Georgios Boustronios (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Τζώρτζης Μπουστρούς, hellenised as Γεώργιος Βουστρώνιος; c. 1435/40 - after 1501) was a 15th century
Cypriot royal official and
chronicle
A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...
r possibly of Syrian origin. His chronicle Διήγησις Kρόνικας Kύπρου (''Diegesis Kronikas Kyprou,'' Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus) was written in prose in
Cypriot Greek
Cypriot Greek (, or ) is the variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect as it differs from Standard Modern Greek in various aspects of its ...
. He was a close friend and serviceman of
James II, the
King of Cyprus
The Kingdom of Cyprus (; ) was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an Independent state, independent Christian state, Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusi ...
. His chronicle documents events contemporary to his life, especially the transition from the
Lusignan
The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries du ...
to the
Venetian rule in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. His narrative starts where the chronicle of
Leontios Machairas ends, at 1456, and concludes at 1489, the year when
Catherine Cornaro
Catherine Cornaro (; or ; ; 25 November 1454 – 10 July 1510) was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Cyprus, also holding the titles of Queen of Jerusalem and Queen of Armenia. She became queen consort of Cyprus by marriage to James II of ...
, the last queen of Cyprus, ceded the island to the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
. He documented the civil war between
Charlotte and her half brother
James II, between 1440 and 1444, and the interventions by
Hospitallers and
Mamluks
Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...
in the politics of the island. He was a relative of
Florio Bustron, a notary and the author of another chronicle on Cypriot history, titled ''Chronique de l'île de Chypre'', that begins with antiquity and also ends in 1489.
The chronicle survives in three manuscripts; two are located in the
Biblioteca Marciana
The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark (, but in historical documents commonly referred to as the ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and ...
in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
and the other one is part of the
Arundel Manuscripts located in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, with the Arundel Manuscript considered to be the oldest. The chronicle was first published, based on the two Marcian manuscripts, by
Konstantinos Sathas as part of his ''Medieval Library II'' (pages 413-543) in Venice in 1873. The chronicle was published again, this time based on all three manuscripts, by
Richard M. Dawkins with an English translation as ''The Chronicle of George Boustronios, 1456-1489'' in Melbourne in 1964. In 1997 published another critical edition in the original Greek, titled ''Τζώρτζης (Μ)πουστρούς (Γεώργιος Βο(σ)τρ(υ)ηνός ή Βουστρώνιος, Διήγησις Κρόνικας Κύπρου.'' Α more recent publication and English translation was done by Nicholas Coureas in 2006, titled ''A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456–1489''.
Manuscripts
* Venice:
Biblioteca Marciana
The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark (, but in historical documents commonly referred to as the ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and ...
* London:
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
,
Arundel ManuscriptsArundel MS 518(16th century)
Publications
Διήγησις Kρονίκας KύπρουPublication by
Konstantinos Sathas in his ''Medieval Library II'', Vienna, 1873.
*Dawkins, R. M. ''The Chronicle of George Boustronios 1456 - 1489'', Public. No 2, Univ. of Melbourne Cyprus Expedition, 1964.
*Coureas, N. ''A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456–1489'', 2006.
See also
*
Neophytos the Recluse
*
Leontios Machairas
*
Florio Bustron
*
Stefano Lusignan
* ''
Chronicle of Amadi''
*
James II of Cyprus
*
Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus
*
Kingdom of Cyprus
The Kingdom of Cyprus (; ) was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an independent Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusignan after the Third Crusade. I ...
*
Venetian Cyprus
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boustronios, Georgios
Chroniclers
15th-century writers
Cypriot non-fiction writers
Cypriot historians
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Cyprus
People from the Kingdom of Cyprus
15th-century births
16th-century deaths
15th-century Greek writers
15th-century Cypriot people
Cypriot people of Syrian descent