Vlad Sofronie, The Byzantine Court ceremonial and its impact on the French suite during the Second Crusade
The Byzantine Court Ceremonial And Its Impact On The French Suite During The Second Crusade
The study presents the French campaign during the second crusade with a special focus on the Byzantine ceremonial and how it was perceived by the chronic of Odo de Deuil. I try to analyze the way the ceremonial affected the relations between Louis VII. and Manuel Comnenos and if it had any impact on the future developing of the Latin psychological propaganda against Byzantium in the second part of the 12th century. The cause for the deterioration of the French-Byzantine relations was not the court ceremonial but the military failure of Louis VII. His defeat should have been justified in the Occident by the initiators of the crusade. The total collapse of the second crusade was the reason for the increased antibyzantine propaganda which is going to dominate the second half of the 12th century. The consequence for that was the military unfulfilment not the interpretation of the court ceremonial.
Keywords: Odo de Deuil, crusade, Louis VII., ceremonial, rituals, Constantinople, Manuel Comnenos.
Sources
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Specialized studies
- Berry, V.G., The second crusade; in: A History of the Crusades, ed. K. M. Setton, Philadelphia, 1955, p. 463-512.
- Hunger, H., Graeculus perfidus-Italos itamos. Il senso dell´alterità nei rapporti Greco-Romani ed Italo-Bizantini; con un´ introduzione di O. Kresten (Conferenze 4), Roma, 1987.
- Lilie, Ralph – Johannes, Byzanz und die Kreuzfahrerstaaten. Studien zur Politik des Byzantinischen Reiches gegenüber den Staaten der Kreuzfahrer in Syrien und Palästina bis zum vierten Kreuzzug (1096-1204), München, 1981.
- Magdalino, Paul, The Phenomen of Manuel I. Komnenos, in: Byzantium And The West c. 850-1200, Amsterdam, 1988, p. 171-201.
- Matthew, Donald, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily, Cambridge, 1992.
- Phillips, Jonathan, The second Crusade. Scope and Consequences, Manchester, 2003.
- Treitinger, Otto, Die oströmische Kaiser und Reichsidee nach ihrer Gestaltung im höfischen Zeremoniell, Darmstadt, 1969.
