Chronological Landmarks in the Alexiad of Anna Komnene
State Academic University of the Humanities
Financing: state assignment of the Ministry of Sciences and Higher Education of the Russian Federation: topic FZNF-2023-0003 “Traditions and values of society: mechanisms of formation and transformation in the context of global history” No. 1022040800353-4-6.1.1; 5.9.1 (at the State Academic University for the Humanities)
For citation: Drobyshev, Maksim I. Chronological Landmarks in the Alexiad of Anna Komnene // Graphosphaera. 2024. Vol. 4. № 1. P. 44–48. URL: http://writing.igh.ru/index.php?id=2024-4-1-44-48
DOI: 10.32608/2782-5272-2024-4-1-44-48
Abstract: The article provides an overview of the basic principles of indicating time in the famous Byzantine historiographical work Alexiad by Princess Anna Comnene. This is one of the most original experiences of historiography in Byzantium, a combination of the “personal” history of the author and “private family” history. Chronological indications in the text are distributed quite chaotically and their appearance and type depend on one or another type of source. The main feature of the Alexiad is the use of documents from the imperial archive (primarily, imperial decrees – chysobulls), to which she had direct access. Anna Comnene dated all the most significant events with complete exact dates. These include the capture of Constantinople by the main character of her narrative – her father Alexei Komnenos – and her birthday, when her father returned in triumph from another war. The text contains many references to the holidays of the church calendar. Mentions of Byzantine emperors can also be considered chronological reference points. The chronology of the Alexiad is composed of random elements of collective communicative memory about the immediate past of the family of the princess-historian and elements of the archival cultural memory of the Roman people, concentrated in the imperial palace.
Key words: chronology, Anna Komnene, Alexiad, Byzantium, Byzantine historiography
Литература / References
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