultan Murad II (r.1623-1640) and the Sultan Ibrahim (r. 1640- ).

After the death of her husband Sultan Ostman II (1622), his uncle succeeded as Mustapha I (1622-1623). Mustapha was quite mad, and was deposed. Kosem's son, Murad, aged 13yo succeeded (1623). Kosem dominated her son during his minority and came to influence the politics of the court.

However, this was not a period of calm and prosperity. Military riots turned on the palace (1631), and there was a rapid succession of Grand Viziers (Prime Ministers) - and so no stability within the fragile government. Murad was succeeded by his brother (her son) Ibrahim (1640).

Kosem finally lost her grip on power (1651) when Constantinople slipped into complete anarchy. She was eventually hunted down in her private apartments, where she hid. However, she was discovered after a lengthy search, hiding under a pile of quilts. Kosem was assaulted and stripped of her clothes and jewels. She was dragged into the "Cushana" by her feet, where she was strangled by a piece of rope (which had to be found). Kosem was over 80yo, but fought back. It took four men quite a while to manually strangle her. It was only when she was completely still was her death proclaimed to the Sultan. Kosem was not dead but still alive, and so once again she was strangled and killed.

So great was this women that three days of mourning followed.

~~~ Melisende (first pub: 1998 Women of History)

Valide Sultans of the Ottoman Empire

Valide Sultans – Queen Mothers of the Ottoman Sultans.

These women were the real power behind the Ottoman throne (Constantinople) from the late-15th Century to the mid-17th Century. Even from the seclusion of the Imperial Harem, they wielded considerable power and influence. Valide Sultans typically had one son by the Sultan.

However, such was the power of one concubine, Roxelana (aka:Hurrem) over Sultan Sulyeman the Magnificent that she bore him three sons. And in a huge departure from Harem and indeed Ottoman protocol, Roxelana persuaded the Sultan to enter into a monogamous marriage with her and elevate her to the position of Empress or Sultana. This was unheard of - the laws of Islam forbade marriage with a slave (concubine).

As such, these women devoted their lives to their son, who would be raised within the Imperial Harem. Each mother lived in the hope that one day, her son would outlive and outlast his many brothers, and ascend the Imperial throne. Unfortunately, with the multitude of women available, the Sultan had no shortage of sons – but only one could rule – and the rest were ritually strangled (to remove any future opposition). Harem politics could be and quite often was, extremely ruthless.

Due to the early influence over their sons, these women, if they attained the position of Valide Sultan, could actually influence political decision-making both internally and externally. They could influence the appointment of ministers and favourites – or arrange their “removal”. Many undertook grand building schemes – mosques, hammans (bath-houses), and palaces.

Despite the fact that these women could never sit publicly at the “divan” (diwan - council of state) with the Sultan, they were known to sit behind a decorative screen and communicate with the Sultan – for they could never directly speak with those present (usually males).

These women, who were secluded from the outside world, could literally run the Ottoman Empire. However, by the mid-17th century, the power and influence of the Valide Sultans began to wane.

In addition to Roxelana (Hurrem), only four other women wielded considerable power from with the harem – Valide Sultans Nur Banu, Safiye, Kosem and Turhan - and Kosem would be the most powerful.

~~~ Melisende (pub: 6/2/2007)