Byzantine Empresses

Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204

Byzantine Empresses provides a series of biographical portraits of the most significant Byzantine women who ruled or shared the throne between 527 and 1204. It presents and analyses the available historical data in order to outline what these empresses did, what the sources thought they did, and what they wanted to do.

Review: 'a solid, readable guide to personalities and actions, a mine of useful and informative material.' - The Classical Review

'A much-needed addition to the study of Byzantine empresses. The scope of the work will make it the most comprehensive guide in the years to come. Specialists will find Byzantine Empresses a valuable source for references, while beginners to the subject will gain an understanding of the range of and limitations on female imperial power throughout Byzantine history.' - Speculum-A Journal of Medieval Studies

'The reader cannot come away from the book without being aware of the issues which historians have deemed important in the era concerned.' - Anna Williams, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies