.11-13 Century Byzantine Royal Status Of Women Inquiry

The 11-13th century was one transitional period of Byzantine society. After the transient resurgence of imperial court of Macedonia, Byzantine Empire began to decline. The disintegration of the Military Area ,the bankruptcy of the small-scale peasant economy, the constant inflation of the great noblemen's force, the confusion of internal affairs during this period caused the decline of this great empire.The unsteady situation , the weakening of man's control and the evolution of religious concept and social ideology in this period provided many opportunities for the royal women to play an active role on the historical stage. In the political, economic and cultural fields, these women wielded a certain amount of power, which proved that their social and family status was went higher than before. Compared with the women in the same period in western Europe and Moslem women in the East, Byzantine women enjoyed more chances to participate in politics and economic life.This thesis consists of the preamble,the text and conclusion. the preamble instroduces the external research condition and gives definition to a few important ideas. The text is divided into three parts.with the method of comparison, the first chapter expounds the social status of Byzantine imperial women from the aspects of education , social communication, marital status , the participation in government and political affairs and economic status. In the second chapter, the author analyzes according to the ideology what Byzantine people expected to the roles of the empress dowager , queen and Princess. In the third chapter, the author analyzes what caused the royal women's social and family politicis.In the conclusionpart,the author introduces briefly the social situation at that time and generalizes Byzantine women's overall status in the society.