The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium
Kathryn M. Ringrose
Abstract
This book reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium, using the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time, the author explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium from 600 to 1100. Accepted for generations as a legitimate and functional part of Byzantine civilization, eunuchs were prominent in both the imperial court and the church. They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner, and were considered uniquely suited for important roles in B ... More
Keywords: eunuchs, Byzantium, gender, imperial court, church, procreation, inheritance, social boundaries, spiritual boundaries
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2004 | Print ISBN-13: 9780226720159 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: March 2013 | DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226720166.001.0001 |
