Template:Short description George Kedrenos, Cedrenus or Cedrinos (Template:Langx, fl. 11th century) was a Byzantine Greek historian. In the 1050s he compiled Synopsis historion (also known as A concise history of the world), which spanned the time from the biblical account of creation to his own day. Kedrenos is one of the few sources that discuss Khazar polities in existence after the sack of Atil in 969 (see Georgius Tzul).
Material in Synopsis historion mostly comes from the works by Pseudo-Symeon Magistros(de) (a version of Logothete's chronicle(de)), George Syncellus, Theophanes the Confessor, and, starting from 811, almost exclusively and word-for-word from the chronicle by John Skylitzes.<ref name=jhj>Howard-Johnston 2012, pp. 8–9</ref>
One late manuscript of Synopsis historion preserves a poem (anonymous but thought to be by Kedrenos) that derives his family name from the place where he was born, a small village of Cedrus (or Cedrea) in the Anatolic Theme.<ref name=treadgold>Treadgold 2013, pp. 339–342</ref><ref name=deboor>de Boor 1905, p. 426</ref> The poem also identifies him as a proedrus, a senior court official.<ref name=treadgold /><ref name=deboor />
Before becoming a proedros, Kedrenos may have held the somewhat lower rank of vestarches.<ref name=treadgold /> Vestarches Georgios Kedrenos is in fact known from a number of 11thTemplate:Endash12th-century seals found mostly in the Danube region, but also in Crimea.<ref name=jhj /><ref name=pbw>Georgios 20202 Template:Webarchive + Boulloterion 4024 Template:Webarchive, in Prosopography of the Byzantine World (consulted 27 February 2017)</ref><ref>Chiriac 2013, pp. 161–162 text + p. 167 images</ref><ref>Stepanova 2003, p. 127 text + image</ref> Furthermore, several roughly contemporary seals refer to another court official, a certain "John Cedrenus, protocuropalates and duke" who may have been a relative, perhaps, a brother or a cousin.<ref name=treadgold /><ref>Ioannes 20693 + Boulloterion 5397 + Boulloterion 5398, in Prosopography of the Byzantine World (consulted 27 February 2017)</ref>
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ReferencesEdit
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- James Howard-Johnston, "The Chronicle and Other Forms of Historical Writing in Byzantium", in: The Medieval Chronicle X, Brill (2016), pp. 1–22. google books preview
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External linksEdit
- Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes
- Full Greek text, University of the Aegean
- Full Greek text, Catholic Library Project
- Volume 1, 1838 Bekker edition
- Volume 2, 1839 Bekker edition