Alexiad

The Alexiad (original Greek title: Ἀλεξιάς, Alexias) is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148 by the Byzantine historian and princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexius I.

In the Alexiad, Komnene describes the political and military history of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, which makes it a reference on the Byzantium of the High Middle Ages. The Alexiad documents the Byzantine Empire's interaction with the First Crusade (despite being written nearly fifty years after the crusade), and the text highlights the conflicting perceptions of the East and West in the early 12th century.

The text was written in a form of artificial Attic Greek, and shows the Byzantine perception of the Crusades.

Content

The Alexiad is divided into fifteen books and a prologue, the scope of which is limited to the duration of Alexius' reign, which it is thus able to depict in full detail. Komnene documents one of the most active periods in the High Middle Ages, especially in regards to political relations between the Byzantine Empire and western European powers. The Alexiad remains one of the few primary sources recording Byzantine reactions to both the Great Schism of 1054 and the First Crusade, as well as documenting first-hand the decline of Byzantine cultural influence in both eastern and western Europe.