Apocalyptic Discourse in Nikētas Chōniatēs’ History: Andronikos I Komnēnos Revisited
Apocalyptic Discourse in Nikētas Chōniatēs’ History: Andronikos I Komnēnos Revisited

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the ambivalent portrayal of Andronikos I Komnēnos (r. 1183–1185) in Nikētas Chōniatēs’ History. It is argued that the historian uses a variety of apocalyptic motifs and allusions that reflect different views on Andronikos’ place in the apocalyptic imagination. In particular, Chōniatēs’ account is shown to testify to the emperor’s erstwhile messianic ambitions as well as to attempts by contemporaries to invert and reverse those aspirations. In addition, the historian himself is shown to have sought to downgrade and de-eschatologize the apocalyptically charged rhetoric surrounding the Komnēnian emperor. The ambivalent image of Andronikos as hero and villain, savior and antichrist, reformer and tyrant is due to the repeated reevaluation of his legacy in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century. Ultimately, the paper offers a supplement to recent studies on Chōniatēs by directing attention to the scriptural and apocryphal bedrock of the History.

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