George Akropolites

George Akropolites, latinized as Acropolites or Acropolita (Greek: Γεῶργιος Ἀκροπολίτης, Georgios Akropolitês, 1217 or 1220 – 1282), was a Byzantine Greek historian and statesman born at Constantinople.

Life

In his sixteenth year he was sent by his father, the logothete Constantine Akropolites the elder, to the court of John III Doukas Vatatzes, emperor of Nicaea, where Akropolites continued his studies under Theodore Hexapterygos and Nicephorus Blemmydes. The emperor afterwards entrusted him with important state missions, as did his successors (Theodore II Laskaris and Michael VIII Palaiologos). The office of Grand Logothete, or chancellor, was bestowed upon him in 1244.

As commander in the field in 1257 against Michael II, despot of Epirus, he showed little military ability. He was captured and kept for two years in prison, from which he was released by Michael Palaiologos. Meanwhile, Michael Palaiologos was proclaimed emperor of Nicaea, afterwards expelling the Latins from Constantinople, and became emperor of the restored Byzantine Empire; and from this moment Akropolites becomes known in the history of the eastern empire as one of its greatest diplomats. After having discharged the function of ambassador at the court of the Bulgarian Tsar Constantine, he retired for some years from public affairs, and made the instruction of youth his sole occupation.

In the meantime, Michael, afraid of a new Latin invasion, proposed to Pope Clement IV to reunite the Greek and the Latin Churches; and negotiations ensued which were carried on during the reign of five popes, Clement IV, Gregory X, John XXI, Nicolaus III, and Martin IV. Akropolites was chosen as the emperor's ambassador, and in 1273 he was sent to Pope Gregory X. In 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon, he confirmed by an oath in the emperor's name that that confession of faith which had been previously sent to Constantinople by the pope had been adopted by the Greeks. The reunion of the two churches however roused considerable opposition in Byzantium and was afterwards broken off. It did however serve its main purpose, delaying and ultimately entirely averting a Latin attack on Constantinople. In 1282, Akropolites was once more sent to Bulgaria, and shortly after his return he died, in the month of December of the same year.

Works

Akropolites' historical work, the Annals, embraces the period from the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade by the Latins in 1204 to its recovery by Michael Palaiologos in 1261, thus forming a continuation of the work of Nicetas Choniates. It is valuable as written by a contemporary, whose official position as Grand Logothete, military commander, and confidential ambassador afforded him frequent opportunities of observing the course of events.

Akropolites is considered a trustworthy authority as far as the statement of facts is concerned, and he is easy to understand, although he exhibits special carelessness in the construction of his sentences. His style is archaising but lucid. He was also the author of several shorter works, amongst them being a funeral oration on John Vatatzes, an epitaph on his wife Irene Laskarina and a panegyric of Theodore II Laskaris of Nicaea. While a prisoner at Epirus he wrote two treatises on the procession of the Holy Spirit.

Editions

Authorities: Editio princeps by Leo Allatius (1651), with the editor's famous treatise De Georgiis eorumque Scriptis; editions in the Bonn Corpus Scriptorum Hist. Byz., by I. Bekker (1836), and Migne, Patrologia Graeca, cxl; in the Teubner series by A. Heisenberg (1903), the second volume of which contains a full life, with bibliography; see also Karl Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (1897).

• A. Heisenberg (ed). Georgii Akropolitae Opera. Vol. 1-2 (Leipzig, 1903); reprinted with corrections by P. Wirth (Stuttgart, 1978).
• Ruth Macrides (intr. and comm.), George Akropolites. The History (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007) (Oxford Studies in Byzantium).

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Acropolita (Akropolites), George". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Acropolita,_George. 
• Plate, William (1867), "Acropolita, Georgius", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston, MA, pp. 15–16, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0024.html 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 

• R. Macrides, "George Akropolites' Rhetoric," in E. Jeffreys (ed.), Rhetoric in Byzantium. Papers from the Thirty-fifth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Exeter College, University of Oxford, March 2001 (Aldershot, 2003), 201-211.

External links

• Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes

See also

• Constantine Akropolites, his son