George Akropolites: The History PDF
Preview George Akropolites: The History
OXFORD STUDIES IN BYZANTIUM Editorial Board JAMESHOWARD-JOHNSTON ELIZABETHJEFFREYS PAULMAGDALINO HENRYMAGUIRE CYRILMANGO MARLIAMANGO IHORSEVCENKO JONATHANSHEPARD JEAN-PIERRESODINI OXFORD STUDIES IN BYZANTIUM Oxford StudiesinByzantiumconsists ofscholarly monographs andeditions on the history, literature, thought, and material culture of the Byzantine world. BasilIIandtheGovernanceofEmpire(976–1025) CatherineHolmes HolyFoolsinByzantiumandBeyond SergeyA.Ivanov AByzantineEncyclopaediaofHorseMedicine TheSources,Compilation,andTransmissionoftheHippiatrica AnneMcCabe George Akropolites The History Introduction, translation and commentary RUTH MACRIDES 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto WithoYcesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork (cid:1)RuthMacrides2007 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2007 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby BiddlesLtd.,King’sLynn,Norfolk ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 To my mother and to the memory of my father, the generation of 1922–1923 This page intentionally left blank Contents Listofmaps viii Preface ix Acknowledgements x NoteonTransliterationandCitation xi NoteontheTranslationandCommentary xi NoteontheStudies xii Abbreviations xiii GenealogicalTables xv INTRODUCTION Thethirteenthcentury inhistoricalwriting 3 Themanandhiswork 5 Promotionsandtitles 19 ChronologyofGeorgeAkropolites’life 28 TheHistory 29 Organizationofthenarrative 34 Sources 35 Accuracyandreliability 39 Namesandnaming 41 Datingandchronology 42 Content 43 InXuencesonAkropolites 46 ClassicizingfeaturesoftheHistory 51 Divine providence 54 Theemperorsat‘Nicaea’:Akropolites’Kaiserkritik 55 Akropolitesandlater writers 65 TheodoreSkoutariotes 65 GeorgePachymeres 71 Other writings 76 Publishedworks 76 Unpublishedwork 77 Lostworks 78 Worksofuncertainattribution 78 Studies 78 TheconquestofConstantinople 78 viii Contents AlexiosIII 79 Thefoundationofthe‘empireofNicaea’ 81 Nicaea–Nymphaion 87 TheLatins 89 TheBulgarians 90 TheTurks 92 TheEpirots 94 Thearmy 97 Thenavy 100 TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY TheHistoryofGeorgeAkropolites 105 Bibliography 389 Index 419 Maps Map1:AsiaMinor xx Map2:TheBalkans xxi Preface GeorgeAkropolites’History,themainGreeksourcefor1204–1261,theyears in ‘exile’, narrates the fragmentation of the Byzantine world after 1204, providing historians with the sequence of events and influencing modern perceptions of the period. Akropolites’ thirteenth century has become our thirteenthcentury.Traditionallyjudgedtobeareliableandobjectiveeyewit- nessaccountbyawriterwhoemphasizestheimportanceofimpartialityinhis preface, the History is indispensable. At the same time it is clear to all that Akropolites wrote while in office in the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos, producingapictureofanidealruler. ThisstudyoftheauthorandhisworkshowstheextenttowhichAkropo- lites’ alignment with the usurper to the throne permeates and affects the History as a whole, its structure, its language and style, and the author’s characterizations and views on historical causation and divine providence. In the History Akropolites speaks not only as a high official under Michael VIII. He speaks as a member of one of the noble families who had suffered under the Laskarides and who were restored by Michael Palaiologos. He expressesasuperiorityto,anddisdainfor,otherswhowere,likehim,friends and favourites of Theodore II, promoted and made noble by that emperor through marriage alliances. It was from John III and Theodore II that Akropolites received the education, the positions at court and the marriage thatmadehimarelationofMichaelPalaiologosandthatensuredhissurvival inthechangeofdynasty.ItwasfromJohnIIIandTheodoreIIthatAkropo- lites had to dissociate himself in writing a History under Michael VIII. This History presentsthecasefor thedefenceofMichaelVIIIbutalsoforGeorge Akropolites.
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