Which Byzantine princess wrote the historical work the Alexiad?

Anna Komnene wrote the historical work the Alexiad. A Byzantine princess, historian, and intellectual, she composed the work as an account of her father Alexios I Komnenos, who ruled from 1081 to 1118.

Written in the mid-12th century in highly literary Greek, the Alexiad describes wars, diplomacy, court politics, and the First Crusade from a Byzantine perspective. Anna drew on family testimony, imperial records, soldiers’ recollections, and her own knowledge of the ruling elite. Because she was writing about her father, the work often presents him sympathetically, so historians use it as a valuable source while also considering its partiality.

Anna was born in 1083 in Constantinople and received an unusually broad education in literature, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and medicine. After her brother John II succeeded Alexios, Anna eventually spent her final years in a monastery, where she continued her intellectual work. The Alexiad is especially important because it preserves a detailed account of Byzantine encounters with western crusaders.