John Malalas

John Malalas
John Malalas
A Monophysite Byzantine chronicler of the sixth century

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

John Malalas
    John Malalas
     Catholic_Encyclopedia John Malalas
    A Monophysite Byzantine chronicler of the sixth century, born at Antioch where he spent most if not the whole of his life. His surname Malalas, from the Syriac malâlâ, "the rhetor", points to a Syrian origin. John Malalas was a contemporary of Emperors Anastasius I, Justin I, Justinian I, and Justin II. His "Chronographia" if, for which he is famous, was originally but a chronicle of the city of Antioch, expanded later by the author himself into a general history of the world up to the last years of Justinian (d. 565). It is divided into eighteen books, the last of which, however, originally a chronicle of Constantinople, cannot be ascribed to John Malalas, being evidently the work of an orthodox writer. Giving up the Hellenic and Byzantine traditions John Malalas struck a new path in historiography, and created the type of the Byzantine chronicle. He wrote not for the cultured public but for the bulk of the lay-men and monks, seeking to gratify their naive curiosity in matters of history and narrating such facts only and in such manner as could interest the people. The "Chronographia" is uncritical and teems with legends, anachronisms, repetitions, and inconsistencies, and its style and language are in keeping with the nature of the concept of history it exhibits; it is the earliest important monument of low Greek. In spite of the many authors he so ostentatiously names, it is highly probable that, beyond the archives of the city of Antioch and the current ecclesiastical and civil calendars, John Malalas had but very few reliable written sources. If he used at all Julius Africanus, it must have been through the now lost chronicles of Nestorianus, Pausanias, Domninus, Theophilus, and Timotheus whom he frequently cites. John Malalas enjoyed great authority with subsequent generations of Byzantine chroniclers who quote him quite freely and often worked whole books ot his "Chronographia" into their own compositions. Such is tho case with John of Ephesus and through him Bar-Hebraus (two Syrian writers) the church historian Evagrius, the author of the "Tusculan Fragments", John of Antioch, and especially the author of the "Chronicon Paschale", John of Nikiu, the author of the "Chronicon Palatinum", Theophanes, George the Monk, Cedrenus, the author of the "Excerpta Constantiniana" and the authors of several similar compilations. John Malalas's vvork had the honour of a Slavonic translation (now lost) from which it passed into several Slavonic chronicles; it was also translated into Georgian. It is from those various sources that it was reconstructed, for strange to say for such a popular work, independently of the above-named writings it has been preserved only in a single manuscript (Baroccianus, 128, c. 12, Oxford, Bodleian Library; mutilated at both ends) and that an the shape of an epitome. The "Chronographia" was first edited by Edm. Chilmead (Oxford, 1691), with a Latin translation and a commentary by the editor, a treatise of H. Hody, and a letter from R. Bentley to J. Mill. A new critical and complete up-to-date edition is highly desirable.
    KRUMBACHER, Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteretur (2nd ed., Munich, 1887), pp. 325-354, where an exhaustive literature of the subject will be found. DIDOT, Nouvelle Biographie Generale, vol. XXXII, col. 1007.
    H. HYVERNAT
    Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • John Malalas — or Ioannes Malalas (or Malelas) (Greek: Ἰωάννης Μαλάλας) (c. 491 – 578) was a Greek chronicler from Antioch. Malalas is probably a Syriac word for rhetor , orator ; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus (the form Malelas is later, first… …   Wikipedia

  • Malalas — Jean Malalas (en grec ancien Ἰωάννης Μαλάλας / Iôánnês Malálas), né vers 490 ap. J. C. et mort vers 578 ap. J. C. est l auteur de la plus ancienne chronique byzantine conservée : la Chronographia (Χρονογραφία). Il a exercé une très grande… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John of Antioch — • There are four persons commonly known by this name Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. John of Antioch     John of Antioch     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • John of Nikiû — • An Egyptian chronicler who flourished in the latter part of the seventh century Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. John of Nikiu     John of Nikiû      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Malalas — Johannes Malalas (Malalas = syrisch für Rhetor; * um 490 in Antiochia am Orontes, Syrien; † um 570 in Konstantinopel) war ein oströmischer Historiker der ausgehenden Spätantike. Seine Identität mit dem Patriarchen Johannes III. Scholastikos ist… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Malalas, John — ▪ Byzantine chronicler born c. 491, , Antioch?, Syria, Byzantine Empire [now in Turkey] died c. 578       Byzantine chronicler of Syrian origin.       Malalas Chronographia in 18 books is a compilation of history from the Creation certainly to… …   Universalium

  • Johannes Malalas — (Malalas = syrisch für Rhetor; * um 490 in Antiochia am Orontes, Syrien; † nach 570 in Konstantinopel) war ein oströmischer Historiker der ausgehenden Spätantike. Seine früher oft vermutete Identität mit Johannes III. Scholastikos, Patriarch von… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Juan Malalas — (Ioannes Malalas o Malelas)[1] (? 491 578) fue un cronista bizantino nacido en Antioquía, que escribió en griego, y de convicción monofisita. Contenido 1 Obras 2 Ediciones modernas …   Wikipedia Español

  • Jean Malalas — (en grec ancien Ἰωάννης Μαλάλας / Iôánnês Malálas), né vers 490 ap. J. C. et mort vers 578 ap. J. C., est l auteur de la plus ancienne chronique byzantine conservée : la Chronographia (Χρονογραφία). Il a exercé une très grande influence sur… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Malalas, John —    Author of the first Byzantine world chronicle (q.v.). He was a native of Antioch (q.v.), which explains the attention he devotes to the city in his chronicle. The work goes from the Creation to 565, and it is distinguished by its use of the… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

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