Niketas Choniates, bureaucrat and historian M XII / E XIII
Νικήταν (Niketas 25001)
(Unspecified)
(null)
Narrative
(1)
Authorship
(17)
He abbreviated the narrative of raid and counter-raid between Constantinople and Ikonion in the 1170s, to spare his readers, because of its boring repetitiveness
Niketas Choniates, Historia 125.40-45
He claimed to have no idea whether
Eirene 66
's lack of male issue was the result of the curse put on her womb by
Kosmas 12
Niketas Choniates, Historia 81.46
He made the disaster of
Conrad 53
at Choirobakchoi into a pitiful tragedy, mitigating his negative feelings about crusaders with compassion for their plight and puzzlement over the ways of God
Niketas Choniates, Historia 64.56-65.93
He makes
Manuel 1
largely responsible for the trouble over John 14.28: after summing up the existing patristic explanations, which he finds sufficient, Choniates then gives that adopted by Manuel, which he criticises, as well as the autocratic way in which it was imposed
Niketas Choniates, Historia 211.15-212.35
He recognised in the Latin massacres in Constantinople parallels to his recent experiences in Thessalonike; it was either a question of revenge, or divine retribution
Niketas Choniates, Historia 34.35-36.5
He turned from Muslim to Hungarian history
τὰ Παιονικά. Niketas Choniates, Historia 126.48-49
He was able to speak with close associates of
Ioannes 2
who joined in him battle against his enemies, and to write his history on that basis
καὶ συνωμάρτουν ἐκείνῳ πρὸς ἐναντίους χωροῦντι καὶ τὰς μάχας συνετολύπευον. Niketas Choniates, Historia 4.78-81
He was happy when the inglorious fighting around Hagia Sophia ended; he gave part of the blame to
Maria 17002
, who preferred fighting to compromise
εἰς ἀτάσθαλα ἔργα ῥέψασαν ... . Niketas Choniates, Historia 241.70-77
He witnessed that two results of the Pecheneg victory of
Ioannes 2
survived till his own day: (a) villages along the frontier, (b) the commemoration known as the festival of the Pechenegs
τὴν τῶν Πετζινάκων λεγομένην ἐς ἡμᾶς τελετήν. Niketas Choniates, Historia 16.6-14
He wondered about the morality of the Ancona affair, balancing: (a) the steadfast loyalty of the people of Ancona; (b) their strange decision to choose the distant
Manuel 1
over a local ruler (
Frederick 51
); and (c) their possible venality in preferring Manuel's subsidies
Niketas Choniates, Historia 202.45-203.57
He wrote an excursus explaining the Turkish background to the Byzantine events he had been narrating, concentrating on the succession to
Masud 17001
; he followed this with an outpouring of grief over the successes of the Turks and loss of territory by Byzantium
ὁ δὲ λόγος τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Τούρκους μέλλων αὖθις διεξιέναι .... Niketas Choniates, Historia 116.67-117.04
His work began at the end of the reign of
Alexios 1
, continuing predecessors who stopped then; it dealt briefly with
Ioannes 2
, since Niketas was not an eyewitness to his time, but was fuller later, where he had more information
οὔδ᾽ ἐμβραδυνεῖ ταῖς κατ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀφηγήσεσιν. ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς ἐργάσεται λόγοις .... Niketas Choniates, Historia 4.66-4.81
Narrative of the Second Crusade after it passed Constantinople is largely limited to one confused victory at a river (probably that of Jan 1, 1048), which he attributes to
Conrad 53
, not
Louis 101
, whom he never mentions
Niketas Choniates, Historia 67.44-71.76
Offered a history which provided moral lessons from the past, since events of his time (and just before) were very important; his language was to be simple, his audience was to include manual workers, soldiers and women
σκαπανεῦσί τε καὶ σιδηρεῦσι ... τοῖς πρὸς ὅπλα καὶ Ἄρεα βλέπουσι ... γυναιξί. Niketas Choniates, Historia 1.5-4.65
The death of
Ioannes 2
provoked a wide-ranging and very positive encomium, calling Ioannes the glory of the Komnenian dynasty; implied criticisms include extreme fastidiousness and parsimony
Niketas Choniates, Historia 46.57-47.85
When describing
Manuel 1
's attempt to change the date of the battle with the Hungarians in 1067, he was openly censorious, because Manuel was preferring the movements of the stars to the decisions of God; Choniates commended
Andronikos 17004
for ignoring the message
Niketas Choniates, Historia 154.49-55
Wrote the Chronike Diegesis (Historia), running from the reign of
Ioannes 2
to the capture of Constantinople
Χρονικὴ διήγησις ... ἀρχομένη ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλείας Ἰωάννου τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ καὶ λήγουσα μέχρι τῆς Ἁλώσεως τῆς Κωνστντινουπόλεως. Niketas Choniates, Historia 1.1
Death
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Description
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Dignity/Office
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Education
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Ethnic label
(null)
Second Name
(1)
Choniates
Χωνιάτου. Niketas Choniates, Historia 1.1
Kinship
(2)
godson of
Niketas 20316
(ἀνάδοχος ἐκ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος). Niketas Choniates, Historia 219.95-01
kin of
Anonymus 1088
συγγενής. Niketas Choniates, Historia 197.90
Language Skill
(null)
Location
(1)
Chonai
his native city was Chonai, through which
Manuel 1
Marched on his way to Myriokephalon Χώνας. Niketas Choniates, Historia 178.19-20
Occupation/Vocation
(null)
Possession
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Religion
(null)
Eunuchs
(null)
Alternative Name
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