Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes (; died 1196) 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 ...

aristocrat and military commander, who was the son-in-law of Emperor

Alexios III Angelos Alexios III Angelos (; 1211), Latinized as Alexius III Angelus, was Byzantine Emperor from March 1195 to 17/18 July 1203. He reigned under the name Alexios Komnenos (; Aléxios Komnēnós) associating himself with the Komnenos dynasty (from whi ...

and received the rank of ''

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 ...

''.

Life

Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes was the youngest son of Alexios Vatatzes, a son of the general Theodore Vatatzes and the

purple-born Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking ...

princess Eudokia Komnene, daughter of Emperor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus (; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexio ...

(), and of Maria Pegonitissa. The couple married around 1158, at the initiative of 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 ...

. In 1190, Isaac participated in a campaign against the

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

– Bulgarian

uprising of Asen and Peter __NOTOC__ The Uprising of Asen and Peter () 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 tax increase. It began on 26 October 1185, the fe ...

in the area of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

. Along with

Manuel Kamytzes Manuel Kamytzes Komnenos Doukas Angelos (; after 1202) was a Byzantine general who was active in the late 12th century, and led an unsuccessful rebellion in 1201–02, against his cousin, Emperor Alexios III Angelos. A member of the Kamytzes f ...

, he commanded the Imperial army's vanguard, while Emperor

Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus (; September 1156 – 28 January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and co-Emperor with his son Alexios IV Angelos from 1203 to 1204. In a 1185 revolt against the Emperor Andronikos Komnenos, Isaac ...

() and his brother Alexios (the future

, ) commanded the main body and the ''

'' 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, 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 Serres ( ) 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 Northern Greece. The c ...

, and captured the local Byzantine commander,

Alexios Aspietes Alexios Aspietes (, ) 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. Life A member of the Aspietes family ...

. Isaac was entrusted with leading the campaign against them. According to the contemporary official and historian,

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 ...

, the rebels were initially hesitant to confront Isaac's army, and withdrew to raid the valley of the

Strymon River The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its Ancient Greek, ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source fr ...

. 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 were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

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 (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

, 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 Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

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 * Ivank ...

: 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. 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 Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, 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 o ...

. 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 (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by Walter Abel Heurtley, W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C ...

().

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vatatzes, Isaac Komnenos 12th-century births 1196 deaths Byzantine generals 12th-century Byzantine military personnel Sebastokrators

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Byzantine prisoners of war