HOME



picture info

Anna Komnene
Anna Komnene (; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek historian. She is the author of the '' Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constitutes the most important primary source of Byzantine history of the late 11th and early 12th centuries, as well as of the early Crusades. Although she is best known as the author of the ''Alexiad'', Anna played an important part in the politics of the time and attempted to depose her brother John II Komnenos as emperor in favour of her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger.Hanawalt 1982, p. 303. At birth, Anna was betrothed to Constantine Doukas,Hanawalt 1982, p. 303. and she grew up in his mother's household.Neville 2016, p. 2. She was well-educated in "Greek literature and history, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and medicine." Anna and Constantine were next in the line to throne until Anna's younger brother, John II Komnenos, be ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Great Palace Of Constantinople
The Great Palace of Constantinople (, ''Méga Palátion''; ), also known as the Sacred Palace (, ''Hieròn Palátion''; ), was the large imperial Byzantine palace complex located in the south-eastern end of the peninsula today making up the Fatih district of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), in modern Turkey. It served as the main imperial residence of the Eastern Roman emperors until 1081 and was the centre of imperial administration for over 690 years. Only a few remnants and fragments of its foundations have survived into the present day. History When Constantine I (emperor), Constantine I refounded Byzantium as Constantinople in 330, he planned out a palace for himself. The palace was located between the Hippodrome of Constantinople, Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia. The complex of palaces was rebuilt and expanded several times during its history. Much of the complex was destroyed during the Nika riots of 532 and was rebuilt lavishly by the emperor Justinian I. Further extens ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding territories from Muslim rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which culminated in the Siege of Jerusalem (1099), capture of Jerusalem in 1099, these expeditions spanned centuries and became a central aspect of European political, religious, and military history. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid,Helen J. Nicholson, ''The Crusades'', (Greenwood Publishing, 2004), 6. Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, AlexiosI Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electronic literature, digital writing. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed.; see also Homer. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment. It can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role. Literary criticism is one of the oldest academic disciplines, and is concerned with the literary merit or intellectual significance of specific texts. The study of books and other texts as artifacts or traditions is instead encompassed by textual criticism or the history of the book. "Literature", as an art form, is sometimes used synonymously with literary fiction, fiction written with the goal of artistic merit, but ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Anna Dalassene
Anna Dalassene (; ca. 1025/30 – 1 November 1100/02) was an important Byzantine noblewoman who played a significant role in the rise to power of the Komnenoi in the eleventh century. She exercised great influence over her son, the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who gave her the title '' Augusta''. She also administered the empire as regent during his many absences from Constantinople on long military campaigns during the early part of his reign. As empress-mother, she exerted more influence and power than the empress-consort, Irene Doukaina, a woman whom she hated because of past intrigues with the Doukai. Life Early life and family Anna was the daughter of Alexios Charon, and a lady of the noble Dalassenos family. Her maternal grandfather was named Adrianos Dalassenos, evidently a son of the '' magistros'' and '' doux'' of Antioch, Theophylact Dalassenos. Very little is known about her father, who was an obscure imperial official in Italy. Her mother's family, the Dalasse ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Maria Of Alania
Maria of Alania (; born Martha; ka, მართა; 1053–1118) was Byzantine empress by marriages to emperors Michael VII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates. Her status as empress was considered a significant success for a newly unified Kingdom of Georgia, which would achieve regional influence comparable to that of Byzantium only during the reign of Martha's nephew, King David IV, who refused to carry a Byzantine title. Maria was the only foreign Byzantine empress of the eleventh century. Early years A daughter of the Georgian monarch Bagrat IV, Martha, at the age of 5 years, was sent as a hostage to Constantinople to ensure her father's good behavior and further her education at the Byzantine court under the patronage of Empress Theodora in 1056. The latter, however, died later in the year and Martha returned home to Georgia. Empress of Michael VII Doukas In 1065 she married the junior emperor Michael, a son of Constantine X Doukas, and became an empress when Mich ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Michael VII Doukas
Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on court officials, especially of his finance minister Nikephoritzes, who increased taxation and luxury spending while not properly financing their army (which later mutinied). Under his reign, Bari was lost and his empire faced Uprising of Georgi Voyteh, open revolt in the Balkans. Along with the advancing Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk Turks in the eastern front, Michael also had to contend with his mercenaries openly turning against the empire. Michael stepped down as emperor in 1078 and later retired to a monastery. Life Michael VII was born 1050 in Constantinople, the eldest son of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa. He was probably associated with the throne by the end of 1060, together with or shortly before his newly born b ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Born In The Purple
Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking parents. The parents must be prominent at the time of the child's birth so that the child is always in the spotlight and destined for a prominent role in life. A child born before their parents became prominent would not be "born in the purple". This color purple came to refer to Tyrian purple, restricted by law, custom, and the expense of creating it to royalty. ''Porphyrogénnētos'' (), Latinized as ''Porphyrogenitus'', was an honorific title in the Byzantine Empire given to a son, or daughter (, , Latinized ''Porphyrogenita''), born ''after'' the father had become emperor. Both imperial or Tyrian purple, a dye for cloth, and the purple stone porphyry were rare and expensive, and at times reserved for imperial use only. In partic ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Porphyrogenita
Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking parents. The parents must be prominent at the time of the child's birth so that the child is always in the spotlight and destined for a prominent role in life. A child born before their parents became prominent would not be "born in the purple". This color purple came to refer to Tyrian purple, restricted by law, custom, and the expense of creating it to royalty. ''Porphyrogénnētos'' (), Latinized as ''Porphyrogenitus'', was an honorific title in the Byzantine Empire given to a son, or daughter (, , Latinized ''Porphyrogenita''), born ''after'' the father had become emperor. Both imperial or Tyrian purple, a dye for cloth, and the purple stone porphyry were rare and expensive, and at times reserved for imperial use only. In particula ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Theodora Komnene (daughter Of Alexios I)
Theodora Komnene or Comnena () may refer to: * Theodora Komnene (daughter of Alexios I) (born 1096), daughter of Alexios I Komnenos, wife of Constantine Angelos and ancestor of the Angelos dynasty * Despina Khatun, Theodora Despina Komnene, daughter of John IV of Trebizond and consort of Aq Qoyunlu's ruler Uzun Hasan * Theodora Komnene Dalassene, sister of Alexios I Komnenos, wife of Constantine Diogenes II * Theodora Komnene, Queen of Jerusalem (born c. 1145), niece of Manuel I Komnenos, wife of Baldwin III of Jerusalem * Theodora Komnene, Duchess of Austria (died 1184), niece of Manuel I Komnenos, wife of Henry II, Duke of Austria * Theodora Komnene, Princess of Antioch (fl. 1140), niece of Manuel I Komnenos, wife of Bohemond III of Antioch {{hndis, Komnene, Theodora ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Isaac Komnenos (son Of Alexios I)
Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus (; 16 January 1093 – after 1152) was the third son of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Empress Irene Doukaina. He was raised to the high rank of by his older brother John II Komnenos in reward for his support, but they later fell out, as Isaac began to covet the throne. In 1130, Isaac and his sons fled to exile after becoming involved in a conspiracy against John. For several years, they wandered in Asia Minor and the Levant, trying to gain support from the local rulers, which was ultimately in vain. John's military successes forced Isaac to seek a reconciliation with his brother in 1138, although he did not give up his designs on the throne. In 1139, after his oldest son defected to the Seljuk Turks, Isaac was exiled to Heraclea Pontica. During the succession struggle that followed John's death in 1143, he supported the unsuccessful candidacy of his elder nephew, likewise named Isaac, over his younger nephew Manuel I Komnenos. Weakene ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Andronikos Komnenos (son Of Alexios I)
Andronikos Komnenos (; 18 September 1091 – 1130/31) was a Byzantine prince and military commander. The second-born son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, he was named ''sebastokrator'' and participated in the Battle of Philomelion against the Seljuk Turks. He opposed the succession of his older brother John II Komnenos to the throne in 1118, but was allowed to remain at court, and served in at least two of John II's campaigns in the Balkans. He died of an illness in 1130/31. His wife and offspring are relatively obscure, and may have died early. Life Andronikos Komnenos was the fourth child and second son of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos () and Empress Irene Doukaina, and was named after his maternal grandfather. As his parents were reigning at the time of his birth, he was accorded the appellation '' porphyrogennetos''. The commonly accepted date of his birth is that given by the ''Codex Mosquensis'' 53/147 manuscript, 18 September 1091, but according to Skoulatos, t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Doukas
The House of Doukas ( pl. Doukai; , pl. , feminine form Doukaina; ), Latinized as Ducas, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A maternally-descended line, the Komnenodoukai, founded the Despotate of Epirus in the 13th century, with another branch ruling over Thessaly. The continuity of descent amongst the various branches of the original, middle Byzantine family is not clear, and historians generally recognize several distinct groups of Doukai based on their occurrence in the contemporary sources. Polemis, who compiled the only overview work on the bearers of the Doukas name, in view of this lack of genealogical continuity "it would be a mistake to view the groups of people designated by the ''cognomen'' of Doukas as forming one large family". History Origins Nothing is known for certain about the family's origin. Later tradition, mentioned by the historian Nikepho ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]