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Tornikios
The Tornikios or Tornikes (pl. Tornikioi; ; feminine form Tornikina, ) was a Byzantine noble family, prominent during the middle and late Byzantine period. From the mid-10th century, members of the family, of Armenian and Georgian origins, acquired a role of growing importance in the political affairs of the empire, while in the following centuries they played a leading role in crucial military and political events. In the 13th century the family grew in importance after intermarring with members of other aristocratic families, mainly the Palaiologos dynasty. History Middle Byzantine period In the early 10th century, the Armenian prince Abu Ghanim or Apoganem, brother of the prince Grigor I of Taron, was accepted in Constantinople and was awarded the title of and later the title of (patrician). Abu Ghanim's son, T‘ornik, also received the rank of patrician. After the death of T'ornik, his wife and son, Nikolaos Tornikios, were invited by emperor Romanos I Lekapenos to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Tornikios
Leo Tornikios () was a mid-11th century Byzantine general and noble. In 1047, he rebelled against his cousin, the Byzantine Emperor, Constantine IX Monomachos (). He raised an army in Thrace and marched on the capital, Constantinople, which he besieged. After two failed assaults he withdrew, his army deserted him and he was captured. At Christmas 1047, he was blinded and no more is known of him. Biography Leo Tornikios was born in Adrianople, the scion of the noted noble Armenian or Georgian family of Tornikios. His contemporary, Michael Psellos, describes him as "short, crafty, proud and ambitious". According to Psellos, "he reeked of Macedonian arrogance". Although favoured by his relative, Constantine IX, Tornikios soon came to support the Emperor's sister, Euprepia, who opposed the Emperor's policies. and frequently compared him favourably with the Emperor. He was named ''patrikios'' and military commander ('' doux'') of a province on the eastern frontier of Byzantine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euthymios Tornikios
Euthymios Tornikes or Tornikios (; ) was a Byzantine ecclesiastical official and writer. Euthymios was the son of the ''logothetes tou dromou'' Demetrios Tornikios, and a member of the Tornikios family, of princely Armenian or Georgian origin that entered Byzantine service in the mid-10th century. He is first mentioned as a deacon in 1181, and died in the Despotate of Epirus sometime after 1222. He is best known for his rhetorical speeches, of which those preserved date chiefly to the period 1200–05, such as his panegyric on the failure of the coup of John Komnenos the Fat, or monodies on the death of his father and of his close friend and relative, the metropolitan bishop of Neopatras Euthymios Malakes. According to Alexander Kazhdan Alexander Petrovich Kazhdan (; 3 September 1922 – 29 May 1997) was a Soviet and American Byzantinist. Among his publications was the three-volume ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', a comprehensive encyclopedic work containing over than 5,0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine Tornikios
Constantine Tornikes or Tornikios () was one of the most senior officials during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203). He was a descendant of the prominent Tornikios clan, of Armenian or Georgian origin.. His father, Demetrios Tornikios, was a prominent official who rose to become ''logothetes tou dromou'' (Postal Logothete, in effect foreign minister), a post he continuously occupied from circa 1191 until his death. Constantine is first mentioned as being involved in the riots that broke out in the imperial capital, Constantinople, in late 1198 or 1199. Originally, the mob protested against the crimes of the head of the capital's prison (the ''praetorium''), John Lagos, but soon it turned into a full-scale rebellion against Alexios III, which had to be bloodily suppressed. At the time, Constantine was Eparch (governor) of the capital. In 1200 or 1201, after his father's death, Constantine succeeded him as ''logothetes tou dromou'' for a couple o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebastokrator
''Sebastokrator'' (, ; ; ), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence (Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Empire). The word is a compound of '' sebastós'' (, the Greek equivalent of the Latin ''Augustus'') and ''krátōr'' ('ruler', the same element as is found in '' autokrator'', 'emperor'). The wife of a ''Sebastokrator'' was named ''sebastokratorissa'' (, ''sevastokratórissa'') in Greek, ''sevastokratitsa'' () in Bulgarian and ''sevastokratorica'' in Serbian. Eastern Roman Empire The title was created by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos () to honour his elder brother Isaac Komnenos.. According to Anna Komnene, Alexios did this to raise Isaac above the rank of '' Caesar'', which he had already promised to his brother-in-law, Nikephoros Melissenos. Anna Komnene compares the rank of ''sebastokratōr'' to "a second emperor", and also records that along with the ''Caesar'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine IX Monomachos
Constantine IX Monomachos (; 980/ 1000 – 11 January 1055) reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita chose him as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian. The couple shared the throne with Zoë's sister Theodora Porphyrogenita. Zoë died in 1050, and Constantine continued his collaboration with Theodora until his own death five years later. Constantine's reign was marked by prodigality, enjoying an abundant imperial treasury following the conquests of his predecessors and the era of economic expansion that the Empire experienced in the first half of the 11th century. While Zoe was deprived of access to this treasure by Romanus III and then Michael IV, her third husband ensured that she could enjoy it as much as she wanted. He also distributed a large number of gifts, both in monetary forms and through donations of land or tax ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David III Of Tao
David III Kuropalates (, ''Davit’ III Kurapalati'') or David III the Great (დავით III დიდი, ''Davit’ III Didi''), also known as David II, (c. 930s – 1000/1001) was a Georgia (country), Georgian prince of the Bagrationi, Bagratid family of Tao-Klarjeti, Tao, a historic region in the Georgian–Armenian marchlands, from 966 until his murder in 1000 or 1001. ''Curopalates, Kuropalates'' was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, courtier title bestowed upon him in 978 and again in 990. David is best known for his crucial assistance to the Byzantine Macedonian dynasty in the 976–9 civil war and his unique role in the political Unification of the Georgian realm, unification of various Georgian polities as well as his patronage of Christianity, Christian culture and learning. Between 987 and 989, David joined his friend Bardas Phokas the Younger, Bardas Phocas in a revolt against the Byzantine emperor Basil II, but was defeated an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tornike Eristavi
John Tornike ( ka, იოანე თორნიკე, tr; ), also known as Tornike Eristavi (; died in 985) was a retired Georgian general and monk who came to be better known as a founder of the formerly Georgian Orthodox Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos in modern-day northeastern Greece. Life Tornike came from a notable Georgian noble family and was in the immediate circles of the ruling dynasty of the Bagrationi. His father, Chordvaneli, had been in the suite of the Georgian prince Ashot II Kuropalates who had paid a visit to the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos in Constantinople in c. 950. Three of his nephews had military careers and one of them, Varazvache, held a post of ''katepano'' (military governor) of the significant Byzantine eastern outpost Edessa in 1037–8. Tornike served a very successful military and court career (specifically he was '' eristavi'', a Georgian equivalent to ''strategos'') under the Georgian Bagratid dynasty and also gained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bardas Skleros
Bardas Skleros (Greek: Βάρδας Σκληρός) or Sclerus was a Byzantine general who led a wide-scale Asian rebellion against Emperor Basil II during the years 976 to 979. Background Bardas' father Niketas Skleros belonged to the great family of the Skleroi, which owned enormous estates at the eastern outskirts of Asia Minor. His mother Gregoria was daughter of Basil and granddaughter of Basil I's brother Bardas. The greatest coup of his early career was a brilliant defense of Constantinople against the army of Svyatoslav I of Kiev in 970. During the Battle of Arcadiopolis, he reportedly managed to inflict as many as 20,000 casualties on the Rus, while the campaign claimed the lives of merely 25 Byzantine soldiers. After he had shown himself equal to dealing with the fiercest enemies of Byzantium, Bardas became a trusted advisor to John I Tzimiskes, who was his brother-in-law and a fellow Armenian. Upon John's death, Skleros aspired to replace him as an acting emperor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne thus went to two generals, Nikephoros Phokas (963–969) and John Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) before Basil became senior emperor, though his influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos remained as the '' de facto'' ruler until 985. His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor. The early years of Basil's reign were dominated by civil wars against two powerful generals from the Byzantine Anatolian aristocracy: first Bardas Skleros and later Bardas Phokas, which ended shortly after Phokas' death and Skleros' submission in 989. Basil then oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire and the complete subjugation of the First Bulgarian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Lekapenos
Stephen Lekapenos or Lecapenus (; died 18 April 963) was the second son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his younger brother Constantine, he deposed Romanos I in December 944, but they were overthrown and exiled a few weeks later by their brother in law, the legitimate emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959). Stephen lived out his life in exile on the island of Lesbos, where he died on Easter 963. Family Stephen was the second son of Romanos I and his wife Theodora. His older siblings were Christopher (co-emperor from 921 until his death in 931) and his sisters Helena, who married Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959), and Agatha, who married Romanos Argyros. His younger brothers were Constantine (co-emperor 924–945) and Theophylact ( Patriarch of Constantinople in 933–956). He probably also had at least two unnamed younger sisters, known only because of their marriages to the '' magistroi'' Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephesus
Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital, by Attica, Attic and Ionians, Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greece, Classical Greek era, it was one of twelve cities that were members of the Ionian League. The city came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. The city was famous in its day for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), which has been designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its many monumental buildings included the Library of Celsus and a theatre capable of holding 24,000 spectators. Ephesus was a recipient city of one of the Pauline epistles and one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written there,Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macedonia (theme)
The Theme of Macedonia ( ) was a military-civilian province (theme) of the Byzantine Empire established between the late 8th century and the early 9th century. Byzantine Macedonia had limited geographical relation to the Ancient Macedonia and mainly lay in what is now the modern region of Southern Thrace. Its capital was Adrianople. History From the beginning of the 6th century, the former Roman Diocese of Macedonia, then part of the Byzantine Empire became a subject to frequent raids by Slavic tribes which in the course of next centuries, resulted in drastic demographic and cultural changes. The Slavs organized themselves into " Sklaviniai", that continued to assault the Byzantine Empire, either independently, or aided by Bulgars or Avars during the 7th century. In the late 7th century, the Byzantines organized a massive expedition against the Slavs in the area. They subdued many Slavic tribes and established a new theme of Thrace in the hinterland of Thessaloniki. Despite th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
