12th-century manuscript of the Alexiad in Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence
Author
Anna Komnene
Original title
Ἀλεξιάς
Country
Byzantine Empire
Language
Attic Greek
Genre
Historiography, biography
The Alexiad (Greek: Ἀλεξιάς, romanized: Alexias) is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.[1] It was written in a form of artificial Attic Greek. Anna described the political and military history of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of her father, thus providing a significant account on the Byzantium of the High Middle Ages. Among other topics, the Alexiad documents the Byzantine Empire's interaction with the Crusades and highlights the conflicting perceptions of the East and West in the early 12th century. It does not mention the schism of 1054 – a topic which is very common in contemporary writing. It documents firsthand the decline of Byzantine cultural influence in eastern and western Europe, particularly in the West's increasing involvement in its geographic sphere.[2] The Alexiad was paraphrased in vernacular medieval Greek in mid-14th century to increase its readability, which testifies to the lasting interest in the work.[3]
^Kazhdan 1991, p. 1142 puts the date of the composition after 1148 without arguing his case.Neville 2016, p. 5 explains that "Anna was working on the Alexiad after the mid-1140s because in it she comments obliquely on the politics surrounding the Second Crusade (1145–1149)."
The Alexiad (Greek: Ἀλεξιάς, romanized: Alexias) is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess...
was a Byzantine Greek princess and historian. She is the author of the Alexiad, an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos...
early in the reign of Botaneiates "Alexiad", 2.3.4,2.4.5 Norwich 1995, p. 6 "Alexiad", 2.5.5 "Alexiad", 2.5.6 "Alexiad", 2.5.7–9 Finlay 1854, p. 63 Norwich...
Female Authorship in Anna Komnene's Alexiad". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies: 192. Comnena, Anna (1928). Alexiad. Translated by Elizabeth S. Dawes...
Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. She wrote a history of the First Crusade in the Alexiad, providing a view of the campaign from the Byzantine perspective. She was...
Comnena, trans E. R. A. Sewter, The Alexiad, (1969, Penguin), Pp.42. Anna Comnena, trans E. R. A. Sewter, The Alexiad, (1969, Penguin), Pp.43. Choniates...
little is known about his life, and that mostly from only one source, the Alexiad of the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos...
1106 – 1142), co-emperor from 1122 to 1142. His birth is recorded in the Alexiad by Anna Komnene. Maria Komnene (b. February 1106, twin to Alexios), who...
Vlach settlement called Exeva in Macedonia. Anna Komnene mentions in her Alexiad that in 1091 Emperor Alexios ordered Nikephoros Melissenos to raise an...
several missions to Crusader princes. Boutoumites appears in Anna Komnene's Alexiad in 1086, when he was appointed as the doux of the Byzantine fleet by Alexios...
Gesta Francorum, works by Albert of Aachen and Fulcher of Chartres, the Alexiad by Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, the Complete Work of History by Muslim...
skilled swordsmen or archers. In some sources, such as Anna Komnene's The Alexiad, they are described as mounted; both Vikings and elite Anglo-Saxon warriors...
Alexios I Komnenos. He is only known from a few brief references in the Alexiad. In 1098, he was a subaltern of the megas doux John Doukas during the latter's...
Komnene and Western European chroniclers, which are often inaccurate. In her Alexiad, Anna Komnene provides a description of an incendiary weapon, which was...
for these events: the writer and historian Anna Comnena in her work The Alexiad. Vasiliev 1952, p. 472. J. Phillips, The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of...
public of readers, wherever Greek literature was read." Anna Comnena. Alexiad, Books 1–15. Papagrigorakis, Kousoulis & Synodinos 2014, p. 237: "Interpreted...
The Alexiad, 1.12. Treadgold 1997, p. 614. Anna Comnena. The Alexiad, 1.12. Norwich 1995, p. 15. Norwich 1995, p. 16. Anna Comnena. The Alexiad, 1.15...
most lands to the south of Melfi. Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, in her Alexiad wrote a description of Bohemond's physical appearance; “The appearance...
to Alexios (Anna Komnene, The Alexiad, XIII, 349). Anna Komnene, The Alexiad, XIII, 348–358 Anna Komnene, The Alexiad, XIII, 349–350 * Norwich, Byzantium:The...
sources Russian Primary Chronicle Strategikon of Kekaumenos by Kekaumenos Alexiad by Anna Komnena Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos Historia...
at the Wayback Machine Beihammer 2017, pp. 211–213. Anna Comnena. The Alexiad, 4.8; Vranousi 1962, pp. 5–26. The Normans, Marjorie Chibnall Chibnall...
like Psellos's Chronography (in the middle of the 11th century) or the Alexiad, the biography of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos written by his daughter Anna...
in 1081 but subsequently deserted the emperor and were imprisoned. The Alexiad, written by the emperor's daughter Anna, reports that Alexios I succeeded...
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