Urban and rural conditions in the Byzantine Empire from the end of the thirteenth to the middle of the fourteenth century

Abstract

This thesis examines the social conditions in the Byzantine Empire from the end of the XIII to the middle of the XIV century. The crucial facts were: i. the disintegration of the Empire into almost autonomous provinces, which followed the system of pronoia granted to nobles on special terms; ii. the sharp class and political struggles. Firstly the causality of rivalries in both countryside and towns is traced. Such were the one between rich nobility and non-noble masses and those between various sections of the nobility. Special attention is given to the organisation of the various classes and to the relation between imperial internal policy and internal developments. The domination of the nobility in both towns and country and the Western intrusion and Eastern attacks appear as the main obstacles to social and technical progress. The religious issues of Hesychasm and Barlaamism with their social roots increased social polarisation. As a result came the civil wars of 1341 - 1354. Then the revolutionary lower classes supported the Palaiologi against the nobles, who supported John VI Cantacuzenus. In section C the civil wars are studied by comparing several sources. The phases of the wars are co-examined with the social policies of the rival parties. The revolutionaries had no homogeneity and were especially hindered by their noble leaders from taking radical measures. The control of the Palaiologian clique of Constantinople over the popular regimes proved fatal for the latter. The agreement of John V. Palaiologus and John VI Cantacuzenus in 1347 re-established the regime of 1341, but did not appease the old rivalries. The new civil war of 1351-1354 combined with a revival of the religious issues followed the pattern of the revolution of 1341-1347, but, like that, resulted in no radical change: the final deposition of John VI was a success of the Palaiologian nobility, not of the Palaiologian popular masses. John V's policy was generally similar to that of his opponent.