The Forms and Evolution of the Dress and Regalia of the Byzantine Court: c. 900 – c. 1400

Abstract

The thesis begins by identifying the nature, form and decoration of the regalia garments and accessories employed within the Byzantine court that are referred to in the <i>Taktikon Klêtôrologion</i> of Philotheos and the <i>Book of Ceremonies</i> of Constantine VII Porphyrogenetos. The rich nature of the literary sources of this period makes it possible to focus primarily upon the garments and accessories themselves by name. Considerations of how they were used and by whom they were worn will be secondary. In addition to analysing the internal evidence of these and other literary sources, comparisons are made with relevant pictorial sources, and contrasts made with prevalent non-regalia clothing where appropriate. Methods of reconstruction are also employed to elucidate and illustrate theories regarding particular items.<br/>Following this, the evolution of the regalia through the eleventh and twelfth centuries is traced. Defining changes in the use of decorated fabrics and alterations in the form of garments and accessories employed as regalia. The evidence considered in this section will rely much more upon pictorial material than literary, and as a result the question of ranks and the changes in the <i>taxis</i> of the court which took place in the later eleventh and early twelfth centuries will be examined. Again, reconstructive methods and sources for prosaic dress are drawn upon to elucidate this process.<br/>The final part considers the restoration of the court and regalia after the radical disjunction of the Fourth Crusade sack and occupation of Constantinople, and development of the forms recorded in the fourteenth-century <i>taktikon</i> entitled <i>Treatise on the Offices</i>. In this period the literary and pictorial sources are highly convergent and more readily mutually supportive, and therefore conclusions can be drawn with a very high degree of confidence. The practices of the Palaiologan court also shed significant light upon the difficulties of the recovery from the Fourth Crusade, and the cultural losses occasioned by that event.