1987/01/01 by Paul Magdalino · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Byzantine Studies and History #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Emperor #Passion #Identity (music) #Digression #Narrative #Successor cardinal #Context (archaeology) #History #Literature #Ancient history #Art #Classics #Archaeology #Psychology
paper · doi:10.1179/030701387790203046
openalex publication_date 1987/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In his history of the reigns of John II and Manuel I Komnenos (1118–1180), John Kinnamos recounts an episode which gives a vivid sense of the heavy atmosphere of family intimacy and family tension which surrounded the Comnenian emperors and conditioned their internal and, ultimately, their external policies. Describing the first treacherous intrigues of Andronikos Komnenos, the emperor Manuel's notorious and colourful cousin and eventual successor, the author relates how Andronikos was foiled in an attempt to assassinate Manuel at Pelagonia in 1154, when the emperor went on one of his nocturnal hunting expeditions. In the context of this narrative, he digresses to explain that Manuel's passion for hunting was not the only reason why he went about armed. The text of the digression, which is what concerns us here, has been misunderstood and mistranslated, so a new translation of it will be a useful preliminary to its discussion.