John Skylitzes
Varangian Guardsmen
, an illumination from the 11th century chronicle of John Skylitzes.
John Skylitzes, commonly
Byzantine
historian of the late 11th century.
Life
Very little is known about his life. The title of his work records him as a droungarios of the Vigla, whereby he is usually identified with a certain John Thrakesios.[2]
His major work is the Synopsis of Histories (
Michael VI in 1057; it continues the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor. 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.[2]
The Madrid Skylitzes
The most famous manuscript of the Synopsis was produced in
Latin: Skyllitzes Matritensis, [sk̟ilˈlit̪.d͡ze̝s ma.t̪riˈt̪ɛn.sis]), and is now at the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid. 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.[2]
Explanatory notes
References
- ^ Seibt 1976.
- ^ a b c Kazhdan 1991, p. 1914.
General and cited sources
- 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, ISBN 2-283-60459-1.
- Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- 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.
- Seibt, Werner (1976). "Iohannes Skylitzes. Zur Person des Chronisten". Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik (in German). 25: 81–85.
- Thurn, Hans, ed. (1973). Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis historiarum. Berlin-New York: De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110022858.
- 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 Madrid 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 Archived 2017-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Biography of Basil II with notes on Scylitzes by Catherine Holmes
- Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes
- Synopsis of Histories (Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν)
