The Historical Accuracy of Andronicus's "Memoirs"

Author: * Aurelian Junius - 25 Posts on this thread out of 755 Posts sitewide.
Date: Oct 8, 2007 - 21:58

With regard to the factual events described, the "Memoirs" are probably 95% accurate. Nicetas Choniates's history is full of detail -- he was a contemporary who lived through Andronicus's rise to power and reign in Constantinople itself -- so a lot of the specifics can come right out of his account. As an example, the factual details of Andronicus's two escapes from custody are all taken pretty much directly from Nicetas. Similarly, the incredible story of how the soldier named Poupakes single-handedly stormed the fortress of Kerkyra in 1149 comes straight from Choniates (at 49-50 of the Magoulias edition). The only details I invented were his first name; his city of origin; and the reason why he was so loyal to Andronicus. My account of the showdown between the protosebastos and the porphyrogenita in May 1181 is likewise drawn in almost every particular from Nicetas. I've also supplemented Nicetas with the other works identified in the sources.

There are occasionally episodes where we know the bare-bones facts, but not the specific details. There, I've resorted to imagination to bridge the gap. For example, Nicetas tells us the bare fact of Andronicus's recapture near Malagina after his first escape, but I had to imagine how it actually came about. (Recently, however, I've run across a copy of John Kinnamos's History, which appears to provide a concrete answer to that question. So maybe I'll go back and do some tweaking once I finish the whole thing.)

In the life of Andronicus, the real facts were quite dramatic enough, so there is little need to embellish. And Choniates was a wonderful historian, whom I hope others will be encouraged to read as a result of this series.