The History by George Pachymeres is a long and detailed history covering 1260– 1307 in thirteen books. This text picks up where George Akropolites's history ended. Pachymeres composed the History at the end of the thirteenth century or the beginning of the fourteenth century. At 1355 printed pages for forty- seven years, this is one of our most exhaustive histories. It includes numerous speeches and fine- grained descriptions of theological and political controversies.

The first six books cover the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259– 1282), while the next seven are devoted to his successor, Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282– 1328). Pachymeres presents a relatively critical assessment of these two emperors, whom he considered to be unequal to the task of remedying the empire's increasingly precarious position. Pachymeres describes the empire as facing dire confrontations with the Latin West and the Turks in the East. He seems particularly concerned by the Turks, whose movement into Asia Minor he describes in detail. A host of other problems, including financial troubles, a refugee crisis sparked by the Turkish advance, and ecclesiastical controversies that further weakened the empire's position, are prominent themes in the History. Pachymeres also gives considerable attention to the topic of imperial marriages, and, drawing from his experiences as a church official, ecclesiastical developments such as the Arsenite controversy and the dispute over union with the Catholic Church. The individual chapters have titles, which can provide some guidance to the contents of the whole.

As he states in his History, George Pachymeres was born in 1242 in Nicaea. He arrived in the Constantinople to begin his higher education in 1261, right after the city was conquered by Michael Palaeologos. A member of the clergy – perhaps serving as a deacon – Pachymeres was appointed to several ecclesiastical offices within the Patriarchate, including that of protekdikos, and attained the lay office of dikaiophylax. Pachymeres was also a teacher, as one of his students, Manuel Philes, attested in an autobiographical poem. Philes also mentions that Pachymeres was an expert in law, rhetoric, and philosophy.