John Kinnamos

John Kinnamos (medium Greek Ιωάννης Κίνναμος * shortly after 1143; † after 1185 ) was a Byzantine historian.

John came from a distinguished family, and came at a young age to the court of Emperor Manuel I Comnenus, whose secretary he became. It is quite likely that John is also undergo military training. He accompanied the emperor in any case on its campaigns, and 1176 was probably also present at the Battle of Myriokephalon, which ended in disaster for the Byzantines.

John has apparently written at an early age a rhetorical work ( Ethopoiia ). Well to 1185 he wrote a historical work in seven books, which was covering the period from 1118 to 1176 and obviously intended as a continuation of Alexia Anna Komnenes. Probably the work was unfinished and not fully edited. The title is unknown; although it is often referred to as Epitome, this is probably only the title of the first book. The work is oriented to the classical models, the style is clear and simple. In the center of the story is Manuel, the John admired. What is striking is the tendency to persons who do not belong to the nobility, to treat rather disrespectfully, which is probably due to social background of the author. Parallels to Nicetas Choniates can be explained by the use of common resources, in the research but has also been suggested that Nicetas Choniates knew the historical work of John Kinnamos.

C. Tollius gave the work in 1652 in Utrecht out. 1836 appeared an anxious by A. Meineke Edition as part of the Corpus Historiae Scriptorum Byzantinae.

Translations

• C. M. Brand ( ed.): John Kinnamos. The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus. New York 1976.