Anagnostes, of whose life little is known, was present at the siege of his native city, Thessalonica, in 1430 A.D., and wrote an account of its conquest by Murad II.
Anonymous,
Ἡ βασιλὶς τῶν πόλεων πῶς Ιταλοῖς ἑάλω
Καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ὕστερον τῶς ἀπεδὸθη πάλιν,
Ἐγράφη κατ’ ἀκρίβειαν, εἰ σὺ δὲ βούλῃ, μάθοις.
The poem, in 749 “political” verses, generally designated by quoting the first three lines, as above, gives an account of the fall and recapture of Constantinople and other events up to the year 1282, the author stating in the course of the poem that it was composed in 1392. The facts as recorded are based upon Nicetas Acominatus and Georgius Acropolita, and are related in a picturesque manner. The work has been published by Bekker, in the Abhandlungen of the Berlin Academy, 1841, and by J. A. Buchon, in his Recherches historiques sur la principauté française de Morée, Paris, 1845.
Attaliata, Michael, Ἱστορία ἐκτεθεῖσα παρὰ Μιχαὴλ αἰδεσιμωτάτου κριτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου καὶ τοῦ Ἀτταλειάτου, translated into Latin by M. Freheri, Frankfort, 1596.
Michael Attaliata, a native of Attalia, served as a judge and proconsul under the emperor, Michael Ducas, by whose command he prepared a legal digest. His history treats of the period 1034-1079, a time notable for the fall of the Macedonian dynasty and the rise of the family of Comnenus and Ducas, palace revolutions and feminine intrigues playing a large part in these events.
Bryennius, Nicephorus, Ὕλη ἡιστορίας, edited by P. Poussines, Paris, 1661.
Bryennius, born at Orestias in Macedonia, in the middle of the eleventh century, was the husband of Anna Comnena, daughter of the emperor Alexis. Distinguished for his physical and mental gifts, Bryennius took an active part against the Crusaders. The design of his history was to deal with the reigns of the emperors from Isaac Comnenus, and so far as it extends,—to Michael VII Ducas,—it affords a lucid narrative, written with all the judgment and directness of a leader and eye-witness of the times. His work was continued by his wife.
Byzantinæ Historiæ Scriptores. Paris, 1644-1711. 42 vols.
The first collective edition of Byzantine historians, edited by Labbé, Fabrotus, Combefisius, and others. It was republished at Venice, 1729-1733, but is now superseded by the Bonn “Corpus,” q.v.
Cameniata, Joannes, Ἰωάννου κλερικοῦ καὶ κουβουκλεισίου τοῦ Καμενιάτου εἰς τὴν ἅλωσιν τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης (De excidio Thessalonicensi), edited by Leo Allatius, with a Latin translation, in his Σύμμικτα, Rome, 1653.
Joannes Cameniata, a crosier-bearer to the bishop of Thessalonica, witnessed the taking of that city by the Arabs on July 31st, 904. Cameniata was himself carried away to Tarsus, and while held there as a prisoner for exchange, he wrote an account of the fall of Thessalonica, a narrative at once lively and valuable.
Candidus Isaurus, Ἱστορία, fragments as preserved by Photius and Suidas, edited by Labbé in his Eclogæ Historicorum de Rebus Byzantinis, in D. Hoeschelius’ Excerpta de Legationibus, Paris, 1648.
Candidus Isaurus, whose Byzantine history exists now only in fragments, was a native of Isauria, and lived in the reign of the emperor Anastasius (491-518). His history appears to have related to the period 407-491.
Cecaumenus Περὶ παραδρομῆς πολέμου, edited by V. Vasiljevskij, in his article “Ratschläge und Erzählungen (Sovêty i razskazy) eines byzantinischen Magnaten des 11. Jahrhunderts,” in the Žurnal ministerstva narodnago prosvješčenija, St. Petersburg, 1881, vols. 215-216.
Cecaumenus was a Byzantine aristocrat of the eleventh century, who late in life devoted himself to writing a treatise, presumably in imitation of Leo Diaconus, dealing with military tactics, morals, household economy, and an ethnological and historical account of the Byzantine Empire from the times of Basilius II to Romanus Diogenes.
Cedrenus, Georgius, Σύνοψις ἱστοριῶν (Compendium Historiarum ab Orbe Condita ad Isaacum Comnenum), edited by G. Xylander, Basel, 1566.
Georgius Cedrenus, a Greek monk, lived in the eleventh century, and compiled, largely from the synopsis of Joannes Scylitzes, an historical work which extends from the creation of the world to the year 1057 A.D. He was very deficient in historical knowledge and his work should be used with great caution.
Chalcondyles, Laonicus (Nicolaus), Ἰστορία, edited by J. R. Baumbach, with a Latin translation, Geneva, 1615.
Chalcondyles was a native of Athens, but little is known of his life except that during the siege of Constantinople, in 1446, he was sent by the emperor, John VII, as an ambassador to the Sultan. The ten books of his history deal with the Turks and the later period of the Byzantine Empire, from 1298 to the conquest of Corinth in 1463. The author has chosen a difficult period to describe, when Byzantine affairs were being merged in those of the Turks, Franks, Slavs, and of the Greek despots, and Constantinople no longer formed the chief centre about which events grouped themselves. The book is one of the most important sources for the history of the time. The style is interesting, but the matter is not well arranged. Extraneous observations are frequently introduced, and the author’s knowledge of European geography is amusingly deficient. England, according to his account, consists of three islands united under one government, with a flourishing metropolis, Λονδύνη; her inhabitants being courageous, and her bowmen the finest in the world. Their manners and habits, he says, were exactly like the French, and their speech had no affinity to any other language.
Cinnamus, Joannes, Ἐπιτομὴ τῶν κατορθωμάτων τῷ μακαρ ίτῃ βασιλεῖ καί πορφυρογευνήτῳ κυρῷ Ἰωάννῃ τῷ Κομνηνῷ και ἀφήγησις τῶν πραχθέντων τῷ ἀοιδίμῳ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ πορφυρογεννήτῳ κυρῷ Μανουὴλ τῷ Κομνηνῷ πονηθεῖσα. Ἰοὰννῃ βασιλικῷ γραμματικῷ τῷ Κιννάμῳ, edited by Cornelius Tollius, with a Latin translation, Utrecht, 1652.
Joannes Cinnamus lived in the twelfth century. He was engaged as an imperial notary under Manuel Comnenus, who reigned from 1143 to 1180, and accompanied him on his many military expeditions in Europe and Asia, the office of notary being equivalent to that of a modern secretary of state. His history of the reign of Manuel and of his father, Colo-Joannes, is one of the best of the Byzantine histories.
Comnena, Anna, Ἀλεξίας, Augsburg, 1610.
Anna Comnena, daughter of Alexis I Comnenus, was born 1083 A.D. Gifted by nature with rare talent, she was instructed in every branch of science. After the accession of John, 1118, she was exiled for conspiring to place her husband upon the throne. During her retirement she composed the biography of her father. The Alexias is history in the form of artistic romance. The truth is embellished to suit the purpose of the author, whose aim was to glorify the father and his daughter; but with all its defects, it is still the most interesting and one of the most valuable products of Byzantine literature. Her work is practically a continuation of that of her husband, Nicephorus Bryennius, already mentioned.