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TED-Ed

The princess who rewrote history - Leonora Neville

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TEDEd Animation

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Anna Komnene, daughter of Byzantine emperor Alexios, spent the last decade of her life creating a 500-page history of her father’s reign called “The Alexiad.” As a princess writing about her own family, she had to balance her loyalty to her kin with her obligation to portray events accurately. Leonora Neville investigates this epic historical narrative.

Additional Resources for you to Explore


To learn more about the Empire Anna’s father ruled, check out this TED-Ed lesson.

You can learn about the Byzantine Empire’s Norman enemies with this TED-Ed lesson.

To learn about Anna Komnene’s life and her history check out this book.

The best way to understand Anna’s history is to read it. You can read the whole history here.

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Meet The Creators

Educator
Leonora Neville
Director
Els Decaluwe
Narrator
Susan Zimmerman
Music
Vincent Groos
Sound Designer
Samuel Chan
Script Editor
Alex Gendler
Content Producer
Gerta Xhelo
Editorial Producer
Alex Rosenthal
Associate Editorial Producer
Elizabeth Cox
Associate Producer
Bethany Cutmore-Scott
Fact-Checker
Francisco Diez

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