Anthony Applemore Mornington Bryer (31 October 1937 – 22 October 2016) FSA FRHistS was a British historian of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and founder of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

Biographical details

Anthony Bryer was born on 31 October 1937 in Southsea,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. He was the son of Group Captain Gerald Bryer and Joan Bryer (née Rigsby). Part of his childhood was spent in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and he was acquainted with

Sir Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...

, historian and Byzantine Scholar. In July 1961 he married Elizabeth Liscomb, who died in 1995. In 1998 he married Jennifer A. Banks. Bryer died on 22 October 2016.

Education and career

Bryer's post nominals include: Dip. (Sorbonne), MA, MA, DPhil (Oxford), FSA, FRHistS. Bryer was educated at Canford School, and after completing his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

he studied history at Balliol College, Oxford. He initially remained at Balliol for his doctorate on the Empire of Trebizond, which he completed in 1967, but in 1964 he moved to the

where he created a programme in Byzantine studies. In 1975 he founded the journal ''

Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' or BMGS is a peer reviewed British journal which contains articles that pertain to both Byzantine Studies and Modern Greek studies, i.e. the language, literature, history and archaeology of the post-classica ...

''. From 1976, he was the founding Director of the Centre for Byzantine Studies, and in 1980 he was appointed Professor of Byzantine Studies, a post which he held until 1999. In a distinguished career he has held fellowships at

Athens University The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, ...

and Merton College, Oxford.

Photography

A number of photographs attributed to Bryer appear in the Conway Library at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, London. This collection includes architectural images, religious and secular, across many countries and is in the process of being digitised as part of the Courtauld Connects project.

Awards and honours

Bryer was awarded an OBE in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

for services to scholarship. He was a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

Publications

Bryer's contribution to the study of Byzantine includes the following: * Anthony Bryer, Jane Isaac, David Winfield and Selina Ballance, 2002, The Post Byzantine Monuments at Pontos: A Source Book, Aldershot, Ashgate. * Anthony Bryer and Mary Cunningham (Eds.), 1994, Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasticism, Papers from the 25th Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Brirmingham . *Professor A.B. Bryer and Professor Elizabeth Jeffreys, 2006, Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21–26 August 2006: Vol. 1: Plenary Papers; Vol 2: Abstracts of Panel Papers; Vol. 3: Abstract of Communications.

References

External links

Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies
1937 births 2016 deaths Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British historians British Byzantinists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Canford School Scholars of Byzantine history {{UK-historian-stub