Michael Attaleiates
Michael Attaleiates ( Middle Greek Μιχαήλ Ατταλειάτης , * between 1020 and 1030 in Constantinople or Attaleia ; † around 1085) was a Byzantine historian living in the 11th century .
life and work
Michael studied in Constantinople and became an imperial judge, and later a military judge. He achieved some prosperity, became Patrikios and Magistros and frequented the higher circles of society in the capital. Michael also donated a monastery and a poor house. The rules for its foundations are included in the diataxis of 1077 along with lists of the icons and liturgical implements of its foundations, as well as autobiographical notes and records of his estates . Even earlier, in 1073/74, he had published a legal handbook with an introductory overview of Roman law from the times of the republic to the basilicas .
Michael wrote a historical work in Greek, which covers the time from 1034 to 1079/80 and which probably remained unfinished. Several emperors, such as Romanos IV , are portrayed quite positively, although Michael does indeed express criticism. The "hero" of the historical work, however, is Emperor Nikephorus III. to which the work is dedicated. Nikephoros is extolled panegyric and Michael gives his reign a lot of space. In contrast to that of Michael Psellos , the focus of the presentation is less the court than the foreign policy actions of the emperors, for which Michael Attaleiates provides valuable material. In terms of mimesis , Michael was stylistically based on the ancient classics. Apparently his work was not widely used.
Editions and translations
- Michaelis Attaliotae Historia. Opus a Wladimiro Bruneto de Presle , Instituti Gallici socio, inventum, descriptum, correctum recognovit I. Bekker . Bonn 1853 (Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae), (online) .
- Inmaculada Pérez Martín (Ed.): Miguel Ataliates. Historia (= Nueva Roma. 15). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 2002, ISBN 84-00-08014-9 (standard edition).
- Dimitris Krallis, Anthony Kaldellis (eds.): Michael Attaleiates: The History (= Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. 16). Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA et al. 2012, ISBN 978-0-674-05799-9 (original text and English translation).
literature
- Herbert Hunger : The high-level profane literature of the Byzantines. Volume 1: Philosophy, rhetoric, epistolography, historiography, geography (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Dept. 12: Byzantine Handbook. Part 5, 1). Beck, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-406-01427-5 , p. 382 ff.
- Alexander Kazhdan : Attaleiates, Michael. In: Alexander Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Volume 1. Oxford University Press, New York NY et al. 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , p. 229.
- Dimitris Krallis: Serving Byzantium's Emperors. The Courtly Life and Career of Michael Attaleiates. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2019, ISBN 978-3-030-04524-1 .
- Warren Treadgold : The Middle Byzantine Historians. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2013, ISBN 978-1-137-28085-5 , p. 312 ff.
Web links
Remarks
- ^ Annotated English translation by Alice-Mary Talbot in Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents Washington DC 2000, pp. 326–376 ( online ( memento of the original of July 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. , PDF 214k)
- ↑ Dimitris Krallis, Anthony Kaldellis (Eds.): Michael Attaleiates: The History. Cambridge MA et al. 2012, p. 590 f.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Michael Attaleiates |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Μιχαήλ Ατταλειάτης |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Byzantine historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 11th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1085 |