George Hamartolos

Who was George Hamartolos?

George Hamartolos or Hamartolus was a monk at Constantinople under Michael III and the author of a chronicle of some importance. Hamartolus is not his name but the epithet he gives to himself in the title of his work: "A compendious chronicle from various chroniclers and interpreters, gathered together and arranged by George, a sinner". It is a common form among Byzantine monks. Krumbacher protests against the use of this epithet as a name and proposes the form Georgios Monachos.

Nothing is known about him except from the internal evidence of his work, which establishes his period and his calling.