Pseudo-Sphrantzes (Ψευδοσφραντζῆς)

Life Pseudo-Sphrantzes is the conventional name for the anonymous 16th-century author of the Chronicon Maius ("Greater Chronicle"), a work falsely attributed to the 15th-century historian George Sphrantzes. The author's identity is unknown but was likely a Greek scholar writing after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, possibly in the late 16th century, who expanded Sphrantzes’s authentic memoir, the Chronicon Minus, into a much longer narrative [1][2][3]. The text reflects the historical perspectives of Greek communities under Ottoman rule, dramatizing the history of the lost Byzantine Empire.

Works The sole significant work is the Chronicon Maius, a lengthy historical chronicle that elaborates on the authentic Chronicon Minus of George Sphrantzes to create a comprehensive history of the late Byzantine Empire [1][2][3].

Significance For centuries, the Chronicon Maius was accepted as a genuine eyewitness account and served as a primary source for the empire’s final years, shaping understanding of events like the 1453 conquest [2]. Modern scholarship’s separation of the two chronicles revealed the Maius as a crucial 16th-century document of historical memory rather than a 15th-century record [1][3].

Sources 1. Encyclopædia Britannica: George Sphrantzes: https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Sphrantzes 2. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: Sphrantzes, George: https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-6084 3. De Imperatoribus Romanis: Sphrantzes: https://www.roman-emperors.org/sphrantz.htm