CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2001
| Author | Nikita Khrapunov |
|---|---|
| Title | The Administration of a Byzantine Provincial City from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century on the Example of Cherson |
| Summary | The purpose of the thesis is to sum up the results of previous studies and examine the development of the administration of Cherson during the Byzantine period against this background. Such a study will allow the following: answering some minor questions connected to concrete administrative positions or patterns of Cherson’s administrative machinery, and the formulation of some general conclusions related to the reasons for and course of the administrative reforms in the Crimea, the continuity of the administration of Cherson, and the similarities and differences of the administration of Cherson and the principles of its development compared with those of other Byzantine provincial urban centres. This thesis consists of two major parts, a descriptive and an analytical. The first part includes three chapters corresponding to the three basic administrative systems, which replaced one another in Cherson during the Byzantine period: the doukate, the archontate, and the theme. The second part of the study is included in the fourth chapter, where the three basic aspects of the administrative history of Cherson—the evolution, the continuity, and the general principle of development—are analysed. In the appendix there is a study on the problem of the city’s change of name in the fifth and sixth centuries. After Justinian I (527–565) had extended his possessions in the Crimea to a considerable extent, a new province was established there. The government was entrusted to a Byzantine military governor, titled the doux of Cherson. The weakening of Byzantium through the seventh century resulted in its territories in the Crimea being restricted to Cherson. By the eighth century, the archontate, the administrative unit the staff of which combined their connection with the local community and recognition by Byzantium, had been established in Cherson. During the reign of Theophilos (829–842), the Empire annexed the Klimata in southwestern Crimea, and established there a theme with the capital in Cherson. The supreme power in the theme belonged to the general, strategos, with a subordinate staff of officers including the officials of the municipality. In the period between the late tenth and the mid-eleventh century, the themes of Bosporos and Sougdaia were separated from this unit. The three Crimean themes were united in the framework of a katepanate with the centre in Cherson. The latest information on a Byzantine official in Cherson dates from the late eleventh century. The study of the administration of Cherson has allowed me to raise the question of the continuity of the administration of this city from its Late Classical predecessors. This continuity manifested itself in the preservation of some offices closely connected with the community of Cherson. The nature of these offices changed over the course of time, which made the succession of the administrative machinery of Cherson during the given period a gradual transition. The administrative development of Late Classical and medieval Cherson depended on the political situation in the Crimea. A strengthening of the Byzantine power on the peninsula resulted in enlarging the territory subordinated to it. A new province was established on the newly acquired territories, with the power concentrated in hands of the military governor appointed from Constantinople. A weakening of the Empire resulted in the restriction of the Byzantine Crimea to the limits of the fortifications of Cherson, and the reinforcement of the elements of Cherson’s self-government. The general pattern of the development of the administration of the Byzantine Crimea was similar to that of the Balkans. |
| Supervisor | Perczel, I., Palmer, A. |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2001/khrapunov_nikita.pdf |
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