Alexios among the Heretics: Ethnic and Religious Violence in the Komnenian Era, lecture by Teresa Shawcross (Princeton University), King’s College London, November 29, 2016, 5:30–6:30 pm

State violence was transformed during the period of the Komnenoi (1081-1185). Specific types of persecution emerged under the dynastic founder, including the singling out of individuals and small groups to be put on trial for heresy and confronted with the ultimate penalty: burning at the stake. Subsequent members of the dynasty continued to profess an interest in these procedures, but they also pursued alternatives. A shift of emphasis occurred to mass arrests and, ultimately, pogroms. The talk considers this change against the backdrop of the evolving nature of imperial authority in both domestic and foreign settings.

Teresa Shawcross is Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University. Her current research explores the consequences of the fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade. Interested in theories and practices of empire, she is completing a book on the transition from Byzantine to Ottoman rule. Her publications include: The Chronicle of Morea: Historiography in Crusader Greece (Oxford, 2009).