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Alexiad

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Also known as The Alexiad

The Alexiad () is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was written in a form of artificial Attic Greek. 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. Among other topics, the Alexiad documents the Byzantine Empire's interaction with the Crusades and highlights the conflicting perceptions of the East and West in the early 12th century. It do

Book · Open Library

Author
Anna Comnena
First published
1610
Editions
70
Subjects
Crusades, History, Alexius I Comnenus, Emperor of the East, 1048-1118., Asian / Middle Eastern history: BCE to c 500 CE, Biography: general, Other prose: classical, early & medieval, History: World, Byzantine Empire

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Key facts

Book.author
Anna Komnene
Book.name
Alexiad
Book.language
Attic Greek
Book.country
Byzantine Empire
Book.genre
Historiography, biography
Book.image
Anna comnena, alexiade, forse da costantinopoli, XII secolo (pluteo 70.2).jpg
Book.caption
12th-century manuscript of the Alexiad in Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence
Book.image_size
280px
Book.title_orig
Ἀλεξιάς

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Wikidata facts

Image
Anna comnena, alexiade, forse da costantinopoli, XII secolo (pluteo 70.2).jpg
Show 3 more facts
Commons category
Alexias
title
Ἀλεξιάς
inception
1148-00-00
Sources (13)

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~16 min read

Article

18 sections
Contents
  • Structure
  • Themes
  • Narrative style
  • Influences
  • Bias
  • Questions of Authorship
  • Representations of Emotion
  • Writing Style
  • Manuscripts
  • Published editions
  • Greek original
  • Translations
  • English
  • Other
  • Notes
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

The Alexiad () is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was written in a form of artificial Attic Greek. 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. Among other topics, the Alexiad documents the Byzantine Empire's interaction with the Crusades 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. It documents firsthand the decline of Byzantine cultural influence in eastern and western Europe, particularly in the West's increasing involvement in its geographic sphere. The Alexiad was paraphrased in vernacular medieval Greek in mid-14th century to increase its readability, which testifies to the work's lasting interest.

==Structure==

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