Medieval Syriac Historians ’ Perceptions of the Turks

This thesis examines how the Turks were perceived in three medieval Syriac chronicles: the Chronicle of Michael the Great, the Anonymous Chronicle to AD 1234, and the Chronicle of Bar ‘Ebroyo (Bar Hebraeus). Chapter 1 gives an overview of Syriac historiography, Chapter 2 focusses on the medieval Syriac chronicles and Chapter 3 looks at the Turks in the medieval Syriac chronicles in general. Because of its integral importance to this subject, Chapters 4-7 focus on Book XIV of Michael’s Chronicle, including extensive excerpts from my translation of the Syriac text (with reference to the French translation made by Jean-Baptiste Chabot). This is the first time this text has been translated into English, to my knowledge. I am thankful to many people who helped me significantly while writing this thesis, especially my supervisor, Dr. Erica Hunter, who suggested the topic and guided both my translation of the Syriac text and the overall progress of the thesis from its infancy to its final state. I am also grateful to the following scholars who gave suggestions, answered questions, o