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Anna Comnena (December 1, 1083 – 1153) was a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus and Irene Ducaena. She is one of the first known female historians.
She was her father's favourite and was carefully trained in the study of poetry, science and Greek philosophy. But, though learned and studious, she was intriguing and ambitious, and ready to go to any lengths to gratify her longing for power. Having married an accomplished young nobleman, Nicephorus Bryennius, she united with her mother, Irene Ducaena, in a vain attempt to prevail upon Alexius I during his last illness to disinherit his son John and give the crown to Anna's husband. Still undeterred, she entered into a conspiracy in 1118 to depose her brother John after his accession; and when her husband refused to join in the enterprise, she exclaimed that "nature had mistaken their sexes, for he ought to have been the woman."
The plot being discovered, Anna forfeited her property and imperial family status, though, by the clemency of her brother, she escaped with her life. Shortly afterwards, she was dispatched to a convent and employed her leisure in writing the Alexiad--a history in Greek of her father's life and reign (1081-1118), supplementing the historical work of her husband. A determined opponent of the Latin church and an enthusiastic admirer of the Byzantine Empire, Anna Comnena regards the Crusades as a danger both political and religious. Her models are Thucydides, Polybius and Xenophon, and her style exhibits the striving after Atticism characteristic of the period, with the result that the language is highly artificial. Her chronology is generally sound when recounting events that occurred before her enforced status as a nun, but becomes especially defective afterwards, as she was obviously isolated from her Palace sources. Nevertheless, her history meets the standards of her time and place (Catholic Encyclopedia).
Novel / Fantasy
A fictional account of Anna Comnena's life is given in the 1999 novel Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett.
References
- Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, translated by Elizabeth A. Dawes in 1928
- Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, edited and translated by E.R.A. Sewter. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969. (This print version uses more idiomatic English and has more extensive notes)
- John France, "Anna Comnena, the Alexiad and the First Crusadê", Reading Medieval Studies v.9 (1983)
- Paul Stephenson, "Anna Comnena's Alexiad as a source for the Second Crusade?", Journal of Medieval History v. 29 (2003)
- "Anna Comnena" in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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