{"id":{"repo_id":"umn","oai_identifier":"oai:conservancy.umn.edu:11299/270588"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/umn/oai:conservancy.umn.edu:11299/270588","repository":{"repo_id":"umn","name":"University of Minnesota","base_url":"https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Byzantium and beyond: the Medieval Roman Empire and its world through the letters of patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos, 901-925 CE","abstract":"This project uses the approximately 200 extant letters of Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos (901 – 907, 912 – 925), to form a composite mosaic of the Medieval Roman Empire (i.e., Byzantium) and its world in the early tenth century. From social relationships and the ways gifts sustained them, to efforts to reign in borderland lords in the tenuously held provinces of Southern Italy, to large-scale diplomatic and religious entanglements with Rome and Baghdad, Nicholas’s letters highlight crucial elements of Byzantine society and Constantinople’s relationship with its neighbors. The letters shed light on phenomena like the ethnic “othering” of the Bulgarians in Nicholas’s thinking as well as efforts to spread orthodox Christianity to non-Christian peoples living in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The assemblage and analysis of this corpus not only presents a cogent image of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea in the Early Middle Ages, but also presents challenges to the historiographical idea of the “Byzantine Commonwealth,” discussed in the conclusion.","abstract_html":"This project uses the approximately 200 extant letters of Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos (901 – 907, 912 – 925), to form a composite mosaic of the Medieval Roman Empire (i.e., Byzantium) and its world in the early tenth century. From social relationships and the ways gifts sustained them, to efforts to reign in borderland lords in the tenuously held provinces of Southern Italy, to large-scale diplomatic and religious entanglements with Rome and Baghdad, Nicholas’s letters highlight crucial elements of Byzantine society and Constantinople’s relationship with its neighbors. The letters shed light on phenomena like the ethnic “othering” of the Bulgarians in Nicholas’s thinking as well as efforts to spread orthodox Christianity to non-Christian peoples living in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The assemblage and analysis of this corpus not only presents a cogent image of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea in the Early Middle Ages, but also presents challenges to the historiographical idea of the “Byzantine Commonwealth,” discussed in the conclusion.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Magnolia, Alex"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-10","date_published":"2024-10","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:20:00Z","subjects":["Byzantine empire","Byzantine letters","Byzantine patriarchate","Nicholas Mystikos","Tenth century"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/11299/270588","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Magnolia, Alex"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-03-21T14:57:41Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-03-21T14:57:41Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024-10"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis or Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Byzantine empire","Byzantine letters","Byzantine patriarchate","Nicholas Mystikos","Tenth century"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/11299/270588"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. October 2024. Major: History. Advisor: Andrea Sterk. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 340 pages."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This project uses the approximately 200 extant letters of Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos (901 – 907, 912 – 925), to form a composite mosaic of the Medieval Roman Empire (i.e., Byzantium) and its world in the early tenth century. From social relationships and the ways gifts sustained them, to efforts to reign in borderland lords in the tenuously held provinces of Southern Italy, to large-scale diplomatic and religious entanglements with Rome and Baghdad, Nicholas’s letters highlight crucial elements of Byzantine society and Constantinople’s relationship with its neighbors. The letters shed light on phenomena like the ethnic “othering” of the Bulgarians in Nicholas’s thinking as well as efforts to spread orthodox Christianity to non-Christian peoples living in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The assemblage and analysis of this corpus not only presents a cogent image of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea in the Early Middle Ages, but also presents challenges to the historiographical idea of the “Byzantine Commonwealth,” discussed in the conclusion."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Byzantium and beyond: the Medieval Roman Empire and its world through the letters of patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos, 901-925 CE"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Magnolia, Alex"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-03-21T14:57:41Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-03-21T14:57:41Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2024-10"],"dc:description":["University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. October 2024. Major: History. Advisor: Andrea Sterk. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 340 pages."],"dc:description.abstract":["This project uses the approximately 200 extant letters of Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos (901 – 907, 912 – 925), to form a composite mosaic of the Medieval Roman Empire (i.e., Byzantium) and its world in the early tenth century. From social relationships and the ways gifts sustained them, to efforts to reign in borderland lords in the tenuously held provinces of Southern Italy, to large-scale diplomatic and religious entanglements with Rome and Baghdad, Nicholas’s letters highlight crucial elements of Byzantine society and Constantinople’s relationship with its neighbors. The letters shed light on phenomena like the ethnic “othering” of the Bulgarians in Nicholas’s thinking as well as efforts to spread orthodox Christianity to non-Christian peoples living in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The assemblage and analysis of this corpus not only presents a cogent image of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea in the Early Middle Ages, but also presents challenges to the historiographical idea of the “Byzantine Commonwealth,” discussed in the conclusion."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/11299/270588"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["Byzantine empire","Byzantine letters","Byzantine patriarchate","Nicholas Mystikos","Tenth century"],"dc:title":["Byzantium and beyond: the Medieval Roman Empire and its world through the letters of patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos, 901-925 CE"],"dc:type":["Thesis or Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:20:00Z"}