Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Dedication
Contents
Preface
1 In Search of Late Byzantine Rural Island Communities
In Search of the People
Approaches to Byzantine Rural Communities
Rural Communities, Not Peasants
Resilient Rural Communities in Tumultuous Times
An Island Perspective
The Path to Late Byzantine Rural Communities in the Northern Aegean
2 Who's Who in the Rural Landscape: The Makeup of Late Byzantine Rural Communities
The Paroikoi (Dependent Peasants)
Households and Houses
The Role of Land

Other Markers of Wealth
Social Roles
Relationships within and among Families
Free Peasants and Landholders
Monastics
Monastic Fortunes and Economic Activities
The Emperor and His Court
Conclusion
3 Pathways of Resilience
Settlement Patterns in Turbulent Times
Lemnos
Settlement Hierarchy
Thasos
Settlement Hierarchy
Site Comparison of the Two Islands
Socioeconomic Strategies against Crises: Lessons from the Paroikoi
Keeping It in the Family
Collaborations
Diversifying One's Economic Portfolio

''Voting with Their Feet'': Mobility as an Economic and Political Strategy
Staying Connected
Sea Trade and Ceramic Connections
Monastic Connections
Political Connections
The Deserted Fourteenth-Century Rural Landscape: Myth or Reality?
Conclusion
4 Defending the Realm
Protected by Saints
Protected by Walls
Lemnos
Thasos
Defense Networks
Lemnos
Thasos
Protected by People
Conclusion
5 Community-Building in the Face of Crisis: A Landscape Approach
Naming the Landscape: Knowing the Landscape
Moving in the Landscape

Social Networks in the Rural Landscape
Mnemonic Landscapes and the Creation of a Pan-Byzantine Narrative
Conclusion
6 The Return of the People
The Good, the Bad, and the Resilient
History from the Ground Up
Small-Scale Projects in Search of Resilience
Island Perspectives
Resilient Byzantine Rural Communities in a Modern World
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Index