Muslims in the perception of the Byzantine historians George Sphrantzes and Michael Doukas

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of perception of Muslims by the Byzantine historians of the 15th century. According to the fragments of historical works written by George Sphrantzes and Michael Doukas it’s possible to see the writer's attitude to the representatives of Islam under severe foreign political situation and internal religious controversy. The analysis of works of the Byzantine authors allows trace the evolution historians views about the matter and reveal the extent of their bias. The article also addresses the issue of mutual perception of Christians and Muslims in the interpretation of the writers and it’s also discusses the question of the possibility of cultural and religious dialogue between the warring parties.

Keywords

• византия, византийские историки xv века, средневековые хроники, турки-османы, мусульмане, падение константинополя в 1453.