Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Diplomatic correspondence between Byzantium and the Mamlūk Sultanate in the fourteenth century1

Diplomatic correspondence between Byzantium and the Mamlūk Sultanate in the fourteenth century1 The present paper studies the titles of the Byzantine emperors used by the Mamlūk chancery. The surviving Mamlūk chancery textbooks of the fourteenth century provide us with new, rich data on the modes of address customarily employed by the Mamlūk sultans in writing to the Byzantine emperors. What determined the choice of a particular title? Were these titles translated into Arabic from the Byzantine originals or were these formulas the inventions of the Mamlūk secretaries? Was the attitude demonstrated by the Mamlūks towards the Byzantine emperor an innovation in chancery practice, or was it a part of a traditional view, shared by other great powers, the Īlkhāns, of the role of the emperor as head of Christendom? The investigation of the Mamlūk formula of the address of the Byzantine emperor clearly demonstrates that almost all the titles of the emperor were composed by the Mamlūk secretaries. The titles help us restore the traditional perception of the Byzantium in the Muslim countries in the fourteenth century. Despite the decline of Byzantium, the emperor was still considered as head of Christendom, the successor of Alexander the Great of Macedonia and the chief protector of the Christian faith. Such perception was demonstrated not only by the Mamlūk, but also the Īlkhānid chancery. However, the Mamlūks brought about an innovation: they recognised the concept of the so‐called Byzantine Commonwealth, an association of the Orthodox states with the Byzantine emperor as its head. It seems that the Orthodox Church that participated in the relations between Byzantium and the Muslim East, was a channel of communication which brought the idea of the Commonwealth into Mamlūk diplomatic practice. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean Taylor & Francis

Diplomatic correspondence between Byzantium and the Mamlūk Sultanate in the fourteenth century1

Download PDF
22 pages

Diplomatic correspondence between Byzantium and the Mamlūk Sultanate in the fourteenth century1

Abstract

The present paper studies the titles of the Byzantine emperors used by the Mamlūk chancery. The surviving Mamlūk chancery textbooks of the fourteenth century provide us with new, rich data on the modes of address customarily employed by the Mamlūk sultans in writing to the Byzantine emperors. What determined the choice of a particular title? Were these titles translated into Arabic from the Byzantine originals or were these formulas the inventions of the Mamlūk...
Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/diplomatic-correspondence-between-byzantium-and-the-maml-k-sultanate-s0Lt1U1YWy
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1473-348X
eISSN
0950-3110
DOI
10.1080/0950311042000202524
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The present paper studies the titles of the Byzantine emperors used by the Mamlūk chancery. The surviving Mamlūk chancery textbooks of the fourteenth century provide us with new, rich data on the modes of address customarily employed by the Mamlūk sultans in writing to the Byzantine emperors. What determined the choice of a particular title? Were these titles translated into Arabic from the Byzantine originals or were these formulas the inventions of the Mamlūk secretaries? Was the attitude demonstrated by the Mamlūks towards the Byzantine emperor an innovation in chancery practice, or was it a part of a traditional view, shared by other great powers, the Īlkhāns, of the role of the emperor as head of Christendom? The investigation of the Mamlūk formula of the address of the Byzantine emperor clearly demonstrates that almost all the titles of the emperor were composed by the Mamlūk secretaries. The titles help us restore the traditional perception of the Byzantium in the Muslim countries in the fourteenth century. Despite the decline of Byzantium, the emperor was still considered as head of Christendom, the successor of Alexander the Great of Macedonia and the chief protector of the Christian faith. Such perception was demonstrated not only by the Mamlūk, but also the Īlkhānid chancery. However, the Mamlūks brought about an innovation: they recognised the concept of the so‐called Byzantine Commonwealth, an association of the Orthodox states with the Byzantine emperor as its head. It seems that the Orthodox Church that participated in the relations between Byzantium and the Muslim East, was a channel of communication which brought the idea of the Commonwealth into Mamlūk diplomatic practice.

Journal

Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean – Taylor & Francis

Published: Mar 1, 2004

There are no references for this article.