Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina
Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera (, – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos. Euphrosyne was the daughter of Andronikos Doukas Kamateros, a high-ranking official who held the titles of ''megas droungarios tes viglas, megas droungarios'' and ''pansebastos'' and his wife, an unknown Kantakouzenos, Kantakouzene. She was related to the Emperor Constantine X and Irene Doukaina, empress of Alexios I Komnenos. Both of her brothers had rebelled against Andronikos I Komnenos; one was imprisoned and the other was blinded. Life Euphrosyne married Alexios Angelos, the older brother of the future Emperor Isaac II Angelos in c. 1169 CE. Although Isaac II bestowed many titles and honors upon his brother, Alexios seized the throne on April 8, 1195, deposing Isaac and proclaiming himself emperor. In this he was assisted by Euphrosyne, who had organized a party of aristocratic supporters. Euphrosyne took control of the palace a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Byzantine Empresses
The term Roman empress usually refers to the consorts of the Roman emperors, the rulers of the Roman Empire. The duties, power and influence of empresses varied depending on the time period, contemporary politics and the personalities of their husband and themselves. Empresses were typically highly regarded and respected, and many wielded great influence over imperial affairs. Several empresses served as Regent, regents on behalf of their husbands or sons and a handful ruled as empresses regnant, governing in their own right without a husband. Given that there were sometimes more than one concurrent Roman emperor, there were also sometimes two or more concurrent Roman empresses. For most of the period from 286 to 480, the Roman Empire, though remaining a single polity, was administratively divided into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Through most of this period, the separated imperial courts had their own lines of succession, and as a result their own sequen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andronikos Kontostephanos
Andronikos Komnenos Kontostephanos (; 1132/33 – after 1183), Latinized Andronicus Contostephanus, was a major figure in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of his uncle Manuel I Komnenos as a general, admiral, politician and a leading aristocrat. Background and family Born ca. 1132/33, Andronikos Kontostephanos was the third and youngest son of Stephen Kontostephanos, who held the title '' panhypersebastos'' and the rank of '' megas doux'', and the 'purple-born' princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor John II Komnenos (reigned 1118–43) and his empress Irene of Hungary; he was thus the nephew of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–80). Andronikos had two older brothers, John and Alexios, and a sister, Irene. The Kontostephanoi were an aristocratic Byzantine family that rose to occupy a prominent place at the heart of Byzantine politics and power through their intermarrying with the imperial house of the Komnenoi. Andronikos himself is believed to have married, ca. 11 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, and previously as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologos, Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He Reconquest of Constantinople, recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transformed the Empire of Nicaea into a Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty, restored Byzantine Empire. His reign saw considerable recovery of Byzantine power, including the enlargement of the Byzantine army and Byzantine navy, navy. It also included the reconstruction of the city of Constantinople, and the increase of its population. His re-establishment of the University of Constantinople contributed to the Palaeologan Renaissance, a cultural flowering between the 13th and 15th centuries. It was also at this time that the fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alexios Palaiologos (despot)
Alexios Palaiologos (; died 1203) was a Byzantine nobleman, the son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III Angelos () and his heir apparent from 1199 until his death. Throughout this time, he was actively involved in the suppression of several revolts and riots against the emperor. Through his daughter, he became one of the progenitors of the Palaiologan dynasty (1261–1453). Life Although the Palaiologos family was wealthy and mostly known for serving as civil and military officials under the Komnenian emperors, Alexios's own origins are obscure. Alexios's father was the '' sebastos'' and '' megas hetaireiarches'' George Palaiologos, the son or grandson of Alexios I Komnenos's staunchest supporter, George Palaiologos. Through his grandmother, Alexios shared in the blood of the Komnenian house. In 1199, Alexios was chosen by Emperor Alexios III, who was without male offspring, to wed his eldest daughter, Irene. She was a widow of Andronikos Kontostephanos, and Alexios Palaiologos was f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arta, Greece
Arta () is a city in northwestern Greece and capital of the Arta (regional unit), regional unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus (region), Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia (). Arta is known for the Bridge of Arta, medieval bridge over the Arachthos River, as well as for its ancient sites from the era of Pyrrhus of Epirus and its well-preserved 13th-century Castle of Arta, castle. Arta's Byzantine history is reflected in its many Byzantine churches; perhaps the best known is the Panagia Paregoretissa (Mother of God the Consoling), built about 1290 by despot (court title), Despot Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas. Etymology The origin of the city's name is quite uncertain. It is either derived from a corruption of the river Arachthos, or from the Latin word "artus" (narrow), or from the Slavic languages, Slavic word "balta" (swamp). History Antiquity The first settlement in the area of the modern city dates to the 9th century B.C. Ambracia was founded as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael I Komnenos Doukas
Michael I Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas (), and in modern sources often recorded as Michael I Angelos, a name he never used, was the founder and first ruler of the Despotate of Epirus from until his assassination in 1214/15. Born , Michael was a descendant of Alexios I Komnenos and a cousin of emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. He began his public career in 1190, as a hostage to the Third Crusade, and went on to serve as governor of the province of Mylasa and Melanoudion in the 1190s and again in . During the latter tenure he rebelled against Alexios III but was defeated and forced to flee to the Seljuk Turks. In the aftermath of the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, he attached himself to Boniface of Montferrat. Soon, however, he abandoned the Crusader leader and went to Epirus, where he established himself as ruler, apparently through marriage with the daughter or widow of a local magnate. Michael's domain in Epirus became ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boniface I, Marquis Of Montferrat
Boniface I, usually known as Boniface of Montferrat (; ; c. 1150 – 4 September 1207), was the ninth Marquis of Montferrat (from 1192), a leader of the Fourth Crusade (1201–04) and the king of Thessalonica (from 1205). Early life Boniface was the third son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg, born after his father's return from the Second Crusade. He was a younger brother of William "Longsword", Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, and of Conrad I of Jerusalem. His youthful exploits in the late 1170s are recalled in the famous "epic letter", ''Valen marques, senher de Monferrat'', by his good friend and court troubadour, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras. These included the rescue of the heiress Jacopina of Ventimiglia from her uncle Count Otto, who was intending to deprive her of her inheritance and send her to Sardinia. Boniface arranged a marriage for her. When Albert of Malaspina (husband of one of Boniface's sisters) abducted Saldina de Mar, a daughter of a prominent G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Corinth
Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the Corinth (municipality), municipality of Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is the capital of Corinthia. It was founded as Nea Korinthos (), or New Corinth, in 1858 after an earthquake destroyed the existing settlement of Corinth, which had developed in and around the site of the ancient city. History Corinth derives its name from Ancient Corinth, a city-state of antiquity. The site was occupied from before 3000 BC. Ancient Greece Historical references begin with the early 8th century BC, when ancient Corinth began to develop as a commercial center. Between the 8th and 7th centuries, the Bacchiad family ruled Corinth. Cypselus overthrew the Bacchiad f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, the administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. It is also known in Greek as , literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the "co-reigning" city () of the Byzantine Empire alongside Constantinople. Thessaloniki is located on the Thermaic Gulf, at the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. It is bounded on the west by the Axios Delta National Park, delta of the Axios. The Thessaloniki (municipality), municipality of Thessaloniki, the historical centre, had a population of 319,045 in 2021, while the Thessaloniki metropolitan area had 1,006,112 inhabitants and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crusade
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]   |
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Mosynopolis
Mosynopolis (), of which only ruins now remain in Greek Thrace, was a city in the Roman province of Rhodope, which was known until the 9th century as Maximianopolis (Μαξιμιανούπολις) or, to distinguish it from other cities of the same name, as Maximianopolis in Rhodope. History The city of Maximianopolis appears in written sources from the 4th century on. Its fortifications were renewed by Byzantine emperor Justinian I, and it was later a base for operations by Emperor Basil II in his wars against the Bulgarians. In the 11th century, the city was the center of a district ('' bandon'') in the theme of Boleron, and Anna Komnene reports in her '' Alexiad'' that there were many Manichaeans living in Mosynopolis in the late 11th/early 12th centuries. The town was captured in 1185 by the Normans, while the monk Ephrem says that the city was captured in 1190 by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Battle of Messinopolis, in which the Bulgarians defeated Boniface ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alexius V
Alexios V Doukas (; died December 1204), Latinized as Alexius V Ducas, was Byzantine emperor from February to April 1204, just prior to the sack of Constantinople by the participants of the Fourth Crusade. His family name was Doukas, but he was also known by the nickname Mourtzouphlos or Murtzuphlus (), referring to either bushy, overhanging eyebrows or a sullen, gloomy character. He achieved power through a palace coup, killing his predecessors in the process. Though he made vigorous attempts to defend Constantinople from the crusader army, his military efforts proved ineffective. His actions won the support of the mass of the populace, but he alienated the elite of the city. Following the fall, sack, and occupation of the city, Alexios V was blinded by his father-in-law, the ex-emperor Alexios III, and later executed by the new Latin regime. He was the last Byzantine emperor to rule in Constantinople until the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople in 1261. Origins and c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |