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Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes ( gr, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Βατάτζης; died 1196) 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 Constantin ...
aristocrat and military commander, who was the son-in-law of 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 ...
and received the rank of ''
sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...
''.


Life

Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes was the youngest son of Alexios Vatatzes, a son of the general
Theodore Vatatzes Theodore Vatatzes or Batatzes ( gr, Θεόδωρος Βατάτζης) was an aristocrat and military commander in the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos. Background Theodore Vatatzes was a member of the ...
and the purple-born princess Eudokia Komnene, daughter of Emperor
John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...
(), and of Maria Pegonitissa. The couple married around 1158, at the initiative of Emperor
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 ...
. In 1190, Isaac participated in a campaign against the
Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...
Bulgarian
uprising of Asen and Peter __NOTOC__ The Uprising of Asen and Peter ( bg, Въстание на Асен и Петър) was a revolt of Bulgarians and Vlachs living in Moesia and the Balkan Mountains, then the theme of Paristrion of the Byzantine Empire, caused by a ta ...
in the area of the
Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border be ...
. Along with
Manuel Kamytzes Manuel Kamytzes Komnenos Doukas Angelos ( gr, Μανουήλ Καμύτζης Κομνηνός Δούκας Ἄγγελος; after 1202) was a Byzantine general who was active in the late 12th century, and led an unsuccessful rebellion in 1201� ...
, he commanded the Imperial army's vanguard, while Emperor
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 ...
() and his brother Alexios (the future
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 ...
, ) commanded the main body and the ''
sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...
'' John Doukas was in command of the rear guard. During their retreat through a narrow pass, the Bulgarians allowed the vanguard to pass, but then fell on the rest of the army, which panicked and fled. Around the same time, he married
Anna Komnene Angelina Anna Komnene Angelina or Comnena Angelina (c. 1176 – 1212) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and of Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. Life Her first marriage was to the ''sebastokratōr'' ...
, the second daughter of Alexios Angelos. When Alexios overthrew his brother in 1195 and became emperor, Isaac, as his son-in-law, accompanied him during his coronation procession. It was probably at this point that he was promoted to the rank of ''sebastokrator'', which was appropriate to his familial relationship to the new emperor. In the summer of 1195, the Bulgarian rebels attacked the region around
Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Nort ...
, and captured the local Byzantine commander,
Alexios Aspietes Alexios Aspietes ( el, Ἀλέξιος Ἀσπιέτης, ) was a Byzantine governor and military leader who was captured by the Bulgarians, and led an anti-Bulgarian rebellion at Philippopolis in 1205, being acclaimed emperor by the citizens. ...
. Isaac was entrusted with leading the campaign against them. According to the contemporary official and historian,
Niketas Choniates Niketas or Nicetas Choniates ( el, Νικήτας Χωνιάτης; c. 1155 – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (Ἀκομινάτος), was a Byzantine Greek government official and historian – like his brother Michael Akominatos, wh ...
, the rebels were initially hesitant to confront Isaac's army, and withdrew to raid the valley of the
Strymon River The Struma or Strymónas ( bg, Струма ; el, Στρυμόνας ; tr, (Struma) Karasu , 'black water') is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymṓn (Greek: Στρυμών ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, ...
. Isaac hastened to meet them, but did so impetuously, so that his men and horses were exhausted; Isaac himself was captured in an ambush by a
Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sou ...
soldier, and his army was beaten and turned back to Serres. Isaac was brought before Asen, and led to the Bulgarian capital
Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...
, where he was imprisoned. According to one story relayed by Choniates, Isaac played a role in the subsequent assassination of Asen by the disaffected Bulgarian ''
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were s ...
''
Ivanko Ivanko is a Slavic given name and a surname, a diminutive from the given name Ivan, a Slavic variant of the name "John". It may be a transliteration from Иванко or Иванько. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ivan ...
: Isaac reportedly promised Ivanko the hand of his daughter, Theodora, in exchange for the deed. However, Isaac died, still imprisoned, in spring 1196, before Asen's murder.


Family

From Anna Komnene Angelina, Isaac was the father of
Theodora Angelina Theodora Angelina ( gr, Θεοδώρα Αγγελίνα; 1190 – 22/23 June 1246) was the wife of Leopold VI of Austria, by whom she had several children. As a child, she was used by her grandfather, Emperor Alexios III Angelos, as a politi ...
. Despite her being only a child, Theodora was betrothed to Ivanko, who entered Imperial service, in order to consolidate his allegiance, although Choniates reports that Ivanko coveted Anna instead. Due to her young age, the marriage, if there ever was one, was never consummated; Theodora remained in
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 ( ...
, while Ivanko rose in revolt in 1199, only to be captured and imprisoned by a ruse. In 1203, Theodora married
Leopold VI, Duke of Austria Leopold VI (15 October 1176 – 28 July 1230), known as Leopold the Glorious, was Duke of Styria from 1194 and Duke of Austria from 1198 to his death in 1230. He was a member of the House of Babenberg. Biography Leopold VI was the younger son ...
. After Isaac's death, his wife remarried, in 1199/1200, to Theodore Laskaris, the future founder of the
Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...
().


References


Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vatatzes, Isaac Komnenos 12th-century births 1196 deaths Byzantine generals 12th-century Byzantine people Sebastokrators
Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...
Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Byzantine prisoners of war