GIORGIO FRANTZE. — Byzantine historian, b. in 1401 at Lemnos, d. in 1479 at Corfu. He served the despot Constantine as a diplomatic envoy abroad and as governor of several cities. When Constantine became emperor (Constantine XI), G. undertook a long mission to Iberia, from which he returned in early 1452. He was then proposed for the dignity of logothetes, which he probably did not accept. During the fall of Constantinople he fought valiantly and was taken prisoner. Upon his release, he went to the Peloponnese and later to Corfu, where, like his wife, he embraced the monastic state.
Two important historical works have been attributed to G.: the *Chronicon minus*, which narrates Byzantine history from 1413 to 1477, and the *Chronicon maius*, which, though interpolated, contains a prologue, a history of Byzantium from 1258 to 1402, and a history of the Turks up to Mehmed II. Recently, R. Locneritz (*Autour du Chronicon maius attribué à G. Phr.*, in *Miscellanea Mercati*, III, Vatican City 1946, pp. 273–311) advanced the more probable thesis that the *Chronicon maius* is not by G. but is a compilation made in the 16th century by Macarius Melissenus, metropolitan of Monembasia.