Life Course theory, which examines the interactive roles of gender, age and status in the process of growingup, has fundamentally impacted historical approaches to Roman society (Harlow and Laurence 2002), but rarely features in Byzantine Studies. Envisaging the ageing process as more than the progression through a series of biologically-differential conditions, my thesis provides the first analysis of the Life Course in Late Byzantium (CE 1204-1453). It explores how cultural variants construct shifting personal, familial and wider social identities throughout the course of life, and thus shape forms of human social experience and interaction. That the single existing Byzantine Life Course study (Davies 2013) excluded the Late period reflects its historical and evidential distinctiveness. Late-period population fluctuation, increased social mobility, and fluid geo-political borders fostered the creation of a significantly altered Byzantine social world, which demanded the negotiation of new, dynamic social identities (Kondyli 2013). By harnessing a broad range of sourcetypes, both textual and material, this interdisciplinary project investigates these different identities' placement and development within the Life Course amongst various socioeconomic classes. It thus challenges modern tendencies to view Byzantine and other pre-modern societies as static, andcontributes new, class-sensitive material to the fields of medieval gender and social history, still heavily weighted toward studies of the elite. My BA and MA dissertations focus on gender's role in Byzantine romance, the latter emphasising its relation to age and social roles. During my BA, which I tailored towards gender and social history modules, I received prizes for excellence in Byzantine Studies and my dissertation. Through my MA I develop methodological skills, such as Greek language and the ability to analyse various source-types, pertinent to Byzantine Studies.