Subjects and Space in Roman and Serbian Lands - Ideology and Worldmaking in the Thirteenth Century

Ideology remains one of the most used yet rarely defined concepts in Byzantine and Medieval Serbian Studies. Focusing on the decades following the Crusaders’ conquest of Byzantine lands, this book bridges modern theory and interpretation of medieval texts to redefine ideology as a practice of performative storytelling. Vukašinovic rereads overlooked narratives from Nicaea, Epiros and Serbia—from court orations and hagiographies to monastic donations and juridical opinions—not as mere representations of events, but as social acts that shaped the world. Developing a model of how humans become subjects and produce space, the study reveals how emperors, bishops, monks, and peasants alike acted as storytellers, heroes and agents of history. It argues for diverse forms of social and political agency, challenging conventional notions of Byzantine fragmentation and Serbian independence.