Cedrenus
Neville (2018:162-163)
provides a succinct description of
George Cedrenus (~11th century CE)
and Synopsis Istorion (aka A Concise History of the World)
In the late eleventh or early twelfth century, extant histories were
combined and edited to compile a massive unified history from Creation
to 1057, entitled the Synopsis Istorion. The opening of the text names its
author as George Kedrenos. A poem describing the history, found in a
later manuscript of the text, says that George was a
proedrus.
This history was written after that of John Skylitzes
in the late eleventh century, and before our oldest manuscript, which is stylistically dated to the first half
of the twelfth.
For the years 811– 1057, the Kedrenos text copied the history by
John Skylitzes
precisely. For the period prior to 811 it extracts the histories of
Pseudo-Symeon,
Symeon the Logothete, and
George the Monk. For the
sixth and seventh centuries he used the Chronicle of Pseudo-Symeon,
which was relying on Theophanes.
Although Kedrenos does not provide any independent information
about the past, and often clings to the wording of texts he is compiling, his
editorial choices can vary the meanings and implications of the stories he
preserves. Scott and Maisano argue that his choices regarding the inclusion
and framing of his material display his ideas about history.