"This is hardly the biggest screw up in Byzantine history. That honor would go Byzantine history." Truly the greatest sum-up of Byzantine history ever told.
@@osaft2go830 I mean they survived because they had an amazing Emperor and took back some of Anatolia during the First Crusade. But then some idiots took over the Empire and the Venetians sacked Constantinople. Then finally the weak Turks grew which were there since Manzikert killed the Empire. Probably actually the Fourth Crusade which killed Byzantium, from the piece of land which no one was able to take for hundreds of years, to a few weak Greek states.
O-Saft to go The Civil War Manzikert started is the worst event in Byzantine History. Nothing compared to losing Anatolia the heartland of the Empire it’s entire existence. Once the Turks settled in it was impossible to push them out. That and Manuel Komnenos was a dumbass
@tk2887 Even prodigal geniuses like Anna Komnena were not immune to the wiles of adolescent hormones. And considering that Bohemond had once fought against her own father, it would have been a "Liking What Daddy Hates" situation.
“You’re a Byzantine royal, if you don’t have the spine for a little coup d’état what are you even doing here? Ugh.” Not gonna lie that is the single best sentence I think I have ever heard
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 they swap a few chapters around and call it a new edition and tell all the schools/colleges they need the newest one so they tell the students the same. They've also been going online more, you usually get a code and MAYBE a book. The code logs you into some site to read the new book for 1 semester to 1 year so you can't really sell afterwards. It's really gross.
@@jarodmartin1413 A videogame where you control the members of a medieval dinasty through the centuries, conquering, plotting, marrying, betraying, etc.
@@JamesR1986 If you're basing that entirely off this video then you're going off bias tbh. He isn't the focus of the video, so he doesn't get much said about him. Not saying you're necessarily wrong, just that this seems like confirmation bias.
"It's not the biggest screw up in Byzantine history. That honor goes to Byzantine history." YIKES. Hook me up with your Greek Fire supplier cause those are some lethal burns.
there was a great breakdown on Anna and her stylistic choices in "The Alexiad' on the History of Byzantium podcast, and how skillfully she darts between the cultural expectations at the time of both a royal woman, and a historian, and attempting to satisfy both in order to be taken seriously for her work without leaving a lacking on one side or another to be used against her in a discrediting attack. Honestly, she may be the most impressive genius of her time.
I never even heard of Anna Komnena until I watched this video. You'd think being the first women historian she'd be mentioned in history classes at some point. Great video as always
I first heard her name in Western historiography class at almost the final class as one of alternative historian and has been classified as the same group as feminist historian from later date.
I went to school in freaking Greece and found out about her in an article about byzantine trivia! Well I guess teaching us the prayer they sang in Agia Sophia during the siege by the Arabs was more important
@@spiritusIRATUS Anna Komnena is quoted in the greek schoolbook and used as a primary source. Although most teachers don't focus on the primary sources which you have to read by yourself. I think the focus on byzantine religiosity is completely expected since the church is heavily involved in our educational system.
I wish strong Feminist scholars were talked about more. I never heard about Anna Komnene or Hypatia until I went to college and learned about them in my philosophy class.
Yesss, someone openly acknowledges that all historical documents have bias!! Some try to be more "objective" than others, sure but it's *always* told from the point of view of someone with certain values, religious beliefs, and political opinions. That's why it's so important to draw knowledge from many different sources.
@@Kilthan2050 To play devil's advocate, it's not a bad assumption to think a city referenced in a clearly fictional account that you have no real evidence for doesn't exist. It's the same reason we say Atlantis isn't real but if we hypothetically and definitively found and proved its existence, historians would be happy to be proven wrong.
Every (modern) historian acknowledges that all sources are bias, what are you talking about? I go to university for history and it’s literally the first thing we’re trained in
James Tang it is good to play devil’s advocate! But I am afraid I must argue this one. I don’t think they are quite the same. Homer was THE defining literature of the Greek civilization and was even then a written form of epic poem that had been told and retold for many generations. The Greeks believed it to reflect their history and that was held to be true by the other civilizations, including Rome, etc. almost every western culture at some point tried to trace their own ancestry back to Troy (include the English and Irish, even, in the Middle Ages). I am sure at different times different people may have viewed it like Americans might the tales of Johnny Appleseed - known to be originally true, but nobody believed all the “tall tale” parts. While during other times people were more credulous and believed in the Gods, etc. At any rate, the influence of homer and the belief it was based on fact was incredibly wide-spread, influential, and pervasive. Whereas Atlantis is based on a brief passage in Plato and has little supporting evidence and was not important to most everyone. Over the centuries, though, it became a convenient myth to hang many people’s desire for something like Atlantis to be true, to latch on to. It’s much more like the Bermuda Triangle than the existence of Troy. The deep skepticism among academics and scholars that ancient literature could have a basis in reality was a development of the Enlightenment and beyond. All that being said, your point is still a good one and would certainly apply many times. Ivan just picking on the one example ;-).
@@mjbull5156 makes sense, cause...whats to stop them from murdering YOU later if they casually murdered the people that were supposed to be hard to murder, although you think they would sweet talk that person so they are on your side, but, why let a little murder get in the way of a good crusade XD
Maybe we should be glad she didn’t get the “terrible femme fatale, undone by her own emotions and passion scrambling her brain, because women amirite?” Treatment that Cleopatra got?
@@phastinemoon From what Blue says about Gibbons' treatment of her, I'd argue that she got just that, though admittedly seven hundred years after she was dead rather than before her corpse had quite finished cooling.
For anyone curious, this is how she described Boheond: "Now the man was such as, to put it briefly, had never before been seen in the land of the Romans, be he either of the barbarians or of the Greeks (for he was a marvel for the eyes to behold, and his reputation was terrifying). Let me describe the barbarian's appearance more particularly - he was so tall in stature that he overtopped the tallest by nearly one cubit, narrow in the waist and loins, with broad shoulders and a deep chest and powerful arms. And in the whole build of the body he was neither too slender nor overweighted with flesh, but perfectly proportioned and, one might say, built in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus... His skin all over his body was very white, and in his face the white was tempered with red. His hair was yellowish, but did not hang down to his waist like that of the other barbarians; for the man was not inordinately vain of his hair, but had it cut short to the ears. Whether his beard was reddish, or any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had passed over it very closely and left a surface smoother than chalk... His blue eyes indicated both a high spirit and dignity; and his nose and nostrils breathed in the air freely; his chest corresponded to his nostrils and by his nostrils...the breadth of his chest. For by his nostrils nature had given free passage for the high spirit which bubbled up from his heart. A certain charm hung about this man but was partly marred by a general air of the horrible... He was so made in mind and body that both courage and passion reared their crests within him and both inclined to war. His wit was manifold and crafty and able to find a way of escape in every emergency. In conversation he was well informed, and the answers he gave were quite irrefutable. This man who was of such a size and such a character was inferior to the Emperor alone in fortune and eloquence and in other gifts of nature"
@@magnusengesath, no, no we are not. She totally had a crush on that dude, which is ironic, considering how Bohemond tried to overthrow Alexios when Anna was just a toddler.
Well to give credit to Anna, yeah, she didn't get her throne but, hey, there's worse things than losing out the throne contest to John II, The Good, 'The Greatest Komnenoi Emperor', Komnenos. That's some mighty stiff competition.
@@Sarellion Ooooh no. If you want to know where the 'hysterical woman' stuff brought up in the video comes form... well. Like Blue said, Anna was *very* biased in a lot of ways and one of those ways was herself. She thought John would be a terrible Emperor and that he wouldn't be suited to the job and that she was, to put it mildly, THE BEST. So a lot of historians look back on that and, considering how Good John turned out, take a dim view of it. It's probably one of the most striking examples of Anna being so into her own hype that she lets it dictate how she views not only her work but also the world at large.
@@NACBEAST Because she was pissed at her brother when she lost the succession to him and thought she would do a better job than him? Did anyone ever campaign on a"I am worse that my opponent/the other king" platform? I just wondered why I didn't heard of her as an empress until Blue said her brother got the job.
@@Sarellion The point wasn't that she campaigned that way at all, you're right that most people tend to go around like that. The point is that given how her brother ended up ruling it was clear that Anna's judgement was beyond compromised by her own hubris. She doesn't just think she's better than her brother, she thought that he was a moron who'd doom the Empire and so, therefore, she was the only one who should've succeeded Alexios. Which, again, couldn't have been more wrong. It shows her bias as a historian and how she could allow her own hype to blind her to a lot of realities (one example of a good handful).
@@Sarellion She was never really first in the line of succession anyways. Remember the whole “son before daughter” thing? The moment her brother was born she was out of the running.
Blue, I challenge you on your statement that Anna Komnena is the first female historian. I call Enheduana, babylonian priestess, from ca. 2250 BC. first female historian. She wrote for example a song lamenting injustice done to her and her family, when she was banished from Ur. P.S.: She is also the first ever recorded poet we know the name of.
I adore my girl, Enheduana, but I don't think a brief account of one event is a history. BUT, Enheduana does get the more awesome achievement of being the first named writer ever.
"Dad I'm bored" "Okay here's a hospital with 10000 beds for you have fun." Take that Disney (also please make this a movie someone; I'd watch this so hard)
It always cracks me up when that happens. But what happens the most to me is that I'll be scrolling through videos and I'll see one and think I'll come back to it later and then I get a notification for it.
I really do love her description of the meeting with the various Crusader Nobles. Especially how she's like "Bohemond of Sicily is so evil and ruthless and my father's enemy, but he's so beautiful it's beguiling" lol someone had a crush.
@@richardthomas5362 yeah it's just a really funny passage to read, and spawned a fun project in my college course on the crusades where a bunch of students wrote "Twitter-style tirades" of the various Crusader and Byzantine nobles and the Pope trash talking each other.
Anna lowkey had a crush on Bohemond de Hautville who would later found the Principality of Antioch. She called him a barbarian but she then goes on to spend an entire paragraph giving a *detailed* account of his physical description and said he was only inferior to the Emperor himself (who she obviously praises universally).
@@KillaAhmadilla That's just french for "high village" as in, a village built atop a hill. Perfectly normal, even generic, name considering how many villages are built up high for defensive purposes.
I was introduced to her via Medieval II. I had always thought that she was a typical marriagable princess in the game, but after watching this video, this puts a new light to this. Interesting.
Her brother was a great dude though? Like a really really good guy and pretty much what everyone would want as emperor. So much so it's almost as if history wanted to prove her judgement wrong, in an ironic twist of the usual trope. I mean it's not everyday that you read or hear of a leader, medieval, ancient or modern, being compared in character to Marcus Aurelius, or of a ruler called "The Beautiful" despite being physically ugly. Seems like pretty much no one (except Anna I guess?) has anything bad to say about John other than his physical appearance: noble, pious, charitable, moderate, competent and just ruler, great strategist and general. The empire recovered under his rule and he got back a good chunk of Anatolia. He was also apparently always loyal to his wife and never sentenced anyone to death, which is remarkable for an emperor. Honestly at that point I can totally understand why Alexios would want someone of his character to be his successor or why her husband would not want to betray his brother in law and friend. For someone so well learned and knowledgeable, especially in greek philosophy and christian doctrine, I think she ultimately lacked the wisdom to trust the judgement of the father she admired so much, or to see her brother's many virtues and capabilities beyond her (understandable) frustration and resentment. Honestly, she should have moved on and joined her husband in supporting her beautiful, ugly, magnificent little brother, then we would have gotten byzantine royal epic part 2: "The Johniad".
It’s unfortunate that she got snubbed. From a 21st century perspective it feels wrong for her to have been passed over, since there was an obvious gender bias, but John was probably one of the best emperors in the history of his dynasty and in the empire as a whole. I can understand why Anna was so convinced he’d be terrible- familial bias can cloud judgement after all.
I bet both John and Anna were geniuses, or close to geniuses, so, while most people would be in awe of John because of his superior attributes Anna, on the other hand, would see him either as a mere equal or an inferior. The people see John as a great ruler, she sees him as the guy with a messy room, stinks because he doesn't bathe enough, and doesn't read enough books.
Homer was used as the standard to teach children how to read and write throughout the entire Roman and Byzantine era, up to Anna. It wasn't forbidden by any means, nor "locked away." Edit: In fact, Anna states this in the Alexiad, that she was taught Homer(and everything else) by her tutors. She didn't sneak into a library and just start reading and teaching herself. That's generally not how education works. This idea about Anna stealing books from the Library and sneaking off comes not from Anna, but from Georgios Tornikes, and he doesn't state that books by pagan authors were forbidden by clergy, or the state, etc, but that Anna's parents didn't approve her learning such books. I suppose it's a believable story, that her parents(actually, her in-laws) wouldn't want their female child's head being filled with pagan thoughts and ideas, but unfortunately, it's a story that's directly contradicted by Anna herself, as she describes her own upbringing and education. and also would never apply to Homer(as stated earlier, Homer was the foundation for reading and writing taught in primary school). This video sounds like a "despite crusty old men, young girl prevails" type of narrative, which detracts from Anna's actual story, and also detracts from the excellent works of many other Byzantine writers. While some specific ancient pagan writings were frowned upon by the church at various times, none of them were made inaccessible, and some of them had never lost popularity (even with the clergy), such as Plato and Aristotle. The whole reason we have all this ancient Greek classical literature from pagan authors is because the Byzantines, clergy included, liked them and read them, and paid for them to be copied and preserved.
Yes. “The sight of him inspired admiration […] his stature was such that he towered almost a full cubit over the tallest men. He was slender of waist and flanks, with broad shoulders and chest […] he was neither taper of form nor heavily built and fleshy, but perfectly proportioned - one might say that he conformed to the Polyclitean ideal. […] The skin all over his body was very white, except for his face which was both white and red. His hair was lightish-brown […] Whether his beard was red or of any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had attacked it, leaving his chin smoother than any marble. However, it appeared to be red. His eyes were light-blue and gave some hint of the man’s spirit and dignity.” Anna Komnene, Alexiad, tr. E.R.A. Sewter, The Alexiad of Anna Comnena
@@Xtravesty Specifically the passage is about Bohemond de Hauteville, Prince of Taranto and later Prince of Antioch. The interesting thing is that, before the First Crusade, Bohemond had repeatedly clashed with the Byzantines in battle, and at one point even helped his father, Robert Guiscard, to crush Alexios I in battle (with Bohemond leading the left flank against the Varangian Guard)
No joke or word of a lie, this video actually helped me in my ancient Greek class. The prof had us match up people who wrote in ancient Greek, what they wrote, and when, and I was able to recognise Anna's name even in Greek! I felt like I had the wrinkliest of brains, especially since the other people in my group had no idea who she was. So, thanks blue! You allowed me to look like a genius in GREE101!
Kinda makes you feel a sense of pride hearing that her father raised her with the most he can provide. And approved of her passion for knowledge. *And in adulthood she was legitimately grateful for all of it.* Unlike other stories where its: "Thanks for the knowledge, and raising me to be my best. Here's a knife in the back". _Edit: Although, there was a plan for a Coup...it was on the back-burner for the brother so it doesn't count._
5:28 I may or may not have cried a little bit, hearing this for the first time; not just because it gracefully articulates the entire purpose of history, but because, by speaking to us from nearly 1000 years in the past, it proves its own point.
Anna: hello? Caller: Is this her royal majesty Komnena? Anna: Yes Caller: My name is Cleopatra, genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist, goddess and queen- we should talk!
2:31 arabic is my first language, so you can imagine my shock reading this. Arabic hasnt changed at all and its written the same way my school books are.
@@josie5440 the handwriting is a bit difficult to read, but i can make out "aristotle isn't wise, i attended (something something) skandinavia" but thats a rough translation ^^
@@ttq3661 Basically any book by William Urban. His focus is on the Baltic Crusades. Also "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" it's a compilation of translated Arabic primary sources.
@@ttq3661 The Arab sources are also biased but so is every source ever. I did read his "History of the Crusades" trilogy. I used the third book the most since my thesis was mostly about how the crusading orders (Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights, etc.) lost their influence.
@@willkuehler8918 Urban wrote a lot about Poland-Lithuania too, but it seems this topic is at the very fringe of popular attention. I wonder if it's worth digging into after I'm finished with the Byzantines and the Crusades...
Hello! Greek-American girl here! One thing I always struggled with growing up was that Greek School was just language school - which was fine! I just also desperately wanted to learn the history and poems of my ethnicity and the country my parents came from. Both for my education and getting to talk with them about it. I grew up with many mythos books but again no history books. I really love Red's series of Mythos (Greek and beyond) because it's so accurate and both of you share extra little details like historical timeline and different ways the story was told in different parts of the country. It makes it so much more interesting and informative! And I really love Blue's series on history - Greek and all of it! I feel like I'm finally learning about my heritage and my culture with accuracy and passion in your work and I can't express how much I love it, how much it means to me, and how much I watch them to learn and grow and feel more connected to my heritage as well
She honestly got lucky that her brother didn't have her flayed alive or burt to a crisp like every other king/emperor would have at the time for royal treason. He showed her mercy, where he was given none
True. But also, imagine being in her shoes. We most likely won’t stoop to murder but imagine being snubbed just because you happen to get the wrong set of chromosomes 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
This is fantastic! Well done! By the way, other subjects may have been dry, but there are some beautifully poetic Byzantine works within the realm of theology. Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor are brilliant. The Byzantines definitely carried on the Ancient Greek legacy, just mostly in the realm of religious study.
As soon as I saw you were gonna cover Byzantine history, I was so excited for the video on Anna Komnena. She's definitely one of my favorite underrated historical figures!
That was a beautiful explanation of who Anna Komnena was and what she did! This is honestly the first time I've ever heard of her, which is just an embarrassment. We need to hear more about her and people like her! Thanks again for great content, stories, and histories.
As someone named Anna who is the firstborn of her mother (who has the middle name and Christian name of Irene) who ALSO is immensely fascinated with history (I absolutely abhor censorship of any literature, ancient or otherwise and believe we should all have access and be encouraged to research things outside of our traditional culture) despite my extremely Catholic family’s concerns, AND has used references to Greek literature (specifically Plato’s “Republic” in reference to idealism, and how the idea of what would be considered ‘perfect’ is subjective to individuals and furthermore their culture.) to obtain a 5 on an AP test…………I think I found my idol.
Also, the part where it's the drawing of Anna with the caption "Anna uses the 'I' pronoun because she's not a coward" made me pause the video and audibly cheer! As an English major who grew up going to public school in the US, I was taught to NOT use the 'I' pronoun when writing essays, so that little tidbit you put in there was just………I can't find the words to describe my feelings other than simply: *chef's kiss*
Reading the Alexiad, literally, every second line: "Alexius, the Great Domestic, who was also my father" WE GET IT. ALEXIOS WAS YOUR DAD. SHUT UP. jeez.
"It's important to recognize source bias in every historical document." Okay. Blue, a historian, is making a video about a historian he likes. He's probably going to gush and give her more than a fair shake.
Blue, you cannot insult Byzantine literature like this, when it has given us the tale of thrice-blessed Borderer Basil, the very noble, most brave. Who had his strength as gift from God and overthrew all Syria, Babylon, all Harziane, Armenia, Kappadokia, Amorion and Ikonion, and that great and mighty fortress, the mighty and the fortified, Ankyra I mean, and all Smyrna and the seaside subduing. I will declare his works to you, which in this present life he did. How warriors mighty and brave he overawed, and all wild beasts, having to help the grace of God, and of God's mother unconquerable, of the angels and archangels, of the prize-bearing martyrs, of both the glorious Theodores, the Host's leader and the recruit, of noble George of many trials, and wonderworking martyr of martyrs glorious Demetrios, defender of Basil, boast and pride of him, who had victory on his adversaries the Agarenes and Ishmaelites, and barbarous Skyths who rage like dogs.
"The Byzantines lost a casual half of their empire a decade earlier and the ensuing civil wars were... obviously less than fun." Y'know... As you do as the successor state to the Roman Empire. Just another day for Rome, really...except everything likes to spontaneously combust every now and then more than usual. Funny how it works, no?
To be a successor state to the Roman Empire means that the State ceased to exist and this never happened.The eastern part of the Empire survived without interruption until the end.
@@arandurion so you agree that until 1204 A.D. and for at least 900 years after the transfer ofthe Capital to Constantinople, the Roman Empire didn't cease to exist.And even if we agree that 1204 was a crucial point for the State,as before they decided to just move the capital to another city as it was the case of Ravenna or Nicaea. And it really doesn't matter what the Romans thought how they should be called.If the Arabs and the Turks called them Rum or even the Bulgarians used the same name for the citizens of the State,the opinion of someone living in the 21st century has no real value.
i now want the book covers that you guys use as the actual book covers for these great works,would look great on the shelf and make them easy to differentiate while still being related desigins like at 9:12 ,all of those please
To be fair, her brother - John II was an awesome emperor, and if the coup went through the progress made by Alexios could be put in jeopardy. Also she couldn't have just taken the throne for herself - the title was supposed to go to her husband Nikephoros Bryiennios. Also during her stay at the monastery she wasn't too isolated and confined, as she was allowed visitors and corespondence by letters.
I am shocked and flabbergasted just how entertaining, empowering, and very educational this whole talk was. I shouldn't expect less from Red and Blue, but it struck me. I'm reading this epic, I'm going to get a copy. And with all of your histories of the Byzantines and now this, I think they're my favorite empire. Huh.
Κομνηνή is closer to "Kawmnaynay", with stress on the last syllable. Only mentioned this because ever since I started learning Greek on Duolingo, the OSP Ancient Greek videos on UA-cam have captured my fascination!
She was the first Gonzo-Historian! Putting herself in the story and making the normal boring telling of events more interesting -- and personal to the family and their royal perspective!
Got The Alexiad for Christmas. Started reading it. HOLY HELL her writing is amazing I also cited it in my coursework for college (answering an investigation into Byzantine-Latin relations during the first four Crusades). An INVALUABLE resource
You still should do something on Kassia, or Kassiani. Not only is she the EARLIEST known female composer whose music is still extant, not only is her music still sung to this day during Holy Week, her personal story could make an Oscar winning movie.
Ban Zhao technically never wrote her own historical text, she helped her brother write Hanshu, making her a very notable figure but not the first woman to write a history
@@kets4443 Nicobule wrote a biography of Alexander the Great, Pamphyle of Epidaurus also wrote history, but unfortunately none of their works exist today. Anna Komnene is the first female historian whose work survived.
Correction: She thought all crusaders were gross and greedy with one very glaring exception - Bohemond. She was a bit of a fan of him, even though he and his family had previously fought against her beloved father. And when I say "a bit of a fan" I mean that this how she described him: "Now the man was such as, to put it briefly, had never before been seen in the land of the Romans, be he either of the barbarians or of the Greeks (for he was a marvel for the eyes to behold, and his reputation was terrifying). Let me describe the barbarian's appearance more particularly - he was so tall in stature that he overtopped the tallest by nearly one cubit, narrow in the waist and loins, with broad shoulders and a deep chest and powerful arms. And in the whole build of the body he was neither too slender nor overweighted with flesh, but perfectly proportioned and, one might say, built in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus... His skin all over his body was very white, and in his face the white was tempered with red. His hair was yellowish, but did not hang down to his waist like that of the other barbarians; for the man was not inordinately vain of his hair, but had it cut short to the ears. Whether his beard was reddish, or any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had passed over it very closely and left a surface smoother than chalk... His blue eyes indicated both a high spirit and dignity; and his nose and nostrils breathed in the air freely; his chest corresponded to his nostrils and by his nostrils...the breadth of his chest. For by his nostrils nature had given free passage for the high spirit which bubbled up from his heart. A certain charm hung about this man but was partly marred by a general air of the horrible... He was so made in mind and body that both courage and passion reared their crests within him and both inclined to war. His wit was manifold and crafty and able to find a way of escape in every emergency. In conversation he was well informed, and the answers he gave were quite irrefutable. This man who was of such a size and such a character was inferior to the Emperor alone in fortune and eloquence and in other gifts of nature"
This is one Princess/ Historian / Poet / Literary work I have never heard of before! Yet one more thing to put on my all to long list of things I have to read!
Thank you. It's hard to find strong historical woman. I enjoy the video placed out so far. Really expanded my list, so thank you. I mainly started this Binder full of woman because I'm sick of people calling Monroe a woman icon. Shes cool ig but there were so many strong woman who had to literally fight for their education/rights/country. A blonde model doesn't represent that. Anna Komnena sounds like a great woman with a lot of ambition.
It's awesome that she was the smartest and most well taught person of her time, and she was also able to be very clear that like every person with a good dad, she thought her dad was the coolest and most brave and courageous person ever. It humanizes the royals. They were people like you and I, who experienced deep love for one's family and deep grief at the sack of one's home. I think the personal involvement in the Alexiad is among the best things about it. At the end of the day, she was just another person who thought her dad was the coolest person ever and made sure that every single literate person on the planet for another thousand years knew it too.
SidheKnight it means you look up to them and enjoy what they do, i.e. their content, accomplishments, ext. Basically, I just think woman historians are really cool!
This is more than a bit bias towards Anna There’s almost no evidence to suggest she was ever considered a real candidate for the imperial throne as the byzantines had suffered political instability under the previous three sole empresses Irene, Zoe and Theodora so most of the empire was against the idea of a female ruler (this is slightly unfair but understandable given medieval attitudes to women) It is well documented though that Anna wanted her husband nikephoros to succeed her father as he had proved a capable and loyal general to him throughout his reign However nikephoros remained loyal to John and Anna and her mother were banished as a result This is probably for the best as John turned out to be just as excellent an emperor as his father
Blue: Anna was disgusted by the Crusaders Anna having a crush one Bohemond, one of the Crusader's leader: The sight of him inspired admiration […] his stature was such that he towered almost a full cubit over the tallest men. He was slender of waist and flanks, with broad shoulders and chest […] he was neither taper of form nor heavily built and fleshy, but perfectly proportioned - one might say that he conformed to the Polyclitean ideal. […] The skin all over his body was very white, except for his face which was both white and red. His hair was lightish-brown […] Whether his beard was red or of any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had attacked it, leaving his chin smoother than any marble. However, it appeared to be red. His eyes were light-blue and gave some hint of the man’s spirit and dignity. Anna Komnene, Alexiad, tr. E.R.A. Sewter, The Alexiad of Anna Comnena
Thank you for showing me a part of history I have not yet been exposed to. I bought The Alexiad before the video even ended lol. Gonna read it and expand my horizons.
Hey i love your stuff I've always liked history and mythos but your whole group has an amazing personality honestly. I hope y'all continue to keep inspiring teens and adults to enjoy something super important and fun history
"This is hardly the biggest screw up in Byzantine history. That honor would go Byzantine history." Truly the greatest sum-up of Byzantine history ever told.
Manzikert was truly the biggest screw up.
Or the Iconoclasm that led to the second Christian Schism
Prins van Oranje Manzikert wasnt even that bad. The civil wars after that battle were the biggest screw up
@@osaft2go830 I mean they survived because they had an amazing Emperor and took back some of Anatolia during the First Crusade. But then some idiots took over the Empire and the Venetians sacked Constantinople. Then finally the weak Turks grew which were there since Manzikert killed the Empire. Probably actually the Fourth Crusade which killed Byzantium, from the piece of land which no one was able to take for hundreds of years, to a few weak Greek states.
O-Saft to go The Civil War Manzikert started is the worst event in Byzantine History. Nothing compared to losing Anatolia the heartland of the Empire it’s entire existence. Once the Turks settled in it was impossible to push them out. That and Manuel Komnenos was a dumbass
"Got mad, sulked about it, then wrote a book about it"? Ah, just like Niccolo Machiavelli and Dante Alighieri. Classic.
This seems to be a pattern in historians.
Technically, she did it before they did.
@@galwitprifor001 Not relevant.
@@DanteTorn you're not relevant
I read this comment the exact moment he said it
07:25
Blue: "After dodging that two-ton wrecking ball..."
Me: More like Teuton wrecking-ball, amirite?
Yes
That was Frankly not Germane to these Pontiffications.
I guess so, they did like your comment
I thought that that was what he said in the first place lol
Historical puns are tight!
"She uses the "I" pronoun because she's not a coward." As someone who got that Bachelor's in history, I deeply appreciate that.
I feel the B's coming whenever I decide to use the "I"
"Dear Diary, met with kings of Europe today. They didn't seem too happy my crown was shinier than theirs. Or had more brains filling it."
Well she was 14 when she met him
@tk2887 Even prodigal geniuses like Anna Komnena were not immune to the wiles of adolescent hormones. And considering that Bohemond had once fought against her own father, it would have been a "Liking What Daddy Hates" situation.
Michael Scott oooooooof
Built in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus is an interesting compliment.
Damn is that realy?
“You’re a Byzantine royal, if you don’t have the spine for a little coup d’état what are you even doing here? Ugh.” Not gonna lie that is the single best sentence I think I have ever heard
Should have read more about Rome.
@@HeroLanding Where do you think the Byzantines got it from?
That's the mindset that kept the empire in near perpetual civil wars.
Blue:the books can lose a few hundred pages
Me:and a few hundred dollars
Or a few thousand dollars
Spending £50-or-so on a book I haven't even read in full
@@finnianquail8881 Do they not have secondhand book shoppes where you live? ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 they swap a few chapters around and call it a new edition and tell all the schools/colleges they need the newest one so they tell the students the same. They've also been going online more, you usually get a code and MAYBE a book. The code logs you into some site to read the new book for 1 semester to 1 year so you can't really sell afterwards. It's really gross.
I dont understand how I got 500+ likes in 7hrs but I dont care nor do I give a f
Any ancient literature: exists
Anna Komnena: *I’ll take your entire stock*
Anna Komnena: shut up and take my money!
Ancient Literature: * Exists *
Anna Komnena: "INJECT IT INTO MY VEINS!"
S T O N K S
Is that a motherfucking Jontron reference?
@@ariavachier-lagravech.6910 which video of his??? I don't remember this
IS THERE A JONTRON VIDEO I HAVENT WATCHED????
CK2 fans like me who literally play Alexios to create the Komnenian restoration.
“That’s my girl.”
True
CK2?
Not A Smith and then there’s CK2 fans like me who manage to create Han Taoist France with the horse phenotype
The chaos gods must be pleased
@@jarodmartin1413 A videogame where you control the members of a medieval dinasty through the centuries, conquering, plotting, marrying, betraying, etc.
@@MaylocBrittinorum Name of the game please
Anna's entire story plays out like an old Disney princess movie and now I desperately want to see one.
That would be an interesting original story from them...
As a Greek I would LOVE for disney to make a byzantine princess since Megara from Hercules is not consider a disney princess😭
Except it would stop before the attempted coup, the exile, and her forced imprisonment in a nunnery...
The great irony of Anna's story is that she is a far more important figure than her Emperor brother who disposed her and who's name I already forgot
@@JamesR1986 If you're basing that entirely off this video then you're going off bias tbh. He isn't the focus of the video, so he doesn't get much said about him.
Not saying you're necessarily wrong, just that this seems like confirmation bias.
"It's not the biggest screw up in Byzantine history. That honor goes to Byzantine history."
YIKES. Hook me up with your Greek Fire supplier cause those are some lethal burns.
Need some water for that...oh, wait...
Seriously, I think he just started the fire that Prometheus gave to humanity with that.... yikes.
@@pyrosianheir At least... "we didn't start the fire..." ??? ;o)
there was a great breakdown on Anna and her stylistic choices in "The Alexiad' on the History of Byzantium podcast, and how skillfully she darts between the cultural expectations at the time of both a royal woman, and a historian, and attempting to satisfy both in order to be taken seriously for her work without leaving a lacking on one side or another to be used against her in a discrediting attack. Honestly, she may be the most impressive genius of her time.
Oh shoot ty for reminding me that it’s running again, I been missing out on our British Byzantine historian for a minute now
They're covering Alexios' reign right now (with Anna's work as their primary source, of course) so this is very timely.
Matthew Hearn I’m listening rn as this notification popped up :D
Why am I just hearing about this podcast for the first time?
Where can I find it? And where do people discuss it?
Freedom for None - Uroboro Djinn wherever you listen to podcasts - iTunes, Spotify, etc. And I’m not sure exactly where the main discussion posts are.
I never even heard of Anna Komnena until I watched this video. You'd think being the first women historian she'd be mentioned in history classes at some point. Great video as always
Julie S 2017 my first thought was “huh, that’s a new way to spell Anna Karenina”
I first heard her name in Western historiography class at almost the final class as one of alternative historian and has been classified as the same group as feminist historian from later date.
I went to school in freaking Greece and found out about her in an article about byzantine trivia! Well I guess teaching us the prayer they sang in Agia Sophia during the siege by the Arabs was more important
@@spiritusIRATUS Anna Komnena is quoted in the greek schoolbook and used as a primary source. Although most teachers don't focus on the primary sources which you have to read by yourself. I think the focus on byzantine religiosity is completely expected since the church is heavily involved in our educational system.
I wish strong Feminist scholars were talked about more. I never heard about Anna Komnene or Hypatia until I went to college and learned about them in my philosophy class.
Yesss, someone openly acknowledges that all historical documents have bias!! Some try to be more "objective" than others, sure but it's *always* told from the point of view of someone with certain values, religious beliefs, and political opinions. That's why it's so important to draw knowledge from many different sources.
Kilthan2050 Schliemann, is who you mean, I think?
@@Kilthan2050 To play devil's advocate, it's not a bad assumption to think a city referenced in a clearly fictional account that you have no real evidence for doesn't exist. It's the same reason we say Atlantis isn't real but if we hypothetically and definitively found and proved its existence, historians would be happy to be proven wrong.
Every (modern) historian acknowledges that all sources are bias, what are you talking about? I go to university for history and it’s literally the first thing we’re trained in
Like the Vatican claiming that Emperor Justinian was a monster with two heads.
James Tang it is good to play devil’s advocate! But I am afraid I must argue this one. I don’t think they are quite the same. Homer was THE defining literature of the Greek civilization and was even then a written form of epic poem that had been told and retold for many generations. The Greeks believed it to reflect their history and that was held to be true by the other civilizations, including Rome, etc. almost every western culture at some point tried to trace their own ancestry back to Troy (include the English and Irish, even, in the Middle Ages). I am sure at different times different people may have viewed it like Americans might the tales of Johnny Appleseed - known to be originally true, but nobody believed all the “tall tale” parts. While during other times people were more credulous and believed in the Gods, etc. At any rate, the influence of homer and the belief it was based on fact was incredibly wide-spread, influential, and pervasive.
Whereas Atlantis is based on a brief passage in Plato and has little supporting evidence and was not important to most everyone. Over the centuries, though, it became a convenient myth to hang many people’s desire for something like Atlantis to be true, to latch on to. It’s much more like the Bermuda Triangle than the existence of Troy. The deep skepticism among academics and scholars that ancient literature could have a basis in reality was a development of the Enlightenment and beyond.
All that being said, your point is still a good one and would certainly apply many times. Ivan just picking on the one example ;-).
"Let's do some history" is one of my most favourite phrases to hear on UA-cam.
My question is how to do it?
*Anna:* here's always that one lame friend who isn't down with casual murder
Monarchs tend to find the company of regicides uncomfortable, even when the murder was to clear their path to the throne.
@@mjbull5156 makes sense, cause...whats to stop them from murdering YOU later if they casually murdered the people that were supposed to be hard to murder, although you think they would sweet talk that person so they are on your side, but, why let a little murder get in the way of a good crusade XD
@@mjbull5156 then they are COWARDS who want the results without any of the work. Do you know how complicated it is to plan an assassination? Smh
So you're telling me we could have had A Byzantine Cleopatra, but with a healthy childhood and not inbred family?
Could have, but unfortunately people tend to forget about Anna
I mean that's kinda already a thing via Theodora but okay.
Maybe we should be glad she didn’t get the “terrible femme fatale, undone by her own emotions and passion scrambling her brain, because women amirite?” Treatment that Cleopatra got?
@@phastinemoon From what Blue says about Gibbons' treatment of her, I'd argue that she got just that, though admittedly seven hundred years after she was dead rather than before her corpse had quite finished cooling.
Writing the Alexiad was a better accomplishment than becoming a forgettable empress.
"she wasn't too impressed by them"
Are we just gonna forget about the part where she describes Bohemond as a total beefcake?
For anyone curious, this is how she described Boheond:
"Now the man was such as, to put it briefly, had never before been seen in the land of the Romans, be he either of the barbarians or of the Greeks (for he was a marvel for the eyes to behold, and his reputation was terrifying). Let me describe the barbarian's appearance more particularly - he was so tall in stature that he overtopped the tallest by nearly one cubit, narrow in the waist and loins, with broad shoulders and a deep chest and powerful arms. And in the whole build of the body he was neither too slender nor overweighted with flesh, but perfectly proportioned and, one might say, built in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus... His skin all over his body was very white, and in his face the white was tempered with red. His hair was yellowish, but did not hang down to his waist like that of the other barbarians; for the man was not inordinately vain of his hair, but had it cut short to the ears. Whether his beard was reddish, or any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had passed over it very closely and left a surface smoother than chalk... His blue eyes indicated both a high spirit and dignity; and his nose and nostrils breathed in the air freely; his chest corresponded to his nostrils and by his nostrils...the breadth of his chest. For by his nostrils nature had given free passage for the high spirit which bubbled up from his heart. A certain charm hung about this man but was partly marred by a general air of the horrible... He was so made in mind and body that both courage and passion reared their crests within him and both inclined to war. His wit was manifold and crafty and able to find a way of escape in every emergency. In conversation he was well informed, and the answers he gave were quite irrefutable. This man who was of such a size and such a character was inferior to the Emperor alone in fortune and eloquence and in other gifts of nature"
@@magnusengesath, no, no we are not. She totally had a crush on that dude, which is ironic, considering how Bohemond tried to overthrow Alexios when Anna was just a toddler.
@@magnusengesathI haven’t gotten to this part in the history yet. Damn, I thought she had the hots for her husband!
Anna taking the throne would be a pretty good 'what if' in history if John didnt end up being actually perfect.
Their whole story is actually remarkably wholesome. She, her husband, John and his Turkish commander fared really well.
Wow, that’s a plot twist I didn’t see coming.
Most likely the story ends badly as taking out jonh was so many negative repercussions on the Byzantine empire
as long as there is a prince the princess wont be queen. - Proably not augustus
@@El-Silver How so? His son continued to rule as John ruled, and was even more successful.
Well to give credit to Anna, yeah, she didn't get her throne but, hey, there's worse things than losing out the throne contest to John II, The Good, 'The Greatest Komnenoi Emperor', Komnenos. That's some mighty stiff competition.
I was half expecting that she dropped out voluntary, more improtant work to do, more books to read.
@@Sarellion Ooooh no. If you want to know where the 'hysterical woman' stuff brought up in the video comes form... well. Like Blue said, Anna was *very* biased in a lot of ways and one of those ways was herself. She thought John would be a terrible Emperor and that he wouldn't be suited to the job and that she was, to put it mildly, THE BEST.
So a lot of historians look back on that and, considering how Good John turned out, take a dim view of it. It's probably one of the most striking examples of Anna being so into her own hype that she lets it dictate how she views not only her work but also the world at large.
@@NACBEAST Because she was pissed at her brother when she lost the succession to him and thought she would do a better job than him? Did anyone ever campaign on a"I am worse that my opponent/the other king" platform?
I just wondered why I didn't heard of her as an empress until Blue said her brother got the job.
@@Sarellion The point wasn't that she campaigned that way at all, you're right that most people tend to go around like that. The point is that given how her brother ended up ruling it was clear that Anna's judgement was beyond compromised by her own hubris. She doesn't just think she's better than her brother, she thought that he was a moron who'd doom the Empire and so, therefore, she was the only one who should've succeeded Alexios.
Which, again, couldn't have been more wrong. It shows her bias as a historian and how she could allow her own hype to blind her to a lot of realities (one example of a good handful).
@@Sarellion She was never really first in the line of succession anyways. Remember the whole “son before daughter” thing? The moment her brother was born she was out of the running.
"She was not a typical Bizantine princess" is the new "I'm not like other girls"
*old
@@jamiee7367 you know what? Let's make it new. Quirky girls, start using that in your Tinder bios!
...new?
Byzantine*
Typical would be like Irene who blinded here son to rule longer 0_0
Blue, I challenge you on your statement that Anna Komnena is the first female historian. I call Enheduana, babylonian priestess, from ca. 2250 BC. first female historian. She wrote for example a song lamenting injustice done to her and her family, when she was banished from Ur.
P.S.: She is also the first ever recorded poet we know the name of.
Blibla Blubb v. Blue. I can't decide if that sounds awesome or terrible.
Pablo Repetto: Sounds like a boss fight in a pokemon copy with historical figures instead. Imagine the battlecry: "Enheduana, I choose you!!!"
@@bliblablubb9590 Ohhhh :3
I wish I was qualified to make up move names for that, but I'm coming up flat blank.
Sei Shonagon gave us a contemporary glimpse into Heian court life.
But, she's not exactly a historian. She's more like an Ancient Japanese shitposter.
I adore my girl, Enheduana, but I don't think a brief account of one event is a history. BUT, Enheduana does get the more awesome achievement of being the first named writer ever.
"Dad I'm bored"
"Okay here's a hospital with 10000 beds for you have fun."
Take that Disney (also please make this a movie someone; I'd watch this so hard)
Me: *Watching video*
*Gets notification for said video*
Well done UA-cam
Tell me about it
Cosmo the blue peashooter not me :(
It always cracks me up when that happens. But what happens the most to me is that I'll be scrolling through videos and I'll see one and think I'll come back to it later and then I get a notification for it.
Outstanding move, UA-cam 👀
I get mine an hour after having watched the video sometimes. Well done
I really do love her description of the meeting with the various Crusader Nobles. Especially how she's like "Bohemond of Sicily is so evil and ruthless and my father's enemy, but he's so beautiful it's beguiling" lol someone had a crush.
@VampiressOnDaProwlq it was a hilarious description though...
Probably thought he was hot, but knew the "crazy" was strong with that one, so she never pursued him.
@@richardthomas5362 yeah it's just a really funny passage to read, and spawned a fun project in my college course on the crusades where a bunch of students wrote "Twitter-style tirades" of the various Crusader and Byzantine nobles and the Pope trash talking each other.
Anna lowkey had a crush on Bohemond de Hautville who would later found the Principality of Antioch. She called him a barbarian but she then goes on to spend an entire paragraph giving a *detailed* account of his physical description and said he was only inferior to the Emperor himself (who she obviously praises universally).
She had a crush on a guy from "hot-ville?" Are we sure that's his real name?
@@KillaAhmadilla That's just french for "high village" as in, a village built atop a hill. Perfectly normal, even generic, name considering how many villages are built up high for defensive purposes.
@@jaceladag yeah figures it would be pretty boring in my reality. Just a funny coincidence.
Oh yeah I've heard of Anna Komnena
I was introduced to her in the Ted Ed video on the Byzantine Empire. Fascinating historian, great respect.
I've seen the video to.
I was introduced to her via Medieval II. I had always thought that she was a typical marriagable princess in the game, but after watching this video, this puts a new light to this. Interesting.
Me too
Noble birth ✅
Roman ✅
History lover ✅
Medical professional ✅
Deep thinker ✅
Poet ✅
Well read ✅
"she was not particularly impressed" didn't the Extra Credits guy quote a whole section on how she clearly had the hots for one of them?
Yep, the Norman Bohemond.
Beaumont: *exists*
Anna: are all you Norman’s such himbo’s?
She still considered most of them a little dumb.
She had the hots for a few of them... And that was literally the only good thing she had to say about any of them.
@@MogofWar "they're dumb but at least they're hot"?
to be fair with John Komnenos he was the one of best emperor the dynasty produced
Her brother was a great dude though? Like a really really good guy and pretty much what everyone would want as emperor. So much so it's almost as if history wanted to prove her judgement wrong, in an ironic twist of the usual trope.
I mean it's not everyday that you read or hear of a leader, medieval, ancient or modern, being compared in character to Marcus Aurelius, or of a ruler called "The Beautiful" despite being physically ugly. Seems like pretty much no one (except Anna I guess?) has anything bad to say about John other than his physical appearance: noble, pious, charitable, moderate, competent and just ruler, great strategist and general. The empire recovered under his rule and he got back a good chunk of Anatolia. He was also apparently always loyal to his wife and never sentenced anyone to death, which is remarkable for an emperor.
Honestly at that point I can totally understand why Alexios would want someone of his character to be his successor or why her husband would not want to betray his brother in law and friend. For someone so well learned and knowledgeable, especially in greek philosophy and christian doctrine, I think she ultimately lacked the wisdom to trust the judgement of the father she admired so much, or to see her brother's many virtues and capabilities beyond her (understandable) frustration and resentment.
Honestly, she should have moved on and joined her husband in supporting her beautiful, ugly, magnificent little brother, then we would have gotten byzantine royal epic part 2: "The Johniad".
Yeah, it's too bad they didn't get along. John's reign has way too little contemporary record given how much he accomplished.
It’s unfortunate that she got snubbed. From a 21st century perspective it feels wrong for her to have been passed over, since there was an obvious gender bias, but John was probably one of the best emperors in the history of his dynasty and in the empire as a whole. I can understand why Anna was so convinced he’d be terrible- familial bias can cloud judgement after all.
I bet both John and Anna were geniuses, or close to geniuses, so, while most people would be in awe of John because of his superior attributes Anna, on the other hand, would see him either as a mere equal or an inferior. The people see John as a great ruler, she sees him as the guy with a messy room, stinks because he doesn't bathe enough, and doesn't read enough books.
Homer was used as the standard to teach children how to read and write throughout the entire Roman and Byzantine era, up to Anna. It wasn't forbidden by any means, nor "locked away."
Edit: In fact, Anna states this in the Alexiad, that she was taught Homer(and everything else) by her tutors. She didn't sneak into a library and just start reading and teaching herself. That's generally not how education works. This idea about Anna stealing books from the Library and sneaking off comes not from Anna, but from Georgios Tornikes, and he doesn't state that books by pagan authors were forbidden by clergy, or the state, etc, but that Anna's parents didn't approve her learning such books. I suppose it's a believable story, that her parents(actually, her in-laws) wouldn't want their female child's head being filled with pagan thoughts and ideas, but unfortunately, it's a story that's directly contradicted by Anna herself, as she describes her own upbringing and education. and also would never apply to Homer(as stated earlier, Homer was the foundation for reading and writing taught in primary school).
This video sounds like a "despite crusty old men, young girl prevails" type of narrative, which detracts from Anna's actual story, and also detracts from the excellent works of many other Byzantine writers.
While some specific ancient pagan writings were frowned upon by the church at various times, none of them were made inaccessible, and some of them had never lost popularity (even with the clergy), such as Plato and Aristotle. The whole reason we have all this ancient Greek classical literature from pagan authors is because the Byzantines, clergy included, liked them and read them, and paid for them to be copied and preserved.
I heard Emperor, crusade, and saw the two-headed eagle and started reaching for my lasrifle from sheer force of habit before I caught myself.
Is she the same princess that wrote about how hot one of the crusader kings was?
Yes. “The sight of him inspired admiration […] his stature was such that he towered almost a full cubit over the tallest men. He was slender of waist and flanks, with broad shoulders and chest […] he was neither taper of form nor heavily built and fleshy, but perfectly proportioned - one might say that he conformed to the Polyclitean ideal. […] The skin all over his body was very white, except for his face which was both white and red. His hair was lightish-brown […] Whether his beard was red or of any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had attacked it, leaving his chin smoother than any marble. However, it appeared to be red. His eyes were light-blue and gave some hint of the man’s spirit and dignity.”
Anna Komnene, Alexiad, tr. E.R.A. Sewter, The Alexiad of Anna Comnena
@@Xtravesty Wow. Anna's writing style is amazing! She goes into as much detail as Tolkien, but somehow, Tolkien's style is still so much more drier!
@@Xtravesty Specifically the passage is about Bohemond de Hauteville, Prince of Taranto and later Prince of Antioch. The interesting thing is that, before the First Crusade, Bohemond had repeatedly clashed with the Byzantines in battle, and at one point even helped his father, Robert Guiscard, to crush Alexios I in battle (with Bohemond leading the left flank against the Varangian Guard)
Yep, everyone had the hots for bohemond de hautville, and if they didn't, they feared him
@@Xtravesty Even I felt a bit gay after reading that
Every nation: IM GONNA GET YA.
Alxeios I: YOU CAN’T TAKE ME GUYS, NOT WHEN I GO INTO *MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE*
No joke or word of a lie, this video actually helped me in my ancient Greek class.
The prof had us match up people who wrote in ancient Greek, what they wrote, and when, and I was able to recognise Anna's name even in Greek! I felt like I had the wrinkliest of brains, especially since the other people in my group had no idea who she was.
So, thanks blue! You allowed me to look like a genius in GREE101!
Kinda makes you feel a sense of pride hearing that her father raised her with the most he can provide. And approved of her passion for knowledge.
*And in adulthood she was legitimately grateful for all of it.*
Unlike other stories where its: "Thanks for the knowledge, and raising me to be my best. Here's a knife in the back".
_Edit: Although, there was a plan for a Coup...it was on the back-burner for the brother so it doesn't count._
5:28
I may or may not have cried a little bit, hearing this for the first time;
not just because it gracefully articulates the entire purpose of history, but because, by speaking to us from nearly 1000 years in the past, it proves its own point.
That's easily top 5 best ways to start a book
Blue: The writing is dryer than chalk dust.
Me: Dryer than the Sahara?
Dryer than burnt waffles
That about sums up my AP Euro textbook in high school pretty well
Dryer than an army of crusaders who got lost after burning all the wells down.
Dyer than the Atacama desert?
Im wondering why this got demonitized
"I fear no man but that thing" *yt alghoritm*"it scares me"
I had ads.
@@chloemajeske6189 how the hell maybe i dont know how youtube alghoritm works either
Hell yeah, Byzantine history from Blue.
Anna: hello?
Caller: Is this her royal majesty Komnena?
Anna: Yes
Caller: My name is Cleopatra, genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist, goddess and queen- we should talk!
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Mind if I make this a group chat?
Except she's not a hoe
Best group chat
@@gamingthisera6339 Neither of them were! Do you even watch this channel?
@@dylanchouinard6141 a historian, a queen and a poet, great trio
2:31 arabic is my first language, so you can imagine my shock reading this. Arabic hasnt changed at all and its written the same way my school books are.
It's fascinating that classical written Arabic maintained like this
That's just madly amazing!
awesome, but what does it say?
@@josie5440 the handwriting is a bit difficult to read, but i can make out "aristotle isn't wise, i attended (something something) skandinavia" but thats a rough translation ^^
Vixerel This is Pakistani Arabic it’s not like the current arabic
She's a Princessoetorian XD
Like Irulan
Ok irrelevant but I love that you still do XD. No one does that still but its waaay better than 😂
Like Jasnah Kholin from Stormlight Archive
@@joeyuzwa891 My thoughts the whole way through were how similar Anna was to Irulan. And I would bet that Herbert did that deliberately.
I did my thesis on the Crusades. Reading her stuff on the crusaders was one of the highlights of all the research I did.
Do you have any books to recommend? And if by any chance your thesis is published somewhere, I'd love to read it.
@@ttq3661 Basically any book by William Urban. His focus is on the Baltic Crusades. Also "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" it's a compilation of translated Arabic primary sources.
@@willkuehler8918 Thanks, I hope the arabs were more honest than latin sources at that time. How about Steve Runciman?
@@ttq3661 The Arab sources are also biased but so is every source ever. I did read his "History of the Crusades" trilogy. I used the third book the most since my thesis was mostly about how the crusading orders (Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights, etc.) lost their influence.
@@willkuehler8918 Urban wrote a lot about Poland-Lithuania too, but it seems this topic is at the very fringe of popular attention. I wonder if it's worth digging into after I'm finished with the Byzantines and the Crusades...
I was confused when I first saw the title of this video... “Anna Karenina wasn’t history- oh, wait, it’s a different thing.”
Ajehy same
Same 😅
Blue: "It's not the biggest screw up in Byzantine history. That honor goes to Byzantine history."
Me: *opens a history book* Holy hell, you're right!
Hello! Greek-American girl here! One thing I always struggled with growing up was that Greek School was just language school - which was fine! I just also desperately wanted to learn the history and poems of my ethnicity and the country my parents came from. Both for my education and getting to talk with them about it. I grew up with many mythos books but again no history books. I really love Red's series of Mythos (Greek and beyond) because it's so accurate and both of you share extra little details like historical timeline and different ways the story was told in different parts of the country. It makes it so much more interesting and informative! And I really love Blue's series on history - Greek and all of it! I feel like I'm finally learning about my heritage and my culture with accuracy and passion in your work and I can't express how much I love it, how much it means to me, and how much I watch them to learn and grow and feel more connected to my heritage as well
She honestly got lucky that her brother didn't have her flayed alive or burt to a crisp like every other king/emperor would have at the time for royal treason.
He showed her mercy, where he was given none
Because John II was a really chill dude. Not often does one hear about a ruler named 'the beautiful' despite being phisically ugly
Yea apparently her brother was among the best rulers in all of history not just byzantine history
He was great
“An unusually lenient punishment by Byzantine standards.”
@@thedemonhater7748Very lenient for Byzantine standards
True. But also, imagine being in her shoes. We most likely won’t stoop to murder but imagine being snubbed just because you happen to get the wrong set of chromosomes 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
This is fantastic! Well done!
By the way, other subjects may have been dry, but there are some beautifully poetic Byzantine works within the realm of theology. Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor are brilliant. The Byzantines definitely carried on the Ancient Greek legacy, just mostly in the realm of religious study.
Finally, something about Alexios and his daughter
As soon as I saw you were gonna cover Byzantine history, I was so excited for the video on Anna Komnena. She's definitely one of my favorite underrated historical figures!
That was a beautiful explanation of who Anna Komnena was and what she did! This is honestly the first time I've ever heard of her, which is just an embarrassment. We need to hear more about her and people like her! Thanks again for great content, stories, and histories.
As someone named Anna who is the firstborn of her mother (who has the middle name and Christian name of Irene) who ALSO is immensely fascinated with history (I absolutely abhor censorship of any literature, ancient or otherwise and believe we should all have access and be encouraged to research things outside of our traditional culture) despite my extremely Catholic family’s concerns, AND has used references to Greek literature (specifically Plato’s “Republic” in reference to idealism, and how the idea of what would be considered ‘perfect’ is subjective to individuals and furthermore their culture.) to obtain a 5 on an AP test…………I think I found my idol.
Also, the part where it's the drawing of Anna with the caption "Anna uses the 'I' pronoun because she's not a coward" made me pause the video and audibly cheer! As an English major who grew up going to public school in the US, I was taught to NOT use the 'I' pronoun when writing essays, so that little tidbit you put in there was just………I can't find the words to describe my feelings other than simply: *chef's kiss*
Yes
Last time I was this early the Byzantines were still fighting the Sassanians!
Oh, the memories...
"Happy start of women's history month!" You're two days too early Blue.
Gabriel Russell shut up! It’s good enough and still coincide with their upload schedule
We have a lot of catching up to do!
It's a video about history, so it'll be in the past when the month starts
Considering Women's History Month was 10 months and 28 days ago, I'd say he's pretty late!
He has some serious catching up to do!
Reading the Alexiad, literally, every second line:
"Alexius, the Great Domestic, who was also my father"
WE GET IT. ALEXIOS WAS YOUR DAD. SHUT UP. jeez.
"It's important to recognize source bias in every historical document."
Okay. Blue, a historian, is making a video about a historian he likes. He's probably going to gush and give her more than a fair shake.
3:03 Random video game music makes history fun!
Wow, she was the first woman historian? This is really interesting, I learn so much from these videos
You really are everywhere. Nuxtaku, here, I think Jimmy Snow...?
Serious me: Detailed close in time history in beautiful verse! What a valuable document!
Not serious me:...I would totally have been gay for her.
i just want to say that "epic poet-historian" is one of the coolest things *anyone* can ever be called :'3
Blue, you cannot insult Byzantine literature like this, when it has given us the tale of thrice-blessed Borderer Basil, the very noble, most brave. Who had his strength as gift from God and overthrew all Syria, Babylon, all Harziane, Armenia, Kappadokia, Amorion and Ikonion, and that great and mighty fortress, the mighty and the fortified, Ankyra I mean, and all Smyrna and the seaside subduing. I will declare his works to you, which in this present life he did. How warriors mighty and brave he overawed, and all wild beasts, having to help the grace of God, and of God's mother unconquerable, of the angels and archangels, of the prize-bearing martyrs, of both the glorious Theodores, the Host's leader and the recruit, of noble George of many trials, and wonderworking martyr of martyrs glorious Demetrios, defender of Basil, boast and pride of him, who had victory on his adversaries the Agarenes and Ishmaelites, and barbarous Skyths who rage like dogs.
And then we wonder why Catholic Europeans thought that the Byzantines were pompous pedantic pricks.
Knoloaify Some like Basil II could back that shit up though
Thank you, I was wondering if it was all hyperbole. Now I know.
Reads like the summary to my EU4 campaign.
I presume his business card used very small font?
Byzantine History is one of my favourites, thank you so much for focussing on this so much lately, you guys are the absolute best!!!
"The Byzantines lost a casual half of their empire a decade earlier and the ensuing civil wars were... obviously less than fun."
Y'know...
As you do as the successor state to the Roman Empire. Just another day for Rome, really...except everything likes to spontaneously combust every now and then more than usual. Funny how it works, no?
To be a successor state to the Roman Empire means that the State ceased to exist and this never happened.The eastern part of the Empire survived without interruption until the end.
@@Kimmerios-l5u the 4th crusade perhaps? But they considered themselves roman so what matters
@@arandurion so you agree that until 1204 A.D. and for at least 900 years after the transfer ofthe Capital to Constantinople, the Roman Empire didn't cease to exist.And even if we agree that 1204 was a crucial point for the State,as before they decided to just move the capital to another city as it was the case of Ravenna or Nicaea.
And it really doesn't matter what the Romans thought how they should be called.If the Arabs and the Turks called them Rum or even the Bulgarians used the same name for the citizens of the State,the opinion of someone living in the 21st century has no real value.
Ngl, Anna's the kind of historical figure I would've wanted to have known in my teens.
Thanks for this!
i now want the book covers that you guys use as the actual book covers for these great works,would look great on the shelf and make them easy to differentiate while still being related desigins
like at 9:12 ,all of those please
To be fair, her brother - John II was an awesome emperor, and if the coup went through the progress made by Alexios could be put in jeopardy. Also she couldn't have just taken the throne for herself - the title was supposed to go to her husband Nikephoros Bryiennios. Also during her stay at the monastery she wasn't too isolated and confined, as she was allowed visitors and corespondence by letters.
I am shocked and flabbergasted just how entertaining, empowering, and very educational this whole talk was. I shouldn't expect less from Red and Blue, but it struck me. I'm reading this epic, I'm going to get a copy. And with all of your histories of the Byzantines and now this, I think they're my favorite empire. Huh.
Last time I was this early Alexander was just Alexander the good
Gandalf
Not Alexander the PlotArmor?
Alexander the Shonen Protagonist
Κομνηνή is closer to "Kawmnaynay", with stress on the last syllable. Only mentioned this because ever since I started learning Greek on Duolingo, the OSP Ancient Greek videos on UA-cam have captured my fascination!
She was the first Gonzo-Historian! Putting herself in the story and making the normal boring telling of events more interesting -- and personal to the family and their royal perspective!
gonzo's impact
Got The Alexiad for Christmas. Started reading it. HOLY HELL her writing is amazing
I also cited it in my coursework for college (answering an investigation into Byzantine-Latin relations during the first four Crusades). An INVALUABLE resource
You still should do something on Kassia, or Kassiani. Not only is she the EARLIEST known female composer whose music is still extant, not only is her music still sung to this day during Holy Week, her personal story could make an Oscar winning movie.
Blue: "Anna Komnena also happens to be the first Female Historian"
Ban Zhao (45AD-116AD) "Am I a joke to you?"
Ban Zhao technically never wrote her own historical text, she helped her brother write Hanshu, making her a very notable figure but not the first woman to write a history
@@emilybarclay8831 Pamphile of Epidaurus?
@@kets4443 Nicobule wrote a biography of Alexander the Great, Pamphyle of Epidaurus also wrote history, but unfortunately none of their works exist today. Anna Komnene is the first female historian whose work survived.
These History-Makers videos have become some of my favorite videos on the channel.
Anyone who wants to check good byzantine literature, must check the folk "Akritika" songs
The question is who to start first: Digenes or Armouris?
Correction: She thought all crusaders were gross and greedy with one very glaring exception - Bohemond. She was a bit of a fan of him, even though he and his family had previously fought against her beloved father. And when I say "a bit of a fan" I mean that this how she described him:
"Now the man was such as, to put it briefly, had never before been seen in the land of the Romans, be he either of the barbarians or of the Greeks (for he was a marvel for the eyes to behold, and his reputation was terrifying). Let me describe the barbarian's appearance more particularly - he was so tall in stature that he overtopped the tallest by nearly one cubit, narrow in the waist and loins, with broad shoulders and a deep chest and powerful arms. And in the whole build of the body he was neither too slender nor overweighted with flesh, but perfectly proportioned and, one might say, built in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus... His skin all over his body was very white, and in his face the white was tempered with red. His hair was yellowish, but did not hang down to his waist like that of the other barbarians; for the man was not inordinately vain of his hair, but had it cut short to the ears. Whether his beard was reddish, or any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had passed over it very closely and left a surface smoother than chalk... His blue eyes indicated both a high spirit and dignity; and his nose and nostrils breathed in the air freely; his chest corresponded to his nostrils and by his nostrils...the breadth of his chest. For by his nostrils nature had given free passage for the high spirit which bubbled up from his heart. A certain charm hung about this man but was partly marred by a general air of the horrible... He was so made in mind and body that both courage and passion reared their crests within him and both inclined to war. His wit was manifold and crafty and able to find a way of escape in every emergency. In conversation he was well informed, and the answers he gave were quite irrefutable. This man who was of such a size and such a character was inferior to the Emperor alone in fortune and eloquence and in other gifts of nature"
BONK!
This is one Princess/ Historian / Poet / Literary work I have never heard of before! Yet one more thing to put on my all to long list of things I have to read!
Blue: Nat 20's
Also Blue: Shows a D12
Thank you.
It's hard to find strong historical woman. I enjoy the video placed out so far. Really expanded my list, so thank you.
I mainly started this Binder full of woman because I'm sick of people calling Monroe a woman icon. Shes cool ig but there were so many strong woman who had to literally fight for their education/rights/country.
A blonde model doesn't represent that. Anna Komnena sounds like a great woman with a lot of ambition.
As always, the good old Age of Mythology soundtrack is here and I love it
It's awesome that she was the smartest and most well taught person of her time, and she was also able to be very clear that like every person with a good dad, she thought her dad was the coolest and most brave and courageous person ever. It humanizes the royals. They were people like you and I, who experienced deep love for one's family and deep grief at the sack of one's home. I think the personal involvement in the Alexiad is among the best things about it. At the end of the day, she was just another person who thought her dad was the coolest person ever and made sure that every single literate person on the planet for another thousand years knew it too.
*Something happens to the Byzantine Empire*
Anna: WRITE THAT DOWN!!!
10:01 I mean, that's similar to what happened to Dante, he literally send to hell all the people who rejected him, including his teacher.
We STAN women historians 👏🏼
Stan?
SidheKnight it means you look up to them and enjoy what they do, i.e. their content, accomplishments, ext. Basically, I just think woman historians are really cool!
It's a portmanteau of stalker and fan.
It is??? Well looks like it’s another one for the « words with horrible origins » list
john 2 was better
Blue, your dedication to showing all sides of history is awe inspiring
i can always count on OSP to give me the cool history facts i never knew i wanted to know!!
Love her! Had a class on medieval byzantine literature, she was by far the best we ever read!
This is more than a bit bias towards Anna
There’s almost no evidence to suggest she was ever considered a real candidate for the imperial throne as the byzantines had suffered political instability under the previous three sole empresses Irene, Zoe and Theodora so most of the empire was against the idea of a female ruler (this is slightly unfair but understandable given medieval attitudes to women)
It is well documented though that Anna wanted her husband nikephoros to succeed her father as he had proved a capable and loyal general to him throughout his reign
However nikephoros remained loyal to John and Anna and her mother were banished as a result
This is probably for the best as John turned out to be just as excellent an emperor as his father
I've never heard of her before. Thank you so much for spotlighting her!
Blue: Anna was disgusted by the Crusaders
Anna having a crush one Bohemond, one of the Crusader's leader:
The sight of him inspired admiration […] his stature was such that he towered almost a full cubit over the tallest men. He was slender of waist and flanks, with broad shoulders and chest […] he was neither taper of form nor heavily built and fleshy, but perfectly proportioned - one might say that he conformed to the Polyclitean ideal. […] The skin all over his body was very white, except for his face which was both white and red. His hair was lightish-brown […] Whether his beard was red or of any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had attacked it, leaving his chin smoother than any marble. However, it appeared to be red. His eyes were light-blue and gave some hint of the man’s spirit and dignity.
Anna Komnene, Alexiad, tr. E.R.A. Sewter, The Alexiad of Anna Comnena
Thank you for showing me a part of history I have not yet been exposed to. I bought The Alexiad before the video even ended lol. Gonna read it and expand my horizons.
Hey i love your stuff I've always liked history and mythos but your whole group has an amazing personality honestly. I hope y'all continue to keep inspiring teens and adults to enjoy something super important and fun history
"came to power" is an interesting way to put what Alexios did to seize power and kill al the other claimants.
6:34 - Oh I remember she was quite impressed by one very manly redhead.
WELL, time to read the Alexiad! Thanks Blue! You always come through when I'm looking for more history to consume.
Cataphracts pajamas. I have to admit that one made me laugh. I'll have to remember that one.
I just wanted to say thank you for this as it gave me the best context I needed to answer one of my source commentary questions on the Alexiad