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Pseudo-Constantine Diogenes
Pseudo-Constantine Diogenes or Pseudo-Leo Diogenes (died after 1095) was an unsuccessful pretender to the Byzantine throne against Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Of lowly origin, he pretended to be a son of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. Exiled to Cherson, he escaped and took refuge among the Cumans. In 1095, he invaded the Byzantine Empire at the head of a Cuman host and advanced as far as Adrianople before being captured by a ruse and blinded by loyalist forces. Life According to Anna Komnene's '' Alexiad'', he was a man of obscure origin who pretended to be Leo Diogenes, son of emperor Romanos IV Diogenes (), and who had died near Antioch in 1073. Since the son of Romanos IV who died at Antioch was not Leo but rather Constantine Diogenes, the emperor's eldest son, scholars have traditionally emended Anna's reference accordingly. On the other hand, given the support provided by the Cumans to this pretender, the French scholar Jean-Claude Cheynet suggests that he did indeed claim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretender
A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting''. New York, 1973, pp. 4, 10. . The word may refer to a former monarch or a descendant of a deposed monarchy, although this type of claimant is also referred to as a head of a house. The word was popularized by Queen Anne, who used it to refer to her Roman Catholic half-brother James Francis Edward Stuart, the Jacobite heir, in an address to Parliament in 1708: "The French fleet sailed from Dunkirk ... with the Pretender on board." In 1807 the French Emperor Napoleon complained that the ''Almanach de Gotha'' continued to list German princes whom he had deposed. This episode established that publication as the pre-eminent authority on the titles of deposed monarchs and nobility, many of which were restored in 1815 after the end of Napole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs for about , first in a south-easterly direction along the border, then eastward across Bulgaria, forming a natural barrier between the northern and southern halves of the country, before finally reaching the Black Sea at Cape Emine. The mountains reach their highest point with Botev Peak at . In much of the central and eastern sections, the summit forms the watershed between the drainage basins of the Black Sea and the Aegean. A prominent gap in the mountains is formed by the sometimes narrow Iskar Gorge, a few miles north of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The karst relief determines the large number of caves, including Magura, featuring the most important and extended European post-Palaeolithic c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Droungarios
A ''droungarios'', also spelled ''drungarios'' ( el, δρουγγάριος, la, drungarius) and sometimes anglicized as Drungary, was a military rank of the late Roman and Byzantine empires, signifying the commander of a formation known as '' droungos''. Late Roman and Byzantine army Latin-speakers adopted the word ''drungus'' - first attested in the early 4th century - either from Gaulish or from a Germanic language. In the late 6th century, the Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) in his '' Strategikon'' used ''droungos'' to refer to a specific tactical deployment, usually of cavalry, although still in the general sense of "grouping, division". The term ''droungarios'' (Greek: δρουγγάριος) is not documented before the early 7th century but might have been used as an informal or unofficial designation before that date. The office and the corresponding unit appear to have initially referred to ''ad hoc'' arrangements, but during the early 7th century these were formalized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poutza
Poutza ( grc-gre, Ποῦτζα, genitive Πούτζης) was a Byzantine-era settlement near Adrianople in Thrace. The settlement (qualified as πολίχνιον, "small town") first appears in the ''Alexiad'' as the place where the usurper Constantine Diogenes was captured in 1095. John of Poutza, who in served as finance minister of Manuel I Komnenos, probably hailed from this locality. Poutza is most likely to be identified with the district of ''pertinentia Pucis et Nicodimi'', which was assigned to the Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ... in the '' Partitio Romaniae'' of 1204, and may also be the ''chastel Peutaces'' that was still held by its Greek inhabitants and was attacked unsuccessfully by the Crusaders under Louis de Blois in 1205. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikephoros Bryennios The Elder
Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder ( el, Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος ο πρεσβύτερος), Latinized as Nicephorus Bryennius, was a Byzantine Greek general who tried to establish himself as Emperor in the late eleventh century. His contemporaries considered him the best tactician in the empire. Early career Nikephoros had steadily risen through the ranks of the military, to the point that he was given an important command by Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Commanding the left wing of the Byzantine forces, he was one of the very few generals who performed well at that battle.Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', pg. 3 In 1072–1073, he served as '' doux'' of Bulgaria, where he reimposed Byzantine control after a series of uprisings, and was afterwards elevated to the important position of ''doux'' of Dyrrhachium. In about 1077 Nikephoros, by now the former governor of Dyrrhachium, became disgusted with Michael VII's treaty with the Seljuk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yambol
Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the administrative center of two municipalities. One is Yambol Municipality, which covers the city itself, and the other is Tundzha Municipality, which covers the rural areas around Yambol. History The area surrounding Yambol has been inhabited since the Neolithic Era. The ancient Thracian royal city of Kabile or Kabyle ( bg, Кабиле), dating from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, was located 10 km from current-day Yambol. It was one of Thracians' most important cities and contained one of the kings' palaces. The city was conquered by King Philip II of Macedon in 341 BCE and was re-established as an Ancient Greek ''polis''.An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goloe
Cabyle or Kabyle ( grc, Καβύλη), also known as Calybe or Kalybe (Καλύβη), is a town in the interior of ancient Thrace, west of Develtus, on the river Tonsus. The town later bore the names of Diospolis (Διὸς Πόλις), and Goloë (Γολόη). History Cabyle used to be one of the most important centers of south-eastern Thrace. It was established around 2000 BC on the Zaychi Vrah Heights. In 341 BC Cabyle was conquered by the army of Philip II of Macedon and was later included in the Empire of Alexander of Macedon. It was colonised by Philip with rebellious Macedonians. In the 3rd century BC it was governed again by the Thracians. The town was a major trade and military center between the 3rd and the 2nd centuries BC. The town is noted by numerous ancient authors including Demosthenes, Polybius, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and Stephanus of Byzantium. In 71 BC the city was conquered by the Roman Republic by the troops of Marcus Lucullus a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bohemond I Of Antioch
Bohemond I of Antioch (5 or 7 March 1111), also known as Bohemond of Taranto, was the prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, leading a contingent of Normans on the quest eastward. Knowledgable about the Byzantine Empire through earlier campaigns with his father, he was the most experienced military leader of the crusade. Early life Childhood and youth Bohemond was the son of Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia and Calabria, and his first wife, Alberada of Buonalbergo. He was born between 1050 and 1058—in 1054 according to historian John Julius Norwich. He was baptised Mark, possibly because he was born at his father's castle at San Marco Argentano in Calabria. He was nicknamed Bohemond after a legendary giant. His parents were related within the degree of kinship that made their marriage invalid under canon law. In 1058, Pope Nicholas II strengthened existing canon law against consanguinity and, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. The term is also used to denote emigrants from the duchy who conquered other territories such as England and Sicily. The Norse settlements in West Francia followed a series of raids on the French northern coast mainly from Denmark, although some also sailed from Norway and Sweden. These settlements were finally legitimized when Rollo, a Scandinavian Viking leader, agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia following the siege of Chartres in 911. The intermingling in Normandy produced an ethnic and cultural "Norman" identity in the first half of the 10th century, an identity which continued to evolve over the centuries. The Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and the Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
