ABSTRACT
Past scholarship has identified Andronikos II’s reign (1282–1328) as the beginning of the end of the Byzantine Empire. Yet, his policy of healing the divisions inside the Byzantine Church managed to create a less acrimonious atmosphere, ushering the flourishing of the arts and letters. This chapter presents an innovative reading of this paradox by connecting this period of intense cultural production to the empowerment of the Orthodox Church and to the widespread interest in miracles. Three figures will be taken into account to show these links. The patron and statesman, Theodore Metochites; the Patriarch of Constantinople, Athanasios (1289–93 and 1303–09); and the ecclesiastic historian and writer, Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos. By considering both written and visual evidence concerning miracles, this chapter aims to contextualise the reign of Andronikos II, suggesting a different interpretation in-between the idea of ruin and renewal.
