Argyritzos (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1071–81) was one of the leading citizens of

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

during the final years of Byzantine rule. He held the rank of ''

protospatharios ''Prōtospatharios'' () was one of the highest Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court dignities of the middle Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to forei ...

'' under the empire.Alessandro Pratesi
"Argirizzo di Giovannacio"
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', Vol. 4 (Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1962). His father was named Ioannakes.Argyritzos 10101
at the ''

Prosopography of the Byzantine World The Prosopography of the Byzantine World (PBW) is a project to create a prosopographical database of individuals named in textual sources in the Byzantine Empire and surrounding areas in the period from 642 to 1265. The project is a collaboration ...

''. When the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

besieged Bari in 1068–71, Argyritzos led the faction that favoured seeking terms. On 18 July 1070, the leader of the opposite faction,

Bisantius Guirdeliku Bisantius Guirdeliku (or Bysantius Guinderlichus) was a noble citizen of Bari, then the capital of the Byzantine catepanate of Italy. He held the rank of ''patrikios''. During the siege of Bari (1068–71) by the Normans, he led the faction opposed ...

, was assassinated through the "treachery" of Argyritzos, according to the ''

Annales Barenses The ''Annales Barenses'' is an anonymous set of annals written in the city of Bari in the late eleventh century. At the time of its composition, Bari was the chief city of the Byzantine Empire in southern Italy.. The ''Annales Barenses'' are close ...

'' and the '' Annales Lupi Protospatharii''.William J. Churchill (ed.)
''The ''Annales Barenses'' and the ''Annales Lupi Protospatharii'': Critical Edition and Commentary''
Ph. D. dissertation, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto (1979), p. 147, s.a. 1071: ''Hoc etiam anno, dolo cujusdam Argirizi, filii Joannaci, occisus est Bisantius...'' Still, the city held out for another nine months. Argyritzos appears to have inherited a leading position following its surrender on favourable terms to the Norman leader

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born ...

. According to the chronicler

William of Apulia William of Apulia () was a poet and chronicler of the Normans, writing in the 1090s. His Latin epic, ''Gesta Roberti Wiscardi'' ("The Deeds of Robert Guiscard"), written in hexameters, is one of the principal contemporary sources for the Norman co ...

, Robert "entrusted the city" to Argyritzos. If he did, it was short-lived. By 1075, the city's governors were one Lizius the

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

, probably a Norman, and Maurelianus the catepan, a local with the imperial rank of ''

patrikios The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...

''.G. A. Loud, ''The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest'' (Routledge, 2013), p. 136. In 1078, Argyritzos arranged the marriage of his daughter to

Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philo ...

, Robert's nephew, who was planning a rebellion. The revolt broke out on 3 February 1079. Robert re-captured Bari the following year and in April 1081 Argyritzos fled to the court of King

Mihailo Vojislavljević Mihailo Vojislavljević ( sr-cyr, Михаило Војислављевић) was a medieval Serbian king and the ruler of Dioclea (Duklja), from 1046 to 1081, initially as a Byzantine vassal holding the title of '' protospatharios'', then after ...

Duklja Duklja ( sr-Cyrl, Дукља; ; ) was a medieval South Slavs, South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana river in the east, and to the sou ...

, a Byzantine vassal. There he arranged the marriage of his daughter

Jaquinta Jaquinta ( sr-cyrl, Јаквинта, Jakvinta; 1081 – 1118) was a queen consort of Dioclea by marriage to king Constantine Bodin. She is best known for her role in the Dioclean civil war, where she violently intervened in a succession crisis f ...

to Mihailo's son Bodin. The date of Argyritzos' death is unknown. An epitaph for a ''Kyri'' (Lord) ''Ioannatius'' in the church of Santa Maria de' Sannaci in

Gioia del Colle Gioia del Colle (; Bari dialect, Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. The town is located on the Altopiano delle Murge, Murge plateau at above sea level, between the Adriatic and Ionian Sea, ...

, a suburb of Bari, has been identified as his.Francesco Babudri
"Di una singolare iscrizione greca nella Cattedrale di Bari"
''Iapigia'' 7 (1936), p. 133.

Notes

References

{{Authority control People from Bari 11th-century Italian nobility 11th-century Byzantine people Protospatharioi Catepanate of Italy Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Norman wars