John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, Ioannes Scyllitzes, , la, Scylitza, label=none , or la, Schillizzi, label=none ; early 1040s – after 1101), was a

Byzantine 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 ...

historian of the late 11th century.

Life

Very little is known about his life. The title of his work records him as a '' kouropalatēs'' and a former ''droungarios'' of the ''Vigla'', whereby he is usually identified with a certain John Thrakesios. His major work is the ''Synopsis of Histories'' ( el, Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν ), which covers the reigns of the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...

s from the death of

Nikephoros I Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I ( gr, Νικηφόρος; 750 – 26 July 811) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. Having served Empress Irene as '' genikos logothetēs'', he subsequently ousted her from power and took the throne himself. In r ...

in 811 to the deposition of

Michael VI Michael VI Bringas ( el, Μιχαήλ Βρίγγας), called Stratiotikos or Stratioticus ("the Military One", "the Warlike", or "the Bellicose") or Gerontas ("the Old"), reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1056 to 1057. Career Apparently a ...

in 1057; it continues the

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and ...

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking ...

. There is a continuation of this work, known as ''Scylitzes Continuatus'', covering 1057 to 1079; some historians hypothesize that it was also written by Skylitzes.

''The Madrid Skylitzes''

The most famous manuscript of the ''Synopsis'' was produced in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in the 12th century known as the '' Madrid Skylitzes'' ( la, Skyllitzes Matritensis, ), and is now at the ''

Biblioteca Nacional de España The Biblioteca Nacional de España (''National Library of Spain'') is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos. History The library was founded by ...

'' in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. It features 574 miniatures, while some 100 have been lost, and is the only surviving Byzantine illuminated chronicle in Greek, providing an invaluable primary source for the visualization of contemporary Byzantium.

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

''AHRB Skylitzes Colloquium''
Belfast, 21–22 September 2002, Institute for Byzantine Studies, Queen's University, Belfast. * Flusin, B. (trans.), J.-C. Cheynet (ed.), ''Jean Skylitzès: Empereurs de Constantinople'', Ed. Lethielleux, 2004, . * * Kiapidou, Eirini-Sophia. ''Ἡ Σύνοψη Ἱστοριῶν τοῦ Ἰωάννη Σκυλίτζη καὶ οἱ πηγές της (811‐1057). Συμβολὴ στὴ βυζαντινὴ ἱστοριογραφία κατὰ τὸν ΙΑ΄ αἰώνα'', Athens 2010. * * :: The Thurn edition supersedes the much older one by Migne. A popular edition is being prepared for Kanakis books (with parallel Modern Greek translation) and a facsimile edition of the

is also available from Militos (Μίλητος) Publishers. * Wortley, John (trans.). ''A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057'' (by John Scylitzes, active 1081), Cambridge University Press, 2010.

External links

Notes by Paul Stephenson

with notes on Scylitzes by Catherine Holmes
Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skylitzes, John 11th-century Byzantine historians