Oxford history of the christian church

General Works.

The best short account of the general historical background (with notes on the sources) is G. Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, 2nd English edn. based on the 3rd German edn. of 1963 with a few bibliographical additions (Oxford, 1968). L. Bréhier, Le Monde byzantin, 3 vols. (Paris, 1947-50), covers the whole range of Byzantine life; the second volume (Institutions) has a section on the Church and has its uses but does not bring out the element of change and now needs some revision. The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. IV, pts 1 and 2 (Cambridge, 1966-7), covers most aspects of Byzantine history and life including chapters on ecclesiastical topics; it has detailed bibliography to about 1966. H. Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer (Paris, 1966) covers a good deal more than the title would suggest and has a running commentary on the course of Byzantine history. Among more recent general treatments are A. Guillou, La Civilisation byzantine (Paris, 1974) and A. P. Kazhdan, Byzanz und seine Kultur (Berlin, 1973), both useful for discussion of social, economic and cultural factors, if only partially adequate on the Church. Kazhdan finds Guillou's treatment of the Church 'logical and harmonious', the church is plucked from its mystical haze and dumped into the thick of administrative life'. R. Browning, The Byzantine Empire (London, 1980) provides a brief introduction but is better on literature than the Church. Other personal interpretations are put forward by H.-G. Beck, Das byzantinische Jahrtausend (Munich, 1978) and C. Mango, Byzantium: The Empire of New Rome (London, 1980). A good introduction to the influence of Byzantium and its Church on the Balkan peoples and Russia is found in D. Obolensky, The Byzantine Commonwealth (London, 1971). For general comments on the early medieval background see J. Herrin, The Formation of Christendom (Blackwell, 1987). A selection of sources is given by C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1972, reprinted Toronto, 1986).

One of the best descriptions of the impact of Christianity on the Byzantine Empire is given by H. Hunger, Reich der neuen Mitte: Der christliche Geist der byzantinischen Kultur (Graz, Vienna, and Cologne, 1965). H. Jedin (gen. ed.), Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte (Freiburg, Basel, and Vienna), II, 2 (1975) and III, 1 and 2 (1966-8) contains chapters on the Byzantine Church by H.-G. Beck, but these have now been superseded by H.-G. Beck, Geschichte der orthodoxen Kirche im byzantinischen Reich (Göttingen, 1980). Jedin has a full bibliography but this is inconveniently split between the different volumes; volume I has much that is relevant to the later period. The older A. Fliche and F. Martin, Histoire de l'église depuis les origines jusqu'à nos jours (Paris, 1934 ff.) still retains some value (see Bréhier and Amann in vols. 5-7). G. Every, The Byzantine Patriarchate 451-1204, 2nd edn. (London, 1962) presents a stimulating if sometimes controversial discussion of the historical setting but only to 1204. There is a good, if exceedingly brief, survey by D. Knowles and D. Obolensky, The Christian Centuries, II, The Middle Ages (London, 1969), giving both the eastern and western points of view.