Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Latinized as Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus ( el, Νικηφόρος Κάλλιστος Ξανθόπουλος), of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(c. 1256 – c. 1335), was the last of the Greek ecclesiastical historians. His ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', in eighteen books, starts the historical narrative down to 610. For the first four centuries the author is largely dependent on his predecessors,

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

Socrates Scholasticus Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greeks, Greek Christians, Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Th ...

Sozomen Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home He was born arou ...

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus ( grc-gre, Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pi ...

and

Evagrius Evagrius or Euagrius may refer to: ;People: *Evagrius of Constantinople (fourth century), bishop of Constantinople (circa 370–380) *Evagrius of Antioch, bishop of Antioch (388-392) *Evagrius Ponticus (346–399), Christian mystic *Evagrius Schol ...

, his additions showing very little critical faculty. His later work, which is based upon documents now no longer extant, is much more valuable. A table of contents of another five books, continuing the history to the death of

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well r ...

in 911, also exists, but whether the books were ever actually written is doubtful. Some modern scholars are of opinion that Nicephorus appropriated and passed off as his own the work of an unknown author of the 10th century. The plan of the work is good and, in spite of its fables and superstitious absurdities, contains important facts which would otherwise have been unknown. Only one manuscript of the history is known. It was stolen by a Turkish soldier from the library at

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

during the reign of

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and taken to Constantinople, where it was bought by a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and eventually reached the imperial library at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

.For this history and events leading up to the first modern editions of the book, see

Franco Mormando Franco Mormando (born 17 August 1955) is a historian, university professor, and author, focusing on the art, literature, and religious culture of Italy from the late Medieval period to the Baroque. His principal publications have been on fifte ...

, "Nicephorus and the Battle of the Books Between Catholics and Protestants" in his essay, "Pestilence, Apostasy and Heresy in Seventeenth-Century Rome," in ''Piety and Plague: From Byzantium to the Baroque,'' ed. F. Mormando and T. Worcester, Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2007, pp. 265–71. Nicephorus was also the author of lists of the emperors and patriarchs of Constantinople, of a poem on the capture of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and of a synopsis of the Scriptures, all in iambics; and of commentaries on liturgical poems. He also wrote many of the synaxaria in use in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

Notes

References

*Migne, ''Patrologia Graeca'' vols. 145-147 - Greek text and Latin translation. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xanthopoulos, Nikephoros Kallistos 14th-century Byzantine historians 13th-century Byzantine historians 14th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians History of Christianity texts Writers from Constantinople