Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection: Volume Four: Alexius I to Michael VIII, 1081-1261

Dumbarton Oaks
edited by Michael F. Hendy
ISBN: 0884022331
price: $240.00  

The period covered by this fourth volume of the Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, 1081 to 1261, is perhaps the most interesting and attractive in the long existence of the Byzantine Empire, whether historically or numismatically. It is now increasingly recognized that the twelfth century was a time of transition, and even major change, within a wide range of areas-governmental and social, economic and cultural-and all of this is by no means in accordance with the formerly dominant paradigm of territorial shrinkage, economic decline, and cultural stagnation. The second part of the period covered, 1204 to 1261, signaled by the capture of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, witnessed prolonged military and political confusion, not infrequently involving dramatic fluctuations in fortune, as the main successor states-Byzantine, Latin, and Slav-attempted a reconstruction of the former unitary empire, with the issue of coinages along previous lines being part and parcel of such attempts.
Both the earlier and later parts of the period produced their own admirable and attractive individual rulers: Alexius I (1081-1118), who went far in reestablishing and stabilizing Byzantine power and authority, including a thoroughgoing and lasting reform of the coinage; Manuel I (1143-80), the last emperor to consistently dominate the affairs of the Mediterranean basin; John III (1221-54), the "Nicaean" emperor who made possible the recovery of Constantinople in 1261; the "Latin" emperor Henry (1205/6-16); and even the Bulgarian tsar Ivan II (1218-41).
In form this volume continues along the organizational lines of its predecessors, with some adjustments in balance and emphasis. Several sections have been given a more extensive treatment than hitherto: imperial costume and regalia, recognizing appropriately their importance in coin designs; the coordination, control, and methods of coin production, which has significant implications for the chronology and volume of the period's coinage; and an excursus on the main issues of the years ±1204, to provide a counterweight to the more eccentric theories that have marked much recent work on the subject. The introductions to each reign have also been expanded beyond those in previous volumes to take account of the historical and numismatic complexities of the period, and many more specimens from outside Dumbarton Oaks have been illustrated, offering a greater degree of coverage for the rare and spasmodic issues of the second half of the period than even the remarkable resources of the collection are able to provide.