Michael Protospatharios ( it, Michele Protospatario) was the
Byzantine catepan of Italy from 1031 to 1033. He was sent to
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
after his predecessor,
Pothos Argyrus, was killed in battle with the
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
who took
Cassano allo Ionio in
Calabria
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. Michael was high and lofty official in the imperial court of
Constantinople. He held several
high-ranking titles. At the height of his career, his full title was: ', that is, "
Chamberlain, catepan of Italy, and
kritēs of the vēlon
[The term ''vēlon'' can stand for either sail, curtain or banner (from latin '' velum''). In this case it denotes the curtain behind which the judges assembled ( ODB, p. 2157).] and the
Hippodrome". The ''kritēs'' was probably an officer in charge of processing requests for the audience of the emperor. Michael arrived in Italy early in 1032 with a new army, composed not only of recruits from the
West or the
auxiliaries, but also from the elite troops of
Asia Minor and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. It is unknown what became of this grand army, however, as Michael was replaced in 1033 by
Constantinos Opos.
References
Sources
*Gay, Jules. ''L'Italie méridionale et l'empire Byzantin: Livre II''. Burt Franklin: New York, 1904.
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11th-century catepans of Italy