John Kinnamos

Who is John Kinnamos?

Joannes Kinnamos or John Cinnamus was a Greek historian. He was imperial secretary to Emperor Manuel I, whom he accompanied on his campaigns in Europe and Asia Minor. It appears that Kinnamos outlived Andronikos I, who died in 1185.

Kinnamos was the author of a history that covered the years 1118-1176, thereby continuing the Alexiad of Anna Komnene, and covering the reigns of John II and Manuel I, up until Manuel's unsuccessful campaign against the Turks, which ended with the disastrous Battle of Myriokephalon and the rout of the imperial army.

Kinnamos's work breaks off abruptly, though it is highly likely that the original continued to the death of Manuel. There are also indications that the present work is an abridgment of a significantly larger work. The hero of the history is Manuel, and throughout the history Kinnamos attempts to highlight what he sees as the superiority of the Byzantine Empire to the Western and other powers. Similarly, he is a determined opponent of what he perceives as the pretensions of the papacy. Nevertheless, he writes with the straightforwardness of a soldier, and occasionally admits his ignorance of certain events.