The naming of Byzantium and the Old FrenchPartonopeus de Blois
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy (qualitative literary and historical textual analysis).
OpenAlex W2927896100 · doi:10.1017/byz.2018.24
What was done
The author conducted a linguistic and literary analysis of the 12th-century Old French romance Partonopeus de Blois, focusing on its use of the designation 'Byzantium' rather than standard medieval alternatives like 'Greek' or 'Constantinopolitan Empire'. The study examined the origins of the modern belief that 'Byzantium' was applied to the medieval state only starting in the 16th century and explored potential mechanisms for its introduction into the Old French text.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data. Textual analysis challenged the premise that 'Byzantium' was strictly a post-medieval historical designation and argued that its introduction into Partonopeus de Blois was primarily motivated by storytelling needs rather than broad East-West ideological conflict.
Why it matters
This work challenges the standard historiographical timeline regarding the nomenclature of the Byzantine Empire by identifying a 12th-century vernacular literary precedent.
Limits
The abstract describes a qualitative textual analysis focused primarily on a single medieval text. It does not provide quantitative corpus metrics or systematic comparative data across contemporaneous medieval manuscripts.
Cited by
- supports Western Europeans used the name 'Empire of the Greeks' for approximately one thousand years before adopting the term 'Byzantine Empire'.