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The separation of '''Byzantine''' [[history]] into periods, like any historical periodization, is one artificially imposed by scholars. The most broadly used periodization is the tripartite division into early, middle, and late periods. This system has, however, two substantial shortcomings: first of all, it is based not on actual historical developments, but on the dubious philosophical premise that three is a [[magic]]al figure; second, there is no common consensus concerning the borderlines between particular periods. The conventional system of periodization places the beginning of Byz. history either in the early 4th C. with the foundation of [[Constantinople]] by [[Constantine I]] the Great or at the end of that century with the division of the empire into Eastern and Western halves under the sons of Theodosios I, Arkadios and Honorius. There is much less agreement about what marks the end of the “early Byzantine” period (and, accordingly, the beginning of the “middle Byzantine” period); it has been variously dated to 565 (death of [[Justinian I]]), 610 (accession of Herakleios), 717 (beginning of the Isaurian dynasty), and 843 (defeat of [[Iconoclasm]] and the Triumph of Orthodoxy). For the end of the middle Byzantine period scholars have usually chosen either 1071 (battle of Mantzikert) or 1204 (capture of Constantinople by the Latins). The “late Byzantine” period is traditionally dated from 1204 (or 1261, the recovery of Constantinople by the Byz.) to 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Turks.

The separation of '''Byzantine''' [[history]] into periods, like any historical periodization, is one artificially imposed by scholars. The most broadly used periodization is the tripartite division into early, middle, and late periods. This system has, however, two substantial shortcomings: first of all, it is based not on actual historical developments, but on the dubious philosophical premise that three is a [[magic]]al figure; second, there is no common consensus concerning the borderlines between particular periods. The conventional system of periodization places the beginning of Byz. history either in the early 4th C. with the foundation of [[Constantinople]] by [[Constantine I]] the Great or at the end of that century with the division of the empire into Eastern and Western halves under the sons of Theodosios I, Arkadios and Honorius. There is much less agreement about what marks the end of the “early Byzantine” period (and, accordingly, the beginning of the “middle Byzantine” period); it has been variously dated to 565 (death of [[Justinian I]]), 610 (accession of Herakleios), 717 (beginning of the Isaurian dynasty), and 843 (defeat of [[Iconoclasm]] and the Triumph of Orthodoxy). For the end of the middle Byzantine period scholars have usually chosen either 1071 (battle of Mantzikert) or 1204 (capture of Constantinople by the Latins). The “late Byzantine” period is traditionally dated from 1204 (or 1261, the recovery of Constantinople by the Byz.) to 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Turks.

How to cite this entry:

How to cite this entry:

[http://0-www.oxfordreference.com.library.acaweb.org/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t174.e0864.s0001 Byzantium, History of  The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]. Ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan. Oxford University Press 1991.   

[https://0-www.oxfordreference.com.library.acaweb.org/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t174.e0864.s0001 Byzantium, History of  The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]. Ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan. Oxford University Press 1991.   

[[Category: History]]

[[Category: History]]