Constantine Doukas (; died 30 May 1185), called Makrodoukas (Μακροδούκας, "Tall Doukas", probably a sobriquet) by

Niketas Choniates Niketas or Nicetas Choniates (; – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (), was a Byzantine Greek historian and politician. He accompanied his brother Michael Akominatos to Constantinople from their birthplace Chonae (from which came h ...

, was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

nobleman.

Life

Although a distinguished figure in the late

Komnenian period The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, ...

, it is impossible to establish his family origin or his ties to the 11th-century Doukas dynasty. He is first attested in documents dating to 1166, where he already bears the high court rank of '' pansebastos sebastos'' and is related to the ruling dynasty by marriage with a daughter of the ''

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 ...

'' Isaac Komnenos and niece of the emperor

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history o ...

(r. 1143–1180). Makrodoukas next appears in 1170 and 1176, when he accompanied Emperor Manuel I in his campaigns against the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

. Under

Andronikos I Komnenos Andronikos I Komnenos (; – 12 September 1185), Latinized as Andronicus I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1183 to 1185. A nephew of John II Komnenos (1118–1143), Andronikos rose to fame in the reign of his cousin Manuel I Komne ...

(r. 1183–1185), Makrodoukas initially enjoyed the emperor's favour, and rose to the rank of '' panhypersebastos''. However, after the rebellion of Makrodoukas' nephew Isaac Komnenos, who declared himself emperor in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, he was arrested along with other relatives of the rebel, accused of treason and condemned on 30 May to death by

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...

. After surviving the stoning, he was dragged to Mangana, where he was dismembered.

Family

Constantine Makrodoukas married Anna Komnene, daughter of Isaac Komnenos by 1166. They had at least one daughter, Zoe Doukaina, who married John Doukas.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Makrodoukas, Constantine 12th-century births 1185 deaths 12th-century Byzantine people Executed Byzantine people People executed by dismemberment People executed for treason Constantine 12th-century executions by the Byzantine Empire Generals of Manuel I Komnenos Panhypersebastoi Sebastoi