GEORGE THE MONK

flourished 9th century also called George the Sinner, Greek Georgios Hamartolos Byzantine historian, author of a world chronicle that constitutes the prime documentary source for mid-9th-century Byzantine history, particularly the iconoclast (Greek: image destroyer) movement. George's chronicle, with a theological naivet characteristic of the age, records events from the Creation to the reign of the emperor Michael III (842867). Incorporating texts from earlier Byzantine historians, he integrated data of his own experience from 813 to 842 through an original monastic and theological perspective. Strongly opposed to iconoclasm, George recounted in detail and with satisfaction the resolution of the controversy in favour of the orthodox use of religious images following the reign of the emperor Theophilus (829842). The chronicle, which also provides data on the growing Islamic-Christian conflict, enjoyed widespread diffusion among the neighbouring Slavic peoples throughout the medieval period. Accordingly, its influence on Byzantine chronography, prompting a multiplicity of versions and translations, renders the reconstruction of the primitive text most difficult. George's chronicle assumes increased value in that many of the sources it excerpted are now lost to history. Some versions contain a continuation to the year 948 written by an anonymous author more politically oriented than George.