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Komnenos Dynasty
The House of Komnenos ( Komnenoi; , , ), Latinized as Comnenus ( Comneni), was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. The family returned to power under Alexios I Komnenos in 1081 who established their rule for the following 104 years until it ended with Andronikos I Komnenos in 1185. In the 13th century, they founded the Empire of Trebizond, a Byzantine rump state which they ruled from 1204 to 1461. At that time, they were commonly referred to as Grand Komnenoi (, ), a style that was officially adopted and used by George Komnenos and his successors. Through intermarriages with other noble families, notably the Doukas, Angelos, and Palaiologos, the Komnenos name appears among most of the major noble houses of the late Byzantine world. Origins The 11th-century Byzantine historian Michael Psellos reported that the Komnenos family originated from the vil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th centuryAD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Romanization (cultural), Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine the Great, Constantine I () legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I, Theodosius I () made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, expe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (; ; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byzantine emperor in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name () and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian. At age 90 or 91 at his death, he was the longest-lived of the Roman emperors. Early life Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea; Donald Nicol speculates that he may have been born after his father's death and raised as an only child. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was related to the then-reigning house of Palaiologos. He was also related to the imperial dynasty through his wife Irene Asanina, a second cousin of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Kantak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrace (theme)
The Theme of Thrace () was a province (''thema'' or theme) of the Byzantine Empire located in the south-eastern Balkans, comprising varying parts of the eponymous geographic region during its history. History Traditionally, it has been held that the theme (at the time primarily a military command) was constituted in c. 680, as a response to the Bulgar threat... This is based on the mention of a certain ''patrikios'' Theodore, Count of the '' Opsikion'' and ''hypostrategos'' of Thrace, in 680/681. However, it is unclear whether this implies the existence of Thrace as a separate command, with Theodore holding a dual post, or whether Thrace was administratively united to the ''Opsikion''. In fact, separate ''strategoi'' of Thrace are not clearly attested in literary sources until 742, while seals of ''strategoi'' are also extant only from the eighth century on. Initially, Adrianople was probably the theme's capital. Under Empress Irene of Athens, in the late eighth century, the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philippopolis (Thrace)
Philippopolis (, Φιλιππόπολις) is one of the names of the ancient city (amongst which are Thracian Eumolpia/Pulpudeva, Roman Trimontium) situated where Plovdiv is today. The city became one of the largest and most important in the region and was called "the largest and most beautiful of all cities" by Lucian. During most of its recorded history, the city was known by the name ''Philippopolis'' () after Philip II of Macedon. Philippopolis became part of the Roman Empire and capital of the Roman province of Thracia. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Philippopolis had a population of 100,000 in the Roman period. Philippopolis was in a fertile region on the banks of the Maritsa River (the ancient Hebrus (river), Hebrus). The city historically developed on seven syenite hills, some of which are high, because of which Plovdiv is often referred to in Bulgaria as "The City of the Seven Hills". History Hellenistic period The earliest signs of habitation on the territory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Psellos
Michael Psellos or Psellus (, ) was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking courtier and advisor to several List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors. Psellos has made lasting contributions to Byzantine culture by advocating for the revival of Byzantine Classics, classical studies, which would later influence the Renaissance, Italian Renaissance, as well as by interpreting Homer, Homeric literature and Platonism, Platonic philosophy as precursors and integral components of Christian theology, Christian doctrine. His texts combined theology, philosophy, and psychology. Among his most famous works are his ''Commentary on Plato’s Teachings on the Origin of the Soul' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
George, Emperor Of Trebizond
George Megas Komnenos (, ''Geōrgios Mégas Komnēnos''; 1255 – after 1284) was Emperor of Trebizond from 1266 to 1280. He was the elder son of Emperor Manuel I and his third wife, Irene Syrikaina, a Trapezuntine noblewoman. He succeeded his half-brother Andronikos in 1266 and ruled for 14 years. George was the first Trapezuntine emperor to officially use the style ''Megas Komnenos'' ("grand Komnenos"), which had previously been merely a nickname. Reign The details of the internal affairs of his reign are sparse. Beyond the length of his reign, all Michael Panaretos relates explicitly about George is the cryptic statement that he "was treacherously betrayed by his officials on the mountain of Taurezion and taken captive in June f 1280. Although three different Armenian chronicles state he was killed by Abaqa Khan of the Ilkhan, along with the atabeg of Lori, he was very much alive in 1284 when he returned to Trebizond and attempted to recover his throne during the reign of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rump State
A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state that was reduced in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case, a government stops short of going into exile because it controls parts of its remaining territories. Examples Ancient history *During the Second Intermediate Period, following the conquest of Lower Egypt by the Hyksos, there was a rump Egyptian kingdom in Upper Egypt centered on Thebes, which eventually reunified the country at the start of the New Kingdom. * The Seleucid Empire became a rump state in Northern Syria after losing most of its territory to the Parthian Empire. * After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in Gaul, the Kingdom of Soissons survived as a rump state under Aegidius and Syagrius, until it was conquered by the Franks under Clovis I in 486. Post-classical history * Guge and Maryul was a rump state of the Tibetan Empire. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Empire Under The Komnenos Dynasty
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I. It was a period of sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium under the Komnenoi played a key role in the history of the Crusades in the Holy Land, while also exerting enormous cultural and political influence in Europe, the Near East, and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. The Komnenian emperors, particularly John and Manuel, exerted great influence over the Crusader states of Outremer, whilst Alexios I played a key role in the course of the First Crusade, which he helped bring about. Moreover, it was during the Komnenian period that contact between Byzantium and the 'Latin' Christian West, includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Empire, Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenos, Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. The son of John Komnenos (Domestic of the Schools), John Komnenos and a nephew of Isaac I Komnenos, Alexios served with distinction under three Byzantine emperors. In 1081, he led a rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates and took ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Bureaucracy And Aristocracy
Throughout the fifth century, Hellenistic-Eastern political systems, philosophies, and theocratic Christian concepts had gained power in the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean due to the intervention of important religious figures there such as Eusebius of Caesarea () and Origen of Alexandria () who had been key to developing the constant Christianized worldview of late antiquity. By the 6th century, such ideas had already influenced the definitive power of the monarch as the representative of God on earth and of his kingdom as an imitation of God's holy realm. The Byzantine Empire was a multi-ethnic monarchic theocracy adopting, following, and applying the Orthodox- Hellenistic political systems and philosophies. The monarch was the incarnation of the law'' nomos empsychos''and his power was immeasurable and divine in origin insofar as he channeled God's divine grace, maintaining what is good. He was the ultimate benefactor, caretaker, and saviour of the people: '' Ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
