Byzantine chronicler Nicetas Choniates – eyewitness of the conquest of
Constantinople by the Western crusaders at 1204
Nicetas Choniates was a great dignitary at the Imperial Court in
Constantinople and Niceea. We owe him many religious and lay works. From the
Fourth Crusade’s perspective, his main work is the History which narrates the
history of Byzantium between 1118-1206. He writes down his own experiences as
an eyewitness of the Fourth Crusade. The History of Choniates shows the
scandalous behavior of the western nights in Constantinople. The work of
Nicetas Choniates represents an important source for the Romanian history as
well because the Byzantine historian presents in his chronicle important
information regarding the uprising from Asăneşti and the foundation of the
Romanian-Bulgarian Empire, underlining the major role played by the Wallachians
in the unfolding of these events. Alongside the Western chronicle of
Villehardouin and Clari, Nicetas Choniates’ work Historia remains one of the
most important sources for the Fourth Crusade, but at the same time it remains
the most important source for the history of the Balcanic Wallachians of that
time.
ION ALEXANDRU MIZGAN
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