Inspirational teacher and scholar dedicated to the study of Byzantium If Britain today provides a flourishing base from which to study Byzantium, the eastern Roman Christian empire that flowered between 330 and 1453, Anthony Bryer, who has died aged 78, is the individual responsible. He was an inspiring teacher and the pioneer in promoting the growth in interest in medieval Greek and Turkish culture in the 1960s, when “Byzantine” was more often used as a term of abuse. Through his creation in 1976 of a centre for Byzantine studies at the University of Birmingham, he built a beacon of excellence and revolutionised the subject’s appeal. Accompanied by generations of students, he led expeditions exploring the Byzantine and Ottoman buildings and culture of north-eastern Turkey, the Pontos and the Pontic Alps behind Trebizond. In 1975 he founded the journal Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. His energetic enthusiasm generated worldwide devotion among scholars and the very large number of Byzantine PhDs he trained. The annual spring symposium he established was noted for its hospitality to visitors. Continue reading...
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