The Kamateros family ( el, Καματηρός, pl. ''Kamateroi'' el, Καματηροί; Latinized respectively Camaterus, Camateri), was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

family of functionaries from

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

that became prominent in the 10th–12th centuries. Several family members were scholars and literary patrons. The feminine form of the name is Kamatera ( el, Καματηρά). The first attested member of the family is the ''

spatharokandidatos ( gr, σπαθαροκανδιδᾶτος), Latinized as , was a mid-ranking Byzantine court dignity used in the 7th–11th centuries. History The title was created as a portmanteau of the titles and , both of which were types of palace guard ...

'' Petronas Kamateros, who in supervised the construction of the

Sarkel Sarkel (or Šarkel, literally ''white house'' in the Khazar language was a large limestone-and-brick fortress in the present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia, on the left bank of the lower Don River. It was built by the Khazars with Byzantine as ...

fortress for the

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

and later became governor of Cherson. Several members of the family are attested in the 10th and 11th centuries as fiscal or judicial officials, and

Gregory Kamateros Gregory Kamateros ( gr, Γρηγόριος Καματηρός, Grēgorios Kamatēros; ) was a senior Byzantine official. Of low birth but very well educated, he reached high office under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and eventually became ''logothetes ...

became '' protasekretis'' and later '' logothetes ton sekreton'' to Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

(). The family reached its peak in the 12th century, under

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine empero ...

() and the

Angelos The House of Angelos (; gr, Ἄγγελος), feminine form Angelina (), plural Angeloi (), was a Byzantine Greek noble lineage which rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the you ...

emperors. John Kamateros enjoyed the favour of Manuel I and was '' logothetes tou dromou'' in the late 1150s. The ''sebastos'' Andronikos Kamateros became eparch of Constantinople and ''droungarios'' of the ''Vigla'', and was also a theologian of note. His son Basil was ''logothetes tou dromou'' under

Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a ...

(), while his daughter Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera married emperor

Alexios III Angelos Alexios III Angelos ( gkm, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, Alexios Komnēnos Angelos; 1211), Latinized as Alexius III Angelus, was Byzantine Emperor from March 1195 to 17/18 July 1203. He reigned under the name Alexios Komnen ...

(). The family also produced two ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople,

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...

(1183–1186) and

John X Pope John X ( la, Ioannes X; died 28 May 928) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 914 to his death. A candidate of the counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friul ...

(1198–1206). At the same time, John V Kamateros was

archbishop of Bulgaria In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

after 1186. Another John Kamateros, possibly identical with John V, was the author of two astrological works.

References

Sources

* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ref={{harvid, ODB