{"product_id":"women-in-purple-rulers-of-medieval-byzantium","title":"Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the eighth and ninth centuries  three Byzantine empressesIrene  Euphrosyne  and Theodorachanged history. Their combined efforts restored the veneration of icons  saving Byzantium from a purely symbolic and decorative art and ensuring its influence for centuries to come.  In this exhilarating and highly entertaining account  one of the foremost historians of the medieval period tells the story of how these fascinating women exercised imperial sovereignty with consummate skill and sometimes ruthless tactics. Though they gained access to the all-pervasive authority of the Byzantine ruling dynasty through marriage  all three continued to wear the imperial purple and wield tremendous power as widows. From Constantinople  their own Queen City  the empresses undermined competitors and governed like men. They conducted diplomacy across the known world  negotiating with the likes of Charlemagne  Roman popes  and the great Arab caliph Harun al Rashid.  Vehemently rejecting the ban on holy images instituted by their male relatives  Irene and Theodora used craft and power to reverse the official iconoclasm and restore icons to their place of adoration in the Eastern Church. In so doing  they profoundly altered the course of history. The artand not only the artof Byzantium  of Islam  and of the West would have been very different without them.  As Judith Herrin traces the surviving evidence  she evokes the complex and deeply religious world of Constantinople in the aftermath of Arab conquest. She brings to life its monuments and palaces  its court ceremonies and rituals  the role of eunuchs (the \"third sex\")  bride shows  and the influence of warring monks and patriarchs. Based on new research and written for a general audience  Women in Purple reshapes our understanding of an empire that lasted a thousand years and splashes fresh light on the relationship of women to power.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44963037347893,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691095000","price":95.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691095004.jpg?v=1770404521","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/women-in-purple-rulers-of-medieval-byzantium","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}