booklet of abstracts - Oxford University Byzantine Society

an attempt of creating cult. All of this was inorder to sanctify the imperial ancestry.Miroslav Popovic’s main interestsare the cultural history of the Macedonianperiod, Byzantine hagiography, the relationshipbetween hagiographic and historio graphicgenres in the tenth to twelfth centuries andthe spiritual and theological background ofeveryday life in Byzantium.Labelling the Local: TheArchangel Michael of ChonaiAlex Rodriguez SuarezUniversity of London – King’s CollegeThis paper deals with an epithet that makesreference to the Archangel Michael. The adjective,Choniates, describes the archangel as theone from Chonai. The city of Chonai housedthe most important sanctuary dedicated to theArchangel Michael in the Byzantine Empire,and consequently it was one of the most significantpilgrimage sites in Asia Minor. As oftoday, the nickname can be found in differentmedia, among them, a fresco from Cappadocia,a famous manuscript in Paris and several seals.These examples will be used in order to explainthe emergence of this phenomenon, whichseems to have lasted very briefly, probablyless than one century. Most of the inscriptionsare dated to the eleventh century. Therefore,the aim is to understand the reasons thatmay have led to the creation of such a geographiclabel. Although its existence may notappear extraordinary due to the significanceof the shrine at Chonai, the brevity of thephenomenon points to the opposite. The circumstancesin Anatolia during the second halfof the eleventh century could partly explainits invention. Furthermore, there is a politicalfigure with connections near Chonai who mayhave played a central role in the diffusion ofsuch a label and, moreover, the iconographictype attached to it. I will therefore argue thatwhat probably started as an image of provincialadvertisement was finally used as a meansof imperial propaganda.Alex Rodriguez Suarez’s researchinterests span the middle Byzantine Periodwith particular emphasis on the eleventhand twelfth centuries. The topic of his PhDis the Western presence and its effects onthe Byzantine society and culture during thereigns of Alexios I and John II Komnenos. Inaddition, he is particularly interested in subjectsrelated to art and iconography, such as theimage of the Archangel Michael accompaniedby the Choniates label, imperial representationsthereof and its evolution through time.The 2011 International Graduate Conference | 13