Nicetas Choniates (redirected from Niketas Choniates)

Choniates, Nicetas 

(sometimes incorrectly called Acominatus). Born in the mid-12th century in Chonae; died in 1213 in Nicaea. Byzantine historian and writer.

Choniates held high administrative posts. After the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, he fled to Nicaea. His Chronicle is an important source for the history of Byzantium and neighboring peoples in the 12th century and one of the best examples of medieval prose. It attempts to provide a psychological explanation of events and contains complex and contradictory characterizations of historical figures. Choniates also left a number of speeches.

WORKS

Nicetae Choniatae Historia. Bonn, 1835.
Orationes et epistulae. Berlin, 1972.
In Russian translation:
Istoriia. vol. 1. St. Petersburg, 1860.

REFERENCE

Kazhdan, A. P. Kniga i pisatel’ ν Vizantii. Moscow, 1973.