Video: Loreena McKennitt's song "Kecharitomene," off the "An Ancient Muse" album. The song was inspired by the ancient Byzantine princess and historian Anna Comnena; read about her story both on the video screen and below (plus, The Alexiad)

Posted by kluciole at 10/29/2008 8:07 AM
Categories: Politics, Conflict, History, Metaphysical, Video, Literature, International, Science, Cultures, Art


                     





YouTube



Anna Comnena

Byzantine Historian of the First Crusade
(1083-1153)

©1996-2008
womeninworldhistory.com

Anna Comnena is considered the world's first female historian and a major source of information about the reign of her father, Alexius I. Her works are full of details about daily life at court, the deeds of her family, and the exchanges between the Byzantines and western crusaders during the first crusades.

When Anna was a child both her mother and father made sure she received an excellent education. When young, she was given a crown and had expected that at her father's death she would take his place as head of an empire which stretched from Italy to Armenia. But the birth of her brother dashed all her hopes.

Anna married an historian in 1097, and, with her mother's encouragement, tried to seize the imperial throne for him. The attempt failed, and she was forced to retire from court life. After her husband's death, she entered a monastery, one devoted to learning. Anna was 55 years old when she began serious work on Alexiad, a 15 volume history of her family, the Comneni.

In her works, Anna directed most of her contempt toward the crusaders from the West. Her father had sent the first envoys to the West, to Pope Urban I, asking for help in halting the Turkish raids which had left the southern and eastern borders of the Byzantine empire virtually defenseless. Urban II's response was positive. But when the First Crusade arrived to defend the magnificent city of Constantinople, Alexius found that they did not want to take instructions and advice from him. To Anna, they appeared as uneducated barbarians, with manners far beneath those of the wealthy and cosmopolitan Byzantines. Worse, rather than enter Byzantium as saviors against the Muslim threat to Constantinople, they increasingly came as looters and destroyers. Many Normans and Franks, stirred by the sight of Byzantine brocades, jewels, and magnificent works in gold or enamel, began to follow leaders whose intention was to rule the eastern empire for themselves. Looting and raiding for supplies became the norm. The most horrific event occurred after Anna's death, the 1204 sack of Constantinople. Fire swept through the noble city three times, destroying much of its arts and treasures, and soldiers and clerics alike drank, raped, killed and carted off furs, gold and silver.

Anna lived in an era when women chiefly were expected to remain secluded in their quarters (called gyneceum) attending solely to family matters. They covered their faces with veils in public and were not even allowed to appear in processions. Yet Anna offered high praise for the accomplishments of some women, including her influential grandmother, Anna Dalassena. In her work, Anna also reveals herself as a female who was given notable license to write what she thought. To read what she says about her amazing grandmother, click on Anna Dalassena.



Resource:

Anna of Byzantium, Tracy Barrett, Delacorte/Random House, © 1999.  A young adult novel telling of how teenage princess Anna Comnena fights for her birthright - the throne of Byzantium.



HERE





The Alexiad

Complete Text | Introduction | Book 1 | Book 2 | Book 3 | Book 4 | Book 5 | Book 6 |
Book 7  | Book 8 | Book 9 | Book 10 | Book 11 | Book 12 | Book 13 | Book 14 | Book 15

Anna Comnena

The entire translated text of the Anna Comena's Alexiad is available. The translation used is that of dition used is that of Elizabeth A. Dawes, published in London in 1928. Note that there is a later translation by E.R.A. Sewter, published by Penguin. Sewter's translation is more "modern" in language, whereas the Dawes version sticks closer to the Greek text.

The text here is presented as either one complete file, or in "book" length files.

 

 

Book Files

  • Introduction
  • Book 1 From Alexius' Youth to the Last Months of Botaniates' Reign
  • Book 2 The Revolt of the Comneni
  • Book 3 The Accession of Alexius and Interfamily Power Struggles
  • Book 4 War with the Normans (1081-2)
  • Book 5 War with the Normans (1082-83) (i-vii) : Alexius' First Battle with Heretics - John Italus (viii-ix)
  • Book 6 Norman West : Death of Robert Guiscard : The Turks
  • Book 7 War with the Scyths (1087-90)
  • Book 8 War with the Scyths (1091) : Victory at Levunium (29 April 1091) : Plots against the Emperor
  • Book 9 Turkish War : Dalmatian Interlude (1092-4) : Conspiracy of Nicephorus Diogenes (1094)
  • Book 10 Second Battle with Heresy : The Cuman War : First Crusade (1094-97)
  • Book 11 The First Crusade (1097-1104)
  • Book 12 Domestic Conflicts : Second Norman Invasion (1105-7)
  • Book 13 The Conpiracy of Aston : The Final Defeat of Bohemond : The Treaty of Devol. (1107-8)
  • Book 14 Turks, Franks, Cumans and Manichaeans (1108-15)
  • Book 15 Victory over the Turks : The Orphanage : Heresy of the Bogomils : Last Illness and Death of Alexius (1116-18)



HERE





Anna Comnena was also known as: Anna of Byzantium; her name is also spelled Anna Komnene or Anna Komnena.


Anna Comnena was noted for:

Writing the Alexiad, a biography of her father that also offers important information about the Eastern Roman Empire and the First Crusade. Her writings make her the first woman historian.
Occupations:
    Crusade Witness
    Royalty
    Woman of Note
    Writer & Historian


Places of Residence and Influence:
    Byzantium (the Eastern Roman Empire)
Important Dates:
Quotation from Anna Comnena:
    "Time in its irresistible and ceaseless flow carries along on its flood all created things and drowns them in the depths of obscurity. . . . But the tale of history forms a very strong bulwark against the stream of time, and checks in some measure its irresistible flow, so that, of all things done in it, as many as history has taken over it secures and binds together, and does not allow them to slip away into the abyss of oblivion."
About Anna Comnena:

Byzantine Princess Anna Comnena was the daughter of Emperor Alexius Comnenus of the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire). When the first Crusaders reached Constantinople, Anna witnessed their arrival and their alien customs, and would later record her observations for posterity.

Anna attempted to convince her father to disinherit his son in favor of her husband Nicephorus, but failed; after Alexius' death Anna conspired to overthrow her brother and failed again. She gave up her property and retired to a convent, where she wrote a history of the life and reign of her father in the Alexiad. This 15-volume work was an admiring biography, but it also became a valuable source of information about the Crusades. For her writings, Anna Comnena is considered the world's first female historian.
Little is known of Anna's life after she completed the Alexiad sometime around 1148. The exact year of Anna Comnena's death remains unknown.

Anna Comnena in Print

The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the book's page at one of the online merchants.
    Anna Komnene and Her Times
    edited by Thalia Gouma-Peterson

    The Alexiad of Anna Comnena
    (Penguin edition)
    translated by E. R. Sewter


Is there a book about Anna Comnena that you'd like to recommend? Please contact me with the details.

More Anna Comnena Resources:

Anna Comnena on the Web
Encyclopedia Article on Anna Comnena
Profile of Anna Comnena at About Women's History





HERE

 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this post
  • No trackbacks exist for this post.
Comments
  • No comments exist for this post.
Leave a comment

Submitted comments are subject to moderation before being displayed.

 Name

 Email (will not be published)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.