People and politics in eleventh-century Constantinople, 1025–1081

Abstract

This thesis examines the political repertoire of the people in eleventh-century Constantinople through rereading three main historical sources of eleventh-century Byzantine history–Michael Psellos’ Chronographia, Michael Attaleiates’ History, John Skylitzes’ A Synopsis of Byzantine History–from the perspective of the ordinary people. It aims to shed light on the ways in which the authors regarded the people’s political participation in Constantinople during the years between 1025 and 1081 and intends to classify and analyze these practices. It seems that the people of Constantinople exerted some level of political power in the given period and engaged in both supportive and subversive political practices. Divided into three main sections, this study examines the political participation of the people in its direct and indirect manifestations. Looking at both violent and non-violent political practices, the present study claims that the non-violent aspects of urban politics are predominant compared to the violent ones and that the former are also crucial to understanding the dynamics of the latter.