The ''Alexiad'' ( el, Ἀλεξιάς, Alexias) is a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess
Anna Komnene
Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...
, daughter of
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
. It was written in a form of artificial
Attic Greek
Attic Greek is the Greek language, Greek dialect of the regions of ancient Greece, ancient region of Attica, including the ''polis'' of classical Athens, Athens. Often called classical Greek, it was the prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige diale ...
. 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
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
. Among other topics, the ''Alexiad'' documents the Byzantine Empire's interaction with the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
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. Nevertheless it successfully documents firsthand the decline of Byzantine cultural influence in both eastern and western Europe, particularly in the West's increasing involvement in its geographic sphere.
Structure
The book is divided into 15 books and a prologue. Its scope is limited to the duration of Alexios' reign, which it is thus able to depict in full detail, especially regarding political relations between the Byzantine Empire and western European powers.
1. Attacks against the Byzantine empire by the Normans, under their leader
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
(Books 1–6):
:Book 1 addresses Alexios' becoming general and
Domestikos ton Scholon
The office of the Domestic of the Schools ( gr, δομέστικος τῶν σχολῶν, domestikos tōn scholōn) was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally ...
. It also discusses the Normans' preparation for their invasion. Book 2 addresses the Komnenian revolt. Book 3 addresses Alexios as Emperor (1081), the internal problems with
Doukas
The House of Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin title ''dux'' ("leader", "general", Hellenized as 'ðouks'', is the name of a Byzant ...
family, and the Normans' crossing the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
. Book 4 addresses war against the Normans (1081–1082). Book 5 also addresses war against the Normans (1082–1083), and their first clash with the "heretics". Book 6 addresses the end of war against the Normans (1085) and the death of Robert Guiscard.
2. Byzantine relations with the Turks (Books 6–7, 9–10, and 14–15):
:Book 7 addresses war against the Scythians (1087–1090). Book 9 addresses operations against
Tzachas
Tzachas ( gr, Τζαχᾶς, Tzachás), also known as Chaka Bey ( tr, Çaka Bey)"Tzachas" is the Hellenized form of a Turkish name which does not appear in any historical documents, but was likely "Chaka", "Chagha", or "Chaqan". The name "Chak ...
and the Dalmatians (1092–1094), and the conspiracy of
Nicephorus Diogenes (1094). Book 10 addresses war against the Cumans and the beginning of the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
(1094–1097). Book 14 addresses Turks, Franks, Cumans, and Manicheans (1108–1115). Book 15 addresses the last expeditions — The
Bogomils
Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar P ...
— Death of Alexios (1116–1118).
3. Pecheneg incursions on the northern Byzantine frontier (Books 7–8):
:Book 8 addresses the end of the Scythian war (1091) and plots against the Emperor.
4. The
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
and Byzantine reactions to it (Books 10–11):
:Book 11 also addresses the First Crusade (1097–1104).
5. Attacks on Byzantine frontiers by
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
's son,
Bohemond I of Antioch
Bohemond I of Antioch (5 or 7 March 1111), also known as Bohemond of Taranto, was the prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, leading a contingent of Normans on the q ...
(Books 11–13)
:Book 12 addresses domestic conflicts and the Norman preparation for their second invasion (1105–1107). Book 13 addresses Aaron's conspiracy and the second Norman invasion (1107–1108).
Bias by the author
Anna Komnene stated her intention to record true events, but issues of bias do exist. Emphasis on Alexios as a "specifically Christian emperor", and a moral as well as politically laudable one, is pervasive. Frankopan compares Alexios' treatment in the text to the techniques of the
hagiographical
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
tradition, while contrasting it with the negative portrait of, or the outright absence of, his successors John II and Manuel I. Anna discussed the Latins (
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
and "
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
"), whom she described as barbarians. This distaste extends to the Turks and
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
. The ''Alexiad'' also criticized
John II Komnenos
John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...
for his accession to the throne (in place of Anna herself) following Alexios' death. From a modern reader's point of view, the inconsistencies in the descriptions of military events and the Empire's misfortunes (partially due to these literary and especially
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
ic influences) may seem exaggerated and stereotypical. Despite these issues,
George Ostrogorsky
Georgiy Aleksandrovich Ostrogorskiy (russian: Георгий Александрович Острогорский; 19 January 1902 – 24 October 1976), known in Serbian as Georgije Aleksandrovič Ostrogorski ( sr-Cyrl, Георгије Алекс ...
emphasizes the importance of the ''Alexiad'' as a primary document.
Themes
The main theme of the ''Alexiad'' is
the First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rul ...
, and religious conflict. Anna Komnene chronicles the different groups of people involved in the crusades, and refers to them as "Celts", "Latins", and "Normans". She also talks about her father, Alexios Komnenos in great detail, and his conquests throughout his rule from 1081–1118. She does this by presenting a "Byzantine view" of the Crusades. Some historians have noticed the influence of
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
in her work, as stated by Lenora Neville: "the characterization of Alexios as wily sea captain steering the empire through constant storms with guile and courage strongly recalls
Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
."
Narrative style
The ''Alexiad'' was originally written in Greek in around 1148, and first edited by Possinus in 1651. Anna Komnene described herself in the text and openly acknowledges her feelings and opinions for some events, which goes against the typical format of
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
. She differed widely from Greek prose historians, and because of this the book was initially well received. It was subjected to criticism later. The ''Alexiad'' interests many historians because Anna wrote it in a different format to the norm of the time. Anna Komnene is the only female Greek historiographer of her era, and historians are keen to believe that her style of writing owes much to her being a woman. Despite including herself in the historiography and the other qualities that make her style vastly different from the typical historiography of the era, Anna Komnene's ''Alexiad'' has been seen as a "straightforward" history.
Influences
Anna Komnene's writings are a major source of information on her father, Alexios I of the Byzantine Empire. She was around the age of 55 when she began work on the ''Alexiad''. While she was alive, she held the crusaders that came to her father's aid in contempt for their actions against the Empire after they looted various reconquests and failed to return to the Basileus' demesne many of the lands they promised to return to him. She regarded the crusaders, whom she refers to as Celts, Latins and Normans, as uneducated barbarians. Despite this, Anna claims that she portrayed them in a neutral light. Some historians believe her work to be biased because of her feelings towards the Crusaders, and how highly she regarded her father.
Gender and authorship
Questions of authorship
There has been much debate as to whether the ''Alexiad'' was in fact written by Anna Komnene herself. One scholar stated that the text gives very few comments that would suggest the author's gender or any other aspect of their background, aside from a few explicit mentions. This has led some scholars to argue that the ''Alexiad'' was not written by a woman at all, but by some other male author. This belief, put forward by Howard-Johnston, focuses mainly on the military sections of the ''Alexiad'', and suggests that Anna was merely working from her husband's field notes, thus Howard-Johnston renames it "
Nicephoros's ''Alexiad''."
It is largely agreed, however, that Anna Komnene was the author. Mentions in the text of her engagement, her role as a wife, and the commentary on her female modesty that influences her writing make Anna's authorship of the ''Alexiad'' "unmistakable", according to some scholars. She certainly could have written about military affairs, since she was able to accompany her father, the emperor, on military campaigns. Many scholars believe that the great detail about her father's home life and military style, combined with her own personal experiences and mentions of femininity, provide a strong case for her authorship of the ''Alexiad''.
Representations of gender
In the ''Alexiad'', Anna Komnene portrays gender and gender stereotypes in an unusual way. Like her male counterparts, she characterizes women along the typical stereotypes, such as being "liable to tears and as cowardly in the face of danger". Despite this, women in the ''Alexiad'' never cry, with the exception of Alexios' funeral, during which grief is the appropriate cultural response. Likewise, none of the female characters act in a cowardly way. She points to her own gender in a similar way when mentioning her own tears while writing certain events. Immediately, however, she informs the reader that she will stop crying in order to properly return to her duty of history, an episode which she repeats twice in the narrative.
[Komnene ''Alexiad'' 4.8.1 and Prol. 4.2.] By so doing, she shows a desire to control aspects that are, for her culture, feminine. Overall, however, Anna concerns herself primarily with intellect, which she attributes to both men and women, and allows for women to actively break out of societal gender roles in the ''Alexiad''. Her personal attitudes, along with the lack of comparable sources from female authors in that era, make the ''Alexiad'' considered by some a poor source to use when gauging how average women in Byzantium felt about the First Crusade.
Gender and style
Anna Komnene's unusual style of writing history has been attributed to her gender. Her style is noteworthy in that it included both a history of her father's actions during the First Crusade, and her reactions to some of these events. Her opinions and commentary on particular events in an otherwise historical text have been assigned to her gender both positively and negatively. This interpretation of her histories is known as a "gendered history", meaning it is both the history of Alexios and of Anna herself through her particular style, which is not seen in male authors. While the Roman historian Edward Gibbon saw this "gendered" narrative to betray "in every page the vanity of a female author", with some scholars agreeing with him, other scholars claim that this style might be indicative of Anna's mentor,
Michael Psellos
Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to hav ...
. Some take this even further to suggest that Anna used Psellos' ''Chronographia'' as a model for her personal narration in her history and took his style even further, suggesting it was not her gender but her influences that led to her writing style.
Anna Komnene is considered unique for her time in the intensity by which she integrates her own narrative and emotion, and yet she does not mention all personal details, such as the fact that she had four children. For some, this combination of style and lack of personal, gendered information is reconciled by her lack of modern feminist ideals, without which she was not interested in questioning her societal place in her own narrative, even though her depictions of women do not fit in with the majority of male authors of the time. Instead, her style can be understood from her belief that intelligence and nobility are far greater than gender in terms of importance, and so Anna does not view her history as overstepping any necessary gender roles.
Complete manuscripts and summaries
Below is the list of manuscripts containing some or all of the ''Alexiad''.
*Codex Coislinianus 311, in
Fonds Coislin Fonds Coislin (french: Le fonds Coislin) is a collection (or fonds) of Greek manuscripts acquired by Pierre Séguier, but named after Henri-Charles de Coislin, its second owner. It is now held in the National Library of France, as one of three fonds ...
(Paris)
*Codex Florentinus 70,2
*Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1438
*Codex Barberinianus 235 & 236
*Codex Ottobonianus Graecus 131 & 137
*Codex Apographum Gronovii
*Codex Vaticanus Graecus 981 (prologue and summary)
*Codex Monacensis Graecus 355 (prologue and summary)
*Codex Parisinus Graecus 400 (prologue and summary)
Published editions
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See also
*
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
*
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
*
Attic Greek
Attic Greek is the Greek language, Greek dialect of the regions of ancient Greece, ancient region of Attica, including the ''polis'' of classical Athens, Athens. Often called classical Greek, it was the prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige diale ...
* ''
I, Anna Komnene''
Notes
References
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{{Authority control
1140s books
12th-century history books
Crusade literature
Byzantine literature
Alexios I Komnenos
First Crusade
Epic poems in Greek