For several years now, sigillography as an independent subarea in the field of Byzantine studies has received increasing attention from both Byzantine studies and related disciplines, because it is the only area still able to provide academia with large amounts of material not previously analysed. The articles of Studies in Byzantine Sigillography deal with all aspects of Byzantine sigillography: presentation of new finds, discussion of new methods, questions of the political and ecclesiastical administration of Byzantinum, prosopography, historical geography, and art historical and iconographical problems. In addition, the volumes contain a loosely arranged list of Byzantine seals, which have been published in essays and auction catalogues, thus enabling those from more obscure publications to be located and identified.

Sigillography has provided Byzantine studies with large amounts of new material for analysis. The articles in Studies in Byzantine Sigillography deal with all aspects of Byzantine sigillography: presentation of new finds, discussion of new methods, questions of the political and ecclesiastical administration of Byzantium, prosopography, historical geography, and art-historical and iconographical problems.

Volume 9 mainly contains lectures from the 8th International Symposium on Byzantine Sigillography in October 2003, in Berlin. Besides the iconography of seals, much emphasis was placed on questions of Byzantine administration. Further, selected collections are presented, as well as a large number of new finds and new acquisitions.

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies presents discussions by leading experts on all significant aspects of this diverse and fast-growing field. Byzantine Studies deals with the history and culture of the Byzantine Empire, the eastern half of the Late Roman Empire, from the fourth to the fourteenth century. Its centre was the city formerly known as Byzantium, refounded as Constantinople in 324 CE, the present-day Istanbul. Under its emperors, patriarchs, and all-pervasive bureaucracy Byzantium developed a distinctive society: Greek in language, Roman in legal system, and Christian in religion. Byzantium's impact in the European Middle Ages is hard to over-estimate, as a bulwark against invaders, as a meeting-point for trade from Asia and the Mediterranean, as a guardian of the classical literary and artistic heritage, and as a creator of its own magnificent artistic style.

For several years now, sigillography as an independent subarea in the field of Byzantine studies has received increasing attention from both Byzantine studies and related disciplines, as it is the only area still able to provide academia with large amounts of material not previously analysed. The articles of Studies in Byzantine Sigillography deal with all aspects of Byzantine sigillography: presentation of new finds, discussion of new methods, questions of the political and ecclesiastical administration of Byzantium, prosopography, historical geography, and art-historical and iconographical problems.

Volume 3 includes seals with place names from west, northwest, and central Asia Minor and the Orient. Each section begins with a short essay on the region's history. Each seal is illustrated and accompanied--where appropriate--by commentary on date, its owner, peculiarities of orthography, and special features of iconography.

This volume reflects the different methods and new approaches to the study of Byzantine history that have characterized the work of Paul Speck, to whom it is dedicated, and above all, his insistence on a close reading and careful interpretation of the sources. These aims are encapsulated in the introduction by John Haldon, which gives a sense of where future studies should lead new generations of scholars. The following studies, by many of the leading authorities in their fields, look at a whole range of aspects of the history of Byzantium - its culture, theology, linguistics, literature, historiography, sigillography and art - and at the place of the Byzantine empire within the late antique and medieval worlds.

This volume contains primarily papers of the 11th International Symposium held in Istanbul (May 2014) and of the last Congres of Byzantine Studies in Belgrade (August 2016). There are papers about the seals as historical source and archaeological finding presenting their role in the Byzantine Prosopography, Byzantine Administration, Historical Geography and Byzantine Art History.

For several years now, sigillography as an independent subarea in the field of Byzantine studies has received increasing attention from both Byzantine studies and related disciplines, because it is the only area still able to provide academia with large amounts of material not previously analysed. The articles of Studies in Byzantine Sigillography deal with all aspects of Byzantine sigillography: presentation of new finds, discussion of new methods, questions of the political and ecclesiastical administration of Byzantinum, prosopography, historical geography, and art historical and iconographical problems. In addition, the volumes contain a loosely arranged list of Byzantine seals, which have been published in essays and auction catalogues, thus enabling those from more obscure publications to be located and identified.

The articles republished in this volume are ground-breaking studies that employ a large body of religious figural imagery of Byzantine lead seals ranging from the 6th to the 15th century. A number of the studies present tables, charts and graphs in their analysis of iconographic trends and changing popularity of saintly figures over time. And since many of the seals bear inscriptions that include the names, titles or offices of their owners, information often not given for the patrons of sacred images in other media, these diminutive objects permit an investigation into the social use of sacred imagery through the various sectors of Byzantine culture: the civil, ecclesiastical and military administrations. The religious figural imagery of the lead seals, accompanied by their owners’ identifying inscriptions, offers a means of investigating both the broader visual piety of the Byzantine world and the intimate realm of their owners’ personal devotions. Other studies in this volume are devoted to rare or previously unknown sacred images that demonstrate the value of the iconography of Byzantine lead seals for Byzantine studies in general. This volume includes studies dedicated to the image of Christ, primarily found on imperial seals, various images of the Virgin, and narrative or Christological scenes. A companion volume presents various articles focusing on sphragistic images of saints and on the religious imagery of Byzantine seals as a means of investigating the personal piety of seal owners, as well as the wider realm of the visual piety and religious devotions of Byzantine culture at all levels. (CS1085)