Politics, Conflict and the Monastic Topography of 15th-Century Constantinople

Politics, Conflict and the Monastic Topography of 15th-Century Constantinople By Nicholas Melvani Copyright 2026DescriptionThis study of Constantinople’s monasteries within their urban framework during the last decades of Byzantium (1394–1453) explores the activity of monks, nuns, and affiliated laypeople such as patrons just before the city’s Ottoman conquest and transformation into the capital of an Islamic Empire.The book captures aspects of Byzantine institutions, social and economic networks, scholarly and artistic activity, spiritual trends, and the city’s appearance during its final phase as the capital of the Byzantine Empire, when culture and religious life were caught between the Italian Renaissance and the Ottoman expansion. The Byzantine capital was merely the nucleus of a city-state, but still preserved a part of its imperial heritage and memories of its past glory. The chapters tell the story of Constantinople at the moment the city’s monuments and built environment left their final mark on the landscape on the shores of the Bosporus.These fresh insights into Byzantine religious, cultural, and urban history – and updated picture of one of the most legendary cities of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period – will appeal not only to scholars and students of Byzantine and Ottoman culture, but also to anyone interested in the entangled world of the Eastern Mediterranean.Table of Contents Introduction1. Monastic Authority and Public Life in the “City-State” of Constantinople2. Monks and Nuns in the Entangled Economies of the Eastern Mediterranean3. Monasteries and Social Networks in Late Palaiologan Constantinople4. Monastic Hesychia and Byzantine Humanism5. Monasteries and Visual Culture in 15th-Century Constantinople6. The Sacred Topography of 15th-Century ConstantinopleConclusionAuthor(s) BiographyNicholas Melvani is Research Associate at Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz and has held fellowships at Koç University in Istanbul and at Princeton University. His publications include the monograph Late Byzantine Sculpture (2013) and numerous articles on Byzantine sculpture, epigraphy, monasticism, and the topography of Constantinople.Book Series This book is included in the following book series:Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies