Georgios Boustronios (
Greek: Τζώρτζης Μπουστρούς, hellenised as Γεώργιος Βουστρώνιος; c. 1435/40 - after 1501) was a 15th century
Cypriot royal official and
chronicler possibly of Syrian origin.[1] His chronicle Διήγησις Kρόνικας Kύπρου (Diegesis Kronikas Kyprou, Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus) was written in prose in
Cypriot Greek. He was a close friend and serviceman of
James II, the
King of Cyprus.[2] His chronicle documents events contemporary to his life, especially the transition from the
Lusignan to the
Venetian rule in
Cyprus.[3] His narrative starts where the chronicle of
Leontios Machairas ends, at 1456, and concludes at 1489, the year when
Catherine Cornaro, the last queen of Cyprus, ceded the island to the
Republic of Venice.[4][5] He documented the civil war between
Charlotte and her half brother
James II, between 1440 and 1444, and the interventions by
Hospitallers and
Mamluks in the politics of the island.[6] 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.[7][8]
The chronicle survives in three manuscripts; two are located in the
Biblioteca Marciana in
Venice and the other one is part of the
Arundel Manuscripts located in the
British Library, 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.[9] In 1997
Giorgos Kechagioglou [
de] published another critical edition in the original Greek, titled Τζώρτζης (Μ)πουστρούς (Γεώργιος Βο(σ)τρ(υ)ηνός ή Βουστρώνιος, Διήγησις Κρόνικας Κύπρου.[10] Α more recent publication and English translation was done by Nicholas Coureas in 2006, titled A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456–1489.[11]
Publications
Arundel MS 518 16th century manuscript in the British Library.
^Coureas, N. 2009. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance: elements of transition in the chronicle of George Boustronios. In: E. Kooper (ed.). The Medieval Chronicle VI. Brill. 191–203.
^Χατζηψάλτης, K. (November 1967). "(G.) Boustronios The chronicle of George Boustronios, 1456–1489. Trans. R. M. Dawkins. (Univ. of Melbourne Cyprus expedition, publ. 2.) Melbourne: University Bookroom. 1964. Pp. xiii + 84. 1 map. 7 plates (incl. 1 in colour. £2". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 87: 203–204.
doi:
10.2307/627894.
ISSN0075-4269.
JSTOR627894.
^Yiavis, Kostas (2009). "Review of A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456-1489". The English Historical Review. 124 (506): 148–149.
doi:
10.1093/ehr/cen342.
ISSN0013-8266.
JSTOR20485503.
^Coureas, N. 2012. King James II of Cyprus and the Hospitallers: Evidence from the Livre des Remembrances. In: Edbury, P. (ed) The Military Orders Volume V: Politics and Power. London: Routledge. 113-121
^Yiavis, Kostas (2009). "Review of A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456-1489". The English Historical Review. 124 (506): 148–149.
doi:
10.1093/ehr/cen342.
ISSN0013-8266.
JSTOR20485503.
^Yiavis, Kostas (2009). "Review of A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456-1489". The English Historical Review. 124 (506): 148–149.
doi:
10.1093/ehr/cen342.
ISSN0013-8266.
JSTOR20485503.