ABSTRACT

During the Middle Byzantine period (640s-1204), the Byzantine Empire was a Christian state that promoted that monotheistic religion through various channels. It also developed intensive diplomacy with its numerous neighbors, notably non-Christian ones. The aim of this study is to present and examine the links between these two main aspects: religion and the diplomatic peacemaking between Byzantium and its neighbors. If Christianity seems present at every level of Byzantine diplomacy (treaties, official correspondence, choice of some ambassadors), it also appears that it was significantly more secondary in numerous aspects of the diplomatic process and that nonreligious factors played a key role in Byzantine peacemaking.