The Komnenian era was marked by an ultra-conservative political programme that reinforced imperial authority through Orthodox theology and Roman-Byzantine legal traditions. Under Manuel I Komnenos, imperial propaganda employed a highly sacerdotal vocabulary to portray the emperor as a divinely sanctioned ruler. This study examines how rhetoric mediated between law and society, framing sacral imperial imagery as a component of Byzantine public law and constitutional culture. It argues that Orthodoxy functioned not merely as a religious doctrine but as a calculated tool of imperial propaganda and legitimacy within the broader framework of Byzantine political and legal ideology.
Evangelos Stavropoulos, Ph.D (2017) University Paris Sud â Jean Monnet, is Professor of History of Law and Institutions at the university. He has published monographs and articles on Roman and Byzantine constitutional culture, including Imperium et Sacerdotium, Droit et Pouvoir sous Manuel Ier Comnène (Brepols, 2021).
Tableau: Theodore Prodrome, Ged. XI Tableaux chronologiques Bibliographie Indices
This book appeals to scholars, professors, and academic libraries focused on Byzantine and Medieval History, legal and institutional history, political science, and religious studies.