The depiction of natural disasters in middle Byzantine histories (867-1204)

Abstract

This thesis not only presents the natural disasters that occurred in the Byzantine Empire between 867 and 1204, as recorded in a group of selected Middle Byzantine narrative histories, but also analyzes the depiction of these disasters. It intends to understand the Byzantine perception of natural disasters. Through such an analysis, the thesis offers new perspectives on different sense-making systems; especially on the difference between natural/scientific and divine/religious conceptualizations in the minds of Middle Byzantine historians. Another objective is to provide a broader approach to previous studies that analyze Byzantine interpretations of natural disaster narratives. These studies evaluating the Byzantine perspective on disasters have mostly focused on earthquakes and, they have failed to emphasize the common features of these disasters. Therefore, in the present study, in addition to earthquakes, narratives of other disasters such as storms, floods, and droughts are evaluated together, and the similarities in the descriptions of these disasters are emphasized. Such natural disasters are examined under three subtitles; earthquakes, atmospheric phenomena, pestilence and pests. All Byzantine historians mentioned in this thesis were members of the upper class and were highly educated in both Christian and classical texts. Therefore, they had full knowledge of both observational and religious explanations of natural disasters. However, it is clear that religious explanations predominate for Byzantine historians, although they include explanations based on natural observation.