THE ALEXIAD

THE ALEXIAD OF ANNA COMNENA
BOOK I - From Alexius' Youth to the Last Months of Botaniates' Reign
BOOK II - The Revolt of the Comneni
BOOK III - The Accession of Alexius and Interfamily Power Struggles
BOOK IV - War with the Normans (1081-2)
BOOK V - War with the Normans (1082-83) (i-vii): Alexius' First Battle with Heretics - John Italus (viii-ix)
BOOK VI - Norman West: Death of Robert Guiscard: The Turks
BOOK VII - War with the Scyths (1087-90)
BOOK VIII - War with the Scyths (1091): Victory at Levunium (29 April 1091): Plots against the Emperor
BOOK IX - Turkish War: Dalmatian Interlude (1092-4): Conspiracy of Nicephorus Diogenes (1094)
BOOK X - Second Battle with Heresy: The Cuman War: First Crusade (1094-97)
BOOK XI - The First Crusade (1097-1104)
BOOK XII - Domestic Conflicts: Second Norman Invasion (1105-7)
BOOK XIII - The Conpiracy of Aston: The Final Defeat of Bohemond: The Treaty of Devol. (1107-8)
BOOK XIV - Turks, Franks, Cumans and Manichaeans (1108-15)
BOOK XV - Victory over the Turks: The Orphanage: Heresy of the Bogomils: Last Illness and Death of Alexius (1116-18)

Anna Comnena was a Byzantine Greek historian. She is the author of the Alexiad, an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constitutes the most important primary source of Byzantine history of the late 11th and early 12th centuries, as well as of the early Crusades. Although she is best known as the author of the Alexiad, Anna played an important part in the politics of the time and attempted to depose her brother John II Komnenos as emperor in favour of her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger.
At birth, Anna was betrothed to Constantine Doukas, and she grew up in his mother's household. She was well-educated in "Greek literature and history, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and medicine." Anna and Constantine were next in the line to throne until Anna's younger brother, John II Komnenos, became the heir in 1092. Constantine died around 1094, and Anna married Nikephoros Bryennios in 1097. The two had several children before Nikephoros' death around 1136.
It is commonly believed that, following her father's death in 1118, Anna and her mother attempted to usurp John II Komnenos. Supposedly her husband refused to cooperate with them, and the usurpation failed. As a result, John exiled Anna to the Kecharitomene Monastery, where she spent the rest of her life, and in her confinement there she wrote the Alexiad. However, there is no contemporary evidence of Anna's involvement in any assassination attempt.
In the Alexiad, Anna provided insight on political relations and wars between Alexios I and the West. She vividly described weaponry, tactics, and battles. It has been noted that she was writing about events that occurred when she was a child, so these are not eye-witness accounts. Her neutrality is compromised by the fact that she was writing to praise her father and denigrate his successors. Despite her unabashed partiality, her account of the First Crusade is of great value to history because it is the only Byzantine eyewitness account available. She had the opportunity to gather information from key figures in the Byzantine elite; her husband, Nikephorus Bryennios, had fought in the clash with crusade leader Godfrey of Bouillon outside Constantinople on Maundy Thursday 1097; and her uncle, George Palaeologos, was present at Pelekanon in June 1097 when Alexios I discussed future strategy with the crusaders. Thus, the Alexiad allows the events of the First Crusade to be seen from the Byzantine elite's perspective. It conveys the alarm felt at the scale of the western European forces proceeding through the Empire, and the dangers they might have posed to the safety of Constantinople.