Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

The fall of Byzantium

Learning, literature, science, and art

Page 5

The important political events of the fifteenth century left considerable trace in the historical literature of the time. John Cananus wrote a special essay on the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople by the Turks in 1422. Cananus, who wrote in language very close to the spoken tongue, attributed the rescue of the capital to the miraculous intercession of the Holy Virgin. Perhaps John Cananus was also the author of a very brief account usually ascribed to Cananus Lascaris, on his voyage to Germany, Sweden, Norway, Livonia, and even to the far-off island of Iceland.

John Anagnostes is the author of a trustworthy account of the capture of Thessalonica by the Turks in 1430. Unlike Cananus, Anagnostes followed strictly the rules of literary art and was very anxious to maintain the purity of his Greek.

Finally, the historians of the fatal event of 1453, which so deeply and painfully struck its contemporaries, are represented by four men whose works differ in point of view and value. They have already been discussed. But these four George Phrantzes, Ducas, Laonikos Chalcocondyles (or Chalcocandyles), and Critobulus are sources not only for the fall of Constantinople but also for the Palaeologian epoch in general.

The Chronicle of Phrantzes has been preserved in two forms, one abridged, the other more detailed. The briefer, which is often called minus, deals with the years 1413-78 only, whereas the longer (maius), or Phrantzes' History, covers the time from 1258 to 1478; it begins with the last years of the Empire of Nicaea and ends in the time of the Turkish sway at Constantinople. He was within the capital during the siege, so that his detailed account is that of an eyewitness. After the fall of Constantinople he was captured by the Turks. Later he was ransomed and escaped for a time to Mistra, which the Turks had not then taken. Before they conquered the Peloponnesus, Phrantzes fled to the island of Corfu, which at that time belonged to Venice. There in a monastery where he took holy orders under the name of Gregorius, he wrote his history at the request of some noble Corfiotes. Wholly indebted for his official career to the Palaeologi, with whom his relations were close, Phrantzes was their special historian and he often exaggerated their merits and suppressed their defects. Hatred of the Turks, faithfulness and devotion to Orthodoxy, and loyalty to the Palaeologi are the distinctive traits of Phrantzes' work. In spite of his prejudices, his work, written by an eyewitness close to the events, is of great importance, especially from the reign of John VIII on. Phrantzes' style is simple and easy; it contains a number of Turkish and a few Italian words. A biographer of Phrantzes remarked: Essentially a man of affairs and this constitutes the value of his history... he yet, like most Byzantine historians, had a good knowledge of literature. A man of affairs means that Phrantzes was closely connected with the state and personal affairs of Constantine XI and the real situation of the empire.

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