The late Byzantine age, from the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 to the fall of the last independent Greek territories to the Ottomans in 1461, was not only a period of political decline, but also of intensive cultural activity. The essays assembled in this volume discuss the works and lives of various authors (Nikephoros and Theodoros Xanthopoulos, Theodoros Metochites, Nikephoros Gregoras and Manuel Philes), they investigate issues such as ancient Greek and contemporary Western influences on the literary production, and discuss themes of material culture and, with a clear focus on Constantinople, of social, administrative and economical history.

A. Berger, University of Munich; G. Prinzing, University of Mainz; S. Mariev, University of Munich; A. Riehle, University of Vienna.