ИСТИНА

My dissertation is devoted to the practices of ecclesiastic patronage on the Late Medieval Balkans (from the late 13th century to the mid of the 15th century). It attempts to define the ktetoria as a total social phenomenon manifesting itself in various aspects of Byzantine and Slavic Societies (such as flows of capital, land accumulation, state ideology, rhetoric, literacy, archival techniques, visual artistic expression, self-representation of individuals, and many others). It approaches this phenomenon by regarding the actors (patrons, founders, sponsors, benefactors), their motives, actions, and objectives, and their recipients, the ecclesiastic institutions and communities of believers. This approach enables me to look at the patronage through the eyes of the medieval practitioners of the ktetoria, and to understand the ways this practice functioned in the Medieval societies. For the practitioners, the pious patronage encompassed three forms of benefactions: a foundation of an ecclesiastic or philanthropic institution; endowment with lands, land income, or other goods; and donation of precious objects. Consequently, I regarded them not as separate customs but as components of one tradition of pious giving to ecclesiastic institutions and I approached this tradition through the examination of various practices, associated with it, and the in-depth analysis of case studies based on charters, church inscriptions, and votive portraits