Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople

"The Monastery of Pantokrator, founded by John II Komnenos and his wife Piroska-Irene, is not only one of the most important and most impressive monastic complexes of the Komnenian age, it is also one of the few to occupy a key position in the life of Constantinople in the Palaiologan age, given that its mortuary chapel (Heroon) was also the last resting place of many members of the latter dynasty. The first attempt to chronicle its history, based on the texts known at the time, was undertaken by G. Moravscik (1932). Interest was rekindled by P. Gautier’s critical edition of its Typikon (1971), and more recently by restoration work on its buildings. This volume brings together a comprehensive selection of all the texts concerning or connected with the Monastery of Pantokrator, and through them it demonstrates the Monastery’s importance and its role throughout the history of the Byzantine Empire—a role that has received insufficient attention, given that older studies have tended to focus on the 12th century. The texts cover the situation in Constantinople before the Monastery was founded, the historical and cultural context within which it was established, its Typikon (monastic for