Skip to content

The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium Hardcover - 2003

by Kathryn M. Ringrose


From the publisher

The Perfect Servant reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium. Kathryn Ringrose uses 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 she 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 Byzantine life. Transcending conventional notions of male and female, eunuchs lived outside of normal patterns of procreation and inheritance and were assigned a unique capacity for mediating across social and spiritual boundaries. This allowed them to perform tasks from which prominent men and women were constrained, making them, in essence, perfect servants. Written with precision and meticulously researched, The Perfect Servant will immediately take its place as a major study on Byzantium and the history of gender.

First line

Like most Byzantine historians I love to visit Constantinople, the great Byzantine capital.

Details

  • Title The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium
  • Author Kathryn M. Ringrose
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 312
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago
  • Date July 15, 2003
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780226720159 / 0226720152
  • Weight 1.24 lbs (0.56 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 1 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 2.54 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Byzantine Empire - Civilization, Eunuchs - Byzantine Empire
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2002014105
  • Dewey Decimal Code 305.309

About the author

Kathryn Ringrose is a lecturer in history at the University of California, San Diego.
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

The Perfect Servant. Eunuchs Social Construction of Gender In Byzantium
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Perfect Servant. Eunuchs Social Construction of Gender In Byzantium

by Ringrose, Kathryn M.

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780226720159 / 0226720152
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Groningen, Netherlands
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$189.88
$20.62 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University of Chicago Press, 2003. Hardcover, with dust jacket. 295 p.. -good.-(Some shelf wear on the dust jacket, name in ink on the fly-leaf, but otherwise the book is in good condition. ). ISBN 9780226720159.
Item Price
$189.88
$20.62 shipping to USA