Quote by Anna Komnene: “History, in a certain sense, is holy: it should be pure from falsehoods.”

Anna Komnene emphasizes the sacred duty of a historian to present facts accurately. She believes that history, like a religious text, must be free from lies to maintain its integrity and value for future generations. This ensures reliability.

During a period where historical accounts could be easily manipulated for political gain, Anna Komnene, a Byzantine princess and historian, asserted the importance of objective truth in historical writing, seeking to legitimize her father's reign.

Byzantine princess and historian born in 1083, the eldest daughter of Emperor Alexios I. Her Alexiad, completed around 1148, is a detailed account of her father's reign and the First Crusade. It is the only major medieval historical work written by a woman and remains a foundational text of Byzantine studies.