Jonathan Shepard is a British historian specialising in early medieval
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
, and 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 Constantin ...
. He is regarded as a leading authority in
Byzantine studies
Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire ...
and on the
Kievan Rus
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...
. He specialises in diplomatic and archaeological history of the early Kievan period.Dimnik, "Reviewed work(s): The Emergence of Rus 750-1200", p. 174. Shepard received his doctorate in 1973 from
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
Russian History
The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start-date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod became ...
at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. Among other works, he is co-author (with Simon Franklin) of ''The Emergence of Rus'' 750–1200 (1996), and editor of ''The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire'' (2008).
Among Shepard's theories is that the breakdown in Byzantine-
Khazar
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
relations and the shift in Byzantine foreign policy towards allying with the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...
and the Rus against Khazaria was a result of the Khazar conversion to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
.
Selected bibliography
As author
*Shepard, Jonathan (1998) "The Khazars' Formal Adoption of Judaism and Byzantium's Northern Policy" in: ''Oxford Slavonic Papers''; 1998
*Shepard, Jonathan (1997) "Byzantine Soldiers, Missionaries, and Diplomacy under Gibbon's Eyes" in Rosamund McKitterick and Roland Quinault, eds. ''Edward Gibbon and Empire'', Cambridge: U. P., 1997
*Franklin, Simon; Shepard, Jonathan (1996) ''The Emergence of Rus, 750-1200''. London and New York: Longman.
*Shepard, Jonathan (1992) "A Suspected Source of
John Scylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
' ''Synopsis Historion'': the great ''Catacalon Cecaumenus''" in: ''Byzantine and modern Greek studies.''
*Shepard, Jonathan (1975–76) "Scylitzes on Armenia in the 1040s and the role of Catacalon Cecaumenus." ''